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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion,
+Volume 1, by John Charles Dent
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion, Volume 1
+
+Author: John Charles Dent
+
+Release Date: July 24, 2007 [EBook #22131]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UPPER CANADA REBELLION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Marcia Brooks and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian
+Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THE
+UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION.
+
+[Illustration: Yours truly, John Rolph]
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY
+
+OF THE
+
+=UPPER CANADIAN
+REBELLION=
+
+JOHN CHARLES DENT
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE LAST FORTY YEARS" &C.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+TORONTO.
+
+PUBLISHED BY C. BLACKETT ROBINSON
+
+1865
+
+_New York_
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY
+
+OF THE
+
+UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION;
+
+LARGELY DERIVED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES AND DOCUMENTS.
+
+BY JOHN CHARLES DENT,
+
+_Author of "The Last Forty Years," etc._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "Well, God be thanked for these rebels."--_I Henry IV._, Act iii,
+    sc. 3.
+
+    "Truth is not always to be withheld because its expression may wound
+    the feelings of public men, whose official acts have subjected them
+    to public censure. If it were, history and biography would cease to
+    be guiding stars, and, above all, would offer no wholesome restraint
+    to the cruel, or corrupt, or incompetent exercise of
+    authority."--_Tupper's Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir
+    Isaac Brock._
+
+    "We rebelled neither against Her Majesty's person nor her
+    Government, but against Colonial _mis_-government.... We
+    remonstrated; we were derided.... We were goaded on to madness, and
+    were compelled to show that we had the spirit of resistance to repel
+    injuries, or to be deemed a captive, degraded and recreant people.
+    We took up arms, not to attack others, but to defend
+    ourselves."--_Letter to Lord Durham from Dr. Wolfred Nelson and
+    others, confined at Montreal, June 18th, 1838._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+=Toronto:=
+
+C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, 5 JORDAN STREET.
+
+1885.
+
+
+
+
+_Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1885,
+by_ C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, _in the office of the Minister of
+Agriculture._
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO MY ESTEEMED FRIEND,
+
+GEORGE STEWART, JUN'R.
+
+OF QUEBEC:
+
+WHOSE RESEARCHES IN A KINDRED DIRECTION WILL ENABLE HIM TO
+
+DO FULL JUSTICE TO WHATEVER IS MERITORIOUS IN IT; WHILE
+
+HIS GENEROUS APPRECIATION OF THE EFFORTS OF HIS
+
+LITERARY BRETHREN WILL RENDER HIM
+
+INDULGENT TO ITS DEFECTS.
+
+JOHN CHARLES DENT.
+
+Toronto, 1885.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors, including punctuation, have
+been corrected. All other inconsistencies have been left as they were in
+the original.]
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                          PAGE.
+CHAPTER I.
+THE BANISHED BRITON                          9
+
+CHAPTER II.
+A BILL OF PARTICULARS                       46
+
+CHAPTER III.
+THE FAMILY COMPACT                          71
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+FATHERS OF REFORM                           96
+
+CHAPTER V.
+A "FREE AND UNFETTERED" PRESS              122
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+THE CASE OF CAPTAIN MATTHEWS               144
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+THE NIAGARA FALLS OUTRAGE                  151
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+THE "AMOVAL" OF MR. JUSTICE WILLIS         162
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+THE CASE OF FRANCIS COLLINS                195
+
+CHAPTER X.
+LIGHTS--OLD AND NEW                        213
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE                    231
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+DISENFRANCHISEMENT                         253
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+MR. HUME'S "BANEFUL DOMINATION" LETTER     264
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+"SEE, THE CONQUERING HERO COMES!"          282
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+"A TRIED REFORMER"                         296
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+THE TRIUMPHS OF A TRIED REFORMER           324
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+REACTION                                   342
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+THE FORGING OF THE PIKES                   354
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+John Rolph                        Frontispiece
+
+David Gibson                               284
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY
+
+OF
+
+THE UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE BANISHED BRITON.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1819]
+
+In the afternoon of a warm and sultry day, towards the close of one of
+the warmest and most sultry summers which Upper Canada has ever known,
+an extraordinary trial took place at the court-house in the old town of
+Niagara. The time was more than threescore years ago, when York was a
+place of insignificant proportions; when Hamilton could barely be said
+to have an existence; and when the sites of most of the other towns of
+the Province whose names are now familiar to us still formed part of the
+hunting-grounds of the native Indian. The little town on the frontier
+was relatively a place of much greater importance than it is at present;
+though its fortunes, even at that early period, were decidedly on the
+wane, and such glory as it could ever boast of possessing, as the
+Provincial capital, had departed from it long before. To speak with
+absolute precision, the date was Friday, the 20th of August, 1819: so
+long ago that, as far as I have been able to learn, there are only two
+persons now living who were present on the occasion. The court-room,
+which was the largest in the Province, was packed to the doors, and
+though every window was thrown open for purposes of ventilation, the
+atmosphere was almost stifling. Even a stranger, had any such been
+present, could not have failed to perceive that the trial was one in
+which a keen interest was felt by the spectators, many of whom were
+restless and irritable, insomuch that they found it impossible to keep
+perfectly still, and from time to time shifted uneasily in their places.
+Whispers, "not loud, but deep," occasionally reverberated from the back
+benches to the quadrangular space in front assigned to gentlemen of the
+long robe, and ascended thence to the august presence upon the judgment
+seat. Ever and anon the stentorian voice of the crier proclaimed
+silence, in a tone which plainly signified that endurance had well-nigh
+reached its limits, and that he would really be compelled to proceed to
+extremities if his mandate were any longer disobeyed.
+
+The court-room was of the old conventional pattern. At the upper end was
+the large elevated desk, or throne, extending nearly half way across the
+chamber, with spacious cushioned chairs, and other suitable
+accommodation for the presiding judge and his associates. To right and
+left were the enclosed jury boxes, with seats raised considerably above
+the level of the floor, but not so high as those provided for the
+justices. Directly opposite the throne of justice, and about six yards
+distant therefrom, was the prisoners' dock, into which five or six
+persons might have been thrust, at a pinch. The intervening space
+enclosed by this quadrangle--throne, prisoners' dock, and jury
+boxes--was mainly appropriated to the use of barristers and attorneys,
+and their clients. A large portion of the space so appropriated was
+occupied by a table, around which were distributed a few chairs, every
+one of which was occupied; and at the end directly below the judicial
+throne was a small enclosure provided for the clerk of the court, set
+apart by a low railing, and containing a desk of diminutive size.
+Between the clerk's desk and the left-hand jury box was the witness
+stall, raised to a level with the highest seats provided for the jurors.
+A seat for the sheriff was placed a short distance to the right of the
+throne of justice, and on a slightly lower level.
+
+All these arrangements occupied perhaps one-third of the entire
+court-room. The rest of the space, extending from the rear of the
+prisoners' dock to the lower end of the chamber, was occupied by seats
+rising tier behind tier, with a passage down the middle. Between each
+of the ends of these seats and the walls of the chamber were passages of
+about three feet in width, leading to the doors, for purposes of
+"ingress, egress and regress." Such was the plan of the conventional
+Upper Canadian court-room in the olden time; and such, with a few
+inconsiderable modifications, many of them remain down to the present
+day.
+
+The sole occupant of the judgment seat, on this sultry afternoon, was a
+gentleman of somewhat diminutive size, but withal of handsome and
+imposing appearance. Though he had reached advanced middle life, he
+presented none of the signs of age, and evidently retained all his
+vigour unimpaired. His eyes were bright and keen, and his small but firm
+and clearly cut features were lighted up with the consciousness of
+mental power. No one, looking upon that countenance, could doubt that
+its owner had all his faculties under strict and thorough control, or
+that his faculties were considerably above those of average humanity.
+The face was not one for a child to fall in love with, for it was a
+perfect index to the character, and was firm and strong rather than
+amiable or kind. Evidently a man who, should the occasion for doing so
+arise, would deal out the utmost rigour of the law, if not with
+indifference, at least without a qualm. He was the Honourable William
+Dummer Powell, and he occupied the high office of Chief Justice of the
+Province. In conjunction with the Reverend Doctor Strachan, Rector of
+York, he had for several years practically directed the administration
+of affairs in Upper Canada. Francis Gore and Sir Peregrine Maitland
+might successively posture as figure-heads under the title of
+Lieutenant-Governors, but the real depositaries of power were the Rector
+and the Chief Justice. Ominous combination! which falsified the aphorism
+of a great writer--now, unhappily, lost to us--about the inevitable
+incompatibility of law and gospel. Both of them had seats in the
+Executive Council, and, under the then-existing state of things, were
+official but irresponsible advisers of the Crown's representative. More
+than one would-be innovator of those days had been made to feel the
+weight of their hands, without in the least knowing, or even suspecting,
+whence the blow proceeded. They were the head and front of the junto of
+oligarchs who formed the Vehmgericht known as the Family Compact, and
+for all practical purposes their judgment in matters relating to the
+dispensing of patronage and the disposal of Crown property was final and
+conclusive.
+
+The counsel for the prosecution was a handsome young man of
+twenty-eight, who for some years past had been steadily fitting himself
+for the important part he was destined to play--that of Mr. Powell's
+judicial[1] and political successor in the colony. The time was only ten
+years distant when he, in his turn, was to become Chief Justice of Upper
+Canada. The time was still less remote when he was to succeed Chief
+Justice Powell as Dr. Strachan's most active colleague--as the chief lay
+spokesman of his party, and the chief lay adviser of successive
+Lieutenant-Governors. His name was John Beverley Robinson, and his
+destiny was doubtless sufficiently clear before him on this 20th of
+August, 1819. He had strong claims upon his party, for he was the son of
+a United Empire Loyalist, and during the late war with the United States
+had proved that he was no degenerate scion of the stock whence he had
+sprung. He had been present at the surrender of Detroit, and had borne
+himself gallantly at the battle of Queenston Heights. Nor had his party
+shown any disposition to ignore his claims. On the contrary, they had
+pushed him forward with a rapidity which would have turned any head with
+a natural tendency to giddiness. He had been appointed Attorney-General
+of the Province before he had been called to the bar, and when he was
+only twenty-one years of age--a special Act of Parliament being
+subsequently passed to confirm the proceeding. In 1815 he had been
+appointed Solicitor-General, chiefly in order that he might draw the
+salary incidental to that office during a two years' visit to England.
+Soon after his return he had again been appointed Attorney-General, and
+had early signalized his re-accession to office by his manner of
+prosecuting certain criminals from the Red River country, who had been
+placed on trial at York. Those proceedings do not fall within the
+purview of this work, but it may be said with reference to the young
+Attorney-General's connection with them that he had proved himself an
+exceedingly narrow partisan and a docile pupil of Dr. Strachan. He now
+presented himself to take a leading part in one of the most shameless
+and iniquitous prosecutions that ever disgraced a court of justice. His
+personal appearance was decidedly prepossessing. His figure, clad in
+well-fitting garments of the fashionable cut of the period, was light,
+agile and compact, and his face, rather inclining to narrowness, was
+surmounted by a high and smoothly-finished brow, beneath which looked
+out a pair of steel-grey eyes, the usual expression of which was eager
+and firm, but on the whole not unkindly. His mouth was finely formed,
+and when he was in a pleasant humour--as indeed he not infrequently
+was--his smile was sweet and ingratiating. In intellectual capacity he
+was considerably in advance of most of his professional brethren of that
+day, and he had cultivated his natural abilities by constant
+watchfulness and study. His features, one and all, were well and sharply
+defined, and he was probably the handsomest man at the Provincial bar.
+
+Several other members of the legal profession, all of them more or less
+widely known in the forensic, judicial or political annals of the
+Province, were present. Conspicuous among them was the brilliant but
+unscrupulous Christoper Alexander Hagerman, who had already taken high
+rank at the bar, and was destined to be one of the most active and
+intolerant directors of the oligarchical policy. Archibald McLean, tall
+and lithe of limb, had then been more than four years at the bar, and he
+had already given evidence of the high abilities which were to gain for
+him an honoured seat upon the judicial bench. He had been retained to
+defend two prisoners at the Niagara assizes, and his presence in the
+court-room was due to this fact. Another figure at the barristers' table
+was Samuel Peters Jarvis, his hands yet red with the blood of young John
+Ridout, ruthlessly shed by him in a duel two years before, and never to
+be effaced from the tablets of his memory. There, too, sat Henry John
+Boulton, a young man of much pretension but mediocre intellect, who had
+been appointed acting Solicitor-General during the previous year, and
+who united in his own person all the bigotry and narrow selfishness of
+the faction to which he belonged. He, also, had been concerned in the
+shedding of young Ridout's blood, having acted as second to the
+surviving principal in that affair. With this exception his past life
+had been uneventful, but his future was fated to be marked by
+considerable variety of incident, and by actions which even the most
+favourable judgment cannot regard with unmixed complacency.
+
+The twelve jurymen sat in their places, in the jury-box to the left of
+the judge. The witnesses summoned on behalf of the Crown were the
+Honourable William Dickson and the Honourable William Claus, both of
+whom were members of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. The former
+gentleman was an enterprising Scotchman who had settled in Niagara while
+it was yet known as Newark, where he had first kept a general store, and
+afterwards practised law and speculation with great pecuniary success.
+Like the Jarvis above mentioned, he was disfigured by a red right hand,
+having shot his man in a duel fought in the autumn of 1808 behind the
+United States fort on the opposite bank of the river. It is fair to Mr.
+Dickson, however, to say that he was the challenged party, and that the
+duel was in a measure forced upon him by the barbarous usages of society
+in those (happily) far-off days. The other witness, Mr. Claus, was at
+the head of the Indian department at Niagara, the abuses in the
+administration whereof were notorious. It was well understood throughout
+the district that Dickson and Claus between them had contrived to make a
+tolerably good thing out of the Indians, and that they had been
+concerned in some decidedly shady transactions. If it be true that
+Heaven helps those who help themselves, certainly both those gentlemen
+were entitled to look for divine assistance. They possessed and
+exercised a wide influence throughout the settlements in the Niagara
+peninsula, as well as at the Provincial capital, and were commonly
+regarded as being on the high road to great wealth. Two years before the
+date of the trial forming the subject of the present chapter, Dickson
+had purchased the whole of the splendid township of Dumfries, comprising
+94,305 acres, at a trifle over a dollar an acre; and he had already
+begun to realize upon his investment. Claus and he occupied seats at the
+barristers' table, in close proximity to the Attorney-General. The
+spectators included pretty nearly every prominent resident of the town
+of Niagara and its immediate neighbourhood.
+
+But the most conspicuous figure in that crowded court-room yet remains
+to be considered. It has been mentioned that the prisoners' dock was
+large enough to hold five or six persons. On this occasion it held but
+a single, solitary prisoner. A man large and bony, who, when in his
+ordinary state of health, must have weighed not less than fifteen stone.
+Just at present he was very far from being in ordinary health, for
+during the preceding twelvemonth he had undergone sufficient worry and
+suffering to destroy the life of any man of average vitality. After
+having successfully defended himself through two criminal trials, he had
+been cast into prison, where he had languished for more than seven
+months. During his long confinement he had been subjected to a course of
+treatment which would have been highly culpable if meted out to a
+convicted criminal, and which was marked by a malignant cruelty hardly
+to be comprehended when the nature of the offence charged against him is
+considered. His own account of the matter is a plain and simple
+narration of facts, the truth whereof rests upon the clearest and most
+indisputable evidence. "After two months' close confinement," he writes,
+"in one of the cells of the jail, my health had begun to suffer, and, on
+complaint of this, the liberty of walking through the passages and
+sitting at the door was granted. This liberty prevented my getting worse
+the four succeeding months, although I never enjoyed a day's health, but
+by the power of medicine. At the end of this period I was again locked
+up in the cell, cut off from all conversation with my friends, but
+through a hole in the door, while the jailor or under-sheriff watched
+what was said, and for some time both my attorney and magistrates of my
+acquaintance were denied admission to me. The quarter sessions were held
+soon after this severe and unconstitutional treatment commenced, and on
+these occasions it was the custom and duty of the grand jury to
+perambulate the jail, and see that all was right with the prisoners. I
+prepared a memorial for their consideration, but on this occasion was
+not visited. I complained to a magistrate through the door, who promised
+to mention my case to the chairman of the sessions, but the chairman
+happened to be brother of one of those who had signed my commitment, and
+the court broke up without my obtaining the smallest relief.
+Exasperation of mind, now joined to the heat of the weather, which was
+excessive, rapidly wasted my health and impaired my faculties. I felt my
+memory sensibly affected, and could not connect my ideas through any
+length of reasoning, but by writing, which many days I was wholly
+unfitted for by the violence of continual headache."
+
+There is a pathos about this plain, unvarnished story that appeals to
+every heart. That a man, no matter what his crimes, should have his
+nervous system thus cruelly undermined; that his physical and mental
+faculties should be slowly but surely filched from him in this
+deliberate fashion, is an idea not to be borne with composure by anyone
+whose breast is susceptible to human impulses. But Robert Gourlay was no
+great criminal. He had engaged in no plot to blow up King, Lords and
+Commons. He had been guilty of no treason or felony. He had threatened
+no man's life, and taken no man's purse upon the highway. He was by no
+means the stuff of which great criminals are made. He was not even a
+vicious or immoral man. He was an affectionate husband, a fond and
+indulgent father. His story, from beginning to end, even when subjected
+to the fiercest light that can be thrown upon it, discloses nothing
+cruel or revengeful, nothing vile or outrageously wicked, nothing
+grovelling or base, nothing sordid or mean. On the other hand, it
+discloses a man of many noble and generous impulses; a man with a great
+heart in his bosom which could warmly sympathize with the wrongs of his
+fellow-creatures; a man in whom was no selfishness or greed; a man of
+decided principles and stainless morals; who was incapable of dishonesty
+or cruelty; who had a high sense of human responsibility; who feared his
+God and honoured his King. When we compare his virtuous and honourable,
+albeit turbulent and much misguided life, with that of any one of his
+immediate persecutors, the contrast is mournfully suggestive of Mr.
+Lowell's antithesis about
+
+    "Truth forever on the scaffold; wrong forever on the throne."
+
+To what, then, was his long and bitter persecution to be attributed? Why
+had he been deprived of his liberty; thrust into a dark and unwholesome
+dungeon; refused the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act; denied his
+enlargement upon bail or main-prize; branded as a malefactor of the most
+dangerous kind; badgered and tortured to the ruin of his health and his
+reason? Merely this: he had imbibed, in advance, the spirit of Mr.
+Arthur Clennam, and had "wanted to know."[2] He had displayed a
+persistent determination to let in the light of day upon the iniquities
+and rascalities of public officials. He had denounced the system of
+patronage and favouritism in the disposal of the Crown Lands. He had
+inveighed against some of the human bloodsuckers of that day, in
+language which certainly was not gracious or parliamentary, but which as
+certainly was both forcible and true. He had even ventured to speak in
+contumelious terms of the reverend Rector of York himself, whom he had
+stigmatized as "a lying little fool of a renegade Presbyterian." Nay, he
+had advised the sending of commissioners to England to entreat Imperial
+attention to colonial grievances. He had been the one man in Upper
+Canada possessed of sufficient courage to do and to dare: to lift the
+thin and flimsy veil which only half concealed the corruption whereby a
+score of greedy vampires were rapidly enriching themselves at the public
+cost. He had dared to hold up to general inspection the baneful effects
+of an irresponsible Executive, and of a dominating clique whose one hope
+lay in preserving the existing order of things undisturbed. It was for
+this that the Inquisition had wreaked its vengeance upon him; for this
+that the vials of Executive wrath had been poured upon his head; for
+this that his body had been subjugated and his nerves lacerated by more
+than seven months' close imprisonment; for this that he had been "ruined
+in his fortune and overwhelmed in his mind." And all these things took
+place in "this Canada of ours," in the year of grace eighteen hundred
+and nineteen--barely sixty-six years ago--while the Duke of Richmond was
+Governor-General, and his handsome scapegrace of a son-in-law nominally
+administered the government of the Upper Province.
+
+With a view to a clearer understanding of the circumstances which led to
+this most villainous of Canadian State prosecutions, it will be well to
+glance at some details of the prisoner's past life.[3]
+
+Robert Gourlay was the son of a gentleman of considerable fortune--a
+retired Writer to the Signet--and was born in the parish of Ceres,
+Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1778. He received an education suitable to his
+social position, and while at the University of St. Andrews was the
+fellow-student and personal friend of young Thomas Chalmers, who
+afterwards became one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of modern
+times.[4] Robert was the eldest son of his parents, and, being heir to
+the paternal estates, he grew up to manhood with the expectation of one
+day succeeding to wealth and station in society. He was put to no
+profession, and after leaving college, devoted himself to no settled
+pursuit. He was on visiting terms with the resident gentry of his native
+shire, and took some interest in local military matters. In 1806 he
+offered to take charge of an expedition for the invasion of Paris, being
+probably impelled thereto by the mad attempt of Lord Camelford several
+years before. He was full of energy and robust health, bountiful and
+generous to the poor of the parish, a practical philanthropist,
+possessed of great intelligence and a genuine love for his kind; but
+withal somewhat flighty and erratic, of impetuous temper, deficient in
+tact and discretion, and given to revery and theorizing. He was, in
+short, a bundle of contradictions, some of his idiosyncrasies being
+doubtless inherited from his father, who was a generous and high-minded
+but unpractical man. The sire would seem to have been conscious of his
+son's weaknesses. "Robert," he was wont to say, "will hurt himself, but
+do good to others." The son studied deeply the economical side of the
+pauper question, and his researches in this direction brought him into
+intimate relations with that eminent writer Mr. Arthur Young,[5] at
+whose suggestion he was appointed to conduct an inquiry into the
+condition of the poor in England. By virtue of this appointment he
+travelled, chiefly on foot, through the most important agricultural
+districts of the island, after which he was pronounced by competent
+authorities to be the best-informed man in the kingdom respecting the
+poor of Great Britain. As I have said elsewhere: "He was consulted by
+members of Parliament, political economists, parish overseers, and even
+by members of the Cabinet, as to the best means for reforming the poor
+laws, and was always ready to spend himself and his substance for the
+public good."[6]
+
+Having married and settled down on one of his father's estates, he took
+upon himself various offices of public usefulness and philanthropy. His
+enterprise and public spirit caused him to be much looked up to by the
+yeomanry of Fifeshire, and he soon came to be recognized as the special
+champion of the smaller tenantry at agricultural meetings. At one of
+these meetings he conceived himself to have been discourteously treated
+by his neighbour, the Earl of Kellie. The discourtesy does not seem to
+have been of a serious nature, but Mr. Gourlay became irritated to a
+degree altogether disproportionate to the offence. He wrote and
+published a pamphlet, in which Lord Kellie was handled with much
+severity. It was circulated by the author throughout Fifeshire, and
+widely read; and from this time forward he was much given to taking the
+public into his confidence respecting his personal grievances. His
+attack on Lord Kellie, however, weakened his popularity, and in 1809,
+partly owing to this cause, and partly to his being in temporary
+ill-health, he accepted a proposal from the Duke of Somerset to become
+the tenant of a farm belonging to his Grace, and situated in the parish
+of Wily, in Wiltshire. For a time all went well with him in his new
+abode. His farm was a model for the emulation of all the landholders in
+the parish, and his products gained prize after prize at successive
+agricultural exhibitions. But Mr. Gourlay was nothing if not critical,
+and certain of his surroundings afforded legitimate grounds for
+fault-finding. There were many and serious defects in the system of
+administering the poor-laws of Great Britain in those days, and the
+administration in the parish of Wily was attended by some specially
+objectionable features. These erelong became painfully apparent to the
+keen eyes of Mr. Gourlay, who began to agitate for a reform. He went
+into the matter with characteristic earnestness, and, by dint of
+constant speechifying and weekly letters addressed to the local
+newspapers, he soon began to produce an impression. His appetite for
+agitation grew by what it fed upon, insomuch that he became a confirmed
+grievance-monger and hunter-up of abuses. The magnates of the county
+began to look coldly upon him, and even, in some instances, to array
+themselves in open opposition to him. This only tended still further to
+arouse the native pugnacity of his disposition, and his attacks upon
+local abuses and those who upheld them became more and more violent.
+Now, in all this there can be no doubt that Mr. Gourlay was from first
+to last chiefly actuated by genuine philanthropy. He certainly had no
+selfish or pecuniary purpose to serve; and indeed it is hard to conceive
+of a man less influenced by mercenary motives. His life was passed in a
+perpetual war against veritable and undoubted evils; but unfortunately
+his hotheadedness and want of tact prevented him from doing justice to
+himself and his views. He lacked the calm intellect and patient temper
+necessary to the successful fighting of life's stern battle, and had the
+unhappy faculty of generally putting himself in the wrong, even when
+there could be no doubt that he had originally been in the right. Some
+of his letters to the newspapers were remarkable for nothing but their
+indiscretion, violence and bad taste, and he came to be looked upon by
+the landlords of Wiltshire as a visionary and dangerous man. His own
+landlord, the Duke of Somerset, was of this way of thinking, and after
+some remonstrances at second-hand which proved unavailing, his Grace
+resolved that this "pestilent Scotchman" must be got rid of. A bill in
+Chancery was filed against him on some pretext or other, with the view
+of putting an end to his tenancy. Years of irritating and ruinous
+litigation followed, the ultimate result of which was a decision in Mr.
+Gourlay's favour. But it was the old story of _Jarndyce_ v. _Jarndyce_.
+The protracted litigation had eaten up the substance of the successful
+litigant, and upon the promulgation of the decree the Wiltshire Radical
+was a ruined man. This would have been a matter of secondary importance
+to the heir of a wealthy Fifeshire laird, but unhappily his father had
+also come to the end of his resources. Injudicious speculation and the
+mismanagement of an agent, combined with the necessity of placing a
+large quantity of real estate in the market at an inauspicious time,
+were the causes which led to the bankruptcy of the elder Gourlay, who
+was stripped of his great possessions and left with a bare subsistence.
+The son's prospects of inheriting a fortune were thus at an end, and at
+thirty-seven years of age he found himself almost wholly without means,
+and with a family of five children and a wife in delicate health
+dependent upon him for support. The howl of the wolf began to be audible
+to him; distant, as yet, but still gradually drawing nearer. To his
+mind, a change of the base of his operations was clearly indicated.
+
+Five years before this time he had acquired a block of land in the
+Township of Dereham, in the County of Oxford, Upper Canada, where his
+wife also owned some property. He now began to cast his eyes anxiously
+towards the setting sun, with a view to the rehabilitation of his broken
+fortunes. After weighing the matter carefully, he resolved to cross the
+Atlantic and pay a visit to Canada, in order to ascertain whether it
+would be prudent to remove his family thither. He seems to have been
+very deliberate about making up his mind, as he did not set sail from
+Liverpool until the month of April, 1817, and did not reach Canada until
+early in June. The country delighted him, more especially the Upper
+Province; but one with so keen an eye for abuses had not far to look
+throughout our fair land in those days for subjects of criticism. Having
+made himself acquainted with some of the most glaring iniquities of the
+ruling faction, and with the various causes which tended to retard the
+progress of the colony, he began to liberate his mind by written and
+spoken utterances such as had not theretofore been heard in the
+Province. The effect of these appeals to popular sentiment was soon
+apparent. People who had long smarted silently under injustice did not
+hesitate to make known their discontent. The disturber of the public
+tranquillity continued to speak and write, and he made his presence felt
+more and more from month to month. Having resolved to engage in business
+as a land agent, and to set on foot a huge scheme of immigration to
+Canada from Great Britain, he went diligently to work to gather specific
+and definite information, and to attack one abuse after another. He
+travelled about the country hither and thither, addressed public
+meetings, and wrote letters to all the papers that would publish his
+animadversions. He was in deadly earnest, and put all the energy of his
+impassioned nature into his appeals. In commenting upon the
+delinquencies of public officials he did not mince matters, though I
+search in vain throughout his voluminous writings for any evidence that
+he was ever guilty of a misstatement, or even an exaggeration. He
+regaled his readers and hearers with indubitable facts--facts which, for
+the most part, were easily susceptible of proof, and which were
+eminently calculated to arouse public indignation against the harpies
+who reaped where they had sowed not, and who gathered where they had not
+strawed.
+
+These proceedings, as may readily be believed, rendered him
+inexpressibly obnoxious to the Executive, and to the horde of myrmidons
+who held office at their sufferance. But the cup of his transgressions
+was not yet full. His next proceeding filled it to overflowing. He
+addressed a series of thirty-one printed questions to prominent persons
+in different parts of the Province, asking for topographical and other
+information. The thirty-first question was so framed that, if truthfully
+replied to, it was certain to elicit facts which would form the
+groundwork of damnifying strictures on the principal abuses of the time.
+"What, in your opinion," asked Mr. Gourlay, "retards the improvement of
+your township in particular, or the Province in general?" Throughout the
+Home District the influence of the Compact was sufficient to prevent any
+replies from being returned to these queries. Elsewhere that influence
+was partial only, and many answers were received from other districts.
+The all but invariable reply to the thirty-first question attributed the
+slow development of the country to the Crown and Clergy Reserves. Mr.
+Gourlay did not attempt to conceal his intention of publishing the
+results of his investigations, and of circulating them all over Great
+Britain and Ireland. Having succeeded in arousing a good deal of popular
+enthusiasm, he proceeded to strike what he intended to be another
+damaging blow. Owing to his exertions, a convention was held at York,
+whereat he advocated a petition to the Imperial Parliament, praying for
+an investigation into the public affairs of Upper Canada. He also
+suggested the sending of deputies to England in support of the petition,
+and it is not improbable that such a course would eventually have been
+followed, but the petitioners were as yet not fully organized, and
+before any of their plans could be brought to maturity their champion's
+career of agitation received a sudden and, for the time, an effectual
+check.
+
+The oligarchs had taken alarm. If this man were permitted to go on as he
+had begun, there would soon be an end of the existing order of things,
+which they had so tremendous an interest in preserving. At any cost, and
+by whatever means, he must be suppressed. There must be a general and
+determined advance against him all along the line.
+
+The prime organizer of this most unrighteous crusade is believed to have
+been the Reverend Dr. John Strachan, Rector of York, member of the
+Executive Council, supreme director of the lay and ecclesiastical policy
+of the Church of England in Upper Canada, champion of the Clergy
+Reserves, and what not. It may seem a thankless task to write in strong
+depreciation of a man who, in his day and generation, was looked up to
+with reverence by a large and influential portion of the community, and
+whose memory is still warmly cherished by not a few. But truth is truth,
+and the simple fact of the matter is that Dr. Strachan did more to
+stifle freedom and retard progress in Upper Canada than any other man
+whose name figures in our history. His baneful influence made itself
+felt, directly or indirectly, in every one of the public offices.
+Wherever liberty of thought and expression, whether as affecting things
+spiritual or temporal, ventured to lift its head, there, bludgeon in
+hand, stood the great Protestant Pope, ready and eager to strike. It may
+perhaps be conceded that he acted according to his earnest convictions.
+So, doubtless, did Philip of Spain and Tomas de Torquemada. It is not
+going too far to say that Dr. Strachan was utterly incapable of seeing
+more than one side of any question involving the interests of himself
+and his church. When his cause was a just one, who so fond as he of
+appealing to the majesty of the law. When he wished to pervert the law
+to his own purposes, who so apt at enjoining a disregard therefor.[7]
+There is abundant reason for believing that he was the original
+instigator of the Gourlay prosecutions. They were at all events carried
+on by his satellites, and fostered by his fullest concurrence and
+approval. Their object was to drive Mr. Gourlay out of the country, and
+to this end it would appear that the Compact were prepared to go
+whatever lengths the necessities of the case might require. A criminal
+prosecution for libel was set on foot against the doomed victim of
+Executive malevolence, who was arrested and thrown into jail at
+Kingston, where he lay for some days. The trial took place on the 15th
+of August, 1818, when Mr. Attorney-General Robinson put forth the utmost
+power of his eloquence to secure a conviction. In vain. The prisoner
+conducted his own defence, and so clearly exposed the flimsiness of the
+indictment that the prosecution utterly failed. A second arrest on a
+similar charge resulted in another acquittal at Brockville. It was by
+this time manifest that no jury could be found subservient enough to
+become blind instruments of oppression. The alleged libel consisted of
+two paragraphs in a petition to the Prince Regent, drafted by Mr.
+Gourlay, approved of, printed and published by sixteen residents of
+Niagara District, six of whom were magistrates. These paragraphs
+contained a vivid but faithful picture of the abuses existing in the
+Crown Lands Department, and it would probably have been difficult to
+find a jury anywhere in Upper Canada, some members whereof had not had
+personal experience of those abuses. Having failed in two attempts to
+convict him of libel, Mr. Gourlay's foes hit on another and more
+effectual method of accomplishing his destruction.
+
+By a Provincial statute known as the Alien Act, passed in 1804,
+authority was given to certain officials to issue a warrant for the
+arrest of any person not having been an inhabitant of the Province for
+the preceding six months, who had not taken the oath of allegiance, and
+who had given reason for suspicion that he was "about to endeavour to
+alienate the minds of His Majesty's subjects of this Province from his
+person or government, or in anywise with a seditious intent to disturb
+the tranquillity thereof." In case the person so arrested failed to
+prove his innocence, he might be notified to depart this Province within
+a specified time, and if he failed so to depart he was liable to be
+imprisoned until he could be formally tried at the general jail
+delivery. If found guilty, upon trial, he was to be adjudged by the
+court to quit the Province, and if he still proved contumacious he was
+to be deemed guilty of felony, and to suffer death as a felon, without
+benefit of clergy. This statute, be it observed, was not passed at
+Westminster during the supremacy of the Plantagenets or the Tudors, but
+at York, Upper Canada, during the forty-fourth year of the reign of
+George the Third. More than one eminent authority has pronounced it an
+unconstitutional measure. There was, however, some show of justification
+for it at the time of its enactment, for the Province was then overrun
+by disloyal immigrants from Ireland and by republican immigrants from
+across the borders, many of whom tried to stir up discontent among the
+people, and were notoriously in favour of annexation to the United
+States.[8] It was against such persons that the Act had been levelled,
+and there had never been any question of attempting to apply it to
+anyone else. Now, however, it was pressed into requisition in order to
+compass the ruin of as loyal a subject as could have been found
+throughout the wide expanse of the British Empire; who had resided in
+Upper Canada for a continuous period of nearly eighteen months; who was
+no more an alien than the King upon the throne; and whose only real
+offence was that he would not stand calmly by while rapacious and
+dishonest placemen carried on their nefarious practices without protest.
+
+Among the various dignitaries authorized to put the law in motion, by
+the issue of a warrant under the Act, were the members of the
+Legislative and Executive Councils. William Dickson and William Claus,
+as has been seen, were members of the former body; and as such they had
+power over the liberty of anyone whose loyalty they thought fit to call
+in question. Dickson was a connection by marriage of Mr. Gourlay, and
+for some months after that gentleman's arrival in this Province had gone
+heart and hand with him in his schemes of reform. For Mr. Dickson then
+had a grievance of his own, arising out of the partial interdict of
+immigration from the United States which had been adopted after the War
+of 1812-15. He was the owner of an immense quantity of uncultivated
+land in the Province, including the township of Dumfries already
+mentioned, which he was desirous of selling to incoming settlers. The
+shutting out of United States immigrants tended to retard the progress
+of settlement and the sale of his property. His anger against the
+Administration had been hot and bitter, and he had even gone so far as
+to state publicly that he would rather live under the American than
+under the British Government. But he had managed to induce the Assembly
+to pass certain resolutions, recognizing the right of subjects of the
+United States to settle in Upper Canada. The restrictions being relaxed,
+his only cause of hostility to the Administration vanished, and he
+ceased to clamour against it. His sympathy with Mr. Gourlay's projects
+vanished into thin air. Those projects contemplated enquiry and reform.
+Dickson, having accomplished his own ends, desired no further reform;
+and as for enquiry, he had excellent reasons for burking it, as it would
+probably lead to the disclosure of certain reprehensible transactions on
+the part of himself and Claus, the Indian agent. He therefore presented
+a sudden change of front, and, so far from continuing to act with Mr.
+Gourlay, he became that unfortunate man's bitterest foe.
+
+How far Dickson's enmity was stimulated by coöperation with the leaders
+of the Compact party at York will probably never be known. That there
+was something more than a merely tacit understanding that Mr. Gourlay
+was to be got rid of is beyond question. But before any arrest could be
+effected under the Act of 1804 it was necessary that perjured testimony
+should be forthcoming. It was easily provided. On the 18th of December,
+1818, a secret consultation took place between Dickson and one Isaac
+Swayze, at the former's private abode. Swayze was a resident of the
+Niagara District, and the representative of the Fourth Riding of Lincoln
+in the Legislative Assembly, but was nevertheless a man of indifferent
+character, and so illiterate as to be barely able to write his name.
+During the Revolutionary War he had been a spy and "horse-provider" to
+the loyalist troops. More recently he had been chiefly known as one of
+the most bigoted and unprincipled of the Compact's minor satellites; a
+hanger-on who was ever ready to undertake any disreputable work which
+the Executive might have for him to do. He was a smooth-tongued
+hypocrite, who made extravagant professions of zeal for religion when he
+was in the society of religious people, but afterwards laughed at their
+credulity for believing him. "When electioneering," said he, "I pray
+with the Methodists." At other times he gained votes by threatening to
+bring down upon the electors the vengeance of the Executive, who, he
+averred, were specially desirous of having his services in the Assembly.
+Corruption can always find apt tools to do its bidding.
+
+   "Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye see;
+   And wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client still will be."
+
+Isaac Swayze was a veritable modern counterpart of the client Marcus,
+and when he gained votes by holding his patrons _in terrorem_ over the
+heads of the electors, he was merely echoing his ancient prototype:--
+
+   "I wait on Appius Claudius, I waited on his sire;
+   Let him who works the client wrong beware the patron's ire."
+
+His employers knew their man, and that he would not stick at a trifle to
+keep their favour. On the day after his secret interview with Dickson he
+proved his subordination to authority by committing wilful and
+deliberate perjury. He swore that Mr. Gourlay was an evil-minded and
+seditious person, who was endeavouring to raise a rebellion against the
+government of Upper Canada; that he, deponent, verily believed that said
+Gourlay had not been an inhabitant of the Province for six months, and
+had not taken the oath of allegiance.[9]
+
+On the strength of this sworn statement, Mr. Gourlay was arrested under
+the Alien Act of 1804, and carried before Dickson and Claus, both of
+whom were specially and personally interested in putting him to silence.
+The examination and hearing before them, which took place on the 21st of
+December, was a transparent mockery of justice. Dickson, Claus and
+Swayze, in common with nearly every one in Upper Canada, well knew that
+their victim had been resident in the Province for nearly three times
+the period specified in the Act. Dickson had been in constant and
+familiar intercourse with him for sixteen months. Claus had known him
+nearly as long. Swayze had conversed with him at York more than a year
+before, and had been acquainted with his proceedings from month to
+month--almost from week to week--during the entire interval. The charge
+of being an evil-minded and seditious person was too absurd to be
+seriously entertained for a moment by any one who knew Mr. Gourlay as
+intimately as Dickson had done for more than eight years.[10] As for his
+not having taken the oath of allegiance, it had never been required of
+him, and he was both able and willing to take it with a clear and honest
+conscience. But as matter of fact no one suspected his loyalty, and the
+charge against him was the veriest pretext that malice could invent.
+When he appeared before his judges, however, Messieurs Dickson and Claus
+professed to be dissatisfied with his defence, and alleged that his
+"words, actions, conduct and behaviour" had been such as to promote
+disaffection. They accordingly adjudged that he should leave the
+Province within ten days. A written order, signed by them, enjoining his
+departure, was delivered to him. "To have obeyed this order," writes Mr.
+Gourlay,[11] "would have proved ruinous to the business for which, at
+great expense, and with much trouble, I had qualified myself. It would
+have been a tacit acknowledgment of guilt, whereof I was unconscious. It
+would have been a surrender of the noblest British right; it would have
+been holding light my natural allegiance; it would have been a
+declaration that the Bill of Rights was a Bill of Wrongs. I resolved to
+endure any hardship rather than to submit voluntarily."
+
+He paid a heavy penalty for his disobedience. On the 4th of January,
+1819--the third day after the expiration of the period allowed him for
+departure--Dickson and Claus issued an order of commitment, under which
+he was arrested and lodged in Niagara jail, there to remain until the
+next sitting of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. His pugnacity was by
+this time fully aroused, and he determined to fight his ground inch by
+inch. After some delay, he caused himself to be taken before Chief
+Justice Powell, at York, under a writ of _habeas corpus_, for the
+purpose of being either discharged from custody or admitted to bail. The
+argument was heard on the 8th of February, when several persons of
+wealth and good social position presented themselves, and offered to
+become responsible to any amount for his appearance whenever called upon
+to stand his trial. The attorney who argued the cause on behalf of the
+prisoner presented three affidavits, made respectively by the Honourable
+Robert Hamilton, Peter Hamilton, and the prisoner himself, who, in order
+to render his position doubly unassailable, had meanwhile taken the oath
+of allegiance. In the first affidavit it was deposed that Mr. Gourlay
+had been domiciliated at Queenston for more than nine months, and that
+the deponent verily believed him to be a natural-born subject of Great
+Britain. By the second it appeared that deponent had known Mr. Gourlay
+in Britain, where he was respected, esteemed, and taken to be a British
+subject; "and that he is so"--thus ran the affidavit--"this deponent
+verily believes is notoriously true in this district." The prisoner's
+own affidavit set forth that he was a British subject; that he had taken
+the oath of allegiance, and that he had been an inhabitant of Upper
+Canada for more than a year prior to the date of the warrant first
+issued against him. There could hardly have been a clearer case. But the
+prisoner's enlargement at this time would have been a triumph for him,
+and would have made him a popular idol, which would not have comported
+with the policy of the Unholy Inquisition at the capital. He was
+remanded to jail, the Chief Justice indorsing judgment on the writ to
+the effect that the warrant of commitment appeared to be regular, and
+that the Act under which it was issued made no provision for bail or
+main-prize.
+
+When Mr. Gourlay was first placed in durance at Niagara he was possessed
+of robust health, a vigorous frame, a seemingly unconquerable will, and
+a perfervid enthusiasm for the cause of truth and justice. But his
+sufferings during the ensuing six months were of a nature well
+calculated to sap the health of the most robust, to rack the frame of an
+athlete, to tame the wildest enthusiasm, and to subjugate the strongest
+will. When we read of what the gentle and erudite John Fisher or the
+eloquent and upright Sir John Eliot underwent in the Tower for
+conscience sake, the heart's blood within us is stirred with righteous
+indignation. But we are calmed by the reflection that these things took
+place centuries ago, and in a far-distant country. In the case of Robert
+Gourlay we can lay no such flattering unction to our souls. His slow
+crucifixion was accomplished in our own land, and at a time well
+remembered by many persons now living among us. Some idea of what he
+passed through may be derived from his own words already quoted. Further
+light on the subject may be obtained from noting his demeanour when
+placed on trial, as the reader will presently have an opportunity of
+doing.
+
+For some months after his incarceration his fine state of health and
+exuberant animal spirits kept him from utterly breaking down. His whole
+nature was up in arms at the wrongs he had sustained, and his pugnacity
+asserted itself as far as his circumstances would admit of. He obtained
+the opinions of eminent English lawyers as to the legal aspect of his
+case. The unanimous opinion of counsel was that his imprisonment was
+wholly unjustifiable. Sir Arthur Piggott was clear that Chief Justice
+Powell should have discharged the prisoner when brought before him under
+the writ of _habeas corpus_, and that Dickson and Claus were liable to
+actions for false imprisonment. This opinion was acted upon, and
+proceedings were instituted against the two last-named personages. But
+the contest was too unequal. Each of the defendants obtained an order
+for security for costs, which security the plaintiff, being in
+confinement, and subject to various disabilities, was unable to furnish.
+The actions accordingly lapsed, and Dickson and Claus thus escaped all
+civil liability for their most reprehensible deeds.
+
+The thread of the narrative may now be resumed pretty nearly where it
+was dropped a few pages back. It was, as has been said, the 20th of
+August--nearly a year subsequent to the Kingston trial[12]--when the
+prisoner was finally placed in the dock to undergo the semblance,
+without the reality, of a judicial investigation into his conduct. He
+was himself firmly persuaded that the jury empanelled in his case was a
+packed one. We have no means of knowing all the circumstances whereby he
+was led to this conclusion, but the idea is not in itself inherently
+improbable. In those days, and for long after, no man tried in Upper
+Canada for anything savouring of radicalism in politics could hope to
+receive fair play. In Gourlay's case there were one or two suspicious
+features which, to say the least, require explanation. The custom
+ordinarily adopted by the sheriff, in selecting jurymen, was to draw
+them in rotation from the various townships in the district. "In my
+case," says Mr. Gourlay, "it was said that he had varied his course; and
+not this only, but, instead of drawing from a square space of country,
+he chose a line of nearly twenty miles, along which it was well known
+that there were the greatest number of people prejudiced and influenced
+against me."[13] Mr. Gourlay further declares that it was observed by
+people in court that in the glass containing the folded transcripts from
+the jury-list some of the folded papers were distinctly set apart, so as
+to admit of their being drawn, apparently with fairness, in the ordinary
+manner. These papers so set apart from the rest, as Mr. Gourlay informs
+his readers, were "caught hold of" as the twelve which should decide his
+fate. The names of the jurors, which, so far as I am aware, have not
+hitherto appeared in print, are worthy of preservation. They were
+William Pew, John Grier, William Servos, James B. Jones, Ralfe M. Long,
+David Bastedo, John C. Ball, John Milton, James Lundy, William Powers,
+Peter M. Ball and John Holmes.
+
+The personal appearance of the prisoner had undergone a woful change
+during his confinement. Had his own wife seen him at that moment it is
+doubtful whether she would have recognized her lord. Could it be
+possible that that frail, tottering, wasted form, and that blanched,
+sunken-eyed, imbecile-looking countenance were all that were left of the
+once formidable Robert Gourlay? The sight was one which might have moved
+his bitterest enemy to tears. His clothing, a world too wide for so
+shrunken a tenant, hung sloppy and slovenly about him, and it was
+remarked by a spectator that he had aged fully ten years during the six
+months that had elapsed since his journey to York in the previous
+February. His limbs seemed too weak to support him where he stood, and
+as he leaned with his hands upon the rail in front of him his fingers
+twitched nervously, while his whole frame visibly trembled. The saddest
+change of all had been wrought in his once fine eyes. They were of light
+grey, and their ordinary expression had been more sharp and piercing
+than is commonly found in eyes of that colour. They had been clear and
+keen, and expressive of an active, vigorous brain behind them. At
+present they were wandering, weak and watery, altogether lacking in
+lustre or expression. They told their sad tale with piteous brevity. The
+brain was active and vigorous no longer, or, if still active, was so to
+no definite purpose. The spark of reason was for the time quenched
+within him. His oratory and his writings were no longer to be dreaded.
+The man whose large presence had once carried about with it unmistakable
+evidences of physical and mental power had been reduced to a physical
+and mental wreck. No man in that closely-packed court-room was now more
+harmless than he. The Compact had indeed set an indelible mark upon
+him--a mark which he was to carry to his grave, for during the
+forty-four years of life that remained to him he was never again the
+Robert Gourlay of old, and was subject to periodical seasons of mental
+aberration.
+
+And yet, as he stood there trembling and distraught, with that sea of
+faces turned upon him, he was not altogether without some glimmering of
+reason. He was at least passively conscious, like one in a troubled
+dream, of what was going on around him. He realized, in a misty, dazed
+sort of fashion that he was on his trial; but, cudgel his memory how he
+would, he could not recall the nature of his alleged offence. The fact
+is that, though no stimulant had passed his lips, he was in a state that
+can only be characterized as one of intoxication. We know, on undoubted
+authority, that very emotional persons are sometimes intoxicated by a
+plate of soup, and that invalids have become tipsy upon eating their
+first beefsteak after convalescence. Mr. Gourlay was endowed with an
+enthusiastic, exuberant nature, which required to be kept in subjection
+by abundant exercise. Up to the time of his imprisonment he had led an
+active out-of-door life, whereby the demon of nervousness within him had
+been kept at bay. But long-continued confinement in a close cell,
+deprivation of fresh air and suitable exercise, had hindered his
+exuberance from finding vent. His mind had been thrown back upon
+itself. He had not been permitted to confer with his friends, except
+under such restrictions as made converse intolerable. He had been kept
+in such a state of nervous tension that he had had no appetite, and had
+eaten scarcely any food. His sleep had been broken by mental discomfort,
+and he had sometimes lain the whole night through without a minute's
+unconsciousness. What wonder that his flesh had sunk away from his
+bones, and that his frame had lost its elasticity! For some hours every
+day he had lain prostrate on the bed in his cell, in a state of
+feebleness pitiful to behold, unable to speak or move, and hardly able
+to breathe. "One morning," he writes, "while gasping for breath, I
+besought the gaoler to let me have more air, by throwing up the window.
+'You are no gentleman,' said he; 'you gave that letter[14] out of the
+window, and I will come presently to nail it down.' Happily a friend
+soon after called upon me, and through his interference the window was
+put up. The brutal gaoler had never before been uncivil to me ... but
+there is a spirit throughout animal nature, brute and human, to oppress
+in proportion as opportunity is safe, and the object defenceless. The
+wounded stag, and the close prisoner of a Provincial Government,
+experience similar treatment."[15]
+
+The summer heat, as before mentioned, had been excessive. No rain had
+fallen for weeks until just before the opening of the assizes, when
+there had been three days of damp, cool weather. During these three days
+the prisoner's strength had rallied wonderfully, and he had been able to
+prepare a written defence, as well as a written protest against the
+legality of his trial, in case of a hostile verdict. But the exertion
+had been too much for him in his enfeebled condition, and, as though to
+add to his miseries, the heat had become more intolerable than before.
+He had not known how utterly his nerves were shattered until his case
+had been called for trial, and he had been placed in the prisoners'
+dock. Hot and stifling as was the air of the court-room, it was balm
+itself when compared with the vitiated element which he had long been
+forced to breathe. The stimulus was too great, and he was no longer
+master of himself. To quote his own words, he became rampant with the
+fresh air, and was reduced to imbecility at the very moment when he
+specially needed strength, patience and recollection. Such was his
+condition when Mr. Attorney-General rose from his seat and proceeded to
+lay bare the prisoner's unspeakable enormities. It had been determined
+that no attempt should be made to convict him of sedition, and that the
+only charge to be pressed against him should be his refusal to leave the
+Province. The indictment, however, was read and commented upon,
+doubtless for the purpose of influencing the minds of the audience. It
+charged, with wearisome iteration and reiteration, that he, the said
+Robert Gourlay, being a seditious and ill-disposed person, and
+contriving and maliciously intending the peace and tranquillity of our
+lord the King within the Province of Upper Canada to disquiet and
+disturb, and to excite discontent and sedition among his Majesty's liege
+subjects of this Province--and so forth, and so forth, to the end of the
+tedious and tautological chapter. The patriotic and disinterested
+conduct of Dickson and Claus, in performing the imperative but
+unpleasant duty of committing their personal friend to jail, lest he
+should undermine the loyalty of the people, was commented upon with
+periphrastic eloquence. When the official inquiry was put to the
+prisoner: "How say you, Robert Gourlay, are you guilty or not guilty?"
+he instinctively replied "Not guilty." Then came the next query: "Are
+you ready for your trial?" Ready for his trial, indeed! when his
+helpless condition was apparent to everybody who could catch a glimpse
+of his tottering frame and his vacant, expressionless face. The
+unmeaning sound which issued from his lips was taken for an affirmative,
+and the farce of an impartial investigation proceeded with.
+
+During the whole of these proceedings the prisoner stood like one amazed
+and confounded; as one who gropes blindly in the dark for what he cannot
+find. From the various hints scattered here and there throughout his
+numerous writings, we are able to form some idea of what he underwent
+during that trying ordeal. His imagination had been rendered more lively
+by weakness and prostration of body, and he was so stimulated by the
+change of air from his cell to the court-room that his sensations were
+chiefly those of a vague and unreasoning delight--delight at the
+prospect of freedom; delight at the prospect of once more enjoying the
+luxury of heaven's sunlight unimpeded by the bars of a prison cell; of
+running rampant through the land, and feeling upon his sunken cheeks the
+deliciously invigorating air of the open fields. His high spirit had
+been effectually tamed by that rigid, excruciating torture of close
+confinement during the dog days, with no other companion than despair.
+By this time personal liberty and fresh air seemed to him the only
+things greatly to be desired. He was cognizant of a sensation of
+thankfulness that his trial had come on at last, even though it should
+result in his banishment. He rejoiced that he should even thus be set at
+liberty from his horrible situation.[16] He longed to feel the tide of
+human life ebbing and flowing around him, and to feel that he himself
+was not a mere drone in the hive. During the progress of the trial,
+though he was oblivious of most that was going on in the court-room,
+memory and fancy were keenly alert, and he rapidly lived over again many
+episodes of his past life. The dead and gone years rose up before him
+like the scenes of a rapidly-shifting panorama, even as the past is said
+to arise before the mental vision of those lying on beds of pain, just
+before the great mystery of the grave is unfolded to their view.
+Subjects and scenes long forgotten or seldom remembered presented
+themselves. There was the little Fifeshire school, with its umbrageous
+playground, where he had been a merry laughing lad, and where Dominie
+Angus had given him his first taste of ferule and Fotherup. There was
+the patched portrait of Cardinal Beaton, in St. Mary's College, at which
+he and his friend John Dean had been wont to gaze with rapt admiration
+in the old days left so far behind. There was that odd adventure among
+the Mendip Hills, during his professional peregrination through
+Somersetshire more than a dozen years before, and upon which he could
+not remember that he had bestowed a single thought since his arrival in
+Canada. There, too, was the drunken type-setter from Bristol, who had
+taught him the technical marks to be used in making corrections for the
+press, and whom he had neither seen nor thought of since the publication
+of his pamphlet in which be had portrayed the sufferings of Bet Bennam
+and Mary Bacon. Who shall say what other scenes, sad or mirthful,
+presented themselves among his "thick-coming fancies"? Possibly he
+recalled the high hopes of his boyhood, when he thirsted to better the
+condition of the poor, and was almost persuaded that he had been sent
+into the world expressly to guard their interests against the exactions
+of grasping landlords. Visions, too, may have arisen before him of his
+beautiful Wiltshire farm, where the modest daisies peeped above the
+grass, and the joyous lark sang from the meadow; where he had once been
+so happy in the companionship of his fond wife and little ones, who at
+this moment waited in longing expectation for tidings from the absent
+husband and father. Perchance also he called to mind, at that crisis,
+his little dead daughter, who had blossomed and faded among the green
+glades of Wily, and over whose grave the parson of the parish had
+refused to read the services of the Church.[17] The poor babe had died
+unchristened, and under such circumstances the rubric forbade the
+solemnization of funeral rites.
+
+From all such musings he was recalled by the voice of Chief Justice
+Powell, demanding if he had aught to say ere the sentence of the court
+should be pronounced upon him. The sentence of the court! For the best
+part of two hours he had been wool-gathering, and the words beat upon
+his brain without arousing any just appreciation of their significance.
+He now once more awoke to the fact that he was on his trial, but he
+could not grasp the potentialities of his situation, nor could he for
+the life of him recall the precise nature of the offence with which he
+had been charged. He did, however, realize that the jury had returned a
+verdict to the effect that he had been guilty of refusing to leave the
+Province, pursuant to the order served upon him. By a desperate effort
+he managed to rally his senses sufficiently to remember that he had been
+accused of being a seditious person, though whether the accusation had
+been made yesterday, or the day before, or half a century ago, he was
+wholly unaware. Turning towards the jury-box, he enquired of the nearest
+occupant whether he had been found guilty of sedition. Suddenly it
+flashed across him that he had prepared a defence, together with a
+written protest against the anticipated verdict. But by no mental
+exertion of which he was capable could he remember what he had done
+with the defence, nor could he call to mind the word "protest," although
+at that moment he had the written one in his pocket. After a moment's
+struggle to remember what he wished to say, he found himself hopelessly
+befogged, and abandoned the attempt. Then, to the amazement of all who
+heard him, he burst out into a loud, strident peal of unmeaning,
+maniacal laughter--laughter which had no spice of merriment in it, and
+which was a mere spontaneous effort of nature to relieve the strain upon
+the shattered nerves. Bench, bar, jury and spectators stared aghast. Such
+laughter sounded not only incongruous, but sinister, ominous. It was
+suggestive of the expiring wail of a lost soul. It was more eloquent
+than any mere words could have been, and spoke with most miraculous
+organ. Over more than one heart there crept a sort of premonition that a
+dread reckoning must sometime arrive for that day's work: that Eternal
+Justice would sooner or later exact a fit penalty for the cruel
+perversion of right which was then and there being consummated. It would
+be interesting to know what, at that particular moment, were the
+innermost sensations of William Dickson and William Claus, both of whom
+sat within a few feet of their victim, and both of whom had repeatedly
+received offices of kindness at his hands.
+
+Strange to say, the miserable man's memory was merely suspended, and he
+afterwards recalled with much clearness the thoughts and reflections
+which passed through his mind during that delirium of more than two
+hours. He even remembered the senseless bray of laughter which, to the
+sympathetic mind, is not the least impressive feature of that iniquitous
+trial. His overwrought nerves being temporarily relieved by the
+cachinnation, he regained for a few minutes some measure of composure
+and sanity. With the return of reason came a returning sense of
+injustice and oppression. He made a brief but ineffectual attempt to
+argue the matter with the Chief Justice, who informed him that the facts
+had been dealt with by the jury, and that he could be permitted to speak
+only on questions of law. The sentence of the Court was then pronounced.
+It was to the effect that the prisoner must quit the Province within
+twenty-four hours. He was reminded of the risk he would run in the event
+of his presuming to disobey, or to return to Upper Canada after his
+departure therefrom. He would be liable, according to the words of the
+Act of 1804, to suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy. The
+Chief Justice finally proceeded to read him a severe lecture upon his
+past course since his arrival in Canada, and furthermore to give him
+some excellent advice. He informed him that in this country the law is
+supreme; that no man can be permitted to run counter to it with
+impunity; that those who administer the law should be no respecters of
+persons; that justice is even-handed, and metes out impartially to the
+poor man and the rich. He advised him to turn his great abilities to
+practical account, whereby he would no doubt win happiness and
+distinction. "Perhaps," says George Eliot, "some of the most terrible
+irony of the human lot is to hear a deep truth uttered by lips that have
+no right to it." Poor Gourlay was conscious of some feeling of this sort
+when he heard such truths proclaimed from such lips. To his
+morbidly-sensitive nature, such irony seemed an aggravation of all he
+had endured. To think that, after such experiences as had fallen to his
+share, a Family Compact judge should gravely inform him that in Upper
+Canada the administrators of the law should be no respecters of persons!
+that justice is even-handed! To think that such an one should presume to
+advise him to become practical, with a view to wealth and happiness! It
+was like the adulterous woman who, on eloping with her paramour, wrote
+to her husband enjoining him to be virtuous if he would be happy. The
+incongruity struck the prisoner so forcibly that for a moment he was on
+the verge of another explosion of sardonic laughter. Before leaving the
+dock he made one last attempt to draw attention to the treatment he had
+sustained while in prison. By way of heightening the effect of his
+narration, he informed the Court that his letters had been suppressed by
+the sheriff:[18] that while his enemies had been allowed to fill the
+newspapers with lying diatribes against him, and to prejudice the public
+mind in view of his impending trial, his own letters to the Niagara
+_Spectator_ had been rigidly withheld from the light of day, and this
+by official interference. Chief Justice Powell put the cap-sheaf upon
+the pinnacle of absurdity by informing him that if he chose he might
+prosecute the sheriff. Prosecute the sheriff! when he had just been
+sentenced by the Chief Justice himself to leave the Province within
+twenty-four hours, and when he was liable to the last penalty of the law
+in case of his return to prosecute!
+
+The trial was ended, and--blissful thought!--for the ensuing twenty-four
+hours he was free to come and go whithersoever he would. He was taken in
+charge by his friends the Hamiltons, and spent the night in their house
+at Queenston. Next day--Saturday, the 21st of August--he obeyed the
+mandate of the law, and shook from his feet the parched dust of Upper
+Canadian soil. His mental condition was far from satisfactory, but he
+would brook no interference with his actions, even from his best
+friends. The feeling uppermost in his bosom was a delicious sense of
+being at large, with no one to shut the cell door upon him, or otherwise
+to control his actions. He felt like one recalled to life. The unhappy
+man was well aware that his brain was weak, but he also knew that he was
+not what is ordinarily understood as insane. Like Baldassarre, he
+carried within him that piteous stamp of sanity, the clear consciousness
+of shattered faculties. His feebleness was as patent to himself as to
+others. He knew that he was the mere wreck of what he had once been, and
+he knew further that his mental and bodily ruin was due to the triumph
+of tyranny and injustice. Still, he was, for the moment, happy. There
+was sunshine in his heart, and gladness in his eye. Having crossed the
+Niagara river, he knew that he was beyond the material grasp of those
+whose baneful shadow was nevertheless destined to darken the rest of his
+life. "I thanked God," he writes, several years afterwards, "as I set my
+first foot on the American shore, that I trod on a land of freedom. The
+flow of animal spirits carried me along for more than two miles in
+triumphant disgust. It carried me beyond my strength, till, staggering
+by the side of the road, I sunk down, almost lifeless, among the bushes,
+and awoke from my dream to a state of sensibility and horror past all
+power of description. If at my trial, and so long after it, I was
+callous to feeling; if I was blind to objects around me, and regardless
+of consequences, the scenes I had passed through were now too visible:
+my senses were too keen; my feelings too acute. Before, all was frozen
+and rigid; now, extreme relaxation resigned me to the torture of a
+distracted mind, feeble, doubting, and irresolute. In fact, my nervous
+system had undergone a most violent change; and, to this hour, the
+effects are permanent: to this hour, with every effort and every
+appliance, my natural tone of health and vigour cannot be regained."[19]
+
+One of the bitterest reflections which forced itself upon him was that
+he, a man of unimpeachable loyalty, had been banished--"flung out like a
+spoilt jelly,"[20] under a statute which had been passed to guard
+against the machinations of aliens and traitors. "Banishment" was to him
+a word replete with repulsive and disgraceful associations. He liked it
+no better than did the sweet rose of the Capulets.
+
+   "Banished: that one word--_banished_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   There is no end, no limit, measure, bound,
+   In that word's death."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the 27th of August, precisely a week after the trial above described,
+a high and mighty English nobleman who was for the time domiciled in
+Canada underwent a more terrible experience than ever fell to the lot of
+Robert Gourlay. He was travelling at the time through a part of the
+county of Carleton, and while wandering through the woods, attended by
+several companions, he found himself exceedingly unwell. His spirits
+were depressed, and he was dominated by what seemed an unaccountable
+dread of water. His valet had noticed that for a day or two previously
+he had shrunk from performing his customary ablutions, and had cleaned
+his hands and face by the application of a damp towel. On approaching
+within a few yards of a forest stream he was seized by violent spasms.
+By a desperate resolution he forced himself to take his seat in a canoe
+which had been provided, but the little craft had not proceeded many
+yards ere he was seized by a fresh paroxysm, and in a frenzied tone
+ordered the boatman to land him on the nearest bank. The order was
+promptly obeyed, and he had no sooner escaped from the boat than he ran
+frantically into the depths of the wood. He was pursued and overtaken by
+his companions, who found him foaming at the mouth and raving mad. They
+secured him until the paroxysm had spent itself, when they conveyed him
+to a neighbouring shanty. The sufferer, at his own request, was soon
+after removed to an adjoining barn, where he said he should be more
+comfortable than in the shanty, as it was _further from the water_.
+Throughout the rest of the day and ensuing night he was subject to
+repeated returns of the paroxysms, during which he suffered untold
+agonies. It was evident to himself and those about him that he was
+afflicted by the most terrible of all maladies to which humanity is
+subject--hydrophobia. He had been bitten by a tame fox a few weeks
+before, and the deadly rabies had ever since been rankling in his
+system. He realized that he must die, and the instincts of his race--he
+was a remote by-blow of royalty--taught him to make an ending in a
+manner becoming a gentleman. Towards evening he consented to be taken
+back to the shanty, where a bed had been prepared for him. Except while
+the paroxysms were upon him, he was perfectly calm and collected, and
+gave his last sad directions to a friend who stood by his side. About
+eight o'clock on the morning of the 28th the death-agony came upon him,
+and his excruciating tortures were at an end.
+
+Thus passed away Charles Gordon Lennox, Fourth Duke of Richmond, Earl of
+March and Baron Settrington in the peerage of England; Duke of Lennox,
+Earl of Darnley and Baron Methuen in the peerage of Scotland; Duc
+d'Aubigny in France, Governor-General of Canada, lord of Halnaker,
+Goodwood and West Hampnett. There was, as has been above hinted, a bar
+sinister in his escutcheon, for he was descended from King Charles the
+Second and the fair and frail Frenchwoman Louise Renée de Querouaille,
+who was commonly known among Englishmen of her day as Madam Carwell.
+This lady, who was probably the least bad of the unlicensed prostitutes
+of Charles's seraglio at Whitehall, was for her many virtues created
+Duchess of Portsmouth. Her descendants, like those of Nell Gwynn and the
+rest of that frail sisterhood, are reckoned among the great ones of the
+earth. The Duke whose melancholy fate has just been chronicled was the
+father of Lady Sarah, spouse of Sir Peregrine Maitland,
+Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Was there any connection between these two tragical events: the trial of
+Robert Gourlay and the death of the Duke of Richmond? Mr. Gourlay
+evidently leaned to the belief that there was.[21] The Duke and his
+son-in-law had passed through Niagara during the hot weather of July,
+while the victim of Family Compact villainy was gradually having his
+health and reason tortured out of him in the jail at that place. He was
+of opinion that the two distinguished visitors should have exercised
+their prerogative by setting him at liberty. This, of course, was an
+altogether unreasonable belief. His Grace was not at all likely to
+interfere in the matter, and as for Sir Peregrine, he was completely in
+the hands of Mr. Gourlay's enemies. The belief, however, is worth
+recording, as exhibiting the extent to which Mr. Gourlay's persecution
+continued to prey upon his mind, even after the lapse of years, and when
+he was in as good health as he ever regained.
+
+It was deemed advisable that Mr. Gourlay's case should be a perpetual
+warning to any and every person who might thereafter dare to tread in
+his venturesome footsteps. Accordingly, as has been seen, he had to
+drink the cup of mortification to the very dregs. And, by way of
+deterring public writers from aiding and abetting any such pestilent
+innovators for the future, it was determined that a notable example
+should be made of the editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, who had dared
+to side with the oppressed against the oppressor, and had published some
+of Mr. Gourlay's attacks upon the abuses of the time. His name was
+Bartemus Ferguson, and he had on several occasions manifested his
+sympathy with projects of reform. The discipline inflicted upon him was
+swift and severe. He was seized while in bed, in the middle of the
+night, a hundred and fifty miles from home, conveyed to jail at Niagara,
+and thence to York, where he was detained in prison for some days out of
+the reach of friends to bail him. He was tried for sedition at the
+Niagara assizes a day or two before Mr. Gourlay. In order that public
+journalists of the present day may note in what comparatively pleasant
+places their lines have fallen, I transcribe the sentence of the court,
+which was as follows:--"Therefore it is considered by the said court
+here that the said Bartemus Ferguson do pay a fine to our said lord the
+King of fifty pounds of lawful money of Upper Canada: That he, the said
+Bartemus Ferguson, be imprisoned in the common jail of the District of
+Niagara for the space of eighteen calendar months, to be computed from
+the eighth day of November, in the sixtieth year of the reign of our
+said lord the King: that in the course of the first month of the said
+eighteen months he do stand in the public pillory one hour, between the
+hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and two o'clock in the afternoon:
+and that at the expiration of the said imprisonment he do give security
+for his good behaviour for the term of seven years: he the said Bartemus
+Ferguson in the sum of five hundred pounds, and two sureties in the sum
+of two hundred and fifty pounds each; and further, that he, the said
+Bartemus Ferguson, do remain imprisoned in the said jail until the
+aforesaid fine be paid and security given."
+
+The composition for which the editor was thus held to so stern an
+account was a letter written by Mr. Gourlay, and signed by his name,
+published in the _Spectator_ during the editor's absence from home, and
+without his knowledge. It animadverted pretty sharply on the
+Administration of the day. In the jingling and jangling phraseology of
+the indictment, it was calculated to "detract, scandalize, and vilify
+His Grace Charles Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, Captain-General
+and Governor in and over the Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada, Nova
+Scotia and New Brunswick and their dependencies; and to scandalize and
+vilify Sir Peregrine Maitland, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable
+Military Order of the Bath, His Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor of this
+Province of Upper Canada." Certain public officials, not specifically
+alluded to by name, were referred to as fools and sycophants. But the
+letter did not contain a syllable which was not literally true, and was
+mildness itself when compared with letters and articles which are
+constantly published with impunity in newspapers of all shades of
+political opinion in these present times. It appears that, upon the
+humble and unequivocal submission of the culprit, some of the most
+severe penalties imposed by the court were remitted, and that he was
+erelong allowed to resume his business;[22] but all enthusiasm for the
+public good had meanwhile been crushed out of him, and he became one
+more added to the list of subservient tools which the Executive always
+managed to have at their control. Such were the glories of a free press
+in enlightened Upper Canada sixty-six years ago. Such were the "good old
+times" which our grandfathers are never weary of belauding to the echo.
+How bright are the hues of retrospection! But for us of the present
+generation, let us be thankful to the Giver of all Good that such brave
+old times are long past, and that they can never return. Let them go;
+but surely it is too much to expect us to pronounce a benison upon their
+dead and departed dry bones.
+
+Even before the commencement of proceedings against Mr. Gourlay under
+the Alien Act, his conduct had furnished a pretext to those in authority
+for striking a heavy blow against freedom of speech and action. The
+holding of conventions, whereat meddlesome persons of the Gourlay stamp
+might air their grievances and agitate for investigations into public
+abuses, was a thing not to be tolerated in Upper Canada. Upon the
+assembling of the Legislature at York, in October, 1818, the
+Lieutenant-Governor, in his opening Speech, hinted at a law to prevent
+the holding of such meetings; and in the course of the ensuing session a
+Bill to effect that object was introduced into the Assembly by Mr. Jonas
+Jones, member for Grenville. The Bill was supported by twelve out of the
+thirteen members present, and was speedily passed into law; but, as will
+hereafter be seen, it was not destined to a long life.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After a brief delay in the State of New York, Mr. Gourlay repaired to
+Boston, and thence took ship for Liverpool. On a subsequent page we
+shall catch one more brief glimpse of him, but with that exception the
+present work has no further concern with his chequered existence. He
+will be referred to from time to time, but only incidentally, and for
+purposes of illustration. Those who may feel sufficient interest in him
+to follow his fortunes and misfortunes to the bitter end, will find some
+account of them in the authority quoted below.[23]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Not, however, his _immediate_ judicial successor. Mr.--afterwards
+Sir William--Campbell became Chief Justice in 1825, and Mr. Robinson's
+succession did not take place until four years later.
+
+[2] "Upon my soul, you mustn't come into the place saying you want to
+know, you know! You have no right to come this sort of move!"--_Little
+Dorrit._
+
+[3] For a much more comprehensive account of Mr. Gourlay's life than the
+one here given, the reader is referred to a sketch by the author of this
+work in _The Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. III., pp. 240-256.
+
+[4] More than half a century later the venerable Doctor thus wrote to
+his old school-fellow: "... I received your interesting letter ... with
+no slight emotion of kindness and respect, having ever regarded you as
+one of the ablest of my fellow-students at St. Andrews; and who, if
+human life had not been the lottery it is, would have earned by his
+talents, and merited by his friendly disposition, a place of high and
+honourable distinction in society."
+
+[5] The following observations, written concerning Mr. Young by Mr.
+Gourlay many years afterwards, contain, so far as they go, a singularly
+accurate portraiture of the Banished Briton himself:--"He was an
+enthusiast, and of course honest: he was well educated, and a gentleman.
+In all his voluminous writings a mean sentiment is not to be found. His
+habit of making free with people's names, and taking liberties with
+their writings, arose from an uncontrollable ardour in the cause of
+improvement.... His inclination to accumulate crude and undigested
+information, sufficiently evinced in some of his tours, had their full
+scope: he then lost himself, and bewildered others, in the confusion of
+detail. I question if he ever had the power of correct abstract
+reasoning. His imagination was too busy for it: his eye was too
+ravenous, devouring all within its reach."--_General Introduction to
+Statistical Account of Upper Canada_; p. xcvii.
+
+[6] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. III., p. 241.
+
+[7] _Ex. gr._:--"The law! the law!" impatiently exclaimed the Reverend
+Doctor, in his most strident vernacular, when the question of Barnabas
+Bidwell's expulsion from the Assembly was under discussion in his
+hearing--"Never mind the law; toorn him oot, toorn him oot."
+
+[8] "The local situation of Upper Canada exposes it to the inroad of
+aliens of all nations, who, having no tie of allegiance or affection to
+Britain, may thence be suspected of evil designs; and for that reason
+terrors may be held out to keep them at a distance; but for British
+subjects to be suspected and made liable to penalties on mere suspicion,
+is contrary at once to nature and the spirit of our constitution. It is
+more especially absurd when we consider that the law was expressly made
+for _their_ protection."--_General Introduction to Statistical Account
+of Upper Canada,_ p. lxviii.
+
+[9] Seven or eight years after this time Swayze narrowly escaped
+prosecution for the murder of Captain William Morgan, who is presumed to
+have been slain for his threatened disclosure of the Masonic Ritual.
+Swayze openly boasted that he had been concerned in the abduction of
+Morgan, and in the execution of Masonic vengeance upon him. He professed
+to be able to indicate the precise spot where the body was buried--which
+spot, he declared, was not far from the bottom of his garden. Upon
+investigation these vainglorious boastings proved to be utterly without
+any foundation in fact.
+
+[10] Dickson had originally made Gourlay's acquaintance in 1810, when he
+visited and spent a week with him at his farm in Wiltshire. See
+Gourlay's _Statistical Account of Upper Canada,_ Vol. 2, p. 494.
+
+[11] _General Introduction to Statistical Account of Upper Canada_, p.
+ix.
+
+[12] In these times there was but one jail delivery per annum in Upper
+Canada.
+
+[13] _Statistical Account_, Vol. II., p. 342. In a note to p. xv. of the
+_General Introduction_, Mr. Gourlay says further: "The jury in this case
+was notoriously packed. To guard against the effects of this as much as
+possible, I had, in the expectation of trial for libel, obtained lists
+of inimical jurymen, and had people willing to appear in court to swear
+that many of them had prejudged me openly, in the rancour of party
+dispute. These lists were handed to me through the door, before and
+during the assizes; but all caution and care forsook me in the time of
+need."
+
+[14] Referring to a letter written to attract sympathy to the case of
+the editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, who had been imprisoned and
+shamefully abused for publishing several of Mr. Gourlay's criticisms.
+Some account of the persecution to which this gentleman was subjected
+will be found on a future page.
+
+[15] _Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, pp. 393, 394.
+
+[16] _General Introduction_, p. xv.
+
+[17] _General Introduction_, pp. ccviii., ccix., and note.
+
+[18] The sheriff was Thomas Merritt, father of the gentleman who
+afterwards became the Hon. William Hamilton Merritt, to whose
+enterprise, more than to that of any other man, we owe the Welland
+Canal. It is right to add that most of the subordinate duties of the
+office of sheriff were discharged by an underling, and that Thomas
+Merritt may have been personally free from blame in respect of Mr.
+Gourlay. Assuming him to have been blamable, his son, the Hon. W. H.
+Merritt, in after days, did his utmost to atone for it by espousing Mr.
+Gourlay's cause in the Canadian Assembly, as will be seen by reference
+to the Parliamentary debates of 1856, 1857 and 1858.
+
+[19] _Statistical Account_, Vol. II., pp. 400, 401.
+
+[20] Ib., p. 401.
+
+[21] Mr. Gourlay was in error as to the date of the Duke's death. He
+represents him as "writhing in agony at the self same hour," and as
+dying on the same day when he, Mr. Gourlay, crossed over into the United
+States.--_Statistical Account_, vol. 2, p. 401. He was astray by exactly
+a week. By reference to the precept of the court, I find that Mr.
+Gourlay's trial took place on the day specified in the text--Friday, the
+20th of August. He left the Province on the following day--Saturday, the
+21st. The Duke's death took place on Saturday, the 28th.
+
+It may perhaps be as well for me to refer here to a story which seems to
+have obtained some currency, to the effect that the Duke of Richmond's
+death was due, not to hydrophobia, but to delirium tremens. There is not
+the shadow of truth in the story. The evidence as to the Duke's having
+been bitten at Sorel by a tame fox; as to his showing the healed wound
+on his thumb several weeks afterwards; as to his dread of water during
+the day before his death, and as to all the circumstances attending that
+tragical event, is as clear as evidence can very well be. Moreover, his
+habits were by no means such as to lead to _mania a potu_. He was a _bon
+vivant_, but, so far as I have been able to ascertain, he did not drink
+to excess, and was always master of such brains as he possessed. His end
+was one which his family might honestly mourn, and there was little in
+his life, nothing in his death, of which they had any cause to feel
+ashamed.
+
+[22] "Major-General" D. McLeod, in his "History of the Canadian
+Insurrection," p. 75, incorrectly states that Ferguson "died in jail
+from extremely cruel usage."
+
+[23] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. III., pp. 240-256.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+A BILL OF PARTICULARS.
+
+
+The course of bitter persecution sustained by Mr. Gourlay was really the
+first remote germ of the Upper Canadian Rebellion. In making this
+statement I would not be understood as asserting that Gourlay was the
+first person to set himself up in opposition to authority in the
+Province, or even that he was the first victim of Executive tyranny.
+There had been more or less of dissatisfaction at the selfish and
+one-sided policy of the Administration ever since shortly after the
+departure of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in 1796. Between that date and
+Mr. Gourlay's arrival in the Province several personages of some local
+note had paid heavy penalties for daring to have opinions of their own.
+Mr. Wyatt, the Surveyor-General, had been dismissed from office because
+he had presumed to point out certain official irregularities, and
+because he would not betray the trust reposed in him. Joseph Willcocks
+had been goaded into treason by a long course of persecution. Judge
+Thorpe had been driven from the country quite as effectually as Mr.
+Gourlay, for no other reason than that he had persisted in holding up
+official corruption to the public gaze. But none of these manifestations
+of "the oppressor's wrath, the proud man's contumely," had taken so deep
+a hold upon the public mind as did the case of Mr. Gourlay. The injuries
+inflicted upon him had been so cruel, the perversion of justice so vile,
+that the public conscience received a shock from which it did not
+recover during the existing generation. For the first time in Upper
+Canada's history signs of an organized Opposition began to appear upon
+the floor of the Assembly. Thenceforward the antagonism between the two
+parties grew in intensity from year to year. In process of time the
+Opposition frequently became the controlling power in the House. At a
+later stage of its development it divided into two parts. One of these
+constituted the moderate Reform Party of the Province. The other was
+made up of the advanced Radical element, whence emanated the Rebellion
+which forms the especial subject of the present work. All of which will
+hereafter be narrated with greater amplitude of detail.
+
+It has been intimated that traces of dissatisfaction began to be
+apparent soon after Governor Simcoe's time. Upon his demission of
+authority the direction of affairs devolved upon the Honourable Peter
+Russell, as senior member of the Executive Council; and that gentleman
+had not been long in authority before murmurs began to be heard about
+the partial and defective administration of the important department of
+Crown Lands. There were comparatively few men in the country possessed
+of sufficient education and business experience to admit of their being
+entrusted with the charge of public affairs; and where all the offices
+were necessarily in the hands of a small number of persons, it was a
+foregone conclusion that irregularities should creep in, and that
+cliquishness and favouritism should prevail to a greater or less extent.
+When Lieutenant-Governor Hunter arrived, in 1799, he found that certain
+objectionable practices had become common, and that the foundation had
+been laid of serious public evils. Greed and favouritism had obtained a
+strong foothold, and scarcely any branch of the public service was
+efficiently managed. The sin of covetousness was not confined to
+subordinate officials, but included among its votaries some of the
+highest dignitaries of the Province. It would seem that President
+Russell himself had an itching palm, and that his individual interests
+were carefully watched over during his temporary administration of
+affairs. Everybody has heard how he made grants of public lands from
+himself to himself,[24] thereby violating one of the most cherished
+maxims of English jurisprudence. Lieutenant-Governor Hunter, in a letter
+written to a friend in England soon after his arrival at York, refers to
+P. R.--by whom Mr. Russell is clearly indicated--as "an avaricious one."
+In a subsequent part of the same epistle he adds: "So far as depended
+upon him [Mr. Russell] he would grant land to the de'il and all his
+family as good Loyalists, if they would only pay the fees." During
+Governor Hunter's own term of office, though there is no evidence of
+corruption or double-dealing on his own part, abuses continued to exist,
+and dishonesty too often stared honesty out of countenance. During the
+_régime_ of his successor, Commodore Grant, these abuses grew steadily,
+both in number and in bulk; and during Francis Gore's long though
+interrupted administration, they reached a height which called aloud for
+redress.
+
+And here it is desirable to enquire into the specific nature of the
+manifold evils which enriched a few at the expense of the many; which
+endowed a venal and corrupt clique with a practical monopoly of
+political and social power; which sowed the deadly seed of factious
+strife, and stemmed the tide of Upper Canadian prosperity.
+
+Theoretically speaking, the constitution granted to Upper Canada by the
+Act of 1791 was not unfairly represented by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe
+as being "the very image and transcript of that of Great Britain."[25]
+We had a Legislative Council, the members whereof were appointed by the
+Crown for life. This body bore some resemblance to the British House of
+Lords. Next, we had a Legislative Assembly, the members whereof were
+periodically elected by the people--or rather by such of the people as
+possessed a sufficient property qualification to entitle them to
+exercise the franchise; and this property qualification was placed so
+low as almost to constitute universal suffrage.[26] The Assembly
+corresponded to the British House of Commons; and these two
+bodies--Council and Assembly--with the Lieutenant-Governor, constituted
+the Provincial Parliament. The last-named functionary of course
+corresponded to the Sovereign of Great Britain. He was appointed by the
+Crown, to whom he was solely responsible. He was in no constitutional
+sense responsible to either branch of the Legislature, or to both
+branches combined, or to any other cis-Atlantic authority whatsoever.
+
+With such substitutes for King, Lords and Commons, Upper Canada might
+therefore be said to possess a pretty close copy of the British
+constitution. But when carried into practice the resemblance failed in a
+matter of the very highest import. The absence of ministerial
+responsibility was an all-comprehending divergence. When a British
+ministry fails to command the confidence of the electorate, as
+represented by the House of Commons, resignation must follow. In other
+words, the Government of the day derives its power from the people, to
+whom it is responsible for the manner in which it discharges the trust
+reposed in it; and the moment it fails to command public confidence it
+must give way to those who possess such confidence. The test of
+confidence is the vote in the House of Commons. This has been a
+recognized principle of English Parliamentary Government for nearly two
+hundred years; in fact, ever since the settlement of the constitution
+after the Revolution of 1688. With us in Upper Canada there was none of
+this ministerial responsibility. We had a ministry, but not a
+responsible ministry. It was manifestly impossible that each member of
+the Legislative Council and Assembly should be consulted as to every
+minute detail of the administration. Such a system would be cumbrous,
+and altogether impracticable. The actual task of carrying on the
+Government was therefore, as in England, entrusted to a small body of
+men who, from the nature of their functions, were known as the Executive
+Council. The members of this body were appointed by the Crown--that is
+to say, by the Lieutenant-Governor--at will. It was not necessary that
+they should have seats in either branch of the Legislature, to neither
+of which were they in any sense responsible. They were not required to
+possess any property or other qualification. In a word, the Crown's
+representative was at liberty to select them without any restriction,
+and no one in the Province would have had any constitutional right to
+call him to account if he had seen fit to enrol his own valet as an
+Executive Councillor. As matter of fact they were commonly selected from
+the judiciary and other salaried officials, and from the members of the
+Legislative Council. Their number was indeterminate, but was seldom less
+than four or more than six, in addition to the Lieutenant-Governor
+himself. Their functions consisted of giving advice to the
+Lieutenant-Governor on all matters of governmental policy, whenever he
+might deem it expedient to consult them. With respect to mere matters of
+detail, such as appointments to office, he was not supposed to be under
+the necessity of advising with them, nor, according to an opinion long
+and ostentatiously proclaimed, was he in these early days under the
+smallest obligation to follow their advice after it had been given.
+This, however, was merely the prescriptive view, and it derived no
+sanction from the Constitutional Act itself, which incidentally refers
+to the Executive Council as being appointed "within such Province, for
+the affairs thereof." On the other hand, the Executive Councillors
+themselves were not legally or constitutionally responsible to the Upper
+Canadian people, either individually or collectively, for any line of
+policy they might inculcate, or for any advice they might give. There
+were no means whereby they could be called to account by the people,
+even should they corruptly and openly abuse the trust reposed in them.
+
+It is not difficult to foresee the result of so anomalous a state of
+things, though in this Province, owing to sparsity of population and
+other local causes, the result did not immediately become apparent.
+Simcoe was a strong-minded, as well as a conscientious man. He had a
+policy of his own for the government of the country, both at large and
+in detail, and during his _régime_ he carried out that policy as to him
+seemed best. He from time to time went through the form of consulting
+with his Executive Council, but, so far from receiving any impulse from
+them, he invariably carried all before him at the Council Board, and was
+the be-all and end-all of the Administration. He was, in short, a
+beneficent despot, of high and disinterested views, who accomplished
+much good for Upper Canada, and would doubtless have accomplished more
+but for his too early removal. The moment his all-pervading influence
+was gone, however, the mischief, as has already been seen, began to
+work. President Russell granted public lands to Peter Russell, and
+rapidly laid up a store of wealth. Where the head of the public service
+was thus disposed to help himself, we may be sure that subordinate
+officials were not slow to follow his example. Subsequent
+Lieutenant-Governors were for the most part military men, with little
+knowledge of the country's needs, and with a disposition to make their
+voluntary exile as easy and agreeable--and withal as profitable--as
+might be.[27] They naturally turned for counsel and assistance to their
+Executive Councillors, who thus became the dispensers of patronage and
+the supreme power in the State. The Crown's representative was a mere
+tool in their hands. Their domination was complete. "A body of holders
+of office thus constituted," says Lord Durham,[28] "without reference to
+the people or their representatives, must in fact, from the very nature
+of colonial government, acquire the entire direction of the affairs of
+the Province. A Governor, arriving in a colony in which he almost
+invariably has had no previous acquaintance with the state of parties or
+the character of individuals, is compelled to throw himself almost
+entirely upon those whom he finds placed in the position of his official
+advisers. His first acts must necessarily be performed, and his first
+appointments made, at their suggestion. And as these first acts and
+appointments give a character to his policy, he is generally brought
+thereby into immediate collision with the other parties in the country,
+and thrown into more complete dependence upon the official party and its
+friends."
+
+It has been the fashion with most writers on our early history to
+represent the Executive Council as an arbitrary creation of the early
+Lieutenant-Governors: as an arrangement sanctioned by the Imperial
+authorities, but not authorized by the Provincial constitution. Such
+writers cannot have read the debates which took place in the House of
+Commons while the Constitutional Act of 1791 was under discussion there.
+Nay, they cannot have read the Act itself with much care. Nothing is
+more certain than that the framers of that statute contemplated the
+creation of an Executive Council. By reference to the seventh,
+thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth clauses it will be seen that the
+Executive Council is definitely mentioned by name, and that the
+appointment of such a body is assumed, and treated as a matter of
+course. But that the Council should occupy the same relative position as
+in Great Britain, and that it should be amenable to public opinion as
+expressed by the vote of the House of Assembly, does not appear to have
+been clearly understood. Indeed, with the exception of a few master
+minds, such as Pitt, Fox, and Burke, but little interest seems to have
+been taken by British legislators in this important colonial experiment.
+Parliamentary Government, though it had been long established in
+England, had not then been reduced to a science. Even such clear-sighted
+statesmen as Pitt and Fox were blind to facts which at the present day
+force themselves upon the attention of every student of constitutional
+history. What wonder, then, that there should have been defects in the
+measure of 1791? What wonder that even eminent statesmen should have
+attempted to square the circle in politics by introducing such an
+incongruity as representative institutions without Executive
+responsibility? Power was given to the popular branch of the Legislature
+to pass measures for the public good. But, no matter how overwhelming
+might be the majorities whereby such measures were passed, there was no
+obligation on the other branches of the Legislature to accept or act
+upon them. In the words of one of our own writers: "the Legislative
+Councils, nominated by the Crown, held the Legislative Assemblies by the
+throat, kept them prostrate, and paralyzed them."[29] As for the members
+of the Executive Council, they were to all intents and purposes
+independent of public opinion, and could override a unanimous vote of
+the Assembly without incurring any responsibility whatever. By reference
+to the correspondence between successive colonial Governors and the Home
+Office, it appears to have been tacitly recognized by the magnates on
+both sides of the Atlantic that it was unnecessary for a colonial
+Executive to defer to a Parliamentary majority. The right of appointment
+to office was considered to be the exclusive prerogative of the
+representative of the Sovereign, and it was regarded as a badge of
+colonial dependence that the people should have no voice in such
+matters.
+
+It seems to have been assumed that certain Imperial interests were
+involved in this great question, and that to give way to the popular
+demand would be to render the colonies free from Imperial control. What
+those particular interests were which required to be protected by so
+jealous and anomalous a doctrine does not appear to be anywhere
+specified with precision. But nothing is more certain than that
+confusion and chaos must be the inevitable outcome of any attempt to
+reduce to practice such opposite principles as are involved in
+Representative Government and Executive irresponsibility. Such an
+attempt in England would very soon produce revolution. Such an attempt
+in France did actually produce revolution in 1830, when Charles the
+Tenth was deposed for his persistent endeavours to maintain an unpopular
+ministry in power. No country in the world would long continue to
+tolerate a Parliamentary system which was free and representative in
+theory, but tyrannous and despotic in practice. Upper Canada was indeed
+long-suffering, but a time arrived when it became evident that there was
+a limit to her powers of endurance.
+
+As the years rolled by, and the country steadily advanced in wealth and
+population, abuses grew apace.[30] The Executive became rapacious and
+tyrannical. Commanding, as they did, the entire administrative and
+official influence of the Province, they ordered all things according to
+their own pleasure. They could count upon the support of every member of
+the Legislative Council. Indeed, through their pliant tool, the
+Lieutenant-Governor for the time being, they controlled the membership
+of the latter body, and took care that no man was appointed a
+Legislative Councillor unless he was either one of themselves or wholly
+subject to their influence. The Assembly soon found that it was
+deliberately and systematically deprived of the privileges which of
+right belonged to it, and that it was little better than a nullity. It
+might meet and go through the form of passing such measures as it saw
+fit, but if the measures so passed were not acceptable to the
+Legislative and Executive Councils they were contumeliously vetoed when
+they reached the Upper House. This brought the two deliberative branches
+of the Legislature into direct and perpetual conflict. The Assembly,
+however, in early years, was always largely made up of such men as Isaac
+Swayze--subservient creatures of the Administration, who opposed their
+influence to that of the tribunes of the people, and prevented any
+collision between the two Houses from assuming a very serious
+constitutional aspect. It was not till the third decade of the century
+that the conflict assumed such a character as to threaten the
+foundations of the constitution itself; and it was not till the fourth
+decade that any actual attempt was made to subvert those foundations.
+
+The Province was about fifteen years old before the inhabitants of Upper
+Canada generally began to realize what an intolerable burden they had to
+bear in this irresponsible Executive. Before that time some of the
+better educated and more intelligent among them recognized its existence
+as an evil with which they or their descendants would at some future
+time be called upon to deal. But such persons were comparatively few in
+number, and as the burden did not lie with special heaviness upon their
+own backs, they did not feel called upon to involve themselves in what
+might prove a ruinous quarrel with persons who would not tamely submit
+to interference. As for the inhabitants generally, they were too busily
+occupied in clearing their lands, in hewing out homes for themselves and
+their families in the vast wilderness, and in reducing the soil to a
+state fit for cultivation, to give themselves much concern about public
+affairs. There was no newspaper press to stimulate them to enquiry. The
+only sheet published in the Province which by any license of language
+could be called a regular newspaper was _The Upper Canada Gazette_,
+which was the official mouthpiece of the Administration. _The Canada
+Constellation_, which was a quaint long folio, published at the old
+capital, Niagara, had but a brief existence, and expired during the
+very early years of the century. The _Upper Canada Guardian_, to be
+hereafter referred to, did not come into being till 1807. Editorial
+articles, except of the briefest and crudest sort, were a still later
+development. The bucolic mind had no intellectual stimulant whatever
+except such as was to be obtained from contact with other bucolic minds
+through the medium of conversation. It was no wonder, then, that for the
+first fifteen years after the creation of Upper Canada, the Provincial
+Government should have been permitted to do very much as it chose,
+without being subjected to any formidable criticism on the part of the
+community.
+
+The Legislative Council, as has been said, was composed of members
+nominated by the Sovereign's representative. By the sixth section of the
+Constitutional Act provision had been made for the creation of a
+hereditary nobility, with the hereditary right of being summoned to the
+Legislative Council. Happily this authority was not exercised;
+otherwise, as Gourlay has remarked, "we should have seen, perhaps, the
+Duke of Ontario leading in a cart of hay, my Lord Erie pitching, and Sir
+Peter Superior making the rick; or perhaps his Grace might now have been
+figuring as a pettifogging lawyer, his Lordship as a pedlar, and Sir
+Knight, as a poor parson, starving on five thousand acres of Clergy
+Reserves."[31] We were spared the spectacle of such absurdities, and
+life members of the Legislative Council were the nearest approach to a
+nobility vouchsafed to us. Some of the first appointees were men of
+intelligence and probity, but few of those subsequently created could
+with any show of truthfulness be so characterized. They were for the
+most part dependants of the Government, with no fitness, educational or
+otherwise, for the discharge of grave legislative functions, and with no
+motive but to do the bidding of those who had clothed them with the
+dignity of office. All things considered, this condition of things was
+to be looked for; but the inevitable result followed. The few upright
+members either died off in the course of time, and were succeeded by
+sycophantic placemen, or, finding themselves outnumbered, ceased to
+attend the sittings of the branch of the Legislature to which they
+belonged. In one way and another, those who really wished to preserve
+the public interests were weeded out, and nothing was left but a rump
+devoted to the Executive will. Instead of answering the purpose for
+which it was originally intended, the Legislative Council became a mere
+instrument in the hands of the oligarchy for stemming back the tide of
+public opinion. Instead of forming a seasonable and wholesome check upon
+extravagance and inconsiderate legislation in the Lower House, it
+contributed to the impoverishment of the Provincial revenue by assisting
+to keep the control of public affairs in the hands of selfish and
+unprincipled men. Instead of preserving the "happy balance of our
+glorious Constitution"--a phrase constantly placed in the mouths of
+Lieutenant-Governors, and embodied in their addresses to our Canadian
+simulacrum of the House of Lords--it tended to keep the balance all on
+one side, and that side was the one most prejudicial to the public good.
+It became a mere stop-gap interposed by the Government between itself
+and the Assembly. The Assembly passed measure after measure with careful
+deliberation, only to find that their time had been thrown away, for
+upon reaching the Upper House these measures were ignominously thrust
+aside. One who had himself been a member of the Assembly, and who had
+had personal experience of the evils whereof he wrote, has left the
+following description of the manner in which Bills from the Lower
+Chamber were treated in the Upper: "Sitting for a short time each day,
+the Bills of the Assembly are despatched under the table with unexampled
+celerity. Deputations, conveying up popular measures, no sooner have
+their backs turned than the process of strangulation commences. Bills
+that have undergone discussion for days in the other House, and that
+have been amended and perfected with the greatest care, no sooner arrive
+in their august presence than their fate is sealed."[32] He adds: "Of
+those who attend to their duties, two-thirds are dependent on the
+Government for either salaries or pensions. It is not harsh to say that
+they become the willing tools of the hand that feeds them, instead of
+looking to the interests of those from whom they indirectly derive their
+support. Such gratitude may be very amiable, but it is no qualification
+for an independent legislator."[33] These lines were written as late as
+the year 1837, and their author informs us that within the preceding
+eight years the Council had rejected no fewer than three hundred and
+twenty-five Bills passed by the Assembly, being an average of more than
+forty for each session[34]--a statement which is fully confirmed by
+reference to the official journals of the respective Houses.
+
+Such a method of procedure, leading to inevitable conflicts between the
+two Houses, caused the public business to be impeded and the public
+interests to be very inefficiently conserved. The whole administrative
+system of the Province was disorganized. The contest was very unequal,
+for the Government could frequently command a majority of votes in the
+Assembly. The minority in that House smarted under a sense of tyranny
+and injustice, and felt that they were of no weight in the body politic.
+That sense of dignity which is imparted by a consciousness of
+contributing to the formation of public policy and opinion was wanting.
+Not only were the benefits arising from a proper organization of labour
+altogether lost, but the antagonism between the two factors in political
+life was so great that they to a large extent neutralized each other.
+The Upper House had no weight with the people; the Lower House had no
+weight with the Crown.
+
+One of the greatest drawbacks to the country's prosperity was the method
+of granting public lands. It had been the policy of Governor Simcoe to
+encourage immigration from the United States, as well as from Great
+Britain and continental Europe. He had offered great inducements, in the
+shape of free grants of wild lands, to persons settling in Upper Canada,
+and his offer had produced the expected results in the shape of a full
+tide of immigrants. He had, however, exercised a rigid personal
+supervision over these grants, and had done his utmost to prevent the
+abuse of his bountiful regulations. His successors were less scrupulous,
+and being, as has been seen, under the control of greedy and selfish
+persons, they permitted the public lands to be used as means of
+enriching and corrupting the favourites of the Administration. The
+land-granting department was honeycombed by jobbery and corruption.
+Grants of five thousand acres were made to each member of the Executive
+Council, and of twelve hundred acres to each of their children. Similar
+grants were made to certain favoured members of the Legislative Council
+and their children.[35] Numerous other personages who could command
+sufficient influence at Court obtained grants of twelve hundred acres
+each. The extent of an ordinary grant was two hundred acres. From the
+creation of the Province down to 1804 these donations were unattended by
+any cost whatever to the grantees beyond trifling fees to the officials
+for their trouble in passing the entries through the office books. The
+privilege of obtaining landed estates for nothing was abused to such an
+extent, however, that the Home Office interfered, and in the year last
+named a scale of fees proportionate to the extent of the grant was
+introduced; but U. E. Loyalists, officers, soldiers, Executive
+Councillors and their children were exempt even from this trifling
+burden. In 1818 the performance of certain settlement duties was imposed
+upon all persons receiving grants, without any exemptions, and in after
+years several other scales of fees were introduced from time to time.
+The public lands were committed to the care of an official called the
+Surveyor-General, and it was not until 1827 that a Commissioner of Crown
+Lands was appointed. During the first thirty-five years of the
+Province's history grants of land were entirely subject to the
+discretion of the Governor-in-Council, not merely as to the quantity and
+situation of the land itself, but also as to whether the applicant
+should receive any grant at all.[36] Under such a system it was
+inevitable that the grossest partiality should prevail, and it was but
+seldom that any one succeeded in obtaining a grant until those in
+authority had satisfied themselves that he was to be relied upon to
+uphold any policy which they might see fit to dictate. Official
+dignitaries granted lands to their servants and other dependants, and,
+as soon as certain requisite forms had been complied with, these lands
+were transferred to themselves or their children. In other cases persons
+were actually hired by the month to draw land and perform the settlement
+duties, after which the land was conveyed to their employers. Having the
+run of the official books, these cormorants contrived in one way and
+another to acquire for themselves and their creatures all the best lands
+in the Province, either wholly for nothing or at a price which was
+merely nominal. "The keys of office," says a writer already quoted from,
+"were held by themselves or friends, and no admittance to their secrets
+was allowed except to the initiated, whose favourable out-of-door
+statements could be relied on. Never since the Norman invasion of
+England was there such a wholesale partition of plunder."[37] Many
+persons owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, entire
+townships.[38] Others owned thousands of acres which they had never
+seen. As the taxes imposed on unsettled lands were trifling, these
+immense tracts were no appreciable expense to their owners, who could
+hold them from year to year, until the progress of settlement rendered
+them of immense value. Such progress was inevitable, for though these
+huge reservations tended to keep back the country, settlers obtained
+grants of adjoining lands, and their labours could not fail to increase
+the value of all contiguous territory. The Home District, including the
+most valuable portion of Upper Canada, was especially afflicted by these
+wholesale reservations, but every part of the Province was more or leas
+crippled by them.
+
+The ruling faction and their favourites, not satisfied with the enormous
+direct and indirect grants of lands which they managed in one way and
+another to obtain, availed themselves of every opportunity to buy up
+land which had been granted to persons who had expended their little all
+on their properties, and had thereby become impoverished. Among these
+latter were many half-pay officers and others of good birth but limited
+means, who had sought homes for themselves in the Canadian wilderness.
+Not a few had been compelled to sell their commissions in order to
+obtain the wherewithal to settle themselves and their families on the
+lands granted to them. Finding themselves cut off from society, and
+ill-suited to face the privations of pioneer life, they became
+discouraged, and sold their lands for whatever meagre price they could
+get. The land-jobbers were ever on the alert to buy up these tracts at a
+few shillings an acre, not with any intention of settling upon or
+improving them, but solely for the purpose of holding them for an
+increased value. The grants to the children of U. E. Loyalists were the
+constant subjects of bargain and sale, and wrought great evil to the
+Province without producing any corresponding benefit to the recipients.
+Very few of the lots so granted were ever occupied by the grantees, most
+of whom were young persons of both sexes who resided with their parents,
+and had no inclination to set up for themselves in the wilderness. These
+grants were frequently sold at ridiculously low prices. From two to five
+pounds was an ordinary price for a lot of two hundred acres. Mr. John
+Radenhurst, who was Chief Clerk in the office of the Surveyor-General
+for many years, is entitled to speak on this subject with authority. In
+his evidence taken before Lord Durham's Commissioner, in 1838, he states
+that the general price paid by speculators for the two-hundred-acre lots
+granted to sons and daughters of U. E. Loyalists was "from a gallon of
+rum up to perhaps six pounds." In answer to another question, he states
+that while millions of acres were granted in this way, the settlement of
+the Province was not advanced, nor the advantage of the grantee secured
+in the manner that may be supposed to have been contemplated by
+Government. He mentions the Honourable Robert Hamilton, a member of the
+Legislative Council, and the two Chief Justices, Elmsley and Powell, as
+among the largest purchasers of these lands. Mr. Hamilton's acquisitions
+amounted to about a hundred thousand acres.[39] Elmsley and Powell, in
+addition to the five thousand acres which each of them had obtained for
+nothing as members of the Executive Council, managed to acquire
+quantities of land which, had they been brought together in one spot,
+would have made a township of average size. Thus was monopoly
+perpetuated and increased from year to year, and thus were large tracts
+of the Provincial territory maintained in a state of primitive
+wilderness.
+
+Intimations of the gigantic abuses existing in the land-granting system
+of Upper Canada were more than once sent across the Atlantic to the
+Colonial Secretary, who instructed the Lieutenant-Governor to impose
+certain regulations with a view to preventing the continuous repetition
+of injustice. The Colonial Office, however, was more than three thousand
+miles away, and means were easily found for evading any restrictions
+imposed at such a distance. Some idea of the extent which the evil had
+attained in the year 1818 may be derived from the two passages in that
+very petition to the Prince Regent for which Mr. Gourlay was indicted at
+Kingston and Brockville, as related in the preceding chapter. "The lands
+of the Crown in Upper Canada," proceeds the petition, "are of immense
+extent, not only stretching far and wide into the wilderness, but
+scattered over the Province, and intermixed with private property
+already cultivated. The disposal of this land is left to ministers at
+home, who are palpably ignorant of existing circumstances, and to a
+council of men resident in the Province, who, it is believed, have long
+converted the trust reposed in them to purposes of selfishness. The
+scandalous abuses in this department came some years ago to such a pitch
+of monstrous magnitude that the Home ministers wisely imposed
+restrictions upon the Land Council of Upper Canada. These, however, have
+by no means removed the evil; and a system of patronage and favouritism,
+in the disposal of the Crown Lands, still exists; altogether destructive
+of moral rectitude and virtuous feeling in the management of public
+affairs. Corruption, indeed, has reached such a height in this Province
+that it is thought no other part of the British Empire witnesses the
+like, and it is vain to look for improvement until a radical change is
+effected. It matters not what characters fill situations of public trust
+at present--all sink beneath the dignity of men--become vitiated and
+weak, as soon as they are placed within the vortex of destruction.
+Confusion on confusion has grown out of this unhappy system; and the
+very lands of the Crown, the giving away of which has created such
+mischief and iniquity, have ultimately come to little value from abuse.
+The poor subjects of His Majesty, driven from home by distress, to whom
+portions of land are granted, can now find in the grant no benefit; and
+Loyalists of the United Empire--the descendants of those who sacrificed
+their all in America in behalf of British rule--men whose names were
+ordered on record for their virtuous adherence to your Royal Father--the
+descendants of these men find now no favour in their destined rewards;
+nay, these rewards, when granted, have in many cases been rendered worse
+than nothing, for the legal rights in the enjoyment of them have been
+held at nought; their land has been rendered unsaleable, and, in some
+cases, only a source of distraction and care. Under this system of
+internal management, and weakened from other evil influences, Upper
+Canada now pines in comparative decay; discontent and poverty are
+experienced in a land supremely blessed with the gifts of nature; dread
+of arbitrary power wars, here, against the free exercise of reason and
+manly sentiment; laws have been set aside; legislators have come into
+derision; and contempt from the mother-country seems fast gathering
+strength to disunite the people of Canada from their friends at home."
+Notwithstanding these long, involved, awkwardly-constructed sentences,
+there is no more accurate picture to be found anywhere of the effect of
+the pernicious administration of affairs in the Public Lands Office at
+York in 1818. Twenty years later Lord Durham found it not much
+improved.[40]
+
+Another hydra-headed monster which ate into the very vitals of the
+commonwealth was the provision for the clergy, known as the Clergy
+Reserves. This was perhaps the greatest of all the curses imposed upon
+Upper Canada by the Constitutional Act, for its ill effects were both
+direct and incidental. It not only tended to stop the march of progress,
+but it created a degree of sectarian animosity and hatred little
+calculated to inspire respect for Christianity in the breasts of the
+secular portion of the community, and it disturbed the public
+tranquillity for nearly two generations.
+
+By the thirty-sixth section of the Act of 1791, power was given to
+reserve out of all future grants of land in Upper and Lower Canada, as
+well as in respect of all past grants, an allotment for the support of
+"a Protestant Clergy." It was provided that this allotment should be
+"equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted." By the
+thirty-seventh section, the rents, profits and emoluments arising from
+the lands so appropriated were to be applicable solely to the
+maintenance and support of a Protestant Clergy. By subsequent sections
+provision was made for the erection and endowment by the
+Lieutenant-Governor, under instructions from the Crown, of parsonages or
+rectories, one or more in every township or parish, according to the
+establishment of the Church of England, and for the presentation of
+incumbents, subject to the bishop's right of institution. By section
+forty-two it was enacted that no Provincial statute varying or repealing
+these provisions should receive the royal assent until thirty days after
+it had been laid before both Houses of Parliament in Great Britain.
+These famous enactments were destined to produce more discord and
+heartburning than all the other clauses of the Constitutional Act
+combined. They were destined to make the Church of England more
+cordially detested in this Province by persons without the pale of her
+communion than she has ever been in any other part of the world. They
+were destined to set one Legislative faction against another in such
+fierce array that the public business frequently had to be suspended.
+They were destined to divide the Provincial population into two hostile
+camps, each filled with envy, malice and all uncharitableness towards
+the other. They were destined to be the key-note of general elections,
+and to shape the policy of successive Administrations. They were
+destined to be the chief factor in bringing about a Rebellion which for
+a time seriously disturbed the industries of the Province; which filled
+the Provincial jails with suffering prisoners; which consigned a number
+of persons to a premature and ignominous death; which brought sorrow
+and ruin to many a once happy fireside; which bequeathed a legacy of
+hatred to the children of those who took part in it; and which seriously
+disturbed the international amity between Great Britain and the United
+States.
+
+It may be doubted whether all the ill effects of these appropriations
+were foreseen by their promoters in the early years of our history. It
+was at all events some time before those effects began to be apparent to
+the people generally. In making the appropriations, care was taken that
+the reserved lands should be intermixed with grants to actual settlers,
+whereby they were spread over a large area; the manifest intention being
+to increase their value by their proximity to cultivated farms, and at
+the same time to create a tenantry in the settled townships, with a view
+to the creation of parishes and the endowment of rectories. In several
+portions of the Province, however, it was impossible to follow this
+plan. Much of the Niagara peninsula had been granted to Butler's Rangers
+before the passing of the Constitutional Act. In like manner, certain
+townships along the north bank of the St. Lawrence, as well as several
+portions of the Western District, had been granted to other United
+Empire Loyalists. In none of these cases had any reservations been made,
+and the lands had already become vested in the grantees. The
+appropriators accordingly set apart large tracts of aggregated
+reservations in contiguous townships which were yet unsettled. The
+prejudicial results soon began to appear. Huge tracts of reserves
+interposed themselves between one settler and another, enhancing the
+difficulties of communication and transportation, and hindering or
+altogether preventing that coöperation of labour which is essential to
+the prosperity of pioneer settlements. The inhabitants, instead of being
+drawn together, were isolated from one another, and combination for
+municipal or other public purposes was rendered all but impracticable.
+They were kept remote from a market for the sale of their produce, cut
+off from the privileges of public worship and public education for their
+children; deprived, in a word, of the blessings of civilization.
+Settlement was seriously obstructed, and the industrious immigrant was
+to a great extent paralyzed by his surroundings.
+
+The evils arising out of these Clergy Reserves were intensified by the
+unfair and illegal manner in which the appropriations were made. It has
+been seen that by the Act of 1791 the land reserved for the clergy was
+to be equal to one-seventh of all grants made by the Crown. One-seventh
+of all grants would obviously be one-eighth of the whole. Yet, instead
+of acting on this self-evident proposition, it was the practice of those
+to whom the duty of reservation was entrusted to set apart for the
+clergy one-seventh of _all_ the land, which was equal to a sixth of the
+land granted. The surplus thus unjustly appropriated on behalf of the
+clergy had in 1838 footed up to a total of three hundred thousand acres.
+The excess was confined to about two-thirds of the surveyed townships,
+from which circumstance, as well as from the obvious construction of the
+statute, it is to be inferred that the excessive reservations were made
+deliberately, and not from mere oversight or inadvertence.[41]
+
+As the Province increased in population, and as land advanced in value,
+the grievance became more and more manifest. The growl of discontent
+began to be heard, and the people began to combine against the
+intolerable evil. This, at first, was chiefly due to the purely secular
+reasons above indicated. By degrees, however, the sectarian element was
+developed, and the growl of discontent became a roar of opposition. A
+dominant church was not acceptable to the Dissenters[42] who composed
+the bulk of the population; yet it was contended by those in
+authority--all of whom were Episcopalians--that the Clergy Reserves were
+the exclusive domain of the Church of England. It must be conceded that
+there was some ground for this contention, and that the question was not
+quite free from doubt. The Act authorizing the setting apart of the
+Reserves had appropriated them for the maintenance and support of "a
+Protestant Clergy." The word "clergy" was not commonly applied in those
+days to dissenting ministers of religion. It had never been used in any
+English statute to designate any ministers except those of the Church of
+Rome and the Church of England. The Church of Rome being excluded by the
+term "Protestant," it was contended that the provision had been for the
+exclusive benefit of the Church of England, more especially as the
+creation and endowment of parsonages and rectories--which are
+institutions peculiar to the Church of England--had been expressly
+provided for by the same Act. Such was the plea put forward on behalf of
+the Church of England. Dissenters took a different view. They argued
+that the term "Protestant Clergy" had been used in the Act in mere
+contradistinction to the clergy of the Church of Rome. They further
+urged that the limited construction sought to be put upon the term by
+the Anglicans was plainly negatived by the thirty-ninth section of the
+Act, wherein the words "incumbent or minister of the Church of England"
+were expressly employed. Such terms, it was said, would not have been
+used by the framers of the Act if they had regarded them as synonymous
+with "Protestant Clergy," as used in other clauses. "The manifest
+intention of the Act," said the Dissenters, "was to provide for a
+_Protestant_--as distinguished from a _Roman Catholic_--clergy. The
+provision for the establishment of parsonages and rectories is a mere
+matter of detail, which cannot be allowed to override the larger
+intention so plainly evidenced by other sections." The Presbyterian
+body took higher ground than their non-Anglican brethren. The Church of
+Scotland had been expressly recognized as a Protestant Church by the Act
+of Union of England and Scotland in 1707. It was therefore contended
+that the ministers of that church were entitled to be considered as
+"Protestant Clergy;" and this contention was sustained by the English
+law officers of the Crown in 1819. The opinion expressed by those
+learned officials was acted upon, and the Presbyterians of Upper Canada
+put forward claims to a share of the Reserves. Their claims were
+allowed; whereupon other Protestant denominations followed their
+example, and demanded, as "Protestant Clergy," to participate in the
+provision made for them. The private and public quarrels which ensued
+between leaders of the different sects kept the country in a state of
+chronic disturbance; while the greed displayed by professed ministers of
+religion furnished a striking practical commentary upon the doctrines
+taught by the Founder of all Christian faiths. Opinions were obtained
+from eminent lawyers as to the respective rights of the various sects,
+and as to the true meaning of the Constitutional Act. The most opposite
+conclusions were arrived at by different lawyers, and it became manifest
+that no apportionment satisfactory to all the claimants could be made by
+any tribunal. The Church of England meanwhile contrived to secure the
+great bulk of the spoils. According to a return to the House of Assembly
+of lands set apart as glebes in Upper Canada during the forty-six years
+from 1787 to 1833, it appears that 22,345 acres were so set apart for
+the Clergy of the Church of England, 1160 acres for Ministers of the
+Kirk of Scotland, 400 for Roman Catholics, and "none for any other
+denomination of Christians."[43]
+
+But there was a broader and stronger argument than any of these purely
+technical contentions: an argument founded on experience and practical
+utility. No matter what had been the intent of the original framers of
+the Constitutional Act, the fact had become patent to all Dissenters,
+and even to many liberal-minded lay members of the Anglican Church, that
+the Clergy Reserves were a curse to the Province--a mill-stone about her
+neck, which dragged her down in spite of all exertions to raise her to
+the surface. Not long after this fact had become generally recognized,
+an agitation arose in favour of the total abolition of State aid to
+religious bodies. The plan advocated by Reformers was the sale of the
+Reserves, and the application of the proceeds to public education and
+municipal improvements. The agitation was kept up until long after the
+period covered by this work, and the object sought to be attained by it
+was not fully accomplished until the year 1854. Meanwhile, however, it
+was the most important question before the country, and it occupied the
+attention of the Legislature during a large part of almost every
+session. Here was where the conflict between the two Houses was felt
+with most pernicious effect. The advocates of abolition and
+secularization clearly had the country with them, and the Assembly
+passed Bill after Bill to effect those objects. Their efforts were
+utterly nullified by the Upper House, which would not listen to any such
+proposals, and which threw out as many Bills relating to this important
+subject as the Assembly thought proper to send up for its consideration.
+Such were the merits of the long and fiercely-contested question of the
+Clergy Reserves.
+
+Another serious obstacle to Upper Canadian prosperity was the continual
+interference of the Colonial Office in our domestic concerns. Bills
+passed by the Provincial Legislature for the regulation of our own
+internal affairs were disallowed with vexatious frequency, and
+sometimes, apparently, from mere caprice. Sometimes the irresponsible
+Executive, unwilling that their obedient servants in the Upper House
+should incur popular odium by opposing the will of the Assembly,
+permitted Bills to pass both Houses, and then, through their tool the
+Lieutenant-Governor, had these identical measures disallowed. Advice,
+the compliance with which could not fail to be prejudicial to the
+interests of the colony, was also sent across the Atlantic through the
+Lieutenant-Governor, to whom it came back by return post in the shape of
+Imperial instructions to be acted upon. The Colonial Minister, whoever
+he might for the time happen to be, knew little and cared little about
+the British North American colonies, and did not generally concern
+himself with despatches to colonial Governors any further than to sign
+his name to them. He was thus the unconscious means of furthering
+Executive tyranny, and to some extent of alienating the loyalty of the
+colonists.
+
+Among other drawbacks, sufficiently serious in themselves and in their
+ulterior consequences, but of minor importance when compared with the
+all-permeating grievances already referred to, may be mentioned the
+quartering of military men upon the colony in the capacity of
+Lieutenant-Governors; the unequal representation of the people in the
+Assembly; the exorbitant salaries of certain public officials; the union
+of judicial and legislative functions in the same persons; the
+appointment of judges, sheriffs, magistrates, and other officials during
+the pleasure of the Executive, and not during good behaviour.
+
+The evils attendant upon placing the local administration of the
+colonies in the hands of military officers, who were inexperienced in
+constitutional government, and unfitted by training for such duties as
+were demanded of them, have already been glanced at.[44] Such persons
+naturally enough found themselves altogether out of their proper element
+upon their arrival in the colony, and looked to the Executive
+Councillors for advice and instruction. That they should follow the
+instruction received, and that they should surrender themselves to the
+judgment of those enemies of the public weal, followed almost as a
+matter of course. In this way the strength of the oligarchy was
+consolidated and enlarged, and its members rendered more and more
+independent of public opinion. All that can be urged on behalf of the
+Home Ministry, by way of excuse for committing the direction of our
+affairs to such persons, is that the position of Lieutenant-Governor of
+Upper Canada was not a sufficient inducement to make it sought after by
+really capable men. The office, in at least one instance to be hereafter
+recorded, went a-begging.
+
+Unequal representation was a fruitful source of discontent, though Upper
+Canada was no worse off in that respect than the mother-country prior to
+the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. For years before the Rebellion,
+the little district towns of Niagara, Brockville and Cornwall each
+enjoyed the privilege of sending a representative to the Assembly. All
+three of them were notoriously rotten boroughs--as rotten as Gatton,
+Grampound or Old Sarum--and always returned Tory members prepared to do
+the bidding of the Executive. By such means was the Assembly corrupted,
+and the elective franchise turned into an instrument of oppression. Some
+of the salaries of public officials were altogether out of proportion
+to the state of the revenue, and to the nature and extent of the duties
+performed. Certain highly-paid offices were the merest sinecures, and
+had been created for no other purpose than to provide for serviceable
+tools of the Administration. The practice of permitting judges to sit
+and vote in the Legislature needs no comment. Whatever justification
+there might have been for such a union of functions in the first infancy
+of the Province, when educated men were few in the land, there was
+certainly none in the days when Chief Justice Robinson was Speaker of
+the Legislative Council. The effect of making the tenure of office of
+judges and other dignitaries dependent on the will of the Executive was
+such as has attended upon such a system in all countries where it has
+been in vogue. The officials were selected almost entirely from one
+political party, and had always an eye upon the nod of their
+taskmasters, who had the power to make or unmake them. Whenever it was
+desirable, in the supposed interests of the Executive, that the
+authority of the courts should be strained to the perversion of
+judgment, the dispensing of even-handed justice was altogether a
+secondary consideration. Mr. Gourlay's case, to say nothing of that of
+Bartemus Ferguson, affords a sufficient illustration of the extent to
+which the traditions of the Star Chamber were revived in Upper Canadian
+practice, when it was thought desirable to crush a champion of popular
+liberty and equal rights.
+
+Such were a few of the burdens which the people of Upper Canada were
+compelled to bear in the by-gone epoch when tyranny reigned supreme
+throughout the Province: when
+
+                       "the law's delay,
+   The insolence of office, and the spurns
+   That patient merit of the unworthy takes,"
+
+were the all too frequent portion of such of the inhabitants as dared to
+call in question the righteousness of existing ordinances. There was a
+further intolerable grievance which was closely bound up with, and
+which, so to speak, grew out of or sustained all the rest: which
+comprehended within itself all the evils affecting the body politic, and
+which left traces of its existence that have survived down to the
+present time. This was the Family Compact--a phrase which is in
+everybody's mouth, but the significance whereof, I venture to think, is
+in general but imperfectly understood. The subject deserves a chapter to
+itself.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[24] Being somewhat doubtful as to the truth of this oft-repeated story,
+I have taken the trouble to consult the records in the Crown Lands
+Office, where I find that Mr. Russell on several occasions made grants
+of land to himself. Among other such grants I may mention lot number
+twenty-two, in the third concession of the township of York, which was
+made on the 16th of July, 1797. See Liber A., folio 382, Provincial
+Registry Office. He also granted various tracts of land to his sister,
+Miss Elizabeth Russell, the first of which bears date the 15th of
+December, 1796. See Liber B., folio 334. So that the President appears
+to have begun to "do good unto himself" and his family before he had
+been three months in office as Administrator of the Government. Further
+investigation would doubtless prove that he kept up the practice until
+the arrival of Governor Hunter.
+
+[25] See his speech at the close of the first session of the First
+Parliament of Upper Canada, on the 15th of October, 1792.
+
+[26] The property qualification for a voter was, in counties, the
+possession of lands or tenements of the yearly value of forty shillings
+sterling or upwards, over and above all rents and charges; and in towns
+or townships, the possession of a dwelling house and lot of the yearly
+value of five pounds sterling or upwards, or the having been a resident
+for twelve months, and the having paid a year's rent at the rate of ten
+pounds sterling or upwards. See the twentieth section of the
+Constitutional Act.
+
+[27] The latter part of this clause has no application to Brock, who was
+made of manlier stuff. Brock, however, was not Lieutenant-Governor, but
+merely Provisional Administrator of the Province.
+
+[28] _Report on the Affairs of British North America_, English folio
+edition, p. 29.
+
+[29] _The Constitutional History of Canada_, by Samuel James Watson,
+Vol. I., p. 128.
+
+[30] The abuses specified in the present chapter were not confined to
+Upper Canada. They existed, with certain local variations, throughout
+all the British North American colonies, and produced similar results in
+each; viz., ever-recurring conflicts between the Executive and the
+popular branch of the Legislature, followed by more or less alienation
+of loyalty to the mother country on the part of the more radical element
+in the community. In the Maritime Provinces the alienation was not
+sufficiently widespread to manifest itself in actual rebellion, though
+the conflict between the oligarchy and the popular tribunes sometimes
+produced a very disturbed state of feeling. In Lower Canada, where the
+element of race-hatred was added to all other sources of disturbance,
+the conflict attained an intensity far beyond what was reached in any of
+the other colonies, and left traces behind it which are not even yet
+wholly obliterated.
+
+[31] _Statistical Account_, Vol. II., p. 296.
+
+[32] _Canadiana_, by W. B. Wells, p. 103.
+
+[33] Ib.
+
+[34] Ib., p. 104.
+
+[35] These grants of five thousand acres to members of the Executive
+Council were in direct violation of the instructions framed by the Home
+Government for the regulation of land-granting in Upper Canada. They
+continued to be made down to 1807, when they were stopped by a
+peremptory order to that effect from the Colonial Secretary. There is
+one instance on record of a reserve being applied for and made on behalf
+of the child of a member of the Legislative Council, though the child
+was not three days old. See the evidence of John Radenhurst, Chief Clerk
+in the office of the Surveyor-General, in Appendix B. to Lord Durham's
+_Report on the Affairs of British North America_.
+
+[36] Most of these facts with reference to the granting of public lands
+may be obtained from the archives of the Crown Lands Office in Toronto,
+and from the newspapers and official reports of the period. They may
+also be found, together with a vast accumulation of other important
+facts bearing on the same subject, in Charles Buller's Report on Public
+Lands and Emigration, forming Appendix B. to Lord Durham's _Report on
+the Affairs of British North America_.
+
+[37] _Canadiana_, p. 130.
+
+[38] In 1796 or thereabouts the Executive offered to grant entire
+townships to persons who would undertake to settle them with a certain
+number of colonists within a specified time. The number of colonists
+required was made proportionate to the extent of territory to be
+settled. This offer was taken advantage of by ten different individuals.
+The grants were not actually made, but the respective townships were
+allocated in the official books to the various persons concerned. Upon
+the faith of the pledge of the Executive, several of the ten assignees
+proceeded to carry out the conditions imposed. Among them was Mr.
+William Berczy, who, having obtained an assignment of the township of
+Markham, went to great expense in bringing over a number of German
+families, whom he settled according to the conditions of the
+contemplated grant. After he had spent a sum of money variously stated
+at from twenty to thirty thousand pounds sterling, the Executive coolly
+announced that they had determined to abandon the township system, and
+that they did not even intend to carry out the grants to those who had
+complied with the conditions. The compensation offered for this
+unparalleled breach of faith was a grant of twelve hundred acres to each
+assignee. Nine of the individuals concerned assented to those terms, but
+Mr. Berczy refused to accept any such inadequate recompense, and he
+remained for the rest of his life a ruined man. He shook the dust of
+Upper Canada from his feet, and took up his abode in Montreal, whence he
+subsequently repaired to New York, where he died in the year 1813.
+
+[39] See Appendix B. to Lord Durham's _Report_, folio edition, p. 99.
+Mr. Charles Rankin, Deputy-Surveyor in the Western District, in his
+evidence before the Commission (_ib._ pp. 120, 121), says:--"The system
+of making large grants to individuals who had no intention of settling
+them has tended to retard the prosperity of the colony by separating the
+actual settlers, and rendering it so much more difficult, and in some
+cases impossible, for them to make the necessary roads. It has also made
+the markets more distant and more precarious. To such an extent have
+these difficulties been experienced as to occasion the abandonment of
+settlements which had been formed. I may mention, as an instance of
+this, the township of Rama, where after a trial of three years, the
+settlers were compelled to abandon their improvements. It should be
+noticed that the settlers in this instance were not of a class fitted to
+encounter the privations of the wilderness, being half-pay officers. In
+the township of St. Vincent almost all the most valuable settlers have
+left their farms from the same cause, the townships of Nottawasaga and
+Collingwood, the whole of the land in which had been granted, and which
+are almost entirely unsettled (Collingwood, I believe, has only one
+settler), intervening between them and the settled township, and
+rendering communication impossible. There have been numerous instances
+in which, though the settlement has not been altogether abandoned, the
+most valuable settlers, after unavailing struggles of several years with
+the difficulties which I have described, have left their farms." This
+witness further states his belief that nine-tenths of the lands in the
+Western District were still--in 1838--in a state of wilderness.
+
+[40] See his _Report, passim_; also see the portion of Appendix B.
+relating to Upper Canada.
+
+[41] See the Special Report of Mr. R. Davies Hanson, Assistant
+Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration, forming the commencement of
+Appendix A. to Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs of British North
+America_.
+
+[42] I use this word for want of a better, though it is not strictly
+accurate as applied to Upper Canada, where there were no clearly
+prescribed standards of religious faith from which non-supporters of
+Episcopacy could be said to dissent. The word "Nonconformist" is
+objectionable for a similar reason.
+
+[43] See _Seventh Grievance Committee's Report_, p. 164.
+
+[44] _Ante_, p. 51.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE FAMILY COMPACT.
+
+
+What was the nature and origin of this powerful organization--this
+informally-constituted league, the name whereof has been familiar to the
+ears of Upper Canadians during the whole, or nearly the whole, of the
+present century; which is referred to in nearly all books dealing with
+the political and social life of this Province before the Union of 1841;
+which for forty years regulated the public policy of the colony, and
+ruled with an iron hand over the liberties of the inhabitants?
+
+Immediately after the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763,
+whereby Canada was ceded by France to Great Britain, it became necessary
+for the British Government to appoint a considerable number of officials
+to fill the public offices in the country so ceded. It did not suit the
+policy of the conquerors to leave much power in the hands of the
+conquered. The introduction of the English language and laws was
+moreover a practical disqualification for most of the native inhabitants
+of the colony, and the new officials were nearly all sent over from
+England. Some of the principal personages among them were men of probity
+and brains. Others, though possessed of a full share of brains, had but
+a younger brother's portion of the other commodity. The underlings,
+generally speaking, had but a slender allowance of either. They were for
+the most part appointed on the recommendation of various supporters of
+the Government of the day, who were thus able to provide for a number of
+their needy relatives and dependants--a matter of vastly greater
+importance in their eyes than the proper administration of the affairs
+of a distant and newly-acquired colony. The Conquest thus proved a boon
+to many servile hangers-on of public men in Great Britain, and scores of
+the waifs and strays of British aristocracy began to turn their eyes
+towards Canada as a possible resource in the last emergency. It was said
+to be a cold and comfortless land, but it was surely preferable to the
+Fleet Prison or the Marshalsea, with the alternative of starvation or
+enlistment in the army. Many of these pimps and panders to the whims or
+the passions of those in high station found their way to Quebec and
+Montreal, and were provided for at the public expense by being installed
+in places of greater or less emolument.[45]
+
+When Upper Canada was set apart as a separate Province, in 1791, the
+field of operations was considerably extended. Indeed, the Upper
+Province soon came to be regarded with special favour by intending
+aspirants to office, as it was in all respects an English colony;
+whereas Lower Canada, in spite of all attempts to Anglicize it, remained
+much more French than English. Lower Canada, indeed, remained in some
+respects more French than any other part of the world, not even
+excepting France itself, for in that country the Great Revolution had
+swept away many effete institutions which were still retained in all
+their decrepitude among the Frenchmen of the New World. Now, the French
+Canadians, though most of the avenues to power and office were closed to
+them, composed a vast majority of the population. They did not take
+kindly to the British colonists, and declined to fraternize with them.
+The latter could bear this isolation, as they were comforted by the
+spoils of office, but their lives were rendered much less agreeable than
+they would have been in a colony where no such disturbing elements were
+known. Upper Canada was precisely such a colony. No part of Britain was
+more British in sentiment. In no part of the world would an expatriated
+Englishman find himself more entirely in harmony with his environment,
+from a purely patriotic point of view. What wonder, then, that Upper
+Canada was regarded by place-hunting emigrants from England with
+wistful eyes? What wonder that an appointment to a public office in
+Upper Canada should have been regarded by such persons as a thing
+greatly to be coveted? Such aspirants were regarded with but little
+favour by Governor Simcoe. His great object was to launch the Province
+successfully on its career, and to lay the foundations of good
+government. He brought with him his own staff, selected by himself with
+a single eye to their fitness for the positions which they were
+respectively intended to fill. During his day there was little or no
+favouritism in public appointments, and but little, if anything, to find
+fault with in the conduct of the administration. His demission of office
+was almost immediately followed by a relaxation of discipline, and by a
+looseness in the management of the public business. As the years passed
+by, the Province became the resort of numerous office-seekers from
+beyond sea--half-pay officers and scions of good English, Scotch and
+Irish families, who sought to better their fortunes by expatriation. As
+they were, generally speaking, men of some education, and of manners
+more polished than were ordinarily found among the colonists, they
+naturally assimilated, and were drawn towards each other. They likewise
+coalesced, to some extent, with a few United Empire Loyalist families of
+exclusive pretensions, in whose veins the blood was supposed to possess
+an exceptionally cerulean tint. Several persons who had rapidly gained
+wealth by trade and speculation, and who had thereby acquired influence
+in the community, were also admitted. In an inconceivably short space of
+time this union of several influential cliques was followed by important
+results. They acquired a strength and influence which, in the then
+primitive state of the colony, carried all before them. They wormed
+themselves into all the more important offices, directed the Councils of
+the Sovereign's representative, and, in a word, became the power behind
+the Throne. In the early years of their domination they organized their
+forces with much tact and judgment, and did not develop their plans
+until they had been carefully matured. They may be said to have
+practically absorbed the Executive and Legislative Councils, as those
+bodies were entirely made up of persons either selected from among them
+or entirely subservient to their influence. No man, whatever his
+abilities, could hope to succeed in any profession or calling in Upper
+Canada if he dared to declare himself in opposition to them. A few made
+the attempt, and failed most signally.
+
+Such was the Family Compact. "For a long time," says Lord Durham,[46]
+writing in 1838, "this body of men, receiving at times accessions to its
+members, possessed almost all the highest public offices, by means of
+which, and of its influence in the Executive Council, it wielded all the
+powers of Government; it maintained influence in the Legislature by
+means of its predominance in the Legislative Council; and it disposed of
+the large number of petty posts which are in the patronage of the
+Government all over the Province. Successive Governors, as they came in
+their turn, are said to have either submitted quietly to its influence,
+or, after a short and unavailing struggle, to have yielded to this
+well-organized party the conduct of affairs. The bench, the magistracy,
+the high offices of the Episcopal Church, and a great part of the legal
+profession, are filled by the adherents of this party: by grant or
+purchase they have acquired nearly the whole of the waste lands of the
+Province; they are all-powerful in the chartered banks, and, till
+lately, shared among themselves almost exclusively all offices of trust
+and profit."
+
+The influences which produced the Family Compact were not confined to
+Upper Canada. In the Lower Province, as well as in Nova Scotia and New
+Brunswick, similar causes led to similar results, and the term "Family
+Compact" has at one time or another been a familiar one in all the
+British North American colonies. But in none of them did the
+organization attain to such a plenitude of power as in this Province,
+and in none of them did it wield the sceptre of authority with so
+thorough an indifference to the principles of right and wrong. Its name
+is a rather indefinite, but not inapt characterization. Lord Durham
+refers to the term "Family Compact," as being not much more appropriate
+than party designations usually are; "inasmuch as," he writes, "there
+is, in truth, very little of family connexion among the persons thus
+united.[47]" "Much" is a saving clause, but if his Lordship had thought
+it worth his while to enquire minutely into the relations subsisting
+between the members of this body, he would have found that there had
+been a good many intermarriages between them, and that the pecuniary
+interests which bound them together had been welded by the most powerful
+of social bonds.[48] The designation "Family Compact," however, did not
+owe its origin to any combination of North American colonists, but was
+borrowed from the diplomatic history of Europe. By the treaty signed at
+Paris on the 15th of August, 1761, by representatives on behalf of
+France and Spain, the contracting parties agreed to guarantee each
+other's territories, to provide mutual succours by sea and land, and to
+consider the enemy of either as the enemy of both. This treaty, being
+contracted between the two branches of the House of Bourbon, is known to
+history as the Family Compact Treaty, and the name was adopted in the
+Canadas, as well as in the Maritime Provinces, to designate the
+combination which enjoyed a monopoly of power and place in the
+community, and among the members whereof there seemed to be a perfect,
+if unexpressed, understanding, that they were to make common cause
+against any and all persons who might attempt to diminish or destroy
+their influence.
+
+The members of the Family Compact, with very few exceptions, were
+members of the Church of England, which, owing to the before-mentioned
+provisions in the Constitutional Act, they regarded as the State Church
+of Upper Canada, established by law, and entitled to the special
+veneration of the inhabitants. They accounted all persons as members of
+the Church of England who were not actual members of some other
+religious body, and in enumerating the people for statistical purposes
+they sometimes even went so far as to include the infant children of
+Dissenters as Episcopalians. They sought to defend the alleged
+establishment of a State Church in Canada by arguments which it is
+astonishing to think that men of education and intelligence should ever
+have stooped to employ. "There should be in every Christian country an
+established religion," said Dr. Strachan, in his evidence before the
+Select Committee on Grievances, in 1835, "otherwise it is not a
+Christian but an infidel country."[49] According to their theory, one of
+the principal ends of the Government of Upper Canada was the propagation
+of religious truth as set forth in the doctrines of the Church of
+England. True, the arguments on the subject were not so well understood
+then as now. Mr. Gladstone's little volume on "The State in its
+Relations with the Church," and Macaulay's answer thereto in the
+_Edinburgh Review_, had not then been published. But some of the most
+conclusive arguments adduced by Macaulay were as old as the world
+itself; and even Mr. Gladstone, in all his youthful exuberance, did not
+venture to take so preposterous a stand as was assumed by the upholders
+of a State Church in this Province. Their bigotry and intolerance were
+utterly out of keeping with the times in which they lived, and were
+better suited to the days of Archbishop Laud or Sir Robert Filmer. Of
+that heaven-born charity which suffereth long, and is kind; which
+vaunteth not itself, and is not puffed up; which seeketh not her own,
+and is not easily provoked; which thinketh no evil; which rejoiceth not
+in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; which beareth all things,
+believeth all things, endureth all things--of the spirit which impels to
+such a state of mind as this, we find few traces in the lives and
+writings of the upholders of State-Churchism in Upper Canada in those
+days. We find, on the contrary, much unkindness, much vaunting of
+themselves, much selfish conceit, much seeking, not only of their own,
+but of that which of right belonged to their neighbours. The champions
+of ecclesiastical monopoly were easily provoked to anger, and to
+thinking and speaking all manner of evil of those who differed from them
+as to the distribution of the Clergy Reserves. Roman Catholicism they
+contemplated with a certain amount of toleration, as the Roman Catholic
+hierarchy yielded the Government an unwavering support in return for the
+freedom and privileges which they enjoyed. But their toleration was not
+broad enough to cover any other form of religious belief. Dissent, in
+all its multiform phases, they looked upon with mingled abhorrence and
+contempt--as a thing to be shunned and tabooed by all right-minded
+persons. Dissenting ministers of religion were regarded as "low
+fellows," whom it was no sin to persecute, and, if possible, drive out
+of the country. Comparatively few of the latter were permitted to
+solemnize matrimony during the first forty years of the Province's
+history. By the statute 38 George III., chapter 4, passed in 1798, the
+privilege of doing so was accorded to ministers of "The Church of
+Scotland, or Lutherans or Calvinists;" but it was hedged about with
+cumbrous restrictions which must have been felt as humiliating and
+unnecessary. No person was to be regarded as a minister under the Act
+until he had appeared before the Justices of the Peace in Quarter
+Sessions, and had produced satisfactory credentials of his ordination.
+He was also compelled to take the oath of allegiance. Even after
+complying with all formalities, his functions were restricted to cases
+where one or both of the parties to be joined together belonged to his
+own religious society. Ministers of other denominations, including those
+of the Methodist body, which was the most numerous religious community
+in the Province, were not allowed the privilege of solemnizing marriage
+rites till the year 1831. The ignominous disqualification was removed
+by the statute 11 George IV., chapter 36, which was passed in 1830, but
+which did not receive the royal assent until the following year. A
+similar measure had repeatedly been passed by the Assembly in former
+sessions, but had as often been rejected by the Upper House. Before the
+law was finally and equitably settled as above mentioned, several
+ministers of religion had been tried and banished from the Province for
+having ventured to solemnize matrimony without legal authority. It is
+said that in one case where a minister was tried on a charge of this
+kind, the accused protested against his sentence, alleging that the
+Chief Justice, who presided at the trial, had himself sanctioned the
+performance of the ceremony. The Chief Justice, being called upon to
+descend from the judgment seat and give evidence as to this fact,
+declined to do so; but he afterwards procured a pardon for the
+prisoner.[50]
+
+The Compact always contained within its ranks a few persons of more than
+average ability. Some of them doubtless believed that the course pursued
+by their organization was for the advantage of the colony, though,
+reasoning by the light of present knowledge, it is difficult to
+comprehend how men of even moderate perspicacity and judgment could have
+brought themselves to such a conclusion. It was, however, inevitable
+that persons of such narrow and contracted views--persons to whom self
+and pelf were the mainsprings of life--should degenerate, mentally as
+well as morally. The persons composing the second generation were, with
+very few exceptions, striking illustrations of the doctrine of the
+descent of man. Their sires had been men of energy and force of
+character. They themselves were--to borrow a phrase from the acting
+drama--the mere walking gentlemen of the colony. The sires had
+originated a bold and determined policy, and had from first to last
+pursued it with consistent vigour. The sons had neither brains to
+conceive nor discretion to carry out the conceptions of others. The
+sires had been persons whom it had been possible for the commonalty to
+respect. The sons were persons whom it was impossible not to despise.
+Surely a more superlatively commonplace and contemptible race of human
+beings has seldom been seen on the earth than four-fifths of the second
+generation of this bastard aristocracy of Upper Canada. It bore no
+resemblance to any other aristocracy whereof history has preserved any
+record. The old Roman commonalty, while they groaned beneath the iron
+heel of tyranny, were one and all conscious of a secret pride in their
+imperial oppressors. For the Roman aristocracy was an aristocracy of
+nature. The Roman patricians made foreign rulers to crouch and tremble
+at the name of Rome. Their triumphs were the triumphs of the nation.
+Caius of Corioli, Furius Camillus, Titus Capitolinus, were names the
+mere utterance of which stirred the Roman blood like the blast of a
+trumpet. For many a long year after one haughty dictator had slept his
+last sleep beneath the walls of Præneste, and after another had taken
+his final plunge beneath the yellow Tiber or from the Tarpeian rock,
+their exploits furnished themes for tale and song around the Roman
+camp-fires. These puissant representatives of the dominant class had
+shown little sympathy for the plebeians, upon whom they had looked down
+from a lofty height, and towards whom they had ever borne themselves
+with haughtiness and disdain. But their pride was a something to be
+tolerated by Romans of every degree, for they had achieved much glory
+for the Roman name. In the words of one who has interpreted the
+sentiment of those times with rare felicity, Rome could bear the pride
+of him of whom herself was proud. The old French noblesse, again, were
+not devoid of redeeming qualities. Their galling yoke would not have
+been borne from reign to reign, and through century after century, even
+by such seeming reconcilables as constituted the bulk of the French
+populace during the ante-Revolutionary period, if they had all been like
+the wicked St. Evrémonde of Mr. Dickens's tragic story. As a class, they
+had a subtle French grace about them which rendered their most grievous
+exactions less hard to bear than were the exactions of their eastern
+neighbours. They were an unmistakable _haute noblesse_, ever polished
+and dignified. Some of them, like Philippe Egalité, had the cunning,
+when the time of trial arrived, to bend to the popular storm, and even
+to affect a zeal for citizenship. Comparatively few of them were at once
+_blasé_ and brainless. It may be doubted if a single one of them
+combined--as did many of the rank and file of the second generation of
+the Family Compact of Upper Canada--the pretensions of an aristocrat
+with the sentiments of a boor and the intellectual development of a
+child. Yet further. The feeling of veneration with which the English
+commonalty have for centuries regarded the House of Lords is easy enough
+to understand. That feeling seems to be rapidly passing away, if,
+indeed, it has not already departed. But it would not have endured from
+the time of the Plantagenets to the time of Queen Victoria if it had not
+had some substantial foundation to rest upon. The House of Lords has
+always contained a number of men of high integrity and ability. Take it
+for all and all, it is probably the most just-minded and intellectual
+aristocratic assembly the world has ever seen. This may not be very high
+praise, but it may at least be taken for what it is worth. Its
+individual members are seldom brought sufficiently near to the lower
+order of the commonalty to enable the latter to detect their weaknesses.
+Their wealth, prestige and social position give them a vast influence,
+while at the same time their legislative powers are held in check by the
+direct representatives of the people. Most of these conditions were
+directly reversed in Upper Canada, where the members of the dominant
+faction were brought into the closest relations with the people
+generally, insomuch that their many deficiencies could not be concealed.
+Such wealth as they had they were too often known to have obtained at
+the expense of the rest of the community. The Lower House formed no
+efficacious check upon them, for they either managed to return a
+sufficient number of their tools to control the vote in that body, or
+else they rendered the Assembly's operations of no avail by means of
+their influence in the Legislative Council. They had none of the
+graceful suavity of the Lower Canadian seigneurs. Nor could they boast
+of the superiority derived from a liberal education. Many of them--even
+including some of those who held high public offices--were so illiterate
+that they were unable to write a simple business letter without
+committing errors of orthography of which any one but Artemus Ward or
+Jeames de la Pluche might well feel ashamed.
+
+Nearly all the leading spirits of this strangely-assorted oligarchy were
+either wealthy or on the direct road to wealth. Being comfortably
+provided for at the public cost, in the form of fat offices or wild
+lands, or both, they assumed a swelling port, and aped, as best they
+knew how, the manners and customs of the upper classes in Great Britain.
+They built their dwellings in imitation of old-fashioned English
+manor-houses, with a variety of wings and gables, and with broad
+entrance halls which in an emergency might have served the purpose of
+presence-chambers. They dined long and late, and with much old-world
+pomp and ceremonial. They drove out in coaches emblazoned with heraldic
+bearings, and attended by broad-calved flunkeys in family livery.
+Certain social observances of the early Georgian era, long since effete
+and worn out in England, flourished in the social life of Little York
+down to a period within the memory of many persons who are still living.
+The aristocratic clique which preserved these customs was in the highest
+degree rigid and exclusive. No outsider was admitted into the charmed
+circle unless he came duly ticketed and accredited. The attempt to
+transplant the usages of an old and advanced state of society into the
+primitive streets and lanes of such places as York, Kingston, and
+Woodstock was for a time more successful than might be supposed. Such of
+the families as had been to the manner born carried off these
+observances with considerable grace. They had brought their traditions
+with them across the Atlantic, and though such traditions were not well
+suited to the genius of a young and sparsely-settled colony, they were
+at least maintained with some regard to the sources whence they had been
+derived. With the pretenders who formed a portion of the clique, and who
+had been admitted into it for special political reasons, the attempt to
+copy the habits of their social superiors was, generally speaking, less
+satisfactory. There was, in truth, an inner social circle which these
+latter were never invited to join. They, however, enjoyed all the
+political and pecuniary advantages arising from their connection, and
+were not easily distinguishable by outsiders from the very head and
+front of the organization.
+
+So far as to the wealthy members of the ruling faction. But there were a
+good many of them who not only were not wealthy, but who were in
+positively indigent circumstances. These, for the most part, were
+members of old country families who had sent them to Canada with the
+sole object of getting rid of them. Others were half-pay officers who
+had spent their whole fortunes in settling on land, after which they had
+found themselves unable to make a livelihood, and had then sold their
+property for as much--or as little--as they could manage to get. These
+latter, after having disposed of their lands, generally repaired to the
+towns, and most of them sooner or later found their way to the
+Provincial capital. There they became obedient slaves of those in
+authority, and picked up a precarious livelihood by making themselves
+useful in various ways. The Executive could always find a certain amount
+of work for such persons, though, if the truth must be told, the supply
+was often greater than the demand. The code of social ethics in vogue
+among this class was such as might have been expected from persons who
+had been reared to regard themselves as the objects of a special
+dispensation of fortune. They looked upon manual labour as degrading.
+Any person, no matter what his abilities, who earned a livelihood by the
+sweat of his brow, or even by honest trade, was considered as no fit
+company for the brood of parasites who hung on to the heels of the
+Compact, and who nevertheless did not hesitate to perform tasks from
+which the average costermonger would have shrunk in disgust. Their
+employers occasionally admitted them to their tables, and even to some
+degree of social intimacy. More frequently they presented them with
+their cast-off clothing, with new gowns for their wives at Christmas,
+or--when things were at a remarkably low ebb--with a hundredweight of
+flour or half a barrel of mess pork. Yet the recipients of these favours
+piqued themselves upon their good birth and high connexions, and would
+have felt themselves insulted if anyone had ventured to hint that they
+should visit, upon terms of equality, with the grocer or the butcher in
+the next street.
+
+The reader now has before him a sufficient array of facts to enable him
+to form a pretty accurate conception of the state of social life in
+Upper Canada during ante-Rebellion times. It was a matter of course that
+such a monopoly of power as was possessed and exercised by the ruling
+faction should excite envy and opposition on the part of those who did
+not revel in its smiles or share in its plunder. Loud murmurings began
+to make themselves heard against the delay and partiality in the
+land-granting department, and against the corrupt manner in which the
+public affairs of the Province generally were carried on. Before the
+close of Governor Hunter's _régime_ these murmurings had become loud
+enough to occasion no little disquiet to some of the officials who had
+most reason to dread enquiry and investigation. The abuses were greater
+in some branches of the service than in others, but peculation prevailed
+to a greater or less extent almost everywhere. The Indian department was
+notorious for the corruption of its officials. A sum of sixty thousand
+pounds sterling was annually granted by the Imperial Government for
+distribution among the various tribes, and for the payment of agents and
+interpreters. The distribution among the Indians chiefly took the form
+of commodities which had a particular fascination for the mind of the
+noble savage--such commodities, for instance, as muskets, powder,
+bullets, knives, tomahawks, hatchets, blankets, spangles, pocket
+mirrors, and--last, but by no means least--fire-water. The opportunities
+which this grant afforded for peculation and plunder were too tempting
+to be resisted. The agents and their subordinates, from highest to
+lowest, owed their positions to their servility and usefulness to those
+in authority. So long as they proved serviceable and obedient to their
+masters, there was not much likelihood of their being called to serious
+account for any iniquities they might commit towards Mohawk or Seneca,
+Oneida or Mississauga. By way of consequence, the Indians were robbed and
+the Government was robbed; and the robbers, feeling secure of protection
+from their superiors, plied their nefarious traffic with impunity.[51]
+There were equally culpable but less notorious abuses of power in other
+branches of the service. Probably not one in ten of these ever came to
+light, but from time to time there were awkward revelations which could
+not be suppressed. All these things combined to beget a widespread lack
+of confidence in the official clique. The want of confidence, not
+without good reason, extended even to the administrators of the law. The
+judges, as already mentioned, held office at the will of the Executive,
+and, at least in some instances, were shamelessly servile and corrupt.
+This led to their dicta being disregarded by sturdy juries who cared
+less for the letter of the law than for its spirit. Mr. John Mills
+Jackson, in his "View of the Political Situation of the Province of
+Upper Canada," published in 1809, speaks of an instance where the people
+became tumultuous, and broke the public stocks in the presence of the
+Chief Justice.[52] The public distrust of the administrators of the law
+does not seem to have been confined to the judges of the Superior
+Courts. It extended to the rural magistrates, some of whom turned their
+offices to commodity in a manner which would have excited the admiration
+of Falstaff himself. "The shop-keepers," writes Mr. Jackson, "are
+Justices of Peace. They have the means of extortion, and the power of
+enforcing payments. They are first the criminals, then the judges; and
+the court of appeal seems to be so constructed as to prevent an honest
+verdict from passing into effect. The practice of the court is unjust,
+oppressive, and influenced. Favourite attorneys were made deputy clerks
+of the peace, so that process might be entered and writs obtained most
+partially. The crown lawyer is allowed nearly seven pounds sterling for
+every criminal prosecution! an inducement to listen to trifling
+complaints, and prefer frivolous indictments, when, if power was
+gratified and independence harassed, it was a sufficient excuse for an
+inflated contingent account." The author of this scathing philippic
+against petty oppression proceeds to recount a case wherein an action
+was brought against a magistrate who had exerted his authority in an
+illegal and oppressive manner. A verdict was obtained against him for a
+hundred pounds. An application was made to the Court of King's Bench to
+set the verdict aside, which was rejected; whereupon the clerk of the
+court in which the judgment had been obtained was ordered by the Crown
+lawyer not to issue execution. The clerk knew better than to disobey an
+order from such a source, and the plaintiff accordingly took nothing by
+his verdict. The unrighteous magistrate escaped the penalty of his
+misdeeds, and furnished a sort of standing precedent for magisterial
+iniquity. Other equally flagrant perversions of justice are recorded by
+the same authority. An illegal and unjustifiable extent issued, at the
+suit of the Crown, against one of the civil officers. It lasted for
+years; yet the officer dared not resist oppression by applying for
+justice. "When [the extent] was as imperiously taken off as it was
+arbitrarily laid on," writes Mr. Jackson, "the sheriff dared not apply
+for fees expended in holding possession under the writ, or the printer
+sue for the money voted him by the House of Assembly for printing their
+journals. The surveyors could not obtain the money they had actually
+expended in the public service, nor the people find redress for extorted
+fees. Therefore, when there was neither substance nor shadow of law or
+justice, but the will of power was the rule of decision, the public mind
+was agitated in the extreme, and universal gloom pervaded the Province."
+
+The discontent produced by official tyranny was however almost impotent
+as against the wrong-doers, who were so strongly entrenched in their
+places that it seemed as though nothing could shake them. Many of them,
+conscious of their misconduct, doubtless felt secret misgivings whenever
+any specially significant outburst of popular dissatisfaction occurred.
+But for many years they were able to present a united and brazen front,
+and to crush anyone who dared to so much as wag a finger against them.
+It was intimated on a former page that Robert Gourlay was not the first
+victim of Executive tyranny. The first conspicuous victim of whom any
+record has been preserved was Mr. Robert Thorpe, an English barrister of
+much learning and acumen, who in 1805 was appointed a puisne judge of
+the Court of King's Bench for Upper Canada. Previous to his arrival in
+this country Mr. Thorpe had never been remarkable for any specially
+liberal opinions, but he was a man of enlightened mind, and actuated by
+an honest desire to do his duty. He was not long in perceiving that the
+administration of justice in this Province was little better than a
+hollow mockery. He resolved to do what one man could to restore public
+confidence in the judicial bench, and his court erelong became a popular
+forum for honest litigants, for it was evident to all that he held the
+scales of justice with an even hand, and was not to be either cajoled or
+bullied into perverting the law. Before he had been a twelvemonth in the
+country he was known far and wide as an upright judge, and as a sort of
+champion of popular rights. Grand juries took him into their confidence,
+and tabulated their grievances before him. These were laid by him
+before the authorities at York, upon his return from circuit; a
+proceeding which was quite sufficient to bring down upon his head
+the opposition of the faction which flourished by reason of those very
+grievances. The whole of the Family Compact influence arrayed itself
+against him in deadly enmity. Francis Gore arrived in the capacity of
+Lieutenant-Governor in the summer of 1806. He was informed by his
+Councillors that Judge Thorpe was a dangerous and revolutionary
+personage. It was certain that the past year had been signalized by a
+decided propensity on the part of the people to assert themselves
+against the intolerable exactions of their oppressors, and that a spirit
+of opposition was on the increase throughout the land. Governor Gore and
+his Councillors reversed the inductive process, and attributed the
+popular discontent to the influence of the new judge. This seeming
+conviction on their parts was strengthened by certain remarks of Judge
+Thorpe himself, made in reply to an address from the Grand Jury of the
+London District. "The art of governing," said he, "is a difficult
+science. Knowledge is not instinctive, and the days of inspiration have
+passed away. Therefore, when there was neither talent, education,
+information, nor even manners in the Administration, little could be
+expected, and nothing was produced." The reference here is manifestly to
+the _régime_ of Governor Hunter and Commodore Grant; and the intimation
+is that better things are to be hoped for under the recently-arrived
+Governor. "But," continued the judge, "there is an ultimate point of
+depression, as well as of exaltation, from whence all human affairs
+naturally advance or recede. Therefore, proportionate to your
+depression, we may expect your progress in prosperity will advance with
+accelerated velocity." He also in the course of his address, inveighed
+against the Alien Act of 1804. When he reached York, at the close of the
+circuit, he laid before the new Lieutenant-Governor the various
+recapitulations of grievances which had been entrusted to him. They were
+received by Mr. Gore and his Councillors with a very ill grace. The
+complaints from the London District were stated with great vigour and
+lucidity, and as they had got into print they could not be suppressed or
+wholly ignored. An attempt was made to show that the chapter of
+grievances had been presented by the jurors, not because there was
+really anything of importance to complain of, but because Judge Thorpe
+himself had instigated them to such a course. As this charge was openly
+made, Mr. Thorpe in his capacity of a Justice of the King's Bench,
+caused a proceeding of the nature of _scandalum magnatum_ to be
+instituted. His brother judges, however, some of whom were members of
+the Executive Council, and all of whom were subject to strong influences
+from that quarter, ruled that the proceeding could not be maintained,
+and it accordingly fell through. An attempt was also made, first to
+intimidate, and afterwards to corrupt the Grand Jury. A letter was sent
+to them from the office of the Lieutenant-Governor, requesting them to
+state the grounds of their complaints more specifically. The recipients
+responded by preparing and forwarding a stronger case than before. A
+recantation was then drawn up by a skilful hand, and presented to each
+individual member of the Jury, a reward being at the same time offered
+as an inducement to sign it. The jurymen, however, were not prepared to
+barter away their liberties in this manner, and the attempt wholly
+failed. While the Executive were deliberating as to how they could most
+effectually strike Judge Thorpe, a vacancy occurred in the
+representation of one of the constituencies in the Home District. In
+those times, as has already been seen, a judgeship was no
+disqualification for political life, and a deputation waited on Mr.
+Thorpe with a numerously signed address, requesting him to become their
+representative. He replied that he would not become a partisan, but that
+if he were returned to Parliament he would not hesitate to do his duty.
+No sooner did it become known that "the Radical Judge," as he was
+called, was a candidate for the Assembly than the leading spirits of the
+Compact aroused themselves to defeat him. This was natural enough. That
+they should employ against him every means which their ingenuity could
+devise--among others, bribery, vilification and deliberate slander--that
+also was natural, when the time and persons are considered. "Every
+engine within the reach of authority," writes Mr. Jackson, "was used for
+the purpose of defeating the wishes of the people on this occasion. All
+interests were required to yield in favour of the candidate most likely
+to succeed as against Mr. Thorpe. Any person in employment, in
+expectation of, or entitled to land, was gratified, promised, or
+threatened; magistrates were made and unmade, as best suited the
+purposes of electioneering; grants were given; fees excused, or promised
+to be paid by those high in authority. Even domestics were bribed with
+places, land, and money, to vilify and accuse, by direct falsehoods, the
+most upright, serviceable and esteemed persons in the Province." For
+once public opinion proved too strong for Family Compact influence.
+Judge Thorpe was returned, and great things were hoped for from his
+career in Parliament. But the triumph of freedom was short-lived. The
+Compact was too strong to be opposed by the multitude with impunity.
+Lieutenant-Governor Gore was subservient to its wishes, and besides he
+had by this time come to hate the popular judge on his own account, and
+his mind was fully made up to solicit from the Colonial Secretary Judge
+Thorpe's recall. One of his private letters, written from Kingston,
+during a journey from York to Montreal, several months after the Judge's
+election to the Assembly, announces this resolution in unmistakable
+terms. "The object of Mr. T.'s [Thorpe's] emissions," he writes,
+"appears to be to persuade the people to turn every gentleman out of the
+House of Assembly. However, keep your temper with the rascals, I beseech
+you. I shall represent everything at St. James'." He was as good as his
+word, and in October, 1807, the announcement was made in the _Gazette_
+that the Lieutenant-Governor had been instructed to suspend Mr. Thorpe
+from his judgeship, which we may be quite sure was done without
+unnecessary loss of time.
+
+Thus did might continue to triumph over right. There was not the
+slightest imputation of any sort against the Judge's character. His
+professional attainments were high; his personal character without a
+stain. His continued presence in Canada would have been a blessing to
+all but the race of tyrants who trampled on popular liberty. Yet he was
+removed because he respected himself and his office too highly to
+pervert judgment, and because he bade fair to abridge the rule of
+corruption. Upon his return to England the Colonial Office urged nothing
+whatever against him, and merely suggested, by way of justification for
+his recall, that his stay in Upper Canada would have led to perpetual
+disturbance of the public tranquillity. He instituted proceedings in one
+of the English courts against Mr. Gore, who was convicted of libel, but
+who escaped much more easily than he deserved with a fine of trifling
+amount. By way of recompense for his recall from Upper Canada, Judge
+Thorpe was appointed Chief Justice of Sierra Leone. There he remained
+for two years, by which time his constitution had become so much broken
+by the climate that he was compelled to return home. At the request of a
+number of the inhabitants he carried with him to England a petition
+complaining of certain abuses of power there. For this he was discarded
+by the Ministry of the day. His appointment as Chief Justice was
+cancelled, and another judge was sent out to West Africa in his stead.
+The rest of his life was passed in obscurity and neglect, and when he
+died his family were left without any provision for their future. Such
+was the untoward fate of an honourable and high-minded man, whose only
+fault was that he was too pure for the times in which he lived, and for
+the people among whom his lot was cast.
+
+Another early victim, whose life record seems to contradict the adage
+that honesty is the best policy, was Surveyor-General Wyatt. There is no
+need to go minutely into the particulars of his case. He was universally
+recognized as a competent and honest official, insomuch that it was
+currently said of him that he was too good for the masters whom he
+served. But he ventured to interfere on behalf of one of the
+subordinates in his office, who had been refused a stipend to which Mr.
+Wyatt considered him entitled. Then, he presumed to oppose the Council
+in respect of an irregular purchase of a large tract of land from the
+Mississauga Indians. Finally, he went so far as to profess a high degree
+of respect for the manly and independent conduct of Judge Thorpe. The
+secret conclave speedily pronounced his doom. No one ventured to allege
+any fault against him, yet he was deprived of his situation by the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and a pliable tool was installed in his office.
+
+Joseph Willcocks had a more bitter experience still. He was an Irishman,
+of liberal education, and of much energy of character, whose influence
+in official circles was wide enough to obtain for him the post of
+Sheriff of the Home District. For several years no occasion for any
+difference of opinion arose between him and his superiors. He was known
+as a competent officer, who discharged his duties with great
+consideration for the impecunious and unfortunate. But his frequent
+official peregrinations through the Home District enabled him to see
+with his own eyes the disastrous effects of the Clergy Reserves, of the
+land-granting system, and of Family Compact domination generally; and on
+several occasions he had sufficient courage to express his opinions
+thereupon. Attempts were made to silence him, first by remonstrances,
+and afterwards by threats, but all to no purpose. When Judge Thorpe
+began to figure as a sort of popular tribune, Willcocks declared himself
+as being also on the side of the people. When the Judge became a
+candidate for Parliament, the Sheriff, who had a vote in the
+constituency, recorded it in his favour. For this he shared the fate of
+the Surveyor-General, and was promptly dismissed from office by the
+Lieutenant-Governor. But he came of a fighting stock, and was not to be
+suppressed by the mere circumstance of being deprived of an official
+income. He started a newspaper called _The Upper Canada Guardian, or
+Freeman's Journal_. In this sheet, which was edited by Mr. Willcocks
+himself, various desirable measures of reform were advocated, and the
+dominant faction were from time to time referred to in opprobrious, but
+certainly not untruthful or unmerited language. The paper obtained a
+considerable circulation, and soon made its editor an object of bitter
+hatred on the part of the authorities. The vilest abuse was poured out
+upon him, and he was subjected to a course of persecution well-nigh as
+grievous as subsequently fell to the lot of Robert Gourlay. Governor
+Gore himself, in a letter still extant, written in 1807, refers to him
+as "that execrable monster who would deluge the Province with blood."
+The execrable monster's influence, however, continued to grow, and upon
+Judge Thorpe's retirement from Upper Canada, he was returned to the
+Assembly in his stead, for the West Riding of the County of York, the
+First Riding of the County of Lincoln, and the County of Haldimand. As
+he was a ready and powerful speaker, as well as a vigorous writer, it
+was felt that he would soon become intolerable if his career were not
+effectively checked. He was accordingly tried before the Assembly on a
+frivolous charge of having, in a private conversation held at the house
+of a Mr. Glennan, in York, spoken disrespectfully of some of the
+members. The proceedings were the veriest travesty of the forms of
+justice. The accused was found guilty, and committed to the common jail
+of the Home District, there to remain during the sitting of
+Parliament.[53] This indignity he was compelled to suffer, being
+confined for many weeks in a small close cell, which he was not
+permitted to leave for a single moment. He was further wrought upon by
+informations for libel, as well as by secret inquisitions into his
+private affairs. After his enlargement he continued to publish his
+paper, but he was so tortured by the incessant persecutions to which he
+was subjected that he could accomplish little or nothing in the way of
+reform. From some of his votes in the Assembly it would appear that he
+made tacit overtures towards reconciliation with his enemies,[54] but he
+had offended too deeply to be forgiven, and their rancour was not to be
+appeased. Eventually he was compelled to relinquish the publication of
+the _Guardian_ for want of funds to carry it on. Notwithstanding all
+that he had endured, his loyalty remained unshaken, and when the War of
+1812[55] broke out he responded to the call for volunteers by
+shouldering his musket and doing his devoirs like a man at the battle of
+Queenston Heights. Even this obtained for him neither complaisance nor
+immunity from abuse. He found himself ruined in fortune, opposed and
+hated by those in authority, without any prospect before him but
+starvation. It is not singular that a man subjected to such conditions
+should become disheartened. In a moment of exasperation he deserted the
+ranks where he had been held as of so little account. Accompanied by a
+small body of Canadian volunteers, he repaired to the camp of the enemy,
+where he offered his services, and obtained a colonel's commission. He
+served under Major-General Brown at the siege of Fort Erie, where he was
+slain while planting a guard.
+
+Such are three of the most notable examples of ministerial tyranny in
+comparatively early times. As before mentioned, they attracted less
+widespread attention than did Mr. Gourlay's case some years later,
+because, though they were signal instances of the abuse of power, they
+were not marked by such refinement in cruelty, and because they appealed
+to the political sympathies of comparatively few. In the time of Judge
+Thorpe, Wyatt and Willcocks, the dominating class not only held a
+monopoly of power, but they and their adherents were numerically in the
+ascendant. At the time of Gourlay's persecution the population was much
+more evenly divided. The oligarchy still had control of all the avenues
+to power, but there was a large and steadily-increasing class in the
+community who recognized the fact that many changes were necessary
+before Upper Canada could become a prosperous and well-governed colony,
+and a satisfactory place of abode for the average British immigrant.
+
+In closing this hasty review of the nature and effects of Family Compact
+domination in Upper Canada, I would not be understood as pronouncing a
+sweeping condemnation upon all the individual members of that body. John
+Beverley Robinson, for instance, though he lent himself to many
+high-handed acts of oppression, was a man of undoubted ability, and of a
+character which inspired respect. His descendants are to-day among the
+most respected and influential members of society in our Provincial
+capital. Several others were men of high personal character, and of
+abilities above the average. They acted in accordance with time and
+circumstance, and must be supposed to have done so conscientiously. But
+such persons as these composed but a very slender proportion of the
+Compact's entire membership. The rank and file were of a totally
+different complexion. The characteristics of the more poverty-stricken
+among them have already been hinted at; but, independently of these,
+there were many who were well-to-do, and who held their heads high in
+the air, who were nevertheless very ill qualified to win admiration for
+the caste to which they belonged. To state the simple truth, most of
+them were very ordinary commonplace personages, respectable, sapless,
+idealess--what Dr. Johnson would have characterized as exceedingly
+barren rascals. Some were of obscure origin, and would have been hard
+put to it if required to trace their ancestry beyond a single
+generation. Of these latter, a few, as has already been seen, had
+amassed wealth by trade or speculation, and had made their way into the
+exclusive circle by a fortunate combination of circumstances.
+
+Among the Compact, then, the number of persons of good birth and
+descent, possessed of sufficient qualifications to justify their
+aristocratic predilections, and of sufficient capacity to enable them to
+direct the colonial policy, was small. And it must by no means be
+supposed that all the good blood in the Province was confined to the
+Compact. There were many persons among the pioneers of Upper Canada of
+gentle nurture and breeding, who nevertheless scorned to pose in the
+character of aristocrats in a land where such assumptions were
+altogether out of place, and who manfully accommodated themselves to
+their primitive surroundings. As has been well remarked by Mr.
+MacMullen,[56] "While they learned to wield the axe and swing the cradle
+with the energy and skill of the roughest backwoodsman, they retained
+their polished manners, their literary tastes, their love for the
+beautiful and the elegant; and thus exercised the most beneficial
+influence upon their rustic neighbours. In the absence of schools, of
+churches, of most of the refining influences of civilized society, this
+class of the early settlers of Upper Canada were foremost in usefulness.
+Their superior education, their well-bred manners, their more refined
+habits, raised them in the estimation of the rural population, who soon
+tacitly admitted a superiority which would never have been conceded [had
+it been] more directly asserted." Most, though not all, of these
+gentlemen were Tories, and, with hardly an exception, preserved their
+loyalty through all chances and changes. During the War of 1812-15, and
+again during the agitation arising out of the Rebellion, they proved
+true to their Tory instincts, and rallied to the side of the Government
+with ready fervour. Their social proclivities were equally removed from
+the rude boorishness of the ordinary settler as from the pretence and
+ceremonial of the clique of self-constituted aristocrats. They generally
+preserved a modicum of state in the regulation of their household
+affairs, though they kept aloof from the Compact and its practices, and
+devoted themselves to various branches of industry--among others, to the
+education of youth; to the practice of the learned professions; to the
+opening and cultivating of new avenues of commerce; and to reducing the
+pathless forests to arable and smiling fields.
+
+One other fact it is essential to bear in mind, in estimating the
+effects of the Compact's _régime_. In seizing upon all the official and
+other spoils within their reach, and in trampling upon the liberties of
+the people, the magnates of Upper Canada were merely treading in the
+footsteps of the Tite Barnacles of Great Britain. The period was one of
+transition, all over the civilized world. Popular rights were but
+imperfectly understood, and the idea that good government is best served
+by the extension of justice and equal rights to all classes was only
+beginning to dawn upon the minds of public men, even in old and
+long-established communities. That Canada was not in advance of the
+times is not to be wondered at; but the ordeal through which she was
+compelled to pass on the way to full and assured liberty forms an epoch
+highly necessary to be understood and frequently remembered by all who
+appreciate the blessings which are the birthright of every Canadian of
+the present day. A knowledge of the principles and practices of the
+Family Compact in the olden days constitutes the most effectual
+guarantee that such days can never return, and that neither our children
+nor our children's children will ever be compelled to fight over again
+the battle which was so long and so patiently waged by their ancestors.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[45] It may perhaps be thought by some readers that the closing
+sentences of this paragraph are pitched in too high a key. Those who
+entertain that opinion will receive light on the subject by a careful
+perusal of various official reports issued just prior to the passing of
+the Quebec Act in 1774, and more especially of _A Cry from Quebec_,
+published at Montreal in 1809.
+
+[46] _Report on the Affairs of British North America_, English folio
+edition, p. 53.
+
+[47] _Ib._
+
+[48] How far Lord Durham was justified in saying that there was "little
+of family connexion" among the members of the Compact will appear from
+the following "curious but accurate statement," prepared by Mr. W. L.
+Mackenzie for his _Sketches of Canada and the United States_, published
+in England in 1833. It will be found on pp. 405-409 of that work. "When
+I left Upper Canada last year," writes Mr. Mackenzie, "some of the
+offices, sinecures, and pensions of the Government were divided as
+follows:--No. 1. D'ARCY BOULTON, senior, a retired pensioner, £500
+sterling. 2. HENRY, son to No. 1, Attorney-General and Bank Solicitor,
+£2400. 3. D'ARCY, son to No. 1, Auditor-General, Master in Chancery,
+Police Justice, etc. Income unknown. 4. WILLIAM, son to No. 1, Church
+Missionary, King's College Professor, etc., £650. 5. GEORGE, son to No.
+1, Registrar of Northumberland, Member of Assembly for Durham, etc.
+Income unknown. 6. JOHN BEVERLEY ROBINSON, brother-in-law to No. 3,
+Chief Justice of Upper Canada, Member for life of the Legislative
+Council, Speaker of ditto, £2000. 7. PETER, brother to No. 6, Member of
+the Executive Council, Member for life of the Legislative Council, Crown
+Land Commissioner, Surveyor-General of Woods, Clergy Reserve
+Commissioner, etc. £1300. 8. WILLIAM, brother to Nos. 6 and 7,
+Postmaster of Newmarket, Member of Assembly for Simcoe, Government
+Contractor, Colonel of Militia, Justice of the Peace, etc. Income
+unknown. 9. JONAS JONES, brother-in-law to No. 2, Judge of the District
+Court in three districts containing eight counties, and filling a number
+of other offices. Income about £1000. 10. CHARLES, brother to No. 9,
+Member for life of Legislative Council, Justice of the Peace in twenty
+seven counties, etc. 11. ALPHEUS, brother to Nos. 9 and 10, Collector of
+Customs, Prescott, Postmaster at ditto, Agent for Government Bank at
+ditto, etc. Income £900. 12. LEVIUS P. SHERWOOD, brother-in-law to Nos.
+9, 10, 11, one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench. Income
+£1000. 13. HENRY, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize, etc. 14. JOHN ELMSLEY,
+son-in-law to No. 12, Member of the Legislative Council for life, Bank
+Director, Justice of the Peace, etc. 15. CHARLES HEWARD, nephew to No.
+6, Clerk of the District Court, etc. Income £100. 16. JAMES B. MACAULAY,
+brother-in-law to Nos. 17 and 19, one of the Justices of the Court of
+King's Bench. Income £1000. 17. CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER HAGERMAN,
+brother-in-law to No. 16, Solicitor-General. £800. 18. JOHN MCGILL, a
+relation of Nos. 16 and 17, Legislative Councillor for life. Pensioner,
+£500. 19 and 20. W. ALLAN AND GEORGE CROOKSHANKS, connexions by marriage
+of 16 and 17, Legislative Councillors for life, the latter President of
+the Bank. £500. 21. HENRY JONES, cousin to Nos. 9, 10, etc., Postmaster
+of Brockville, Justice of the Peace, Member of Assembly for Brockville,
+Income unknown. 22. WILLIAM DUMMER POWELL, father of No. 24, Legislative
+Councillor for life, Justice of the Peace, Pensioner. Pension, £1000.
+23. SAMUEL PETERS JARVIS, son-in-law to No. 22, Clerk of the Crown in
+Chancery, Deputy-Secretary of the Province, Bank Director, etc. Income
+unknown. 24. GRANT, son to No. 22, Clerk of the Legislative Council,
+Police Justice, Judge Home District Court, Official Principal of Probate
+Court, Commissioner of Customs, etc. Income £675. 25. WILLIAM M.,
+brother to 23, High Sheriff Gore District. Income from £500 to £800. 26.
+WILLIAM B., cousin to Nos. 23 and 25, High Sheriff, Home District,
+Member of Assembly. Income £900. 27. ADIEL SHERWOOD, cousin to No. 12,
+High Sheriff of Johnstown, and Treasurer of that district. Income from
+£500 to £800. 28. GEORGE SHERWOOD, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize. 29.
+JOHN STRACHAN, their family tutor and political schoolmaster, archdeacon
+and rector of York, Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils,
+President of the University, President of the Board of Education, and
+twenty other situations. Income, on an average of years, upwards of
+£1800. 30. THOMAS MERCER JONES, son-in-law to No. 29, associated with
+No. 19, as the Canada Company's Agents and Managers in Canada. This
+family connexion rules Upper Canada according to its own good pleasure,
+and has no efficient check from this country to guard the people against
+its acts of tyranny and oppression. It includes the whole of the judges
+of the supreme civil and criminal tribunal (Nos. 6, 12, and 16)--active
+Tory politicians. Judge Macaulay was a clerk in the office of No. 2, not
+long since. It includes half the Executive Council or provincial
+cabinet. It includes the Speaker and other eight Members of the
+Legislative Council. It includes the persons who have the control of the
+Canada Land Company's monopoly. It includes the President and Solicitor
+of the Bank, and about half the Bank Directors; together with
+shareholders, holding, to the best of my recollection, about 1800
+shares. And it included the crown lawyers until last March, when they
+carried their opposition to Viscount Goderich's measures of reform to
+such a height as personally to insult the government, and to declare
+their belief that he had not the royal authority for his despatches.
+They were then removed; but, with this exception, the chain remains
+unbroken. This family compact surround the Lieutenant-Governor, and
+mould him, like wax, to their will; they fill every office with their
+relatives, dependants, and partisans; by them justices of the peace and
+officers of the militia are made and unmade; they have increased the
+number of the Legislative Council by recommending, through the Governor,
+half a dozen of nobodies and a few placemen, pensioners, and individuals
+of well-known narrow and bigoted principle; the whole of the revenues of
+Upper Canada are in reality at their mercy;--they are Paymasters,
+Receivers, Auditors, King, Lords, and Commons!"
+
+[49] See his evidence annexed to the Committee's Report, p. 86.
+
+[50] Gourlay, commenting upon this episode, remarks: "Who pardoned all
+the poor sinners that for years had been getting bastards, and who
+legitimized these, was not determined when I bade farewell to Upper
+Canada."--_Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, p. 348.
+
+[51] Those who wish to gain an insight into some of the most revolting
+features of this traffic may consult _Claws and the Clauses_, a pamphlet
+published at Buffalo in 1818; also _Gourlay_, vol. 2, pp. 486, 487;
+together with Jackson's pamphlet referred to in the text.
+
+[52] This must have been Chief Justice Thomas Scott, after whom Scott
+Street, Toronto, was called. He was Chief Justice from August, 1806, to
+Michaelmas Term, 1816. He is referred to by Dr. Scadding in _Toronto of
+Old_, p. 51, as "a man of fine culture, spoken of affectionately by
+those who knew him." A picture of him in his decline is presented on
+page 130 of the same work.
+
+[53] For a full account of these infamous proceedings, the reader is
+referred to _The Upper Canada Guardian_ of February 6th and March 18th,
+1808, quoted by Gourlay in his _Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, pp.
+655-662.
+
+[54] See an extract from the minutes of the proceedings in the Assembly,
+10th March, 1810, quoted by Gourlay, Vol. 2, pp. 328, 329. See also
+Gourlay's remarks thereon, Vol. 2, pp. 334, 335.
+
+[55] There is reason to believe that the discontent begotten of the
+abuse of power in Canada was one of the inducements to this attempt on
+the part of the United States, the Government of which was led to
+believe that Canadians generally would welcome any relief from the yoke
+which the Compact had placed upon their necks.
+
+[56] _History of Canada_, p. 243.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FATHERS OF REFORM.
+
+
+The history of Upper Canada, from the time of Mr. Gourlay's banishment,
+in 1819, down to the actual outbreak of rebellion, is largely made up of
+a succession of abuses on the part of the Executive, and of more or less
+passive endurance on the part of the great body of the people. As has
+been intimated, the Gourlay prosecutions and their attendant
+circumstances aroused much popular indignation, and led to the formation
+of an organized Opposition. During the session of 1820 the "Gagging
+Bill," as it was called, which had been introduced and carried through
+the Assembly under the auspices of Mr. Jonas Jones[57] two years before,
+was repealed,[58] and the holding of conventions was no longer
+prohibited by law. It is a fact worth mentioning that Attorney-General
+Robinson was the only member who recorded his vote against the repealing
+statute, whereas at the time of the enactment of the original repressive
+law in 1818 only one vote had been given against it. Such a change of
+opinion among the members of the Assembly within so brief a space of
+time is in itself significant of the progress of liberal views among the
+people generally.
+
+The vote on this repealing statute was somewhat of a surprise to the
+authorities. It was evident that Reform sentiment was growing, and that
+many persons who had never been classed as Reformers were weary of the
+long reign of tyranny. It was not the policy of the Compact, however, to
+yield anything to popular demands, and they held on their course with
+dogged pertinacity, as though animated by a fixed resolve that the
+public indignation which had been aroused by the Gourlay prosecutions
+should not be permitted to subside. Erelong a new opportunity for
+applying the thumb-screw presented itself, and it was taken advantage of
+to the fullest practicable extent. During the recess following the close
+of the first session of the Eighth Provincial Parliament, which was
+prorogued on the 14th of April, 1821, a vacancy occurred in the
+representation of the constituency of the United Counties of Lennox and
+Addington. The local Reformers took advantage of the opportunity thus
+afforded of bringing out a candidate who had rendered much service to
+Liberal principles in Upper Canada, and who was eminently fitted to
+impart strength to the Opposition in the Assembly. His name was Barnabas
+Bidwell, and he was known far and wide as one of the keenest intellects
+and as one of the best public speakers in the country. His past history
+had been unfortunate, and as it was soon to be made the subject of
+strict Parliamentary enquiry, a few leading facts in connection with it
+may as well be set down here.
+
+He was a native of Massachusetts, where he was born in the old colonial
+days before the Revolution. He came of a Whig family which espoused the
+colonial cause with ardour, but he was himself too young to take any
+part in the great struggle which gave birth to the United States. Having
+completed his education at Yale College, he studied law, and at an early
+age rose to eminence at the Massachusetts bar. He became
+Attorney-General of the State, and, though he had for his rivals some of
+the ablest men known to American history, he was regarded by his
+countrymen as one whose future was in his own hands. His manners were
+courtly and refined, and his scholastic attainments wide and various. He
+soon found his way to Congress, where his brilliant eloquence caused him
+to be listened to with attention and respect.
+
+Up to this time his career had been an uninterrupted success. But in
+achieving his political eminence he had been unfortunate enough to make
+for himself a good many bitter enemies. His political course seems to
+have been somewhat arbitrary and uncompromising, insomuch that his
+opponents regarded him with more rancorous feelings than are commonly
+entertained among public men where there are no personal grounds for
+enmity. Whether such personal grounds existed in the case of Barnabas
+Bidwell cannot now be readily ascertained. It is however certain that he
+was regarded by a host of clever and unscrupulous persons with a
+bitterness of enmity almost amounting to ferocity. He seems to have made
+no attempt to conciliate his foes, but treated them with a sort of
+haughty contempt. In the year 1810 the weight of their anger descended
+upon him like an avalanche. He was then, and he for some years
+previously had been, Treasurer of the County of Berkshire,
+Massachusetts. An accusation of a very serious nature was brought
+against him. He was charged with having applied the public funds to his
+own use, and with having falsified entries in his books in order to
+cover up his malversations. It is difficult to get at the exact truth in
+the matter. Mr. Bidwell's attention to public affairs had caused him to
+neglect his private and professional business, which consequently had
+not flourished. He was far from wealthy, and it is not improbable that
+he was sometimes financially embarrassed. Whether he succumbed to
+temptation, and dipped his hands into the treasury without leave, cannot
+now be certainly declared. His own version of the matter was that he was
+entirely free from blame, but that his enemies had deliberately woven a
+subtle web about him from which he was unable to extricate himself, as
+it would have been impossible for him, under the existing state of
+things, to obtain justice. At all events, he seems to have felt himself
+to be unable to face the situation. Learning that an indictment had been
+laid, and that a warrant had been issued for his apprehension, he fled
+from his native country, and took refuge in Upper Canada.
+
+Accompanied by his family, consisting of a son and daughter, he settled
+at the village of Bath, in the County of Addington, on the Bay of
+Quinté. He soon obtained employment as a school teacher, and encountered
+no difficulty in gaining a livelihood, though the humble role he was
+compelled to play comported ill with his past experience and present
+ambition. There is little doubt that he was an admirer of republican
+institutions, and that he so remained to the end of his life, though his
+admiration was thrown away in this country, and it was impossible for
+him to return to his own. He was a useful man in the little community
+where he resided, and his education and intelligence caused him to be
+looked up to by people of all classes. He did not intrude his political
+views further than to proclaim himself an advocate of Liberal ideas, and
+upon the breaking out of the War of 1812 he took the oath of allegiance
+to His Majesty. His ordinary pursuits were altogether insufficient for
+his enthusiastic nature, and after the lapse of several years he removed
+to Kingston, and took up his abode there. He found an outlet for his
+superabundant energy through the medium of frequent contributions to the
+press. Among the best known of his writings are a series of letters on
+practical agriculture and political economy, originally contributed to a
+Kingston newspaper, and subsequently republished in pamphlet form under
+the title of "The Prompter." The series of historical and topographical
+sketches forming the first half of the first volume of Gourlay's
+"Statistical Account of Upper Canada" are also from Mr. Bidwell's pen,
+and they are upon the whole the most valuable portion of the entire
+work. He espoused Mr. Gourlay's cause with great fervour, and by his
+written and spoken words did much to arouse public sympathy for that
+unfortunate man, as well as to awaken abhorrence for the cruelty and
+selfishness of his persecutors. From that time forward he began to take
+a more conspicuous part in politics than he had been accustomed to take
+since his arrival in Canada. From the hustings and elsewhere he
+thundered against the Compact domination with an eloquence which
+thrilled his audiences. He soon made himself felt as a power in the
+land, and as one from whom the ruling faction had good reason to
+apprehend more serious antagonism than they had ever had to encounter.
+
+Such was the man chosen by the Reform element in Lennox and Addington,
+during the summer of 1821, to represent its interests in the Provincial
+Assembly. The ensuing campaign was an exciting one, but at its close
+Barnabas Bidwell was the undoubted choice of a large majority of the
+electors. This was a heavy blow to the Executive party. The Reformers
+would now have a representative in the House who could not be cajoled or
+bullied. His eloquence, aggressiveness, intelligence and shrewdness
+could not fail to produce a decided impression on the House and on the
+country. Would it not be well if he could be got rid of, as Thorpe and
+Gourlay had been got rid of before him?
+
+During the progress of the election campaign, some of the main facts
+connected with Mr. Bidwell's migration from Massachusetts to Upper
+Canada had become known to his opponents. The pretext afforded by these
+disclosures was too good to be neglected. An emissary was despatched to
+Berkshire County, where there was no difficulty in ascertaining that he
+had been Treasurer of the municipality; that he had been indicted for
+misapplying public funds; that a warrant had thereupon been issued for
+his apprehension; and that he had then fled beyond the jurisdiction.
+Certified copies of the indictment and of several other important
+documents bearing on the matter were obtained by the agent, and by him
+brought over to Upper Canada. On the strength of the information and
+documents thus obtained a petition was filed against the election of Mr.
+Bidwell, upon the ground that he was an alien and a fugitive from
+justice, who had moreover taken an oath of allegiance to the Government
+of the United States. The accused notwithstanding appeared in his place
+in the Assembly upon the opening of the session, and when the matter of
+the petition came up for discussion he defended himself before the House
+with an eloquence and pathos which stirred every heart. He declared, in
+language and tones which left no doubt of his sincerity, that he was
+guiltless of the embezzlement with which he had been charged, and that
+the accusation had been solely due to the machinations of a powerful
+clique of enemies. He further urged that, whatever might be the facts as
+to the charge, he had never been tried or convicted, and that the
+Assembly had no right to assume his guilt in the absence of positive
+proof. He admitted having taken the oath of allegiance to the Government
+of the United States, but urged that such an oath was required of every
+man assuming a public office in all civilized countries; that it applied
+only to the period of his actual residence, and was no legitimate bar to
+his advancement in another country. Since his arrival in Canada he had
+taken an oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain. That his
+loyalty was not open to suspicion was sufficiently manifest from the
+mere fact of his having been returned to Parliament by a constituency
+the inhabitants whereof were largely composed of United Empire Loyalists
+and their immediate descendants. Such was the course of his argument,
+which from beginning to end was singularly lucid and clear. But all was
+unavailing. He was assailed by the Government party in language such as
+is rarely to be met with in the annals of Parliamentary debate in this
+country. Mr. Attorney-General Robinson went beyond any former effort of
+his life in the way of vituperation, and overleapt the bounds of the
+commonest decency. He proclaimed himself to be the son of a United
+Empire Loyalist who had fought and bled for his country, and as
+therefore being no fit company for runaway felons and pickpockets. His
+sympathy with himself was so great that the tears chased one another
+down his cheeks as he was speaking. All the amiability which commonly
+marked his intercourse with his fellowmen seemed to have utterly
+departed from him, and he towered above his seat in a perfect whirlwind
+of rage and fiery indignation. Mr. Bidwell's calm and temperate reply
+was in striking contrast to the levin bolts which had been hurled at
+him, and produced a marked effect upon his hearers. But the Compact
+commanded a majority in the Assembly,[59] which sustained a motion for
+his expulsion. And as it was well known that the electors of Lennox and
+Addington would again return him, and that he could not be permanently
+excluded by any ordinary means, it was determined to disqualify him by
+special legislation. An Act was accordingly passed intituled "An Act to
+render ineligible to a seat in the Commons House of Assembly of this
+Province certain descriptions of persons therein mentioned."[60] Among
+the persons declared ineligible were those who had held any of the
+principal public offices in a foreign country, which was of course an
+effectual disqualification for Barnabas Bidwell, who, as already
+mentioned, had been Attorney-General of Massachusetts. It was a
+veritable Act of Exclusion, aimed at a particular person, and it served
+its purpose by keeping the obnoxious individual perpetually out of
+public life.[61]
+
+In consequence of Mr. Bidwell's expulsion a new election for Lennox and
+Addington became necessary. The writ was issued, and, to the chagrin and
+disgust of the supporters of the Government, a new champion of popular
+rights appeared in the field in the person of Marshall Spring Bidwell,
+the only son of the recently-expelled member. The new candidate was a
+young man of twenty-three years of age. He was a native of
+Massachusetts, and had accompanied his parents to Canada at the time of
+their migration in 1810. At an early age he had given proofs of the
+possession of splendid abilities. His father, who was exceedingly proud
+of the bright boy, had cultivated his faculties to the utmost, and by
+the time that Marshall Spring Bidwell had attained his majority he was
+regarded by all who knew him as having a brilliant future before him. A
+year before his candidature he had been called to the Provincial bar. He
+now presented himself before the electors of Lennox and Addington in
+opposition to the Tory candidate, a gentleman named Clark. The combined
+modesty and assurance displayed by young Bidwell throughout the contest
+gained for him many warm friends, while at the same time his earnestness
+and flowing eloquence proved that he was a true son of his father. He
+conducted the campaign with signal ability, and laid the foundation of a
+lasting reputation in the constituency. At the close of the poll the
+returning-officer declared Mr. Clark to have been duly elected, but, as
+it was notorious that corrupt practices had been resorted to, a protest
+was entered by the friends of the Reform candidate, who himself appeared
+in person at the bar of the House to conduct the argument. The result of
+the enquiry was that the return was set aside and a new election
+ordered. Young Bidwell so distinguished himself by his argument before
+the House that the official party perceived that he was likely to be no
+less formidable as an opponent than his father would have been. When the
+new election was held he again presented himself as a candidate, but
+found that the returning-officer had received instructions to accept no
+votes for him, upon the ground that he was an alien. The Tory candidate,
+Mr. Ham, was accordingly returned; but another protest was filed, with a
+similar result. The election was once more set aside, and Lennox and
+Addington still remained without a Parliamentary representative. It had
+by this time become notorious that the whole power of the Executive was
+exerted to keep the Bidwells out of public life, and the conviction that
+such was the fact gave rise to a counter-movement on the part of the
+victims. The friends of Reform bestirred themselves to such purpose that
+during the session of 1823-24 an Act was passed[62] repealing the
+measure of two years before, and relaxing the conditions under which
+persons who had resided in or taken the oath of allegiance to a foreign
+state should be eligible for election to the Provincial Parliament. It
+was provided that a residence in the Province of seven years next before
+election should render such persons eligible for membership in the
+Assembly. This clause removed all existing disqualifications from young
+Mr. Bidwell; but his father still remained disqualified, for it was
+expressly re-enacted that no person who had been a member of the Senate
+or House of Representatives of the United States, or who had held office
+in any of the executive departments of "the United States of America, or
+any one of the said United States," should be capable of being elected
+to the Assembly. Under this clause the elder Bidwell was doubly
+disqualified, for he had not only been Attorney-General of
+Massachusetts, but had also sat in Congress. It was much, however, that
+the son was rendered eligible. A general election took place during the
+summer of 1824, at which he was returned for the constituency which he
+then contested for the third time. He continued to sit in Parliament
+for eleven successive years. He is properly regarded as one of the
+founders of the Reform party in Upper Canada, and by his eloquence, tact
+and discretion, no less than by the high respect in which his character
+was held, he did much to advance the progress of Reform principles.
+
+The general election of 1824 resulted in the return of a number of
+prominent Reformers who now for the first time came forward to take part
+in public affairs. It was evident that a spirit of Reform had been
+awakened, and that from this time forward every important public
+question was likely to have two sides to it.
+
+The most conspicuous of all the new members was Mr. John Rolph, who had
+been returned as one of the representatives for the County of Middlesex.
+As he played an important part in the event which forms the subject of
+this work, and as he was one of the ablest men who have ever taken part
+in public affairs in this country, it is desirable to give some fuller
+account of him than is to be found in the various books relating to the
+place and times in which he lived.
+
+John Rolph was unquestionably one of the most extraordinary
+personalities who have ever figured in the annals of Upper Canada. He
+possessed talents which, under favouring circumstances, would have made
+him a marked man in either professional or public life in any country.
+Chief among his qualifications may be mentioned a comprehensive, subtle
+intellect, high scholastic and professional attainments, a style of
+eloquence which was at once ornate and logical, a noble and handsome
+countenance, a voice of silvery sweetness and great power of modulation,
+and an address at once impressive, dignified and ingratiating. His
+keenness of perception and his faculty for detecting the weak point in
+an argument were almost abnormal, while his power of eloquent and subtle
+exposition had no rival among the Canadian public men of those times.
+His famous speech--to be hereafter more particularly referred
+to--delivered in the Assembly, in 1836, on the subject of the Clergy
+Reserves, was one of the most powerful indictments ever heard within the
+walls of a Canadian Parliament. His arraignment of Sir Francis Bond Head
+before the same body early in the following year was hardly less
+impressive. He was of a full habit of body, even in comparative youth,
+and though he was rather under than above the middle height, there was
+a dignity and even majesty in his presence that gave the world assurance
+of a strong man, while it at the same time effectually repelled unseemly
+familiarity. A pair of deep clear blue eyes, surmounted by rather heavy
+eyebrows, glanced out from beneath his smooth and expansive forehead. He
+had light brown hair, a well-moulded chin, a firmly-set nose, and a
+somewhat large and flexible mouth, capable of imparting to the
+countenance great variety of expression. Such, according to the
+universal testimony of those who knew him, and according to portraits
+painted from life and preserved in his family, was the John Rolph of
+fifty to sixty years ago.
+
+There was unquestionably a _per contra_. Though he was a man of many
+friends, and was the repository of many familiar confidences, there was
+probably no human being--not even the wife of his bosom--who ever
+possessed John Rolph's entire confidence. There was about him no such
+thing as self-abandonment. This was not because he was devoid of natural
+passions or affections, or even of warm friendship, for he was a kind,
+if not a tender husband and father, and there were many persons whom he
+held in very high esteem, and for whom he cheerfully made great
+sacrifices. But the quality of caution seems to have been
+preternaturally developed within his breast. No man was ever less open
+to the imputation of wearing his heart upon his sleeve. He had a
+temperament of great equableness, and doubtless felt much more deeply
+than was suspected, even by those who were constantly about him. To the
+outer world he was ever self-possessed, calm and dignified, of pleasant
+and amiable manners, and not deficient in good-fellowship, but seldom or
+never abandoning himself to frolicsomeness or fun. His smile had a
+winsome sweetness about it, but it was a very rare occurrence indeed for
+him to indulge in anything approaching to hearty laughter. His
+self-control was marvellous. He was never surprised or startled, never
+dismayed by unexpected intelligence, never taken off his guard. Yet he
+possessed great dramatic talent, and in his addresses to juries and
+public audiences could successfully simulate the most contradictory
+feelings and emotions. One who judged him simply from such exhibitions
+as these might well have set him down for an emotional and impetuous
+man, apt to be led away by the fleeting passions and weaknesses of the
+moment. Yet no one coming to such a conclusion would have had any
+conception of his real character and idiosyncrasies. He certainly never
+acted without motive, but his motives were sometimes dark and
+unfathomable to everyone but himself. Not one among his contemporaries
+was able to take his moral and intellectual measure with anything
+approaching to completeness; and throughout the entire length and
+breadth of Canadian biography there is no man of equal eminence
+respecting whose real individuality so little is known.
+
+Mr. Rolph's peculiarities were probably inherent, for the facts of his
+early life, so far as known, afford no clue to the reading of the
+riddle. He was the second son in a family consisting of eighteen
+children, and was born at Grovesend, in the market town of Thornbury,
+Gloucestershire, England, on the 4th of March, 1793. His father, Thomas
+Rolph, was a physician of some local repute, who seems to have been
+impelled to emigrate in consequence of the impossibility of making any
+suitable provision in England for so numerous a progeny. The ascertained
+facts with reference to John Rolph's early life in England are
+singularly meagre. He accompanied his parents to Canada some time prior
+to the War of 1812, for he served as a volunteer during the early part
+of that conflict, and was for some months a paymaster of militia. During
+the progress of the war he was taken prisoner by the enemy, and was
+detained in custody for a short time at Batavia, in the State of New
+York. An exchange of prisoners having been effected, he was set at
+liberty. After his liberation he returned to England, where he entered
+one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge; and, though he seems
+to have left there without taking a degree, he was recognized as a young
+man of very remarkable and precocious intellectual powers, likely to
+become conspicuous in after-life. He absorbed knowledge with marvellous
+facility, and never forgot anything he had learned. After leaving
+college he repaired to London, where he was entered as a student-at-law,
+and was in due time called to the bar of the Inner Temple. Like Bacon,
+he seems to have taken all knowledge to be his province, for, not
+satisfied with having acquired what, in so young a man, was accounted a
+wide knowledge of jurisprudence, he studied for some time under Sir
+Astley Cooper, and was enrolled as a member of the Royal College of
+Surgeons. He soon afterwards returned to Canada, and took up his abode
+on a lot of land in the Township of Charlotteville, about midway between
+the villages of Turkey Point and Vittoria, in what is now the County of
+Norfolk, but which then and for long afterwards formed part of the
+Talbot District. In Michaelmas Term of 1821 he was called to the bar of
+Upper Canada, and for some years thereafter he appears to have practised
+the two professions of law and medicine concurrently. His great
+acquirements and pleasant manners made him a favourite with all classes
+of the people, and caused him to be regarded as a genuine acquisition to
+the district in which he resided. He became the professional adviser and
+familiar friend of Colonel Thomas Talbot, founder of the Talbot
+Settlement, and was one of the originators of the Talbot Anniversary,
+established in 1817, and kept up for more than twenty years thereafter,
+in honour of the day of the Colonel's arrival at Port Talbot--the 21st
+of May, 1803. The Colonel was not, in the strict sense of the term, a
+politician, but he was a member of the Legislative Council, and
+naturally supported the official party; whereas Rolph, though a man of
+equable mind, and by no means constitutionally inclined towards
+Radicalism, had much better opportunities for mixing with the people
+than had Colonel Talbot, and his keen eye revealed to him many official
+abuses which did not commend themselves to his sense of justice. It is
+probable that differences of opinion on public questions led to their
+ultimate estrangement. At all events, Rolph espoused the side of the
+people, and declared himself a foe to the Family Compact policy, and
+from that time forward the intimacy between him and Colonel Talbot seems
+to have grown less and less. The Gourlay prosecutions aroused Rolph's
+hot indignation, which he did not hesitate to express with much freedom
+whithersoever he went. Being a brilliant and eloquent talker, strong in
+opinion and logical in argument, he made many converts to his views, the
+number of whom was not lessened by the course of treatment adopted
+towards the Bidwells. It seems to have been about this time that he took
+up his abode at Dundas, where he subsequently resided for many years.
+When the general elections of 1824 took place the Reformers of Middlesex
+brought out John Rolph and Captain John Matthews, both of whom were
+returned at the head of the poll.
+
+Rolph made his presence felt in the Assembly from the time of taking his
+seat there. He was then thirty-one years of age, and of a compact,
+well-built figure, inclining to portliness. His face was at once
+handsome and intellectual, and his presence carried with it a suggestion
+of undoubted power. He spoke comparatively seldom during his early
+Parliamentary sessions, but when he did speak it was always with effect.
+His diction was singularly luminous and expressive, and would have
+attracted attention in any public assembly in the world. There was a
+clear metallic ring in his voice which did full justice to the language
+employed, and there were few empty benches in the House when it was
+known that Rolph was to speak.
+
+His colleague from Middlesex, though a staunch Reformer, was a man of
+very different cast. Captain Matthews was a retired officer of the royal
+artillery, who had seen twenty-seven years' service. At a very early
+period of his residence in Upper Canada he had become disgusted with
+Family Compact rule, and had spoken his mind on the subject with much
+freedom. Being a resident of the County of Middlesex, and being held in
+much esteem there among the adherents of Liberal principles, he was
+induced to offer himself along with Dr. Rolph at the general election of
+1824 as one of the candidates for the county. His candidature was
+successful, and he became very popular in the House, though the texture
+of his mind was somewhat light and airy, and he was not well fitted,
+either by nature or by training, to deal with such grave constitutional
+questions as were continually forcing themselves upon public attention.
+
+Another prominent Reformer who now took his seat in Parliament for the
+first time was Peter Perry, who had been returned as young Marshall
+Bidwell's colleague in the representation of Lennox and Addington.
+Although thirty-four years have elapsed since his death, Mr. Perry is
+still well remembered by the older generation of our politicians. During
+the twelve years succeeding his entry into public life he was one of the
+most conspicuous Reformers in the Province. Though not possessed of a
+liberal education, and though his demeanour and address were marred by a
+sort of impetuous coarseness, he was master of a rude, vigorous
+eloquence which under certain conditions was far more effective than the
+most polished oratory would have been. He was certainly the ablest stump
+orator of his time in this country, and there was no man in the Reform
+ranks who could so effectively conduct a difficult election campaign.
+No man was more dreaded by his opponents, more especially by those who
+had to encounter him while a contest was pending. It may here be added
+that he continued to take an active part in politics down to a short
+time before his death in 1851, and that he rendered great services to
+the cause of Reform, but in the years following the Union of the
+Provinces he was overshadowed by Robert Baldwin, whose social position,
+spotless reputation and disinterestedness of purpose combined to place
+him on a pedestal beyond the reach of ordinary politicians. Peter Perry,
+however, while yielding a loyal support to Mr. Baldwin, continued to the
+end of his life to fight his political battles in his own way. The
+sincerity of his convictions was beyond any sort of question, and his
+shrewdness, experience and hard common sense caused his opinions to be
+regarded with respect, even by such men as Rolph, Baldwin and the
+Bidwells.
+
+Mr. Perry was a native Upper Canadian, having been born at Ernestown in
+1793, during the early part of Governor Simcoe's administration of
+affairs. He was the son of a U. E. Loyalist, and was brought up on a
+farm, at a time when public schools were few and far between in the
+rural districts. He grew to manhood without having acquired much in the
+way of education, but the quickness of his parts and the soundness of
+his judgment did much to atone for his want of regular school training.
+He began to take an active interest in public affairs at an early age,
+and before he was thirty he had acquired wide notoriety as a
+strongly-pronounced Reformer. Living in the same part of the country as
+the Bidwells, he took a warm interest in their candidature. As his
+political ideas coincided with theirs, and as his rough eloquence had
+already made him well known throughout the constituency, he espoused
+their side in the successive election contests, and at the general
+election of 1824 was himself returned to the Assembly as the colleague
+of the brilliant young lawyer.
+
+In addition to John Rolph, Marshall Spring Bidwell, Captain John
+Matthews and Peter Perry, a number of other advocates of Reform
+principles were returned at the general election of 1824. For the first
+time in Upper Canadian annals, it was manifest not only that the
+Reformers had a majority in point of numbers in the Assembly, but that
+they had a decided preponderance of ability. No adherent of the official
+party--not even the Attorney-General, John Beverley Robinson--was a
+match for Rolph or Bidwell, to say nothing of Perry, whose oratory was
+of an altogether different complexion, though scarcely less effective.
+Upon the meeting of the Houses the numerical strength of the respective
+parties was fairly tested by the vote on the Speakership. The Reformers
+nominated as their candidate John Willson, one of the members for
+Wentworth. Mr. Willson was an unpretending farmer, of strong political
+convictions, but of good sense and calm judgment, who had allied himself
+with the Reformers, and who might safely be depended upon to discharge
+the duties incidental to the Speakership with judicial impartiality. The
+vote stood twenty-one to nineteen, the majority of two being in Mr.
+Willson's favour. The Reformers felt that they had achieved a triumph,
+and were accordingly jubilant; but they soon found that the mere control
+of the Assembly signified very little in the absence of Executive
+responsibility. The Legislative Council interposed its dead weight, and
+vetoed one bill after another sent up by the Assembly.
+
+The Reform preponderance in the Assembly, however, and the bringing
+together of the leading supporters of Liberal principles, led to the
+establishment of an organized body of Reformers, which from that time
+forward made its existence felt throughout the constituencies, and
+presented an obstacle to the continued rule of the Compact. Conspicuous
+among the Fathers of Reform, in addition to John Rolph, Peter Perry,
+Captain Matthews and the two Bidwells, were Doctor William Warren
+Baldwin, his son Robert, and William Lyon Mackenzie. None of the three
+last-named gentlemen was at this time in Parliament, but they were
+nevertheless all able to render very valuable services to Reform
+principles--the first two by reason of their wealth and high social
+position, and the third from the fact that he was the publisher of a
+newspaper, and that he was a man of strong opinions and superabundant
+energy in giving expression to them.
+
+The elder Baldwin was a gentleman of high character and social position,
+resident at York. He had emigrated from Ireland to Canada towards the
+close of the last century, and, like Mr. Rolph, had for some time
+practised law and medicine concurrently. He achieved considerable
+success, both pecuniarily and otherwise, and, notwithstanding his
+political principles, which were of a decidedly advanced character, he
+was respected by the entire community of the little Provincial capital.
+The family to which he belonged were well known in Ireland for their
+adherence to advanced political doctrines, and he himself remained true
+to family traditions. At a time when it required no slight courage to
+espouse the Liberal side in York, Dr. Baldwin was always to be found in
+the ranks of Reform. He was wealthy, as, in addition to the property
+which he had personally accumulated, he had succeeded, by bequest, to
+the bulk of the large possessions of the Honourable Peter Russell--whose
+method of doing good unto himself has already been glanced at--and of
+that gentleman's maiden sister Elizabeth. Miss Russell resided in Dr.
+Baldwin's family during the last few years of her life, and survived
+until 1822. The Russells and the Baldwins were remotely connected by
+ties of relationship, and as neither the Administrator nor his sister
+ever married, there was nothing strange in the disposition made by them
+of their property.
+
+High as Dr. Baldwin stood in the Reform ranks, however, he was destined
+to be eclipsed by his more distinguished son. It is safe to say that no
+public man in Canada has ever gained so enviable a reputation as
+attaches to the name of Robert Baldwin. As was intimated two or three
+pages back, he stood upon a lofty pedestal, and was a very man _per se_.
+And this high position he attained, not by means of brilliant oratory,
+keenness of perception, or subtle comprehensiveness of judgment. No one
+has ever pretended to claim for him any special intellectual greatness
+of any kind. He was a plain man, of abilities not much above the
+average, who possessed strong convictions, and whose high principles,
+sterling honesty and disinterestedness of purpose were unimpeachable.
+Had he been a member of the British House of Commons during Sir Robert
+Walpole's régime, the proverbial dictum of that high priest of
+corruption would never have been uttered, for certainly no man would
+ever have dreamed of offering a bribe to Robert Baldwin. He has been in
+his grave for more than a quarter of a century; thirty-four years have
+elapsed since his withdrawal from public life; yet he is still referred
+to by adherents of both political parties in Canada as a statesman of
+unblemished integrity, whose character was without spot, and in whose
+bosom was no guile. He more than once occupied the foremost position in
+the public eye. During much of his career a fierce light beat upon him,
+yet failed to disclose anything whereof the most august character in
+history would have had any cause for feeling ashamed. As I have said
+elsewhere: "We can still point to him with the admiration due to a man
+who, during a time of the grossest political corruption, took a foremost
+part in our public affairs, and who yet preserved his integrity
+untarnished. We can point to him as the man who, if not the actual
+author of Responsible Government in Canada, yet spent the best years of
+his life in contending for it, and who contributed more than any other
+person to make that project an accomplished fact. We can point to him as
+one who, though a politician by predilection and by profession, never
+stooped to disreputable practices, either to win votes or to maintain
+himself in office. Robert Baldwin was a man who was not only incapable
+of falsehood or meanness to gain his ends, but who was to the last
+degree intolerant of such practices on the part of his warmest
+supporters. If intellectual greatness cannot be claimed for him, moral
+greatness was most indisputably his. Every action of his life was marked
+by sincerity and good faith, alike toward friend and foe. He was not
+only true to others, but was from first to last true to himself....
+Robert Baldwin was neither a bigot nor a fanatic, but he was in the best
+and truest sense of the word a Christian. He was strict in his
+observance of religious duties, and brought up his children to seek
+those things which make for righteousness, rather than the things of
+this world. His piety was an ever-present influence in his life, and was
+practically manifested in his daily walk and conversation. As we
+contemplate the fifty-four years which made up the measure of his
+earthly span, we cannot fail to be impressed by its uniform consistency,
+its thorough conscientiousness, its devotion to high and noble objects.
+It is a grand thing to acquire a famous name, but it is a much grander
+thing to live a pure and noble life; and in estimating the character of
+Robert Baldwin it should be remembered that he was not merely a
+statesman and a lawyer, but was, over and above all else, a man and a
+Christian."[63]
+
+The foregoing account, be it understood, applies to a later period. At
+the date of the general election in 1824 Robert Baldwin was still a
+young man, whose reputation, professional and political, was yet to be
+made. He had not even been called to the bar, and was still a student in
+his father's office. Notwithstanding his youth, however--he was only in
+his twenty-first year--he had given some thought to the political
+questions of the time, and had even begun to look forward to the
+possibility of an ultimate political career. His father, from whom he
+had learned many political lessons, had recently become very wealthy
+through the death of Miss Russell, as already mentioned. Much of his
+wealth consisted of landed property. Robert was the first-born child of
+his parents, and, as the law of primogeniture was then in force in Upper
+Canada,[64] it was to be anticipated that he would succeed to large
+possessions, and would be independent of any income arising from his own
+exertions. He bore an honoured name, and it was tolerably certain that,
+under such a combination of circumstances, he would sooner or later find
+his way to Parliament. He had already imbibed what were in those days
+considered as advanced Liberal views, and was in full accord with his
+father, who had to a large extent moulded his opinions. He was present
+at the meetings of the Reform members held during the first session
+following the elections of 1824, for the purpose of organization. It was
+then that a distinct Reform Party, with common objects and a specific
+policy, may be said to have been formed in this Province. There had been
+Upper Canadian Reformers from the very foundation of the Province, but
+no Reform Party can strictly be said to have had an existence prior to
+the latter part of the year 1824.
+
+No man was more conspicuous in contributing to the founding of the
+Reform Party than was William Lyon Mackenzie, whose personality yet
+remains to be considered. Owing in some measure to the force of
+circumstances, but chiefly to his own energy, impulsiveness and love of
+notoriety, Mr. Mackenzie's name and achievements have become more widely
+known than have those of many abler and wiser men. He was the only
+child of humble parents, and was born at Springfield, a suburb of
+Dundee, in Forfarshire, Scotland, on the 12th of March, 1795. When he
+was four weeks old his father died, leaving him and his mother wholly
+unprovided for, insomuch that they were dependent upon the bounty of
+relatives. To adopt his own language, poverty and adversity were his
+nurses, and want and misery were his familiar friends. "It is among the
+earliest of my recollections," wrote he in 1824, "that I lay in bed one
+morning during the grievous famine in Britain in 1800-1, while my poor
+mother took from our large kist the handsome plaid of the tartan of our
+clan, which in her early life her own hands had spun, and went and sold
+it for a trifle, to obtain for us a little coarse barley meal, whereof
+to make our scanty breakfast; and of another time during the same famine
+when she left me at home crying from hunger, and for (I think) eight
+shillings sold a handsome and hitherto carefully preserved priest-gray
+coat of my father's, to get us a little food." His mother, from whom he
+inherited his most salient peculiarities, was a woman of strongly-marked
+character. She was endowed by nature with a high temper, and with a
+tendency to act from impulse rather than from reason. To these qualities
+were added great energy and strength of will. She brought up her son in
+the straitest of theological creeds, which left a certain permanent
+mental impress upon him, though during the last quarter of a century of
+his life he wandered far afield from the religious teachings of his
+childhood. He seems to have been born with a genuine love for knowledge,
+for, notwithstanding the inauspicious surroundings of his youth, he
+contrived to acquire a better education than was commonly obtainable by
+lads in his rank of life in Scotland in those times. The education thus
+acquired was almost to the end of his days supplemented by reading and
+study. As soon as he was old enough to enter upon employment he became
+an assistant in a draper's shop, after which he filled various temporary
+situations which led to nothing. When only nineteen he opened a small
+store on his own account at Alyth, a village about twenty miles from
+Dundee. This he conducted for about three years, by which time it had
+become apparent that the business could not be successfully carried on,
+so he abandoned it and removed to England. There he spent more than two
+years, during some part of which he acted as clerk to a coal company.
+In the spring of 1820 he sailed for Canada, where he was destined to
+gain great notoriety, and to become an important factor in the moulding
+of public opinion.
+
+In a new country like Canada a young man of Mackenzie's energy was soon
+able to make his presence felt. After being employed for a short time on
+the survey of the Lachine Canal, he opened a store at York, whence he
+removed to Dundas, and entered on a more extensive mercantile business
+in partnership with Mr. John Lesslie, the style of the firm being
+"Mackenzie & Lesslie." His mercantile venture in Dundas was fairly
+successful. During his residence there he married Miss Isabel Baxter, a
+native of Dundee, after a brief courtship of three weeks. In the spring
+of 1823 the firm of Mackenzie & Lesslie was dissolved, and for a few
+months thereafter the senior partner carried on business by himself. In
+the autumn of the same year he removed to Queenston, where he embarked
+in business by opening a general store. The store had not been many
+months in operation before its proprietor abandoned commercial pursuits
+and embraced the life of a journalist. This change seems to have been
+the result of some deliberation, and it must be admitted that Mr.
+Mackenzie possessed considerable aptitude for the new field of labour
+which he had chosen. His writing, though very unequal, and sometimes
+exceedingly verbose and amateurish in point of style, was almost always
+direct and easy to understand. His observation was keen, and he had
+taken a warm interest in politics ever since his arrival in the country.
+Though many of his views were what would now be considered Toryish and
+out of date, they were then classed by the Compact and their adherents
+as ultra-Radical and revolutionary. He had formed the acquaintance of
+Rolph, Perry, the Bidwells, and other prominent Reformers, by all of
+whom the sincerity of his political professions were regarded as being
+beyond question. The first number of his newspaper, which was christened
+_The Colonial Advocate_, made its appearance on the 18th of May, 1824.
+It consisted of thirty-two pages, and, although its owner had neither
+received nor sought a single subscriber, he issued an edition of twelve
+hundred copies. Whether he embarked in newspaper life at this particular
+time with a view to influencing votes during the impending general
+election cannot now be known with certainty. Probably enough this may
+have been one of his motives, which were doubtless of a mixed nature.
+That he was sincere in his advocacy of Reform must in all fairness be
+conceded, though his itch for notoriety must always be considered in
+reviewing and estimating his actions. This tendency of his mind would
+readily lead him to select journalism as his vocation in life, more
+especially as he found that his opinions were regarded as having some
+value. As compared with his life in Britain, his career in Canada had
+been an undoubted success. He had acquired some property, and was in
+fair pecuniary circumstances. From the inner side of his counter he had
+been in the habit of holding forth to his customers on the political and
+other questions of the day, and had found that his arguments were
+accepted by a majority of the unlettered yeomen of Wentworth as being
+unanswerable. He was looked up to as a man of weight and influence in
+the community, and the consciousness of this was naturally gratifying to
+the whilom shop-boy of Dumfries. He felt incited to address larger
+audiences than any which had hitherto listened to him. The time seemed
+propitious for the establishment of a Reform newspaper. There was a
+general awakening in the direction of Reform, extending over the greater
+part of the Province. There could be no sort of doubt that public
+opinion was in a state of transition: that many people had begun to look
+forward to a time when Responsible Government would be conceded, and
+when the domination of the Compact would be no more. When that
+much-wished-for epoch should arrive, those who had been the means of
+bringing it about, or of hastening its advent, would stand high among
+the Reformers of Upper Canada. Who would be likely to stand higher than
+a clever and aspiring man who was at once editor and proprietor of the
+leading organ of Liberal opinion in the Province? Such a personage might
+command anything within the power of his party to grant. That he would
+soon be able to write his way into Parliament was a foregone conclusion;
+and a seat in Parliament appeared a very proud distinction in the eyes
+of one whose past surroundings had been so far removed from such a
+sphere.
+
+That these, or something like these, were among the chief motives
+whereby Mr. Mackenzie was actuated in establishing _The Colonial
+Advocate_ seems tolerably certain. Nor is there anything unusual or
+censurable in such an ambition. The labourer is worthy of his hire, and
+no labourer is better entitled to a full recompense than is the man who,
+through long and weary years, struggles to win success for a depressed
+and righteous cause. That he was not devoid of a spirit of sincere
+patriotism is evident, alike from his words and his deeds. He had
+amassed a few hundreds of pounds, and was in no dread of poverty, being
+sanguine and self-confident to an uncommon degree. He ardently longed to
+see this fair colony rescued from the thraldom under which it groaned.
+In a letter[65] written many years afterwards, when he was an outlaw and
+an exile, he gives his own version of the motives which impelled him to
+embark upon what he calls "the stormy sea of politics." "I had long," he
+writes, "seen the country in the hands of a few shrewd, crafty, covetous
+men, under whose management one of the most lovely and desirable
+sections of America remained a comparative desert. The most obvious
+public improvements were stayed; dissension was created among classes;
+citizens were banished and imprisoned in defiance of all law; the people
+had been long forbidden, under severe pains and penalties, from meeting
+anywhere to petition for justice; large estates were wrested from their
+owners in utter contempt of even the forms of the courts; the Church of
+England, the adherents of which were few, monopolized as much of the
+lands of the colony as all the religious houses and dignitaries of the
+Roman Catholic Church had had the control of in Scotland at the era of
+the Reformation; other sects were treated with contempt and scarcely
+tolerated; a sordid band of land-jobbers grasped the soil as their
+patrimony, and with a few leading officials, who divided the public
+revenue among themselves, formed the Family Compact, and were the avowed
+enemies of common schools, of civil and religious liberty, of all
+legislative or other checks to their own will. Other men had opposed,
+and been converted by them. At nine-and-twenty I might have united with
+them, but chose rather to join the oppressed, nor have I ever regretted
+that choice, or wavered from the object of my early pursuit."
+
+A man entertaining such views as these, more especially a man of energy
+and intelligence, with a newspaper at his back, could not fail to be
+acceptable to the little knot of politicians who formed the nucleus of
+the Reform Party of Upper Canada. Mr. Mackenzie was cordially welcomed
+into the ranks, and was soon recognized as a most useful and valuable
+acquisition thereto. He could make no pretence to the various learning,
+fine presence, subtle intellect or polished eloquence of Rolph, nor even
+to the high but less marked qualities of the Bidwells, but the time was
+at hand when he was to prove that he possessed the power to move
+audiences, by his voice as well as by his pen. In person he would have
+been pronounced by a casual passer-by to be rather insignificant, being
+exceedingly short in stature, and not well proportioned as to his
+figure, which was slight, wiry, and--owing to a restless habit and a
+highly-strung nervous system--seldom in repose. Still, no one who
+contemplated his features with attention would ever have dreamed of
+pronouncing him commonplace. His intellectual vigour and determination
+were attested by his large head, massive brow, keen, light-blue eyes and
+firmly-set mouth. His physical energy was placed equally beyond doubt by
+the nervous activity above mentioned. Until he was long past the prime
+of his manhood he was never still for many consecutive moments during
+his waking hours. When labouring under any unusual excitement his frame
+seemed to be set on steel springs. As his temper was easily aroused, it
+was no uncommon thing to see him in one of these phases of excitement.
+But though he was thus quickly moved to anger, it could not with justice
+be said that his temper was bad, for, so far from being implacable, he
+was readily appeased, and always quick to forget and forgive.
+Altogether, he had an active but ill-balanced organization. His
+sympathies were too quick and strong for his judgment, and he frequently
+acted from impulse and hot blood. From his cradle to his grave he was
+never fit to walk alone and without guidance through any great
+emergency.
+
+No two human beings could well be more unlike than were William Lyon
+Mackenzie and John Rolph. They were compelled to work together in a
+common cause for many years, but the two entities were thoroughly
+antagonistic, and there was never much personal liking between them. The
+structure of their bodies was not more dissimilar than was that of their
+minds. The one, slight, wiry, and ever in motion, seemed as though it
+might be blown hither and thither by any strong current. The other,
+solid almost to portliness, was suggestive of fixity--of
+self-dependence, and unsusceptibility to outside influences. The one was
+suggestive of being in a great measure the creature of circumstances;
+the other of being a law unto himself--one who would be more likely to
+influence circumstances than to be influenced by them. Mackenzie's
+nature, though it could not strictly be called a shallow one, at any
+rate lay near the surface, and its characters were not hard to decipher,
+even upon a brief acquaintance. There were depths in Rolph's nature
+which were never fathomed by those nearest and dearest to him--possibly
+not even by himself. Mackenzie seems to have long regarded Rolph with a
+sort of distant awe--as a Sphinx, close, oracular, inscrutable. Rolph
+evidently estimated Mackenzie correctly, as one whose politics were
+founded upon deeply-rooted convictions, and not upon mere opinions,
+although he would probably have found it difficult to subject those
+opinions to a rigid analysis; as one whose energy and journalistic
+resources might be turned to good account in the cause of Reform, but
+whose discretion was not always to be relied on. This estimate, indeed,
+was sufficiently obvious to any one who maintained frequent or familiar
+relations with Mackenzie, and was concurred in by most, if not all, of
+his friends. His earnestness and good faith, however, were manifest to
+all who knew him, and these were sufficient to cover much more culpable
+weaknesses than any which he had hitherto displayed.
+
+Having now become acquainted with some of the FATHERS of Reform, it is
+desirable to cast a momentary glance at the material which went to the
+composition of the Reform Party generally. That material was of the most
+heterogeneous character imaginable. It included a few U. E. Loyalists of
+advanced opinions, and their descendants; but the bone and sinew were
+made up of more recent immigrants from Great Britain and the United
+States. The organization of the party, such as it was, was of too recent
+a date at this time to admit of any absolute unanimity of opinion on all
+questions of public policy having been arrived at among so numerous a
+body. On one cardinal point, however, all were agreed: it was in the
+highest degree desirable that the Canadian constitution should be more
+closely assimilated to that of the mother-country, and that the
+Executive Council should be made responsible to the popular branch of
+the Legislature. True, there was a small element--almost entirely made
+up of immigrants from across the border--who held republican theories,
+but no class of the community clamoured more loudly for Responsible
+Government than did the advocates of republicanism, very few of whom
+regarded their opinions as coming within the domain of practical
+politics in Upper Canada. On the question of the Clergy Reserves there
+was less uniformity of sentiment. Many sincere Reformers disapproved of
+the voluntary principle, and believed in a State provision for the
+Clergy,[66] though very few of them went so far in that direction as to
+defend the exclusive pretensions of the Church of England. On this and
+other important public questions, however, the diversity of opinion
+henceforth became less and leas from year to year. In point of numbers
+the adherents of Reform principles constituted a majority of the
+inhabitants of the Province.
+
+The _Advocate_ was only six months old when its proprietor removed to
+York. If any good service was to be done to Reform by his means it was
+clear that the Provincial capital must be the seat of his operations.
+The removal took place in November, 1824, and in the following January
+the new Parliament met for the first time. Much of the interval was
+spent by the Reformers in preparations for organization. In all these
+proceedings Mr. Mackenzie took an active and prominent part. He also
+assumed, to a greater extent than he had previously done, the _role_ of
+a public censor, and, in the columns of his paper, opened a hot fire
+upon the official party and their myrmidons. His writing was "personal
+journalism," with a vengeance, for he usually expressed himself in the
+first person singular, and directed his animadversions against any one
+who, for the time being, happened to have attracted his notice. He wrote
+very erratically, and from the impulse of the moment; in one number
+lauding some particular personage in extravagant terms, and in
+subsequent numbers assailing the self-same individual in language which
+certainly reflected no credit upon the writer. Sometimes he even
+extended his attacks to the friends and relatives of those who had
+become obnoxious to him. In all this he merely followed the example of
+his opponents, from whom better things might have been expected, but he
+certainly lessened his influence, even among his friends and
+fellow-labourers, by his onslaughts upon particular individuals. There
+can be no manner of doubt, however, that he achieved his object of
+holding some of his opponents up to public ridicule, and that in at
+least one or two instances he was the means of affecting votes in the
+Assembly thereby. To what extent, if at all, his efforts in this
+direction contributed to the election of Mr. Willson, the Reform
+candidate for the Speakership in the Assembly, already referred to, is
+not easy to say. That his deliverances may have produced an effect upon
+one or two waverers, and thereby have brought about the desired
+result--the vote, it will be remembered, was a close one, standing
+twenty-one to nineteen[67]--is possible enough. It is at all events
+certain that the combined action of the Reform Party in and out of
+Parliament produced early and specific consequences. On a number of
+questions the Government found themselves confronted by a hostile
+majority considerably greater than they had encountered on the
+Speakership. But these seeming triumphs were of no immediate advantage
+to the Opposition. Let the majority against the Government be ever so
+great in the Assembly, the official policy remained the same. The Upper
+House rejected Bill after Bill which had been passed by the Lower, and
+the Executive clung to their places in undisturbed serenity.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[57] _Ante_, p. 44.
+
+[58] The repealing statute is 1 Geo. IV. chapter 4. The statute repealed
+is 59 Geo. III., sess. 1, chapter 2.
+
+[59] It was however a bare majority, the vote standing 17 to 16.
+
+[60] See Stat. 2 Geo. IV. chapter 4, passed 17th January, 1822.
+
+[61] Six years later Francis Collins, editor of _The Canadian Freeman_,
+lay in York jail for having charged Attorney-General Robinson with
+"native malignancy." During his incarceration he addressed several open
+letters to his prosecutor, in one of which may be found the following
+comments upon the episode referred to in the text:--
+
+"In the next place, a most respectable portion of the colony returned
+the venerable Mr. Bidwell, Sen., to Parliament, and upon this occasion I
+think you displayed more 'native malignancy' than I ever witnessed, in a
+political way, in the colony. A hired pimp was despatched to Boston to
+hunt up slanders, originating in political feuds there. Mr. Bidwell was
+put on his trial before a corrupt House, and when thus you saw your
+innocent victim within your reach, then it was you lifted up the
+flood-gates of your loyal wrath, and let your vengeance fall upon his
+devoted head. Then it was that the overflowings of your 'native
+malignancy' hurled the tears of loyalty down your pallid cheeks. Then it
+was that your natural flippancy gave rapid birth to the most gross,
+unqualified and unjustifiable abuse I ever heard heaped, not only upon a
+member of Parliament, but even upon the commonest member of society. 'Am
+I,' said you, 'the son of a U. E. Loyalist, who fought and bled for his
+country, to sit within these walls with disloyal runaway felons,
+pickpockets and murderers from the United States?'--(the loyal tears
+flowing.) Yes, Sir, you coaxed, you threatened, you argued, you wept,
+until you prevailed upon a corrupt and cringing House, as I have before
+remarked, to turn Mr. Bidwell out of his seat, unconstitutionally,
+illegally and unjustly; and the next day you were obliged to get one of
+your tools to bring in a Bill to cover this illegal proceeding, and
+prevent his re-election, thus forever depriving the country of the
+valuable services of a man better qualified for a legislator, in point
+of learning, talent and experience than yourself, or any other man,
+perhaps, in Upper Canada. Now, Sir, if you viewed it as a disgrace to
+sit in the same House with the father, although in every respect your
+superior, how will it suit you to bend your outrageously loyal neck to
+his son in the Speaker's chair, who, it is my opinion, is the most fit
+person in the new House to fill it, and who, I doubt not, will be
+elected?"
+
+The letter from which the foregoing extract is taken bears date December
+25th, and appears in the _Freeman_ of that date. The prediction in the
+concluding sentence was verified. Mr. M. S. Bidwell was elected Speaker
+at the opening of the session in January, 1829.
+
+[62] See 4 Geo. IV., sess. 2, chapter 3, passed 19th January, 1824.
+
+[63] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. I., pp. 17, 46.
+
+[64] It is to the exertions of Robert Baldwin himself that we owe the
+abolition of the doctrine of primogeniture as applied to real estate in
+Upper Canada. He it was who, while Attorney-General for the Western
+Province, introduced and carried through the measure of 1851.
+
+[65] Quoted by Mr. Lindsey, in his _Life and Times of William Lyon
+Mackenzie_, Vol. I., pp. 40, 41.
+
+[66] Among those who approved of such a provision no one was more
+outspoken than was Mr. Mackenzie himself. In the very first number of
+the _Advocate_ he clearly laid down his platform on this question. "In
+no part of the constitution of the Canadas," he writes, "is the wisdom
+of the British Legislature more apparent than in its setting apart a
+portion of the country, while yet it remained it wilderness, for the
+support of religion." He expressed himself in favour of a law whereby
+the ministers of every body of professing Christians, being British
+subjects, should receive equal benefits from the Reserves. On this, as
+on many other subjects, however, the editor of the _Advocate_
+subsequently saw fit to alter his opinions. The instability of his
+opinions, indeed, was one of his most dangerous characteristics, and
+this alone marked him out as unfit to be trusted with the guidance of
+others.
+
+[67] _Ante_, p. 110.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A "FREE AND UNFETTERED" PRESS.
+
+
+Mr. Mackenzie's newspaper devoted much space to the advocacy of
+Responsible Government, which for many years constituted the main plank
+in the Liberal platform. He pointed out the injustice and absurdity of
+the existing state of things, where the people were beguiled with a
+mockery of representation in Parliament without having any voice in the
+nomination of the persons composing the Government of the day. There was
+no attempt on the part of the official body to distort the real facts of
+the case. They straightforwardly avowed their independence of public
+opinion, and sneered at arguments founded on the doctrine of ministerial
+responsibility. They proclaimed their immunity from all outdoor
+influence whatever, and smiled pleasantly when taunted across the floor
+of the Assembly with repeated violations of the constitution. Rolph,
+Bidwell, and other Reform members in the House were sufficiently masters
+of themselves to argue this and other questions on purely public
+grounds, and without gross violations of the laws of Parliamentary
+discipline. This, however, Mr. Mackenzie's impetuous temperament
+prevented him from doing, and as he was not in the House he felt at
+liberty to give full rein to his impetuosity. He made every important
+question a personal matter between himself and each individual supporter
+of the Government who contradicted him. Through the columns of his paper
+he poured out much bitter invective. What he said was for the most part
+undeniably true, but he had such an offensive way of expressing himself
+that the amenities of journalism were constantly violated. By this means
+he brought down upon his head the rancorous hatred of those whom he made
+the objects of attack.
+
+The feelings entertained towards him by the members of the Government,
+and by the Tory party generally, were largely personal and independent
+of politics. The conflict between them may be said to have begun before
+the removal from Queenston to York, and indeed almost before the ink was
+dry upon the first number of the _Advocate_. In that number Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor, was accused of indolence,
+and of being the cause why Upper Canada was less progressive than her
+enterprising republican neighbour. He was referred to as one who, after
+spending his earlier days in the din of war and the turmoil of camps,
+had gained enough renown in Europe to enable him to enjoy himself, like
+the country he governed, in inactivity; whose migrations were, by water,
+from York to Queenston and from Queenston to York, like the Vicar of
+Wakefield, from the brown bed to the blue, and from the blue bed to the
+brown. Such comparisons as these could not be expected to find much
+favour with Sir Peregrine, more especially as they notoriously contained
+more than a _soupçon_ of truth. The faction naturally sympathized with
+the Lieutenant-Governor, and only waited a suitable opportunity to give
+adequate expression to their abhorrence of Mackenzie and his doctrines.
+As for Sir Peregrine, he was ready enough to coöperate with his
+supporters in any proceeding for the suppression of this free-spoken and
+most objectionable little Radical, who dared to wag his plebeian tongue
+against the son-in-law of a Duke. An occasion for the first overt act of
+hostility was afforded by certain rites connected with the erection of
+the monument on Queenston Heights to the memory of Major-General Sir
+Isaac Brock. The construction of the monument having been determined
+upon, and considerable sums of money having been granted by Parliament
+for the purpose, commissioners were appointed to superintend the work,
+which was duly proceeded with. The second funeral of the dead hero, and
+the removal of his remains from Fort George, had been fixed for the 18th
+of October (1824), being the twelfth anniversary of the battle; but in
+the interim some of the local magnates of the Niagara District resolved
+that the foundation-stone should be laid with masonic honours. The 1st
+of June was appointed for this ceremonial, and on that date a
+considerable number of persons assembled on the Heights to witness it.
+Mr. Mackenzie, who, it will be remembered, then resided at Queenston,
+seems to have taken an active part in the proceedings, and this with the
+full consent and approval of the committee of management. A glass
+vessel, hermetically sealed, and enclosing a number of coins and a copy
+of _The Upper Canada Gazette_, together with the recently-issued first
+number of _The Colonial Advocate_, was produced for the purpose of being
+placed within the hollow of the foundation-stone. The vessel and its
+contents, enveloped in an otter's skin, were placed by Mr. Mackenzie in
+the cavity, the spectators looking on in quiet approval. The stone was
+then touched with the trowel, the deposit was covered up, and the rite
+was complete. An account of the proceedings found its way into the
+newspapers, and Sir Peregrine Maitland learned, to his intense disgust,
+of the part which Mackenzie had been permitted to take in the ceremony.
+He sent for Colonel Thomas Clark, one of the commissioners appointed by
+Parliament to superintend the construction of the column, and, in a
+voice of undisguised passion, gave orders to that gentleman that the
+glass vessel should forthwith be disinterred, and the copy of the
+_Advocate_ removed therefrom. The mandate was of course obeyed. As the
+column had by this time reached a considerable height, the excavation
+was no slight task. Mr. Mackenzie himself, who personally attended at
+what he called the "premature resurrection," claimed and obtained
+possession of the number of the paper which had caused so much
+unnecessary labour and ill-temper.
+
+From this time forward there was almost incessant warfare between Mr.
+Mackenzie and the official party: warfare sometimes suppressed,
+sometimes altogether concealed for a brief season, but always ready to
+break out upon the slightest pretext--sometimes, indeed, without any
+apparent pretext at all.
+
+Soon after the _Advocate's_ removal to York, and not long before the
+opening of the Legislature, the Honourable D'Arcy Boulton, one of the
+puisne judges, laid himself open to attack by conduct of the most
+reprehensible kind. In a case tried before him, in which his son, the
+Solicitor-General, appeared on behalf of the Crown, the Judge displayed
+such gross partiality that one cannot read the report of the
+proceedings, even as chronicled by one of the organs of the Government,
+without mingled feelings of wonder and disgust. At the present day such
+conduct on the part of an occupant of the judicial bench would bring
+down upon his head the animadversions of the press of the whole country.
+Sixty years ago it passed without editorial remark from any of the
+journals of the time, with the single exception of the _Advocate_, which
+certainly used some very plain words in characterizing the Judge's
+behaviour. It appealed to the Legislature to address the Governor on the
+subject, with a request to dismiss from office the whole of the Boulton
+race, root and branch. "If a Government emanating from England," wrote
+Mr. Mackenzie, "can cherish such a corrupt, such a Star Chamber crew,
+then the days of the infamous Scroggs and Jeffries are returned upon us;
+and we may lament for ourselves, for our wives and for our children,
+that the British Constitution is, in Canada, a phantom to delude to
+destruction, instead of being the day-star of our dearest liberties."
+
+Such language as this, which was a mild specimen of the writer's
+trenchant style, was not, upon the whole, too strong for the occasion.
+In other instances he was roused to greater fury on less provocation,
+and used phrases unbefitting the columns of any paper which aspires to
+be a public instructor. But he was not alone in his scurrility. Some of
+the persons attacked in the _Advocate_ retorted upon the editor through
+the official press in language far less defensible than his own. He was
+denounced as an upstart and a demagogue, whose low origin placed him far
+beneath the notice of gentlemen. This language, be it understood, was
+used by at least one wealthy and influential personage whose own origin
+was such that Mr. Mackenzie's might have been pronounced aristocratic by
+comparison. To all such vapourings Mr. Mackenzie responded in the
+_Advocate_ in kind. He had a large vocabulary of Billingsgate at his
+command, and as his temper became thoroughly aroused he proved that he
+could fully hold his own in this sort of wordy warfare. He followed the
+example of his antagonists, invaded the sanctities of private life, and
+descended to outrageous personalities. The persons thus placed in the
+journalistic pillory were merely paid back in their own coin, but they
+had never been accustomed to yield to others the privileges they claimed
+for themselves, and could not understand how "this fellow" dared presume
+to retort the foulness hurled at him. His paper meanwhile enjoyed a
+fair circulation, and his enemies periodically saw themselves held up
+before the people of the Province in a light well calculated to bring
+down public execration upon them. They winced, and hated their aggressor
+with a hatred which knew no bounds.
+
+Before the close of the first session of the Ninth Parliament, in 1825,
+the struggle between the two political parties had assumed a distinct
+form. The Opposition contended for a responsible Executive; the
+Government repudiated the contention with sarcastic contempt. There were
+various other grounds of dispute, but this great question overshadowed
+and practically included all. It cannot truly be said that there was
+much perceptible progress in reform during the session; indeed material
+progress was impossible so long as the Government controlled the
+Legislative Council, and while the Executive Councillors held on to
+office in spite of the hostile votes of the Assembly. The way towards
+reform was however paved by the debates. Never before had the Government
+of Upper Canada been subjected to the incessant criticism of a watchful
+and vigorous phalanx of censors within the walls of Parliament. They
+were not wise enough to read the signs of the times, and would yield
+nothing to the demands of their opponents. They still believed in the
+efficacy of repression, and the next few years were marked by a series
+of high-handed persecutions which did more to speed the progress of
+reform than all the eloquence of Rolph and Bidwell could have effected
+in half a century.
+
+As for Mackenzie, he would doubtless have been dealt with as Gourlay had
+been, could such a course have been adopted towards him with safety.
+Isaac Swayzes in abundance might no doubt have been found to swear that
+the obnoxious personage had not been a resident of the Province for the
+preceding six months. Doubtless, also, phrases had been used in the
+_Advocate_ which, isolated from the context, might have been tortured
+into something like sedition. But the party in power were not so dull as
+to be unable to perceive that _that_ experiment must not be repeated.
+The Liberal schoolmaster had been actively at work within the last few
+years, and any attempt to re-enact that glaring iniquity would, to say
+the least, be attended with serious risk to the actors. The most
+feasible method of disposing of the noisy little firebrand presented
+itself in the shape of successive indictments for libel, to which his
+aggressive and unguarded mode of writing would be certain to expose him.
+It is of course impossible to obtain direct evidence of an express
+conspiracy on the part of the Government to destroy him by such means. A
+conspiracy of that nature would not be likely to take the shape of a
+written contract which might be produced against the contracting parties
+in the future. Nor would the parties to such a conspiracy be likely to
+leave any written traces of it behind them. Still, anyone who has the
+opportunity and inclination to go minutely into the question will be
+irresistibly driven to the conclusion that there was some sort of
+understanding among the chiefs of the official party that the
+publication of the _Advocate_ was to be stopped, and that its editor was
+to be either driven out of the country or reduced to silence.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Mackenzie himself had serious difficulties to
+contend with. The _Advocate_, notwithstanding its considerable
+circulation, did not yield any appreciable income. Subscribers were
+backward in their payments, and the cost of making collections reduced
+the profit to little or nothing. The postage to country subscribers had
+to be paid in advance by the publisher, which was in itself a
+considerable drain upon his resources. The issue of the paper was
+moreover necessarily attended by a good deal of expense. It did not
+appear regularly, and the intervals between successive numbers were
+sometimes of considerable duration. This irregularity was a serious
+drawback to its prosperity, and a source of much dissatisfaction to its
+patrons. Such a combination of discouragements could have but one
+result. By the beginning of June, 1826, Mr. Mackenzie had been reduced
+to serious pecuniary embarrassment, and had temporarily withdrawn
+himself from the jurisdiction, pending an arrangement with his
+creditors. It is in the highest degree improbable that another number of
+the paper would ever have been issued. It was moribund, if not already
+dead. But when matters had arrived at this pass, the violence of
+Mackenzie's enemies led them to commit an act of lawless ruffianism
+which gave the _Advocate_ a new lease of life. The act moreover aroused
+much popular indignation against the perpetrators, and a proportionate
+degree of sympathy for their victim, to whom it gave additional
+importance, while it at the same time materially improved his financial
+condition.
+
+During the spring of the year 1826 the _Advocate's_ criticisms upon
+certain members of the oligarchical faction were marked by exceptional
+acerbity. The persons attacked, however, sought in vain throughout the
+closely-packed columns for any material upon which a criminal
+prosecution might be founded; for Mr. Mackenzie, whether by prudence or
+good fortune, contrived for some weeks to say very acrid things without
+rendering himself liable to an indictment. Among the persons who were
+compelled to pass through the fire of his criticism was the Honourable
+James Buchanan Macaulay, a gentleman who in after years attained the
+honour of knighthood, and became Chief Justice of the Court of Common
+Pleas for Upper Canada. At the period under consideration he was a
+member of the Executive Council, and occupied a high position at the
+local bar. The language employed by the _Advocate_ with respect to him
+was comparatively mild, and did not even mention him by name. Moreover,
+the editor's remarks appear to have been entirely in accordance with
+facts. At any rate they were altogether insufficient to account for the
+state of ferocity into which Mr. Macaulay allowed himself to be lashed.
+He prepared and published a pamphlet, in which he gave vent to such
+scurrility as it seems incredible that any man of education, or even of
+decent social training, could ever have descended to write. Truly, no
+man is ever so effectually written down as when he himself holds the
+pen. Those readers who wish to be better acquainted with the depths to
+which an angry man can lower himself, and who have not access to Mr.
+Macaulay's pamphlet, can obtain some inkling of the truth by reference
+to Mr. Lindsey's "Life and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie."[68] As Mr.
+Lindsey very justly remarks:--"The cause of the quarrel was utterly
+contemptible, and Mr. Macaulay showed to great disadvantage in it." It
+seems probable enough that one main object of the publication of the
+pamphlet was to goad Mr. Mackenzie into a retort which would render him
+amenable to the law of libel. In one sense this plan--if such there
+were--succeeded. The _Advocate_ came out with a long reply which
+contained an abundance of scandalous matter, a great part of which, as
+the writer must have been well aware, had no shadow of foundation in
+truth. The matter related not only to persons occupying public
+situations, but to individuals altogether unconnected with public life,
+including respectable married women and persons who had long been dead.
+But most of the statements and insinuations, even those which were
+unsupported by a tittle of evidence--nay, even those which were
+notoriously groundless--related to and were interwoven with
+circumstances which, as the persons involved well knew, would not bear
+discussion. It would never do to permit such matters to become the
+subject of judicial investigation. Anything in the shape of an enquiry
+would inevitably lead to disclosures seriously affecting the honour of
+more than one member of the Compact. An indictment, therefore, was out
+of the question.
+
+It has often been asserted that the oligarchy are to be held accountable
+for the display of ruffianly violence which followed Mackenzie's retort
+to Macaulay's pamphlet. In one sense this is true, for it was in
+consequence of their long abuse of the supremacy which they enjoyed that
+feelings of hatred and enmity were begotten between one stratum of
+society and another; and it was this hatred which gave rise to violent
+measures. But if it is meant to be implied that the oligarchy, as a
+body, conceived the design, or that it was carried out under their
+auspices, the implication is too absurd to stand in need of serious
+rebuttal. To carry the argument no farther, the body was too numerous to
+admit of any general secret coöperation between them for such a purpose.
+As simple matter of fact, all knowledge of the contemplated violence was
+confined to the breasts of those who took part in it. No one familiar
+with the circumstances, however, can doubt that it met with the fullest
+approval of the ruling faction after it had been effected, and that, so
+far as such a thing was possible, the wrong-doers were protected by them
+from the consequences of the outrage. To this charge they must perforce
+plead guilty; but there are degrees in guilt, and the endorsation, or
+even the approval of an act after it has been committed, is a different
+thing from the original conception and carrying out of it. The
+respective weight of culpability, in the case under consideration, is a
+matter which the reader may very well be left to estimate according to
+his own judgment.
+
+And now for the outrage itself.
+
+[Sidenote: 1826.]
+
+The office of the _Advocate_ was situated on the north-west corner of
+Frederick and Front[69] streets, in a building which had been the
+birthplace of Robert Baldwin, and in which the Cawthras subsequently
+carried on a large and very successful mercantile business.[70] Readers
+acquainted with the neighbourhood will not need to be informed that this
+site is in close proximity to the bay. Mr. Mackenzie, with his aged
+mother--who had long before followed him to Canada--and the rest of his
+family, resided in the building, which was therefore his home, as well
+as his place of business. At about half-past six o'clock in the
+afternoon of Thursday, the 8th of June, 1826, in broad daylight, and
+while the proprietor was absent in the United States,[71] a raid was
+made upon the printing establishment, which, in the course of a few
+minutes, was reduced to a state of confusion and chaos. The door was
+broken open, the press partly demolished, the imposing-stone overturned,
+and a quantity of type battered and thrown into the adjacent bay. The
+contents of some of the cases were "pied" and scattered around the
+floor. Frames, chases, galleys, composing-sticks and office furniture
+were thrown together in one confused heap. In a word, the entire office
+was turned topsy-turvy. Mr. Mackenzie's mother, who was then in her
+seventy-eighth year, stood and watched the proceedings in a state of
+great fear and agitation from a corner of the office.[72]
+
+The most remarkable feature about the whole of this extraordinary
+transaction was that there appeared to be no attempt at concealment. It
+was carried out as though it had been the most legitimate and ordinary
+business enterprise, to which no one could reasonably offer any sort of
+objection. The raiders did not think it necessary to wait for darkness,
+nor did they resort to any disguises. If they did not court publicity,
+they at least took no care to avoid it. They chose a time of day when
+the journeymen and apprentices connected with the establishment were
+almost certain to be absent, and when there would be no one to oppose
+their entrance; though, according to the printed admission of the prime
+mover and instigator of the affair, they were prepared, if necessary, to
+oppose force to force in order to effect their purpose. As there was
+nobody in the office, any such display of force was happily uncalled
+for. Having made their way inside, the work of destruction was proceeded
+with coolly and calmly, as though there was no necessity for
+extraordinary haste. When they had fully worked their will, they
+departed as quietly as they had arrived.
+
+The actual perpetrators of this unique act of ruffianism were nine in
+number. They were none of them ruffians by profession, and were not
+commonly rated as blackguards. They could not even plead the poor excuse
+that they were under the influence of strong drink. Most of them were
+young men, and nearly all of them were closely identified, either by
+interest or by close relationship, with prominent members of the
+oligarchy. They were, in short, with few exceptions, the flower of the
+aristocracy of the little capital. Chief among them was Samuel Peters
+Jarvis, barrister, the slayer of poor young John Ridout, mentioned on a
+former page.[73] He, at least, could not plead in extenuation of his
+share in the transaction that he had been carried away by the
+uncontrollable effervescence of youth, for he was at this time not far
+short of thirty-four years of age[74]. His acquittal on a more serious
+charge nearly nine years before might well have led him to believe that
+he could with impunity set the law at defiance. His identification with
+the ruling faction is easily traced, for he was a son of Mr. William
+Jarvis, who was for many years Secretary of the Province; and he was
+moreover son-in-law to ex-Chief Justice Powell.[75] He himself held a
+situation under Government at this time--being Clerk of the Crown in
+Chancery--and stood high in the favour of Sir Peregrine Maitland,
+towards whom he sometimes acted in the capacity of private secretary. He
+was the chief offender, for it was by him that the outrage was planned,
+and he was the directing spirit throughout, as well as the most noisy
+and impudent apologist for it afterwards. Another active participant in
+the raid was Captain John Lyons, a confidential clerk in the
+Lieutenant-Governor's office. A third was Henry Sherwood, student at law
+in the office of Attorney-General Robinson, and Clerk of Assize. He was
+a son of the Honourable Levius Petere Sherwood, one of the puisne
+judges, and was also connected with other leading members of the ruling
+faction. It is due to him to say that he eventually outgrew the follies
+of his youth, and became an able lawyer, a prominent politician, and a
+useful member of society. He alone, of all the participators in this
+shameful business, attained to anything like honourable distinction. A
+fourth member of the gang of kid-gloved housebreakers was Charles
+Heward, a son of Colonel Stephen Heward, who, in addition to being an
+active spirit among the Compact, was a magistrate, Clerk of the Peace in
+and for the Home District, and Auditor-General of Land Patents. The
+others were Charles Richardson, a student in the office of
+Attorney-General Robinson; James King, a student in Solicitor-General
+Boulton's office; Peter McDougall, a well-known shopkeeper in York in
+those times; and two sons of the Honourable James Baby,
+Inspector-General, and member of the Executive Council. These were all
+the active participants in the outrage. While it was in progress a
+number of other persons appeared upon the scene, but did not take any
+part therein otherwise than as spectators.
+
+It is of course not to be supposed that this incursion was attributable,
+either directly or indirectly, to the Government as a body, or that it
+had formed a subject of deliberation at the Council Board. The charge
+that it was attributable to the entire oligarchy has already been
+disposed of.[76] But it is at least fairly to be inferred that, after
+the thing had been done, the Government considered themselves as being
+under obligations to the misguided persons concerned in it. Several of
+the latter received appointments to positions of public trust and
+emolument, such as are usually conferred by Governments upon deserving
+supporters. Jarvis was successively appointed to various posts, the most
+important of which was that of Indian Commissioner, in which capacity he
+became a defaulter to the Government, and was involved in serious
+pecuniary and other difficulties. The avenging ghost of John Ridout
+pursued him, and his subsequent career was not one to be contemplated
+with admiration. Richardson, again, was appointed Clerk of the Peace for
+the Niagara District. Sir Peregrine Maitland could not pretend to
+overlook the dereliction of his confidential clerk, Captain Lyons, who
+was accordingly dismissed from that position. But this was not the end
+of the story. Many readers are doubtless familiar with Halifax's remark
+when Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, was removed from the post of
+First Lord of the Treasury and installed in that of Lord President. "I
+have seen people kicked downstairs," remarked the great Trimmer, "but my
+Lord Rochester is the first person that I ever saw kicked
+up-stairs."[77] In like manner the Lieutenant-Governor's clerk was soon
+afterwards kicked up-stairs, by being appointed Registrar of the Niagara
+District.
+
+It really seemed as though this wanton and most reprehensible invasion
+of private rights was regarded by those in authority as a high and
+meritorious action. It was certainly so regarded by "the best society"
+of York at the time. The young men, who ought to have been made to
+suffer social ostracism, were petted and caressed as heroes who had done
+some grand service to the State; and, as will presently be seen, they
+were not even permitted to suffer any considerable pecuniary loss by
+reason of their breach of the law. Finding that their conduct led to
+their being made the subjects of a sort of hero-worship, it is not
+surprising that they soon came to pique themselves upon what they had
+done, and, so far from feeling any consciousness of shame or regret, to
+openly court publicity for their proceedings. Jarvis was especially
+culpable in this respect, and was not ashamed to write letters to the
+papers on the subject, in one of which he avowed himself as the author
+and originator of the outrage. He admitted having led on his band of
+semi-official desperadoes, determined to "persevere, if resistance had
+been made." As to the morality or immorality of the act, he professed
+himself "easy on that head." Such language as this, coming, as it did,
+from one who had shed the blood of a fellow-creature upon very slight
+provocation; who had been tried for murder, and acquitted because the
+crime was sanctioned by the usages of society; and who, moreover, in the
+estimation of many people, richly deserved the hangman's noose--such
+language, under the circumstances, was not merely injudicious and
+unfeeling, but positively revolting. The only conceivable excuse that
+can be made for it arises from the fact that Jarvis was at the time
+irritated by a succession of attacks in the newspapers, in which his
+conduct, bad as it had been, was held up in even a more odious light
+than it deserved. The excuse may be taken for what it is worth. It is at
+least certain that had the transgressor been imbued with feelings of
+ordinary delicacy he would not have permitted himself to be goaded into
+using such expressions as are to be found in his "Statement of Facts,"
+published at York nearly two years after the type riot.[78] His
+callousness stirred the hot blood of Francis Collins, of _The Canadian
+Freeman_, to speak his mind editorially on the subject:--"We view it,"
+he wrote, "as the greatest misfortune that could happen to any man in
+this life to imbrue his hands in the blood of a fellow-man. But as this
+barbarous practice has, by long usage, become familiar to the mind of
+civilized society, we think it is a misfortune that might occur to an
+otherwise virtuous and well-disposed man, and therefore ought not
+(unless under aggravated circumstances) to be a reproach either to
+himself or to his children; provided that, during the remainder of his
+life he will show that caution which becomes his delicate situation, and
+prove by his subsequent benevolence that he regrets his misfortune. But
+if, after once having stained his hands with human blood, he will act
+the desperado, and become a leader in such outrages as may end in a
+repetition of his former act--then, we say, he is worthy of reproach,
+and ought to be viewed as the common enemy of mankind."[79]
+
+News of the aggression soon found its way to Mr. Mackenzie at
+Lewiston.[80] He at once returned to York, and lost no time in
+instituting proceedings against eight of the aggressors who had
+constituted themselves a vigilance committee at his expense. He brought
+a civil action for damages, and erelong these incipient "Regulators of
+Upper Canada" began to realize that they had acted with some
+precipitation and foolhardiness. It seemed probable that they would be
+mulcted in heavy damages; and even these would be no bar to a criminal
+prosecution. The aforementioned James Buchanan Macaulay was appointed to
+conduct their defence. The plaintiff's attorney was James Edward Small,
+a rising young lawyer who afterwards made some figure in political life,
+and who belonged to a well-known family in York. Overtures in the
+direction of a compromise were made on behalf of the raiders, who
+offered first two hundred pounds and afterwards three hundred by way of
+full compensation. The smaller amount would have been an abundant
+recompense for the actual loss,[81] but Mackenzie felt that public
+sympathy was with him, and he was desirous that the facts should go to a
+jury. The offer of the defendants was rejected, and the case came on for
+trial before Chief Justice Campbell and a special jury in the following
+October. Associated with the Chief Justice were the Honourable William
+Allan and Mr. Alexander McDonnell, as Justices of the Peace. The
+plaintiff's counsel were Marshall Spring Bidwell, J. E. Small, and
+Alexander Stewart, of Niagara. The defendants were represented by J. B.
+Macaulay and Christopher Alexander Hagerman. These names afford
+sufficient evidence that full justice was done to the case on both
+sides. Hagerman was a counsel of remarkable ability, and he fought very
+hard. His argument was a masterpiece of clever, specious reasoning, well
+calculated to produce an effect upon uneducated or half-educated
+jurymen. He took an enlightened stand, admitting the advantage to a
+community of a free and unfettered press. He then proceeded to argue
+away all the consequences of the admission, alleging that the career of
+the _Advocate_ had been one of license, and not of mere freedom. But the
+evidence of the outrage was clear and unassailable, and the defence did
+not venture to call any witnesses. It was proved on behalf of the
+plaintiff that three members of the ruling faction, two of whom were
+magistrates, had been in close proximity to the scene of the raid at the
+time when it took place; and there appears to be very little doubt that
+all three must have been eye-witnesses of the outrage. One of these was
+the Honourable William Allan, who, at the very moment when this evidence
+was given, sat on the bench to the right of the Chief Justice as an
+associate judge on the trial. Colonel Heward, whose son Charles was one
+of the delinquents, was the other magistrate compromised by the
+evidence. The third person alleged to have witnessed the transaction was
+Mr. Macaulay, leading counsel for the defence. The utter incongruity and
+unseemliness of the whole affair from first to last seems
+incomprehensible at the present day. All sense of the fitness of things
+seems to have been wanting.
+
+The trespass had been flagrant and bold, and the only question which the
+jury had to consider was the amount of damages. There were conflicting
+elements among the jurors, who were long in coming to a decision. After
+much deliberation they returned a verdict of £625, which sum, together
+with costs of suit, was soon afterwards paid over to the plaintiff's
+attorney.[82] But the rioters themselves were not suffered to sustain
+this loss. Prominent adherents of the official party did not hesitate to
+say that by the attack upon Mr. Mackenzie's press and type, and by the
+consequent stoppage of publication of his paper,[83] the perpetrators of
+the outrage had rendered an essential service to society, by abating an
+intolerable nuisance. Under such circumstances it was only just that
+society should bear harmless those who had thrown themselves into the
+breach and vindicated her rights. It was resolved that a subscription
+should be set on foot with this laudable object.
+
+Among the few high Tories resident at York in those days upon whose
+characters it is possible for one of modern ideas to look with sympathy,
+and even with a considerable degree of admiration, was Colonel James
+Fitz Gibbon. The Colonel was a gallant veteran who had fought the
+battles of his country on two continents, at Copenhagen and the Helder,
+at Fort Erie and the Beaver Dams. His military career was not yet quite
+at an end, for he was destined to play an important part in the
+putting-down of the Upper Canadian Rebellion; a circumstance which
+furnishes a sufficient justification for a somewhat more extended
+reference to him in this place than his mere connection with the press
+riot would have rendered necessary. He was an Irishman of humble origin,
+who had enlisted as a private soldier at the age of seventeen, and who,
+by sheer force of energy, bravery and aptitude for his profession, had
+fought his way to military rank and honour. After seeing much service on
+the continent, and passing through as many adventures as a knight-errant
+of old, he was transferred to British North America. His gallant
+services in this country are imperfectly recorded in various accounts of
+the War of 1812, and in Tupper's "Life of Brock." Every Canadian is, or
+ought to be, familiar with the circumstances attending the capture by
+him of a force of 450 infantry, fifty cavalry, and two guns, he himself
+being at the time in command of only forty-eight men. After the close of
+the war he was placed on half pay, and took up his abode at York. He
+attached himself to the Provincial militia, whence he derived his rank
+of Colonel. He likewise obtained a post in the Adjutant-General's
+office, and subsequently became Deputy Adjutant-General, which position
+he held at the period at which the narrative has arrived. He was also in
+the Commission of the Peace, and frequently sat in Quarter Sessions.
+His share in suppressing the revolt in 1837 will be narrated in its
+proper place. For the rest it may be added that he was always
+impecunious, for, apart from the fact that he was no financier, and
+never knew how to take care of money when he had any, the expenses of
+his outfit when promoted to the rank of Adjutant, in 1806, formed the
+nucleus of a debt which hampered him from youth to old age. His
+indigence often subjected him to straits which must have been hard to
+bear; but he was of a sanguine, joyous disposition, and poverty, though
+it might temporarily overcloud his happiness, had no power to break his
+indomitable spirit. During his long residence in Canada he was a
+persistent seeker after office, because he was almost always in
+pecuniary straits; but he fully earned all the emoluments he ever
+received from the Government, and if his income had been five times as
+large as it ever was he would probably have been neither more
+comfortable nor less impecunious. It seemed as though no experience
+could lead him to take thought for the morrow. His chief characteristics
+were such as are not uncommon among his fellow-countrymen. He was
+generous and open-hearted to a fault, ever ready to bestow his last
+shilling upon anybody who needed it, or who even made a plausible
+pretence of needing it. He was rash, impetuous and indiscreet, but the
+ranks of the British army held no braver or more loyal heart than his.
+In his simple and gentle soul there was no room for envy or guile. He
+seems, indeed, to have been in many respects a sort of Irish reflection
+of Colonel Newcome; and the parallel even extended to the outward
+circumstances attending the close of their respective lives. Colonel
+Newcome, when all his worldly possessions had gone from him, retired to
+Grey Friars--the Charterhouse--a retreat for "poor and decayed
+brethren," when the world seemed to afford no other asylum. There he
+passed the remainder of his days, and there he said "Adsum" when his
+name was called for the last time in this world. In like manner Colonel
+Fitz Gibbon, when all other resources failed him, was able, through the
+kindness of Lord Seaton, to obtain a place in an asylum of somewhat
+similar character. At Royal Windsor there is an institution which
+provides a retreat from the cares and storms of life for a limited
+number of depleted old military officers. The members are styled
+Military Knights of Windsor, and the abodes provided for them are
+situated "within the precincts." Hither, in 1850, when he had entered
+upon his seventieth year, the battered old hero of many fights retired
+to pass in quiet the evening of an active life. He survived for more
+than ten years, during which period he succeeded in obtaining for
+himself and his brother knights certain important privileges of which
+they had theretofore been deprived.
+
+Though he was not, in the proper sense of the word, a politician, both
+his interests and his superabundant loyalty impelled him to the side of
+those in power. No one in the Province had less respect for radicals of
+the Mackenzie stamp. It was sufficient for him to reflect that the
+official party reflected the might and majesty of the Crown of Great
+Britain. His whole nature, fostered by his military training, revolted
+at the idea of opposition to those in authority. He was moreover
+dependent upon the Government for his place in the Adjutant-General's
+office, and would naturally espouse the side of his patrons. The Compact
+had no more faithful adherent, and by no one were "low radicals" held in
+more profound abhorrence. He was roused to a high pitch of fervour by
+the trial of the press rioters, who, in his opinion, had acted in the
+most patriotic and praiseworthy spirit. When the verdict had been
+rendered, and when it had become manifest that the defendants must pay
+the penalty of their acts, the Colonel regarded them as martyrs. He
+promptly volunteered to canvass the town for subscriptions to a fund for
+discharging the liability, and thus saving "the boys," as he called
+them, from loss. He was as good as his word, and the requisite sum was
+soon forthcoming. Who the contributors to this fund were has never been
+fully revealed, and the secret is likely to be well kept, for the list
+was burned by Colonel Fitz Gibbon immediately after it had served its
+purpose, and there is probably no man now living who can throw any light
+upon the subject. Mr. Lindsey observes[84] that "it is believed the
+officials of the day were not backward in assisting to indemnify the
+defendants in the type-riot trial, for the adverse verdict of an
+impartial jury"--a belief which, under the circumstances, is certainly
+not an extravagant one. It was commonly rumoured that several heads of
+departments had contributed twenty pounds each to the fund, and Francis
+Collins gave currency to the rumour through the columns of his paper.
+The controversy to which this gave rise was the indirect means of
+furnishing almost the only evidence now obtainable as to the signatures
+to the subscription list. Collins asserted that Sir Peregrine Maitland's
+own name was understood to be at the head of the list, opposite to a
+large contribution. Colonel Fitz Gibbon was so indiscreet as to write a
+reply, in which he distinctly declared that the latter's assertion was
+wholly untrue, _so far as the Lieutenant-Governor was concerned_. From
+this letter, which was duly given to the public in the _Freeman_, it was
+not unfairly to be inferred that the assertion, so far as it related to
+the heads of departments, could not be truthfully denied. That some, at
+least, of the members of the official body contributed to the fund was
+matter of notoriety in York at the time, and, so far as I am aware, has
+never been denied. The Honourable James Baby, indeed, who was then or
+shortly afterwards the senior member of the Executive Council, and who,
+as before mentioned, was the father of two of the young men concerned in
+the raid, contributed his share with great reluctance. He was at this
+time advanced in life--he was in his sixty-fifth year--and he had ceased
+to carry much weight in the Great Council of the Province, having been
+to a large extent superseded by younger and more energetic men. His
+opinions were no longer deferred to as they had once been, and on one or
+two occasions he had, as he conceived, been treated with inadequate
+respect by some of his junior colleagues. He felt his position keenly,
+and there is reason for believing that he would have resigned his office
+of Inspector-General and his seat at the Council Board, had it not been
+that there were many demands upon his purse, and that he was largely
+dependent upon his official salary for the support of his family. On a
+subsequent page a notable instance will be given of the degradation to
+which his poverty compelled him to submit at the hands of the
+Lieutenant-Governor. Under the circumstances, however, he could not
+refuse to contribute to Colonel Fitz Gibbon's list; and it is recorded
+that when one of his sons called upon him for the amount which he had
+subscribed, he handed over the sum with justifiable petulance, saying:
+"There, go and make one great fool of yourself again."[85] Such of the
+rioters as were possessed of means contributed to the fund according to
+their respective ability, but the others were not allowed to bear more
+than a very small share of the loss.
+
+The only other documentary evidence to be had on the subject of the
+subscribers to the fund is to be found in the "Statement of Facts" of
+Samuel Peters Jarvis himself. "I have on my part to assure the public,"
+he writes, "that so far from being indemnified by the contributions
+which from various motives were made for our relief, the burthen fell
+heavily upon such of us as had the means of paying anything; and I
+affirm that the share of the verdict which I myself had to defray, from
+no very abundant means, was such that if Mr. Mackenzie had made as much
+clear profit by his press during the whole time he has employed it in
+the work of detraction, he would not have found it necessary to leave
+the concern, and abandon it to his creditors." To which statement it may
+be added that a gentleman now living in Toronto distinctly remembers
+hearing Mr. Jarvis say that his own contribution to the fund was
+precisely £109; that that of Peter McDougall was about the same; and
+that none of the rest of the rioters paid anything, except through their
+parents or relatives.
+
+The civil liability having been discharged, the public looked forward to
+a criminal prosecution, for it seemed outrageous that the perpetrators
+of such an offence against society should escape without any greater
+penalty than had thus far been exacted from them. Mr. Mackenzie himself
+seems to have been desirous of proceeding to extremities, although the
+amount which he had recovered was far more than compensation for any
+loss he had sustained, whether direct or incidental. But the brains of
+his professional advisers were cooler than his own, and saved him from
+the consequences of his want of judgment. Mr. Bidwell dissuaded him from
+taking any steps which might seem to be dictated by a feeling of
+revenge. It was represented to him that he was a decided gainer by the
+raid, not only in pocket but in popularity. The public sympathy had been
+with him from first to last. A policy of war to the knife on his part
+would certainly cool, and in some cases altogether alienate that
+sympathy. The jury's liberal verdict bad placed him "in funds," and he
+was thus in a position to resume the publication of the _Advocate_
+under favourable circumstances. The transaction had distinctly
+increased his prestige in the rural constituencies, and he might
+reasonably hope to be a successful candidate for Parliament when a
+suitable vacancy should occur. Such being the position of affairs, he
+was strongly advised to let well alone. Contrary to his habit, he proved
+amenable to advice, and refrained from a criminal prosecution.
+
+The issue fully justified the advice of Mr. Mackenzie's counsellors.
+Several of the newspapers in the Province commended his forbearance, and
+contrasted his conduct with that of his enemies. But, it was asked, what
+was the Attorney-General about? How was it that he, who never failed to
+stretch his authority to the utmost when a Reformer rendered himself
+amenable to the law--how was it that he permitted such an outrage as
+this to pass without notice? Surely it was his duty to officially
+proceed against the wrong-doers. But the Attorney-General was deaf to
+all such remonstrances, and did not concern himself with the matter
+further than to maintain the most cordial relations with the persons
+implicated. How far his conduct in this respect was consistent will
+hereafter appear. Colonel Fitz Gibbon was rewarded for his zeal in a bad
+cause by receiving the appointment of Clerk to the Legislative Assembly,
+and the additional income thus afforded him left him neither better off
+nor worse than before.
+
+The participators in perhaps the grossest outrage ever committed in the
+Provincial capital thus escaped, for the time, all due penalty for their
+misconduct. It may almost be said, indeed, that they escaped altogether,
+for though, as will hereafter be seen, seven of them were eventually
+brought to trial and convicted at the instance of another person, they
+received no adequate punishment, and were thus able to boast that
+gentlemen in their station of life in York were above the law.
+
+Rash deeds often produce unlooked-for consequences. So it was in the
+case under review. The attempt to suppress the _Advocate_ was the means
+of re-establishing it on a fairly satisfactory financial basis, and of
+extending its life for about seven years. The indignity to which the
+printing-office had been subjected, and the trial resulting therefrom,
+had furnished the best advertisements that could possibly have been
+desired. With a portion of the sum recovered from the hands of the
+spoilers Mr. Mackenzie was able to satisfy the most pressing of his
+creditors. With the balance he provided himself with new printing
+material, and the _Advocate_ soon made its appearance under more
+favourable auspices than ever. It continued to be marked by the same
+characteristics as during the first epoch of its existence. It was not
+conducted with more discretion, and there were as many gross
+personalities in its columns. It however contributed much to the spread
+of Reform doctrines, and during much of its life it rendered undoubted
+service to the party to which it yielded its support. Had the editor's
+judgment been commensurate with his energies, his journal would
+undoubtedly have been a great power for good. Even as it was, it
+probably acted to some extent as a check upon Executive aggression, and
+thus served a beneficial purpose in spite of its many weaknesses and
+shortcomings.
+
+As for Mr. Mackenzie, his persecutions were by no means at an end. They
+had, in fact, only begun. Of the many other shameful indignities to
+which he was subjected--indignities which finally drove him into
+rebellion, and involved him in overwhelming disaster--the narrative will
+hereafter take full account. It is at present desirable to advert to a
+number of other pregnant examples of abuse of power in which Mr.
+Mackenzie had no special concern.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[68] Vol. I., p. 89, et seq.
+
+[69] This portion of Front Street was then and for many years afterward
+known as Palace Street. It had been so named, in the early years of
+York's history, from the circumstance that it led down to the Parliament
+Buildings in the east end of the town, and because it was believed that
+the official residence or "palace" of the Lieutenant-Governor would be
+built there.
+
+[70] This historic landmark was burned down during the winter of 1854-5.
+
+[71] He had, as previously mentioned in the text, withdrawn from the
+Province with a view to a settlement with his creditors. He was at
+Lewiston, in the State of New York. In the beginning of the second part
+of his pamphlet, published at York in 1826, giving an account of the
+affair, he represents himself as having been at Queenston when he
+received news of the raid.
+
+[72] The statement to be found in various books--among others in Wells's
+_Canadiana_, p. 164, and Roger's _Rise of Canada from Barbarism to
+Civilization_, Vol. I., p. 405--that Mr. Mackenzie's mother was grossly
+maltreated by the rioters is wholly without foundation. The affair was
+disgraceful enough, in all conscience, and needs no fictitious
+embellishments.
+
+[73] _Ante_, p. 13.
+
+[74] According to a contemporary pamphlet giving an account of the duel,
+which took place in 1817, he was then twenty-five years of age. He would
+therefore be at least in his thirty-fourth year at the time of the press
+riot in 1826. By reference to the Barristers' Roll I find that he was
+called to the bar in Trinity Term, 55 Geo. III., 1815, at which time he
+must have been at least twenty-one years old, so that the statement in
+the text cannot be far from the fact. It is from him that Jarvis Street,
+Toronto, derives its name.
+
+[75] The Hon. W. D. Powell ceased to be Chief Justice during the
+previous year (1825), when he was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Sir
+William) Campbell.
+
+[76] _Ante_, p. 129.
+
+[77] Macaulay's _History of England_, Vol. I., Chapter 2.
+
+[78] _Statement of Facts relating to the Trespass on the Printing Press
+in the Possession of Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie, in June, 1826.
+Addressed to the Public generally, and particularly to the Subscribers
+and Supporters of the Colonial Advocate._ York, 1828.
+
+[79] See the _Freeman_ for Thursday, Feb. 21st, 1828.
+
+[80] See note to p. 130 _ante_.
+
+[81] Mr. Mackenzie, when taken before the Grand Jury to give evidence in
+support of a criminal prosecution of the type rioters, admitted that his
+actual, as distinguished from his incidental loss by the riot, did not
+exceed £12 10_s._ sterling.
+
+[82] It was the policy of the official party to suppress, as far as was
+practicable, all reference in the public newspapers to the misdoings of
+themselves and their adherents. This was but natural. No one likes to
+see his transgressions preserved to future ages in all the pitiless
+coldness of type, which may rise up against his descendants long after
+he himself is forgotten. The following is a complete transcript of the
+contemporary report of the trial of these rioters, as published in _The
+U. E. Loyalist_, a sheet issued as a sort of supplement or rider to the
+official _Gazette_. It appears in the _Loyalist_ for October 21st, 1826:
+
+"_Court of King's Bench._--In the suit of MacKenzie _vs_ Jarvis,
+McDougall, and others, for Trespass, the Jury, after a consultation of
+twenty-four hours, returned into Court--Verdict for the Plaintiff £625."
+
+This is absolutely the only information obtainable from the contemporary
+number of the official organ on a subject which was _par excellence_ the
+topic of the time. It may be added that the organ contained no reference
+whatever to the type riot until many weeks after its occurrence.
+
+[83] Apparently they were not then aware that the publication had
+actually ceased before the riot took place.
+
+[84] _Life of Mackenzie_, Vol. I., p. 99.
+
+[85] See Dr. Scadding's _Toronto of Old_, p. 38. Mr. Baby's idiom was
+due to his French origin and training.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE CASE OF CAPTAIN MATTHEWS.
+
+
+Captain Matthews, who, it will be remembered, had been returned to the
+Assembly for the County of Middlesex, gave great umbrage to the official
+party by allying himself with the Opposition. His birth and social
+standing, it was said, unfitted him for such companionship. The Captain
+himself was apparently conscious of no incongruity, and bent all his
+energies to the advancement of the Reform cause. Upon his first arrival
+in the country he could not be said to have had any political
+convictions at all. He had been bred a Tory, and his military career had
+been such as might naturally have led him to seek his allies in the
+ranks of those in authority. But his own experience of the abuses in the
+Land Office had impelled him to consider the political situation of
+affairs in Upper Canada generally, and the upshot of his deliberations
+had been his alliance with the new movement in the direction of Reform.
+Being a man of much local influence, his example had won to his side a
+number of the Middlesex farmers, more especially in the Township of
+Lobo, in which he resided. During his first session in Parliament he
+attracted considerable attention to himself, for he spoke frequently and
+well, and generally with a humorous eloquence which made him a favourite
+with those who were not bitter partisans on the other side.
+
+It was to be expected that Captain Matthew's defection from the
+political faith of his ancestors would render him specially odious to
+the High Tories of Upper Canada. It was shameful, they thought, that an
+officer deriving an income from His Majesty's Government should
+entertain, much less give utterance to, such vile democratic opinions as
+were constantly heard from his lips. The Captain was indiscreet, and
+became more and more outspoken the oftener he was charged with
+radicalism; but on no occasion did he utter anything savouring of
+disloyalty, for the very sufficient reason that there was no disloyalty
+in his heart. It was apparent to the Compact that his influence was most
+pernicious to them; yet no feasible plan for getting rid of him
+presented itself. Would it not be possible, by a little extra exertion,
+to deprive him of his pension? Could this laudable object be
+accomplished, the obnoxious Captain, who was of an impetuous
+temperament, would probably be goaded into saying or doing something
+really culpable--something which would place weapons in the hands of his
+enemies whereby he might be effectually silenced. The plan was at any
+rate worth trying. A system of espionage was accordingly adopted towards
+him.[86] During the sitting of the Legislature, myrmidons of the
+Executive dogged his footsteps wherever he went, in order to obtain some
+grounds for a hostile accusation against him.
+
+The spies did not have long to wait, for any shallow pretext was
+sufficient to serve as a peg upon which to hang an imputation of
+disloyalty, and the doomed man himself was unsuspicious of any design
+against him. The pretext actually resorted to was so utterly
+contemptible that one feels almost ashamed to record the attendant
+circumstances.
+
+A company of theatrical performers from the United States visited York
+during the session which assembled in the autumn of 1825. The actors met
+with little encouragement, and became, in stage parlance, "stranded."
+Being reduced to extremity, they resolved upon giving a special
+performance for the delectation of the members of the Legislature, whose
+patronage was solicited for the occasion. Sixteen or eighteen of the
+members--among whom was Captain Matthews--complied with the
+solicitation, and the performance took place at the little York theatre
+on the night of December 31st. During the intervals between the acts the
+orchestra played the national airs, "God Save the King," "Rule
+Britannia," and "The British Grenadiers." Several persons in the
+audience--Captain Matthews among the number[87]--apparently out of
+compliment to the actors, all of whom were from across the lines, called
+out for "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia." The demand was complied
+with, at least in part. The orchestra were unable to play "Hail
+Columbia," but the audience were regaled with the lively strains of
+"Yankee Doodle." Captain Matthews joined in the applause which followed,
+and removed his hat, calling upon others to do the same. The weight of
+evidence would seem to favour the idea that he was not the first to
+raise his hat, or to request the removal of the hats of his
+fellow-members. At all events the request was generally complied with.
+And this was the gist of the story. Captain Matthews's share in the
+events of the evening was the having joined in the demand for the two
+objectionable airs, in the applause which ensued upon the rendering of
+one of them, and in the request for the uncovering of heads. These dire
+offences sealed the doom of a gallant officer who had served his king
+for more than a quarter of a century, and whose acquiescence in the call
+for the national airs of the republic was probably due, at least in
+part, to the effervescence of feeling begotten of a good dinner.
+
+It is difficult to trace, step by step, the progress of the measures
+adopted against him. Distorted and exaggerated accounts appeared in _The
+Kingston Chronicle_ and _The Quebec Mercury_. But it is hardly likely
+that any _ex officio_ notice would have been taken of the affair if the
+newspaper reports had not been backed by a specific charge. Captain
+Matthews appears to have been secretly accused to the military
+authorities. He soon afterwards received a letter from the military
+secretary to the Earl of Dalhousie, Commander of the Forces in Lower
+Canada, stating that that dignitary's attention had been attracted by a
+report in the public prints of a representation that Captain Matthews
+had, in a riotous and outrageous manner, in the theatre at York, called
+for the national airs and tunes of the United States, "urging the
+audience there assembled to take off their hats, as is usual in the
+British Dominions in honour of 'God Save the King.'" The letter went on
+to say that "finding the statement corroborated, upon inquiry," the
+Commander of the Forces called upon Captain Matthews to explain conduct
+which was pronounced to be "utterly disloyal and disgraceful." Even this
+was not all. By a subsequent letter, received from the Board of
+Ordnance, the Captain was directed to repair forthwith to Quebec, and
+there remain until he could, by the first vessel in the spring, proceed
+to England, there to give an account of his conduct. This order was
+stated to have been made in consequence of a communication from the
+authorities in Canada to Lord Bathurst, the Colonial Secretary, and by
+him transmitted to the Master-General and Board of Ordnance.
+
+Mr. Mackenzie asserts that the object of the authorities was to get the
+Captain out of the Province, and thus deprive the Opposition of his
+vote, "in order to give the local Government a preponderance in the
+Legislature against the people's rights."[88] This, however, can hardly
+be accepted as a full or true explanation, as the Captain's absence at
+the time would not have given such a preponderance to the Government on
+any test vote. The weakening of the Opposition may or may not have been
+one of the objects sought to be achieved by the Captain's accusers. If
+so, it signally failed. Captain Matthews, be it understood, was not in
+receipt of half-pay, but of a pension. He had served twenty-seven years,
+and, on his corps being totally disbanded, he had settled in Upper
+Canada with the approbation of the Government. Having since been elected
+a member of the Provincial Assembly, his first duty was to that body,
+and it was necessary that he should obtain its leave before proceeding
+to obey the order of the Master-General. Accordingly, on Thursday, the
+28th of December, 1826, he rose in his place and made a motion involving
+an application for leave of absence. He explained the circumstances,
+and, in the course of the debate which ensued, expressly stated that he
+asked for leave, not with any desire of its being granted, but merely in
+order that the House might do its duty. The Opposition stood faithfully
+by him in this emergency. The House felt that the honour of one of its
+members was concerned. It refused the application for leave, and, on
+motion of Mr. Rolph, set on foot an inquiry into the circumstances on
+its own behalf.
+
+The inquiry was searching and minute, and the witnesses were not
+examined in presence of each other. Much of the evidence was beyond
+measure ludicrous and absurd. The scene at the theatre was described by
+one witness after another in endless variety. The merits of "Yankee
+Doodle" and "Hail Columbia," philologically and aesthetically, were made
+the subjects of the gravest investigation. It appeared that with the
+exception of Mr. John Beikie, Clerk of the Executive Council, and a very
+few of the townspeople, the audience was entirely made up of members of
+the Legislature. There were no ladies present, and, as it was New Year's
+Eve, the audience generally felt a considerable freedom from restraint.
+Many of the members had partaken freely of the cup that
+cheers--assuredly not the cup indicated by Cowper--and were in the
+blissful condition of Tam O'Shanter upon a certain memorable occasion to
+which no more specific reference is necessary. In plain English, some of
+them were so drunk as to be unable to recall anything that occurred. All
+were full of mirth and jollity, and the scene enacted was of the most
+uproarious description. Three grave legislators "danced while 'Yankee
+Doodle' was played." Several others had reached the quarrelsome stage of
+inebriety, and, in the language of one of the witnesses, "showed fight."
+Mr. Philip Vankoughnet, one of the members for Stormont, was constrained
+to admit that he had stripped off his coat, and threatened to knock
+somebody down. Captain Matthews, among others, called for "Hail
+Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle," but the general opinion among the more
+sober of the party appeared to be that he had done so "in derision." It
+was a bibulous age, and sobriety was the exception rather than the
+rule. The whole affair was little better than a bar-room orgy, and
+could properly be regarded in no other light.
+
+When the Assembly's report made its appearance, early in 1827, Captain
+Matthews was fully exonerated, so far as that body was concerned, from
+everything savouring of disloyalty. "The circumstances of the
+transaction"--thus ran the report--"as they are related without the
+contradiction of a single witness, irresistibly bespeak the absence of
+that disloyalty with which it has been basely attempted to sully the
+character of a most honourable man." The report moreover read a sharp
+lesson to the promoters of the accusation against him. It declared that
+"If every effervescence of feeling upon every jovial or innocent
+occasion is, in these Provinces, to be magnified into crime by the
+testimony of secret informers--if there can longer exist a political
+inquisition which shall scan the motives of every faithful servant of
+the public--if the authorities in Canada shall humble the independence
+of the Legislature by scandalizing its members and causing them to be
+ordered to Quebec, and thence to England, to sustain a fate which, under
+such corroboration as Lord Dalhousie received, might cover them with
+ignominy, or bring them, however innocent, to the block--or if the
+members of our community shall be awed into political subserviency by
+fear of oppression, or lured by the corrupt hope of participating guilty
+favours, then, indeed, will the prospect before us four, and this fine
+Province become a distant appendage of a mighty empire, ruled by a few
+aspiring men with the scourge of power."[89]
+
+The Committee professed their inability to learn by whom the pernicious
+representations had been made to the newspapers, or to the authorities
+in Canada, or from what source Lord Dalhousie had obtained his
+"corroboration." They expressed their conviction that there was no
+ground for the charge preferred against Captain Matthews, the malignity
+and falsity of which they believed to have derived their origin and
+support from political hostility towards him.
+
+The United States press was loud in its expressions of contempt. "Behold
+how great a matter a little fire kindleth;" said _The New York
+Enquirer_--"truly, there is something very undignified in such
+vexatious stretches of authority"--referring, of course, to the attempt
+to drag Captain Matthews across the Atlantic on a charge depending on
+such ridiculous evidence. Attention was drawn to the fact that the
+national airs of Great Britain, "God Save the Queen," and "Rule
+Britannia," are often heard at theatres and elsewhere in the republic
+without any such momentous consequences, and without being received
+either with laughter, dancing or contempt. "The evidence," continued the
+_Enquirer_, "does not speak very strongly in favour of the amenity and
+decorum of the M. P.'s of Upper Canada. If calling for one of our
+national airs, in a time of profound peace, within a few miles of the
+frontiers, is regarded as an unpardonable crime by the British
+Government, who shall wonder or complain that the British people are
+full of prejudice against us." The Liberal press of the Maritime
+Provinces harped to the same tune. "Really," remarked _The Halifax
+Recorder_, "we think people must have their wits about them now-a-days,
+if such things as these are to be construed into disaffection."
+
+But though Captain Matthews had been cleared by the Legislature, he had
+still to run the gauntlet of the military inquisition. They could not
+compel his attendance during the existence of the Parliament then in
+being, but they possessed an effectual means of reducing him to ultimate
+submission. This power they exercised. His pension was stopped--a very
+serious matter to a man with a large family and many responsibilities.
+He continued to fight the battles of Reform with dogged courage and
+pertinacity as long as his means admitted of his doing so, but he was
+soon reduced to a condition of great pecuniary distress, and was
+compelled to succumb. Broken-hearted and worn out, he resigned his seat
+in the Assembly, and returned to England, where, after grievous delays,
+he succeeded in getting his pension restored. He never returned to
+Canada, and survived the restoration of his pension but a short time.
+Thus, through the malignity of a selfish and secret cabal, was Upper
+Canada deprived of the services of a zealous and useful citizen and
+legislator, whose residence among us, had it been continued, could not
+have failed to advance the cause of freedom and justice.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[86] That spies were employed by Sir Peregrine Maitland and his Council,
+and that certain Government officials were encouraged to act in that
+capacity, are facts which will be denied by no one who familiarizes
+himself with the local legislative, official and newspaper literature of
+the time. An apparently well-informed contributor to _Blackwood's
+Magazine_ for September, 1829, in an article headed "Colonial
+Discontent," comments on this retrograde system in the following
+terms:--"A system of espionage assumes that there is something which
+ought to be watched and to be prevented; and as the existence of such a
+system probably did exist in Upper Canada during the administration of
+Sir Peregrine Maitland, it may be said that so far his Government was
+led to act on false principles.... We do not suppose that there was
+anything like an organized system, but only that tales to the personal
+disadvantage of the Anti-Ministerial party were too readily listened to.
+No doubt the members of that party were as credulous in listening to
+tales to the prejudice of the adherents of Government, but then they had
+it not in their power, like them, to inflict punishment. It is
+unnecessary to explain in what manner a system of espionage begets
+heart-burnings. It is to the public what tattle and malicious gossip are
+to private society, with this essential difference, however, that the
+tale of the slanderer is in time forgotten or refuted, whereas the
+report of the spy is received in secret, placed in the confidential
+archives of office, and referred to as a testimonial of character, in
+which such set of testimonials can be applied with effect when the
+occasion arises."
+
+[87] Mr. Mackenzie, in his _Sketches of Canada and the United States_,
+p. 419, denies that Captain Matthews called for these airs, as stated in
+the text. But anyone who carefully examines into the Provincial events
+of those times will not be long in arriving at the conclusion that Mr.
+Mackenzie's unsupported testimony, more especially as to matters in any
+way coming within the scope of politics, is of very little value. The
+evidence as to the Captain's having called for "Yankee Doodle" is
+conclusive. That his doing so constituted a serious offence is another
+matter, as to which there will, at the present day, be very little
+difference of opinion.
+
+[88] _Sketches of Canada_, etc., p. 419.
+
+[89] See Journal of Assembly for 1826-7, Appendix P. See also Journal
+for 1828, p. 122.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE NIAGARA FALLS OUTRAGE.
+
+
+The case of William Forsyth--commonly known in the chronicles of the
+time as the Niagara Falls outrage--differed materially from that of
+Captain Matthews, not only in kind, but in degree. In the latter case
+there was no gross violation of the decencies of life, or of the outward
+forms of law. The mischief was effected by means of spies and secret
+information, and the damage inflicted was incidental rather than direct.
+The Forsyth case, on the contrary, was more in the manner of the type
+riot. It was a violent and utterly unjustifiable exercise of brute
+force. But in one important respect it was worse than the type riot.
+_That_ display of ruffianism had been accomplished without the open
+approbation of the authorities. The Niagara Falls outrage was committed
+not only with the full assent, but by the express command, of the
+Lieutenant-Governor himself. Not even the poor excuse that it was done
+in a moment of anger or irritation could be made for it. It was done
+deliberately, in cold blood, and was as deliberately repeated. It was a
+simple case of Might _versus_ Right.
+
+A few words of explanation are necessary by way of prologue.
+
+In the year 1786, before the setting apart of Upper Canada as a separate
+Province, and just after the commencement of the settlement of the
+Niagara Peninsula by Butler's Rangers, the territory contiguous to the
+west bank of the Niagara River was surveyed and laid out into lots by
+Augustus Jones, a surveyor whose name is familiar to all students of the
+early history of this Province. In pursuance of instructions received
+from the Government, Mr. Jones, in laying out these lots, made a
+reservation of a chain in width--sixty-six feet--along the top of the
+bank.
+
+The reservation was made partly with a view to the military defence of
+the Province, and partly for the purpose of preserving a convenient
+communication.[90] It was expressly specified in the Crown Patents to
+the owners of adjoining lands, and embodied in all subsequent deeds upon
+successive transfers. It may therefore be conceded that the Crown's
+title to the reserved land was indisputable.
+
+In the year 1827, and for some time previously, the principal inn on the
+Canadian side of the river at Niagara Falls was owned and kept by one
+William Forsyth. The man and his establishment were well known to
+travellers, and "Forsyth's" had a high reputation as one of the most
+comfortable houses of public entertainment in the country. During the
+heat of summer, many residents of York paid more or less frequent visits
+to the Falls, not more to enjoy the change of air and the majestic
+scenery, than to partake of "mine host" Forsyth's hospitality. The inn
+was in close proximity to the great cataract, and was known as the
+Niagara Falls Pavilion. It was built on ground that bordered upon and
+ran up to the Government's reservation, which alone intervened between
+it and the top of the bank.
+
+[Sidenote: 1827.]
+
+Mr. Forsyth drove a flourishing business, but, like some of his
+successors at the same spot, his greed grew with his increasing gains,
+and he was not content to grow rich by degrees. He determined to augment
+his income by the erection of a high post and rail fence, placed so as
+to shut out visitors from approaching near to the Falls, and rendering
+it necessary for them to pass through his house before the desired view
+could be obtained. It should be mentioned that Mr. Forsyth, in addition
+to the Pavilion and its immediate grounds, owned the adjoining lands for
+a considerable distance, including all the points from which the great
+spectacle was to be seen to advantage. By the erection of the fence,
+therefore, visitors would be debarred and shut off from all that was
+best worth seeing in the neighbourhood, until they had passed through
+his inn; and it was of course anticipated that most of those so passing
+through would spend more or less money on the premises. There was,
+however, one rather serious objection to the contemplated change. It
+would involve the enclosure of the Government reservation, a proceeding
+which was not likely to be permanently tolerated. Forsyth was probably
+ill advised by his attorney in the matter, for he seems to have been
+really of opinion that the Government's title to the land was at least
+open to question, and he had been permitted to occupy a portion of it
+without remonstrance for about six years. Sometime during the early
+spring of the above-mentioned year--in time to catch the expected influx
+of summer visitors--he carried out his design, and constructed the
+enclosure. His house was thus converted into a thoroughfare, which
+necessarily gave rise to a greatly increased number of visitors, and to
+much additional expenditure within its walls. But the public serenity
+soon began to show signs of disturbance. There was a rival innkeeper
+named Browne, who was not long in discovering that his own losses were
+in proportion to Forsyth's gains. He bestirred himself in the matter,
+and soon succeeded in arousing a good deal of indignation in the minds
+of visitors. No one was allowed to either enter or pass by his door
+without being importuned to sign a petition to the Government, praying
+for a removal of the objectionable fence. Other persons residing in the
+neighbourhood took umbrage at the innovation, and also made appeals to
+the Government on the subject. In this way several numerously-signed
+petitions were obtained and forwarded to headquarters.
+
+Such proceedings as these were in themselves reasonable and proper
+enough. Forsyth had acted in a selfish and unwarrantable manner, and it
+would have been nothing more than he had a right to expect if the
+Government had instituted immediate action against him. It would have
+been an injustice to the public if he had been permitted to enjoy his
+monopoly undisturbed. But neither the trespasser himself nor any of
+those who protested against his conduct was prepared for such
+high-handed measures as were actually resorted to; measures which
+effectually proved the unfitness of Sir Peregrine Maitland for his high
+office; which led to his being cordially hated throughout the length
+and breadth of Upper Canada; and which doubtless had something to do
+with his removal to another sphere of action.
+
+One day about the middle of May, when the enclosure had been erected
+about six weeks, and when the season's regular flow of tourists had
+fairly set in, the landlord of the Pavilion received a call from Captain
+George Phillpotts, of the Royal Engineers, who then held command in the
+District. The latter demanded why Forsyth had presumed to fence-in the
+Government reserve. Forsyth replied, denying that the reserve belonged
+to the Government, and asserting his own title thereto, whereupon he was
+informed that unless the enclosure was removed without delay, he,
+Captain Phillpotts, would himself undertake its removal. Forsyth
+professed to feel strong in his rights, and threatened to prosecute the
+Captain or any one else who might interfere with his property. Here the
+interview ended. Several days afterwards--on the 18th--the landlord was
+summoned to his door by a message that a gentleman there wished to see
+him. The gentleman proved to be Captain Phillpotts, who was accompanied
+by a sergeant and four other soldiers in fatigue jackets, without arms.
+Major Richard Leonard, Sheriff of the Niagara District, and Augustus
+Jones, who had made the original survey of the property forty-one years
+before, were also in attendance. The Sheriff, who had merely accompanied
+the party at the Captain's request, took no part in the subsequent
+proceedings, but contented himself with quietly looking on. Mr. Jones
+had been brought for a specific purpose, and, at the request of Captain
+Phillpotts, he then and there made a hasty re-survey of the reserve, the
+limits of which he indicated by pickets. Upon the completion of this
+task, the Captain demanded that Forsyth should immediately remove the
+enclosing fence, and upon his refusal to do so, the soldiers, under
+orders from their Captain, deliberately cut and threw down the fence,
+exposing the gardens, meadows and about sixty acres of growing crops to
+waste. A blacksmith's shop which had been erected on the reserve was
+demolished, and the building material thrown over the bank. The Captain
+avowed that he was acting under express orders from the
+Lieutenant-Governor, which proved to be the fact.
+
+Having accomplished his purpose, Captain Phillpotts and his soldiers
+departed, accompanied by the Sheriff and the surveyor. They were no
+sooner out of the way than Forsyth and his servants set themselves to
+work to repair damages, and before nightfall the enclosure was rebuilt;
+the premises, with the exception of the blacksmith's shop, being
+restored to the condition in which they had been before the assault upon
+them. But intelligence of the restoration was speedily conveyed to Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, who again despatched the same emissary, and the
+drama of demolition was re-enacted. The landlord of the Pavilion then
+gave up the contest, so far as any attempt at reconstruction was
+concerned, and proceeded to obtain redress by due course of law.
+
+Now, it may perhaps be admitted that Forsyth was rightly served, or at
+any rate that he deserved little or no sympathy. His enclosure of the
+Crown reserve had been without any strict colour of right, and had been
+due to pure greed and selfishness. But his blacksmith's shop had been
+constructed on the land as far back as 1821, when he had purchased the
+adjoining lot from William Dickson, and no one had ever questioned his
+right to maintain it there. He seems to have thought that he had as good
+a claim to the property as anybody. He had been informed, contrary to
+the fact, that the Government reserve extended only to the lower bank,
+and did not cover the land at the top. He might easily have discovered
+that his information was misleading, but he had not chosen to take so
+much trouble, and deserved to suffer the legal consequences of his
+neglect. He could undoubtedly have been dispossessed by means of an
+action of ejectment, with the costs of which he would justly have been
+saddled. But he had a right to expect that, after being allowed to
+remain so many years in undisturbed possession, he should only be
+dispossessed by civil process. It was not a case where an arbitrary
+removal was justifiable, such as may lawfully take place when it becomes
+necessary to abate a nuisance. But it was above all things intolerable
+that the military should have been employed for such a purpose. Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, in sending Captain Phillpotts on the expedition, had
+acted, not in his capacity of Lieutenant-Governor, but in that of
+Major-General Commanding the Forces in Upper Canada. This it was that
+wrought up the public pulse to such a pitch of excitement. This it was
+that created a dangerous antagonism between the people and the soldiery,
+and led to frequent quarrels and bickerings between them. The Committee
+subsequently appointed by the Assembly to investigate the subject echoed
+the popular sentiment when they reported that "a person long in
+possession of land, like the petitioner, ought to have been ejected by
+the law of the land, which is ample, when impartially administered, for
+securing the rights of property, but the interference of the military,
+by such acts of violence, for maintaining supposed or contested rights,
+is justly regarded with jealousy in all free countries, and ought to be
+seriously regarded in a colony where the most unprecedented outrages
+have been perpetrated without prosecution, and even followed by the
+patronage of the local Government upon the wrong-doers."[91] The
+presence of the civil power on the occasion, in the person of the
+Sheriff, had been even an aggravation of the offence, for the Sheriff
+had thus been made to lend his countenance to the proceeding. As for the
+Lieutenant-Governor's action in the matter, he himself was solely to
+blame, for his intentions were not made known to the Executive Council,
+or, so far as appears, to any member of that body. It was simply and
+solely a barefaced and most impudent abuse of authority, the
+responsibility for which rests upon no shoulders but his own.
+
+Forsyth had no success in his appeals to the law. He brought two actions
+of trespass, one of which was against Sheriff Leonard and Captain
+Phillpotts jointly, for removing the fence and blacksmith's shop; and
+the other of which was against Captain Phillpotts alone for removing the
+fence the second time. Sir Peregrine instructed Attorney-General
+Robinson to defend both these suits, and to vindicate the Crown's title
+to the reserved land.[92] To effect the latter object in the most formal
+and decisive manner, the Attorney-General filed an information for
+intrusion against Forsyth, upon which a verdict was rendered in favour
+of the Crown. The plaintiff altogether failed in his action against
+Phillpotts and the Sheriff, and the decision in that case rendered it
+useless for him to proceed with the action against Phillpotts alone.[93]
+
+[Sidenote: 1828.]
+
+While those suits were in progress, Forsyth, finding that public
+opinion, if not in his favour, was at least hostile to the
+Lieutenant-Governor, sent in a petition to the Assembly, setting forth
+the circumstances, and praying for redress. This was during the session
+of 1828. The Assembly entertained the petition, and appointed a
+Committee of Inquiry. The Committee proceeded to inquire accordingly.
+While their investigations were in progress they resolved to examine two
+of the Government officials, who, as there was reason to believe, could
+throw light upon Sir Peregrine's reasons for such arbitrary conduct as
+that of which he had been guilty. The officials whose evidence it was
+thought desirable to obtain were Colonels Coffin and Givins, both of
+whom were heads of departments. The former occupied the position of
+Adjutant-General of Militia for Upper Canada; the latter was
+Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Both of these gentlemen were summoned
+to attend before the Committee at a specified time. In this there was
+nothing strange or unusual. It was a matter of frequent occurrence for
+officials of the Government, high and low, to be summoned before
+Parliamentary committees while the Legislature was in session; and there
+was no question as to the right of such committees to require such
+attendance. In this instance, however, the persons summoned were not
+permitted to obey the behests of the Committee, and in the attendant
+circumstances there were pretty plain indications of crookedness and
+collusion between the Crown officers and Sir Peregrine Maitland. Each of
+the two officers concerned, immediately upon receiving his summons,
+caused the fact to be communicated to the Lieutenant-Governor, and each
+wrote a shuffling letter to the Chairman of the Committee. Later in the
+day the Lieutenant-Governor positively declined to permit the attendance
+of the persons summoned, assigning as a reason that he had not been made
+acquainted with the facts as to which it was desired to interrogate
+them. Now, when one considers all the facts and circumstances of the
+case, one is driven to the conclusion that Colonels Coffin and Givins
+were in possession of certain information which the Executive, or at any
+rate the Lieutenant-Governor, had a strong interest in keeping secret.
+Why else were they forbidden to attend? The reason assigned was
+certainly not a sufficient one. In the first place it was not founded
+upon fact. That the Committee had been appointed for the specific
+purpose of investigating the circumstances connected with the Niagara
+Falls outrage was matter of common notoriety. When the two Government
+officers were summoned to give evidence before that Committee there
+could be no doubt that the intention was to examine them touching their
+knowledge of the matter in hand.[94] Some years before this time, when
+the Compact were all-powerful in the Assembly, as well as in the Upper
+House, a custom had been introduced of notifying the Lieutenant-Governor
+whenever it was proposed to examine any of the Government officials as
+witnesses before a Parliamentary committee. It had been customary to
+specify, in the address of notification, the subject on which it was
+intended to take evidence. This, however, had been a mere matter of
+courtesy and conventionality, upon which nobody had any right to insist;
+and the practice had not been uniform or consistent, various instances
+having occurred where Crown officers had been summoned and examined as
+witnesses without any such notification having been given. Upon such a
+flimsy pretext, however, did Sir Peregrine Maitland base his refusal to
+permit the two witnesses to attend for examination in the Forsyth case.
+
+The Chairman of the Committee duly reported to the Assembly the
+non-attendance of the witnesses, and that body determined that its
+authority should not thus be defied and set at naught with impunity. The
+chief offender, the Lieutenant-Governor--or the Commander of the Forces,
+if he was to be considered as acting in that capacity--was of course
+beyond reach, but proceedings were forthwith instituted against the
+recalcitrant witnesses. Warrants were issued against them by the
+Speaker, in order that they might be brought up before the House, in
+custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, to answer for their contempt. Acting
+under legal advice, they declined to submit to such authority unless
+compelled to do so by force; and they boldly threatened that in case of
+force being resorted to they would prosecute the Speaker. It is to be
+presumed that the warrants would in any case have been acted upon, but
+this impudent threat left the Assembly no alternative. If Government
+officers, paid out of the public purse, were to be allowed to defy that
+branch of the Legislature which alone represented the popular voice--if
+they were to be permitted to treat its mandates with contempt, and to
+threaten its representative with ulterior consequences in the event of
+those mandates being enforced--then, indeed, liberty and equal rights
+were at a low ebb in Upper Canada. The warrants were promptly executed,
+the house in which the two officials had ensconced themselves being
+forcibly entered for the purpose. Being brought to the bar of the House,
+and charged with their contempt, they sought to vindicate themselves by
+pleading the action of the Lieutenant-Governor in refusing to sanction
+their attendance. The House then adopted a resolution under which they
+were handed over to the custody of the Sheriff, and committed to the
+common jail of the Home District. They formally notified the
+Lieutenant-Governor, through his private secretary, of the calamity
+which had come upon them through obedience to his behests, and requested
+that the advice and assistance of the Crown officers--that is to say, of
+the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General--might be vouchsafed to them.
+They however remained in confinement only three days, for the
+Lieutenant-Governor, in accordance with an intimation previously given,
+prorogued the Legislature on the 25th of March--they had been committed
+on the 22nd--and the power of the Assembly to commit did not extend
+beyond the time when it was actually in session.
+
+Colonels Coffin and Givins carried out their threat, and sued the
+Speaker for damages for false imprisonment. The right of the Assembly to
+commit for contempt was however a matter too well established, and was
+confirmed by the Court of King's Bench in another cause then pending. So
+that the Adjutant-General of Militia and the Superintendent of Indian
+Affairs, in addition to their respective bills of costs, had their three
+days' imprisonment as a reward for their fealty to Sir Peregrine
+Maitland, and for their disloyalty to the Canadian people.
+
+Sir Peregrine appears to have felt a little dubious as to how his
+proceedings would be regarded at the Home Office. It was quite certain
+that the Colonial Secretary would hear of the affair, but that
+dignitary's approval was open to question. It would at all events be
+well that the official mind should receive its first impression on the
+subject from Sir Peregrine himself, who accordingly lost no time in
+sending over his own version of the transaction. His despatch, which
+bears internal evidence of having been written or revised by
+Attorney-General Robinson, is dated the 29th of March--the fourth day
+after the prorogation. Under the pretext of asking for advice as to how
+he should act in the future in case of any of the officials being
+summoned before Parliamentary committees without any notification having
+been made to himself, he recounts the story of the Niagara Falls
+outrage. His narrative, it is almost needless to say, is from first to
+last garbled and one-sided. Forsyth is referred to therein as "a person
+notoriously of indifferent character;" and the Assembly and its
+committees are maligned in language highly improper to be employed in a
+confidential communication from the Lieutenant-Governor of a colony to
+his superiors at home.[95] The Colonial Secretary, however, was shrewd
+enough to penetrate the veil of misrepresentation in which the despatch
+was enveloped, and to arrive at a pretty just appreciation of the merits
+of the case. He officially expressed his opinion that there had been
+adequate grounds for inquiry by the Assembly. "I cannot but consider,"
+he wrote, "that Sir Peregrine Maitland would have exercised a sounder
+discretion had he permitted the officers to appear before the Assembly;
+and I regret that he did not accomplish the object he had in view in
+preventing Forsyth's encroachments by means of the civil power, which is
+said to have been at hand, rather than by calling in military aid." This
+despatch, however, was written, not to Sir Peregrine Maitland himself,
+but to his successor, Sir John Colborne. The Forsyth case, coming, as
+it did, in the wake of other ill-advised proceedings on the part of Sir
+Peregrine, determined the Home Government to withdraw him from Upper
+Canada, where it was quite evident that his usefulness--if he had ever
+had any--was gone. He was transferred to Nova Scotia, whither it is not
+necessary that this narrative should follow him.
+
+With respect to Forsyth, it may he added that, being unable to obtain
+any recompense for the Phillpotts invasion, and being harassed by
+protracted litigation, he sold his property at Niagara Falls at a price
+considerably below its value, and removed from the spot. It cannot be
+said that he deserved much sympathy, for he had brought his losses on
+himself by his own selfishness. He took advantage of the situation to
+pose in the character of a martyr to Executive tyranny, and he succeeded
+in deceiving many of his contemporaries into the belief that he was a
+much injured man. The historical interest, however, centres not in him,
+but in the consequences arising out of the employment of soldiers to do
+the Sheriff's work in a time of profound peace, and without any
+initiatory civil process having been issued. The popular excitement
+consequent on the outrage encouraged Forsyth to petition the Assembly.
+The petition led to the appointment of the Committee of Inquiry, which
+in its turn led to the summoning of witnesses and the conflict between
+the Assembly and the Lieutenant-Governor. The conflict led to the
+latter's removal, and, from that point of view, is not to be regarded in
+the light of an unmixed evil.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[90] See the letter from Chief Justice Robinson to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Rowan, Secretary, etc., etc., dated at York, 31st December, 1832, and
+appended to the Report of the Committee of the House of Assembly on the
+Petition of William Forsyth, dated April 1st, 1835. In one part of this
+letter the Chief Justice says that the laying out of the lots took place
+"some time between the years 1785 and 1790, and while General Haldimand
+administered the Government of Canada." General Haldimand did not
+administer the Government of Canada during any part of the time thus
+specified--a fact of which Chief Justice Robinson ought to have been
+aware. In a subsequent part of the same letter he properly gives the
+date as 1786.
+
+[91] See the report, p. iv., appended to the _Seventh Report of the
+Grievance Committee_.
+
+[92] The defence of these two suits would seem to have been the means of
+considerably augmenting the Attorney-General's already ample income.
+From certain accounts sent down to the Assembly it appears that a sum of
+_£127 6s. 6-3/4d._ sterling were paid to him during the year 1834 for
+"expenses incurred by him in defending two suits with costs in reference
+to the military reserve near the Falls of Niagara."
+
+[93] There was a very general belief throughout the Niagara District at
+the time that Major Leonard, who was an obedient servant to the
+Executive, had manipulated the lists from which the jurors in those
+cases were selected. The truth or falsity of the belief cannot now be
+pronounced upon, the circumstances upon which it was founded being
+buried in oblivion.
+
+[94] "He [Sir Peregrine Maitland] must have inferred that the Committee
+proposed to examine these officers respecting the employment of a
+military force for the ejecting of Forsyth from the land."--See Despatch
+from the Colonial Secretary, Sir George Murray, to Major-General Sir
+John Colborne, dated 20th October, 1828, appended to the Report on
+Forsyth's petition.
+
+[95] See the despatch, appended to the Report on the Forsyth Case, at
+end of Grievance Committee's Report. The Colonial Secretary's despatch
+quoted in the text will be found appended to the same Report.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE "AMOVAL" OF MR. JUSTICE WILLIS.
+
+
+The Forsyth embroilment extended over a long period, and from time to
+time during several years it continued, at longer or shorter intervals,
+to thrust itself upon public attention. Meanwhile it was not the only
+instance of abuse of power on the part of the Executive to which the
+people of Upper Canada were constrained to submit. Several other notable
+contemporaneous examples shared with it in the unenviable work of
+widening the breach between the Government and the people, and in
+destroying popular confidence in the impartial administration of
+justice. It is a rather singular fact that of all the many high-handed
+measures resorted to during the existence of the Ninth Parliament, the
+one which aroused the greatest indignation was perhaps the least
+blameworthy of them all. It has been the fashion with writers who have
+dealt with this period of our history to represent the amoval of Justice
+Willis as being upon the whole the most glaring iniquity of the time.
+This view is not borne out by the facts. In the Willis affair Sir
+Peregrine Maitland had recourse to the espionage system, and certainly
+went to the utmost verge of his authority, but he cannot be said to have
+run violently in the teeth of precedent and good sense, as was done, for
+instance, in the Forsyth case. Nor can it be said that he acted with
+despotic rashness or precipitation. His decade of misrule in Upper
+Canada was characterized by many cruel, tyrannical and shameful deeds:
+deeds which stare out from the pages of the past with lurid
+distinctness. He has enough to answer for at the bar of history; and it
+is quite unnecessary to load the formidable indictment against him with
+surplusage or dubious matter. A careful and dispassionate examination of
+all the circumstances in the Willis case must convince the inquirer that
+the faults were not all on one side, and that the Judge himself is
+bound to at least share with Sir Peregrine the responsibility for the
+bitterness arising out of the "amoval."
+
+John Walpole Willis, whose name was destined to win considerable
+celebrity in the judicial annals of this Province; was a lawyer of good
+standing at the English Chancery bar. He came of a respectable county
+family, but had no hereditary expectations, and from his earliest youth
+had applied himself to study with a zeal begotten of the conviction that
+he would be compelled to depend upon his own exertions for a livelihood.
+He devoted himself with assiduity to studying the literature pertaining
+to the equity branch of the law. By the time he reached manhood he had
+acquired considerable erudition, and it was predicted of him that he
+would make a mark in his profession. He did his utmost to justify the
+prediction, for he had no sooner been called to the bar than he came
+before the world as an author. His first publication was a work bearing
+upon the law of Evidence. In 1820 he issued a work on Equity Pleading;
+and in 1827 appeared his treatise "On the Duties and responsibilities of
+Trustees." These works obtained a fair share of recognition, and
+doubtless tended to promote his professional success. He enjoyed the
+reputation of being an industrious and painstaking lawyer, and a
+brilliant and accomplished member of society.
+
+In 1823, when he had reached the age of thirty-one years, he was applied
+to for professional advice by the Earl of Strathmore. This event was
+destined to have important consequences. The advice led to important
+professional employment extending over several months, during which the
+clever lawyer was a frequent guest in the Earl's household, and on terms
+of intimate social intercourse with the family. In an unhappy hour for
+his future peace of mind he formed an attachment to Lady Mary Isabella
+Bowes Lyon Willis, one of his lordship's daughters. His attachment was
+reciprocated by the young lady, who was possessed of great personal
+attractions, and who might doubtless have looked forward to a more
+ambitious match; but her noble father had little to offer in the shape
+of dowry, and did not oppose her wishes. The marriage took place at
+Marylebone Church, in August, 1824. The bridegroom was then thirty-two
+years of age, and the bride had just completed her twenty-second year.
+This disparity was not sufficient to excite any remark, for Lady Mary
+was mature for her age, and the bridegroom had scarcely taken leave of
+his youth. For about three years after the marriage the pair resided
+with Mr. Willis's mother, at Hendon, a pleasant suburb lying to the
+north-west of London; he meanwhile continuing the practice of his
+profession in town. All these circumstances materially contributed to
+the shaping of the young barrister's future career.
+
+[Sidenote: 1827.]
+
+Mr. Willis enjoyed the social advantages which his union with a
+nobleman's daughter was certain to confer. These advantages were fully
+appreciated, but they involved certain inevitable consequences, the
+principal of which was a material increase in the domestic expenditure.
+As neither Lady Mary nor her husband was possessed of much property, and
+as the latter's income was almost entirely derived from his profession,
+he resolved to try for some public appointment whereby his pecuniary
+condition might be improved. Early in 1827 the project of establishing a
+Court of Equity in Upper Canada was for a short time under some sort of
+consideration at the Colonial Office. Through the influence of his
+father-in-law, Mr. Willis was mentioned as a most suitable man to
+undertake that important duty. His heart responded to the idea. He felt
+that he was well fitted for such a responsibility, and that a congenial
+sphere of usefulness would thus be presented to him. His vanity also
+seems to have been flattered by the prospect of being raised to the
+bench--even the colonial bench--at so early an age. Visions of social
+and intellectual supremacy among the magnates of Upper Canada doubtless
+presented themselves in alluring shapes before his mind. He had no
+difficulty in obtaining a promise that in the event of the contemplated
+appointment being made it should be offered to him. The project,
+however, was still in embryo, and--as the event proved--was not fully
+carried out until about ten years later. It was meanwhile desirable that
+a puisne judge of the Court of King's Bench for Upper Canada should be
+appointed without delay, and that position was offered to Mr. Willis. It
+was at the same time represented to him that his acceptance would in no
+wise interfere with the scheme of the establishment of a Court of
+Chancery, and that he would be none the less fitted, to carry out such a
+scheme from his having resided for some time in the Province, and from
+his having become to some extent familiar with local laws and
+institutions. After mature reflection he accepted the offer, and set
+out for Canada towards the end of the summer, accompanied by his wife,
+mother, sister and infant son.
+
+His marriage had not proved in all respects a felicitous one. Lady Mary
+was imbued with patrician ideas, and bore herself towards her husband's
+family with considerable hauteur. She was very particular in exacting
+certain observances in which she considered herself entitled. There were
+doubtless faults on both sides. Mrs. and Miss Willis took umbrage at the
+patronizing airs of Lady Mary, who, in her turn, complained that she was
+made a cipher in her own house. There were also petty jealousies on the
+part of Lady Mary, which led to disputes between herself and her
+husband. Altogether the domestic establishment at Hendon was not a
+harmonious one, but the means of the family were insufficient to admit
+of the keeping up of two separate households. The true remedy for such a
+state of things lay in the exercise of a spirit of mutual
+forbearance--an exercise to which Lady Mary, at least, seems to have
+been little accustomed. Under such ominous auspices was the Willis
+household transferred from Hendon to Upper Canada.
+
+The Willises reached the Upper Province on the 17th of September, and on
+the following day the new judge proceeded to Stamford Cottage, the
+summer residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, in the Niagara District.
+Having presented the royal warrant for his appointment, together with
+certain other documents, he was cordially received by Sir Peregrine. He
+dined and spent the evening at the Cottage. In the course of
+conversation he referred to the project of establishing a Court of
+Equity--which by this time was no secret--and was surprised to find that
+the theme was distasteful to his host, who, in a tone not to be
+misunderstood, remarked: "Sir, you have not got your Court of Equity
+yet." "The words," wrote Mr. Willis,[96] "made some impression at the
+time, and subsequent events tended to throw further light upon their
+meaning."
+
+Upon his arrival at York, on the 20th, Mr. Willis was welcomed with
+apparent cordiality by the judiciary, the bar, and society generally.
+The leaders of local fashion vied with each other in their attentions
+to the ladies of the family, more especially to Lady Mary, who was
+almost overwhelmed with civilities. The new judge was sworn in on the
+11th of October. He entered with avidity upon the duties of his office,
+and also made himself conspicuous in society, where he was from the
+first regarded in the light of a decided acquisition. He entered with
+keen zest into plans for party-giving and entertaining, and evidently
+derived heartfelt pleasure from receiving and dispensing courteous
+hospitalities. He attended several public meetings which had been called
+for charitable and other purposes, at all of which he spoke with what
+was considered a somewhat perfervid eloquence. In a word, he not only
+took the rank to which he was entitled by virtue of his office, but
+jumped at once into the position of a leader of society and social
+movements. His name was on everybody's lips. Persons to the manner born,
+who had been accustomed to fill the foremost places in the public eye,
+found themselves, for the time, almost superseded and ignored. Judge
+Willis duly appreciated the homage which was rendered to him, and
+exhibited himself to society in his brightest and most amiable colours.
+To a few great personages, however, it seemed as if the new-comer
+carried himself with wonderful _sang-froid_, and contemplated himself
+and his position with too much complacency. To them it appeared as if he
+regarded all the eager admiration which was lavished upon him as being
+nothing more than his transcendent qualifications entitled him to look
+for at the hands of the little world of York. He seemed, they thought,
+to accept it all as his just due. And the belief was not unreasonable on
+their part, for the Judge seems to have been in a measure carried off
+his feet by the attentions paid to him on every hand. His position was
+one calling for the exercise of calm judgment and discretion. It was not
+surprising that leading members of the bench and bar, who had long
+served the Government with zeal and acceptance, should entertain some
+jealousy at the appointment of an outsider to a place of high honour and
+emolument. Attorney-General Robinson, for instance, had filled his
+responsible office for many years, and the Crown had certainly no reason
+to complain that he had favoured liberty at the expense of prerogative.
+Hagerman and Boulton, too, had for years lent themselves to the purposes
+of the Executive. It was not singular that these persons should feel as
+though their own claims to preferment had been passed over in favour of
+Judge Willis, a stranger to Canada, her institutions and her polity. Nor
+was it wonderful that their deportment towards the stranger should, in
+spite of themselves, be influenced by the feeling. Judge Willie was not
+long in discovering that some sentiment of this sort was in the air, but
+he does not appear to have made sufficient allowance for it, and
+manifested a disposition to carry things with a high hand. He
+entertained a poor opinion of the Attorney-General's professional
+attainments, and did not sufficiently conceal this opinion. He was at
+first disposed to think highly of Judge Sherwood's abilities, but erelong
+came to the conclusion that he had greatly overestimated them,[97] and
+plainly showed, by his conduct, that he attached little weight to his
+brother judge's decisions. This course was the very opposite to what
+would have been adopted by a discreet and really able man. Such a man
+would have made due allowance for jealousies which, under the
+circumstances, were almost inevitable. Such a man would have adopted a
+policy of friendly conciliation. Such a man would have refrained from
+making himself specially conspicuous, at least until he had been some
+time settled in his new career, and had become accustomed to the novel
+atmosphere. Judge Willis's conduct was the very reverse of all this. In
+his intercourse with his brother judges--one of whom, it must be
+remembered, was Chief Justice--he adopted a tone of superiority, and
+even, to some extent, of dictation. He was of course not to be blamed
+for dissenting from their opinions--which he very frequently
+did--provided that he was honest in his dissent; but he acted very
+cavalierly on such occasions, and in pronouncing his own judgments
+seldom thought it necessary to make any reference to the decisions of
+his brethren on the bench. It was impossible for the latter to ignore
+the fact that he despised, or affected to despise their legal
+attainments; and their recognition of this necessarily gave rise to
+irritation and anger on their part. They felt his conduct to be all the
+more disrespectful to them in consequence of his admitted want of
+familiarity with Common Law, his own reading and practice having been
+almost exclusively confined to the Equity branch of the profession.
+
+In the very first judgment ever rendered by him, he gave utterance to
+sentiments which, to put the matter mildly, were very much out of place.
+The case was one brought by George Rolph, of Dundas, against T. G.
+Simons and others, for a gross outrage which had been perpetrated on the
+plaintiff, who was a brother of the Attorney-General's great political
+rival. The outrage had arisen out of private complications, and no
+political question arose in the course of the trial. In concluding his
+judgment Mr. Willis took occasion to remark that he had formed his
+opinion of the case on its intrinsic merits, unbiased by any political
+considerations. He added that he was totally devoid of party feelings,
+and that it would ever be his most earnest desire to render to every one
+impartial justice. It goes without saying that these are very proper
+sentiments on the part of an occupant of the judicial bench. Such
+principles were especially required in Upper Canada, where there had
+long been much judicial partiality and frequent miscarriages of justice
+by reason of political differences. But a judge should at least assume
+that his integrity is taken for granted, and should deem it beneath his
+dignity to attempt any vindication of his rectitude while an occupant of
+the bench. Moreover, there were no circumstances to call forth such
+expressions as were used by Judge Willis. No hint of any partiality had
+ever been heard against him. There had been no opportunity for any
+display of partiality by him, for he then took his seat on the bench for
+the first time. Saith the proverb: "He who makes unnecessary excuses
+accuses himself." In this case the Judge certainly indulged in wholly
+unnecessary self-vindication. And there were reasons why any such
+vindication by him was especially indelicate. The Radical newspapers had
+heralded his arrival as the dawn of a new era, when judicial corruption
+would cease in the land. It is pretty evident that he had been flattered
+by the eulogy, and that he now went out of his way to administer a
+covert reproof to his colleagues on the bench. His remarks were
+undoubtedly taken in that sense, and tacitly resented by them. It may
+have been that they were all the more ready to take the remarks as
+applying to themselves from their consciousness of past shortcomings;
+but it was not from a brother on the bench--one, too, who had been only
+a few weeks in the country--that they should have been subjected to
+reproof.
+
+To the feelings of his colleagues, however, Mr. Willis paid little
+consideration. His heart was specially set upon the establishment of a
+court of equitable jurisdiction, and to this end he bent much of his
+energy. He forced the matter upon the attention of the Attorney-General,
+who, he found, differed from him in respect of certain important
+details. He also prepared and submitted a scheme to the
+Lieutenant-Governor. He found great difficulty in inducing any member of
+the Government to discuss the matter with him. He was informed that an
+Act of the Provincial Legislature was considered necessary to the
+creation of such a court as the one contemplated by him. In this opinion
+he did not coincide, but by way of expediting matters he bestirred
+himself with a view to bringing about the necessary legislation. After a
+Bill, originally prepared by his own hand, had been introduced into the
+Assembly, he attended to hear the debates, and fraternized with Rolph,
+Bidwell, and other members of the Opposition--a circumstance which was
+afterwards very strongly urged against him at the Colonial Office. The
+Bill did not run smoothly, and was denuded of certain clauses which he
+deemed to be essential to the successful carrying out of the scheme. He
+vainly endeavoured to bring the Attorney-General round to his view of
+the matter. Mr. Robinson had too long been supreme in all legal affairs
+to submit to any dictation, more especially from one towards whom he
+bore no good will. Judge Willis found himself opposed and thwarted at
+every turn; and he erelong discovered that the Government were averse to
+the scheme, although the aversion was not directly avowed. He then
+recalled the Lieutenant-Governor's remark on the subject made to him
+some months before at Stamford Cottage. Certain dubious expressions
+which had from time to time fallen from the lips of the
+Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, the Judges, and other prominent
+officials also recurred to his mind. As for Attorney-General Robinson,
+"I at length discovered," wrote Judge Willis, "that any proposition that
+did not originate with himself was not generally attended with his
+approbation."[98]
+
+A despatch from the Colonial Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor was
+promulgated about this time, from which it appeared that the project of
+establishing a Court of equitable jurisdiction was in abeyance, or had,
+for the time, been abandoned. Judge Willis was greatly disappointed at
+this abandonment, which, in conversation, he openly ascribed to the
+influence of Sir James Scarlett, the English Attorney-General, with whom
+he had once had some unpleasantness while on circuit. But it also became
+known about the same time that Chief Justice Campbell was about to
+retire from the bench, and that his office would accordingly soon be
+vacant. Judge Willis lost no time in making application for the post.
+Neither did Attorney-General Robinson, whose application was backed by
+the entire influence of the Upper Canadian Executive. Here was a fresh
+ground of rivalry, whereby the unpleasant relations between these two
+officials were intensified. It soon became impossible for the new Judge
+and the Attorney General to come into contact without feelings and
+expressions indicative of personal hostility. The hollow friendship
+which had at first seemed to subsist between them was cast to the winds,
+and all social intercourse between them was at an end. Any proposition
+emanating from Judge Willis was systematically opposed by the
+Attorney-General. The Judge in his turn availed himself of several
+opportunities of showing how little weight he attached to the
+Attorney-General's opinions. Worse still, he brought upon himself the
+lasting indignation of the Lieutenant-Governor. It would perhaps be more
+correct to say that his wife brought this calamity upon him, for the
+origin of the trouble was a hot dispute between Lady Mary Willis and
+Lady Sarah Maitland on a question of rank and precedence. In this
+quarrel it is quite clear that Lady Mary was in the wrong, but the whole
+affair was utterly contemptible on both sides. The ladies dragged their
+respective liege-lords into the dispute, and each of the latter espoused
+the side of his helpmeet. Sir Peregrine necessarily got the better of
+his adversary, whom he never forgave. It is impossible to say how far
+this unseemly women's wrangle contributed to the humiliation which Judge
+Willis was subsequently compelled to endure, but it is pretty clear that
+from that time forward Sir Peregrine was bent upon getting his adversary
+removed from his position. Unhappily the Judge, by his want of
+discretion, made this resolution comparatively easy of accomplishment.
+He constituted himself a sort of general censor of judicial and official
+shortcomings, and from his seat on the bench gave utterance to petulant
+and unbecoming strictures on various transactions with which he had no
+need to concern himself.
+
+[Sidenote: 1828.]
+
+At the York Assizes held in April, 1828, Judge Willis came into such
+serious public collision with the Attorney-General that the affair was
+bruited abroad, and made considerable noise throughout the Province. On
+Thursday, the 10th of the month, Francis Collins, editor of the
+_Freeman_, was brought up on certain indictments for libel preferred
+against him by Attorney-General Robinson, under circumstances which will
+be detailed in a subsequent chapter. The bench was occupied by Mr.
+Justice Sherwood. The Clerk was just about to proceed to arraign the
+accused, when a postponement was asked for on the latter's behalf. The
+application was granted, and there the matter ended for the day. Next
+morning--Friday, the 11th--the bench was occupied by Justice Willis, who
+then for the first time in his life presided at an Assize. He had no
+sooner taken his seat than Collins rose at the bar. "May it please your
+Lordship," said he, "I have a motion or two to make in Court, if I, not
+being a lawyer, am in order in so doing."
+
+"Certainly," replied the Judge; "step forward, that the Court may hear
+you."
+
+Collins then stepped forward, and addressed the Court in a speech which
+had evidently been prepared for the occasion.[99] "My Lord," said he, "I
+am the humble conductor of a public press in this town. I come forward
+to accuse His Majesty's Attorney-General of vindictiveness and foul
+partiality in the discharge of his duty as prosecuting officer for the
+Crown. He has sent his nephews and apprentices as spies into my office
+in order to hunt up imaginary offences. He has preferred bills of
+indictment against me on supposition of libel, and I have been dragged
+from my business by a common constable, and obliged to give bail in this
+Court, while he, the Attorney-General, has allowed the most infamous
+crimes to pass in review before him, without taking any notice whatever
+of them." And so on, with much more to the same purport.
+
+The speaker was interrupted by the Attorney-General, who had been
+conferring with a member of the bar in an adjoining room, but who had
+been specially summoned into Court by his clerk, Henry Sherwood, who had
+informed him that Collins was making a long harangue to the Judge.
+Observing that the Judge showed no disposition to put a stop to the
+proceedings, Mr. Robinson requested to be informed what was the
+defendant's object in addressing the Court, and whether he had made any
+motion. "If Mr. Collins is allowed to proceed," replied Judge Willis, "I
+dare say his object will appear." Collins accordingly proceeded:--
+
+"My Lord, while I have been dragged into this Court, on the mere
+suspicion of libel, by His Majesty's Attorney-General, I hold in my hand
+the printed confession of His Majesty's Solicitor-General, Henry John
+Boulton Esquire, of a crime that the law of England calls murder,
+committed ten or eleven years ago.[100] Yet no indictment has been
+brought against him, and this confession is attested by James Fitz
+Gibbon Esquire, a magistrate of this District, and by the Sheriff of
+this Court. I hold also in my hand the printed history of an outrage of
+the grossest character, where a number of young official gentlemen in
+this town assembled together and committed a noonday burglary, by
+breaking into the private house of William Lyon Mackenzie, and
+destroying his property. This atrocious outrage, please your Lordship,
+was proved on the floor of this Court, in the presence of His Majesty's
+Attorney-General. The perpetrators were identified and sworn to, yet no
+indictment has ever been brought against them, while the
+Attorney-General is busying himself in sending spies and informers into
+my printing office to bring me up for imaginary offences."
+
+The Attorney-General could hardly be expected to sit quietly under such
+accusations as these, made in open Court, and listened to by the bench
+without any expression of disapprobation. He rose in some heat, and
+remarked that he hoped the Court would not allow the public business to
+be thus interrupted. "The defendant," said he, "is not upon his trial,
+nor has he ever been arraigned. He seems merely to be indulging himself
+in an attack upon me as Attorney-General--an attack which could not have
+any bearing upon his own case, even if it were now before a jury; but
+which at present is nothing but a most improper interruption of the
+business of the Court, by an harangue intended to prejudice the public
+mind before he shall be put upon his trial. As to the matters of which
+he has spoken, I am not to be called to account by him, or by any other
+defendant, for the discharge of my official duties with respect to other
+parties not now before the Court. I am at all times ready to account for
+my proceedings as Attorney-General to the Government for whom I act, and
+to whom I am responsible; but I trust that the Court will not suffer a
+person whom I merely know as defendant upon bills for libels of the most
+disgraceful kind, and whose arraignment upon these charges has been
+postponed, as an indulgence, at his own request--I trust that such a
+person will not be allowed to address the Court in this irregular
+manner, for the mere object of calumniating me, whose duty it is to
+conduct the prosecutions against him."
+
+A brief silence followed these words, after which Collins resumed, and
+was allowed to proceed without further interruption.
+
+"The object of my present motion, then, my Lord, is to compel the
+Attorney-General to do that duty which he has so long neglected when his
+own friends were concerned; and as I think his present proceedings
+against me are both partial and unjust, I shall press the criminal
+prosecution of his friends, Henry John Boulton Esquire, for murder, and
+Samuel P. Jarvis and others for riot. In the latter case, please your
+Lordship, the rioters were sued in a civil action, and damages to a
+considerable amount recovered from them; yet I feel it my duty to press
+the criminal prosecution, because James Fitz Gibbon Esquire, a
+magistrate of this District, begged the amount of the fine from door to
+door in this town, and the rioters have so far gone wholly unpunished.
+All I ask, please your Lordship, is justice and impartiality, and from
+your Lordship's character I doubt not I shall receive them at your
+hands."
+
+After a moment's consideration, during which silence reigned supreme in
+the Court-room, Judge Willis remarked:--"If the Attorney-General has
+acted as you say, he has very much neglected his duty. Go you before the
+Grand Jury, and if you meet with any obstruction or difficulty I will
+see that the Attorney-General affords you every facility."
+
+This was, beyond doubt, very unbecoming language to be used by a Judge
+under such circumstances. It must be understood that Judge Willis had
+not properly before him any facts upon which to base his opinion as to
+the Attorney-General's having neglected his duty. That that official had
+much to answer for; that his practice had been one-sided and
+inconsistent; that much of his life had been spent in endeavouring to
+smother public opinion and to maintain the supremacy of a selfish and
+corrupt caste--this must be conceded at the bar of history. But no such
+allegations were before Judge Willis in an official form, and he had no
+right to assume anything against the Attorney-General in the absence of
+the most irrefragable evidence. Instead of evidence, he had merely heard
+the _ex parte_ statements of an alleged libeller. This was the legal
+aspect of the matter, and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that
+the Judge permitted himself to be influenced, by his personal dislike to
+Attorney-General Robinson.
+
+The Attorney-General sat for a moment as if thunderstruck. He had so
+long been accustomed to having his own way in Courts of Justice, and to
+seeing his opinions deferred to by the bench, that he could scarcely
+credit what was passing before his eyes. That a Judge should dare to
+censure him in this irregular way, before the bar and the public, was
+almost beyond belief. A contemporary account says that he turned to "a
+rich cream colour."[101] He was at all events labouring under suppressed
+rage as he deliberately arose to address the Court. He denied that he
+had neglected his duty in not preferring indictments against persons in
+cases where no formal complaint had been laid, and he utterly repudiated
+the idea that his office imposed upon him the _role_ of a thief-catcher.
+"It is not my business," said he, "to play the part of a detective, or
+to hunt about the country for evidence in support of voluntary
+prosecutions. I have now discharged the duties of a Crown officer for
+nearly thirteen years, and this is the first time that a failure in my
+duty has been imputed to me. I have always conceived it to be my duty to
+take official cognizance of offences against the State. As to other
+cases, I have been accustomed to proceed only upon informations and
+complaints placed in my hands by justices of the peace, and upon
+presentments of Grand Juries. In cases of injuries to individuals and
+their properties, such as assaults and riots, where a double remedy is
+afforded by action and indictment, I have not been accustomed to set the
+law in operation on my own motion."
+
+"That," interrupted Judge Willis, "merely proves that your practice has
+been uniformly wrong, and I take leave to remark that you have neglected
+your duty. Why are you placed here, as prosecuting officer? To prevent
+the violation of the public peace, or, when it has been violated, to
+punish the offenders, whoever they may be, or whatever may be your
+private feelings with respect to them. The moment a violation of the
+public peace was proved before you, as in the case mentioned by Mr.
+Collins, it was your duty to proceed against the offenders. Do you not
+consider that the Solicitor-General and yourself have the exclusive
+right to conduct all criminal prosecutions; or do you admit them to be
+open to the bar in general, as in England?"
+
+The Attorney-General's feelings were by this time worked up to a
+tremendous pitch of excitement. To think that a Judge--a junior Judge,
+who had been only a few months in the country--should presume to lecture
+him in this manner, and to instruct him in his duties as though he were
+a petty juryman! "My Lord," he burst forth, in a tone of hot anger, "I
+know my duty as well as any Judge on the bench. I have always acted in
+the way I have indicated, in which respect I have followed the practice
+of all my predecessors in this Province; and I shall continue to act in
+the same manner as long as I am prosecuting officer for the Crown."
+
+"Then, Sir," retorted Judge Willis, "if you know your duty you have
+wilfully neglected it; and as you say you will continue to act as you
+have done hitherto, I shall feel it to be my duty--holding, as I do,
+His Majesty's commission on this bench--to make a representation of
+your conduct to His Majesty's Government."
+
+This far from edifying scene was without precedent in the annals of
+Upper Canadian courts of justice, and was for some days the talk of the
+town, more especially among the members of the legal profession. The bar
+generally sided with the Attorney-General, and were loud in their
+aspersions upon Judge Willis. Some of the leading members, however,
+among whom were Rolph, Bidwell and the two Baldwins, took a different
+view, so far, at least, as the legal aspect of the dispute was
+concerned. As for public opinion generally, it was largely in favour of
+Judge Willis. On Monday, the 14th, before the public pulse had had time
+to cool, there was a scarcely less notable interchange of asperities
+between the same personages. The Attorney-General, in a criminal case in
+which he was officially concerned, took occasion to reiterate, in
+effect, the views to which he had given expression on the previous
+Thursday as to the duties of a Crown prosecutor. When he had finished
+his remarks Judge Willis expressed himself to the same effect as before.
+"The practice in this country," said the Judge, "as stated by the
+Attorney-General, does not agree with my notions as to the duty of that
+officer, and I have laid a statement of the question before His
+Majesty's Government here for the purpose of having it transmitted to
+England, where it will be decided how far the Attorney-General is right
+in expressing his sentiments as he has done." Mr. Robinson hereupon
+remarked that he was Attorney-General to His Majesty, and not to Judge
+Willis, and that he would act as he believed to be right, even though he
+should differ in opinion from his Lordship.
+
+JUSTICE WILLIS.--Mr. Attorney-General, I am one of His Majesty's Judges
+in this Province. As such, it is my place to state to the Crown officers
+what their duties are, and it is for them to perform those duties
+according to direction. If the interests of the Crown had not been
+concerned I would not have permitted any discussion on the question. But
+I am sure His Majesty's Government will protect me from insult in the
+exercise of my judicial functions, and in stating to any public officer
+what I conceive to be his duties.
+
+ATTORNEY-GENERAL ROBINSON.--And will also protect His Majesty's officers
+in the execution of their duty.
+
+JUSTICE WILLIS.--Mr. Attorney-General, I beg that you will not reply to
+the bench in that manner.
+
+The unseemliness of thus discussing, in open Court, how far the
+Attorney-General had proved to be an effective public servant, must be
+apparent to everybody. And it must be admitted that the discussion was
+provoked by Justice Willis, who had made something very like an attack
+upon the Attorney-General--an attack based upon the unsworn statements
+of an indicted libeller. He had moreover permitted Collins to go a most
+unwarrantable length in his onslaught upon the Crown prosecutor, more
+especially as no affidavits had been produced in support of the motion.
+A layman who comes before the Courts _inops consilii_ is allowed more
+latitude in the conduct of his case than is generally conceded to a
+counsel whose professional business it is to plead at the bar; but the
+latitude permitted in the case under consideration was beyond all
+legitimate bounds. The Judge's dislike to the Attorney-General seems to
+have predisposed him to believe that all Collins's allegations were
+true. In reality they were exaggerated presentations of notorious facts.
+That they were largely founded upon facts Judge Willis probably knew
+from common hearsay. But while sitting on the bench he had nothing to do
+with common hearsay. _A fortiori_, he was not justified, upon the mere
+assumption of a hypothetical case,[102] in admonishing the
+Attorney-General in the presence of his accuser, and in humiliating him
+in the presence of the bar of which he was the rightful head. An English
+judge would be considered as departing widely beyond the sphere of his
+duty if he were thus openly to arraign the conduct of the
+Attorney-General, especially in a matter clearly lying, as in the case
+under consideration, within that officer's discretion. English judges,
+on the contrary, are much more likely to interpose on behalf of the
+officers of the Crown, and to prevent their acts and motives from being
+called in question in open Court by persons against whom proceedings
+have been instituted by them. Judge Willis seems to have been wrong in
+his law, wrong in his etiquette, wrong in his temper, and wrong in his
+construction of judicial amenities.
+
+Henceforth the Judge's "amoval" was only a matter of time, for the
+entire influence of the Executive, direct and indirect, was arrayed
+against him. From the Lieutenant-Governor down to the most insignificant
+clerk in the departments there arose a howl of indignation against the
+man who had dared to set up his wife in opposition to Lady Sarah
+Maitland; who had dissented from the judgments of Chief Justice Campbell
+and Mr. Sherwood, and sneered at their legal acumen; who consorted with
+the leading members of the Opposition; who had even gone the
+inconceivable length of berating Attorney-General Robinson for
+neglecting his duty. Such a man was not to be tolerated. He must surely
+be a Radical, who had got himself sent over to this colony in order that
+he might stir up dissatisfaction among the people. To go over all the
+interminable squabbles which took place between Judge Willis, on the one
+hand, and the various judicial and official dignitaries on the other,
+would be alike wearisome and profitless. Judge Willis availed himself of
+every opportunity which presented itself for officially and publicly
+animadverting upon the conduct of those who were opposed to him. He
+added to his enormities by announcing, through the newspapers, that he
+was preparing for publication a work on Upper Canadian jurisprudence,
+and it appeared that the title-page was to bear the deprecatory motto
+_Meliora sperans_.[103] _Meliora sperans_, indeed! What manner of
+personage was this outsider, who arrogated to himself the responsibility
+of ameliorating the rigours of Upper Canadian laws?[104] It was not long
+before an opposition announcement appeared, being an exact counterpart
+of the other, except that the motto was _Deteriora timens_. The
+authorship of the latter, whether rightly or wrongly, was very generally
+attributed to Attorney-General Robinson. Judge Willis's announcement
+gave great offence to the official guardians of the law, from the
+highest to the lowest. The motto, which in reality had been adopted by
+him prior to his coming to Canada, was believed to have been specially
+assumed for the occasion, and was regarded as a covert sneer at existing
+institutions in the Province. As a consequence, it was taken as
+additional evidence of disrespect. Owing to the Judge's "amoval" the
+projected treatise was never issued, though several chapters of it had
+actually been written. A small portion of it was incorporated in a work
+published by the author in England twenty-two years afterwards.[105]
+
+In an elaborately-worded despatch to the Colonial Secretary, dated the
+6th of June, 1828, Sir Peregrine Maitland called the attention of that
+official to Judge Willis's announcement and the accompanying motto,
+which he declared to be, in his opinion, neither discreet nor delicate,
+as emanating from a Judge upon the bench, who had been but a few months
+in the Province. The laws of Upper Canada, in Sir Peregrine's
+estimation, were highly satisfactory, and needed nothing so much as to
+be let alone. "I have been ten years in this government," he wrote, "and
+as I have never received any representation against the laws, or the
+manner in which they have been administered, I must conclude that the
+people are content with both." Content with laws which prescribed
+capital punishment for the killing of a cow! Content with laws which had
+been conceived in an iron age, and under a state of society which was
+now happily passing away! Content with the laws! When a majority of the
+population, through their representatives in the Assembly, had for years
+been using their utmost endeavours to procure the repeal of the Sedition
+Act of 1804! When a Select Committee of the British House of Commons had
+directed the attention of Government to this mediævally-conceived
+statute, and had expressly recommended its repeal! Content with the
+manner in which the laws had been administered, when the trial of Robert
+Gourlay was yet fresh in the public memory! When a score of almost
+equally vile but less conspicuous perversions of justice were matters of
+yesterday! When no obscure litigant could sue a member of the Family
+Compact with any assurance of obtaining his rights! When the Reform
+newspapers had for years been filled to overflowing with complaints
+about the imperfect administration of justice! When a very
+strongly-worded complaint of neglect in the administration of justice
+had only a few weeks before been made in open court to Judge Willis when
+he first took his seat in a Court of Assize! When a large proportion of
+the population had ceased to have any confidence in the integrity of the
+judiciary! When this want of confidence was shared by several leaders of
+the Provincial bar, who certainly had exceptional opportunities for
+forming a correct opinion on the subject! The time was not far distant
+when one of the most eminent and successful lawyers in the country was
+to abandon his profession, owing to this very want of confidence. Truly,
+a wonderful manifestation of content with the laws and the manner in
+which they were administered. Sir Peregrine thought and acted as other
+opponents of reform have acted from time immemorial. He refused to
+believe in the existence of discontent which he did not share. He
+refused to believe that he himself was not an object of adoration to the
+great body of the people, because the official lickspittles by whom he
+was surrounded vied with each other in flattering his imbecile vanity.
+Had he been left to his own devices he would have been like the doomed
+king who refused to believe that his people were hungry until thirty
+thousand starving _sans-culottes_ were thundering at his palace gates.
+
+It soon became generally known throughout the country that strained
+relations existed between Judge Willis and the whole race of officialdom
+at the capital. The new Judge was known to have given expression to a
+desire for a reform of the law; and it was commonly assumed that it was
+to his liberal ideas that he was indebted for the hostility with which
+he was regarded by the ruling faction. The Reform Party warmly espoused
+his cause, and their organs devoted much space to extolling his wisdom,
+moderation and other high qualities. Addresses to him were circulated
+throughout some of the rural constituencies, and there was a manifest
+disposition to cater for his favour and patronage. Had he been endowed
+with discretion and good judgment he might, without any dereliction from
+his judicial duty or integrity, have rendered incalculable service to
+the cause of freedom and good government. Doubtless the rendering of
+such service would sooner or later have involved him in complications
+with the official party, but if he had kept his head it is doubtful if
+they could have prevailed against him. Unfortunately he proved to be too
+weak for his position, and allowed himself to be completely
+out-manoeuvred. He ruined himself, without accomplishing anything for
+the cause which he wished to serve. The time was rapidly drawing near
+when, by means of a judicial decision, he was to shut the door forever
+upon any prospect of his advancement in this country, and when he was to
+be made the subject of official communications resulting in his
+permanent removal therefrom.
+
+As has already been mentioned, there had been frequent differences of
+opinion between Mr. Willis and his colleagues, almost from the beginning
+of the former's assumption of judicial functions. The acting justices of
+the Court of King's Bench were at that time three in number, and
+consisted of the Hon. William Campbell, Chief Justice, the Hon. Levius
+Peters Sherwood, senior puisne judge, and Mr. Justice Willis himself.
+During the first Term which ensued after Mr. Willis's arrival in this
+country--which was Michaelmas Term, 1827--he had occupied the bench
+along with the other two judges. In Hilary Term of 1828 the Court had
+been presided over by the same three judges, except that Chief Justice
+Campbell had occasionally been absent from his seat in consequence of
+infirm health. Immediately after the close of the last-named Term the
+Chief Justice, having obtained from the Lieutenant-Governor six months'
+leave of absence, departed for England, whence he did not return until
+after a long holiday. The Court of King's Bench was thus left with only
+the two puisne judges, who accordingly presided by themselves during the
+following Easter Term. They had by this time come to dislike each other
+most cordially, insomuch that it taxed their powers to the utmost to
+treat each other with becoming respect. Sometimes the effort was beyond
+their power, and they snapped and snarled at one another upon the bench
+like two querulous old women. They now differed in opinion upon almost
+every case which came before them, and it is impossible to doubt that
+their differences were in large measure due to their personal hostility.
+This was a serious matter, for, as no third judge was at hand to give
+the preponderance of authority to either side, there was a practical
+dead-lock in much of the business of the Court. Suitors were put to
+serious delay, inconvenience, and consequent expense. Counsel were
+profoundly disgusted, and of course took sides for and against. Judge
+Willis was so sensible of the deplorable consequences of such a state of
+things that, as soon as Term was over, he entered into a minute and
+searching investigation of the constitution and power of the Court of
+King's Bench as established in Upper Canada.[106] He was desirous of
+finding some way out of the difficulty, or at all events of knowing
+precisely upon what ground he stood. But a still more serious evil soon
+began to loom up before his mind, for the result of his investigations
+was a conviction that the Court could not legally sit in Term, unless
+the full court--_i.e._, the Chief Justice and the two puisne
+Justices--were present.
+
+This conviction was a momentous one, for, if sustained, it would nullify
+much that had been done in the Court ever since its establishment in
+1794. The frequent practice had been for two Judges, and sometimes even
+for only one, to sit during Term; and, as has been seen, Judge Willis
+himself had so far acquiesced in this practice as to sit during a part
+of the preceding Hilary Term, and during the whole of Easter Term, with
+Justice Sherwood as his only colleague. He had however assumed the
+prevailing practice to be justified by the constitution of the Court,
+and had not examined the matter on his own account until impelled to do
+so by the reasons already indicated. He now discovered, as he believed,
+that the practice was altogether unwarranted, and that all that had been
+done under it was liable to be upset. The first section of the
+Provincial Statute under which the Court had been created[107] enacted
+that "His Majesty's Chief Justice, together with two puisne justices,"
+should preside therein. All the subsequent sections except those
+relating to appeals had been repealed by a later Provincial Act,[108]
+and although power was given to the senior puisne Judge, in the absence
+of the Chief Justice, to _teste_ the process, and to _any_ of the Judges
+to sit at _Nisi Prius_, there was no authority to sit _in Banco_,
+unless the Court were full. Having arrived at a conclusion on the
+subject, Judge Willis at once communicated the fact to the Colonial
+Secretary, the communication being made by letter, forwarded through the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and left purposely unsealed in order that that
+dignitary might possess himself of the contents, to which his attention
+was specially called by a separate note. Sir Peregrine could not refuse
+to transmit the Judge's missive, but he took good care to malign him in
+an accompanying despatch. "It is with pain" he wrote, "I am compelled to
+observe that, having presided as a Judge for the first two terms after
+his arrival, without finding more occasion than all the respectable
+Judges who have preceded him to make the administration of justice
+subservient to popular excitement, Mr. Willis has been either unable or
+unwilling within the last few months to avoid making his proceedings,
+either in the Civil or Criminal Court, the prominent subject of
+political discussion, and the pretence of attacks _from the vilest
+quarters_, and of the grossest kind, upon those who were associated with
+him in the administration of justice, and of whom I shall speak only
+justly when I say that the measure of respect and esteem in which their
+public conduct has ever hitherto been held, and is now held, by their
+Government, and by every person except by Mr. Willis, and by a party
+with whom I have lamented to find him associate himself, and _who are
+not very respectable in any sense_, is not to be attained but by a long
+period of correct and honourable service." The italics are not Sir
+Peregrine's, but they are deserving of all the emphasis which
+distinguishing type can give them, as exemplifying the way in which the
+representative of Majesty in those days was not ashamed to secretly
+vilify persons who opposed his policy: persons who, whether contemplated
+from a moral or an intellectual point of view, were elevated so far
+above him that it is impossible to institute any comparison between
+them. Will it be believed that the gentlemen who were "not very
+respectable in any sense" were John Rolph, Marshall Spring Bidwell, Dr.
+William Warren Baldwin, and Robert Baldwin? Was it not an honour to be
+disreputable in such company? Some of these, at least, were men whom no
+pressure of outward circumstances could have induced to stab their
+bitterest foe in the dark, as this eminently respectable vice-regal
+assassin was in the frequent habit of doing in his despatches, and as
+he did when he wrote the mendacious words above quoted. Judge Willis
+doubtless associated with these men because he found them more to his
+taste than anyone else with whom he became acquainted in York. And his
+doing so was made much more of than the facts warranted. His
+acquaintance with the persons named was not of such a nature as to be
+called intimate. In his "Narrative," already quoted from, he has
+recorded that to the best of his recollection he never conversed with
+Dr. Baldwin, Mr. Rolph, Mr. Bidwell, "or any other person politically
+opposed to Mr. Robinson" a dozen times in the course of his life; and in
+a separate defence of his conduct written at Bath in December, 1828, he
+says: "From what I know of Dr. Baldwin and his family, I must always
+sincerely regret that I have not known more."[109]
+
+Having arrived at such a decision as to the constitution of the Court,
+and having apprised the Colonial Secretary thereof, he took the earliest
+feasible opportunity of making it known to the Provincial bar. At ten
+o'clock in the forenoon of the opening day of Trinity Term--which was
+Monday, the 16th of June--he repaired to the Court House at York. While
+robing himself in the Judge's chamber he was joined by his colleague,
+Justice Sherwood, and a few moments afterward they both proceeded to the
+Court room, attended by the Sheriff in the usual manner. The Court
+having been formally opened, Judge Willis arose and addressed the
+audience, standing all the while, after the manner of a counsel at the
+bar. In the course of his remarks, which occupied nearly an hour in
+delivery, he expressed himself in very positive terms as to the
+constitution of the Court. He declared it to be his decided opinion that
+the Court could not be legally held without the presence of the Chief
+Justice and two puisne Judges; that everything which had theretofore
+been done in the Court by two Judges only was null and void; that the
+Lieutenant-Governor had no authority to grant leave of absence to a
+Judge without the express approbation of the Executive Council; that he
+(Judge Willis) had made enquiry at the office of the Executive Council,
+and had found that leave had always been granted by the
+Lieutenant-Governor alone, in pursuance of which leave Chief Justice
+Campbell was now absent from the Province. The manner in which the leave
+of absence to the Chief Justice, as well as to many other persons
+holding situations under the Provincial Government, had been granted by
+the Lieutenant-Governor, was pronounced to be, in Judge Willis's
+opinion, not only irregular but illegal, whereby the incumbents had
+forfeited their several offices. During the preceding Term an order of
+the Court had been passed by Judge Sherwood and himself. That order he
+now rescinded, so far as his authority was concerned, and he expressed
+his regret that he had entered upon the discharge of his judicial
+functions without having previously acquainted himself with the state of
+the law. He added that he had felt it to be his imperative duty to
+declare his opinion as to the incapacity of the Court to legally proceed
+with the business before it; and that, holding that opinion, he had
+resolved to decline to sit any longer upon the bench, though he would
+remain at hand to attend to any functions which he could legally
+discharge.
+
+This extraordinary address, it may be presumed, was not altogether a
+surprise to Justice Sherwood, as Justice Willis had previously notified
+the Lieutenant-Governor of his intention to give currency to his views
+at the commencement of Term, and Sir Peregrine would be certain to
+discuss the matter with the Attorney-General, through which medium the
+facts would be tolerably sure to find their way to Justice Sherwood. The
+latter seemed to take the matter very coolly. He informed the bar that
+he would not take upon himself to pronounce an opinion on the subject of
+the constitution of the Court, as there was nothing before him which
+rendered it necessary for him to do so. He added that he would adhere to
+the practice which had uniformly prevailed, and that he would not
+hesitate to proceed with the ordinary business of the Court, adjourning
+it from day to day as occasion required. Judge Willis, still standing,
+then said: "You cannot adjourn a Court that does not exist. The Court is
+not legally constituted. Its functions cannot be exercised, and any
+proceedings you may take will be void." "I am aware," replied Mr.
+Sherwood, "that such is your opinion; but I have a right to mine and I
+shall pursue the course I have indicated. If that course,
+notwithstanding the practice which has hitherto prevailed, should prove
+to be wrong, I shall extremely regret it; but I feel it to be a matter
+of too much importance to the business of the country to take upon
+myself to vary from it, without the interference of a higher authority."
+Judge Willis then briefly repeated his protest, and retired from the
+bench. His colleague, after transacting some unimportant routine
+business, adjourned the Court until the following day. Throughout the
+rest of the Term he was the sole occupant of the Bench.
+
+Judge Willis's conduct on this occasion does not admit of much diversity
+of opinion. For one thing, as was subsequently decided by the Privy
+Council, he was wrong in his view of the law. This is of itself an
+important consideration. But even if his view had been a sound one,
+admitting of no doubt, he incurred a very serious responsibility in
+giving currency to it at such a time, and in such a manner. His conduct
+was certain to produce great excitement and disturbance in the public
+mind. It was certain to create an increased distrust of long-settled
+institutions, which it was highly essential for the well-being of
+society that the public should regard with confidence and respect.
+Besides, the rendering of the past and present proceedings of the Court
+liable to doubt and uncertainty could not fail to seriously affect the
+business interests of the country. If the practice of the Court had been
+wrong, and if many of its proceedings were invalid, the wisest course
+would have been to quietly take steps to bring about remedial
+legislation, whereby all defects might have been cured, without the
+serious risk of reviving old animosities and long-settled disputes. But
+such a course as Judge Willis saw fit to adopt was wholly uncalled for,
+no plea to the jurisdiction having been pleaded in any case before the
+Court. It was certain to produce ill, without any possibility of good.
+He moreover placed in the hands of the Executive a rod for his own
+back--an implement of which they speedily availed themselves to inflict
+grievous punishment.
+
+On the following day, which was Thursday, the 17th, Judge Willis
+formally notified the Lieutenant-Governor of the public delivery of his
+opinion, adding that he was nevertheless most desirous of discharging
+such duties as he could legally perform consistently with his view of
+the law. Judge Sherwood meanwhile continued to sit on the bench alone,
+and to transact such business as came before him. Some influential
+members of the bar found themselves in a quandary. After Judge Willis's
+decision, they entertained grave doubts as to the legality of the Court,
+and hesitated as to the advisability of taking any further proceedings
+in cases committed to them, until the vexed question should be settled.
+Judge Sherwood, though he had dissented from his colleague's view, and
+though he plainly testified by his persisting in sitting and holding
+Court that he still continued to dissent, had not given any formal
+judgment, nor had he even verbally stated any grounds for his opinion.
+With a view to obtaining light for their guidance in this perplexing
+emergency, Dr. Baldwin, his son Robert, and Mr. Simon Washburn, another
+prominent member of the bar, addressed a written application to the
+Court, in the person of Justice Sherwood, requesting to be favoured with
+his opinion on the matter. The application was made on Thursday, the
+17th, and replied to by Mr. Sherwood in writing next day. The
+phraseology of the reply made it quite clear that the Judge felt by no
+means strong in his position. "You are desirous," he wrote, "that I
+should express an opinion from the bench on the present state of this
+Court, but it appears to me any opinion of that sort would be
+extra-judicial. No one but His Majesty's Representative has any right to
+ask for the opinion of a Judge where no cause or regular motion,
+according to the practice of the Court, is pending before him." There
+was more to the same no-purport. It was clear that the applicants were
+not to receive much assistance from Justice Sherwood in resolving their
+doubts. The Judge's response was no sooner communicated from the bench
+than the two Baldwins and Mr Rolph then and there threw off their gowns
+and left the Court, declaring that they concurred in opinion with Judge
+Willis, and that they could not continue to transact business in a Court
+which they believed to illegally constituted.
+
+The emergency brought about by Judge Willis's decision, and by his
+consequent withdrawal from the bench, was one for which the Executive
+deemed it essential to provide without unnecessary delay. It was
+manifestly impossible that matters should remain _in statu quo_. The
+time for holding the annual circuits was approaching. Mr. Sherwood was
+the only Judge remaining on the bench, and a Court composed of a single
+Judge is not a satisfactory tribunal for all purposes of justice. The
+Council took the opinions of the law officers of the Crown as to the
+soundness of the Judge's views with respect to the constitutionality of
+the Court of King's Bench. Those opinions were in direct opposition to
+the conclusion at which Judge Willis had arrived. The Attorney-General's
+was a remarkably exhaustive and lucid exposition of the law bearing upon
+the question. It was also free from ambiguity, and left little room for
+doubt. These opinions were strengthened by that of Justice Sherwood,
+who, at the request of the Executive, also prepared an elaborate paper
+on the subject, in which he expressed precisely similar views to those
+enunciated by the Attorney-General. The question was then submitted to
+the Crown officers whether the Lieutenant-Governor could legally remove
+Judge Willis from office and appoint a successor. The answer prepared by
+the Attorney-General, and signed both by him and Solicitor-General
+Boulton, came with remarkable promptitude. "Upon the points submitted to
+us," it ran, "we are of opinion, 1st: That the power to remove an
+officer depends on the tenure of his office. In this, as in other
+colonies, the appointment of a judge is during pleasure; and we conceive
+that in law any person holding an office on such a tenure is removable
+at pleasure: that is, at the pleasure of the Lieutenant-Governor, acting
+in the name and on behalf of the King. The reasons for such removal are
+to be rendered to His Majesty by the Lieutenant-Governor, who is
+responsible for their sufficiency.... 2nd: We are of opinion that a
+removal of a Judge of the Court of King's Bench necessarily vacates the
+office, and that another person may be appointed to fill the vacancy,
+subject to be confirmed or disallowed by His Majesty."
+
+The Executive acted with great circumspection. Fortified as they were by
+these strongly-worded opinions, and assured as they felt of the legality
+of their contemplated proceedings, they did not permit themselves to be
+betrayed into indiscretion. On the 25th of the month they addressed a
+letter to Judge Willis, referring to his communication to the
+Lieutenant-Governor on the 17th, in which he had professed willingness
+to discharge such duties as he could legally perform. He was asked what
+explanation he had to offer, and what duties he was prepared to
+undertake. On the 26th he replied that he did not feel at liberty to
+pronounce an extra-judicial opinion, and that he could only define the
+precise nature of his duties when the matter should come judicially
+before him. The Executive thereupon pronounced his doom, and a writ was
+issued whereby he was removed from office until His Majesty's pleasure
+should be known. The Lieutenant-Governor, through his Secretary,
+notified him that the Council had felt it incumbent upon them to advise
+this step.[110] The "amoval" was now an accomplished fact. A vacancy was
+thus created on the bench, which was filled on the 2nd of July by the
+appointment of Christopher Alexander Hagerman to a puisne judgeship.
+
+The news of Judge Willis's "amoval" spread rapidly through the Province,
+and produced widespread excitement. The circumstance that his course had
+met with the approval of Rolph and the Baldwins led to the belief among
+non-professional people that he was sound on the legal question, and
+that he had been driven from the bench because he would not stoop to
+corruption. The case of Judge Thorpe was exhumed from the dust of twenty
+years, and the amoval of Judge Willis was believed to be a mere
+re-enactment of that forgotten iniquity. As for Judge Willis himself, he
+determined to proceed at once to England to present his side or his
+case, in the form of an appeal from the order of amotion, at the
+Colonial Office. Before his departure he received addresses of
+condolence from various parts of the Province. Numerously-signed
+petitions in his favour were transmitted to the king, and to the several
+other branches of the Imperial and Provincial Legislatures. A long
+requisition from a number of influential persons in the County of
+Lincoln entreated him to represent their constituency in the Assembly.
+People who were usually sensible appear to have lost their heads for a
+time during this exciting period. A large meeting of the Judge's
+sympathizers was held in Toronto, at which Dr. Baldwin and Mr. John
+Galt,[111] with their wives, were appointed a Committee to watch over
+the interests and insure the protection of Lady Mary and her family
+during the absence of her lord; and Robert Baldwin was added to the
+Committee as her Ladyship's solicitor.
+
+Judge Willis took his departure from York on the 11th of July. As he
+expected that he would very soon be able to procure from the Colonial
+Office a reversal of his "amoval," and that he would be reinstated in
+his judgeship, to the great discomfiture of the Lieutenant-Governor and
+his satellites, he did not think it necessary that his family should
+accompany him to England. The suitable disposal of the members of his
+household was an embarrassing problem for him. In good sooth, he was in
+a situation somewhat analogous to the man in the familiar old story, who
+came to the bank of a wide stream, having in his possession a fox, a
+goose, and a bag of corn. The application is easy. Mrs. Willis and Lady
+Mary could by no means be left to keep house together unless the head of
+the establishment was near at hand to keep the peace between them. The
+relations between Lady Mary and Miss Willis, though far from amicable,
+were somewhat less strained. Mr. Willis accordingly took with him his
+mother only, leaving his wife, child and sister behind him; though it is
+to be presumed that the above-mentioned Committee had a sinecure, so far
+as any special attendance upon or protection over Lady Mary was
+concerned.
+
+A series of acrimonious despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor preceded
+Mr. Willis across the Atlantic. For weeks--probably for months--before
+the delivery of his unfortunate decision, the espionage system had been
+put in full operation against him, and measures had been taken to watch
+his personal habits and pastimes. There had been a firm determination to
+effect his ruin,[112] and the strong suspicion that such was the case
+had done much to array a majority of the inhabitants on his side. "It is
+my duty to state to you in the most decided terms," wrote Sir Peregrine
+Maitland to the Colonial Secretary, on the 6th of July, "that his [Mr.
+Willis's] restitution to office, while it would be received by the most
+portion of the population as a triumph over the Government which Mr.
+Willis has ungratefully and wantonly insulted, would be most pernicious
+to the peace of this colony, and an act of the most aggravating
+injustice to those faithful servants of the Crown against whom he has,
+for unworthy purposes, dishonourably laboured to excite the prejudice
+and hatred of the ignorant and malicious." It is worth while to note
+that this extract contains a clear admission by the Lieutenant-Governor
+that his Government was regarded with disfavour by "the most portion of
+the population:" an admission directly at variance with many statements
+made by him in former despatches, as well as in speeches to the
+Provincial Parliament.
+
+Upon reaching England Mr. Willis put himself into immediate
+communication with the Colonial Office. He took up his quarters at the
+house of his brother, the Reverend W. D. Willis, at Bath. There he
+prepared an elaborate statement of his case, which was duly forwarded to
+the Colonial Secretary. After some delay he succeeded in obtaining
+copies of the several despatches of Sir Peregrine Maitland in which the
+charges against him were formulated with wearisome reiteration. These
+indictments against him, which, though signed by Sir Peregrine, were
+doubtless in reality prepared by Mr. Willis's arch-enemy,
+Attorney-General Robinson, were certainly of the most formidable
+character. They went over the whole course of the Judge's procedure,
+from the time of his arrival in the Province down to his departure
+therefrom. To the serious grounds of complaint which had unquestionably
+been given were added numerous delinquencies of the most petty and
+trifling nature. It was stigmatized as "a great indecency" that Judge
+Willis had been seen in a dress "but little according with his
+situation."[113] In view of the interests involved, and of the grave
+nature of the questions to be decided, it seems ludicrous that the
+appellant should have been called upon to reply to an accusation of this
+nature.[114] A perusal of these despatches, however, rendered necessary
+a supplementary statement and narrative, wherein every count in the
+indictment was either traversed, or, in legal parlance, confessed and
+avoided. But Mr. Willis soon found that he was not to gain so easy a
+triumph over his enemies as he had previously allowed himself to suppose
+would be the case. The question to be decided was a purely technical
+one, and after the matter had been for some time under consideration at
+the Colonial Office it was referred for decision to the Privy Council,
+where it was not disposed of for nearly a year. The conclusion finally
+arrived at was that Mr. Willis had been wrong in his view of the
+question in dispute, and that the Executive Council, in amoving him from
+office, had not acted in excess of their authority. Under such
+circumstances his return to Upper Canada was of course out of the
+question; but as his conduct was attributed to error of judgment rather
+than to any serious dereliction from duty, he received an appointment to
+a judgeship in the South American colony of Demerara.
+
+From all the circumstances, then, it is clear that Judge Willis, though
+he was in some sense a victim of Executive intolerance in Upper Canada,
+was himself largely to blame for his downfall, to which he contributed
+by his want of caution and calm good sense. But many of the
+circumstances detailed in the present chapter were unknown to the bulk
+of the Canadian people, by whom he was regarded as a martyr to his
+upright and liberal principles. His amoval produced a wider excitement
+than any event since Gourlay's time. It tended greatly to embitter
+public opinion, and was unquestionably a strong factor in producing the
+discontent which ultimately found expression in open rebellion. For this
+reason it has been thought desirable to go somewhat minutely into
+details which are in themselves fraught with instruction, and as to
+which the people of Canada, even at the present day, are very
+inadequately informed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1829.]
+
+Mr. Willis felt his defeat very keenly, more especially as he had
+confidently looked forward to a successful termination of his appeal. At
+his instigation the subject was brought before the attention of the
+House of Commons by Lord Milton, on Tuesday, the 11th day of May,
+1830.[115] Sir George's Murray's explanation, which involved a narrative
+of the circumstances in detail, proved satisfactory to the House, and
+the matter was allowed to drop. But the amoved Judge was fated to have
+greater reasons still for deploring that he had ever taken up his abode
+in Canada, as his residence there led to the rupture of his family ties
+and the total wreck of his domestic happiness. It will be remembered
+that Lady Mary and her child, together with Miss Willis, had remained at
+York. Upon learning the decision of the Privy Council in his case, Mr.
+Willis wrote to his wife and sister, requesting them to dispose of his
+house there, and to return home as speedily as possible. During the long
+interval which had elapsed since the ex-Judge's departure for England,
+the two ladies had been left to amuse themselves as best they could in
+the little capital. They occasionally went into society, and received a
+certain amount of attention from that portion of it which had been
+favourable to Judge Willis, as well as from some of the military
+officers stationed there. Among others whose acquaintance they formed
+was a certain Lieutenant Bernard, an officer of the 68th Light Infantry,
+whose regiment was then in Canada. He occasionally rode out with Miss
+Willis, who was an accomplished equestrienne, but he did not appear to
+be on specially intimate terms with Lady Mary. On the 16th of May, 1829,
+Lady Mary set out for England by way of Montreal, Miss Willis remaining
+behind for a week to make a final disposition of the house. On reaching
+Kingston, Lady Mary was met by Lieutenant Bernard, who accompanied her
+to Montreal, whence the pair several months afterwards fled together to
+England, Lady Mary leaving her child behind her in the care of one of
+her maids. Mr. Willis brought an action against Bernard, who had by that
+time succeeded to a Captaincy. The case was tried in the Court of Common
+Pleas at Westminster on Thursday, the 9th of February, 1832, when the
+plaintiff recovered £1000 by way of damages. A report of the proceedings
+will be found in _The Times_ of the following day.[116]
+
+[Sidenote: 1832.]
+
+It may be of interest to Canadian readers to learn that Mr. Willis was
+some years afterwards appointed to a seat on the bench of the Supreme
+Court of New South Wales. On the 8th of February, 1841, he was under a
+local statute appointed resident Judge for the District of Port Philip.
+While officiating in that capacity he came into conflict with Sir
+George Gipps, Governor of the Colony, and the Executive Council, by whom
+he was once more "amoved" from office. The order of amotion, which was
+made on the 17th of June, 1843, was however reversed by the Imperial
+Privy Council for irregularity. The Lords of the Judicial Committee,
+before whom the case was heard in June and July, 1846, reported that in
+their opinion the Governor-in-Council had power in law to amove Mr.
+Willis, and that the facts were sufficient to justify his amoval, but
+that an opportunity ought to have been afforded him of being previously
+heard. The requisite notice not having been given, the omission was held
+to vacate the order of amotion, and judgment was rendered
+accordingly.[117]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[96] See his "Narrative of Occurrences in Upper Canada," written from
+Bath to the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, dated 5th
+December, 1828, and included in pp. 273-288 of the blue book on the
+subject issued by the Imperial Government in 1829.
+
+[97] There is a covert irony in the portion of Judge Willis's
+_Narrative_ which refers to this subject. "I wished to think," he
+writes, "and from the attention he seemed to pay to business I actually
+worked myself up into the belief, which I frequently expressed, that Mr.
+Justice Sherwood was a _hard-headed_ sensible man; but I became
+convinced that, though right in the former conjecture, yet so far as
+legal knowledge or abilities were concerned, I was mistaken in the
+latter part of my conclusion." The italics are Judge Willis's own.
+
+[98] See Judge Willis's _Narrative_, ubi supra.
+
+[99] So far as mere diction is concerned I have here chiefly followed
+Collins's own report of this episode, as published in the _Freeman_, but
+I have also before me the Attorney-General's account, as well as the
+more elaborate one of Judge Willis himself, and the three do not
+materially differ in this respect.
+
+[100] _Ante_, p. 13.
+
+[101] The _Freeman_, April 17th, 1828.
+
+[102] The case, as put by the Judge, was purely hypothetical. "_If_ the
+Attorney-General has acted so and so, he has neglected his duty." See
+_ante_, p. 174.
+
+[103] The announcement ran as follows:--"Preparing for publication.--A
+View of the Present System of Jurisprudence in Upper Canada; by an
+English Barrister, now one of His Majesty's Judges in this
+Province.--_Meliora sperans._"
+
+[104] It was time for some one to undertake the duty of ameliorating the
+criminal law of Upper Canada, which was that of England as it stood on
+the 17th of September, 1792, except in so far as it had been altered by
+subsequent legislation. At the Assizes for the Home District, held at
+York in the autumn of 1827, within a few weeks after Judge Willis's
+arrival in the Province, a boy was capitally convicted and sentenced to
+death for killing a cow.
+
+[105] _On the Government of the British Colonies._ London, 1850.
+
+[106] The investigation, according to Judge Willis's own testimony, was
+entered into partly in consequence of a suggestion which he received on
+the subject. See the text of his written opinion, embodied in pp. 66-74
+of the Imperial blue book issued in 1829, entitled "Papers relating to
+the Removal of the Honourable John Walpole Willis from the Office of One
+of His Majesty's Judges of the Court of King's Bench of Upper Canada."
+It seems probable that the suggestion emanated from Dr. Baldwin.
+
+[107] 34 Geo. III., c. 2. This statute was framed by the Hon. William
+Osgoode, first Chief Justice of Upper Canada, a gentleman of great
+learning, who had been sent out from England for the express purpose of
+organizing the Courts of the Province.
+
+[108] 2 Geo. IV., c. 1.
+
+[109] See pp. 249-267 of the Imperial Government's blue book on the
+subject, _ubi supra_.
+
+[110] The notification was dated the 26th of June, whereas the formal
+document issued by the Council was not signed until the 27th. Mr. Willis
+attached a good deal of weight to this irregularity, which however was
+of less importance than might at first sight be supposed. The Council
+had fully made up their minds on the 26th, and the notification was
+despatched accordingly, though the order of amotion was not actually
+ready for signature until the day following.
+
+[111] The well-known author, who was then in Canada as representative of
+the Canada Land Company.
+
+[112] "Cabot," in _Blackwood's Magazine_ for September, 1829.
+
+[113] See despatch marked "Separate," from Major-General Sir Peregrine
+Maitland to Mr. Secretary Huskisson, dated 6th July, 1828.
+
+[114] His reply will be matter of surprise to the staid and
+decorously-attired judges of the present day. "On all ordinary
+occasions," he wrote, "I usually wore a _black velvet coat and
+waistcoat_. The first time I saw the Chief Justice he had on a black
+kalimanco or camlet jacket, which I have seen him wear even on the
+bench. I have met the Lieutenant-Governor frequently walking through the
+streets with an olive-coloured square-cut velveteen jacket and
+waistcoat; and a few days before I left York I beheld Mr. Justice
+Sherwood in a grass-green cloth jacket with white metal buttons. I
+merely mention these 'extravagancies' to show that my dress was neither
+improper nor extraordinary."--See the _Narrative_, ubi supra.
+
+[115] See Hansard's _Parliamentary Debates_, N. S., Vol. xxiv., 551-555.
+
+[116] Some further particulars may be found in 8 Bingham, 376; also in 5
+C. & P., 342.
+
+[117] See the case of John Walpole Willis, Appellant, _versus_ Sir
+George Gipps, Knt., Respondent, 5 Moore's Reports of Privy Council
+Cases, 379. From an _obiter dictum_ of one of the judges in the case it
+would appear that the order of amotion from the bench of this Province
+was finally set aside on technical grounds, owing to the appellant's not
+having been heard in Canada. After diligent search, I have been unable
+to find any report of this decision, either in the official reports of
+the Privy Council or in any of the newspapers or periodicals of the
+time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE CASE OF FRANCIS COLLINS.
+
+
+In the foregoing pages mention has several times been made of Francis
+Collins, editor, proprietor and publisher of _The Canadian Freeman_, a
+Radical weekly newspaper issued at York. Mr. Collins was an enthusiastic
+young Irish Roman Catholic, who had immigrated to Canada a short time
+before the excitement arising out of the Gourlay persecution reached its
+height, and when he himself was barely twenty years of age. He was a
+printer by trade, and for some time after his arrival worked as a
+compositor in the office of _The Upper Canada Gazette_, published at
+York by the King's Printer, Dr. Robert Charles Horne. Finding that he
+possessed much intelligence and a fair education, his employer deputed
+him to report the debates in the Assembly during the sessions of
+Parliament. In 1821 he reported certain proceedings which the Government
+were annoyed at seeing in print, more especially as the version given
+was not strictly accurate. For this offence Dr. Horne was summoned to
+the bar of the House, where he sought to evade responsibility by
+pleading that the debates had not been reported by himself, but by
+Francis Collins. The Doctor further offered a humble apology, and was
+glad to escape with a sharp reprimand, accompanied by a caution from the
+Speaker that he would thereafter be held responsible for the reports in
+the _Gazette_.[118]
+
+Within a short time after receiving this admonition Dr. Horne ceased to
+be King's Printer, whereby the post became vacant. As Collins was
+familiar with the nature of the work, and was naturally desirous of
+bettering his condition, he applied for the appointment. The office was
+at the disposal of the Lieutenant-Governor, and was held entirely at his
+pleasure. Collins was curtly checked for his presumption by a leading
+official, who informed him that the office would be conferred upon "no
+one but a gentleman." It would be interesting to know whence the
+official who was guilty of this wanton insult had derived his ideas of
+courtesy and good breeding. If his statement were to be credited, any
+application on his part for the post of King's Printer would most
+assuredly have been made in vain. The appointment was given to Mr.
+Charles Fothergill, who belonged to a good Yorkshire family, and was
+therefore fully entitled to rank as a gentleman.[119]
+
+Collins was excusably indignant at the gross insult which had been
+hurled at him. He considered himself as at least the social equal of any
+member of the Government, for he claimed descent from the old Irish
+kings, and on one or two occasions when more than ordinarily exhilarated
+he had even been known to refer to his ancestor, Brian Boru. Yet, for
+all this mendacious and vainglorious boasting, Collins was a man of
+unquestionable ability, and when fully aroused could write a paragraph
+well calculated to make the ears of his enemies to tingle. His
+nationality was clearly indicated by his personal appearance, his
+features being rough-hewn and unmistakably Celtic; while his red hair
+and beard, usually not very well cared for, gave him an aspect of
+uncouth wildness. Up to this time he had not taken any very conspicuous
+part in politics since his arrival in Canada; but henceforward the
+Executive had no more bitter or sleepless foe. He continued to report
+the proceedings in Parliament, and kept his eyes ever open for an
+opportunity to strike the Government with effect. In 1825 he succeeded
+in establishing the _Freeman_, which was thenceforth to some extent a
+rival of Mackenzie's _Advocate_. It was from the first conducted with
+great energy, and the editorials, which were often set up without being
+committed to paper, displayed exceptional vigour, but they were
+frequently disfigured by a coarseness and bad taste equal to anything of
+Mackenzie's production. For some time the better class of Liberals
+fought shy of the enterprise, but the editor steadily forced his way
+into general recognition.
+
+The _Freeman_ was permitted to continue its course unchecked for nearly
+three years. During that time it followed up the shortcomings of the
+Executive with ceaseless vigilance. To Sir Peregrine Maitland and
+Attorney-General Robinson it was a veritable thorn in the flesh. There
+was abundant occasion for criticism, and it was seldom, if ever, that
+Collins resorted to pure invention for the purpose of attacking the
+innumerable abuses of the time. There was always a sufficient substratum
+of truth in his accusations to render it inexpedient to prosecute him
+for libel. The punishment of what was false would have involved the
+public exposure of what was true. The official party realized the force
+of the laureate's dictum, not then propounded, that
+
+   "A lie that is all a lie may be met with and fought outright,
+   But a lie that is part of a truth is a harder matter to fight."
+
+[Sidenote: 1828.]
+
+They of course did not present the matter in this aspect to the world at
+large. On the contrary, their organs claimed for them a spirit of
+generous and Christian forbearance. But this could not go on for ever.
+Collins continued to pour in his chain-shot from week to week with
+never-failing pertinacity, and with seeming impunity from the law. The
+Executive in the first place tried to check his career by crippling him
+financially. The Assembly had for some years previously been accustomed
+to vote him an annual sum by way of remuneration for reporting their
+proceedings. The paying over of this sum, however, was a matter entirely
+within the control of the Lieutenant-Governor. As it was known that
+Collins was poor, and that his resources were sometimes taxed to the
+uttermost to enable him to bring out his paper, it was hoped that, by
+withholding payment for his services as reporter to the Assembly, he
+might be compelled to suspend publication. He was accordingly informed,
+when he applied for his money in the early spring of 1828, that the
+funds were not forthcoming. The sum in question was £118 10s., and was a
+matter of serious importance to him; but he well understood the object
+of the Executive, and spurred himself up to fresh effort. His paper
+appeared with the most provoking regularity, and its tone was, if
+possible, intensified by the withholding of the sum due to its editor.
+He told the story to the public, his account being garnished with
+profuse comments in his bitterest vein. The Executive found that they
+had miscalculated his resources, and that his press was conducted with
+renewed vigour. It was finally resolved that a dead-set should be made
+upon him, and that he should be overwhelmed by a shower of
+contemporaneous indictments. On Thursday, the 10th of April, 1828, as
+mentioned in the preceding chapter,[120] two bills of indictment for
+libel were found against him. One of these was for having, in his paper,
+charged the Lieutenant-Governor with partiality, injustice and fraud, in
+not paying over the money voted by the Assembly. The other was on the
+information of the Solicitor-General, Henry John Boulton, for
+animadversions on his conduct in connection with the duel, in 1817,
+between Samuel Peters Jarvis and John Ridout.[121] Upon the strength of
+these indictments Collins was forthwith arrested, and compelled to
+appear and give the required bail. On the following morning two other
+bills were found, upon which he also gave bail. It was at this time that
+he made his extraordinary attack upon the Attorney-General, before
+Justice Willis, as already narrated at length.[122] It will be
+remembered that he was instructed by the Judge to go before the Grand
+Jury and prefer his complaints. These instructions he followed without a
+moment's unnecessary delay. He appeared before the Grand Jury, and
+charged H. J. Boulton and J. E. Small with being accessary to murder in
+the killing of young Ridout. He next laid a charge of rioting against S.
+P. Jarvis and six other persons who had figured as defendants in the
+action brought by Mackenzie. The Grand Jury speedily returned a true
+bill against Boulton and Small. Both those gentlemen were then in Court
+with their gowns on. They were immediately put under arrest, and they so
+remained until late in the afternoon, when Judge Willis, upon the
+application of Mr. Macaulay, admitted them to bail. As Jarvis had been
+tried for the offence and acquitted, shortly after the duel in 1817, the
+Grand Jury now returned "No bill" as to him. On the following Monday a
+true bill was returned by the Grand Jury against the seven persons
+charged with riot. They were promptly arrested and held to bail.
+
+Collins, having no faith in Attorney-General Robinson's integrity, was
+very unwilling that the prosecution of these cases should be conducted
+by him. Boulton was not only the Attorney-General's colleague as a law
+officer of the Crown, but was his warm personal friend, as well as a
+connexion by marriage. Boulton, in fact, was a profound admirer and
+faint _umbra_ of the Attorney-General, in whose professional sunshine he
+basked, and at whose feet he may in an intellectual sense be said to
+have grovelled. Even the most Spartan of Crown prosecutors could hardly
+be expected to do his utmost to secure a conviction under such
+circumstances; and Attorney-General Robinson had nothing of the Spartan
+in his composition where the interests of his friends were concerned.
+Collins accordingly applied to Robert Baldwin to conduct the prosecution
+for murder. But the prosecution of criminal cases was not then open to
+the bar as a matter of course, and without the consent of the Crown. Mr.
+Baldwin applied to the Court for the necessary permission, which was
+granted with the Attorney-General's consent. The trial was proceeded
+with before Justice Willis at the opening of the Court on the morning of
+Monday, the 14th. The defendants, upon being arraigned, pleaded "Not
+guilty." The proceedings extended over two days, during which the same
+evidence was given that had been adduced at the trial in 1817. All the
+horrible details of the duel were revived for the edification of a
+crowded Court-room. Many of the spectators, as well as the Judge
+himself, were affected to tears. The custom of society was once more
+successfully pleaded in extenuation of a cruel and dastardly murder. As
+the chief offender had himself escaped scot-free, however, it would have
+seemed anomalous to punish the accessaries. The charge from the bench
+was eloquent and judicial, and the jury were absent from the box only
+ten minutes, when they returned into Court with a verdict of acquittal.
+
+The trial of the type-rioters next required consideration. Collins's
+counsel moved for leave to the prosecutor to conduct this case also by
+private counsel, but to this the Attorney-General firmly refused to
+consent. It was urged that one of the accused was his nephew, and that
+two others had been clerks in his office at the time of the outrage. No
+matter; he was determined to withstand any further interference with
+Crown prosecutions on the part of the bar. There was no telling, he
+remarked, where such interference would end. There had already been too
+much of it. He was about to proceed with the prosecution, when Mr. Rolph
+arose on behalf of Collins, and expressed a wish that, as the painful
+investigation of the murder case had been finished, the prosecutions for
+libel might be discontinued. Judge Willis warmly seconded the proposal,
+and further suggested that the prosecution of the type-rioters might
+also be dropped. The type-rioters, however, were ready and waiting for
+their trial, and, through their counsel, objected to any abandonment so
+far as they were concerned. It was urged on their part that they had
+never wished to avoid prosecution, but had rather courted it; that they
+would accept of no compromise of a proceeding which had been maliciously
+and vexatiously instituted, not by the person injured, but by one who,
+being brought into Court for libel, had been received as a sort of
+public prosecutor, and allowed to harass them by raking into old
+transactions which had long since been investigated and atoned for. They
+insisted upon the matter being there and then finally disposed of, so
+that it might no longer be in the power of any malicious person wholly
+unconnected with the case to prosecute them at his pleasure.
+
+The trial was then proceeded with. The persons charged were of course
+found guilty. Judge Willis was very lenient, and sentenced them to a
+nominal fine of five shillings each, expressly stating as a reason for
+this slight punishment that more than ample recompense had already been
+obtained in the civil action.[123]
+
+With respect to the indictments against Collins, the Judge's appeal to
+the Attorney-General was not altogether without efficacy,
+notwithstanding the ill blood between them. The fact is that the latter
+was glad enough of any excuse for abandoning the two prosecutions
+instituted by Boulton and Jarvis, feeling well assured that there was no
+likelihood of securing a conviction in either case. He could subserve
+his own and his friends' interests, and at the same time assume the
+appearance of deferring to the suggestion from the bench. The consent of
+the prosecutors having been obtained, he therefore announced in open
+Court that he would proceed no further upon those indictments. He added,
+however, that there were further indictments against Collins which had
+emanated from the Grand Jury, and that he could not with proper
+deference to them at once relinquish proceedings therein. "But I have no
+objections to state," said the Attorney-General, "that I will forbear
+any further action during the present Assizes, and that in proceeding or
+not hereafter, I shall be governed in a great measure by the sense which
+the defendant shall show of his duty and obligations as the conductor of
+a public newspaper." Bail was accordingly furnished by Collins on one of
+the presentments. The other was tacitly allowed to lapse; and there, for
+the time, the matter ended.
+
+The editor of the _Freeman_ certainly gave the Attorney-General no
+excuse for leaving him unmolested. In each successive issue of his paper
+he lashed the whole race of officials, to some of whom he applied the
+most opprobrious epithets. The Government organs pursued a similar
+course on their side, and characterized Collins and his friends in
+language too gross for quotation. The Attorney-General probably repented
+that he had not proceeded on at least one of the indictments during the
+late Assizes, and resolved that another opportunity should not pass
+unimproved. The autumn Assizes opened during the second week in October,
+when he attempted to press one of the old charges against Collins. The
+defendant appealed to Judge Sherwood, who occupied the bench,
+representing that his counsel was not in Court, and that he had never
+been arraigned. The Attorney-General replied that the absence of the
+defendant's counsel was not the fault of the Crown, and that he had been
+arraigned at the spring Assizes. The latter statement was denied by the
+defendant, and upon referring to the Clerk of Assize it appeared that
+there had been no arraignment. Next day the Attorney-General again
+attempted to force on the trial, but as it was clear that the defendant
+had not been arraigned the latter now claimed the right to traverse. As
+this right was indisputable it was conceded by the Court, the result
+being that the defendant was entitled to have the trial held over until
+the next sittings, which would not take place until the following
+spring. The Attorney-General, however, was entitled to demand that the
+defendant should find security, and promptly urged his demand. Collins
+knew that were he to find the required security it would embarrass him
+in the conduct of his paper, and stated that he would prefer to be tried
+at once rather than adopt such an alternative. He was accordingly tried,
+and, though the prosecution was pressed against him with all the vigour
+at the Attorney-General's command, he was acquitted by the jury.
+
+But the Attorney-General was not the man to allow his prey to escape him
+while any chance remained of securing a conviction. A fresh indictment
+was laid against him for a personal libel upon the Attorney-General
+himself. Collins, in reporting the trial which had just resulted in his
+acquittal, had accused the Attorney-General of "open palpable
+falsehood," and "native malignancy," and had referred to Judge Hagerman
+as "our old customer." This report had been published at full length in
+the _Freeman_, and it was the ground of the prosecution now instituted.
+The defendant laboured under the same compulsion with regard to security
+as before, and elected to stand his trial at once, which was precisely
+what the Attorney-General desired. The indictment, which may still be
+seen among the records at Osgoode Hall, was a truly formidable
+instrument, and set out the offence with great prolixity. The trial took
+place on Saturday, the 25th, before Mr. Justice Sherwood, who, in
+charging the jury, inveighed against the defendant with nearly as great
+vehemence as did the Crown prosecutor, stigmatizing him as "a wholesale
+retailer of calumny." He pronounced the _Freeman's_ report to be "a
+gross and scandalous libel."[124] It was plainly evident that Mr.
+Sherwood's mind was not equable, and that he was influenced by
+considerations not properly before him. The fact that his son Henry, and
+his brother-in-law, H. J. Boulton, had respectively been prosecuted for
+riot and murder at Collins's instigation was too clearly held in
+remembrance, insomuch that every point was strained to the utmost
+against the defendant. Judge Sherwood, however, was absent from the
+bench when the jury returned into Court with their verdict, his place
+being taken by Judge Hagerman, who had many times been subjected to the
+arrows of Collins's satire, and who was referred to with bantering
+contumely in the very report which formed the subject of the present
+prosecution. The jury, after deliberating about five hours, brought in a
+verdict of "Guilty of a libel on the Attorney-General." The Clerk
+recorded a general verdict of "Guilty," which was read to the jury. The
+defendant's counsel objected to the recording of the verdict in this
+form, inasmuch as the jury had found his client guilty of libel on the
+Attorney-General only. A brief argument on the subject ensued, whereupon
+the Judge charged the jury to the effect that such a verdict as they had
+found could not be received. He informed them that if they found the
+defendant guilty of any part of the alleged libel, they ought to return
+a general verdict of "Guilty;" but that they might, if they thought
+proper, suggest to the Court on what particular part of the publication
+their verdict was founded, in which case the Court would confine the
+punishment to that part only. The jury thereupon retired a second time,
+but soon returned with a general verdict of "Guilty." On being asked by
+the Judge whether they adhered to their former opinion as to the
+libellous part of the publication, they answered in the affirmative.
+
+The sentence of the Court was not pronounced until sufficient time had
+elapsed to admit of a conference on the subject between Justices
+Sherwood and Hagerman. That such a conference really took place is clear
+enough from a letter of Judge Sherwood himself, to be presently referred
+to. The sentence, when it came, created much surprise, not only in the
+bosom of the individual who was directly concerned, but among the public
+at large. It condemned the defendant to pay a fine of fifty pounds, to
+be imprisoned for twelve calendar months, to find securities for his
+good behaviour for three years after his liberation, himself in four
+hundred pounds and two sureties in one hundred pounds each, and to
+stand committed until all these conditions should be complied with.
+
+Certainly it was no wonder that the little world of upper Canada opened
+its eyes at such a Star Chamber sentence as this, pronounced in the year
+of Grace 1828. It seemed as if the whirligig of time had brought back
+the days of Bartemus Ferguson and _The Niagara Spectator_.[125] It was
+an open question with many persons, even among those who were upon the
+whole favourable to the measures of the Government, whether the
+prosecution should have been sustained at all or not. A charge of
+"native malignancy" was not likely to seriously affect the character or
+standing of Attorney-General Robinson, who was ready enough to apply
+much stronger epithets to his enemies. But, however that might be, there
+could be no sort of doubt that the punishment awarded was wholly
+disproportionate to the offence, more especially when the defendant's
+circumstances were considered. If persisted in, the sentence really
+involved the latter's perpetual imprisonment, for no two men of
+substance were likely to be found who would feel safe in guaranteeing
+the good behaviour of such a turbulent spirit as Francis Collins for so
+long a period as three years. Throughout the whole of this infamous
+persecution the Attorney-General showed to very little advantage. As
+previously mentioned, he had showered four indictments upon the
+defendant within the brief space of two days. Three of these he had
+withdrawn, and upon the fourth the defendant had been acquitted. He had
+then gone out of his way to lay a personal information upon a very
+insignificant pretext. Poor Collins was his enemy, and must not be
+allowed to characterize his conduct as "native malignancy," whereas the
+editors of newspapers under the patronage and pay of the Government were
+permitted to pursue a deliberate system of malicious vilification with
+impunity. The latter were allowed to publicly malign not only individual
+members of the Opposition, but to circulate the grossest libels upon the
+House of Assembly itself. With these offences the Attorney-General did
+not think fit to meddle. They were committed by his personal and
+political friends, and, unless common rumour seriously belied him, were
+not seldom committed at his own instigation. At any rate he maintained
+the most amicable relations with the libellers, and allowed no
+opportunity of serving their material interests to pass unimproved. Such
+inconsistency forced itself upon public attention. People who up to that
+time had supported the official party began to ask where this
+one-sidedness was to end. The Attorney-General had no right, it was
+said, to reward his friends for doing precisely the same things as those
+for which he punished and imprisoned his enemies. It was remembered
+against him how, when disputing with Judge Willis as to the nature of
+his official duties, he had with scorn repudiated the suggestion that he
+should proceed in the absence of instructions, even against notorious
+evil-doers. It was remembered that he had declined to take any official
+cognizance of so serious an offence against the public peace as the
+type-riot, which had been committed by his own friends and protégés. Yet
+he had here gone out of his way to prosecute to his ruin a poor wretch
+who, certainly not without great provocation, had merely accused him of
+falsehood and native malignancy. A man who accommodated his conduct to
+his inclinations in this way might perhaps be much beloved by his
+friends, but he certainly had no claim to be considered either good or
+great. The faction, from Dr. Strachan downwards, had for years been
+holding up John Beverley Robinson to the admiration of Upper Canadians.
+By many he had been accepted at their valuation. The Selkirk and Gourlay
+episodes, together with a score of others less noteworthy, had been
+slurred over. As the worst of these had occurred some years before, they
+had been partly forgotten by the existing generation. But the
+remorseless vindictiveness and cruelty displayed throughout the Collins
+prosecution were patent to everybody. They did much to lower the
+Attorney-General in popular estimation, and to destroy public confidence
+in the integrity of the Judges. They gave rise to an uneasy feeling of
+discontent, and doubtless had their share in bringing about the troubles
+of 1837-38.
+
+Collins went to jail, where, in spite of great exertions on his behalf,
+he was compelled to remain for many months. The fine was paid, like the
+damages in the type-riot case, by public subscription. Appeals from
+various quarters to the Lieutenant-Governor on the prisoner's behalf
+were made in vain. The incumbent of that office was no longer Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, whose torpid and nerveless administration had
+come to an end some weeks before,[126] when, as previously mentioned,
+he had taken his departure for Nova Scotia. His successor as
+Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was Major-General Sir John Colborne,
+a distinguished officer of the 52nd Regiment, who had done gallant
+service in the Peninsula, and had fought at Waterloo. He is described by
+Napier, the historian of the Peninsular War, as having developed "an
+extraordinary genius for war." After the return of peace he had had some
+experience in diplomacy, having for some time been placed in charge of
+the Government in the island of Guernsey. His appointment to the more
+onerous and responsible post of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was
+heralded as the precursor of better times. It was announced that he had
+come over charged with instructions to reverse the fatuous policy of his
+predecessor, and to conduct the administration in accordance with the
+well understood wishes of the people. It seems tolerably certain that
+some such general directions as these had actually been given, but great
+latitude was necessarily left to Sir John himself; and, as after events
+proved, he was ill fitted for the discharge of such duties as had been
+entrusted to him. He was destined to furnish, in his own person, a
+sufficient argument against the absurd system pursued by the Home
+Government of saddling the colonies with military rulers. That Sir John
+was an excellent soldier goes without saying. It is certain, too, that
+he was in the main actuated by upright and honourable motives. But he
+had been "a man of war from his youth," and his early training and long
+military career had made him stern and unbending. He had no sympathy
+with the aspirations of a people who were just beginning to grasp the
+principles of constitutional liberty, and who saw many things in the
+body politic which called aloud for reform.
+
+It did not take long for the people of Upper Canada to gauge the
+character of the new Governor, for he had not been a fortnight in the
+Province before he had practically allied himself with the Compact.
+Hardly had he assumed the functions of his office ere a petition,
+signed by a number of influential inhabitants of York and its
+neighbourhood, was presented to him by a Committee on behalf of Collins.
+The facts were set out in detail, and his Excellency was asked to
+exercise the royal clemency by releasing the prisoner from his
+melancholy situation. Sir John's reply was non-committal, but not wholly
+discouraging. It conceded the advantages resulting from a free and
+well-conducted press, but expressed reverence for trial by jury, and
+referred to the danger of interfering with the verdicts of juries or the
+opinions of Judges unless their illegality could be clearly
+demonstrated. It added, however, that if his Excellency; after inquiring
+into the case, should come to the conclusion that his interposition was
+called for, a communication to that effect would be made to the person
+chiefly concerned.
+
+In the face of this reply, it behooved the prisoner and his friends to
+wait a reasonable time before taking any further steps. Within the next
+few days a number of facts came to light which certainly went to show
+that there were at least good grounds for a new trial. It appeared that
+John Hayden, one of the jurymen, had been ignorant of the true meaning
+of the word "malignancy," and had sent out to the Court for Johnson's
+Dictionary, in order to arrive at a true definition. This indulgence was
+refused by the Court, and Hayden was constrained to accept the
+definition of another juror, whereby he was led to believe that the word
+in question has a much more serious significance than really attaches to
+it. By this means he had been induced to give his voice for the
+conviction of the defendant. Two other jurymen,[127] who were servile
+tools of the Attorney-General, had been actuated by undue prejudice,
+insomuch that they had expressed a strong pre-determination to convict
+the defendant. Then, the conduct of Mr. Hagerman, in sitting as a Judge
+in a case wherein he was personally concerned--it will be remembered
+that he had been derisively referred to in the report which formed the
+subject of the indictment--was an infringement of decency, to say
+nothing of its being a perversion of the letter and spirit of the law.
+He had also conferred with the Judge by whom the sentence was
+pronounced as to the measure of punishment to be awarded. But he had
+not only sat in judgment in his own cause: he had refused to record the
+finding of the jury, whom he had misled and coerced into bringing in a
+verdict contrary to what they really intended. Judge Sherwood's conduct
+had been little better. He had delivered a charge to the jury which
+practically left them no alternative but to convict, unless they
+altogether disregarded his counsels. John Carey, editor of the York
+_Observer_, who was present on the occasion, testified that the Judge's
+charge appeared to him to outrage law and common sense.[128] Then, the
+sentence itself was so grossly out of proportion to the offence as to
+shock all ideas of justice, and to form a standing menace against the
+liberty of the press in Upper Canada. Yet Judge Sherwood, in pronouncing
+it, had expressly stated that it should be light, in consequence of its
+being awarded for a first conviction. It would be curious to know what
+punishment he would have awarded if the defendant had been previously
+convicted on a similar charge.
+
+All these circumstances went far to prove that the defendant had met
+with considerably more or less than justice. And there were other facts
+which had an ugly look. The defendant, as already mentioned, was a Roman
+Catholic; yet, out of a large and respectable population professing the
+same religious faith, not one was to be found on the panel, although at
+the Quarter Sessions, held a few days later, the number of Roman
+Catholics summoned to serve on juries was exceptionally large. The
+Sheriff who empanelled the jury was a political enemy of the accused. So
+was each individual member of the Grand Jury who found the true bill
+against him. So were a large majority of the petty jury by whom he was
+tried. So was the Attorney-General who prosecuted him. So were the two
+Judges who presided at the trial. Taken in connection with the specific
+facts mentioned in the preceding paragraph, these matters gave rise to
+many unpleasant conjectures, and it was no wonder that the public voice
+exclaimed against the verdict as an unrighteous one. It was no wonder
+that public meetings were held in some of the rural districts to protest
+against what was almost universally pronounced to be a tyrannical abuse
+of the process of the Courts. It was no wonder that hisses and groans
+were sometimes heard from quiet nooks and corners when the
+Attorney-General passed along the streets of York. And it was no wonder
+that, coming, as it did, on the heels of other trials that differed with
+it only in degree, the case of Francis Collins caused many theretofore
+loyal subjects to ask themselves whether their loyalty demanded that
+they should forever continue to bend their necks to the yoke of the
+oppressor. What was Collins's case to-day might possibly be theirs or
+their sons' on the morrow.
+
+On the 26th of November Collins sent in to the Lieutenant-Governor a
+pathetically-worded petition, in which the desolate condition of his
+young and helpless family was alluded to in brief but moving terms. It
+set out that, in consequence of his imprisonment, the business whereby
+he had supported his family was all but ruined, as its success depended
+solely on his personal exertions. Finally, he prayed to be restored to
+his liberty. Accompanying the petition were affidavits setting forth the
+admitted ignorance of one of the jurymen, and the pre-determination of
+the other two to convict. But the prisoner knocked at the gates of Sir
+John Colborne's heart in vain. The Lieutenant-Governor was by this time
+as completely hand and glove with the official party as his predecessor
+had ever been. Dr. Strachan and John Beverley Robinson managed him with
+great skill, and, by dint of much seeming deference, had him under
+complete control. Without being in the least aware of it, he was clay in
+the hands of the potter, who moulded him at will. As well might poor
+Collins have appealed for mercy to a half-famished tiger of the jungle
+as to these two Provincial representatives of law and gospel. His
+memorial, dated "York Gaol, November 26th, 1829," was not replied to
+until more than three weeks had elapsed, and when the answer came its
+contents indicated perfect callousness to the prisoner's unhappy
+condition. He was curtly informed that the Lieutenant-Governor could not
+think it right to comply with the petition, but that on the expiration
+of the specified term of imprisonment, any application which he might
+desire to make would be taken into consideration.
+
+From this time forward the prisoner seems to have resigned himself to
+his fate, although his friends did not relax their exertions on his
+behalf. It seemed useless to apply for a new trial, as the application
+would have to be made to either Sherwood or Hagerman, from neither of
+whom could he hope to obtain justice. The _Freeman_ continued to make
+its appearance, although its publication was necessarily carried on
+under great disadvantages. The editor's spirit was by no means broken,
+and he sent forth from his place of confinement a succession of
+editorials as bitterly vigorous as any previous efforts of his pen. He
+also wrote a series of open letters addressed to the Attorney-General,
+in which that official's career, from his infancy onwards, was reviewed
+with caustic bitterness.[129] These letters were published in successive
+numbers of the _Freeman_, and must be presumed to have been a source of
+great annoyance to the gentleman to whom they were directed. Though many
+of the statements therein were perverse and wilful distortions of facts,
+there was a large element of truth, and it would not have been easy to
+expose the falsehood without admitting much that could not be denied.
+The Attorney-General contemplated another prosecution, but thought
+better of it--not, it is to be presumed, from any want of
+vindictiveness, but because he felt that there was a limit to the public
+endurance, and that that limit had pretty nearly been reached.
+
+[Sidenote: 1829.]
+
+In January, 1829, the Collins case was taken into consideration by the
+Assembly. A Committee was appointed, and a rigid inquiry instituted into
+some of the most interesting features. Attorney-General Robinson was
+examined at considerable length. Judges Sherwood and Hagerman were
+summoned before the Committee, but both of them declined to answer any
+questions. A good many important facts were elicited, upon the strength
+of which an Address to his Excellency was passed, recapitulating the
+circumstances, and praying for a remission of the sentence. The reply
+was of the same inexorable character as that previously made to
+Collins's own petition. "It is my anxious wish," was the response of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, "to render service to the Province, by concurring
+with the Legislature in everything that can promote its peace,
+prosperity and happiness; and I regret exceedingly that the House of
+Assembly should have made an application to me which the obligation I am
+under to support the laws, and my duty to society, forbid me, I think,
+to comply with." For the information of the House, his Excellency
+forwarded a copy of a letter addressed by Justice Sherwood to the
+Governor's Secretary, embodying certain reasons for the judgment of the
+Court in the case. The Judge, it will be remembered, refused to assign
+any such reasons when questioned on the subject by the Committee of the
+House of Assembly. As to his right to so refuse there can hardly be much
+difference of opinion, but he would have been more consistent if he had
+also refused when applied to by the Lieutenant-Governor. After admitting
+the right to publish fair and candid opinions on the Government and
+constitution, the Judge declared that if a publisher "steps aside from
+the high road of decency and peaceable deportment, and adopts a course
+of public calumny and open abuse against the officers of Government
+generally, or particularly against the principal law officer of the
+Crown, in the legal discharge of his duty in the King's Courts, as the
+defendant did," then it was the Judge's conviction that the publisher so
+offending should be "punished to that extent which, in human
+probability, would prevent a recurrence of the offence." And yet this
+same Judge, in pronouncing sentence, had expressly declared that the
+sentence should be a light one, as it was the defendant's first offence.
+The conclusion of the letter showed plainly enough that a conference had
+taken place between Justices Sherwood and Hagerman before the imposition
+of the penalty. It proved, indeed, that the sentence was to be
+considered as the joint sentence of the two Judges. "Taking all the
+circumstances of the case into consideration," it ran, "Mr. Justice
+Hagerman and myself deemed the sentence which we passed on the defendant
+both proper and necessary for the public good, and what the case itself
+required."
+
+Two or three further appeals were made to the Lieutenant-Governor on the
+prisoner's behalf, all of which proved ineffectual. The matter was
+really in the hands of the Attorney-General himself, who was inexorable,
+and would be satisfied with nothing short of the fullest expiation. The
+Assembly meanwhile did not relax its efforts to obtain a commutation of
+the sentence. On the 12th of March an address to the King was passed by
+that body, whereby His Majesty was entreated "to extend to Francis
+Collins the royal clemency, by remitting the residue of his punishment."
+Not much was hoped for from this proceeding, as it was felt that the
+whole influence of the Executive would be put forward against it. The
+prisoner himself made up his mind to accept the inevitable, and to serve
+out at least the full term of the sentence imposed. He continued to
+supply editorial articles for his paper, couched in a strain which
+seemed to indicate his superiority to circumstances. But his buoyant
+spirit was measurably tamed by his long imprisonment, and it was
+remarked that he was never again quite the same man as before. Contrary
+to his anticipations, the address of the Assembly finally proved
+effective, and he was permitted to walk forth from the jail a free man.
+His paper came forth from week to week, but its tone was evidently
+modified and subdued. Something of the old spirit occasionally flashed
+forth, but fitfully and transitorily only, like the flicker of a lamp
+before its extinction. It was clear that the editor had not forgotten
+the indignity and mental suffering he had undergone, and throughout the
+remaining years of his life he always dwelt more or less in the shadow
+of the cold and solitary cell. The records of the jurisprudence of
+civilized countries contain few modern instances of the exaction of so
+severe a penalty for so insignificant an offence.
+
+The narrative has no further concern with Francis Collins, except to
+record that he continued to edit and publish the _Freeman_ down to 1834,
+when he fell a victim to the cholera invasion by which the Provincial
+capital was ravaged during that year. He died on the 2nd of September,
+and the _Freeman_ thenceforth ceased to exist.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[118] The Attorney-General, John Beverley Robinson, was ever valiant on
+the stronger side. He tried to induce the Assembly to compel Dr. Horne
+to insert in the next issue of the _Gazette_ a paragraph in the
+following words: "From the incompetence or negligence of our reporter,
+the debates of the House of Assembly inserted in the last number of this
+paper were so imperfect and so untruly reported that no dependence can
+be placed in their accuracy." The Assembly, however, were satisfied with
+the humiliation to which the Doctor had been subjected, and would not
+compel him to further self-abasement.
+
+[119] Mr. Fothergill held the office barely three years, when he was
+dismissed for voting with the Opposition in the Assembly against the
+Government. It was an anomaly to permit the King's Printer to hold a
+seat in the Legislative Assembly, and the Government could hardly be
+expected to tolerate opposition from such a quarter. Mr. Fothergill was
+the first incumbent of the office to develop liberal opinions. He was
+sufficiently deep in the secrets of the Administration to make him a
+dangerous opponent if he had felt disposed to wage war to the knife. Of
+this fact the Administration seem to have taken a sort of oblique
+cognizance. He had overdrawn his account by £360, and in settling with
+him this sum was not taken into consideration. In other words, the
+Government made him a present of £360. His successor in the office of
+King's Printer was Mr. Robert Stanton.
+
+[120] _Ante_, p. 171.
+
+[121] _Ante_, p. 13.
+
+[122] _Ante_, pp. 171-174.
+
+[123] _Ante_, p. 136.
+
+[124] The charge, as reported by Collins, will be found in the Appendix
+to the _Journals of Assembly_ for 1829, pp. 27, 28.
+
+[125] _Ante_, p. 42 et seq.
+
+[126] Sir Peregrine was gazetted to be "Lieutenant-Governor of Nova
+Scotia and its dependencies" on the 14th of August, 1828. On the same
+date Sir John Colborne was gazetted as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
+Canada, but he did not reach the seat of his Government until late in
+the autumn, and Sir Peregrine did not actually demit office until the
+arrival of his successor.
+
+[127] William Davenish and Andrew A. Thompson. The former stated that in
+the event of his being called as a juror he would "put it on to"
+Collins. See the _Freeman_ for Thursday December 25th, 1828.
+
+[128] See Appendix to _Journals of Assembly_ for 1829.
+
+[129] _Ante_, pp. 101, 102, note.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+LIGHTS--OLD AND NEW.
+
+
+In the preceding five chapters an attempt has been made to reduce to
+narrative form a great mass of heterogeneous material bearing upon the
+"Story" which it is the purpose of these volumes to relate. A
+considerable proportion of this material is to all practical intents
+inaccessible to the general reading public, being scattered here and
+there through old and long-forgotten newspapers, blue-books, pamphlets
+and unedited manuscripts. Yet some acquaintance with it is absolutely
+necessary to a clear comprehension of the deplorable state of things
+which existed in this Province during the régime of Sir Peregrine
+Maitland and his successor. No one who is ignorant of it is capable of
+expressing an intelligent opinion as to the merits or demerits of the
+Rebellion and those who took part therein. The principal facts and
+circumstances attendant upon some of the most flagrant exhibitions of
+Family Compact oppression which mark the fourth decade of Upper Canadian
+history have therefore been set forth in consecutive order, and with
+considerable minuteness. The picture thus afforded of Provincial-society
+and Government, though pregnant with instruction, is by no means an
+attractive one, and any person contemplating it for the first time may
+well be excused for questioning its perfect accuracy. The drawing, at
+times, seems to be too wavy in outline, and some of the details have the
+appearance of being painted in colours too glaring to be natural. But a
+strict examination of the properties will correct all such impressions.
+Varying themes require varying methods of treatment. There are certain
+features of landscape which must not be drawn with absolute sharpness of
+outline, and there are subjects to which neutral tints altogether fail
+to do justice. Of such a character are more than one of the scenes here
+reproduced. Independently of the mere method of treatment, the
+historical evidence is so clear and explicit that it can be questioned
+by no one who takes the trouble to examine it. As to mere matters of
+fact, there will be little or no difference of opinion among those who
+consult and compare the various authorities cited in the notes.[130]
+
+The cases hitherto recorded are merely a few out of many, but they
+suffice to tell the story of Executive cruelty and selfishness during
+the period referred to more effectively than it could possibly be told
+without their aid. To set forth with equal fulness of detail the
+circumstances attendant upon the persecution of Jonah Brown, Robert
+Randal, Hugh Christopher Thompson, and a round score of minor victims,
+would be to extend this work to an interminable length. The materials
+for a work written on such a plan are abundant, as they include all the
+facts arising out of the stupendous iniquity sought to be perpetrated
+under the guise of the Alien Bill. The particulars connected with the
+attempt to force this infamous measure upon the people of Upper Canada
+cannot be inquired into in these pages. Sufficient to say that it was a
+most dishonest and unstatesmanlike attempt on the part of the Executive
+to get rid of political opponents by repudiating the well-understood
+obligations of their predecessors in office: an attempt to dispossess
+persons who, relying upon the faith of the Government of the day, had
+settled in the country and taken up lands, to which they had received
+titles, and upon which they and their parents had in many cases resided
+ever since Governor Simcoe's time. The attempt failed through the
+vigilance of the Opposition and the interference of the Imperial
+Government, but it proved the length to which the official party were
+prepared to go in order to maintain the existing order of things. It was
+of a piece with the rest of the Executive policy, which seemed to wax
+more and more exacting and one-sided with lapse of time. It was
+abundantly clear to many persons unconnected with the Reform party that
+there was no justice in the land for a Reformer, and that the oligarchy
+by whom the country was dominated cared nothing for its best interests.
+Constitutional liberty was systematically trampled under foot. The
+oft-quoted boast of the Founder of the Province about the Upper Canadian
+constitution being "the very image and transcript of that of Great
+Britain"[131] seemed the hollowest mockery when viewed in the light of
+events which had become a matter of frequent occurrence.
+
+It was not only to the thumbs of political opponents that the Executive
+screw was applied. When occasion arose it was applied with surprising
+energy and vigour to the thumbs of those who had long been obedient
+slaves of the Administration. Nothing more clearly shows the shameless
+exercise of power on the part of the faction: nothing more clearly
+proves the complete subordination of their tools, and the depths of
+degradation to which public men could be made to stoop: than an episode
+which occurred during the Parliamentary session of 1828. The persons
+chiefly involved were the Hon. James Baby, who was himself
+Inspector-General of Public Accounts and senior member of the Executive
+Council, and ex-Chief Justice Powell. It has already been explained that
+the first-named personage had for some time past ceased to carry any
+great weight at the Council Board, where he had been to a considerable
+extent superseded by his juniors.[132] His seniority was merely in point
+of time, and his influence on the policy of the Government was as
+insignificant as it possibly could be, consistently with the position
+which he held. He keenly felt his having been, so to speak, thrust into
+the background, and in several instances showed a disposition to assert
+himself by acting independently. A similar feeling, but milder in
+degree, animated the breast of the ex-Chief Justice, whose place as
+principal lay adviser of the Lieutenant-Governor had long since been
+taken by Attorney-General Robinson. During the session of 1823-4 he had
+seen fit to protest against a School Bill passed by the Assembly, under
+which Dr. Strachan was intended to and did actually derive a sinecure
+salary of three hundred pounds a year. His protest, at his own urgent
+request, was entered on the journal, where it seemed likely to remain a
+perpetual memento of his independence and of the servility of his
+colleagues. But this was by no means desired by the Lieutenant-Governor
+and the Attorney-General. Pressure was brought to bear upon the
+recalcitrant member, under the influence of which he was forced to
+succumb. He consented that the protest should be erased from the
+journal, and it was erased accordingly.[133] But a still more sickening
+humiliation was in store for him, as well as for the venerable Mr. Baby.
+
+During the session of 1828 several petitions were received by the
+Assembly praying for relief against a law passed in 1825, whereby
+certain taxes had been imposed on wild lands.[134] Among other
+grievances complained of was the manner in which the law had been
+passed. It was distinctly alleged in one of the petitions that the
+measure had been pushed through both Houses with too great rapidity, and
+that most culpable means had been employed in order to procure the
+assent of certain members to whom it was objectionable. The Assembly
+entertained the petitions, and appointed a Committee to inquire into the
+matter. A number of witnesses were examined, and some astounding facts
+elicited. The allegations as to undue influence were proved by the
+clearest evidence, and by witnesses who had generally been accustomed to
+act with the Government. One of these was our somewhile acquaintance,
+the Hon. William Dickson, who, as has previously been seen, was the
+owner of an immense tract of land,[135] and was consequently seriously
+affected by the law enacted in 1825. His evidence, as printed in the
+Appendix to the Journals of the Assembly,[136] stands as a perpetual
+indictment against Sir Peregrine Maitland and the venal clique by whom
+he was surrounded. It appears that from the time when the Bill relating
+to the taxation of wild lands was first introduced into the Upper House
+it was an unpopular measure, and that it was opposed by a majority of
+the members. Most of the latter were large landholders by virtue of
+their membership, and some of them had acquired additional blocks by
+purchase. The obnoxious Bill was opposed at every stage, and there
+seemed to be no possibility of its becoming law. Its defeat being
+regarded as inevitable, its opponents to some extent relaxed their
+efforts, and congratulated each other upon their apparent success. On
+the third reading, however, Mr. Dickson found, to his supreme
+astonishment and disgust, that some of the members upon whom he had
+relied for votes presented an entire change of front, and appeared in
+the _role_ of supporters of the measure. It was noticeable that all the
+converts, or perverts, held offices under the Government. The Hon. John
+Henry Dunn, Provincial Receiver-General, took a different course. He had
+been among the most determined opponents of the Bill, and had declared
+that it would never pass.[137] He had too much self-respect, after
+taking such a stand, to give the lie to all his protestations by voting
+for the measure, so he quietly staid at home on a pretence of
+sickness.[138] Referring to those who took a more determined stand, by
+voting contrary to their pledges, Mr. Dickson says: "This change, I am
+satisfied, arose from intimidation by the Local Government, who seemed
+determined to carry the measure at any sacrifice. It was most painfully
+manifest from their countenances and demeanour that the change was not
+from conviction, but from coercion. The business of the Legislative
+Council was suspended for two hours for a meeting of the Executive
+Council. And I do believe that at that Council the members of the
+Legislative Council holding offices were constrained at the peril of
+their situations to vote for the measures they had a week before
+decidedly opposed. Upon those members returning that day to their
+legislative duties there was a change of voting, and one of those who
+staid away on pretence of sickness was, to my knowledge, able to
+attend." The reference here is presumably to Mr. Dunn. Mr. Dickson's
+evidence then goes on to say that about ten minutes before the vote was
+taken, a message was delivered to the Hon. James Baby that Major Hillier
+wished to speak to him. Major Hillier was the Lieutenant-Governor's most
+confidential secretary, and was employed in numberless little
+transactions requiring the exercise of coolness and tact. In response to
+the message Mr. Baby left his place in the House, and did not return for
+some time. Upon his return from the interview to his accustomed seat he
+was evidently much confused and agitated. Being spoken to by Mr. Dickson
+he found it impossible to conceal his agitation, but told his
+interlocutor, to that gentleman's great astonishment, that he must vote
+for the Bill. When the time came he accordingly voted with the
+Government, and the Bill was carried by a small majority, Messieurs
+Dickson and Clark entering a determined protest against it. "After the
+passing of the Bill," continues Mr. Dickson, "the Hon. Mr. Baby, after
+leaving the House, put his hand upon his heart, and, with reference to
+his change of conduct on the measure, said something about his children,
+expressive of his regret at the necessity which drove him to the
+abandonment of the course he had pursued."
+
+Mr. Powell, who was then Speaker of the Legislative Council, was
+evidently subjected to similar influences. Like Mr. Baby, he had been
+strenuous in his opposition to the Bill, and had even gone so far as to
+speak harshly of some of those who promoted it. But he was speedily made
+to know his place, and the tenure by which he held it. During a portion
+of the two hours when the business of the Legislative Council was
+suspended he was in secret conference with Major Hillier and one or more
+members of the Executive Council.[139] When he took his seat upon the
+resumption of the business of the day, it was noticeable that he, as
+well as Baby, was labouring under undue embarrassment and agitation. It
+was beyond any reasonable doubt that they had been shamelessly coerced,
+and had been compelled to choose between voting as they were commanded
+or being dismissed from their respective offices. Upon being questioned
+by Mr. Dickson, Powell admitted that he had changed his opinion, and
+added, in seeming sincerity, that he had received new light on the
+matter within the last ten minutes. Such an exchange of an old lamp for
+a new one must surely have been the work of some malignant and monstrous
+genie at the Council Board.
+
+It should be mentioned that Dickson's evidence, so far as "extraordinary
+and undue influence by the Local Government" is concerned, is fully
+confirmed by the evidence of the Hon. Thomas Clark, who was also a
+member of the Upper House, and was present at the proceedings above
+described.
+
+There could not well be any more conclusive proof of the
+unconstitutional and corrupt manner in which the Government was carried
+on during Sir Peregrine Maitland's time than is afforded by the
+circumstances just narrated. They read like a chapter out of the
+political history of England during the last century. The methods
+employed by Walpole exhibit nothing baser or more repulsive than these.
+His aphorism about "every one of them" having his price might well have
+been echoed by Sir Peregrine, so far as the Legislative Council was
+concerned, with the addition that the price in Upper Canada was
+sometimes ridiculously low. The persons who were guilty of these gross
+violations of the constitution, to say nothing of the commonest
+principles of honesty, were incessantly prating of their devoted loyalty
+to the Crown. Yet it is plain enough that their fealty was always
+subservient to what they deemed to be their personal interests. This was
+as clearly apparent in 1837 as it had been in 1828. When, a few years
+later,[140] a crisis arose in which they were compelled to choose
+between those interests and their devotion to the Crown, it was once
+more abundantly manifest that theirs was the veriest lip-loyalty. The
+burning of the Parliament Buildings at Montreal was as direct an act of
+treason as was the affair at Montgomery's Farm.
+
+[Sidenote: 1829.]
+
+In 1828 there was a general election, in the course of which the
+Executive party made tremendous exertions to regain a predominating
+influence in the Assembly. They perceived plainly enough that a hostile
+majority in the Lower House must in the end prove fatal to them. They
+might temporarily set it at naught, through their control over the
+Legislative Council and the absence of ministerial responsibility, but
+they could not hope to keep up such a farce for all time. This knowledge
+impelled them to adopt every means which their ingenuity could devise to
+secure the return of candidates who might be relied upon to support
+their policy. Their success was by no means proportionate to their
+efforts. When the returns were all in it appeared that the Opposition
+had rather gained than lost by the contest. Two staunch members of the
+Compact were defeated in what had theretofore been regarded as safe Tory
+boroughs, and Attorney-General Robinson's majority in the Town of York
+was greatly diminished. All the most prominent Reformers were returned,
+and at the opening of the session on the 8th of January, 1829, Rolph,
+Bidwell, Perry, Matthews and Dr. Baldwin took their seats on the
+Opposition benches. To their number was now added William Lyon
+Mackenzie, who had been returned for the County of York. His election
+was a surprise to the Government party, and was pronounced by them to be
+an everlasting disgrace to the intelligent and populous constituency
+which had returned him. He repaid such compliments as these with others
+of a like character, and gave back as much as he received, if not with
+usury, at least with fair interest.
+
+Mr. Bidwell was elected to the Speaker's chair by the new Assembly, and
+on every test question the Government were left in a hopeless minority.
+The vote on the Address in Reply will afford some clue to the political
+complexion of the House. It referred to the Lieutenant-Governor's
+advisers as having deeply wounded the feelings and injured the best
+interests of the country; yet it was carried with only one dissentient
+vote--that of J. H. Samson, one of the members for Hastings. Reform was
+evidently in the ascendant throughout the Province; but, as during the
+preceding Parliament, the exertions of the majority in the Assembly
+could do little for Reform under the existing state of the constitution.
+The Lieutenant-Governor responded with curt ambiguity to the Assembly's
+Address, and cemented his alliance with the Compact by refusing to grant
+the prayer of the petition for the release of Collins. The Government
+submitted to one defeat after another with dogged sullenness, but with
+undiminished contempt for the idea that successive defeats imposed upon
+them any obligation to resign.
+
+The session of 1829 was a noisy and quarrelsome one. Hardly had
+Mackenzie taken his seat before he began that system of inquiry and
+agitation which he thenceforward pursued throughout the whole of his
+career as a member of Parliament. He instituted an investigation into
+the management of the Provincial Post Office, conducted an inquiry as to
+the privileges of members of the Assembly, and as to the behaviour of
+certain returning officers, and generally busied himself with important
+matters of detail. He displayed precisely the same characteristics as a
+legislator that he had displayed as the conductor of a newspaper--great
+energy and vigilance, accompanied by a critical and fault-finding
+spirit, and an almost entire absence of tact and discretion. He gave
+wanton and unnecessary offence to those who differed from him in
+opinion, not only on important political questions, but even on
+comparatively insignificant matters of every-day occurrence. His
+coadjutors found that, independently of the sincerity or insincerity of
+his intentions, his judgment was not to be trusted. He could be misled
+by any _ignis fatuus_ that displayed a bright light, and was led into
+many a Serbonian bog from which he was not extricated without serious
+difficulty. Some men have an unerring instinct which, even in the
+absence of calm judgment or mature reflection, commonly leads them in
+the right path. Mackenzie's first conceptions, on the contrary, were
+almost invariably erroneous; and he had a perverse habit of frequently
+clinging to an idea once formed, even when experience and deliberation
+had proved it to be unsound.[141] At other times his opinions were as
+changeable as the hue of the chameleon. In short, he was a creature of
+impulse, and too often acted upon the motto of "First fire--then
+inquire." This was perhaps a misfortune rather than a fault, and under
+ordinary circumstances would have merited lightness of touch on the part
+of the historian. But Mr. Mackenzie is identified with a movement which
+forms a conspicuous and dramatic passage in Upper Canadian chronicles,
+and in justice to others it becomes highly necessary to form a correct
+estimate of his personality. This is all the more essential from the
+fact that he himself at different times gave various and conflicting
+accounts of the episode with which his name is inseparably blended,
+which accounts have hitherto been the only sources of information drawn
+upon by so-called historians. All the references to the Upper Canadian
+Rebellion to be found in current histories are traceable, directly or
+indirectly, to Mackenzie himself, and all are built upon false
+hypotheses and perverted representations of events. To Mackenzie, more
+than to any other person, or to all other persons combined, are to be
+attributed all the worst consequences which flowed from that
+feebly-planned and ill-starred movement. All the facts point to the
+conclusion that if he had been content to play the patient and
+subordinate part properly belonging to him, the whole course of his
+subsequent life might have been shaped much more smoothly, and he might
+have been saved the most serious of the privations which he was
+compelled to undergo. Much sorrow and suffering would also have been
+spared to others. The injury that may be done in a primitive community
+by a man who combines good intentions and great energy with excessive
+obstinacy, misguided ambition, and perversity of judgment, is simply
+incalculable. The subsequent course of the narrative will be found to
+fully bear out these reflections, and to point a moral even where there
+is no intention to moralize.
+
+Beyond the perpetual friction which was kept up between the Executive
+body and the Opposition, the session of 1829 was barren of events of
+permanent political importance. The Executive was tolerably independent
+of the popular branch of the Legislature, for it retained the casual and
+territorial revenues, and could get along without an annual vote for
+supplies. No fewer than twenty-one Bills passed by the Assembly were
+rejected by the Legislative Council during the session. "The Province,"
+says Mr. MacMullen,[142] "presented the unconstitutional spectacle of a
+Government requiring no moneys from the Assembly, and a Legislative
+Council of a totally different political complexion from the popular
+branch of the Legislature. No restraint could now be imposed on the
+Executive by an annual vote of supplies. It was completely independent
+of the people." And it declared its independence in the most emphatic
+manner by inserting in one of the Lieutenant-Governor's messages a
+direct intimation that the Assembly would not be asked to trouble itself
+about ways and means.
+
+Certain episodes occurred during this session which are deserving of
+something more than passing reference, not only as indicative of the
+manners of those times, but because they concern personages whose
+achievements were fated to occupy much space in the annals of our
+country. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne, had not long been
+installed in office before he was exhibited in effigy in the streets of
+Hamilton. Certain Tories who were believed to have taken part in the
+exhibition openly asserted that the Hamilton Reformers were responsible
+for it. It was at the same time alleged that there was a plot on the
+part of the Reformers to release Francis Collins from York jail by force
+of arms. The two stories emanated from a common source, and as they were
+without any foundation in truth the Reform leaders in the Assembly
+deemed it proper to institute an inquiry into the matter. Upon motion of
+Mr. John Rolph a Committee of Investigation was appointed, with power to
+send for persons and papers. It was known that Allan Napier MacNab, who
+was then an impecunious young lawyer in Hamilton, could give certain
+important information about the affair, and he was summoned to appear
+before the Committee during the second week in February. He obeyed the
+summons, so far as presenting an appearance was concerned, but he
+refused to reply to certain questions put to him, and conducted himself
+with great insolence and want of discretion. Being again summoned before
+the Committee, to answer for his conduct, he read a written defence
+which had been prepared for him, and which rather aggravated his offence
+than otherwise. Accordingly, on motion of Dr. Baldwin, seconded by
+George Rolph, the future baronet was committed to York jail, under
+warrant of the Speaker, during the pleasure of the House. After
+remaining in custody about ten days, Mr. MacNab addressed a letter to
+the House which reads very much like a repetition of his former
+contempt, but which the Assembly seem to have construed very charitably,
+as on the 3rd of March a motion was carried for his discharge, and he
+was set at liberty.
+
+This brief term of imprisonment, which in all lasted less than a
+fortnight, was the turning point in the reckless young lawyer's career.
+Up to that time he had been nobody, and had had no apparent prospect of
+ever attaining to any importance. But from this time forward the
+official party regarded him in the light of a martyr who had suffered in
+the good cause. They feasted and lionized him, and did their utmost to
+advance his fortunes. At the elections which took place during the
+following year they returned him as one of the representatives of the
+County of Wentworth in the Assembly, where, though he lacked sufficient
+ballast to display anything like statesmanship, he made considerable
+noise, and erelong became a notable personage. He was voluble, and made
+many verbose speeches, the matter of which never rose above the veriest
+commonplace, but as it was always charged with emphatic High Toryism it
+was applauded to the echo by the official party. Eventually, as every
+Canadian knows, he obtained high distinction and eminence, and had
+abundant reason to bless the discipline which he had received at the
+hands of a Parliamentary Committee. But for that discipline he might
+have lived and died an obscure country lawyer. To that discipline he was
+indebted for all the honours which subsequently descended upon him. By
+its aid he successively became a member of the Upper Canadian
+Parliament, Speaker of the Assembly, Commander-in-Chief of the Upper
+Canadian land forces during the Rebellion, Knight, Queen's Counsel,
+member of the United Parliament of Canada, leader of the Tory Party in
+the Canadian Legislature, Premier, President of the Council and Minister
+of Agriculture, Baronet, honorary Colonel in the British Army,
+Aide-de-Camp to the Queen, Speaker of the Legislative Council. He also
+became father-in-law to a peer of the realm, and died Sir Allan MacNab
+of Dundurn. Certain passages of his life will form the subject of future
+consideration. Meanwhile it will be sufficient to remark that each
+successive link in the long chain of his triumphs may be distinctly
+traced to his supposed martyrdom at the hands of the Reform majority in
+the Upper Canadian Assembly in 1829.
+
+Another personage cited to appear before the Assembly's Committee on the
+same investigation was the Hon. H. J. Boulton, Solicitor-General. He
+displayed the same reticence as young MacNab, and refused to reply to
+certain questions put to him by the Chairman. He was soon taught that
+the high position which he occupied, backed, as it was, by the support
+of the party in power, could not shield him from the consequences of his
+refusal. Upon motion of Dr. Baldwin a resolution was adopted that the
+Solicitor-General had been guilty of a high contempt and breach of the
+privileges of the House. He was placed at the bar, where he showed more
+sense of propriety than had been shown by his predecessor. He had no
+desire to wear a crown of martyrdom, and did his utmost to purge himself
+of his contempt. He pleaded that he had intended no disrespect to the
+Committee, nor any breach of the privileges of the Assembly, and
+concluded by saying that he stood ready to answer, if the House so
+desired. The House acted magnanimously, not choosing to humiliate a
+beaten man any farther than was necessary for the due vindication of its
+own authority. John Rolph, seconded by Dr. Ambrose Blacklock, one of the
+members for Stormont, moved that the Solicitor-General be admonished by
+the Speaker, and discharged on payment of fees to the Sergeant-at-Arms.
+The motion was carried, and it only remained for the culprit to submit
+to the mild discipline which he had been adjudged to bear.
+
+But there was reason for believing that that discipline would be a
+trying ordeal for the Solicitor-General. The Speaker who was to
+pronounce the admonition was no commonplace piece of clay, trained to
+the set phrase of office, like the previous occupant had been. He was no
+less a personage than Marshall Spring Bidwell, who, with perhaps the
+single exception of John Rolph, was the most eloquent and powerful
+speaker in the Province. When moved to righteous anger, he was capable
+of administering a scorching reproof, and if a man is ever justified in
+taking his antagonist at a disadvantage, ample justification was to be
+found in the present instance. Mr. Bidwell had reason to hate the very
+name of Boulton, and might well be expected to avail himself of such an
+opportunity of darting the hot iron into his enemy's soul. There was a
+feud of long standing between the Bidwells and the Boultons. The
+Bidwells had sustained serious wrong and insult at the hands of the
+Boultons, and the Boultons hated the Bidwells with the hatred which
+small natures always feel towards higher natures which they have
+wronged. It was a Boulton who had been despatched to Massachusetts in
+1821, to hunt up evidence as to the alleged misconduct of the elder
+Bidwell.[143] It was this same Henry John Boulton who had joined with
+his friend the Attorney-General in abusing and maligning the elder
+Bidwell during the election campaign of 1821, and afterwards. It was he
+who had put forth all the little strength that was in him to assist his
+party in bringing about the expulsion of the elder Bidwell from the
+Assembly.[144] He had done his utmost, and successfully, to induce
+members of Parliament to vote for the statute which had forever closed
+the doors of the Upper Canadian Legislature to the ex-member of
+Congress.[145] He had opposed the return of the younger Bidwell to the
+Assembly, and more recently, though he was not then a member of the
+House, he had done what he could to keep him out of the Speaker's Chair
+by influencing members in favour of John Willson. He had lost no
+opportunity of making himself personally offensive to Mr. Bidwell, whose
+abilities he envied, and whose character he was utterly incapable of
+appreciating. It will thus be seen that all the attendant circumstances
+combined to make Mr. Bidwell hate and contemn his adversary. If he
+failed to do so the explanation was to be found in his own gentle
+nature, and not in the lessons of humiliation which the Boultons had
+endeavoured to impose upon him.
+
+It was a memorable scene when the Solicitor-General stood up, on the
+20th of February, to receive the admonition which he had been adjudged
+to endure. He was in a state of tremor, for he was conscious of the
+disadvantage of his position, and he dreaded the power of the Speaker's
+tongue. His friends also felt much solicitude on his account, for they
+knew how little consideration he deserved at the hands of the man who
+now had him in his power. For some moments a solemn silence reigned
+supreme. Then the Speaker's voice was heard; low at first, but steadily
+rising into clear and impressive tones which made every word sink deep
+into the hearts of the listeners. And the words themselves: how
+different from what the expectant personage at the bar had looked for!
+Nothing of malice or revenge there. Nothing but quiet dignity and
+forbearance. No mere spectator could have told whether the offender was
+a personal friend or an enemy of the Speaker. The voice was full of
+feeling, but utterly devoid of passion or malevolence. The power of
+Parliament was fully vindicated, yet the transgressor escaped without
+any unnecessary laceration of his pride. "By every member of the
+community," proceeded Mr. Bidwell, "a ready and cheerful respect should
+be shown towards the House of Assembly, who represent the people of the
+Province, whom the constitution has entrusted with important privileges
+for the benefit of their constituents, and who are amenable to them for
+all that they do. But it might in a peculiar degree have been expected
+of you, whose duty it is to enforce submission to the laws and respect
+for the institutions of the country." Here Mr. Boulton bowed his head as
+if in mute assent. He was then informed that the House could not permit
+this formal and gratuitous denial of its authority to pass unnoticed.
+"It is important," continued the Speaker, "that by its proceedings
+against you a warning should be given, before others are led by the
+influence of your sentiments and conduct to dispute an authority which
+the House is bound to vindicate and enforce. It is necessary that it
+should go thus far; but it gives me great satisfaction to observe that
+its duty does not compel, nor its inclination induce it, in your case,
+to go any farther than is requisite to attain this object; and, finding
+from your answer that you are now disposed to treat its privileges with
+just and becoming respect, and to defer your own private opinion to the
+judgment of that body whose constitutional right it is to decide upon
+its own privileges, it is willing to dismiss you with no other
+punishment than this admonition from its Speaker. This moderation is a
+proof that these privileges have been safely lodged by the constitution
+in its hands, and that they will never be used in a wanton or oppressive
+manner. It is by the order and in the name of the House that I thus
+admonish you, and direct that the Sergeant-at-Arms do now discharge you
+from custody." He was discharged accordingly, and left the house
+profoundly affected by the magnanimity of the man whom he had so
+grievously injured. One who seems to have watched him as he took his
+departure has recorded that the Boulton crest never hung so low as at
+that hour.[146] Nothing could have more clearly proved the greatness of
+soul of Mr. Bidwell than this episode; nothing could have more
+effectually illustrated his capacity to rise superior to all merely
+personal considerations when entrusted with the discharge of a public
+duty. The London _Times_ published a full report of his admonition,
+which it pronounced to be the best paper of the kind on record.
+
+During the following summer an event took place which removed
+Attorney-General Robinson from the atmosphere of the Assembly, and was
+the indirect means of introducing Robert Baldwin to public life. This
+was the appointment of Mr. Robinson to the place of Chief Justice of
+Upper Canada. The office had just become vacant through the retirement
+of Chief Justice Campbell, who had received the honour of knighthood
+during his absence in England. Mr. Robinson thus obtained the reward
+which he had long coveted, and which his devotion to successive
+Lieutenant-Governors had richly earned. There was some doubt as to the
+strict legality of his passing directly from the office of
+Attorney-General to that of Chief Justice. To remove the doubt he
+accepted the position of Registrar of the County of Kent, which he
+resigned after holding it a few days. His appointment to the Chief
+Justiceship was made on the 13th of July, but owing to the delay
+occasioned by his acceptance of the inferior office it was confirmed and
+re-dated on the 3rd of August following. He then took his seat on the
+bench, and was destined to remain there for more than thirty-three
+years. As Chief Justice he succeeded to the Presidency of the Executive
+Council, and at the opening of the session in the beginning of 1830 he
+was nominated Speaker of the Upper House. His removal from the Assembly
+therefore did not remove him from the political arena, and for years
+afterwards he continued, in conjunction with his friend and quondam
+tutor Dr. Strachan, to direct the policy of the Government as completely
+as he had done for some years previously. He was succeeded in the office
+of Attorney-General by Henry John Boulton. The temporary purpose for
+which Mr. Hagerman had been appointed to the bench, in place of Mr.
+Justice Willis, having been fully effected, that gentleman now
+threw off his official robes and succeeded his friend Boulton as
+Solicitor-General.
+
+Mr. Robinson's elevation to the bench left a vacancy in the
+representation of the Town of York. This vacancy young Robert Baldwin
+successfully aspired to fill. At the last general election, in
+conjunction with J. E. Small, he had unsuccessfully contested the County
+of York with W. L. Mackenzie and Jesse Ketchum. He was now opposed in
+the town by the same individual who had so lately been his coadjutor in
+the county. Mr. Small was defeated, but, at his instance, the return was
+declared void, the writ for the election having inadvertently been
+issued by the Lieutenant-Governor instead of by the Speaker of the
+Assembly, as in strictness it should have been. A new writ was issued,
+and Mr. Baldwin again contested the seat, his opponent now being the
+Sheriff of the County, William Botsford Jarvis. The Sheriff naturally
+enjoyed many advantages in such a contest, but he was defeated by a
+considerable majority, and on the opening of the session in the
+following January, Robert Baldwin, then in his twenty-sixth year, took
+his seat in Parliament for the first time. He however did not make any
+conspicuous figure during the session. He had already fully imbibed the
+idea that a responsible Executive was the great want of Upper Canadian
+polity, and took comparatively little interest in the subordinate
+questions of the day. He could see no good purpose to be served by
+recording successive majorities against the Government, so long as the
+members of that Government could retain their offices, together with the
+favour of the Lieutenant-Governor, in spite of any vote which the
+Assembly might see fit to record. He made no remarkable speeches, and
+seemed rather disposed to remain in the background. It so happened that
+he did not again have an opportunity of winning honours in the
+Legislature for many years, as, in consequence of the death of the king,
+a dissolution of Parliament took place before the time had arrived for
+the meeting of another session, and Robert Baldwin was one of the many
+Reform candidates who were beaten at the general elections which ensued.
+
+There are few facts worthy of record in connection with the session of
+1830. In the Speech from the Throne the Lieutenant-Governor was able to
+announce that the revenue at the disposal of the Crown had been found
+sufficient to meet the requirements of the civil list, and that there
+still remained a considerable surplus in the Provincial Treasury. The
+Assembly's Address in Reply once more drew his Excellency's attention to
+the want of confidence felt in the advisers by whom he was surrounded.
+"We still feel unabated solicitude about the administration of public
+justice," it ran, "and entertain a settled conviction that the
+continuance about your Excellency of those advisers who from the unhappy
+policy they pursued have long deservedly lost the confidence of the
+country, is highly inexpedient, and calculated seriously to weaken the
+expectations of the people from the impartial and disinterested justice
+of His Majesty's Government." The response to this intimation is
+probably the briefest official deliverance of the kind on record.
+Divested of the formal commencement, it contained exactly six short
+words: "I thank you for your Address." The number of Bills passed by the
+Assembly and rejected by the Upper House during the session was
+twenty-seven. In addition to these there were several Bills which
+originated in the Assembly, but were afterwards rejected by that House
+by reason of amendments made to them by the Legislative Council.[147]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[130] It has not been thought desirable to incumber the text with
+footnotes except where they seemed to be needed for purposes of
+elucidation; but in every matter of real importance, where the reader of
+average information and intelligence may reasonably be supposed to be in
+doubt as to the source of the narrative, care has been taken to indicate
+the authority.
+
+[131] _Ante_, p. 48.
+
+[132] _Ante_, p. 140.
+
+[133] See _Seventh Report of Grievance Committee_, p. xxxvii. The School
+Act referred to was 4 George IV. cap. 8, passed on the 19th of January,
+1824. John Henry Dunn, Receiver-General of the Province, seems also to
+have protested against the measure, and to have consented, under
+pressure, to the erasure of his protest. See the evidence of the Hon.
+William Dickson and the Hon. Thomas Clark, referred to in the ensuing
+paragraph of the text.
+
+[134] The royal assent to this Act was promulgated by a proclamation
+bearing date April 4th, 1825.
+
+[135] _Ante_, p. 14.
+
+[136] See _Report on Petitions against Wild Lands Assessment Law_, in
+Appendix to _Journals of Assembly_ for 1828, p. 107 _et seq._
+
+[137] See _The Split in the Legislative Council_, by F. C. [? Francis
+Collins], p. 7.
+
+[138] _Ib._, p. 8.
+
+[139] _The Split in the Legislative Council_, ubi supra, p. 10.
+
+[140] In 1849.
+
+[141] Such, as far as I have been able to learn, was the conviction of
+all Mackenzie's contemporaries, even of those most favourably disposed,
+including those who were thrown into the most intimate relations with
+him, and were bound to him by close ties. One of the foremost of these,
+in a conversation with me a short time since, remarked: "Mackenzie
+generally meant well, but he was unpractical and unmanageable. I knew
+him intimately from his boyhood, and I am compelled to say that whenever
+he was in the least excited he acted like a spoiled child. He underwent
+no change in this respect, and was the same in youth, manhood and old
+age. A more unfit person to be entrusted with the management of any
+great enterprise, or with the control of his fellow-creatures, I can
+hardly conceive." I have abundant written testimony to the same effect.
+
+[142] _History of Canada_, p. 370.
+
+[143] _Ante_, p. 100.
+
+[144] _Ante_, p. 101.
+
+[145] _Ib._
+
+[146] _The Hamilton Outrage_, by "Vindex," p. 9. York, 1829.
+
+[147] For the titles of these measures, see the _Seventh Report of
+Grievance Committee_, pp. 266, 267.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE.
+
+
+For several years before this time a quiet and almost imperceptible
+change had been taking place in Upper Canadian politics. On one side was
+the old High Tory or Family Compact party, who revelled in the spoils of
+office, and held the representative of Majesty in the hollow of their
+hands. The policy of this body was unchanged and unchangeable. The
+Reform party, though it had not been in existence more than six years,
+already began to show symptoms of want of cohesion. The men of moderate
+views, like the Rolphs, the Baldwins and the Bidwells, composed fully
+two-thirds of the entire number. The ultra-Radicals, composed for the
+most part of unlettered farmers and recently-arrived immigrants, began
+to show evidence of a desire to rally themselves under the banner of
+Mackenzie, who, through the combined influence of his paper and his
+election to Parliament, had of late come prominently before the public.
+A large and intelligent body of electors had however grown up within the
+last few years who, while they professed Conservative principles, were
+disgusted with the greedy, self-seeking Compact, whose practices they
+held in utter disdain. They held politicians of the Mackenzie stamp in
+still greater abhorrence, to which was added a large modicum of
+contempt. With the moderate Reformers, on the other hand, they had much
+in common. Many of them approved of the doctrine of Responsible
+Government, and almost all of them desired to see the end of Compact
+domination. At the last general election their votes had been very much
+divided. But they were now disposed to hold aloof from the Reformers in
+consequence of the latter's being nominally of the same party as the
+Mackenzie Radicals, who had only recently come into existence. The
+exercise of a little diplomacy and mutual forbearance at this time
+might, it is believed, have effected that union between these two
+classes of persons which was actually accomplished about a quarter of a
+century later. Such an union would have made the united party all
+powerful. It would have swept away the Compact, together with the
+long-standing abuses which had grown up under their rule, and the united
+party would quietly have assumed the reins of power with an overwhelming
+majority at its back. There would thus have been no _raison d'être_ for
+the Radical element, which would necessarily have been absorbed, or
+would at least have ceased to be an important factor in political life.
+
+These things, however, were not to be. Neither of the parties primarily
+interested made any advances to the other, and each was left to pursue
+its own line of policy. As a consequence the moderate Conservatives
+henceforth voted as one man. They saw the Radical element assuming an
+importance which, as they believed, was fraught with far greater danger
+to the commonwealth than was likely to arise from the continued
+ascendency of the Compact. They gave the official party a qualified
+support, merely because they regarded them as the less of two evils, and
+their votes at the general election of 1830 resulted in the return of a
+considerable majority of candidates favourable to the official body.
+
+[Sidenote: 1831.]
+
+The Reformers could no longer hope to obtain justice, even in the
+Assembly, where they had exerted a predominating influence during the
+last two Parliaments. So long as they had had control of the Lower House
+they had possessed the shadow of power without the reality. Even the
+shadow had been better than nothing; but of this shadow they were
+henceforth to be deprived. They had not only sustained numerical defeat.
+Some of their most trusted leaders had been beaten at the polls, and
+were no longer able to raise their voices in Parliament. Robert
+Baldwin's defeat in York has already been mentioned.[148] His father had
+suffered a similar fate in Norfolk. In Middlesex John Rolph and Captain
+Matthews had been succeeded by Colonel Mahlon Burwell and another
+adherent of the Compact. Lennox and Addington had again returned Bidwell
+and Perry, but, owing to the changed complexion of the House, there was
+no possibility of the former's re-election to the Speaker's chair. Among
+other triumphs scored by the official party were the return of the
+Solicitor-General, Christopher A. Hagerman, for Kingston; of the
+Attorney-General, H. J. Boulton, for Niagara; of William B. Robinson
+(brother of the Chief Justice) for Simcoe, and of Allan N. MacNab for
+Wentworth. York still remained true to Mackenzie, and, as will presently
+be seen, his presence in a House composed mainly of political opponents
+was destined to lead to serious complications. Upon the assembling of
+the Legislature early in the following year, Archibald McLean, the
+official candidate for the Speakership, was elected by a majority of
+twelve votes. No adherent of the official party could have been more
+acceptable to the Reformers than Mr. McLean, who was a gentleman of high
+standing at the bar, and who personally enjoyed great popularity. He sat
+for the County of Stormont, which he had represented for many years,
+during all of which period he had maintained friendly personal relations
+with the members of the Opposition. Great confidence was felt in his
+personal integrity, and in his earnestness for the country's welfare. He
+had special claims to consideration, for he was a Canadian by birth, and
+had fought and bled in defence of his native land during the War of
+1812. Still, he represented political principles which the Reform
+members had been expressly returned to combat, and the mere fact of his
+election to the Speaker's Chair by a majority of twelve votes in a House
+which numbered fewer than fifty members was in itself a sufficient
+indication that those principles were for the time unmistakably in the
+ascendant in Upper Canada. The proceedings of the House during the
+session furnished an apt and conclusive commentary upon this fact.
+
+The session of 1831 was chiefly memorable for two things: the passing of
+the Everlasting Salary Bill, as it was called by those opposed to it;
+and the commencement of the agitation which had for its object the
+exclusion of Mr. Mackenzie from the Legislature.
+
+The Salary Bill was simply a measure granting to the Provincial
+Government a permanent Civil List, in return for the cession by the
+Crown of the control of the Imperial duties. It was introduced in
+accordance with a suggestion from the King, but the Provincial
+Executive concealed certain facts in connection with it, of which the
+Opposition did not become aware until some time afterwards.[149]
+
+By this Bill provision was made for the salaries of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, the three Judges of the Court of King's Bench, the
+Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, five Executive Councillors, and
+the Clerk of the Executive Council. Reformers were strenuously opposed
+to the measure, which they regarded as another blow at the
+constitutional rights of the Assembly. It of course had the effect of
+rendering the Executive more independent of the Assembly, and more
+indifferent to its opposition, than ever. Hagerman and Boulton, whose
+official salaries were thereby provided for, were conspicuous above all
+other persons in the House in defending this measure, and in browbeating
+those who ventured to raise their voices against it. The Reform members
+found Attorney-General Boulton an infliction specially hard to bear. His
+predecessor, Mr. Robinson, had been a sufficiently galling yoke, but his
+abilities had made him respected, and he had seldom attempted to play
+the bully. In cases where no important party interests were at stake he
+had generally been amenable to reason, and had not gone out of his way
+to needlessly exacerbate the feelings of those who disagreed with him.
+Now, a different order of things prevailed. Boulton was simply
+unendurable. His capacity was barely such as to enable him to discharge
+his official functions, and what he lacked in ability he made up for in
+bluster. He had an abominable temper, and a haughty, overbearing manner.
+He was always committing blunders which he refused to acknowledge, and
+he roared and bullied his way through one complication after another
+in a fashion which disgusted even those with whom he acted. During the
+discussion on the Salary Bill he shrieked and raved himself hoarse in
+denouncing what he called the "factious insolence" of the Opposition. Of
+his own factious insolence he seems to have been altogether oblivious.
+The Bill was passed, but he was not destined to a long enjoyment of the
+provision thereby made for the Attorney-General.
+
+The Mackenzie persecution was a matter of greater moment than the Salary
+Bill, and was fated to produce results altogether unexpected by those
+who set it on foot. The session was not many days old when Mr. Mackenzie
+once more began to make himself conspicuous in Opposition. He moved a
+resolution denying the authority of the Executive to prescribe the
+religious observances of the Assembly, and affirming the right of the
+latter body to appoint its own chaplain. He made a forcible but
+exasperating speech in support of his motion, which, by vote of the
+House, was not submitted. He then moved that the ministers of religion
+of various denominations resident in York should be requested to say
+prayers in the House during the session. This motion was equally
+unsuccessful. During the debate, the Assembly was favoured with a
+characteristic specimen of Attorney-General Boulton's oratory. He
+stigmatized the assumption that the House was entitled to appoint its
+own chaplain as of a piece with the assumption of an assassin that he
+has a right to shoot down a man in the street--the right of brute force.
+This nonsensical tirade he shrieked out by way of peroration to a speech
+intended as a defence of the right of the Government in the matter of
+the chaplaincy. It is strange that the House should have listened to
+such balderdash, not only with patience, but even with apparent
+submission. Solicitor-General Hagerman spoke in a similar strain, but
+with less of irascibility. He warned the House that the Government was
+too powerful for them; that the Lieutenant-Governor had strong feelings
+on this subject, and that if they persisted in opposing his wishes
+confusion would ensue, and an end would be put to their proceedings.
+
+But Mackenzie was not to be dismayed by the want of success of his
+exertions to popularize the religious ceremonial of the Assembly. He
+next moved for an inquiry into the state of the representation. Such an
+inquiry was urgently needed, for the House was full of postmasters,
+county registrars, inspectors of licenses, and other placemen who held
+office at the will of the Executive, and who therefore could not be
+expected to be honest exponents of public opinion in their respective
+constituencies. Mackenzie, in the course of a vigorous speech, presented
+such an array of facts that a committee of inquiry was appointed. This
+success he followed up by a motion for an inquiry into certain pensions,
+fees and salaries. Then he instituted a crusade against the management
+of the Bank of Upper Canada, of which institution Attorney-General
+Boulton was solicitor. Each of these motions afforded opportunities for
+inflammatory speeches, in the course of which the Government and its
+official favourites were handled with scant consideration. The
+Attorney-General was several times lashed into a state of almost insane
+fury, and on one occasion seemed to be on the point of rushing across
+the floor and making a personal onslaught upon Mr. Mackenzie. The
+"little mannikin from York," as he was called, always had the courage of
+his opinions, and rather courted such an attack than otherwise. That he
+had many and grave faults cannot be denied, but certainly cowardice was
+not among the number. No more certain means of intensifying his
+opposition could have been found than an attempt to put him down by the
+strong hand. He continued to make motion upon motion and speech upon
+speech, and before the session was half over he had managed to cause an
+amount of annoyance to the Government such as they had never before
+known. And all this time the party to which he belonged was in an
+insignificant minority in the Assembly. What then was to be anticipated
+when the chances and changes of time should once more place that party
+in the ascendant there?
+
+In former times it had been possible for the official party to rid
+themselves of a troublesome opponent upon any slight pretext. Why not
+now, when the Assembly was well-nigh as obedient as the Upper House, and
+when some of the ablest members of the Reform party had ceased to occupy
+themselves with public affairs? Certainly there had never been a time
+when suppression was more imperatively required, for did not this man
+Mackenzie spout something very much like democracy in their very faces?
+Had he not made several speeches in the House which had aroused a
+spirit of inquiry? If he were allowed to continue, was it not inevitable
+that some of his waspish stings must take serious effect?
+
+Prosecutions for libel had become unpopular. The case of Francis Collins
+had aroused such a clamour that it was not deemed wise to try further
+experiments in that direction. In April, 1828--about the same time when
+measures had been instituted against Collins--an indictment for libel
+had actually been laid against Mackenzie for a paragraph published in
+the _Advocate_, in which the Crown lawyers and other supporters of the
+Government had been referred to in contumelious terms, and wherein a
+hope had been expressed that the constituencies returning certain Tory
+members to Parliament would clear the Assembly of "the whole of that
+ominous nest of unclean birds."[150] But the Attorney-General, after
+keeping the prosecution impending over the defendant's head for many
+months, had seen fit to abandon it. The times, in fact, had ceased to be
+propitious for libel prosecutions, and some other way out of the
+difficulty had to be found. The device actually hit upon to get rid of
+Mackenzie's opposition in the Assembly was worthy of the minds which had
+plotted the ruin of Captain Matthews, Justice Willis and Francis
+Collins. Mackenzie, who had the contract for printing the journals of
+the House, and who generally had a number of copies of those journals on
+hand, had distributed a hundred and sixty-eight of them throughout some
+of the constituencies just prior to the last general election. This had
+been done at his own expense, and in the interest of the Reform
+candidates; for he believed that no more effective campaign document
+could be devised than a truthful record of the proceedings in the House.
+But as strict matter of Parliamentary law he had been guilty of a breach
+of privilege, no one having a right to publish reports of the
+proceedings of the Houses without authority. The existence of such a
+rule is perhaps salutary, as there are conceivable cases in which it
+would be inexpedient to allow such publication. But, as everybody knew,
+Parliament had long been accustomed to wink at perpetual violations of
+this rule. Newspapers all over the world had been permitted, and even
+encouraged, to transgress it. Some of the leading organs of public
+opinion in different parts of the world had built up their reputations
+mainly by the fulness and accuracy of their reports of Parliamentary
+proceedings. Nothing can be more certain than that there would have been
+no talk about enforcing the obsolete rule at this time but for the fact
+that it seemed to afford a pretext for punishing the man whom the
+Government party wished to destroy. The attempt to enforce it was not a
+success. The motion to that end was made by Allan MacNab, and was to the
+effect that Mackenzie had abused the trust reposed in him as the printer
+of the journals, by distributing portions of the same for political
+purposes, and among persons not entitled to copies thereof, thereby
+committing a breach of the privileges of the House. The junior member
+for Wentworth thundered with tremendous vehemence in support of his
+motion. To judge from his language, his soul had been stirred to its
+nethermost depths by this lamentable violation of Parliamentary
+privilege, which he characterized as a species of treason. Hagerman and
+Boulton followed in the same strain, the latter waxing almost pathetic
+in his expressions of devotion to the British constitution. But their
+exertions were ineffectual. The House, subservient though it was, was
+not to be coerced into supporting a motion which, if carried, would
+almost certainly be converted into a basis of attack on persons who were
+favourable to the Administration. A majority of the members foresaw that
+if Mackenzie were punished on such a pretext, his fellow-workers in the
+Assembly would not fail to institute measures against the publishers of
+various newspapers throughout the land who had been in the constant
+habit of reporting the proceedings in Parliament without leave. Only
+fifteen members voted for MacNab's motion, while twenty recorded their
+votes against it, and among the latter were several of the most
+redoubtable Tories in the House. The organizers of the attack perceived
+that they had made a false move, and withdrew their forces for a fresh
+assault in a different quarter.
+
+The opportunity for a fresh attack did not present itself until the
+following session. Meanwhile, Mackenzie occupied himself in turning his
+notoriety to account, and in developing his policy of agitation. He
+resolved upon getting up a series of petitions to the King and the
+Imperial Parliament, calling attention to the various grievances
+wherewith the inhabitants of the Province were burdened, and praying
+for redress. During the summer he carried out his project by organizing
+a series of public meetings in some of the most populous cities and
+towns of the Province, at each of which a petition was adopted and
+numerously signed. It is said that the aggregate number of signatures
+obtained exceeded 24,500. The agitator's success encouraged him to
+persevere in the course he had adopted, and when Parliament re-assembled
+in November he was ripe and ready for the fray that was sure to follow.
+The assault against him now took the shape of a charge of gross,
+scandalous and malicious libel, intended and calculated to bring the
+House and the Government of the Province into contempt, and to excite
+groundless suspicion and distrust in the minds of the inhabitants,
+thereby constituting a breach of privilege. The matter complained of was
+embodied in two articles published in the _Advocate_ subsequent to the
+opening of the session, and both publication and authorship were
+admitted by Mackenzie. One of the articles was a sharp criticism on the
+manner in which the House had treated a petition from certain
+inhabitants of Vaughan. The other was a well-merited tirade against the
+local Executive, which was unfavourably contrasted with that of the
+sister Province. Neither of them was grossly abusive, nor even unfair.
+They were indeed exceptionally favourable specimens of the Mackenzie
+style of journalism, and were incomparably milder than articles which
+may constantly be seen in the Canadian party journals of the present
+day.
+
+Being called upon for his defence, Mackenzie addressed the House with
+more than his wonted ability. He exposed the flimsiness of the charges
+against him, and the gross partiality of the proceedings. But the House
+was in search, not of justice, but of a victim, and neither the
+eloquence of a Demosthenes nor the reasoning powers of a Pascal would
+have availed aught with that hostile majority. Attorney-General Boulton,
+in the course of the discussion, delivered himself of a tempest of
+characteristic abuse against the accused, to whom he referred as a
+reptile. Solicitor-General Hagerman could always be depended upon as a
+good second in such emergencies, and followed up by referring to Mr.
+Mackenzie as a spaniel dog. The House seemed to accept these choice
+Parliamentary epithets with approval. They came from an official
+source, and it is so easy to be strong upon the stronger side. Little
+chance was there for the maimed and bleeding under dog in the fight
+among that crowd of venal and merciless sycophants, some of whom had
+libelled the late Assembly in terms thrice as gross as any that had been
+employed in the articles in question. The _tu quoque_ argument is not
+generally admissible in legal investigations, but surely it might have
+been permitted to have some weight with the judges--who were likewise
+the jurors--in this case. Neither that nor any argument appears to have
+been seriously considered. The usual forms were gone through, in order
+to preserve some appearance of conventional propriety, but a verdict of
+guilty was altogether certain and beyond peradventure from the moment
+when the indictment was laid. By a vote of twenty-seven to fifteen it
+was resolved that Mackenzie was guilty of the libel charged against him.
+By a vote of twenty-six to fourteen it was resolved that he was guilty
+of a high breach of the privileges of the House. And by a vote of
+twenty-four to fifteen, it was resolved that he be expelled therefrom.
+
+To characterize these proceedings as a series of shameful abuses of
+power is certainly not to exceed the bounds of moderation. The persons
+responsible for them must stand tainted at the bar of history for all
+time to come. It is far from desirable to perpetuate the bitterness of
+the past, but it is possible for oblivion to be too charitable. It is
+well that those who are accustomed to speak of "the rebels" of 1837 with
+contumely and indignation should bear in mind against whom and what it
+was that they rebelled. The expulsion of Mackenzie from the Assembly was
+not the greatest act of tyranny to which the people of Upper Canada were
+compelled to submit in the far-away days that are gone; but the nature
+of the abuse was such that it awoke widespread alarm, and gave rise to
+ominous forebodings. It indicated that constitutional opposition to the
+Government was no longer safe in the Assembly, as it had been during the
+two preceding Parliaments. It indicated that nothing approaching to a
+fair trial was to be had, even from the High Court of Parliament, for a
+politician who dared to criticize the official methods of transacting
+the public business. Growls of discontent were heard from all over the
+County of York, whose representative was treated with such ignominy.
+People were heard to express an opinion that Upper Canada was no longer
+a fit place of abode for free men and women.
+
+The public indignation found expression in several petitions, addressed
+to the Lieutenant-Governor by electors in York and elsewhere, in which
+his Excellency was asked to "dismiss a House tainted with the worst
+vices of judicial partiality." A deputation, consisting of more than
+nine hundred persons, called at Government House to present one of these
+manifestations of popular sentiment. His Excellency could not well
+refuse to receive a respectfully-worded petition, but his reply was so
+curt and unsatisfactory as to amount to positive insolence. "Gentlemen,"
+said he, "I have received the petition of the inhabitants." And with
+this wholly unnecessary item of information the deputation was compelled
+to withdraw. So utter a disregard for the expression of the opinion of a
+considerable body of the inhabitants was without precedent in the annals
+of the Province. That the prayer of the petition would be granted, or
+even that it would be taken into serious consideration, was hardly to be
+expected. Its very nature forbade any such expectation. But, considering
+the number of names appended to it, it certainly merited a serious
+response, in which light the actual rejoinder could not be regarded. The
+proceeding showed not merely indifference, but contempt; and
+thenceforward Sir John Colborne was as cordially hated by the Reformers
+of Upper Canada as ever Sir Peregrine Maitland had been.[151]
+
+The efforts of the faction to ruin and humiliate Mackenzie had the
+effect which such treatment always produces in communities where the
+inhabitants have been indoctrinated with ideas of fair play and equal
+rights. It made a popular hero of one who, if the truth must be told,
+had very little of the heroic in his composition. Had the Government
+been wise enough in their own interests to let him have his say in the
+Assembly, he would soon have found his proper level, and would have
+ceased to carry any weight there.[152] He would undoubtedly have raised
+a good deal of temporary excitement by unearthing abuses, and by
+vituperating persons whom he disliked. But he could never have seriously
+threatened the supremacy of the Compact, for the very sufficient reason
+that he could not command the sympathies or respect of the leading
+spirits of his own party. Rolph, the Bidwells and the Baldwins had by
+this time come to rate Mackenzie at about his true value. They
+recognized his talents, which were many and considerable. He had a clear
+head for accounts, and was full of suggestive ideas about matters of
+finance. Some of these ideas were unpractical, and even chimerical, but
+anyone capable of separating the wheat from the chaff could learn much
+from him, and could render his suggestions available. He was an
+excellent subordinate, useful on committees, and active in the
+management of details. He also had his uses as the conductor of a public
+press, though, owing to the erratic and ill-balanced mind of its editor,
+the _Advocate_ was in some respects a source of weakness rather than of
+strength. His influence was pretty much confined to the farmers and
+mechanics of that portion of the country where his paper was chiefly
+circulated; and even there his influence would never have been anything
+like so great as it actually became had it not been for the persecution
+to which he was subjected. Over and beyond, he could not be said to
+have any distinctive _locus standi_ in the Reform party. Of
+statesmanship, properly so called, he had nothing beyond the most misty
+conception. The structure of his mind prevented him from seeing a
+question in its various aspects, and in judging of future political
+events he was much more often wrong than right. That he was honestly
+desirous of advancing the cause which he had espoused there seemed no
+good reason to doubt, but it was evident to those who were brought into
+intimate relations with him that the fiery zeal which he displayed was
+made up at least as much of hatred of his foes as of any overpowering
+enthusiasm for Reform. Another quality which seriously interfered with
+his usefulness was his exceeding want of discretion. He seemed to be
+utterly incapable of keeping his own counsel, and a secret once told to
+him was a secret no longer. His rashness and impetuosity were
+proverbial, and were perpetually involving him in disputes, not only
+with enemies but with friends.
+
+[Sidenote: 1832.]
+
+It was surely a short-sighted policy which gave to a man so constituted
+a factitious importance, and which made him for some years the most
+notorious personage in Upper Canada. The treatment he had received
+aroused popular sympathy on his behalf, and preparations were made to
+return him again for the County of York by an increased majority. When
+the new election was held, on the 2nd of January in the following year,
+a long procession of sleighs escorted him to the polling-place, which
+was the Red Lion Tavern, on Yonge Street. Two thousand persons assembled
+to witness the triumph of "the people's friend." An Oppositionist was
+nominated, but as he received only one vote during the hour and a half
+which elapsed after the opening of the poll, he abandoned the contest,
+and Mackenzie's triumph was assured. The close of the poll was followed
+by the presentation of a gold medal by his constituents, as a token of
+their approbation. A number of sleighs were then formed in line and
+paraded down Yonge Street, and thence past Government House and down to
+the Parliament Buildings. The foremost sleigh was decorated with
+enthusiastic mottoes painted on calico, and cheers for the successful
+candidate rent the air as the procession passed along the principal
+thoroughfares. All this popular adulation was grateful to Mackenzie's
+soul. He was in his element. There is no need to linger over this part
+of the narrative. Parliament was still in session, and the Assembly were
+resolved that, no matter what the electors of York might think proper to
+do, Mackenzie should not sit in the House. A new pretext for his
+expulsion was found in an article of which he avowed himself to be the
+author, and which appeared in the _Advocate_ of the 5th of January. This
+article was a true and by no means intemperate recital of certain
+well-known facts as to certain measures which had been passed by the
+Assembly. It was notwithstanding adjudged, by a vote of twenty-seven to
+nineteen, to be a libel on the House, and a high breach of its
+privileges; and it was further resolved that Mr. Mackenzie be expelled
+the House, and declared unfit and unworthy to hold a seat therein during
+the existing Parliament. But his constituency stood loyally by him, and
+again re-elected him by an overwhelming majority within a few weeks
+after this second expulsion. His popularity reached a higher point than
+ever. Public meetings were held all over the Province to protest against
+the measures which had been adopted towards him, and petitions to the
+King and the Imperial Parliament were again circulated and signed by
+great numbers of the inhabitants. These meetings proved so successful
+that the Government party deemed it wise to take some steps of a similar
+character on their own behalf, with a view to checkmating the operations
+of the Reformers. Nothing is more easy than to obtain signatures to
+petitions, which are frequently signed without being read. Opposition
+meetings were held by supporters of the Government, at which excuses
+were attempted to be made for the expulsions of Mackenzie, and at which
+counter petitions to the King and Parliament of Great Britain were
+signed by many thousands of persons. One of the meetings was held at
+Hamilton on the 19th of March, and Mackenzie attended it by special
+invitation. That same night an attack was made upon him by certain
+myrmidons of the official party, who kicked and beat him severely. At
+another meeting held at York four days later the proceedings became so
+riotous that the Sheriff professed himself unable to preserve the peace.
+An attack was made upon the office of the _Advocate_, the windows of
+which were broken. The town remained in a very disturbed state
+throughout the ensuing night, and a large proportion of the inhabitants
+did not venture to seek repose. Mackenzie deemed it prudent to retire
+into the country for several weeks; and almost immediately after his
+return to town he set off on an important mission to England. It was
+considered that the most effectual method of impressing the
+subject-matter of the various Reform petitions upon those to whom they
+were addressed would he to send Mackenzie himself across the Atlantic to
+present them, and to urge the many much-needed colonial reforms upon the
+attention of members of the British House of Commons. It was believed
+that he could accomplish the various objects of his mission and return
+in time to take his seat in the Assembly at its opening towards the
+close of the year. He deputed the editing and publication of the
+_Advocate_ to other hands, and sailed from New York on the 1st of May.
+In due course he reached his destination, and put himself into
+communication with Hume, Roebuck, Cobbett, O'Connell, and other eminent
+persons of Liberal proclivities, including Lord Goderich, the Colonial
+Secretary.
+
+The reader hardly needs to be informed that this was a momentous period
+in the history of England. It was the epoch of Reform, and the nation
+was in a state of ferment. During the brief space while Mackenzie had
+been crossing the Atlantic great events had taken place. Earl Grey's
+ministry had resigned; Sir Robert Peel had refused to join the Duke of
+Wellington in an attempt to form a Government; and Earl Grey had resumed
+office, armed with the King's written authority to Lord Brougham and
+himself to create as many peers as might be necessary to ensure the
+passing of the Reform Bill. This authority it did not become necessary
+to exercise. The titled aristocracy bowed to the unconquerable will of a
+great and thoroughly-aroused people, and Mackenzie reached London in
+time to hear the third reading of the Great Bill in the House of Lords.
+He was soon afterwards received at the Colonial Office, not as the
+representative of any particular class of Canadian politicians, but as a
+person interested in Canadian affairs, and able to afford much valuable
+information concerning them.[153] He then found that the efforts of the
+official party in Upper Canada to render his mission inoperative had not
+been barren of results. Petitions had been received at the Colonial
+Office in which entire satisfaction was expressed with the existing laws
+and institutions of the Province; and the signatures thereto slightly
+exceeded in number those appended to the petitions of which he himself
+had been the bearer. He however devoted himself with characteristic
+energy to the presentation of his case, and prepared a memoir wherein
+all the most serious grievances of the Upper Canadian people were set
+forth in detail. In this document the writer adopted a discursive and
+rhetorical style which, as the Colonial Secretary justly remarked, were
+"singularly ill adapted to bring questions of so much intricacy and
+importance to a definite issue." The facts were nevertheless pretty
+comprehensively embodied, and were generally speaking of such a
+character as to tell their own story. The perusal of the memoir seems to
+have produced an impression upon the Colonial Secretary's mind. He wrote
+a long and elaborate despatch to Sir John Colborne, in which the weak
+points of Mackenzie's arguments were exposed with cutting severity, and
+wherein it was evident that very little weight had been attached to most
+of his representations; but at the same time certain concessions to
+popular opinion were plainly hinted at. When this despatch was submitted
+to the Legislative Council and Assembly of Upper Canada at the ensuing
+session it was treated with scant respect. The Upper House formally
+declared that it did not regard it as calling for serious attention, and
+returned it to the Lieutenant-Governor. The Assembly discussed the
+propriety of sending it back, but finally resolved not to do so. Both
+the Crown Law Officers made hot-headed speeches on the subject, and
+referred to the Colonial Secretary in the most contemptuous terms.
+
+Meanwhile, Mackenzie, who still remained in England, was in his absence
+expelled from the Assembly a third time. On this occasion there was no
+preliminary attempt to convict him of any fresh libel or breach of
+privilege. The Law Officers of the Crown simplified the proceedings by
+declaring that the House had a right to determine as to the eligibility
+of members, and a resolution to that effect was moved and carried. It
+was then resolved that the person returned for York was the same William
+Lyon Mackenzie who had been twice expelled the House and declared unfit
+to hold a seat therein; and that by reason thereof the said Mackenzie
+could not sit or vote in the House as a member thereof. He was then
+expelled for the third time, and a new writ was issued for the County of
+York. The inhabitants of that constituency felt so much aggrieved, and
+gave such loud-mouthed expression to their dissatisfaction, that no
+candidate hostile to Mackenzie dared to present himself at the ensuing
+election, and the choice of the people was returned by acclamation.
+
+[Sidenote: 1833.]
+
+The part taken by the Law Officers of the Crown in these repeated
+expulsions was not acceptable to the Colonial Office. Neither was the
+contemptuous manner in which they had seen fit to refer to the
+Secretary's despatch written after the perusal of Mackenzie's memoir. A
+missive on the former subject had been sent to Sir John Colborne some
+months before the commencement of the session of 1832-3, the contents of
+which seem to have been promptly communicated to Messieurs Boulton and
+Hagerman.[154] Notwithstanding that communication, those gentlemen had
+seen fit, soon after the opening of the session, to take a leading part
+in another expulsion, and to make contemptuous references to the conduct
+of the Colonial Secretary himself. The Attorney-General had expressed an
+opinion that the Secretary might have found something better to do than
+to sit down and answer "Mackenzie's rigmarole trash." Solicitor-General
+Hagerman had remarked that the Secretary had stultified himself by
+noticing statements which rested on no better authority than that of a
+person who had been twice expelled the Assembly, and who had been
+declared unfit to sit therein in consequence of his having "fabricated
+and reiterated libels of the grossest description." Lord Goderich
+signified his disapprobation of this conduct in the most emphatic manner
+by dismissing the two virulent critics from office. Their dismissal was
+effected by a despatch to Sir John Colborne dated March 6th, 1833. "By
+the accounts I have lately received of the proceedings of the
+Legislature of Upper Canada," wrote his Lordship, "I have learnt that
+the Attorney and Solicitor-General of that Province have, in their
+places in the Assembly, taken a part directly opposed to the avowed
+policy of His Majesty's Government. As members of the Provincial
+Parliament, Mr. Boulton and Mr. Hagerman are of course bound to act upon
+their own view of what is most for the interest of their constituents,
+and of the colony at large. But if, upon questions of great political
+importance, they unfortunately differ in opinion from His Majesty's
+Government, it is obvious that they cannot continue to hold confidential
+situations in His Majesty's service without either betraying their duty
+as members of the Legislature, or bringing the sincerity of the
+Government into question by their opposition to the policy which His
+Majesty has been advised to pursue." It was intimated that the Law
+Officers of the Crown could not be permitted to impede the Government
+policy, and that in order that those gentlemen might be at full liberty
+to follow their own judgment, they were to be relieved from their
+offices.[155]
+
+When this despatch reached York, towards the end of April, its contents
+were communicated to Attorney-General Boulton. Mr. Hagerman had started
+for England a short time before on a mission connected with the Clergy
+Reserves, and, as was said,[156] in order to obtain a permanent
+appointment to a judgeship. He learned of his dismissal immediately upon
+his arrival in London, and lost no time in putting himself in
+communication with the Colonial Minister. An important change had
+recently taken place at the Colonial Office. Lord Goderich had vacated
+the Secretaryship, and had become Lord Privy Seal, being at the same
+time created Earl of Ripon. He was succeeded as Colonial Secretary by
+Mr. Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby, who had been Secretary for
+Ireland, but had aroused such hostility against himself among
+O'Connell's followers by his stand on the Irish question[157] that it
+had been deemed prudent to find another portfolio for him. He now
+admitted Mr. Hagerman to an audience, and was so won upon by that
+gentleman's specious representations that he restored him to his
+stewardship. Accordingly, although he had been only moderately
+successful in carrying out the specific objects of his mission, Mr.
+Hagerman returned to Upper Canada in triumph; and he was greeted, upon
+his arrival, with a tempest of acclamation from the Tory press.
+
+Mr. Boulton, upon receiving from the Lieutenant-Governor's secretary an
+intimation of his dismissal, raised a howl of indignation against Lord
+Goderich and the Imperial Government generally. It was notorious that he
+controlled the columns of _The Upper Canada Courier_, a newspaper
+published at York in the interests of the official party, and edited by
+Mr. George Gurnett. That paper, in its next issue, contained an article
+more scurrilous and abusive than had been either of those articles in
+the _Advocate_ on the pretext whereof Mackenzie had been expelled from
+the Assembly. It reeked with scurrility and disloyalty from beginning to
+end. It alleged that the well-affected people in the country were more
+than half alienated from the Home Government, and that they began to
+cast about in their mind's eye for some new state of political
+existence. There was more to the same purport. Some new state of
+political existence! This was a pretty strong suggestion of rebellion!
+And it emanated from the organ of a faction in whose mouths the word
+"loyalty" was ever present; whose "loyalty" had for years been vaunted
+from every hustings, and who, so long as the tide ran in their favour,
+had preached doctrines worthy of the middle ages about submission to the
+higher powers. How changed was the tone now that there seemed to be some
+prospect of their being placed upon the same footing, and judged by the
+same standard as their neighbours. If they did these things in the green
+tree, what would they do in the dry? What might have been expected from
+them if they had been subjected to such injustice and ignominy as the
+party to which they were opposed? Here was a faction professedly ready
+to throw off their allegiance because two of their number had been
+deprived of offices which they had notoriously prostituted and
+disgraced.[158] Here was a "well-affected" people "casting about" in
+their "mind's eye" for a new state of political existence, because two
+of the most corrupt, brazen and audacious officials in the colony were
+no longer to be allowed to pervert legislation under the mantle of
+Imperial countenance. And they were as little disposed to brook
+interference with their pecuniary interests by the Colonial Office.
+Early in the following year they gave utterance to rank treason in
+consequence of the threatened disallowance by the Imperial Government of
+certain Bank Charter Acts passed by the Provincial Parliament.[159] A
+pearl is proverbially uncomely in the snout of a swine; and truly the
+word "loyalty" was never more absurdly out of place than when pronounced
+by such lips.
+
+The ex-Attorney-General followed the ex-Solicitor-General to England,
+where he represented his case to the new Colonial Minister. After giving
+much attention to the matter, Mr. Stanley expressed himself as satisfied
+with the explanations which had been offered. The explanations seem to
+have chiefly consisted of solemn declarations on the part of Mr.
+Boulton that he had been insufficiently informed of the views of the
+Home Government, and that he had had no desire whatever to set up his
+own will in opposition to those views.[160] He doubtless professed his
+readiness to go any length in the way of sycophancy which might be
+required of him for the future. It was however impossible to restore him
+to the Attorney-Generalship, as a successor to that office had been
+appointed in the person of Mr. Robert Sympson Jameson,[161] an English
+barrister, who had actually sailed from Liverpool for Canada, and was
+already well on his way thither. Mr. Boulton was informed that he should
+have the first good appointment at the Secretary's disposal. His success
+was even greater than that of his recent colleague, for on the 17th of
+June he was notified that the King had been graciously pleased to accept
+of his further services, and that the Colonial Secretary had His
+Majesty's commands to offer him the appointment of Chief Justice of
+Newfoundland, which situation had recently become vacant.[162] This
+appointment was fully approved by the Earl of Ripon, under whose advice
+he had been dismissed from the Attorney-Generalship of Upper
+Canada,[163] but who had been induced to change his views after hearing
+Mr. Boulton's explanations.
+
+Mr. Boulton's triumph, however, was to be followed by a downfall more
+humiliating than that which he had so narrowly escaped. He repaired to
+Newfoundland in the autumn, and entered upon the performance of his
+duties. He had not been long in his new position before he had aroused a
+feeling of disgust and alarm on the part of a large proportion of the
+public and the profession. He began by being arbitrary, tyrannical and
+unjust. He proceeded from bad to worse, until it was found impossible to
+permit him to retain his position.[164] There is no need to follow the
+proceedings adopted against him. He was not finally got rid of until
+1838, when he returned to Upper Canada, and once more entered political
+life as member for Niagara. The Home Government turned a deaf ear to his
+perpetual applications for employment, and would have nothing more to do
+with him. Some years after the Union of the Provinces, finding that he
+had nothing to hope for from the Conservative party, who refused to
+elevate him to a judgeship, he abandoned them, and for some time acted
+with Mr. Baldwin. It seems almost cruel to record the fact that he
+supported Responsible Government and the Rebellion Losses Bill.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[148] _Ante_, p. 229.
+
+[149] "When, in the year 1831, His Majesty was graciously pleased to
+suggest a further provision for the Civil List, which the Colonial
+Ministry required to be made either for seven years or for the life of
+His Majesty, the terms of the proposition were not candidly submitted to
+the Assembly, and notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of those who
+desired to make no provision at variance with the spirit of our
+constitution, the Executive influence in the Assembly succeeded in
+carrying a measure for a permanent and extravagant supply, popularly
+called 'the Everlasting Salary Bill,' while the liberal and gracious
+terms proposed by His Majesty on the subject were concealed and known
+only to those who, feeling themselves to be above responsibility,
+consummated a measure which has spread universal dissatisfaction and
+distrust. If this undue and impolitic concealment was practised from any
+pretended apprehension that a just provision would not be made for His
+Majesty's Government by his faithful Commons, there is nothing in the
+country to justify it, and as it encroached upon the privileges of the
+Legislature there is no language of censure too strong against
+it."--_Seventh Report of Grievance Committee_, p. xlii.
+
+[150] See _The Colonial Advocate_ of April 3rd, 1828.
+
+[151] I can find no confirmation of the statement made by Mackenzie, and
+re-echoed by subsequent writers, about the excessive fears of the
+Government at this juncture, and the preparations made by them to resist
+an uprising of the people. There were no grounds for any such fears, nor
+for any anticipations of an uprising. The people were long-suffering,
+and were by no means ripe for revolt.
+
+[152] If any evidence were needed of this obvious truth, it is furnished
+by Mackenzie's career in the Canadian Parliament after his return from
+exile. He was there brought into contact with politicians of a
+succeeding generation, most of whom knew him by tradition only. His
+misfortunes, and the manifold sufferings he had been compelled to
+endure, impelled most of the contemporaries to regard him with a large
+measure of forbearance, and he was permitted to indulge a license of
+speech which would not have been tolerated in any other member. He
+adopted precisely the same _role_ as of yore, and delivered himself with
+great vehemence on matters which he did not understand. The inevitable
+result was that the Assembly soon ceased to attach any weight to his
+opinions. He had lived long enough to repudiate many of his old
+doctrines, and to eat many of his past words. His views on Tuesday were
+frequently the very opposite to what they had been on Monday, and
+neither were any indication of what they would be on Wednesday. Members
+ceased to attach any importance to his statements, or to think of them
+as calling for serious consideration. He came to be regarded as a sort
+of unlicensed jester who might be permitted to amuse the House by his
+antics when there was no pressing business on hand; but as to any real
+influence, he had no more than the junior messenger. It took him several
+years to find this out, and when it was brought thoroughly home to him
+he resigned his seat. Had the Family Compact politicians of fifty to
+sixty years ago been as wise in their generation as the members of the
+Assembly during the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Parliaments of United
+Canada, they would have ceased to defend the indefensible, and would
+have let Mackenzie alone. They might then have held the reins of power
+for ten--or possibly twenty--years longer; but the day of reckoning,
+when it came, would probably have been a darker one.
+
+[153] Lord Howick, writing on behalf of the Colonial Secretary, under
+date of June 23rd, 1832, in reply to Mackenzie's application for an
+interview, informed the applicant that although the Secretary was ready
+to hear any observations which he (Mackenzie) might have to offer upon
+the affairs of Upper Canada, as an individual interested in the welfare
+of that Province, and as a member of the Assembly, yet that the
+Secretary could not recognize him as being deputed to act for any other
+person, nor could he enter into any discussion with him on measures
+which His Majesty's Government might think it right to pursue. "The
+views and intentions of His Majesty's Government with respect to the
+affairs of the Province," wrote his Lordship, "can only be made known to
+the people of Upper Canada through the medium of the Governor or of the
+Legislature; it is to one or other of these authorities that any
+complaints which individuals may have occasion to make should properly
+be addressed; and if the course pursued by the Executive Government
+should be such as to give just ground for dissatisfaction, the
+inhabitants have, by their Representatives, the means of bringing their
+grievances under the immediate attention of His Majesty." The full text
+of the letter will be found on pp. 191, 192 of the _Seventh Report of
+Grievance Committee_.
+
+[154] Mr. Boulton denied, at least by implication, that any such
+communication had been made to him. See his letter dated April 30th,
+1833, and published in the _Courier_ of the following day. But it is
+certain that the contents of the missive had been made known to Mr.
+Hagerman, and it is hardly conceivable that he would have failed to
+communicate to his colleague matters of such vital importance to their
+welfare.
+
+[155] The full text of the despatch will be found on p. 295 of the
+_Seventh Report of Grievance Committee_.
+
+[156] "We have been very credibly informed that, on account of the
+extent of the settlements and consequent increase of court business, it
+was thought expedient by our wise ones that a fourth judge was
+necessary, and that he [Mr. Hagerman] had obtained (previous to his
+leaving here) a recommend from the other judges for himself to be
+appointed to the new created situation."--_Colonial Advocate_, Thursday,
+May 2nd, 1833.
+
+
+[157] It was at this time that Mr. Stanley, by his fiery speech against
+O'Connell, won for himself the sobriquet of "the Rupert of Debate."
+
+[158] Henry Sherwood, who had by this time attained to a prominent place
+in the ranks of the official party, was especially loud in his
+denunciations of the British Government for dismissing Boulton and
+Hagerman. According to a correspondent of the _Colonial Advocate_, he
+declared, in the course of an ordinary conversation, that if such
+proceedings were to continue, he, for his part, did not care how soon
+the British authority was superseded by a republican one.--See letter of
+"John Bull," on first page of the _Advocate_ of December 14th, 1833.
+
+[159] They were equally intolerant of opposition from their own
+adherents when their pecuniary interests were at stake. In December,
+1833, the Hon. John Elmsley, who had been called to the Executive
+Council three years before, was forced to resign his seat in that body
+because he could not act independently there. In his letter of
+resignation, which is dated "Holland House, York, December 3rd, 1833,"
+he says: "Since I have assumed the duties of that high office [_i.e._,
+the office of an Executive Councillor], I find that I cannot fearlessly
+express my real sentiments and opinions, if opposed to the Government
+for the time being, without incurring the risk of dismissal from that
+Honourable Board, which constitutes my inability to advance the public
+good. I have therefore deemed it expedient most respectfully, but
+reluctantly, to tender the resignation of my seat in the Executive
+Council."--See evidence of the Hon. Peter Robinson, in Appendix to
+_Seventh Report on Grievance_, p. 91. See also p. xxvii of the Report
+itself.
+
+[160] See _Case of the Honourable Henry John Boulton, Chief Justice of
+the Island of Newfoundland_, etc.--being a report of the Case before the
+Privy Council--p. 3.
+
+[161] This was the husband of the accomplished Anna Jameson, whose
+brilliant art criticisms are among the most readable things of their
+kind in the English language, and whose Canadian sketches have made her
+name well known in this country.
+
+[162] _Case of the Hon. H. J. Boulton_, etc., p. 3.
+
+[163] _Ib._, p. 4.
+
+[164] Full particulars of his misconduct may be found in the work
+already quoted from.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DISENFRANCHISEMENT.
+
+
+Mackenzie remained in England much longer than he had anticipated, and
+did not return to Canada until towards the end of August, 1833. He was
+absent in all nearly sixteen months, which was considerably longer than
+was necessary for the accomplishment of the objects of his mission. He
+doubtless enjoyed life in the metropolis, and was loth to relinquish
+it.[165] His mission had not been wholly fruitless, for his
+representations at the Colonial Office had led to the writing of Lord
+Goderich's despatch already referred to, by which the faction in Upper
+Canada were led to see that they would for the future be compelled to
+act with somewhat more of circumspection. Several much-needed
+suggestions were made in the despatch on subjects of practical
+importance--among others as to the remuneration of members of the
+Assembly representing Town constituencies; as to the extension of the
+franchise to persons who, by reason of their religious scruples, could
+not conscientiously take the prescribed oath; as to the repeal of the
+law disqualifying British subjects from voting at elections till the
+expiration of seven years after their return from a residence in a
+foreign country; and as to the interference of ecclesiastical
+Legislative Councillors in secular matters.[166] Mackenzie was also
+entitled to claim credit for obtaining important reforms in the
+management of the Provincial Post Office. He had brought the affairs of
+the Province conspicuously before the minds of several eminent public
+men, whose interest in Canada had thus been aroused, and who were
+thenceforth able to display some familiarity with Canadian questions as
+they came up for discussion in the House of Commons. During his stay in
+London he had published a duodecimo volume, extending to 504 pages,
+entitled "Sketches in Canada and the United States," in which a good
+many Provincial abuses had been specified. The information contained in
+this work had been thrown together in a higgledy-piggledy fashion, and
+it could not be said to have much real value, more especially as many of
+its statements were inaccurate, and must have been known to be so when
+they were written.[167] Still, it probably had some effect in seconding
+the author's efforts to attract attention to himself and the interests
+which he represented. He had moreover acquainted the Colonial Secretary
+with matters which could not possibly have been clearly explained
+otherwise than orally. It was tolerably certain that information
+furnished by him had led to the dismissal of Boulton and Hagerman, a
+proceeding which had wonderfully exhilarated his mind; and his
+depression had been correspondently deep upon learning that the one had
+been promoted and the other reinstated. He had hoped to see Mr. Rolph
+appointed to the Solicitor-Generalship, and, if his word is to be
+credited, he really seems to have had some grounds for believing that
+such an appointment would be made.[168] He afterwards declared that he
+had "good reasons for believing" that Mr. Rolph's appointment had
+actually been made out and transmitted to Canada, but that Sir John
+Colborne and Chief Justice Robinson had prevented it from taking
+effect.[169]
+
+As has already been seen,[170] Mackenzie, during his absence in England,
+had once more been elected to represent the County of York in the
+Assembly. Upon the first meeting of Parliament after his return he
+presented himself as a member. There was however a persistent
+determination that he should not be permitted to take his seat. The
+hostile majority in the House professed to believe that they had a right
+to exercise a discretion as to who should be permitted to sit therein.
+Mackenzie, they alleged, had libelled the House by libelling a majority
+of its members, and he had neither made nor attempted to make any
+reparation or apology. The Clerk, acting most probably on instructions,
+refused to administer the oath to him. A resolution was adopted that he
+should not be permitted to sit or vote as a member during the session,
+and a writ for a new election was ordered. Again did he return to his
+constituents, and again was he returned without opposition. The electors
+of York were by this time heartily tired of the farce, the perpetual
+re-enactment whereof had the effect of partly disfranchising them by
+leaving them with only one representative in the Assembly instead of
+two. They were nevertheless fully resolved not to yield their undoubted
+rights without some further assertion of them. The member of their
+choice was under no legal disability. They were advised that there was
+no constitutional justification for the action of the Assembly. They
+declared that they owed it to themselves and those who were to come
+after them not to submit tamely to injustice of such a nature. The
+election being over, a considerable body of them escorted him to the
+Houses of Parliament. But a short time had elapsed since the last
+expulsion, and the Legislature was still in session. The members of the
+Assembly stared in astonishment at the sudden and altogether
+unlooked-for incursion of strangers, who poured into the gallery and
+into the space below the bar, where they were permitted to intrude
+themselves, and where Mackenzie presented himself to take the oath.
+Those who could not find room inside remained without in the lobbies. In
+a few moments a lull occurred in the proceedings of the House, whereupon
+burly Peter Perry rose in his place and announced that he had a petition
+to present on behalf of the inhabitants of the County of York. The
+contents of the petition were not of a nature to render it acceptable to
+a majority of the members. It referred to Mackenzie's expulsion, and
+prayed that that indignity might not be repeated. There was a very
+general feeling among the supporters of the Government that the House
+ought not to receive such a petition, and several of them gave utterance
+to their opinions on the subject. Allan MacNab expressed himself to this
+effect with his customary emphasis, and was greeted with a storm of
+hisses from the York electors in the gallery. Ominous sounds! The House
+could not be expected to tamely brook such a manifestation, and an order
+was given to clear the gallery. While the order was being obeyed, the
+Sergeant-at-Arms approached Mackenzie where he stood below the bar, and
+directed him to leave. Mackenzie replied to the effect that he had a
+right to be there, and that he intended to remain. The door was then
+opened by the Sergeant-at-Arms, who proceeded to eject Mackenzie by
+force; but before he could carry out his purpose a rush was made from
+the adjacent lobby. The door was promptly closed and barricaded, but not
+until several of the invaders had effected an entrance. The excitement
+was intense, and for some minutes the proceedings of the House were
+suspended. When quiet had been in some measure restored, the Speaker
+directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to clear the space below the bar of
+strangers. That functionary again ordered Mackenzie to leave, and he
+received the same reply as before. This was communicated to the Speaker,
+who decided that, as Mackenzie had not taken the oath, he was not a
+member of the House, and was not entitled to remain. Mackenzie was
+there, ready and anxious to take the oath; but he was nevertheless
+removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Assembly was once more purged
+of his presence. On the next day he was again formally expelled by a
+vote of the House[171]--an anomalous proceeding in view of the Speaker's
+decision that he was not a member! He had thus been thrice expelled from
+the House, and once excluded therefrom upon the ground that he was not a
+member.
+
+[Sidenote: 1834.]
+
+It was by this time clear that from a House so constituted Mackenzie
+could not expect to meet with fair play. Mr. Bidwell, Mr. Perry, and
+others of his friends had all along spoken manfully on his behalf
+whenever an opportunity of doing so had presented itself, but their
+arguments had simply been thrown away. His pugnacious spirit was however
+fully aroused, and he determined to exhaust every means before
+abandoning his endeavours to take the seat to which he was entitled. He
+applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for permission to take the oath
+prescribed for members of the Legislature before his Excellency, or
+before some one specially appointed for the purpose, under the
+twenty-ninth section of the Constitutional Act of 1791.[172] The
+question involved in this application was submitted to the
+Attorney-General, Mr. Jameson, who pronounced the opinion that Mackenzie
+was entitled to the privilege asked for. The matter was nevertheless
+allowed to remain in abeyance for some weeks, as the hostile members of
+Assembly had been worked up to a great pitch of excitement by the
+incursion of the rural population, and were in no humour to tolerate
+Mackenzie's presence. Meanwhile petitions to the Lieutenant-Governor
+were sent in from various parts of the County of York, as well as from
+other places. The language in some of these was of the most unmistakable
+kind, and it was evident that endurance had nearly reached its limits.
+On Monday, the 10th of February, Mackenzie, having taken the oath before
+the Clerk of the Executive Council, and having obtained a duly attested
+certificate of the ceremonial, ventured once more to present himself in
+the Chamber of the Assembly.
+
+The House was in Committee on the question of improving the navigation
+of the St. Lawrence when he entered. The gallery was crowded with
+spectators, most of whom were sympathizers with Mackenzie, and had
+assembled there to impart to him a sort of outside numerical support. He
+walked to the seat which he had once been accustomed to occupy, and
+quietly sat down in it. Ere many minutes the Sergeant-at-Arms[173]
+approached and requested him to withdraw. This he declined to do,
+alleging that he was a member legally elected, duly sworn, and charged
+with no offence or irregularity which could disqualify him from sitting
+and voting.[174] He produced the attested copy of the oath, and bade the
+Sergeant-at-Arms interfere at his peril. The following is Mackenzie's
+own account of what ensued; and, unlike most of his narratives, it is in
+all substantial respects confirmed by several eye-witnesses. "He [the
+Sergeant-at-Arms] said he must use force, and he did so in as gentle a
+manner as was consistent with the act. Although his proceedings were
+illegal, his whole conduct in carrying them into effect was marked by a
+discretion wisely adopted in the excited state of the minds of the dense
+audience by whom he was surrounded. I almost immediately returned to the
+seat I had occupied, and while on my way was seized hold of by Colonel
+Frazer, Collector of Customs at Brockville, and obliged to change my
+route. Before I had got well seated, one of the members, I think Mr.
+Boulton[175] moved that the Speaker take the chair. He did so, and I
+addressed him, stating the insult I had received while in the
+performance of my duty as a member. To this he made no reply, but said
+that the Sergeant-at-Arms must know his duty. He then left the chair;
+the Committee resumed, and I was a second time forced from my seat by
+violent means. After a little reflection I decided to resume my seat;
+was a third time forced from it by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and when the
+Speaker had returned I was placed at the bar, charged by the
+Sergeant-at-Arms with refusing to leave the House."[176] The
+Sergeant-at-Arms then reported to the Speaker that he had taken into
+custody William Lyon Mackenzie for disorderly conduct, and that he had
+him in charge at the bar; whereupon it was moved by Mr. Samson, and
+seconded by Mr. Vankoughnet, member for Stormont, that William Lyon
+Mackenzie, having been brought to the bar of the House by the
+Sergeant-at-Arms for disorderly conduct, be called upon to state what he
+might have to say in his defence. To this motion Mr. Perry moved an
+amendment to the effect that Mackenzie was under no legal
+disqualifications, and had a right to sit and vote in the House. Then
+followed a long debate which lasted nearly six hours,[177] and which
+left the question at issue pretty nearly where it had been. Mr. Perry's
+motion was lost by a vote of twenty-one to fifteen. A dense crowd
+occupied the gallery until far into the night, but good order was
+preserved, the only demonstration being a subdued hiss while Mr. William
+B. Robinson, member for Simcoe, and brother of the Chief Justice, was
+speaking. Much rancour was exhibited by some of the Tory speakers,
+several of whom approved their loyalty by inveighing loudly against the
+Lieutenant-Governor for permitting the Clerk of the Executive Council to
+administer the oath to Mackenzie. Allan MacNab declared his intention to
+vote for committing Mackenzie to the common jail. Casting his eyes up to
+the gallery, he scowled at the occupants, to whom he referred as a band
+of ruffians who had come there to intimidate the House. The
+Lieutenant-Governor, he said, had interfered very improperly, and in a
+manner no way creditable to himself. He had acted like the Vicar of
+Bray, and might yet find, like that individual, that by taking both
+sides of a question he might fall through between. Mr. Samson, member
+for Hastings, spoke to a similar purport, declaring himself to be in
+favour of sending Mackenzie to jail without a hearing, and referring to
+the Lieutenant-Governor in terms of strong censure. "His Excellency,"
+remarked Mr. Samson, "knew perfectly well that Mr. Mackenzie had been
+expelled by us, and for him to allow the oath to be administered under
+such circumstances was a most unwarrantable proceeding. He had no right
+whatever to interfere. I do say he acted a most improper part, and I do
+not know but this House ought to take it up." When Mackenzie attempted
+to speak at the bar, William Hamilton Merritt, member for Haldimand,
+rose in much anger, and exclaimed: "Drown his voice. He ought to be put
+out of the House, and two men stationed continually at the door to keep
+him out." Absalom Shade, of Galt, member for Halton, was of the same
+opinion. The speech of the member for Simcoe, which evoked the hiss from
+the gallery as already mentioned, was perhaps the most violent of all.
+He advocated that Mackenzie should be punished and consigned to jail
+without being allowed to utter "one single word" in defence of his
+outrageous proceedings. "Mackenzie," said he, "would never have dared to
+show himself in this House again if he had not had his Excellency's
+sanction for doing so in his pocket. His Excellency's conduct, I
+maintain, has been utterly unjustifiable. Indeed, I could not have
+believed it possible that his Excellency should have thought of taking
+such a step without consulting the Speaker of this House. He had no
+right whatever to do so, and now that he is told that we do not
+recognize such a right on the part of the Executive, I trust he will not
+persevere."[178] For milder language than this, many of the Reformers
+had been branded as "traitors," "disaffected," and "republicans," by the
+very person who now gave utterance to it. The beam in one's own eye is
+so much harder to perceive than the mote in the eye of one's brother.
+
+The plain fact of the matter is, that no sentiment of either loyalty or
+disloyalty had anything whatever to do with the treatment to which
+Mackenzie was subjected at the hands of the Compact and their
+supporters. It was simply this: Mackenzie was a thorn in their sides. He
+watched them closely, and exposed their conduct in language which was
+telling and vigorous, albeit often ill-considered and unbecoming. They
+felt that their supremacy was menaced, and largely by his
+instrumentality. His expulsions were due to a fixed determination to
+keep him out of Parliament, irrespective not only of what was
+constitutional or unconstitutional, but even of what was right or wrong.
+To carry out this determination they resorted to all the party devices
+which a majority in the Assembly placed at their disposal. "From first
+to last," as Mr. Lindsey remarks,[179] "the proceedings against Mr.
+Mackenzie were conceived in a party spirit, and carried by party votes.
+No worse description or condemnation of them could be given, seeing
+that they were in their nature judicial."
+
+The debate, as has been said, came to nothing. Mackenzie was not
+permitted to take his seat, and did not again attempt to do so during
+the session. No new writ was issued for the election of a member by the
+County of York. Mackenzie's supporters opposed the issue of a writ
+because such a proceeding would have assumed that the expulsion had been
+legal, and that there was a legal vacancy in the representation. Others,
+who were not friendly to Mackenzie, felt that a new election would only
+lead to fresh complications. York would undoubtedly return the expelled
+member, and he would again be refused a seat in the House. The session
+accordingly dragged on to its close without any writ having been issued:
+a matter of little practical importance, inasmuch as there was to be a
+general election in the course of a few months. It will thus be seen
+that the County of York underwent a partial disfranchisement for three
+years, during which three sessions were held. Before another session
+came round a new Parliament had come into being, and the political
+situation had undergone a complete metamorphosis.
+
+During the session of 1833-4, which witnessed the tumultuous scene just
+described, the Provincial Parliament made one important concession to
+public opinion by passing an Act to render the Judges of the Court of
+King's Bench independent of the Crown. It is right to state, however,
+that this was done in consequence of pressure from the Imperial
+Government,[180] and not from any wish to remove an abuse of long
+standing. The Act provided that "the Judges of His Majesty's Court of
+King's Bench for this Province shall hold their offices during their
+good behaviour, notwithstanding the commissions which have been
+heretofore granted to them, or either of them, may specify that the
+office is to be held during the pleasure of His Majesty; and that from
+and after the passing of this Act the commissions to the Judges of the
+said Court shall be made to them respectively to hold during their good
+behaviour, and that the commissions of Judges of the said Court for the
+time being shall be, continue, and remain in full force during their
+good behaviour, notwithstanding the demise of His Majesty, or of any of
+his heirs and successors." Thus were the Judiciary rendered independent
+of the humours of the Executive, whereby a long step was taken towards
+securing a pure administration of justice in the Superior Court of the
+Province. Had a similar policy been pursued with respect to other gross
+abuses, the effect upon the public mind would have been most
+pacificatory. Standing, as it did, alone, the Act exhibited a striking
+contrast to every other feature of the Executive policy, and it may be
+doubted whether a solitary inhabitant of the Province was conciliated
+thereby.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[165] Prior to his departure from Canada he travelled about here and
+there through the country to collect subscriptions towards the expenses
+of his journey. He met with but slender success. After his return he
+made further efforts in the same direction, and with similar results.
+Persons who professed much zeal for Reform were slow to put their hands
+in their pockets for such a purpose, and he succeeded in collecting only
+about £150. It should however be remembered that most Upper Canadian
+Reformers in those days were poor. Mackenzie's actual disbursements
+during his absence are stated by Mr. Lindsey to have been £676 (_Life of
+Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 287), but a considerable part of this sum was
+expended on a visit to Scotland. It is probable, too, that the amount
+stated includes the cost of publishing _Sketches in Canada and the
+United States_, which must have been considerable. It is fairly to be
+inferred from Mr. Lindsey's account that Mackenzie was himself compelled
+to pay the difference between £150, the amount collected from
+subscribers, and £676, the amount actually expended. "The people's
+agent," he informs us, "was left to bear the greater part of the
+expense." This, no doubt, was Mr. Lindsay's belief when his book was
+written; but nothing could be further from the fact. It would be much
+nearer the truth to say that Mackenzie enjoyed a sixteen months' holiday
+at the expense of his political friends, for all, or nearly all the
+money expended over and above the £150 was contributed by Dr. Morrison,
+Dr. Rolph, David Gibson, the Lesslies, Shepards, and others; and as no
+portion of the money so contributed was ever repaid, they, and not
+Mackenzie, were compelled to bear the loss. The implied slur upon the
+Reform party is therefore wholly undeserved.
+
+[166] His Lordship expressed himself with much clearness on this
+subject. "Whether," he wrote, "even under this restriction [_i.e._, the
+restriction of non-interference in secular affairs], their holding such
+seats is really desirable, is a question upon which I am fully prepared
+to listen with the utmost attention to any advice which I may receive
+from yourself, from the House of Assembly, or from any other competent
+authority. I have no solicitude for retaining either the Bishop
+[McDonnell] or the Archdeacon [Strachan] on the list of Councillors, but
+am, on the contrary, rather predisposed to the opinion that by resigning
+their seats they would best consult their own personal comfort and the
+success of their designs for the spiritual good of the people. But any
+such resignation must be voluntary, since the office is held for life;
+and were it otherwise, no consideration could induce me to advise His
+Majesty to degrade the Bishop or the Archdeacon from the stations they
+occupy, except upon the most conclusive proof of misconduct." One might
+not unreasonably construe these words into a pretty broad hint to Bishop
+McDonnell and Dr. Strachan that they ought to resign.
+
+[167] The London _Morning Herald_ of July 11th, 1833, correctly
+characterized it as "the oddest mixture of slander and truth, of
+knowledge and ignorance, of bold assertion and vacillating opinion."
+
+[168] "Mr. Rolph will, we have no doubt, have the offer of the
+Solicitorship, but whether he will accept it is a matter more doubtful;
+though we think he possibly may, provided he is to be associated in the
+administration with men of a liberal policy; otherwise we are of opinion
+he will decline. Such an appointment would certainly do credit to our
+country, and we hope he (Mr. Rolph) will accept the appointment if
+offered--that is, if he can consistently do so."--_Colonial Advocate_,
+Thursday, May 2nd, 1833. See also the _Advocate_ for October 3rd, 1833.
+
+[169] See _An Account of the Dismissal of the Attorney and
+Solicitor-General from Office, and of the Re-appointment of Mr.
+Hagerman_, written by Mackenzie for the General [Reform] Committee at
+York, and published in the _Advocate_ for Thursday, August 29th, 1833.
+
+[170] _Ante_, p. 247.
+
+[171] As the resolution recited the facts relating to the two former
+expulsions, as well as the grounds of the present one, it may not be
+amiss to transcribe it in full. It was voted upon on Tuesday, the 17th
+of December (1833). Its mover was William Morris, member for Lanark. It
+was in the following words: "That this House, on the thirteenth day of
+December, 1831, in consequence of a false and scandalous libel published
+against a majority of its members by William Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire,
+one of the members then representing the County of York, of which he
+avowed himself the author and publisher, was induced to expel him, the
+said William Lyon Mackenzie, from this House: That notwithstanding the
+gross and scandalous nature of the said libel, this House, in the hope
+that the said William Lyon Mackenzie would abstain from a continuance of
+the offensive conduct for which he had been expelled, permitted him to
+take his seat on the third day of January following, as a member for the
+County of York, after being re-elected: That in this hope, so important
+to the deliberate transaction of public business, so essential to the
+respectability of the Legislature and peace of the country, a few days'
+experience convinced this House there was so little reason to rely, that
+on the seventh day of the same month of January, it was by a large
+majority again deemed necessary to expel the said William Lyon
+Mackenzie, for a repetition and aggravated reiteration of the aforesaid
+false and scandalous libel; and in doing so, this House, in order to
+support the dignity which ought to belong to a Legislative body,
+considered it just and proper to declare the said William Lyon Mackenzie
+unfit and unworthy to hold a seat in this House during the continuance
+of the present Parliament: That as the said William Lyon Mackenzie has
+never made reparation to this House for the gross injuries which he has
+attempted to inflict on its character and proceedings, there is no
+reason to depart from the resolution of the said seventh day of January,
+1832." In amendment, Mr. MacNab, seconded by Mr. Robinson, moved that
+the following words be added to the original resolution: "And therefore
+he, the said William Lyon Mackenzie, again elected and returned to
+represent the County of York in this present Parliament, is hereby
+expelled." The amendment, as well as the original motion, was carried by
+a vote of 22 to 18.
+
+[172] This section provides for the taking of the oath before the
+Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person administering the Government,
+or "before some person or persons authorized by the said Governor or
+Lieutenant-Governor," etc.
+
+[173] The Sergeant-at-Arms was Allan MacNab, Sr., father of the junior
+member for Wentworth.
+
+[174] See the _Advocate_ of Thursday, February 13th, 1834.
+
+[175] Not H. J. Boulton, who had several months before departed for
+Newfoundland, but George Strange Boulton, one of the members for Durham.
+
+[176] See the _Advocate_ of February 13th, 1834.
+
+[177] Mackenzie, in the _Advocate_, says "full seven hours," but he did
+not reach the Assembly Chamber until nearly half-past three in the
+afternoon, and the House adjourned at 9.30 for want of a quorum. See the
+sessional journal. The three removals of Mackenzie from his seat must
+have occupied some minutes, and the entire debate could not possibly
+have extended over quite six hours. The matter is of no particular
+importance, but it shows how carefully all unsupported statements of
+Mackenzie ought to be scrutinized before being admitted as evidence.
+
+[178] "It is probable," says Mackenzie (_Colonial Advocate_, Feb. 13th),
+"that the provoking language of some of the members would have ended in
+a disturbance had I not warned the people through the press, personally
+at many of their dwelling houses, and in the House before I took my
+seat, to preserve perfect silence whatever the members said or did. They
+were very orderly, and it is creditable to them that they were so. If
+public opinion will not avenge our cause, violence and tumult will not
+help us." The irony of fate had decreed that this admirable sentiment
+should not find a permanent lodgement in the writer's breast.
+
+[179] _Life and Times of Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 311.
+
+[180] See Lord Goderich's despatch of 8th November, 1832.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MR. HUME'S "BANEFUL DOMINATION" LETTER.
+
+
+Mackenzie's repeated expulsions, unjust as they were, and humiliating as
+were some of the attendant circumstances, were not wholly without
+compensation. For one thing they caused him to be more talked about than
+any other man in Upper Canada. This, of itself, would have gone far
+towards reconciling him to the indignities which had been heaped upon
+him, for notoriety was very dear to his heart. But a more substantial
+reward, and one altogether unlooked for, was in store for him.
+
+Within a month after the scene in the Assembly described towards the
+close of the last chapter, the town of York ceased to exist, having
+exchanged its name for the old Indian appellation which it has ever
+since borne. An Act of incorporation had been obtained during the
+session, whereby it was enacted that York should be constituted a body
+corporate and politic by the name of the City of Toronto. The city was
+to be divided into wards, with two aldermen and two common councilmen
+for each ward, to be elected by the inhabitants; and with a mayor, to be
+elected by the aldermen and councilmen from among themselves. This Act,
+like the rest of the measures passed during the session, was assented to
+on the day of adjournment--the 6th of March, 1834. On the 15th of the
+same month an official proclamation appeared whereby Thursday, the 27th,
+was appointed for the first election of municipal representatives. A
+campaign of active canvassing was forthwith set on foot throughout the
+city. As has often happened in more recent times, the contest assumed a
+political complexion. The Act of incorporation had been procured by Tory
+influences, and had been carried through the Assembly under the auspices
+of Sheriff Jarvis, the local member. In his speeches on the subject in
+the House Mr. Jarvis had taken the reasonable and legitimate ground that
+the Provincial capital had attained dimensions which rendered a separate
+government necessary to the efficient management of its affairs. This
+view was participated in by Tory residents generally. The Reformers, on
+the other hand, had all along been opposed to incorporation. York, they
+argued, was the main fortress and stronghold of the official party, who
+would be almost certain to acquire a pernicious ascendency in municipal
+affairs, to the detriment of the rest of the community. The Province at
+large had already suffered enough from Compact domination, and it was
+far from desirable to afford an opportunity for its exercise in a more
+restricted field. Again, it was urged that the expense of a separate
+administration for the city would more than counterbalance any
+advantages to be derived therefrom. These views were put forward with
+much vehemence by reformers, both in Parliament and through the medium
+of the press. From all which it was evident that the impending elections
+would afford a pretty accurate test of the strength of the respective
+political parties in the city.
+
+Generally speaking, the Tory vote in the capital had been largely in
+excess of that polled by the Reformers. That it was not so in the spring
+of 1834 was due in no small degree to public indignation at the unfair
+treatment to which Mackenzie had been subjected. Persons who had never
+recorded a Reform vote before now came forward to support candidates who
+were known to be strong Reformers. It was not so much that these persons
+sympathized with Mackenzie, who was by many of them held in detestation
+and abhorrence; but they felt that gross injustice had been done,
+against which it behooved them to record their formal protest. The
+result was that the sanguine calculations of the Tories were altogether
+falsified, and that a majority of Reform candidates were returned to the
+first Council of the City of Toronto. Among the latter were Mackenzie
+himself, who was elected as one of the aldermen for St. David's Ward,
+and John Rolph, who was elected for the Ward of St. Patrick.
+
+A few words of explanation are necessary in this place with regard to
+Mr. Rolph. It will be remembered that he and the two Baldwins had
+divested themselves of their gowns during the progress of the Willis
+dispute, and had declined to transact any further business in a court
+which they believed to be illegally constituted.[181] They did not again
+present themselves before the court during Term until after the decision
+of the Privy Council had set their minds at rest on the subject. There
+was no longer anything to prevent them from resuming their practice. The
+Baldwins did so, and Rolph for a time followed their example, albeit in
+a half-hearted manner. He had long been profoundly disgusted with the
+partiality displayed by the judges, and by their complete subserviency
+to the wishes of the Executive, as expressed by their forensic
+mouthpiece, Attorney-General Robinson. On account, as he believed, of
+his political opinions, he had been forced to contend against the
+persistent hostility of the judiciary. His triumphs at the bar had been
+won by reason of his power over juries, and in spite of one-sided
+charges from the bench. Of the understanding and judicial integrity of
+Mr. Sherwood he had formed a very low estimate. Hagerman, who
+temporarily succeeded Judge Willis, was an abler man, but his political
+feelings were so strong that Rolph would not imperil the interests of
+his clients by appearing before him. Upon the accession of
+Attorney-General Robinson to the bench the state of affairs from Rolph's
+point of view was not much improved. Mr. Robinson and he had so long
+fought each other at the bar and on the floor of the Assembly that they
+had come to regard each other as personal enemies. Rolph, rightly or
+wrongly, came to the conclusion that he could no longer hope to obtain
+any measure of justice. The necessary consequence of such a conclusion
+was a resolve to abandon the practice of law, and to resume that of
+medicine, which latter, indeed, he had never wholly abandoned. This
+resolution was not fully carried out until more than two years after it
+had been formed, though he meanwhile accepted no new suits, and steadily
+prepared himself for the impending change. The decisive step does not
+appear to have been taken until 1832, when he transferred his legal
+practice to his brother George. Thenceforward John Rolph never again
+appeared in a Court of justice in the capacity of an advocate. It was a
+momentous decision, for he had a fine legal practice, and enjoyed the
+reputation of being the most eloquent man at the Upper Canadian bar. He
+had outlived the exuberance of youth, and was at this time nearly forty
+years old--an age at which few men would have had the courage to abandon
+a pursuit which had been followed with signal success for many years. He
+resumed the practice of medicine and surgery, and was thenceforward
+known as "Doctor" Rolph. For some years before this time he had resided
+at Dundas. He now removed to the capital, where he was well known, and
+where he continued to reside until the breaking out of the Rebellion
+towards the close of 1837. He soon won a distinguished place in the
+ranks of his new calling, and reached a preeminence therein as great as
+he had ever attained at the bar. There was no regularly-organized
+medical college in Upper Canada, and the facilities for acquiring a
+competent medical training were few. In response to urgent requests from
+a number of influential persons in Toronto he established a private
+medical class, and gave instruction to a limited number of students. His
+teaching was eminently successful, and he made himself greatly beloved
+by his students. He seemed to have the whole round of medical literature
+at his fingers' ends, and his marvellous knowledge and graphic power of
+expression kindled in the breasts of the young men a love of knowledge
+for its own sake.[182] By no one were his attainments held in higher
+respect than by the Lieutenant-Governor. Sir John urged him to found a
+permanent medical college, and promised that Government aid for such an
+enterprise should not be wanting. But Dr. Rolph had other views. He had
+for several years been out of public life, but with no idea of so
+remaining. He was resolved to re-enter Parliament at the first suitable
+opportunity, and did not allow his professional pursuits to absorb all
+his attention. Unlike Robert Baldwin, who to a great extent held himself
+aloof from politics at this time, Rolph took a leading part at Reform
+meetings and caucuses, and did his utmost to give practical shape to the
+Reform policy. Baldwin, notwithstanding his undoubted zeal for Liberal
+principles, was imbued with somewhat exclusive social ideas, and was
+not in active sympathy with the Reformers at this period. He regarded
+Mackenzie as very much of a demagogue, and as a person with whom he
+could not hold any very intimate relations. The sentiments entertained
+by Baldwin for Mackenzie seem to have been closely akin to those
+entertained by Sir John Falstaff for the troops with whom he declared
+that he would not march through Coventry. Mackenzie's noisy verbosity
+and self-assertion offended the patrician instincts of Mr. Baldwin, to
+whom, indeed, the little proletarian was altogether distasteful and
+repulsive. This feeling, however, seems to have been due to the
+antipathetic natures of the two men, rather than to any mere feeling of
+exclusiveness on the part of Mr. Baldwin. They had as little in common
+as two persons very well could have. Without entering any further into
+the question, it will be sufficient to say that the one had a judgment
+under strict discipline, while the judgment of the other was always
+subordinate to the circumstances or prejudices of the moment--a fatal
+defect in one who aspires to be a leader of men. Mr. Baldwin made no
+secret of his conviction that no substantial progress could be made by
+the Reform party so long as one like Mackenzie was permitted to have any
+commanding voice in its counsels, or at any rate to have any hand in the
+shaping or directing of its policy. Rolph took a broader view, and while
+he admitted the notoriously weak points in Mackenzie's character, did
+not feel disposed either to throw him overboard altogether or to deprive
+him of a share in the direction of party affairs. He naturally felt and
+spoke strongly on the subject of the expulsions. For Mackenzie
+personally he had never felt much liking, but he hated injustice, and
+did not hesitate to give the expelled member all the support, moral and
+otherwise, which he could command. He was wont to say that Mackenzie
+might yet do much good work for Reform, if he could only be kept in his
+proper place. Mackenzie, on his side, never wearied of sounding Rolph's
+praises, and he sometimes did so in extravagant terms. Wherever he went
+he proclaimed the Doctor as the one man in Upper Canada capable of
+leading the Reform party to triumph and permanent power. Bidwell and
+Perry were well enough in their way, but to neither of them would he pin
+his faith if Rolph questioned the wisdom of their counsels.
+
+Such was the state of affairs at the time of the election of the first
+Council of the City of Toronto. In that Council, as already mentioned,
+there was a preponderance of Reform members. According to the provisions
+of the Act of incorporation the aldermen and councilmen were to hold
+their first meeting on Thursday, the 3rd of April, when they were to
+proceed to the election of a mayor. As the Reform members were able to
+command the situation, they held a caucus on the evening of Monday, the
+31st of March, to concert a scheme of action, and to take steps to turn
+their numerical superiority in the Council to the best account. An
+understanding had already been arrived at as to the mayoralty. Dr. Rolph
+had been pitched upon by common consent to fill the chair of the chief
+magistrate. He was upon the whole better fitted to grace the position
+than any other man in the city, and the Reform members contemplated
+their candidate with pride. But at the caucus held on the evening of the
+31st matters took an altogether unexpected turn. Dr. Rolph did not
+attend, being kept away by professional duties. It was suggested by
+James Lesslie, one of the aldermen from St. David's Ward, that the
+Doctor was indifferent as to the mayoralty, and that he would be quite
+willing to waive any claims to the position which he might be supposed
+to have. It was further suggested that the interests of the Reformers
+would be best promoted by the elevation of the editor of the _Advocate_
+to the chief magistracy. Mackenzie, it was urged, had been treated with
+shameful indignity by the Assembly, and had been held up to contempt by
+the official party generally. He had been maligned at the Home Office as
+a personage whom the Secretary could not admit to his presence
+consistently with due respect to himself and his office. He had been
+represented as a snarling little upstart who, by the votes of the lowest
+and most rascally section of the Radicals, had been placed in a position
+unsuited to his character and belongings. It had been especially urged
+against him in England that the better class of Reformers held aloof
+from and thoroughly despised him. There could be no doubt that by such
+representations as these Mackenzie had been subjected to much unmerited
+obloquy and annoyance during his sojourn in the old country. The present
+conjuncture of affairs, it was said, afforded an excellent opportunity
+for atoning to him for what he had endured, and at the same time for
+scoring a double victory for Reform principles. His elevation to the
+chief magistracy of the capital city of Upper Canada would furnish the
+most conclusive answer that could possibly be made to the abuse and
+slander wherewith he had been assailed. The position was one of high
+honour and dignity. It would be impossible to represent the occupant of
+that position as the mere tool and mouthpiece of a low Radical clique,
+or as a person whom no gentleman could admit to a conference. There was
+much plausibility about these arguments, and they had the more weight
+inasmuch as Dr. Rolph was said to be personally indifferent about the
+matter. Dr. Rolph, moreover, needed no accession of dignity. He could
+certainly derive none from being elected to the mayoralty, and could
+very well afford to waive his claims. This view of the matter finally
+prevailed, and it was agreed, before the adjournment of the caucus,
+that, provided Dr. Rolph were a consenting party, Mackenzie should be
+the first mayor of Toronto.
+
+When the matter was submitted to Dr. Rolph he expressed some surprise at
+the action of the caucus. He appears to have felt convinced that no
+credit to the Reform cause was to be won by placing Mackenzie in a
+prominent position. He knew Mackenzie to be a man who could not stand
+prosperity, and whose want of mental ballast was such that he was not
+fit to be trusted with power. He was moreover very much disposed to
+suspect that the little man himself was at the bottom of the movement in
+his favour, which was probably the fact. Still, the Doctor was compelled
+to admit that there was much force in the arguments put forward, and he
+was by no means disposed to press his own claims. He therefore gave his
+assent; and from that moment the question was to be regarded as
+practically settled, although the matter was kept a profound secret
+among the persons most immediately concerned.
+
+The Conservative members of the Council also held a caucus before the
+day appointed for the election of a mayor. Their purpose was to organize
+their forces, and to present the best front which their numerical
+inferiority would admit of. They had assumed that Dr. Rolph would as a
+matter of course be the choice of the Reform members for the chief
+magistracy, and this assumption had been confirmed by common rumour, so
+that they entertained no doubt on the subject. The selection met with
+their full approval. In fact, unless a mayor was to be chosen from their
+own number--a thing out of the question with such a preponderance of
+Reform members--no man would have been so acceptable to them as Dr.
+Rolph. He was known to and respected by them all, and it was felt that
+he would fill the chair with credit to the city. They accordingly
+resolved to give him their support, and one of their number, Mr. Thomas
+Carfrae, Jr., wrote to him on the subject. But, Dr. Rolph had meanwhile
+given his assent to the project of Mackenzie's election, and was not in
+a position to accept support from any quarter. After careful
+consideration he had determined to resign his seat in the Council. He
+foresaw that Mackenzie would render himself unpopular, and deemed it
+probable that he would be guilty of indiscretions which no public
+representative of a political party could properly defend. The course of
+subsequent events was such as to fully justify this forecast. Dr. Rolph
+replied to Mr. Carfrae, thanking him for his offer of support, but
+announcing that he was about to resign his seat. He also wrote to his
+friend Dr. Morrison, one of the representatives of St. Andrew's Ward, to
+the same effect. The contents of these two letters did not become known
+until the meeting of the Council on the 3rd of April, otherwise steps
+would unquestionably have been taken to prevent Mackenzie's election;
+for the Reformers, with two or three exceptions, were not sufficiently
+anxious to elect him to oust Dr. Rolph for his sake; and as for the
+Conservatives, the idea of Mackenzie's elevation to the highest seat in
+the Council would at all times have been simply intolerable to them. At
+the appointed time all the aldermen and councilmen were in their places
+except Dr. Rolph. The chair was temporarily taken by John Doel, one of
+the representatives from St. Andrew's Ward. It was moved by Franklin
+Jackes, councilman from St. David's Ward, and seconded by James Lesslie,
+Mackenzie's colleague as aldermanic representative from the same ward,
+"that William Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire, be the mayor of this city." The
+motion took the Conservative members completely by surprise, and they
+did not attempt to conceal their dissatisfaction, and even disgust.
+Several of them arose in succession, and spoke in favour of Dr. Rolph.
+Dr. Morrison then announced Dr. Rolph's decision, and read his letter by
+way of confirmation. Mr. Carfrae intimated that he had received from
+the Doctor a letter to the same purport. There was thus no room for
+further discussion. The pre-concerted programme was carried out.
+Mackenzie received ten votes in support of his candidature, which
+constituted a majority. He was declared duly elected, and took the chair
+of honour. During the afternoon of the same day he took the prescribed
+oath, and his authority was complete. He could boast that he was the
+first mayor of Toronto, and also the first mayor ever elected in Upper
+Canada.
+
+Scarcely had he been installed in office ere he began to furnish
+examples of that perverse and almost inconceivable want of judgment
+which attended upon him from the beginning of his life to its end.
+Knowing the light in which he was regarded by the Conservative members
+of the Council, it might have been supposed that he would be specially
+circumspect in his demeanour towards them, and careful not to give
+gratuitous offence. On the contrary, he conducted himself like a
+veritable Jack-in-Office, and disgusted not only the Conservatives but
+some of his own friends. He was constantly intruding his personal
+antagonisms upon the Council, and trying to induce the members to take
+sides. His indiscretion in the matter of the famous "baneful domination"
+letter is absolutely incomprehensible. The particulars can only be given
+very briefly in these pages.
+
+During the month of May, Mr. Mackenzie received from Joseph Hume, the
+Radical member for Middlesex in the British House of Commons, an
+extraordinary letter--a letter which, for violence of tone and
+intemperance of language, might almost have been written by the editor
+of the _Advocate_ himself. It referred to the Reverend Egerton Ryerson,
+a leading minister of the Methodist Church and editor of _The Christian
+Guardian_, in terms which it is astonishing to think that a gentleman in
+Mr. Hume's position should have permitted himself to employ. Now,
+Mackenzie had quarrelled with Mr. Ryerson not long before, and had
+devoted much space in the _Advocate_ to maligning him. He saw here an
+opportunity for a further attack, with which view he deliberately
+published "copious extracts"[183] from the letter in the issue of his
+paper dated the 22nd of May. The effect was electrical, for the
+references to Mr. Ryerson, bad as they were, were not the portions of
+the letter most calculated to excite astonishment in the public mind.
+The phrase which called forth prompt execration from all classes of the
+community was one in which the writer, referring to Mackenzie's last
+election to the Assembly and his expulsion therefrom, characterized
+those proceedings as events which must hasten the crisis that was fast
+approaching in the affairs of the Canadas, and which would "terminate in
+independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother
+country." These extraordinary words--extraordinary as proceeding from a
+British statesman to a colonist who was likewise a public
+character--were printed in the _Advocate_, like the rest of the letter,
+in large type. It was subsequently urged[184] on Mr. Hume's behalf that
+he had not meant to imply _separation_ from the mother country, but only
+an end to the false and pernicious system of governing the colony; and
+this explanation was admitted by him[185] to express what he had
+intended to signify. But if Mr. Hume could write so indiscreetly on such
+a subject, what is to be thought of the newspaper editor and the
+politician who had no better sense than to give such a production to the
+world of Upper Canada, more especially while he himself occupied the
+position of mayor of its most important city?
+
+No sooner was the number of the _Advocate_ containing this letter in the
+hands of the public than an outcry arose on every hand. The Tories saw
+their advantage, and made the most of it. Now, it was said, the real
+designs of Mackenzie and those who acted with him were no longer masked.
+What they wanted was not constitutional Reform, but separation from the
+Empire, and the establishment of a republic. And it was not only Tories
+who spoke and felt thus. Persons who cordially hated the domination of
+the Compact, and who had condemned the treatment of Mackenzie as
+unconstitutional, tyrannical and unjust, now felt that such a man
+deserved no sympathy. He was evidently a rebel at heart.[186] He had
+brought reproach not only on himself, but upon the party to which he
+belonged. Reform journals hastened to signify their repudiation of the
+sentiments of the objectionable letter. "We profess ourselves Radical
+Reformers," said the _Freeman_, "and willing to go any reasonable length
+in correcting abuses, because we know extensive grievances have existed
+both in the mother country and in these colonies.... but we cannot bring
+ourselves to support violent and unprincipled factions." "It has often
+been the misfortune," said _The British Whig_, of Kingston, "for those
+who have laboured to emancipate the people of this colony from Tory
+misrule to be accused of disaffection to the mother country, and of a
+design to effect the substitution of a republican mode of Government for
+their present monarchical form. That no accusation is more generally
+false we are thoroughly satisfied; and yet, owing to the indiscreetness
+of certain writers, the enemies of political change have had too many
+opportunities afforded them to ground their assertions on something like
+proof. Here is a letter published by a leading Reformer, without one
+single remark in detestation of the doctrine it promulgates.... Does Mr.
+Mackenzie sincerely believe that the independence of this Province
+would be beneficial to its inhabitants; or is he of opinion that the
+domination of the mother country is baneful? If he answer in the
+negative, as we think he will, why in the name of common sense did he
+afford his enemies so much occasion to brand him with disloyalty?" Said
+_The Free Press_, of Hamilton, "It is not the domination of the mother
+country that Reformers complain of; it is only the tyrannical conduct of
+a small and despicable faction in the colony. The domination of the
+mother country is as necessary to our present happiness and future
+greatness as the mother's breast is to the infant." "There can be but
+one opinion," said _The British American Journal_, of St. Catharines,
+"in the minds of honest men, relative to the sentiments contained in
+this letter. That they are seditious and revolutionary is painfully
+evident; besides the language in which it is couched, the brief
+reference to the important subjects treated of, and the peculiar manner
+of its appearance before the Canadian public, irresistibly force the
+conclusion upon our mind that it is the premature disclosure of a plan
+long premeditated to separate the Canadas from the empire of Great
+Britain, and either annex them to the confederated union of the States,
+or establish separate independent republic Governments; as far as the
+author or publisher of the letter is concerned, it is immaterial which."
+Mackenzie himself was characterized as a man who was doing his best to
+drive the people headlong and blindfold into rebellion. Such being the
+tone of the Liberal press, that of the Tory journals may readily be
+conceived. Some of them demanded that the Government should institute an
+immediate prosecution of Mackenzie. Indignation meetings were held all
+over the Province, at which loyal addresses to His Majesty were passed.
+The Methodist Conference and other bodies, secular as well as religious,
+hastened to pass resolutions condemnatory of Mr. Hume's sentiments, and
+to forward the same to the Lieutenant-Governor. The excitement in
+Toronto was tremendous. Before noon of the day on which the offensive
+letter appeared in print a public meeting had been called to protest
+against the disloyal sentiments embodied in it. It was numerously
+attended, and, though a good many Reformers were present, a vote of
+censure on Mackenzie was passed without a dissentient voice. The matter
+was brought up in the City Council, and, though the support of the
+Reform members enabled him to escape the official censure of that body,
+he was compelled to submit to a series of criticisms which must have
+been exceedingly galling to his feelings. By this one misguided act he
+had contrived to do enough harm to far more than counterbalance any good
+which had been effected through his mission to England; and there were
+many Reformers who, in spite of all his protestations, never again felt
+any confidence in him, politically or otherwise.
+
+In his capacity of mayor he was fairly assiduous in his attention to
+his duties. The city was subjected to a visitation of Asiatic cholera
+during the year, and he appears to have done his utmost to stay the
+progress of the pestilence, as well as to provide for the treatment of
+the stricken patients. He was nevertheless guilty of a number of
+indiscretions which rendered him odious to a large proportion of the
+population. His pettiness of spirit was incessantly asserting itself. No
+person in the community, however insignificant, was beneath his wrath
+when his sense of personal dignity was wounded. On one occasion a
+wretched woman of intemperate habits and loose character was brought
+before him in the Mayor's Court. She was loquacious and abusive, and
+Mackenzie, in a rage, ordered her to be placed in the public stocks.
+There were still a public pillory and stocks within the city, but, like
+those in Squire Hazeldean's parish, they had long been disused.
+Mackenzie had probably never heard of the maxim _Quieta non movere_. At
+any rate, the greater part of his life was spent in efforts in an
+opposite direction. His sentence was carried out, and the culprit was
+placed in the stocks. Had this been the act of a fossilized member of
+the Compact it would not have appeared very incongruous, but in
+Mackenzie it seemed ludicrously out of keeping with his professions. It
+aroused the popular indignation against him to a higher pitch than ever;
+but it had one good effect: it led to the removal and destruction of the
+barbarous relics of mediævalism. To Mackenzie belongs the questionable
+credit of reviving their use when Tory magistrates had become ashamed to
+employ them any longer. He is entitled to the further distinction of
+being the last magistrate in Upper Canada to sanction their use; and
+that, too, in the case of a poor and defenceless woman, whose
+wretchedness ought to have removed her far from the possibility of his
+vengeance.
+
+A considerable part of the summer was spent by both the political
+parties in the Province in preparing for the general election contest
+which was to take place before the close of the year. It was held in
+October. Had it been held some months earlier, while the public sympathy
+with Mackenzie in consequence of his repeated expulsions was at its
+height, an overwhelming preponderance of Reform members would have been
+returned. The publication of Mr. Hume's letter in the interval had
+alienated many sympathies and lost many votes to the Reform cause.
+Still, there was a strong tendency throughout the greater part of the
+Province in the direction of Reform, and the Reformers made
+unprecedented exertions. They succeeded in winning to their side a large
+number of the Roman Catholic electorate, and they absorbed most of the
+recent arrivals from beyond sea. Bidwell and Perry were re-elected for
+Lennox and Addington. William Benjamin Wells, a young lawyer of
+twenty-five, who afterwards made some mark as a newspaper writer on the
+Reform side, and from whose "Canadiana" several extracts have already
+been made in these pages, was returned for the County of Grenville. He
+was an Upper Canadian by birth, of U. E. Loyalist stock, and the
+grandson of a volunteer who fought at the siege of Louisbourg. Oxford
+returned for one of its members Dr. Charles Duncombe, who was destined
+to take a conspicuous part in the insurrectionary events of two years
+later. He was a medical practitioner of great intelligence and wide
+influence, an eloquent and forcible speaker, and an ardent Reformer. He
+resided on the Burford Plains, near the present village of Bishopsgate,
+a few miles west of Brantford. The two members returned for the County
+of Simcoe represented very nearly the two extremes of political opinion.
+William Benjamin Robinson, a brother of the Chief Justice, was, as
+became one of his race, the incarnation of Family Compact Toryism. His
+colleague was Samuel Lount, whose name, owing to his untimely fate and
+the melancholy circumstances attending it, arouses a host of sad
+memories. It may safely be said that of all the victims of the rising of
+1837 none has been so sincerely and generally mourned. His execution is
+justly regarded in the light of a judicial murder and a stain upon our
+country's annals. As a peculiar interest has ever since attached to his
+name, and as but little is generally known with respect to him, it may
+be proper to record a few particulars. He was born on the banks of the
+Susquehanna River, in the State of Pennsylvania, on the 24th of
+September, 1791. His father, Gabriel Lount, was an Englishman, and a
+native of Bristol, who settled in the United States after the close of
+the Revolutionary War, and married an American lady of English descent.
+Gabriel Lount never lost his British proclivities during his residence
+in the republic, and in the spring of the year 1811, accompanied by his
+son and the rest of his family, he removed to Upper Canada. He settled
+in the township of Whitchurch, where he practised as a surveyor, and in
+the course of the nest few years laid out many official surveys for the
+Provincial Government. Samuel, prior to his removal to Canada, had
+learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he carried on for some years at
+Holland Landing. He had a farm in the same neighbourhood which he
+cultivated with much pecuniary success. Being a man of great industry
+and intelligence, he gradually amassed considerable property, and became
+what for those days might be regarded as wealthy. Better still, he
+acquired the respect and confidence of the people around him, for he was
+kind-hearted and generous, and spent much of his time in ministering to
+the necessities of those incoming settlers who were less advantageously
+situated than himself. To this day the neighbourhood abounds with
+traditions of his noble unselfishness, and there are old men and women
+who, after the lapse of half a century, cannot speak of Samuel Lount
+without a dimness of vision and a huskiness of the voice.[187] Though a
+zealous loyalist, he was an enthusiastic Reformer, and vehemently
+opposed to the domination of the faction whose selfishness went far to
+paralyze the life of the Province. He was an excellent speaker, and
+during election contests did much to awaken public opinion on the
+fruitful subject of Executive abuses. He now, in response to pressing
+solicitations, allowed himself to be nominated as a candidate for the
+representation of Simcoe in the Assembly, and, as has been seen, was
+returned for that constituency along with an ultra-Tory. In personal
+appearance he was considerably above the medium height, and of robust
+figure; of dark complexion, and with a pleasant, intelligent expression
+of countenance.
+
+[Illustration: I am your obt Servant
+David Gibson][TR: Handwritten.]
+
+
+The County of York, smarting under a sense of indignity and partial
+disfranchisement, rendered itself specially conspicuous in the contest.
+During the preceding year an Act[188] had been passed extending and
+readjusting the representation of the County, and dividing it for
+electoral purposes into four Ridings, designated respectively the First,
+Second, Third and Fourth. Each of these now returned a Radical Reformer.
+The First Riding returned David Gibson, a land surveyor who resided on
+Yonge Street, about eight miles north of the city, near the present
+village of Willowdale. He was of Scottish nationality, having been born
+in the parish of Glammis, Forfarshire, on the 9th of March, 1804. Within
+legitimate bounds there was no more pronounced Reformer in the Province
+than Mr. Gibson, whose house was a sort of rendezvous or place of
+meeting for party caucuses. He was an honourable and high-minded man,
+much esteemed by his neighbours, and in high favour with his party. The
+Second Riding chose Mackenzie. Many of the voters disapproved of some of
+his acts, but his paper was largely read among them, and it was felt
+that some recompense was due to him for the indignities which he had
+suffered. The Third Riding returned Dr. Thomas David Morrison, of
+Toronto, who has already been referred to in connection with the
+municipal affairs of the city. He was a physician enjoying a good
+practice; a man of good sense and wise counsels, and a prominent
+personage in the ranks of Reform. For the Fourth Riding was returned
+John Mackintosh, a resident of Toronto, and a connexion, by marriage, of
+Mackenzie. He was a steady Reformer, of no remarkable abilities, who a
+few months previously had been elected President of the Metropolitan
+District Reform Convention, and was known to be to a large extent under
+Mackenzie's control. Such were the four York representatives.
+
+At the close of the contest the Reformers of the Province had secured a
+certain majority, which led them to look eagerly forward to the meeting
+of Parliament, although, with the exception of Bidwell and Perry, their
+best and most trusted chiefs had no seats therein. Rolph and the
+Baldwins had positively refused to stand for any of the constituencies,
+although strongly urged to do so. They seem to have felt that the
+political pulse was not healthy, and that no credit was to be won,
+either for themselves or for the Reform cause, while the morbid symptoms
+continued. The worst symptom of all in their eyes was the ascendency of
+Mackenzie and his satellites among the rural and uneducated part of the
+community.[189] With this ascendency they were wholly out of accord, and
+they awaited the time when he should find his proper level in public
+opinion. Dr. Rolph had brought himself to acquiesce in this estimate of
+Mackenzie with great reluctance; and it is probable that his strong
+suspicions of double-dealing in the matter of the mayoralty election had
+something to do with his change of views.
+
+By this time Mackenzie had become tired of publishing the _Advocate_,
+which was not a commercial success. Early in November the last number
+published under his auspices made its appearance, and the editor was at
+liberty to devote his chief energies to his legislative duties.[190]
+During the second week in December he and a number of his political
+friends formed what they called the Canadian Alliance Society, for the
+promotion of Responsible Government, the abolition of the law of
+Primogeniture, the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, and other
+needful reforms, most of which have since been conceded. At the
+beginning of the new year (1835) Mackenzie again offered himself as a
+candidate for the representation of St. David's Ward in the City Council
+of Toronto, but he was defeated by Robert Baldwin Sullivan, a brilliant
+Toronto lawyer, and a kinsman of Robert Baldwin. The Council elected the
+successful candidate as mayor for the ensuing year.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[181] _Ante_, p. 187.
+
+[182] "To his instruction, and the love of knowledge which he never
+failed to inspire in those who came within the magic of his eloquence,
+many men who have since made their mark on the history of Canada owe
+their first start in intellectual progress. Notable among these is the
+present Chief Superintendent of Education, who has acknowledged that if
+he has achieved any distinction, it is mainly due to the love of
+knowledge with which he was inspired by the eloquence and example of Dr.
+Rolph." Such was the late Dr. Ryerson's own testimony, as published in
+the _Journal of Education_, upon Dr. Rolph's death in 1870.
+
+[183] The phrase is Mackenzie's own. See his remarks preceding the
+extracts in the _Advocate_ of May 22nd.
+
+[184] By Dr. Morrison in the Toronto City Council. See the report of the
+proceedings of that body at the meeting held on Monday, June 9th, 1834.
+On the subject generally, see the pamphlet published in Toronto in 1834
+entitled _The Celebrated Letter of Joseph Hume_, etc.
+
+[185] In a letter dated 14th July, 1834, and published in the _Advocate_
+of September 25th. Mr. Hume there states his meaning to have been "that
+the misrule of the Government in Canada, and the monopolizing selfish
+domination of such men as had lately (though but a small faction of the
+people) resisted all improvement and reform, would lose the countenance
+of the authorities in Downing Street, and leave the people in freedom to
+manage their own affairs."
+
+[186] The following extract is from a cleverly-written letter signed "O.
+P. Q.," which appeared in the _Courier_ of June 5th, 1834. It spoke the
+sentiments of nearly all the newspapers in the country, of whatsoever
+shade of politics: "But for that letter the people of this Province
+might long remain in ignorance of the real motives by which your conduct
+has been actuated. They might long regard you as a persecuted
+patriot.... But your imprudence or your vanity has been the means of
+completely unmasking and placing you before the people of this country
+in all the naked deformity of an acknowledged traitor. Henceforth you
+must be content to be regarded as the secret abettor of a heartless
+conspiracy.... Do not think, Sir, that these are the sentiments of a
+violent political opponent who approves of the measures adopted towards
+you by the House of Assembly.... These views, Sir, are the views of a
+man who has ever denounced the course your adversaries have pursued
+towards you as unwise, unjust and unconstitutional. They are the
+sentiments of a man who, if he had the power to punish the persons who
+first rose you from poverty, ignominy and ruin, to comparative affluence
+and popular notoriety, would have sent the destroyers of your press to
+less favoured regions. They are the sentiments of one who had up to the
+publication of the letter ... regarded you as a man attached to the
+institutions of your country.... It is an old adage, 'Give him rope
+enough,' etc. You have a moderate quantity, and if the avowal of such
+sentiments as you have lately promulgated do not afford you a few yards
+more, you may regard yourself as infinitely more fortunate than many
+better and bolder men."
+
+[187] "To the many poor settlers who came from Europe, and obtained
+grants of lands from the government, he was a friend and adviser, and in
+cases of necessity their wants were supplied from his purse or his
+granaries. Many is the time, said some of our fellow-prisoners, that we
+have seen him, after the toils of the day were over, leave his home to
+carry provisions for miles through the pathless forest, to the shanty of
+some poor and destitute settler, who with wife and family were rendered
+by want and sickness utterly destitute. Those acquainted with the
+history of new settlements need not be told how often those who have
+been accustomed to better days are obliged to embark in a new career of
+life, the duties of which they are totally ignorant and wholly unfitted
+for, nor how often sickness is engendered by their great bodily
+exertions, by neglect and deprivation. In a country like that in which
+Mr. Lount was settled, the inhabitants resided far apart, and consisted
+generally of old, worn, and superannuated British officers, who, at the
+close of the war, pitched their tents, for the last time, in the
+wilderness. The sums which they obtained from the sale of their
+half-pay, almost expended in the transportation of their little
+families, before arriving on the lands assigned them by
+government--unfitted, from their former pursuits, to bear the drudgery
+their new course of life required, it was frequently the case, that
+before they could raise anything from their lands, they became perfectly
+destitute of the necessaries of subsistence. Too proud to seek
+assistance, they would starve rather than communicate their situation;
+but in Lount, their generous neighbour, they found one quick to discover
+and prompt in affording relief, and he would minister to their wants
+with such delicacy that the most sensitive would experience a pleasure
+rather than the pang of wounded pride."--Theller's _Canada in 1837-38_,
+vol. i., pp. 233, 234. I transfer these remarks, not because I have any
+respect for Theller's personal testimony on any subject, but because in
+the present instance his language clearly expresses the general
+sentiment of the period with regard to Samuel Lount, and is confirmed by
+the remembrance of many persons still living in and near Holland
+Landing.
+
+[188] 3 Wm. IV., c. 15, passed 13th February, 1833.
+
+[189] In the preceding February Dr. Baldwin had thus written in reply to
+a notification to attend as a delegate at the District Convention: "This
+honour I beg leave to decline, and for this reason: that having
+heretofore served the country to the utmost of my humble abilities as
+their representative in Parliament, with the sincerest integrity of
+purpose in maintenance of popular rights, unspotted, I trust, by one
+single vote of a contrary tendency, I, together with many others of the
+staunchest friends of those rights, experienced such extreme fickleness
+of popular opinion that this conclusion has long been formed in my mind:
+that the great body of the people of this Province (without doubt there
+are many honourable exceptions), in no wise ignorant of their rights or
+the great value of them, are nevertheless shamefully indifferent into
+whose hands they commit their preservation and due exercise. Experience
+alone must teach the people. This experience is coming to them by
+painful lessons.... Under these circumstances I beg you will make my
+apology," etc. The letter appears in the _Advocate_ of March 13th, 1834,
+following one to a similar purport from Dr. Rolph.
+
+[190] It was continued for some time after by another hand, under the
+name of _The Correspondent and Advocate_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SEE, THE CONQUERING HERO COMES!
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1835.]
+
+Parliament met on the 15th of January, 1835, when the Reform majority in
+the Assembly were able to once more elect Mr. Bidwell to the
+Speakership. The vote stood thirty-one to twenty-seven. Among the
+minority were five or six Conservative members who repudiated the name
+of Tory, and were opposed to the policy of the official party, to whom,
+as has been seen,[191] they merely yielded a qualified support as the
+less of two evils. Such being the state of affairs in the Assembly, the
+Compact party were of course precluded from making any further serious
+attempts to keep Mackenzie out of the House. The proceedings of previous
+sessions relative to the several expulsions were upon motion of
+Mackenzie himself expunged from the journals of the House. The baneful
+domination letter was made the subject of a long discussion, in the
+course of which Mackenzie received some exceedingly hard hits from
+Solicitor-General Hagerman; but as he had been manifestly in the wrong
+in giving publicity to that letter, and as he had been disciplined by
+members of his party to keep silence in the event of an attack on that
+score, he sat quietly through the Solicitor-General's onslaught.
+
+The most important proceedings of the session, and the only ones of
+which it is necessary to take cognizance in these pages, were those
+relating to the Seventh Report of the Grievance Committee, to which
+frequent reference has already been made. On Friday, the 23rd of
+January, Mackenzie moved for and obtained the appointment of a Special
+Committee on Grievances, with power to send for persons, papers and
+records, and with authority to report to the House from time to time by
+bill, address or otherwise. Mackenzie himself acted as Chairman of the
+Committee, the other members of which, as finally struck, were Dr.
+Morrison, David Gibson and Charles Waters, one of the members for
+Prescott. The famous Seventh Report, which did more to arouse the Home
+Government on the subject of Upper Canadian affairs than all previous
+efforts in that direction, was completed and presented to the Assembly
+on Friday, the 10th of April. It was a truly formidable indictment. It
+recapitulated the various grievances under which the Province laboured,
+and which called loudly for remedy. These have been already set forth in
+former chapters of the present work, and need not here be enlarged upon.
+The prevailing tone of the Report was temperate and calm, and there is
+little or nothing in it to which serious exception can be taken,
+although, as may easily be discerned from internal evidence, the
+compilers felt strongly the importance of a vivid presentation of their
+case. The Report proper occupies only fifteen folio pages of the
+appendix to the official journals of the session; but the evidence taken
+by the Committee, and the various letters, papers and documents which go
+to make up the mass of valuable information submitted to the Assembly,
+extend to voluminous dimensions. In addition to the copies printed for
+insertion in the appendix to the journal, two thousand copies of the
+complete work were issued separately in octavo form for distribution. It
+thus obtained a considerable circulation throughout the Province; and a
+copy was also sent to each member of the British House of Commons. The
+first copy that left the binder's hands was forwarded to the Colonial
+Secretary. All the most pressing grievances were dealt with in greater
+or less detail, but special prominence was given to the necessity for a
+responsible Government--a Government responsible to public opinion,
+which must cease to exist when it ceases to command popular confidence.
+The wished-for settlement of this important question would necessarily
+comprehend and include the removal of many of the most glaring abuses to
+which the people of the Province had long been subject and the Reform
+party were keenly alive to the importance of obtaining the concession.
+More than a third of the Report proper was devoted to dealing with the
+question in its various aspects, and it was shown that the Provincial
+Executive were not only impervious to public opinion, but were also
+ready enough to disregard the views of the Home Government itself when
+those views failed to coincide with their own plans for
+self-aggrandizement. Some of the evidence taken was of the most
+compromising character, while the refusal of leading members of the
+Compact to answer certain questions propounded to them did not tend to
+place matters in a more favourable light. Archdeacon Strachan's response
+to many of the questions put to him amounted to a practical contempt of
+the Committee. "I do not answer that question."--"I have no answer to
+give."--"I refer you to the Constitutional Act."--"I cannot answer that
+question, owing to its assumptions, which I do not admit." Such are a
+few of his replies. The whole of his examination is worth reading, as
+exemplifying how far an intelligent man will sometimes permit bigotry
+and intolerance to gain possession of his soul. Indeed, the evidence of
+all the witnesses may be read with profit by those who wish to gain a
+full insight into the state of the Province at that time, and to fully
+appreciate the necessity which existed for a change in the mode of
+conducting public affairs.
+
+The report, though presented to the Assembly as above intimated, does
+not appear to have been formally adopted during the session, but the
+passing of the order for the printing of it, together with two thousand
+extra copies, amounted to a practical adoption, and was probably so
+considered. The Committee could easily have secured its adoption, for
+the vote on the Speakership had not fully represented the strength of
+the Opposition, who on several questions were able to command a majority
+of from ten to eleven. But the fact was again brought vividly home to
+the Reform party that mere success at the polls had availed them little.
+Notwithstanding the numerical minority of the official party in the
+Assembly, they continued to exercise supreme power, and to strengthen
+themselves by the constant dispensing of patronage. They controlled the
+Legislative Council, and could thus control the legislative powers of
+the Assembly, independently of any question of the numerical strength or
+weakness of the Opposition in that House. The Legislative Council now
+assumed an attitude of determined antagonism to the popular voice, and
+would entertain no legislation of a liberal character. The vivid
+realization of these facts gave a keen edge to the remarks on
+Responsible Government in the Grievance Committee's Report. An Address
+setting forth these various discouragements was forwarded to His Majesty
+by the Assembly. The language was respectful but firm, and it was hinted
+that, if a remedy were not provided, resort would have to be had to the
+extreme measure of withholding the usual supplies. Earnest petitions to
+His Majesty were at the same time sent across the Atlantic from some of
+the rural districts, praying that the principles of the British
+constitution might be applied to Canadian affairs.
+
+The Address and petitions were accompanied by the fullest documentary
+and other evidence, and, in conjunction with the Grievance Committee's
+Report, they stirred the Home Government to action. The Colonial
+Secretaryship had changed hands more than once since Mr. Stanley's
+tenure of office. The incumbent at this time, and for several years
+afterwards, was Lord Glenelg. His Lordship gave much consideration to
+the Report, and laid it before the King in person. The Home Government
+had by this time fully realized that there was much well-grounded
+discontent in the Canadas, and that something must be done to allay it.
+It was clear that the Reformers were justified in at least some of their
+demands, and that reasonable concessions should be made to them. This
+conviction led to an ungracious correspondence between the Colonial
+Office and Sir John Colborne,[192] who, owing, as is to be presumed, to
+the advice of Chief Justice Robinson and Archdeacon Strachan, was very
+reluctant to make concessions as suggested. As this reluctance was made
+manifest in the course of the correspondence, the Colonial Secretary
+resolved upon His Excellency's recall. Sir John had been appointed by a
+Tory Government, the traditions of which had been pretty well swept away
+by the effect of the Reform Bill. His mode of conducting the Provincial
+Administration may perhaps be to some extent palliated by the
+circumstances attending his appointment. But a Whig Government had now
+been for some time in power, and an effete colonial policy could not be
+permitted to be maintained to the detriment of colonial loyalty. If Sir
+John Colborne was not amenable to Whig discipline he must make way for
+some one of a more plastic mind. He was meanwhile instructed to delay
+the assembling of the Legislature until the Home Government could fully
+consider the aspect of affairs, and take such steps for the redress of
+the Provincial grievances as might seem advisable.
+
+Having arrived at this conclusion, the Colonial Secretary began to look
+about him for a successor to Sir John Colborne. It was not easy to find
+one in all respects suitable, for the appointment was not a prize of
+such magnitude as to attract persons of really first-rate abilities.
+There seems good reason to believe that the place was offered to at
+least two fairly competent public servants, both of whom declined
+it.[193] In view of his subsequent conduct, it is fair to assume that
+Lord Glenelg was sincerely anxious to do his best for Upper Canada, and
+to confer the appointment upon the best man within his reach. How
+ignominously he failed to carry out his wishes in this particular is
+known to every student of Upper Canadian history; but what is not known,
+either to students of history or anyone else, is--What was the motive
+power which directed his choice? By what whimsical combination of
+circumstances it came about that the appointment was finally offered to,
+and accepted by, one of the most unlikely men in the three kingdoms, is
+one of those official riddles which appear to defy solution. The fact
+remains, that the post of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was
+conferred upon Sir Francis Bond Head, a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian
+Guelphic Order, a retired half-pay Major, an Assistant Poor-Law
+Commissioner for one of the Kentish districts, and the author of several
+entertaining but exceedingly superficial books of travel. To no one was
+the appointment a greater surprise than to Sir Francis himself. He must
+have felt the utter absurdity of the thing--that he had no claim to such
+a post, and was disqualified from filling it with credit. He neither
+knew nor cared anything about Canada. He was altogether ignorant of
+politics. He had never joined any political party; never attended a
+political discussion; never even voted at an election or taken any part
+in one.[194] So far as any knowledge of the British constitution was
+concerned, he had as little as any Englishman of decent education could
+possibly have. He had no claim upon the Government; was not acquainted
+with any member of it; and had never so much as seen Lord Glenelg in his
+life.[195] It is certainly not strange that he should have been, as he
+says,[196] "altogether at a loss to conceive" why this appointment
+should have been offered to him.
+
+From that day down to the present time the circumstance has puzzled
+wiser heads than his, and there have been various attempts to solve the
+mystery. A tradition is said to be current in the Colonial Office that
+the appointment was the result of a singular misapprehension of
+identity, and the late Mr. Roebuck assured Sir Francis Hincks that such
+was really the fact.[197] A "distinguished Imperial statesman" also
+assured Sir Francis that he had heard the same statement,[198] which was
+to the effect that the person for whom the appointment was really
+intended was the kinsman of Sir Francis, afterwards Sir Edmund Walker
+Head, Governor-General of Canada. It is said that at a meeting of the
+Cabinet, while the selection of a successor to Sir John Colborne was
+under consideration, one of the Ministers suggested that "young Head"
+would be a likely man for the position--the person meant being Edmund
+Walker Head, who was even then known as possessing wide political
+knowledge, in so far, at least, as such knowledge can be obtained from
+books. Edmund was moreover known to many public men in Great Britain as
+an able writer on political subjects, and was a protégé of the Marquis
+of Lansdowne, who was at this time President of the Council, and, by
+consequence, a colleague of Lord Glenelg. Edmund, as well as Francis,
+was a Poor-Law Commissioner, though he occupied a more exalted position
+than his kinsman. Thus, it is argued, there was some show of excuse for
+confusing the one with the other. Lord Glenelg, so the story goes, took
+the suggestion of his colleague as applying to Sir Francis, and acted
+upon it; and before the error was discovered the appointment had been
+offered to and accepted by the wrong man.[199] How much truth there may
+be in this account of the matter it is not easy to say. Such a blunder
+would imply an amount of carelessness barely conceivable in the
+management of an important Department of the State. Sir Francis Hincks,
+however, who has enjoyed exceptional opportunities of discussing the
+story with leading English statesmen, is strongly disposed to believe
+it.[200] Whatever opinion may be formed as to its truth or falsity,
+certain it is that Sir Francis Bond Head received the appointment, and
+that his conduct in Upper Canada did more to alienate the minds of the
+colonists generally than anything which had been done by either Sir John
+Colborne or Sir Peregrine Maitland. There is this to be said on his
+behalf: that he came to Canada at a very critical time--at a time when
+diplomatic shrewdness and statesmanlike sagacity were imperatively
+demanded of one occupying the position of Lieutenant-Governor. Injustice
+had so long borne sway in the land that many of the inhabitants had
+ceased to hope for better times. Many despaired of the future, and a
+few, whose natural element was opposition, had little desire to be
+conciliated.[201] Even a born statesman would have found his task by no
+means a sinecure.
+
+To statesmanship no shadow of pretence could be made on behalf of Sir
+Francis Head. The texture of his mind was light and airy. He was
+inordinately vain and self-conscious; and, as has been seen, he was
+devoid of political knowledge and experience. The whole course of his
+previous life had been of a character to render him unfit for such
+greatness as was now thrust upon him. A considerable part of it had been
+spent in travel and adventure, and very little of it in study. He had
+left school at an early age, since which time he had encountered
+innumerable moving accidents by flood and field in various parts of the
+world. He had received a certain amount of training at the Military
+Academy at Woolwich, and had obtained a commission in the Royal
+Engineers in his nineteenth year. He had seen some active service in
+Spain towards the close of the Peninsular War; had been present at
+Quatre Bras and Waterloo, and had fought at Fleurus under the Prussian
+General Ziethan, where he had had his horse shot under him. After the
+restoration of peace he had for some time been engaged in making a
+trigonometrical survey of the island of Lampedoza, in the Mediterranean.
+Thence he had embarked in a Greek vessel for Tripoli; had been nearly
+wrecked through the skipper's intemperance, and had finally been put
+ashore at Malta. He had also been Byron-smitten, and had followed in the
+wake of the author of "Childe Harold" to the Levant; had contemplated
+"the Niobe of nations" among the ruins of Rome; had witnessed the dance
+of the dervishes amid the fallen temples of Athens; and had "felt his
+patriotism gain force upon the plain of Marathon."[202] He had twice
+visited South America as the agent of a company formed for the working
+of certain gold and silver mines, and known as the Rio de la Plata
+Mining Association. During one of these expeditions he had ridden on
+horseback from the port of Buenos Aires across the pampas to the silver
+mines of Upsallata, near the foot of the Andes, whence, without any
+companion whatever, he had galloped back to Buenos Aires--a distance of
+nearly a thousand miles--in the brief space of eight days. Then he had
+retraced his course across the pampas, and, collecting a party of miners
+at Mendoza, had conducted them over the Andes to Santiago, the capital
+of Chili. After "prospecting" the country in various directions, he had
+ridden back across the Andes and the pampas to Buenos Aires, having
+traversed six thousand miles on horseback in an inconceivably short
+time. His "Rough Notes" contains a graphic account of this expedition,
+and is very interesting reading. It won for him wide notoriety, and led
+to his being commonly referred to in the current literature of the time
+as "Galloping Head." His adventurous career had left an indelible stamp
+upon his character. He was rash, impetuous, inconsiderate and
+superficial, fond of producing dramatic effects, and ever with an eye to
+some _coup de théâtre_. He had not been a Poor-Law Commissioner long
+enough to have become thoroughly settled down when a king's messenger
+arrived at his Kentish abode about midnight, with a missive offering him
+the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. He seems to have
+at first had sufficient good sense to decline the proffered honour; but
+he allowed himself to be talked into accepting it by Lord Glenelg and
+his under-secretary, Mr. Stephen. As I have said elsewhere: "The result
+of an appointment made under such circumstances was disaster to the
+Province, and something nearly approaching ignominy to himself. As a
+civil administrator in a disturbed and grievance-ridden colony, he was
+altogether out of his proper element, and furnished a signal instance of
+the round peg in the square hole. His administration extended over
+little more than two years, but during that period he contrived to
+embroil himself with his own Executive, with the Home Government from
+which he had received his appointment, and with pretty nearly every one
+who was desirous of promoting the cause of political liberty in Upper
+Canada. He also contrived to do an amount of mischief which left traces
+behind it for many years after he had ceased to have any control over
+Canadian affairs. And yet it would be most unjust to represent him as a
+deliberately bad or ill-intentioned man. He was simply a weak man out of
+his proper sphere."[203] That a man of such mental endowments should
+have been sent out to stem the tide of Upper Canadian discontent, and to
+conciliate noisy Radicals of the Mackenzie stamp, is in itself
+sufficient proof that a huge official blunder of some sort was
+committed. What was wanted was a statesman, and a man of Liberal
+political views. Had there been any, even the slightest inquiry, it
+would have been ascertained that Sir Francis hardly knew the meaning of
+the word statesman, and that he had no political views whatever. It is
+hardly going too far to say that on all current political subjects,
+whether pertaining to the colonies or the mother country, his mind was
+little more than a blank. Lord Glenelg had an elaborate paper of
+instructions prepared for the new Lieutenant-Governor, This was intended
+as the Imperial response to the strong representations which had been
+received from Upper Canada in the course of the year. Sir Francis was
+directed to communicate the substance of his instructions to both Houses
+of the Provincial Parliament. Having been schooled for a few days by Mr.
+Stephen, and having gone down to Brighton and been presented to the
+King, he set sail, with his suite, from Liverpool for Canada, by way of
+New York. While crossing the Atlantic he devoted some time to studying
+his instructions, together with the Seventh Report of the Grievance
+Committee, with which he had been provided at the Colonial office.[204]
+Upon arriving at New York he pushed on to his final destination. "There
+would be no end to this chapter," he writes, in the third chapter of his
+"Narrative," "were I to describe the simplicity of mind, ill-naturedly
+called ignorance, with which I approached the city of Toronto. With Mr.
+Mackenzie's heavy book of lamentations in my portmanteau, and with my
+remedial instructions in my writing case, I considered myself as a
+political physician, who, whether regularly educated or not, was about
+to effect a surprising cure; for, as I never doubted for a moment either
+the existence of the 553 pages of grievances, nor that I would
+mercilessly destroy them, root and branch, I felt perfectly confident
+that I should very soon be able proudly to report that the grievances of
+Upper Canada were defunct--in fact, that I had veni-ed, vidi-ed and
+vici-ed them." Infatuated man, to compare himself to Caesar, even in this
+half-jocular manner, at such a time, and to suppose that the bitter
+animosities which had been accumulating for the best part of a
+generation could be swept out of existence at the mere wave of the hand
+of such a weak substitute for "the mighty Julius" as he!
+
+[Sidenote: 1836.]
+
+He reached Toronto on the 23rd of January, 1836. Sir John Colborne was
+just ready to take his departure, to the great regret of the official
+party, and very much to the delight of the Reformers, who had been led
+to believe that the incoming Lieutenant-Governor was a thorough-going
+Liberal, sent over expressly to redress their grievances, and to hurl
+the Compact from the seat of power which they had so long usurped.
+Parliament had been assembled on the 14th of the month, and had ever
+since been expecting the arrival of the King's new representative. As
+for Sir John Colborne, he was in no good humour with the Imperial
+Government, although his rigid ideas as to discipline prevented him from
+giving utterance to his displeasure except to some of the members of the
+Executive, and even to them his views were imparted with great caution,
+and in the strictest secrecy.[205] In consequence of his unsatisfactory
+communications from the Colonial Office, he had for some time felt his
+position growing more and more uncomfortable, and had solicited his
+recall; but his deposition had been fully resolved upon before the
+receipt of his request by the Colonial Secretary. He had served out his
+full term of six years, and somewhat more, so that his removal did not
+imply any reflection upon him. His nature and training unfitted him to
+carry out the projects of Reform which it had been determined to set on
+foot, but, in his proper sphere, he was recognized as a valuable public
+servant, who had all his life done his duty according to the light which
+had been vouchsafed to him. The leading spirits of the ruling party in
+the Province contemplated his departure with gloomy forebodings. They
+also had been led to suppose that Sir Francis Head was a Reformer of
+wide experience, who was coming among them to introduce a new order of
+things. They resolved to put forth one great effort while the chance
+remained to them. They induced Sir John, before his departure, to
+perpetrate what may fitly be characterized as the most unstatesmanlike
+act of his life: an act which aroused a perfect transport of public
+indignation, and caused the name of the perpetrator to be execrated
+throughout the length and breadth of the Province.
+
+It will be remembered that[206] provision had been made by the
+Constitutional Act for the creation and endowment, out of the lands
+reserved for the support of a Protestant Clergy, of parsonages or
+rectories, according to the establishment of the Church of England. The
+discussion to which the Clergy Reserves had repeatedly given rise had
+prevented any advantage being taken of this authority. Nearly half a
+century had elapsed since the passing of the Constitutional Act, and as
+the power had been allowed to remain unexercised during all that time,
+there was good reason to believe that there would be no attempt to put
+it in operation, more especially in view of the strong feeling
+entertained with regard to the Reserves, and of the fact that the
+Provincial Parliament had been requested by the Imperial Government to
+legislate on the subject. Previous Colonial Secretaries, Lord Goderich
+among the number, had given what might fairly be construed as pledges on
+the part of the Imperial Government that no steps would be taken with
+respect to the disposal of any part of the Reserves, unless in accord
+with the views of a majority of the Upper Canadian people. Yet Sir John
+allowed himself to be persuaded into creating and endowing forty-four
+rectories[207] with more that 17,000 acres of land, giving an average of
+about 386 acres to each. These were put in possession of clergymen, who
+were thus enabled to acquire such a personal vested and possessory
+interest in the lands as, it was believed, would enable them to make
+good their titles thereto in a court of law.
+
+This most reprehensible "clerical land grab" was made on the 15th of
+January, eight days before the arrival of Sir John Colborne's successor,
+and while Sir Francis was actually _en route_ for Toronto. It was thus
+one of Sir John's last official acts. It is said that he was with
+difficulty brought to accede to the advice of his Council on the
+subject. He at all events seemed to feel that his creation of the
+rectories was an extraordinary act, and he took care to say nothing
+about the matter to the Imperial Government, who did not discover the
+facts until Sir Francis Head had been for some time in office. That the
+creation and endowment of the rectories were the means of greatly
+intensifying the general discontent throughout the Province, and that
+they were thus factors in bringing about the Rebellion, is beyond
+question; though to say, as has been said by Mackenzie and others, that
+they were the _prime_ factors, is to talk nonsense. The sequel of the
+story may as well be briefly outlined here. The Executive Council kept
+the matter secret as long as they could, but it was of such a nature
+that its early disclosure was inevitable. The transaction became public
+property in the course of the spring, soon after the close of the
+session of Parliament. No sooner did it become known than the public
+indignation began to manifest itself in lurid speeches and newspaper
+articles. Meetings were held to denounce Sir John Colborne and those who
+had prompted him to this high-handed iniquity. The Wesleyan Methodist
+Conference and the Synod of the Church of Scotland in Upper Canada, if
+agreeing on no other subject, were of one mind as to this, and
+officially pronounced upon it with a vehemence which commended itself to
+popular opinion. Petitions without number were sent over the sea. "The
+Imperial Government," says Mr. Lindsey,[208] "was besieged with
+petitions, praying for the annulment of the rectories. The temper of the
+public mind became imbued with that sullenness which a sense of injury
+begets, and which forebodes the approach of civil commotion. It was the
+idea of violated Imperial faith; of a broken compact between the
+Sovereign and his Canadian subjects, that constituted the sting of the
+injury. The people recurred to the promise of Lord Goderich that their
+wishes should be the Sovereign's guide in the matter, and regarded
+themselves as the victims of a deception which brought dishonour on the
+Crown and distrust on Imperial faith." The Home Government were in two
+minds about repudiating the transaction. The right of the
+Lieutenant-Governor to create and endow without the express assent of
+the King was not perfectly clear, and the Law Officers of the Crown were
+consulted on the question. Those gentlemen, on the case submitted for
+their consideration, pronounced the opinion that there had been an
+excess of authority, and that the creation and endowment were invalid.
+Dr. Strachan, upon becoming acquainted with this circumstance, prepared
+a report embodying certain facts and documents which had not been before
+the Law Officers, to whom the case was now submitted a second time. The
+additional data placed a different face upon the question, and the Law
+Officers arrived at a conclusion contrary to that which they had
+formerly expressed. The grantees were accordingly permitted to retain
+their property undisturbed, but the name of Sir John Colborne continued
+to be execrated in Upper Canada for his share in the transaction for
+many a year.[209]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[191] _Ante_, pp. 231, 232.
+
+[192] See _Report of a Select Committee of the House of Assembly on the
+Political State of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada_, p. 25.
+Toronto, 1838.
+
+[193] See _Rough Notes on Head's Narrative_, by a Liberal, p. 17.
+London, 1840.
+
+[194] See his _Narrative_, Chapter III.
+
+[195] _Narrative_, Chapter II.
+
+[196] _Ib._
+
+[197] See _Reminiscences of his Public Life_, by Sir Francis Hincks,
+K.C.M.G., C.B. p. 14. Montreal, 1884.
+
+[198] _Ib._, p. 15.
+
+[199] See _The Canadian Portrait Gallery_, vol iv., p. 172.
+
+[200] _Reminiscences_, etc., pp. 14, 15.
+
+[201] The Colonial Office could not even plead, in extenuation of such a
+fatal blunder as the appointment of Sir F. B. Head, that it was unaware
+of the importance of the crisis in colonial affairs. In the beginning of
+the instructions prepared for Sir Francis, dated "Downing Street,
+December 15th, 1835," the following words may be found: "I have the
+honour herewith to transmit to you a Commission, under His Majesty's
+sign-manual, appointing you Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper
+Canada. You have been selected for this office at an era of more
+difficulty and importance than any which has hitherto occurred in the
+history of that part of His Majesty's dominions. The expression of
+confidence in your discretion and ability which the choice implies would
+only be weakened by any more formal assurance which I could convey to
+you." What a commentary upon such language was furnished by the mere
+fact of the appointment of such an one as Sir Francis Head!
+
+[202] See a brief account of Sir F. B. Head's life published in _The
+Courier of Upper Canada_ of June 11th, 1836, written by Alan Fairford
+(John Kent), and prefixed, with notes, to the collection of his
+Excellency's _Speeches, Messages and Replies_, published at Toronto
+during the same year.
+
+[203] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. II., p. 169, where the sentences
+above quoted form part of a tolerably full sketch of the life of Sir F.
+B. Head.
+
+[204] He seems to have been provided with a duplicate copy by Joseph
+Hume. See that gentleman's letter to Mackenzie, dated 5th December,
+1835, and included in the third chapter of Head's _Narrative_.
+
+[205] See _Report of a Select Committee of the Assembly_, etc., 1838.
+See also _The Rectory Question_, p. 2. Toronto, 1836.
+
+[206] _Ante_, p. 63.
+
+[207] The intention was to create fifty-seven rectories, and patents for
+that number were actually made out, but thirteen of them were left
+unsigned by the Lieutenant-Governor, and the authorities refused to
+complete them or to admit their validity. See _The Rectories of Upper
+Canada, being a Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of
+Commons_, etc. Colonial Office, Downing Street, 1839. See also _The Last
+Forty Years_, vol. ii., p. 199: _Religious Endowments in Canada; a
+Chapter of Canadian History_, by Sir Francis Hincks, K.C.M.G., C.B.;
+London, 1869.
+
+[208] See _The Clergy Reserves, their History and Present Position_, by
+Charles Lindsey, pp. 30, 31. Toronto, 1851.
+
+[209] It has not been deemed necessary to go very fully into the Rectory
+question in these pages. Anyone desiring to do so will find very full
+details in the various authorities above cited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+"A TRIED REFORMER."
+
+
+Sir Francis Head, upon reaching Toronto on Saturday, the 23rd of
+January, temporarily took up his quarters at a hotel, where apartments
+had been engaged for him. He was not a little surprised, as he rode
+along the streets, to see himself placarded in large letters on the
+walls as "Sir Francis Head, a Tried Reformer." What a farce the thing
+must have appeared in his eyes, knowing, as he did, that up to the date
+of receiving the king's messenger, he had never read a page of practical
+politics; that he had never recorded a political vote, and that he was
+at this present moment, to use his own frank expression, no more
+connected with human politics than the horses that were drawing him! How
+he must have marvelled at Fate for playing him such a trick! On the same
+day, at the urgent request of Sir John Colborne, he removed to
+Government House. On Monday, the 25th, he was sworn into office as
+Lieutenant-Governor; and on Tuesday Sir John and his family took their
+departure for Montreal. The Compact took care that their staunch friend
+should not leave the seat of his Government without some mark of what
+might pass for popular favour. A crowd of persons was got together to
+cheer as Sir John passed along the streets on his way eastward, and a
+stranger might have been excused for believing that the
+ex-Lieutenant-Governor was regarded by the populace with feelings of the
+warmest affection. He proceeded to Montreal, and had arranged to sail
+from New York for England, when he received a despatch appointing him
+Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Canada. He accordingly repaired to
+Quebec, the capital of the Lower Province, which was already in a state
+of ferment, and preparing for the outburst which ensued towards the
+close of the following year.
+
+Sir Francis being now formally installed in office, an era of Reform was
+commonly supposed to have begun. His manner and address were in the
+highest degree pleasing, and he at first produced a most favourable
+impression upon all who came within the immediate circle of his
+influence. The Reform press sang paeans in his praise. He held no sooner
+received his appointment than Joseph Hume had written to Mackenzie
+congratulating the Province on the circumstance, and stating that the
+conduct and principles of Sir Francis had been much approved of. "My
+anxiety is," wrote Mr. Hume, "that you and all the Reformers should
+receive Sir Francis in the best possible manner, and do everything
+consistent with principle to meet his views and wishes."[210] The fact
+was that Mr. Hume was in precisely the same condition as Lord Glenelg
+himself with respect to Sir Francis: that is to say, he knew nothing
+whatever about him. He seems to have very unwisely taken it for granted
+that the new Lieutenant-Governor was a good man for the position because
+he had been appointed under Whig auspices. His letter found its way into
+all the Reform newspapers in Upper Canada, and Sir Francis had no reason
+to complain of the treatment he received at their hands. He was welcomed
+as the "Tried Reformer" for whom they had so long prayed in vain. The
+Tories and Conservatives, on the other hand, naturally regarded him with
+considerable apprehension. They entertained no doubt that his advent
+boded their downfall; but they were too wise to betray any solicitude,
+and quietly waited the march of events. Parliament being in session, he
+received from both Houses congratulatory addresses upon his assumption
+of the Government. On the 27th he went down to the Council Chamber, and
+made a brief and rather meaningless speech to the Legislature.[211] "As
+regards myself," said he, "I have nothing either to promise or profess,
+but I trust I shall not call in vain upon you to give me that loyal,
+constitutional, unbiased and fearless assistance which your King
+expects, and which the rising interests of your country require." He had
+been directed by Lord Glenelg to communicate to the Provincial
+Legislature the substance of his instructions. He not only communicated
+the substance, but a verbatim copy of the letter itself, together with a
+copy of the appendix, to each of the Houses. By this injudicious
+proceeding he caused no little embarrassment to the Colonial Secretary,
+and proved his utter want of experience in diplomatic affairs.[212] Lord
+Glenelg, in common with the official world of Great Britain generally,
+felt and expressed strong disapprobation of this extraordinary conduct
+on the part of the Lieutenant-Governor, who ought to have been recalled
+for this act alone, and probably would have been but for the difficulty
+of finding a competent man to succeed him.
+
+A certain space must be devoted to an examination of these instructions.
+Speaking generally, it may be premised that they showed a disposition to
+conciliate the discontent of the colonists, but only after a partial and
+piecemeal fashion, such as might be exercised towards persons in a state
+of tutelage. It was evident that the Home Government regarded the
+colonists as persons who had not reached full political stature, who
+were not in all cases able to judge as to what was best for themselves,
+and who needed the constant supervision of calmer and loftier
+intelligences than their own. In reply to the allegation that the number
+of public offices in the colony was in excess of the people's needs, it
+was said that in Upper Canada, as in other new countries, the number of
+public employments was necessarily larger in proportion than in older
+and more densely-peopled states. "In the early stages of such a
+society," wrote Lord Glenelg, "many duties devolve upon the Government
+which, at a more advanced period, are undertaken by the better educated
+and wealthier classes, as an honourable occupation of their leisure
+time." He went on to say that His Majesty's Government were not
+solicitous to retain more patronage than was necessary for the people's
+welfare, but that the selection of public officers must be entrusted to
+the head of the local Government, and could not wisely be exercised in
+any form of popular election, or committed to any popular body. Such
+exercise or transfer, it was suggested, would be destructive of
+responsibility and discipline. This doctrine was laid down as a general
+rule of action, but any wish to urge it beyond its just and necessary
+limits was expressly disclaimed, and it was even suggested that there
+were cases in which the doctrine might be contravened. There was no
+attempt to go into details as to specific cases, but it was stated as a
+general principle that whatever patronage was necessary to maintain
+perfect subordination to the prerogatives of the Crown must be retained,
+and that whatever was unnecessary for that purpose should be abandoned.
+His Excellency was directed to review and consider the subject with
+diligence, and to report the result of his investigation. Should he
+meanwhile deem it wise to reduce the number of offices, either by
+abolition or consolidation, he was authorized to exercise his discretion
+in that respect, but any appointment made under such circumstances was
+to be merely provisional, and subject to cancellation by the Home
+Government. In the selection of persons for public offices his
+Excellency was to be guided exclusively by the comparison of the claims
+of the candidates by reason of past services or personal qualifications;
+and as a general rule no person was to be appointed to office who was
+not either a native of the Province or a settled inhabitant of it.
+Exceptions to this latter rule were admitted where a knowledge of some
+particular art or science was demanded, and where no Provincial
+candidate could be found possessing the necessary qualifications. His
+Excellency was also left free from restriction in the choice of those
+officers immediately attached to his own person. There were various
+other directions, not necessary to be specified, on the subjects of
+patronage and pensions, salaries and fees, and the Provincial Post
+Office. The Clergy Reserves question was dealt with in the most general
+manner, no definite course being suggested; and the instructions on this
+subject are absolutely devoid of historical or other value. With regard
+to the Land-Granting Department, it was assumed that some of the
+grievances had been remedied. Reference was made to a despatch of Lord
+Ripon's on the subject, and it was stated that any ambiguity therein was
+to be removed, while prompt obedience to the instructions embodied
+therein was inculcated. Upper Canada College, established by Sir John
+Colborne only five years before this time, had already become a ground
+of offence to many Reformers. The Assembly, in their Address to His
+Majesty, had declared that it was upheld at great public expense, with
+high salaries to its principal masters. They had expressed the opinion
+that the Province in general derived very little advantage from it, and
+that it might be dispensed with. On this subject Lord Glenelg remarked
+that there was no desire to retain any charge for the establishment more
+than sufficient to suitably provide for the effective performance of the
+teachers; but the advantages of such an institution, it was said, ought
+to be great, and if the Province derived no benefit from it the
+explanation was to be found in some error of management susceptible of
+remedy. His Lordship remarked that he should deeply lament the abolition
+of a college "of which the defects would appear so remediable, and of
+which it does not seem easy to exaggerate the benefits." As for King's
+College, which was another educational bone of contention between the
+two branches of the Provincial Legislature, it was intimated that His
+Majesty would cheerfully resume the consideration of the charter,
+provided the assent of both Houses to his doing so could be obtained,
+but that, as the subject had been committed to the local Legislature, he
+could not withdraw it from their cognizance at the instance of one
+branch only. The system of auditing the public accounts had been
+complained of as being insufficient for ensuring the proper application
+of the revenue. As a remedy, the establishment of a Board of Audit, the
+regulation of which should be secured by well-considered legislation,
+had been suggested. In this suggestion the Colonial Secretary expressed
+his concurrence, and he transmitted various documents explanatory of the
+system of auditing the public accounts of the Kingdom. The Assembly
+having expressed its belief that the Legislative Council would not
+assent to any efficient legislation on the subject, the
+Lieutenant-Governor was empowered, in case of that belief being
+realized, to constitute a provisional Board of Audit. To remedy another
+evil which had been complained of--the withholding of public accounts
+from the Assembly--it was proposed that a statute should be passed
+providing the time and manner of making periodical returns, and naming
+the officers who should render them to the Legislature. Then followed
+brief instructions to be observed by the Lieutenant-Governor in his
+intercourse with the Assembly. "You will always," wrote his Lordship,
+"receive the addresses of the Assembly with the most studious attention
+and courtesy. As far as may be consistent with your duty to the King,
+you will accede to their wishes cheerfully and frankly. Should that duty
+ever compel you to differ from their opinion, or to decline compliance
+with their desires, you will explain in the most direct, and of course
+in the most conciliatory terms, the ground of your conduct." His
+Excellency was instructed to adopt Lord Goderich's despatch to Sir John
+Colborne of the 8th of November, 1832,[213] as a rule for the guidance
+of his conduct. He was directed to select Justices of the Peace without
+reference to political considerations. In the Grievance Committee's
+Report, as well as in the Address from the Assembly to the King, great
+stress had been laid on the mode of appointing members of the
+Legislative Council. It had been represented that that body had utterly
+failed to answer the ends for which it had been created, and that the
+restoration of legislative harmony and good government required its
+reconstruction on the elective principle.[214] The inhabitants of the
+Lower Province felt still more strongly on this subject than did their
+fellow-colonists in Upper Canada, and had made urgent representations to
+His Majesty thereupon in ninety-two resolutions which had been adopted
+by the local Assembly during the session of 1834. "The greatest defect
+in the constitution of Canada," said they, "is the right of nomination,
+by the Crown, of the Legislative Councillors." These resolutions had led
+to the appointment by the Imperial Government of a commission of
+investigation into the affairs of Lower Canada, and as the principles
+bearing upon the question of an elective Legislative Council were the
+same in both Provinces, Lord Glenelg now contented himself with
+appending the instructions issued to the commissioners, and referring to
+the views therein contained as having received the deliberate sanction
+of the King. A similar device was adopted with respect to the demand for
+the control by the Assembly of the territorial and casual revenues of
+the Crown.
+
+The one great overshadowing question of Executive responsibility was
+dealt with by Lord Glenelg in a most perfunctory and unsatisfactory
+manner. It was apparent that he either wholly failed to grasp the real
+significance of the theme, or that he fenced with it for the mere
+purpose of beguiling the colonists with a counterfeit presentment.
+"Experience would seem to prove," he wrote, "that the administration of
+public affairs in Canada is by no means exempt from the control of a
+sufficient practical responsibility. To His Majesty and to Parliament
+the Governor of Upper Canada is at all times most fully responsible for
+his official acts. That this responsibility is not merely nominal, but
+that His Majesty feels the most lively interest in the welfare of his
+Canadian subjects, and is ever anxious to devote a patient and laborious
+attention to any representations which they may address to him, either
+through their representatives or as individuals, is proved not only by
+the whole tenor of the correspondence of my predecessors in this office,
+but by the despatch which I am now addressing to you. That the Imperial
+Parliament is not disposed to receive with inattention the
+representations of their Canadian fellow-subjects is attested by the
+labours of the committees which have been appointed by the House of
+Commons during the last few years to inquire into matters relating to
+those Provinces." It was declared to be the Lieutenant-Governor's duty
+to vindicate to the King and the Imperial Parliament every act of his
+administration. In the event of any complaint being preferred against
+him, his conduct was to receive the most favourable construction. The
+Assembly, it was said, were at all times able to invoke the
+interference of the King and Parliament. Every public officer was
+to depend on the King's pleasure--_i.e._, upon the pleasure of the
+Lieutenant-Governor--for the tenure of his office. Certain rules were
+then laid down, the observance of which, it was said, would produce a
+system of perfect responsibility. As these rules differed in no
+essential respect from those which had consistently been acted upon by
+Francis Gore, Sir Peregrine Maitland and Sir John Colborne, it was
+evident that the system of responsibility contemplated by Lord Glenelg
+was not identical with that desired by Upper Canadian Reformers. Lord
+Glenelg certainly made good his asseveration that the Upper Canadian
+Executive were "practically responsible." But to whom were they
+responsible? To the Upper Canadian people? Not at all. The
+responsibility was to the King and Parliament of Great Britain--that is
+to say, to Downing Street, several thousand miles away. Of what avail
+was such responsibility, guarded, as it was, by secret despatches, "like
+a system of espionage"?[215] Had this responsibility to Downing Street
+ever saved "a single martyr to Executive displeasure"?[216] Had it been
+of any avail for the protection of Robert Gourlay, Captain Matthews,
+Francis Collins or Robert Randal? Had it preserved from the dry pan and
+the slow fire any one of a score of individuals whose only offence
+against the State was that they would not willingly sacrifice their
+rights, and become the tools of venality and corruption? In not one
+solitary instance had it served any such purpose. Such responsibility
+was a mockery, "a broken reed, which it would be folly ever again to
+rest upon."[217] Of real, constitutional responsibility to the people
+there was not so much as a pretence. "All the powers of the Government,"
+says Mr. Lindsey, "were centralized in Downing Street, and all the
+colonial officers, from the highest to the lowest, were puppets in the
+hands of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. At the same time, the
+outward trappings of a constitutional system, intended to amuse the
+colonists, served no other end than to irritate and exasperate men who
+had penetration enough to detect the mockery, and whose self-respect
+made them abhor the sham."[218]
+
+In an early paragraph of these instructions, Lord Glenelg had objected,
+on behalf of His Majesty's Government, to any resort on the part of the
+Assembly to that ulterior measure--the stoppage of the supplies--to
+which allusion had been made in the Address of that body, and had
+referred to it as a proceeding to be justified only by an extreme
+emergency. He concluded with an expression of earnest hope that the
+representatives of the Upper Canadian people would receive with
+gratitude and cordiality this renewed proof of His Majesty's paternal
+solicitude for the welfare of his loyal subjects in the Province, and
+that, laying aside all groundless distrusts, they would cheerfully
+coöperate with the King and the Lieutenant-Governor in advancing the
+prosperity of "that interesting and valuable portion of the British
+Empire."
+
+As already mentioned, the full text of the instructions was communicated
+by the new Lieutenant-Governor to the Upper Canadian Assembly. Apart
+from the fact that this proceeding was not warranted either by usage or
+express permission, it was short-sighted and unwise, for the
+instructions were not such as to be by any means satisfactory, either to
+the official party or the Opposition. The Opposition perceived that,
+under a cover of many fair words and specious phrases, there was very
+little substantial concession. To the official party it seemed that the
+spirit of concession was manifested much too strongly, and as the
+appointment of Sir Francis Head had been hailed by the Reformers as a
+triumph, anything in the nature of concession, filtered through such a
+medium, was naturally regarded with strong suspicion. As for Sir Francis
+himself, his mind seems to have been for some weeks in a chaotic state.
+He had not been installed in office many days before he had a succession
+of private interviews with several leading members of the Reform party.
+In the course of a conversation with Mr. Bidwell, who, it will be
+remembered, was Speaker of the Assembly, he for the first time became
+aware that the Report of the Grievance Committee was not recognized by
+the Reform party as being a complete exposition of the case as between
+the Home Government and themselves.[219] He soon after had an interview
+with Mackenzie, who, in conjunction with Dr. Morrison, was chiefly
+responsible for the existence of the Report. "I thought," writes Sir
+Francis,[220] "that of course he would be too happy to discuss with me
+the contents of his own book, but his mind seemed to nauseate its
+subjects even more than Mr. Bidwell's. Afraid to look me in the face, he
+sat, with his feet not reaching the ground, and with his countenance
+averted from me, at an angle of about seventy degrees; while, with the
+eccentricity, the volubility, and indeed the appearance of a madman, the
+tiny creature raved about grievances here and grievances there, which
+the Committee, he said, had not ventured to enumerate." This was a
+revelation to the Lieutenant-Governor, and set him thinking. He
+attempted to discuss the merits of the Report with various persons, but
+encountered what was to him an inexplicable reluctance to talk about it.
+All were ready to discuss the grievances themselves, but no leading
+Reformer was disposed to admit the Report into the discussion. The
+reason of this was doubtless because the Report had been chiefly
+fathered by Mackenzie, and they were unwilling to accept him as their
+mouthpiece. As for Mackenzie's own disinclination to enter into a
+discussion of the matter, it probably arose from a feeling that it would
+be unwise for him to tie himself down to a particular record, beyond
+which he would not be permitted to travel. Sir Francis, writing three
+years afterwards, declares that "the light of truth" at once burst upon
+his mind, and that he perceived that the Grievance Report was a mere
+pretext for Rebellion.[221] It is quite clear that he perceived nothing
+of the kind, and that "the light of truth" was a mere after-thought with
+him. It is impossible for one in his sober senses to see what does not
+exist, and at this time there was no purpose of rebellion in the heart
+of anyone with whom the Lieutenant-Governor came in contact--not even in
+the heart of Mackenzie himself, who might easily have been conciliated
+by wisdom and prudence. Had Sir Francis been half as clever and astute
+as he professed to believe himself to be--nay, had he even been fairly
+honest and truthful, and possessed of the most ordinary good
+sense--there would probably have been no such thing as an Upper Canadian
+Rebellion.
+
+He had not been a fortnight in the country when suggestions began to be
+made to him from various quarters as to the membership of the Executive
+Council. That body, for the nonce, consisted of only three persons,
+namely, Peter Robinson, Commissioner of Crown Lands; George Herchmer
+Markland, Inspector-General; and Joseph Wells, Bursar of King's
+College. The presence of all three of these persons was necessary to the
+formation of a quorum, and in case of the illness or unavoidable absence
+of any one of them the public business would have been interrupted and
+delayed. Mr. Robinson, moreover, was not only an Executive Councillor,
+but, as just mentioned, was also Commissioner of Crown Lands. In the
+former capacity the duty was imposed upon him of taking part in the
+auditing of his own accounts. This invidious necessity would no longer
+exist if additional members were appointed, as a quorum could easily be
+obtained without Mr. Robinson's presence being required at the Council
+Board. These facts were indisputable, and the argument to be deduced
+therefrom was unanswerable. Additional Councillors must be appointed.
+But from what class of the community should they be selected? Sir
+Francis, the "Tried Reformer," had begun to conceive a distaste for the
+Reformers of Upper Canada. There seemed to be a natural antagonism
+between him and them. The reason is not far to seek. Persons of the
+social grade of Mackenzie were inconceivably odious to this "diner-out
+of the first water;" while men like Bidwell and Baldwin made him
+painfully conscious of his own littleness and insufficiency for the task
+which he had undertaken. Yet he could not venture to call to his Council
+any of the remnant of the Tory Compact, and thereby utterly ignore the
+Liberal principles which were presumed to have dictated his appointment.
+The Tories, moreover, had seen fit to petition the King against his very
+first administrative act--the appointment of a Surveyor-General. As for
+the Conservatives, as distinct from the Tories, they had not yet
+formulated a distinct policy, and none of their leaders had come very
+conspicuously to the front.
+
+It seemed clear, then, that the choice must be made from the Reform
+ranks. After much deliberation and inquiry,[222] the Lieutenant-Governor
+came to the conclusion that approaches should be made to Robert Baldwin,
+a gentleman to whom he refers as "highly respected for his moral
+character, being moderate in his politics, and possessing the esteem and
+confidence of all parties."[223] His Excellency's resolve on this
+subject was approved of by the Speakers of the two Houses, as well as
+by the three members of the Council, to all of whom the project was
+submitted before any attempt was made to carry it out. When the proposal
+was made to Mr. Baldwin it was received by him with becoming respect,
+but with a coolness of demeanour which was far from flattering to the
+vanity of Sir Francis, who seems to have expected that the recipient
+would be well-nigh overwhelmed by the honour. The latter stated that he
+was very reluctant to again embark in public life, and he explained his
+views on the political situation with great frankness. There were
+several interviews, in the course of which Sir Francis did his utmost to
+induce Mr. Baldwin to accede to his wishes. Mr. Baldwin required time
+for consideration, an indulgence which was of course accorded. The
+Lieutenant-Governor being anxious to carry his point, sent for Mr.
+Baldwin's father, Dr. W. W. Baldwin, for the purpose of securing his
+influence in the negotiations. Father and son were both of one mind.
+There was little or nothing in common between the political sentiments
+of the three members of the existing Executive Council and the man whom
+it was proposed to add to their number. How, then, could it be expected
+that they would agree as to the policy of the Administration. If they
+did not agree, what would Mr. Baldwin's single voice avail against the
+other three? And, even admitting that this anomaly could be got rid of,
+it was deemed necessary that there should be some understanding on the
+subject of Executive responsibility before Mr. Baldwin could consent to
+accept a seat in the Council. He and his father, from whom his political
+ideas had been chiefly derived, had for years contended that Responsible
+Government already existed in Upper Canada by virtue of the
+Constitutional Act, and that when a Government failed to command a
+majority of votes in the Assembly it was legally bound to resign. It was
+of course notorious that this principle had never been recognized by the
+Provincial Administration, but Mr. Baldwin was of opinion that the
+constitution had been systematically violated in this particular. In
+talking over the matter with the Lieutenant-Governor he now discovered
+that the latter was entirely unacquainted with constitutional questions,
+and that he had no ideas on the subject whatever, beyond such as he had
+picked up within the past few days. Still, his Excellency's good temper,
+and his seeming anxiety to do his duty, won upon the sympathies of Mr.
+Baldwin, who naturally felt desirous to be of service to a man who had
+come to Canada in the guise of a tried Reformer, and who professed to be
+actuated by a sincere desire to govern the colony on Liberal principles.
+After several courteous refusals, and after much consideration and
+repeated consultations with his friends, Mr. Baldwin consented to accept
+office, provided that seats in the Council were at the same time offered
+to his father, and to Dr. Rolph and Mr. Bidwell. Dr. Baldwin was so
+unwilling to accept the cares of office that his name was dropped by
+common consent. To Dr. Rolph no objection was felt, but his Excellency
+had conceived an antagonism towards Mr. Bidwell, with whom he had had
+frequent interviews, and who had not scrupled to express himself with
+much freedom on the necessity for a regular system of Provincial Reform.
+After considerable discussion, it was agreed that John Henry Dunn, the
+Provincial Receiver-General, should be substituted for Mr. Bidwell. Mr.
+Dunn was not a member of any political party, nor had he any special
+aptitude for political life; but he was a man of high character and
+moderate views, and was held in much public estimation. On Saturday the
+20th of February the three new Councillors were sworn into office and
+gazetted, "until the King's pleasure be known."[224] The three old
+members retained their places.
+
+This manifestation of a resolve to carry on the Government of the
+Province by means of Councillors possessing the public confidence was
+hailed with great favour by the Reform party, and indeed by the
+Conservatives as well, for Messieurs Baldwin, Rolph and Dunn were
+persons for whom the highest respect was felt by all classes of the
+community, and were regarded as being altogether above suspicion. Even
+the members of the Compact were disposed to favour the arrangement, for,
+in consequence of rumours which had reached their ears, they had dreaded
+that the Lieutenant-Governor might possibly ally himself with the
+Radicals, who, if placed in power, would have done their utmost to exact
+a reckoning for past abuses. Upon the whole, then, Sir Francis had
+materially strengthened his position. But the strength was fictitious
+rather than real, and the baseless fabric which he had reared with such
+pains quickly tottered and fell. The three new Councillors were not long
+in discovering that their places were sinecures. His Excellency wanted
+none of their counsel, and had no intention of permitting them to have
+any real voice in the carrying-on of the Government. To one person only
+did he apply for advice in every emergency. That person was not a member
+of the Government, and was therefore an unsworn counsellor, under no
+semblance of responsibility to anybody. He was a power behind the
+throne, with all the privileges and none of the disabilities attaching
+to such a position. The gentleman elevated to this anomalous dignity was
+Chief Justice Robinson, Speaker of the Legislative Council, the
+master-spirit of the Family Compact, and the life-long champion of those
+very abuses which the "Tried Reformer" was currently supposed to have
+been sent out to remove. The Councillors, old as well as new, were
+treated as mere figure-heads. They were consulted about land matters and
+insignificant questions of detail, but the policy and measures of the
+Government seldom passed under their review, or were submitted to them
+for advice.[225] Some of these measures were such as they could not
+approve or sanction. His Excellency nominated two adherents of the old
+official party to vacant offices upon which they had no sort of claim.
+He refused the royal assent to the Felons' Counsel Bill, a measure
+"demanded by justice and humanity, and passed for more than ten years,
+almost unanimously, by repeated and different Houses of Assembly."[226]
+The Councillors were thus made to seem responsible for acts over which
+they had no control, and of which some of them, at least, highly
+disapproved. The Reform party were astonished to see such things done
+under the auspices of a Government of which Robert Baldwin and Dr. Rolph
+were members. They however acquitted both those gentleman of having
+advised such acts. It was believed by Reformers generally that the three
+new Councillors were not consulted, or else that the old members, with
+the umpirage of the Lieutenant-Governor, predominated.[227]
+
+This state of things could not be allowed to continue. The Executive
+Councillors consulted together, and determined upon a remonstrance with
+the Lieutenant-Governor. This remonstrance was formally prepared in
+writing, and sent in to his Excellency on Friday, the 4th of March. The
+three old members concurred in it, and it was signed by all the six in
+order of seniority. The mere fact of this concurrence affords strong
+evidence of the growth of the power of public opinion in the Province.
+In past times members of the Executive Council had been content to pose
+as figure-heads year after year, while John Beverley Robinson and one or
+two others manipulated and directed the whole course of public affairs.
+It is probable, however, that in the present instance the three senior
+Councillors may have been influenced by the arguments of Baldwin and
+Rolph, who felt very strongly on the question at issue.
+
+The Lieutenant-Governor's reply, every paragraph of which bears evidence
+of the Chief Justice's cunning hand, is dated on the following day, but
+was not actually communicated until the next regular Council day, which
+was Thursday, the 10th. It contained a firm but courteous expression of
+his Excellency's dissent from the opinions expressed by the Executive
+Councillors as to their privileges and duties. It was contended that the
+Lieutenant-Governor was the sole responsible minister, and the
+difference between the constitution of the mother-country and the colony
+was referred to as being highly advantageous to the latter. His
+Excellency, it was said, was only bound to consult his Council when he
+felt the need of their advice, and to do so on the innumerable subjects
+upon which he was daily compelled to decide would be "as utterly
+impossible as for any one but himself to decide upon what points his
+mind required or needed" advice. The position taken by the Councillors
+was declared to be unconstitutional, but his Excellency informed them
+that his estimation of their talents and integrity, as well as his
+personal regard for them, remained unshaken, and that he was not
+insensible to the difficulties to which he would be exposed should they
+deem it necessary to resign. He added, however, that should they be of
+opinion that their oaths required them to retire from office, he begged
+that they would not on his account hesitate to do so. As they were very
+strongly of that opinion, they waited on his Excellency on Saturday, the
+12th, and tendered their resignations, which were accepted. They had
+held office precisely three weeks.
+
+The clue to this puzzle is easily found. Sir Francis had conceived an
+utter distaste for the persons and political principles of the Reformers
+of Upper Canada. There was an inherent antagonism between the nature of
+this shallow, feather-brained sketcher by the wayside and the natures of
+men like Rolph, Bidwell and the Baldwins, whose quiet earnestness and
+fixity of purpose had been intensified by the long course of injustice
+to which they, in common with their party, had been subjected. The
+earnestness of these gentlemen presented itself to him in the light of
+importunity, if not of impertinence. He could hardly be expected to
+sympathize very strongly with their unconquerable zeal for principles
+which he did not understand: which he was perhaps incapable of
+understanding. Then, Sir Francis was an eminently social personage, and
+the social qualities of the leaders of Upper Canadian Reform were not of
+a high order. To them, small talk across the walnuts and the wine seemed
+utterly incongruous in view of the momentous public questions which were
+urgently pressing for a solution. In this particular they presented a
+marked contrast to the leading spirits of the Compact. The Robinsons,
+Hagermans and Sherwoods, one and all, could not only advise the
+Lieutenant-Governor on the affairs of the Province, but could be
+pleasant and entertaining companions. They were not very different from
+the county magistrates and other officials with whom he had been
+accustomed to confer in his capacity of a poor-law commissioner. They
+were moreover exceedingly diplomatic. They saw the importance of winning
+him to their side, and governed themselves accordingly. They lost no
+opportunity of making themselves agreeable to him. Instead of boring him
+with what, to his understanding, seemed abstruse speculations on
+executive responsibility and an elective Legislative Council, they
+scouted such doctrines as myths begotten in the moody brains of
+unpractical and discontented men. The wide knowledge, long experience
+and specious eloquence of the Chief Justice enabled him to present the
+Tory side of these arguments with much plausibility. Sir Francis soon
+became convinced that the issue was not merely between two sides of
+colonial politics, but between monarchy and republicanism, between
+loyalty and disloyalty, between Great Britain and the United States. As
+he afterwards declared, he believed that he was "sentenced to contend on
+the soil of America with Democracy,[228]" and that if he did not
+overpower it, he would himself be compelled to succumb. Having brought
+himself to this conclusion, he not unnaturally preferred the _role_ of
+the hammer to that of the anvil. It was surely better to strike than to
+be struck. Acting on this principle, he made a complete surrender of
+himself to the Family Compact, and from that time forward was in all
+essential respects guided by their counsels. His rashness and
+impetuosity sometimes led him to act on his own motion, and without
+waiting to take counsel from any quarter; but in all ordinary affairs of
+administration he was guided by Sir John Robinson quite as effectually
+as Sir John Colborne had ever been.
+
+No sooner was it announced that the Executive Councillors had all
+resigned office than the public pulse began to beat at an accelerated
+pace. The excitement was greatly intensified upon the publication of a
+letter written by Robert Baldwin to Peter Perry, in which, by the
+Lieutenant-Governor's special permission, all the attendant
+circumstances were set forth in detail. This letter, having been written
+for the express purpose of being read by Mr. Perry from his place in the
+Assembly, and of being afterwards published in the newspapers, is
+somewhat formal and official in its tone, but it presents the
+subject-matter in a clear light, and must be regarded as an important
+contribution to the history of Responsible Government in Upper Canada.
+It is the chief, indeed the only trustworthy original authority for the
+facts as to the precise dispute between Sir Francis and his Council, for
+the former's account[229] is more than usually incomplete and one-sided
+when dealing with this episode. The essential portions of Mr. Baldwin's
+presentation of the case have been embodied in the foregoing narrative.
+The Lieutenant-Governor lost no time in providing himself with a new
+Council. On the 14th of March, when the resignation was only two days
+old, an extraordinary issue of the _Gazette_ announced that Robert
+Baldwin Sullivan, John Elmsley, Augustus Baldwin and William Allan had
+been appointed members of the Executive Council of the Province. The
+reader has already made the acquaintance of all these gentlemen with the
+exception of Augustus Baldwin, who was a retired naval officer of high
+character, but of no particular politics; a brother of Dr. Baldwin, and
+by consequence an uncle of Robert Baldwin. All four of the new
+Councillors were persons of character and position, but they were not in
+sympathy with the Liberal sentiments of the period, and the people
+generally were not disposed to place any political confidence in them.
+Elmsley and Allan were consistent, old-fashioned Tories. Baldwin's
+leanings, so far as he had any, were in the same direction. Sullivan's
+youth and early life had been passed amid more or less Liberal
+influences, but of late he had shown a retrogressive tendency in
+political matters. This was largely due to personal rivalry between
+Mackenzie and himself in municipal affairs. As previously mentioned, he
+had defeated Mackenzie at the municipal elections for St. David's Ward,
+and had been elected mayor of Toronto in the beginning of 1835. The
+contest had been waged between them with unseemly rancour. Sullivan had
+denounced Mackenzie as a noisy upstart and demagogue; while Mackenzie
+had characterized Sullivan as an oily-tongued, unprincipled lawyer, who
+would lie the loudest for the client who had the longest purse. All
+Mackenzie's supporters during the contest had been Radicals, or at least
+persons of strong Reform proclivities. This had arrayed the whole Tory
+and Conservative vote on the side of Sullivan, who was thus in a measure
+brought under anti-Reform influences. His social tastes also inclined
+him in the same direction, so that he soon came to be classed as a
+Conservative. Reformers were disposed to look askance at him as a
+political renegade, and this disposition was increased upon his
+acceptance of office under Sir Francis Head at the present juncture. He
+alone, of all the new Councillors, was a man of exceptional ability. He
+was not inaccurately described, a few years later, as "an Irishman by
+birth, and a lawyer by profession; a man who, if he had united
+consistency of political conduct and weight of personal character with
+the great and original talents which he unquestionably possessed, might
+have taken a conspicuous part in the public affairs of any
+country."[230]
+
+These transactions--the resignation of the Councillors and the
+appointment of their successors--produced a tremendous effervescence of
+feeling among the Opposition in the Assembly, who had already conceived
+strong suspicions of the Lieutenant-Governor's motives. But the
+excitement was not confined to the Opposition. It was participated in by
+the Conservatives, and, even, for a time, by most of the ultra-Tories.
+On the 14th of March, the House, by a vote of fifty-three to two,
+adopted a resolution unequivocally assertive of the principles which the
+ex-Councillors had endeavoured to maintain. Ten days later an address to
+the Lieutenant-Governor, based on this resolution, was passed by a vote
+of thirty-two to nineteen. It expressed deep regret that his Excellency
+had consented to accept the resignation of his late Council. It declared
+the Assembly's entire want of confidence in the new appointments, and
+humbly requested that immediate steps might be taken to remove the new
+Councillors from office. Meanwhile, petitions on the all-engrossing
+subject poured into the Assembly from all over the Province.[231] Public
+meetings were called in Toronto, as well as in some other of the
+principal towns, at which resolutions were passed echoing the Assembly's
+address, imploring the Lieutenant-Governor to dismiss his present
+advisers, and to call to his Council gentlemen possessing public
+confidence.
+
+One of these gatherings tended in an especial manner to widen the
+irreparable breach between Sir Francis Head and the Reform party. On the
+25th of March a meeting was held in the City Hall, Toronto, at which an
+Address to his Excellency of exceptional significance was passed. It
+dealt at considerable length with the constitutional question at issue;
+referred to Responsible Government as having been introduced by the
+Constitutional Act; expressed surprise and sorrow at the resignation of
+the late Councillors, and an entire want of confidence in their
+successors. It deplored the apparent fact that his Excellency was acting
+under the influence of evil and unknown advisers. In conclusion, it
+claimed all the rights and privileges of the British constitution, and
+that the representative of the Crown should be advised by men known to
+and possessing the confidence of the people. When the deputation called
+at Government House to present this Address, they were treated with an
+off-hand abruptness and _brusquerie_ which gave them much offence. The
+reply of his Excellency was wordy and unsatisfying in tone; but its most
+objectionable feature was the air of assumed superiority by which it was
+pervaded. It referred to the meeting represented by the deputation as
+having been composed principally of "the industrious classes," but
+added, with a seeming loftiness of condescension, that the Address
+should be replied to with as much attention as if it had proceeded from
+either of the branches of the Legislature--"although," said his
+Excellency, "I shall express myself in plainer and more homely
+language." This was bad enough, but its effect was intensified by the
+demeanour of the Lieutenant-Governor and several military officers who
+were in attendance upon him. It seemed to the deputation that those
+gentlemen regarded them with supercilious impertinence; as a something
+which viceroyalty must be content, for the nonce, to endure, but as
+being altogether beyond the pale of their sympathies or interests.
+Nothing could have been in worse taste than such conduct as this, though
+it is possible enough that more sensitiveness was displayed than was
+called for by the actual circumstances. The deputation withdrew, cut to
+the quick by the indignities which they, rightly or wrongly, conceived
+themselves to have sustained. On the succeeding evening a meeting of
+themselves and some of their friends was held at the house of Dr.
+Morrison--who was now mayor of the city--at which a bitterly sarcastic
+rejoinder was prepared. It thanked his Excellency for replying to an
+Address from "the industrious classes" with as much attention as if it
+had proceeded from either branch of the Legislature, and acknowledged
+his condescension in expressing himself in plain and homely
+language--language presumed to be brought down to the level of the plain
+and homely understandings of his interlocutors, whose deplorable want of
+education was accounted for by the maladministration by former
+Governments of the endowments of King's College, and by the
+impossibility of obtaining a sale of the Clergy Reserves and the
+appropriation of the proceeds to educational purposes. "It is,"
+proceeded this cutting rejoinder, "because we have been thus maltreated,
+neglected and despised, in our education and interests, under the system
+of Government that has hitherto prevailed, that we are now driven to
+insist upon a change that cannot be for the worse." Reference was made
+to the desire to bring about a system of Responsible Government, and the
+utter futility of mere responsibility to Downing Street was pointed out
+with a pointed eloquence which proved that the signatories were in
+deadly earnest. The misgovernment of Dalhousie and Aylmer in Lower
+Canada, and of Gore, Maitland and Colborne in Upper Canada, was touched
+upon in a few brief, vitriolic sentences. It was shown that, though
+these gentlemen had been responsible to Downing Street, they had not
+only met with no punishment, but had actually been promoted to higher
+honours. "We do not mean," said they, "in our plain and homely
+statement, to be discourteous, by declaring our unalterable conviction
+that a nominal responsibility to Downing Street, which has failed of any
+good with the above gentlemen of high pretensions to honour, character
+and station, cannot have any magic operation in your Excellency's
+administration, which, should it end as it has unhappily begun, might
+make us drink the cup of national misgovernment to the very dregs,
+without (as experience proves) redress on our part, or retribution on
+yours." There was much more of the same sort. The document concluded by
+stating that if the Lieutenant-Governor would not govern upon sound
+constitutional principles he would violate the charter, virtually
+abrogate the law, and justly forfeit submission to his authority.
+
+This was beyond doubt the most vigorously-written protest that had ever
+been presented to an Upper Canadian Lieutenant-Governor. It was signed
+by Jesse Ketchum, James Hervey Price, James Lesslie, Andrew McGlashan,
+James Shannon, Robert McKay, M. McLellan, Timothy Parsons, William
+Lesslie, John Mills, E. T. Henderson, John Doel, John E. Tims, and
+William J. O'Grady. All these were ardent Radicals, and coadjutors of
+Mackenzie. Two of them--Jesse Ketchum and James Lesslie--delivered the
+rejoinder at Government House, without waiting for a reply. It was
+already in type, and during the next day was widely read and commented
+upon. The Lieutenant-Governor was not insensible to its cutting irony,
+but it did not admit of any sur-rejoinder, and after the first transient
+ebullition of his wrath, the matter, so far as he was concerned, was
+quietly permitted to drop out of sight. The document, however, acted as
+an additional stimulus to the public excitement, and it continued to be
+quoted against Sir Francis from time to time so long as he remained in
+the colony.
+
+While these events were occurring the Provincial Legislature still
+remained in session. A Committee having been appointed by the Assembly
+to consider the correspondence between the Lieutenant-Governor and the
+ex-Councillors, it proceeded to deal with the question in the usual
+manner. The report was presented to the Assembly on the 18th of April.
+In the course of the debate which ensued, several eloquent speeches were
+made on the Tory side. The most effective Tory arguments were founded
+upon the assumption that the concession of Responsible Government would
+be a mere preliminary to separation from the mother country. The speech
+made by Mr. Hagerman on this occasion was one of the most brilliant
+efforts of his life. Mere verbal eloquence, however, exhausted itself in
+vain. The report was adopted by a vote of thirty-two to twenty-one. It
+was even more directly condemnatory of the Lieutenant-Governor than the
+rejoinder above referred to had been. It expressed the Committee's
+belief that the appointment of the three ex-Councillors had been a
+deceitful manoeuvre to gain credit with the country for Liberal
+feelings and intentions where none really existed. The question of
+Executive responsibility was gone into at considerable length, and the
+conduct of the ex-Councillors was approved of in every particular. There
+is no need to analyze the entire report, which was long and exhaustive.
+It distinctly recommended the withholding of the annual supplies. The
+Assembly, by adopting the report, and by committing itself to this
+extreme measure, proved that, in the language of Lord Glenelg's
+instructions,[232] it regarded the present in the light of "an
+emergency." The supplies, however, were not entirely withheld. Money
+was granted for the construction of roads, for schools, for the
+improvement of navigation, and other useful purposes; but all these
+grants were nullified by the Lieutenant-Governor, who signified his
+disapprobation of the Assembly's conduct by refusing his assent to the
+money-bills of the session. He afterwards stated as one of his reasons
+for this refusal that he had good grounds for believing a portion of the
+money would have been spent by the Assembly in sending an agent to
+England[233]--which was probably the fact.
+
+The Assembly, feeling that some reason should be assigned for their
+action in the matter of the supplies, which were now withheld for the
+first time in the history of Upper Canada, passed an Address to the
+King, in which the Lieutenant-Governor's conduct was painted in no
+neutral tints. He was directly charged with being despotic, tyrannical,
+unjust and deceitful. His conduct was declared to have been "derogatory
+to the honour" of his Majesty, and "demoralizing to the community." A
+memorial to the House of Commons was also adopted, in which his public
+acts were referred to as having been arbitrary and vindictive, and
+wherein he was charged with mis-statements, misrepresentations, and
+"deviations from candour and truth." This bitterly-worded memorial was
+formally signed by Mr. Bidwell as Speaker of the House--a circumstance
+which was long remembered against him by the person implicated.
+
+It must have been gall and wormwood to Sir Francis to be compelled to
+forward these documents to the Colonial Office. It was the first time
+that clear and undisguised charges of so humiliating a nature had been
+officially laid against a colonial Lieutenant-Governor, and one must
+needs confess that nothing short of the most unassailable evidence could
+have justified the employment of such terms in a communication between
+two representative bodies respecting a trusted servant of the Crown,
+more especially in the case of one occupying so lofty a position.
+Something is due to the proprieties, and to accuse a man of deviations
+from candour and truth is of course merely a slightly periphrastic
+method of charging him with falsehood. The Assembly, however, had become
+convinced, not without reason, that Sir Francis's word was not to be
+trusted. Other persons who had been brought into more or less intimate
+relations with him had been driven to the same conclusion.[234] The fact
+is that when his feelings were much stirred he knew not how to speak the
+language of truth and soberness. He talked so much and so thoughtlessly
+that he very frequently gave utterance to the thing which was not. Some
+excuse might perhaps be made for one who, in the heat or haste of verbal
+controversy, gives currency to erroneous statements. But Sir Francis's
+mis-statements were not confined to verbal controversy. He had been
+distinctly convicted of "a deviation from candour and truth" in a
+deliberate official communication. The Assembly had requested that they
+might be furnished with copies of any bond or agreement between him and
+his Councillors respecting the administration of the Government in the
+event of his Excellency's death or removal. To this request Sir Francis
+had replied, explicitly denying the existence of any document of such a
+nature. Yet upon the examination of certain of the Councillors it had
+been proved that an agreement on the subject had actually been made, and
+that it had been reduced to writing by his Excellency's own hand. The
+devices to which he had had recourse in his attempts to prove that he
+had merely been guilty of tergiversation instead of downright lying,
+were such as positively to aggravate the original offence, and to fully
+justify the Assembly in refusing to attach any weight to his unsupported
+statement upon any subject.[235] As the weeks passed by, the quarrel
+between him and the Assembly waxed positively ferocious. On the 20th of
+April he prorogued Parliament, making a speech on the occasion which
+must have occupied a full hour or more in delivery, and wherein he
+reviewed, in his own inimitable fashion, and from his own point of view,
+the various events by which his Administration had up to this time been
+characterized. Any attempt to analyze it here is altogether out of the
+question. It should be read in its entirety in the official Journal of
+the session.
+
+During the weeks following the prorogation the public excitement
+continued to increase, until it had reached a height without precedent
+in the history of the Province. The Reformers felt that they had been
+wofully deceived in the Lieutenant-Governor, and many of them placed no
+bounds to their censure. Some of the Reform newspapers hinted pretty
+strongly that no people could be expected to remain permanently loyal
+when they were deprived of their rights year after year, and when all
+their petitions were set at naught. The political atmosphere was charged
+with electricity. The outlook was lurid and ominous. Some of the
+loyalists began to dread an actual uprising of the people. Such an
+uprising, they thought, would be a legitimate sequel to so extraordinary
+a proceeding as the stoppage of the supplies. To not a few well-meaning
+but old-fashioned people the mere act of refusing to vote the supplies
+was in itself a species of treason. To more practical people this act
+presented itself in a different aspect. It seemed to them indicative of
+a niggard and ruinous parsimony. They gazed with ill-concealed envy at
+the marvellous prosperity of the neighbouring State of New York. Any one
+crossing the Canadian frontier in that direction at once became aware
+that he had passed from a land of comparative stagnation to a land of
+activity and progress. This contrast had been largely brought about by
+the construction of great public works, and a lavish policy on the part
+of the State Legislature. There seemed no reason to doubt that the
+adoption of a similar policy would bring about similar results in Upper
+Canada, where large and costly public works were urgently needed for the
+proper development of the resources of the colony. But, instead of
+liberal grants of money for such purposes, the Assembly had cut down the
+supplies to meet the barest works of necessity. The colony could never
+hope to hold up its head by the side of its enterprising neighbour while
+such a cheese-paring system prevailed.
+
+The Lieutenant-Governor's advisers were shrewd enough to make the most
+of this unpromising state of affairs. The cheese-paring policy went for
+something, but it was almost lost sight of in the much more effective
+imputation of disloyalty to the Empire. Nothing was so certain to turn
+the scale of public opinion in favour of his Excellency as an apparently
+well-founded stigma of disloyalty cast upon his opponents. The official
+party accordingly set themselves deliberately to work to disseminate the
+belief that the bulk of the Opposition were ripe for treason, and that,
+under the guise of agitation for Reform, they concealed a design of
+effecting the separation of the colony from Great Britain. It is not
+improbable that many of those who industriously circulated the report
+did so in good faith, for the language of some of the Reformers, used in
+moments of irritation, was of a nature to lead to such a conclusion. No
+sooner did this report gain credence than there was a very perceptible
+turning of the scale of popular opinion. Many who had grumbled loudly at
+Sir Francis's conduct now declared themselves as being on his side. They
+favoured the doctrine of a responsible Executive, but devotion to the
+mother country was as the breath of their nostrils. Whatever tended to
+relax the tie which bound the colony to the Empire was a thing to be
+utterly opposed and stamped out. The domination of the Compact was bad,
+but even at its worst it was better than separation. So argued many
+persons who had always been conspicuous for the moderation of their
+political views. The official party of course turned such sentiments as
+these to the utmost account. The cry of disloyalty was heard on every
+side. The state of the Lower Province, which was rapidly gliding into
+insurrection, was triumphantly pointed to as evidence of what was to be
+looked for if democratic ideas were allowed to make headway. Twice
+within the last four years had the Lower Canadian Assembly resorted to
+the extreme measure of refusing to grant supplies to the Government. By
+so doing they had embroiled themselves with the Imperial Ministry, and
+drawn down upon themselves the indignation of persons of moderate views.
+It was no secret that the Upper Canadian Reformers generally were in
+sympathy with the projects of Reform entertained by the Lower Canadian
+agitators; and it suited the Tories to assume that the sympathy extended
+not only to legitimate projects of Reform, but to less openly-avowed
+schemes of rebellion. Just before the prorogation Mr. Bidwell had laid
+before the Assembly a letter written by Louis Joseph Papineau, Speaker
+of the Lower Canada Assembly, wherein the great agitator had given
+utterance to sentiments which, read in the light of subsequent events,
+cannot be construed otherwise than as treasonable. Several members of
+the Reform party had publicly spoken enthusiastically of M. Papineau,
+and had even gone so far as to express approbation of his most
+indiscreet and objectionable language. This circumstance was now urged
+to show that the objects of the anti-Executive party in both Provinces
+were identical. There was no attempt to discriminate between
+constitutional Reformers of the Baldwin stamp and advanced Radicals like
+Mackenzie. All were included in one sweeping verdict as "disloyal"
+persons, against whom it was necessary for right-minded citizens to
+organize in self-defence.
+
+Early in May these sentiments began to find expression in outward acts.
+A number of Tory gentlemen of Toronto formed themselves into what they
+called the British Constitutional Society, with the fundamental
+principle and object of perpetuating the connection between Upper Canada
+and the United Kingdom. A society bearing the same name had been formed
+upon the breaking out of the War of 1812, and this of 1836 professed to
+be a reorganization of the former one. In reality, however, it was to
+all intents and purposes a new society, started for the specific purpose
+of opposing the cry for Responsible Government, and of gaining support
+for Sir Francis Head. During the previous year, Colonel Fitzgibbon had,
+under Sir John Colborne's auspices, formed a drill corps for such young
+men of Toronto as desired military instruction. A handful of
+well-connected young men had availed themselves of the opportunity. The
+Colonel now devoted himself with redoubled ardour to preparations for
+the insurrection which he declared would burst forth before the next
+winter. He got together a rifle corps to the number of seventy, and
+drilled them twice a week with tireless enthusiasm, declaring that when
+the hour of trial should come, he and "his boys" would be found in their
+places, however the rest of the community might see fit to demean
+themselves.
+
+Notwithstanding these preparations, and the prevailing sentiments which
+inspired them, it is doubtful whether the idea of rebellion had up to
+this time taken definite possession of the mind of a single human being
+in Upper Canada. There seems abundant reason for believing that the time
+for wise concession was not past, and that a prudent and discreet
+Administrator might have restored tranquillity to the land without
+going an iota beyond the scope of Lord Glenelg's instructions. But Sir
+Francis Head acted in no such spirit. He set his mind firmly against
+concession, feeling convinced, as he said, that the more he yielded the
+more would be demanded of him. In this respect he--no doubt
+unconsciously--emulated the example of James the Second, who was of
+opinion that his father owed the loss of his head to his concessions to
+the House of Commons. That this opinion was altogether erroneous does
+not admit of argument. Sir Francis was equally wrong, and equally
+stubborn in maintaining his opinion. His conduct was the last straw
+heaped upon the back of the much-enduring camel, and the outbreak which
+followed must in large measure be attributed to his misgovernment.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[210] See the letter, in Head's _Narrative_, chap. iii.
+
+[211] This proceeding was not relished by the Assembly. Sir John
+Colborne had already delivered one Speech from the Throne at the opening
+of the session, and this delivery of a second one was resented as a
+breach of privilege. After much time had been wasted in discussion, a
+precedent for the Lieutenant-Governor's action was found under date of
+December, 1765, and this matter was allowed to drop.
+
+[212] In the third chapter of his _Narrative_ Sir Francis attempts to
+excuse himself for this senseless act. The reader who thinks it worth
+while to consult the rhetorical plea there attempted to be set up will
+recall Pembroke's dictum, in _King John_, that
+
+      "----oftentimes excusing of a fault
+Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse."
+
+[213] This is the despatch referred to _ante_, p. 246, which had been
+treated with such contempt by the Law Officers of the Crown, and which
+had been returned by the Provincial Legislative Council to the
+Lieutenant-Governor.
+
+[214] See the 8vo edition of the Report, p. xxxix.
+
+[215] See the rejoinder of certain citizens of Toronto to the reply of
+the Lieutenant-Governor to their address, dated 25th March, 1836.
+
+[216] _Ib._
+
+[217] _Ib._
+
+[218] _Life of Mackenzie_, vol i., pp. 345, 346.
+
+[219] _Narrative_, chap. iii.
+
+[220] _Ib._
+
+[221] _Narrative_, chap. iii.
+
+[222] See Head's despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated February 22nd, 1836, in
+_Narrative_, chap. iv.
+
+[223] _Ib._
+
+[224] See the extra number of the _Gazette_ issued on that date. A very
+full account of the negotiations and conferences which led to this
+result will be found in a letter written by Robert Baldwin to Peter
+Perry, dated "Front Street, 16th March, 1836," and published in the
+papers of the time. See _post_, p. 312.
+
+[225] See the representations of the Councillors to the
+Lieutenant-Governor, dated Friday, 4th March, 1836.
+
+[226] See _Report of the Select Committee to which was referred the
+Answer of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to an Address of the
+House of Assembly, relative to a Responsible Executive Council_, p. 6.
+Toronto, 1836.
+
+[227] _Ib._, p. 7.
+
+[228] _Narrative_, chap. v.
+
+[229] _Narrative_, chapters iv., v.
+
+[230] Kaye's _Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe_, vol.
+ii., p. 339. Revised edition, 1858.
+
+[231] It is fair to say that some of these were due to the efforts of
+the Radicals in the Assembly, who had sent out blank petitions to local
+friends, with instructions to obtain signatures and fill in the name of
+the constituency.
+
+[232] _Ante_, pp. 303, 304.
+
+[233] See his despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated April 28th, 1836, in
+_Narrative_, chap. v.
+
+[234] Sir Francis himself has gravely recorded that certain militia
+officers publicly declared him to be "the d----dest liar and d----dest
+rascal in the Province." See despatch of 6th February, 1837, in
+_Narrative_, chap. ix.
+
+[235] The evidence will be found in appendix to Journal of 1836, 2nd
+Session, Twelfth Parliament, vol. iii., No. 106, pp. 57, 58.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE TRIUMPHS OF A TRIED REFORMER.
+
+
+While the public excitement continued unabated, the Lieutenant-Governor
+resolved upon a step which was little calculated to allay it. This step
+was the dissolution of the existing Parliament. He and his advisers,
+sworn and unsworn, believed that the time was opportune for a general
+election. If the numerical majority of the Opposition in the Assembly
+were reversed, the Government could afford to laugh at what they called
+"low-bred democracy." Such a reversal, it was thought, might now be
+effected. The disloyalty cry might safely be trusted to do its work, not
+only by clearing the Assembly of the chief members of the Opposition,
+but by giving the Government party an easy working majority. In order,
+however, that his Excellency might seem to be following public opinion
+in this matter instead of guiding it, the official party caused
+petitions to be sent in from various quarters, praying that a
+dissolution and a general election might take place. This not only
+served the intended purpose of misleading the public as to the designs
+of the Executive, but also afforded Sir Francis an opportunity of
+pouring out oceans of words in the form of replies. The concluding
+sentence of his reply to an address from certain electors of the Home
+District is eminently characteristic of the man. Portions of the
+already-mentioned letter from Papineau to Bidwell had seemed to point to
+a possible invasion of the Province by inhabitants of the United States.
+This idea was eagerly seized upon by Sir Francis, as indicative of
+concerted action between the hypothetical invaders and the Upper
+Canadian Radicals. "In the name of every regiment of militia in Upper
+Canada," said he--"_Let them come if they dare!_"[236] Nothing but
+actual perusal of his despatches will afford any accurate idea of his
+blatant self-confidence at this time. It is quite evident that he
+regarded the above-quoted reply as a master-stroke of vigorous
+diplomacy. He drew special attention to it in a communication to Lord
+Glenelg, in the course of which he made use of language which must have
+almost stunned the conventional and decorous Colonial Secretary. "I am
+aware," he wrote, "that the answer may be cavilled at in Downing Street,
+for I know it is not exactly according to Hoyle. _Mais, man seigneur,
+croyez-vous done qu'on fasse des revolutions avec de l'eau de
+rose?_"[237] The tone of his despatches is from first to last
+extraordinary. It would seem as if they ought to have told their own
+miserable tale of superficiality and unfitness to the Colonial
+Secretary. In announcing the probability of an early dissolution of the
+Provincial Parliament, Sir Francis requests his Lordship to send him no
+orders on the subject, but to allow him to work the matter in his own
+way.[238] The Opposition are constantly referred to in such phrases as
+"the republicans in the House of Assembly," and "the revolutionists of
+Upper Canada."[239] His Lordship is warned that if the demands of the
+Opposition be complied with in the matter of Executive responsibility,
+"democracy, in the worst possible form, will prevail in our
+colonies."[240] "In South America," he remarks, "truth and justice
+carried me through difficulties even greater than those I have now to
+contend with, and I have the firmest reliance they will again be
+triumphant."[241] In another despatch[242] his Lordship is notified that
+Robert Baldwin, who is referred to as an agent of "the revolutionary
+party," is about to start for London. "It is stated," writes Sir
+Francis, "that he goes there for the recovery of his health, but it is
+acknowledged by his party that he will be prepared to answer any
+questions which the Government may feel disposed to put to him." This
+intimation is followed by the expression of a confidence that his
+Lordship will discountenance "the system of sending agents from the
+British North American colonies, and their being received by the
+Government." A hope is expressed that should Mr. Baldwin directly or
+indirectly communicate with the Colonial Office during his stay in
+England, he may be effectually sat upon, and that he may receive "that
+style of answer," a copy of which may be transmitted to Sir Francis, and
+published in the Canadian papers, as a means of deterring further
+"left-handed attacks upon the constitution." It may be added that the
+expression of confidence above referred to was justified by the result,
+as Mr. Baldwin, during his stay in England, was not admitted to an
+interview with Lord Glenelg, though a written statement of his views was
+received by his Lordship, and submitted to the Cabinet.
+
+The Reformers, moderate and radical, were brought closer together by the
+agitated state of the public mind, and by the efforts of the official
+party to destroy their influence. Several weeks before the dissolution
+actually took place it became known that such a step was imminent, and
+quiet preparations were made for the general election which was to
+follow. The formation of the Canadian Alliance Society by the Radicals,
+towards the close of 1834, has already been referred to.[243] Neither
+the platform of this society nor the mode of conducting it was such as
+to commend it to Reformers generally, and it was now deemed advisable to
+organize a new association on a broader basis, with a special eye to
+coöperation with Reformers who resided in the rural districts. This was
+accordingly done under the auspices of some of the leading Reformers of
+Toronto. In contradistinction to the British Constitutional Society
+mentioned towards the close of the last chapter, the new association was
+called the Constitutional Reform Society. Dr. Baldwin accepted the
+Presidency, and Francis Hincks, who was then engaged in commercial life
+in Toronto, was appointed Secretary. Steps were taken to counteract the
+misrepresentations of the official party, and generally for the
+efficient maintenance of the impending election campaign. The Reformers
+seem to have greatly underestimated the efforts of their opponents. As
+the event proved, they were also hopelessly astray in gauging the public
+opinion of the Province, for they looked forward to the approaching
+contest with the utmost confidence in the result. The new society, it
+was thought, would accomplish wonders in the way of thorough
+organization, and it was confidently believed that the existing Reform
+majority in the Assembly would be fully maintained, if not increased.
+The efforts of the official party to spread a belief prejudicial to the
+patriotism of the Reformers were laughed to scorn. So also was the
+attempt of the Lieutenant-Governor to imbue the inhabitants with a
+belief in the probability of a foreign invasion. Upon the promulgation
+of the challenge to the imaginary invader, a number of the Toronto
+Reformers, with Mr. Hincks at their head, amused themselves by
+perpetrating a practical joke. Having taken counsel together, they
+formed themselves into a deputation, and called upon his Excellency in a
+state of well-assumed perturbation. In a formal address they expressed
+much solicitude on the subject of the contemplated invasion. They
+professed to re-echo his unbounded confidence in the Provincial militia,
+but begged to be informed of the quarter whence the attack was
+anticipated. "We do not doubt," said they, in their Address, "the
+readiness with which would be answered upon any emergency your appeal to
+the militia, which appeal we are satisfied would not have been made
+without adequate cause. In a matter so seriously affecting the peace and
+tranquillity of the country, and the security of its commerce, we beg to
+learn from your Excellency from what quarter the invasion is alleged to
+be threatened." To this not unreasonable demand the Lieutenant-Governor
+was unable to make any definite reply. The absurdity of his challenge
+was for the first time fully brought home to him. According to the
+testimony of eye-witnesses, he "did not sit, but stood with that
+personal oscillation which you witness in a man so situated as not well
+to know what to say or what to do."[244] When at last his reply came,
+it proved to be the briefest and most sensible of all his replies.
+"Gentlemen," said he, "I have no further observations to make to you on
+this subject." The deputation, struggling with suppressed laughter,
+withdrew.
+
+The Provincial Parliament was dissolved on the 28th of May, and as it
+was thought desirable to strike while the iron was hot, the elections
+were hurried on with unseemly haste. They began on the 20th of June, and
+all the returns were in during the first week in July. The issue was an
+exciting, but not a doubtful one, for the official party entered upon
+the contest with loaded dice and a determination to win. Numerous
+attempts have been made to explain and excuse their conduct during this
+eventful epoch; but it is impossible to blink the fact that the result
+was a foregone conclusion from the very moment of the issue of the
+writs. The whole weight of the Government was put forward to ensure the
+return of Tory candidates, and this was done in the most direct and
+shameless manner. The Lieutenant-Governor openly made himself a party to
+the contest. His replies to the various addresses which he had himself
+promoted were one and all set to the same tune.[245] The issue was
+presented in such a light that no inconsiderable part of the population
+were led to believe that the maintenance of British connection depended
+upon the result of the contest. Owing to the representations of
+Government emissaries, backed by the Tory press, and reinforced by the
+inflammatory speeches and addresses of the Lieutenant-Governor, it was
+widely believed that should the Reformers succeed there would be a
+speedy uprooting of cherished institutions, followed by separation from
+the mother country and ultimate annexation to the United States. The
+indiscreet language of Mackenzie and some other Radicals had been such
+as to lend colour to misrepresentations of this nature, and the spirit
+thereby aroused was decisive of the result. Not only professed Tories,
+but most of the moderate-minded of the population, rallied to the side
+of the Lieutenant-Governor, to uphold British connection, and to oppose
+the encroachment of republican and revolutionary ideas. Loyalty was
+rampant, and patriotic fervour was aroused to a height which it had not
+reached in Upper Canada since the War of 1812. "Down with democracy!"
+"Down with republicanism!" "Hurrah for Sir Francis Head and British
+connection!" Such were the legends inscribed on the dead-walls in the
+principal towns of the Province.[246] Tory votes were manufactured by
+wholesale, and Tory funds were squandered with reckless profusion. For
+the first time in the history of Upper Canada, Government agents were
+sent down to the polling-places armed with patents for land, to be
+distributed among the electors. It is open to doubt whether some of
+these were not conferred upon persons who had no title to them.[247]
+Reform votes were rejected by partisan returning-officers upon the most
+frivolous pretexts. Gangs of ruffians were stationed at the polls to
+intimidate those who ventured near to record their votes in favour of
+anti-Government candidates. In at least one instance, the
+Lieutenant-Governor presented himself in person at the polling-place
+while the contest was at its height, and remained there for some time on
+horseback, in close proximity to the spot where votes were
+recorded.[248] As for the Reformers, they were soon aroused from their
+dreams of confidence. But their rude awakening, early as it was, came
+all too late. They perceived that the seed had been well sown, and that
+the crop would have to be reaped. They found themselves looked upon with
+suspicion and dislike among their neighbours and others from whom they
+had been accustomed to receive confidence and respect. They needed all
+the courage of their opinions to support them against the obloquy which
+official slander had aroused. The courageous among them faced the polls
+in the spirit of a forlorn hope. The more timid quietly remained at home
+and refrained from voting, rather than subject themselves to certain
+insult and probable physical violence.
+
+It may perhaps be urged, in reply to some of the foregoing allegations,
+that a Committee of the Assembly subsequently inquired into the various
+matters complained of, and that their report acquitted the Governor of
+all culpability. But anyone who is familiar with the proceedings of
+election committees in those days, and even in times much more recent,
+will not need to be informed how much--or how little--weight should be
+attached to a verdict from such a source. In the case under
+consideration, the proceedings were conducted with exceptional disregard
+to propriety, and the verdict of acquittal cannot be considered as of
+any value whatever. Only one member of the Committee heard the whole of
+the evidence upon which the report was based. Three of the members
+declared that the report was adopted without their knowledge or consent.
+Of the other five members who prepared the document, one attended only
+two meetings out of fourteen; while another attended four, and another
+five. A fourth member attended twelve meetings, and one only of the five
+attended all the fourteen. The inquiry was from first to last conducted
+in a spirit of partisanship, and the report, in the language of Dr.
+Rolph, was "the offspring of untempered zeal, insufficient evidence,
+hasty conclusions, and executive devotion."[249] As a general rule, it
+is a difficult matter to convict a Government of actual, direct
+interference with the freedom of election. But in the case of the
+general election of 1836, there is unfortunately no room for doubt. That
+patents were issued in great numbers by the Commissioner of Crown Lands,
+and despatched by the hands of trusted agents of the Government to the
+polling-places, to be used by the voters, is as well established as is
+the fact of the election itself. Nay, the fact is admitted by Sir
+Francis Head in the supplemental chapter to his "Narrative," as well as
+by the Committee appointed by the Assembly to investigate the matter,
+and the attempts to explain it away are of the weakest kind. The number
+of patents issued was so great as to require a special staff of extra
+clerks to get them ready by the time they were wanted. In some cases the
+patents covered only a quarter of an acre of wild, uncultivated land,
+upon which no buildings had been erected. Many of them were issued
+between the date of the dissolution of Parliament and the close of the
+election a month later,[250] and in some instances they were issued
+after the actual opening of the poll. They were distributed openly at
+the places where the elections were held, to persons who had not applied
+for them, and who, at least in some instances, received them without
+paying the usual fees, merely that they might thereby be enabled to
+vote. Whether the issue of the patents affected the result of the
+election in any single instance is altogether beside the question. It
+would be absurd to pretend, in the face of such tactics as these, that
+there was any real freedom of choice offered to the people in the matter
+of Parliamentary representation. Freedom of election was paralyzed.
+Reform voters were literally overwhelmed, and their franchise rendered
+of no avail. All this was done with the cognizance and assent of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, who thereby wilfully violated the instructions
+which he had received from the Home Office.[251]
+
+The result of an election contest conducted on these lines was such as
+to fully realize the expectations of Sir Francis and his advisers. Not
+only were all the old Tory members returned--and this, in several cases,
+without any opposition--but a number of new adherents of that side found
+seats. Hagerman was returned for Kingston by acclamation, McLean was
+returned for Stormont, George S. Jarvis for the Town of Cornwall, Jonas
+Jones and Ogle B. Gowan for Leeds, A. N. MacNab for Wentworth, W. B.
+Robinson for Simcoe, Mahlon Burwell for the Town of London, Henry
+Sherwood for Brockville, and William Henry Draper for Toronto. The
+last-named gentleman, known to later times as Chief Justice Draper, now
+entered public life for the first time. He was a very decided
+acquisition to the ranks of Upper Canadian Toryism, and was destined to
+exert a wide and far-reaching influence upon successive representatives
+of the Crown in this colony. But the triumphs of the official party were
+not confined to mere numerical successes. They wrested some important
+constituencies from the hands of their opponents. The Reformers were not
+only left in an insignificant minority, but nearly all their ablest
+members were defeated in what had long been regarded as safe Reform
+constituencies. Bidwell and Perry suffered defeat in Lennox and
+Addington; Lount underwent a similar fate in Simcoe; and Mackenzie was
+signally worsted in the Second Riding of York by a man of no political
+standing. Gibson, Morrison and Mackintosh gained their respective
+elections in the other three Ridings of York, but none of them possessed
+much Parliamentary ability, or was to be depended upon in any great
+emergency. The one significant gain to the Reform party arose out of the
+election of Dr. Rolph. The Doctor, after having allowed himself to be
+talked into accepting a seat in the Executive Council whose resignation
+had been the beginning of the contest between the Reformers and the
+Lieutenant-Governor, had not felt himself at liberty to reject the
+overtures of his friends. He had been put in nomination for the County
+of Norfolk, and his candidature had been successful. He was a host in
+himself, and his return was the one streak of bright light which
+appeared in the Reform horizon at the close of the campaign.
+
+Perhaps the most unsatisfactory feature about the whole unsatisfactory
+business, from the Reform point of view, was that the ignominous
+discomfiture of the Reformers had been brought about by defections from
+their own ranks. Moderate-minded Reformers had come to think, with the
+Conservatives, that even Family Compact domination was preferable to the
+ascendency of such men as Mackenzie. The publication of the baneful
+domination letter, followed, as it had been, by Tory misrepresentation,
+had led thousands of persons to believe that the Radicals secretly
+favoured the separation of the colony from Great Britain. The Wesleyan
+Methodists, a numerous body, were doubly impelled to oppose Mackenzie
+and all who favoured his cause. The quarrel between Mackenzie and the
+Rev. Egerton Ryerson has already been referred to.[252] Mr. Ryerson was
+in those days one of the most prominent figures in Upper Canadian
+Methodism, and in conjunction with his brothers, exerted a predominant
+influence among the members of that body. At the time of the general
+election of 1836 he was absent from the Province on a mission to
+England, whither he had gone to obtain a charter for the Upper Canada
+Academy, and to solicit subscriptions for the establishment and
+maintenance of that institution, which subsequently developed into the
+University of Victoria College. But the reverend gentleman's arm was
+far-reaching, and stretched across the broad expanse of the Atlantic. In
+common with a large and respectable portion of the Upper Canadian
+population, he cherished a feeling of personal contempt for Mackenzie,
+whose character he thoroughly despised, and whose projects he regarded
+as prejudicial to the welfare of the colony. The publication of the
+baneful domination letter had convinced him that rebellion and
+separation were among the cherished schemes of the Radicals. To all such
+schemes he was prepared to oppose his firmest resistance, for his
+loyalty was of the perfervid order, and his dislike of Mackenzie
+probably imparted additional zeal to his opposition. As has been seen,
+Mackenzie, with the aid of Hume, Roebuck and other British statesmen,
+had succeeded in creating in the minds of the English public
+considerable sympathy for Canadian Reform. To counteract this influence
+Mr. Ryerson, under the signature of "A Canadian," contributed a series
+of letters to the London _Times_. They were vigorously written, and
+attracted much attention, not only in England but in Canada, where they
+were republished in the columns of the Tory newspapers, and where they
+were circulated in pamphlet form as a campaign document. Mr. Ryerson
+also wrote to leading members of the Methodist body in Canada, urging
+them to cast all their influence for Government candidates, and against
+the revolutionary policy of the Radicals. His appeals served their
+purpose, and the great bulk of the Wesleyan Methodists of Upper Canada,
+who had theretofore supported Reform members, went over to the side of
+the Government. In many constituencies--notably so in Lennox and
+Addington--they held the balance of power, and their secession from the
+Reform cause decided the fortunes of the candidates.[253] A few remained
+unaffected by Mr. Ryerson's lucubrations, and some even went so far as
+to denounce his conduct and reply to his arguments, but these were too
+few in number to affect the general result. Some of the successful
+candidates were compelled to pledge themselves in advance to the
+Methodists and other Nonconformists to take immediate steps for the
+settlement of the Clergy Reserves question, but the pledges were
+neglected or forgotten during the turbulent epoch which ensued.
+
+It will thus be seen that, as is clearly pointed out in the Report of
+Lord Durham,[254] the contest which had been commenced on the question
+of a responsible Executive Council had afterwards been adroitly turned
+by the official party, and had been decided on very different grounds.
+The question of a responsible Executive, as well as the question of the
+Clergy Reserves, had for the time sunk out of public notice. All other
+matters had given way to a resolve to return candidates who would "rally
+round the throne." The triumph of the Government went far beyond what
+several members of it had ventured to anticipate. On the 8th of July,
+Sir Francis was able to report to Lord Glenelg that "the
+Constitutionists"--by which name he designated the official party and
+all who supported them--had a majority of twenty-five,[255] whereas in
+the preceding Assembly they had been in a minority of eleven. In the
+same despatch he availed himself of the opportunity to malign Mr.
+Bidwell, whom he characterized as the "twin or Siamese companion of Mr.
+Speaker Papineau." He descanted upon the powerful reaction which had
+been brought about, and exultingly informed his Lordship that of the
+four candidates who had contested the constituency of Lennox and
+Addington Mr. Bidwell had polled the fewest votes.
+
+The Colonial Minister must have been sore puzzled to know what to make
+of this gushing and galloping Lieutenant-Governor, who was so evidently
+devoid of the peculiar qualifications supposed to be requisite for one
+in his station, and who framed his official despatches upon the model of
+a sensation novel. Here was a man who had been selected for an elevated
+and honourable post because be had been supposed to be an adept in the
+science of politics, but who, as it now turned out, was utterly
+unacquainted with the principles and practice of Government; who was
+ignorant of the proprieties and amenities of official intercourse; who,
+in what were intended for grave official despatches, indulged in
+extracts from French vaudevilles, and referred to certain methods of
+procedure as not being _according to Hoyle_! By all known theory and
+precedent, the accession to office of such a man ought to have been
+attended by immediate and ignominous failure. Yet, so far as could be
+judged, he had by no means failed. Nay, he actually appeared to have
+scored a marvellous success, and to have brought about what men of
+greater ability and wider experience had been utterly unable to
+accomplish. Such a success was an inscrutable mystery to the official
+mind, and Lord Glenelg, after the first few weeks, appears to have
+abandoned all attempts to penetrate it. The entire demeanour of this
+unconventional Lieutenant-Governor was incomprehensible. He had
+expressed his total dissent from the policy of the Commissioners of
+Inquiry in Lower Canada, who had reported in favour of a responsible
+Executive.[256] He had even gone so far as to tender his resignation in
+consequence of his inability to concur in the liberal measures of Reform
+advocated by the Commissioners.[257] But the Home Government had by no
+means been disposed to accept his resignation just at that time. They
+had no available person to put in his place, and it had been thought
+desirable that he should be permitted to try his hand a little longer.
+And now this news as to the result of the elections seemed to fully
+justify their determination to retain him in office. If he had really
+inaugurated a new and improved order of things in Upper Canada, it was
+only fair that he should enjoy the prestige of his success.
+
+But the ill effects of Sir Francis's superficial and disastrous policy
+were already beginning to be apparent to those whose eyes were keen
+enough to look below the surface of things. The Reformers felt that they
+had been out-manoeuvred. That they could have borne, for they had
+often been compelled to bear a similar infliction in past times. But
+they considered that they had been cheated out of their rights by one
+whose especial duty it was to watch over and preserve those rights
+inviolate. They had endured much at the hands of a Gore, a Maitland and
+a Colborne. But Gore, Maitland and Colborne had not presented themselves
+before them in the garb of tried Reformers. They had been the Tory
+emissaries of Tory superiors beyond sea, whose instructions they had
+generally carried out. All this had been changed; but the change, so
+far as Upper Canada was concerned, had been for the worse. The Reformers
+of the Province felt that the man who had been placed at the helm of
+State--the man who had been sent over by an ostensibly Liberal
+Government to redress the accumulated wrongs of the past--was in some
+respects far more dangerous than any of his predecessors had been.
+Carlyle had not then delivered his celebrated discourse on fools, but
+the idea that a fool may sometimes be far more dread-inspiring than a
+wise man is sufficiently obvious, and had presented itself in vivid
+shape before the minds of a good many of the Reformers of Upper Canada.
+They had by this time come to know something of Sir Francis Head. They
+had brought themselves to regard him as not only a fool, but a fool
+devoid of right feeling or principle; a fool who would stop at no
+injustice or iniquity the perpetration whereof would conduce, in however
+small a degree, to his own glorification. He evidently regarded his
+personal interference in the elections as a thing upon which he ought to
+plume himself. Such a state of things was not to be borne. It was clear
+that life, for Canadian Reformers, would very soon be not worth living.
+They despaired of the future, which, to their depressed vision, seemed
+to be overhung by a sky of unrelieved blackness. Their despair was
+accompanied by a smarting sense of defeat and injustice proportionate to
+the circumstances. Such feelings were not confined to defeated
+candidates and their immediate friends, but were participated in by
+Reformers generally. Some of them began to weigh the advantages and
+disadvantages of removal from the Province. Others, after the first
+effervescence of disappointment had expended itself, determined to
+endure in patience and to hope for the best. A comparatively small
+number, yielding to the influence of mingled despair and exasperation,
+began to contemplate armed resistance to authority as among the
+possibilities of the near future. Constitutional resistance, they
+thought, had had a fair trial. Might it not be worth while to try a more
+drastic remedy?
+
+Conspicuous among the personages who were strongly influenced by such
+thoughts as those last indicated was William Lyon Mackenzie, who, as
+previously mentioned, had lost his election in the Second Riding of
+York. It might have been supposed that if any constituency in the
+Province was beyond the reach of Tory influence, the Second Riding was
+entitled to that distinction. It was notoriously the most Radical
+constituency in the colony. It had stood loyally by Mackenzie all
+through the troubled epoch of the successive expulsions. Yet it had now
+thrown him overboard on behalf of a political nobody. The explanation is
+to be found in the fact that the Riding had been the scene of some of
+the moat scandalous abuses committed during the campaign. The Tories had
+resolved that Mackenzie should be defeated at any cost, and had resorted
+to the most reprehensible means to secure that end. To elect a professed
+Tory would have been an impossibility, so the person fixed upon to
+oppose him was one whom the author of "Middlemarch" might have had in
+her eye when she described Sir James Chettam as "a man of acquiescent
+temper, miscellaneous opinions and uncertain vote."[258] His name was
+Edward William Thomson, and he professed to be a moderate Reformer. His
+moderation was acceptable to a considerable proportion of the electors,
+many of whom were tired of Mackenzie. The official party, however, did
+not choose to rely upon legitimate means for defeating the Radical
+candidate. Money was spent freely, and brawny bullies were hired for
+purposes of intimidation. Good votes were rejected on one side, and bad
+ones accepted on the other. Patents were sent down to the polling place,
+certain recipients whereof voted for Thomson. Sheriff Jarvis attended,
+and by his language and demeanour did what he could to discourage
+Mackenzie's supporters. Not a stone was left unturned to effect the
+desired object. Such means as Mackenzie had at his command were
+altogether insufficient to counteract the devices employed against him.
+He was beaten, and by a majority of a hundred votes.
+
+This result took Mackenzie completely by surprise. It came upon him in
+the form of a revelation. He had not permitted himself to entertain any
+doubt of his success, and the conviction that he had lost his
+popularity cut him to his inmost soul. He retired to the house of one of
+his supporters in the neighbourhood, where he completely broke down, and
+wept with a bitterness which evoked the active sympathy of those
+present. But this mood did not last. It was succeeded by a sullenness
+and stolidity such as had never before been observed in him. He knew
+that he had been beaten unfairly, and resolved to petition against the
+election. Meanwhile his rage against the party which had been concerned
+in his defeat was ungovernable, and must have vent. He resolved that he
+must again have control of a newspaper. He accordingly established _The
+Constitution_, a weekly paper, the first number of which made its
+appearance in Toronto on the sixtieth anniversary of the Declaration of
+Independence of the United States--namely, the 4th of July, 1836. Its
+tone was such as might have been anticipated from the mood of its
+editor. It was more outspoken than the _Advocate_ had ever been under
+his management, and might from the first have been styled a
+revolutionary organ. In its columns every phase of discontent found
+utterance, and some of its editorial articles were marked by a spirit of
+bitterness and implacability such as had not commonly been supposed to
+belong to Mackenzie's nature. Means would doubtless have been taken for
+its suppression, had not the Government felt that they had achieved a
+signal triumph, and that they could afford to ignore its attacks.
+
+Many others of the Radicals felt little less rancour towards the
+Government party than did Mackenzie. Indeed, the conduct of the party in
+power had been such as to make temporary Radicals of not a few persons
+who had theretofore been known as moderate Reformers. It may be said
+indeed that nearly all the moderates had either made common cause with
+the Government party for fear of the Radicals, or had coalesced with the
+Radicals from a sense of official tyranny and injustice. Public meetings
+were held, at which the Lieutenant-Governor and his myrmidons were
+subjected to the most vehement denunciations. At a meeting of the
+Constitutional Reform Society Dr. Baldwin, George Ridout, James E. Small
+and others referred to his Excellency's conduct in terms which public
+audiences had never before heard from their lips. An official address
+issued by the Society on the subject of the resignation of the
+Executive Councillors also contained some severe but well-merited
+strictures. The Lieutenant-Governor marked his condemnation of the
+language employed by promptly dismissing the three gentlemen above named
+from certain offices which they held.[259] As will hereafter be seen,
+this proceeding eventually led to serious complications between the Home
+Office and Sir Francis. Meantime, the latter was permitted to have his
+own way, but not without stubborn attempts at resistance on the part of
+some of his opponents. A number of the most pronounced Radicals resolved
+to make a strong representation of election and other abuses to the
+British House of Commons, and to that end sent Dr. Charles Duncombe to
+England. Dr. Duncombe had been re-elected for Oxford, but had had to
+contend against similar influences to those which had been employed in
+other constituencies, and was thus able to speak of the partisan conduct
+of the Lieutenant-Governor's emissaries from personal observation. He
+prepared a statement of the case against Sir Francis, which was laid
+before the House of Commons by Mr. Hume. The Colonial Secretary
+despatched a copy of it to Sir Francis for explanations. It is unlikely
+that Dr. Duncombe's mission would have been a successful one under any
+circumstances, but he made the mistake of protesting too much. The
+greater part of the indictment could easily have been substantiated
+before any impartial tribunal, but it also contained charges which,
+whether true or not, the prosecutor was unable to prove. As mentioned on
+a former page[260], the matter was referred to a Committee of the
+Provincial Assembly, by whom the Lieutenant-Governor was completely
+exonerated. A further reference to the matter will be made in connection
+with the proceedings of the following session.
+
+The Lieutenant-Governor was meanwhile engaged in a voluminous
+correspondence with the Colonial Secretary. The subjects dealt with
+therein were many and various. Perhaps the most important of all was
+the Lower Canadian Commission of Inquiry. The Commissioners had made a
+report in which they had recommended the concession of Responsible
+Government, and other much-needed Reforms. As previously mentioned, Sir
+Francis had no sympathy with these views, and distinctly repudiated the
+policy thus recommended. The idea of a responsible Executive was utterly
+repugnant to him. He erelong perceived that the Imperial Government
+would sooner or later yield to the imperative demand made on behalf of
+the different British North American colonies, but he determined to
+fight against it as long as opposition was possible, and his despatches
+teem with what he doubtless regarded as arguments on the negative side.
+He predicted the most serious results if the policy of the Commissioners
+was adopted. The language of the Ninety-two resolutions of the Lower
+Canada Assembly he pronounced to be not only insulting to the British
+Government, but traitorous. He proposed various measures for
+establishing the power of the Crown in the Canadas on a firm basis.
+Among these were the repeal of the Act surrendering the revenue, the
+annexation of the District of Gaspé to the Province of New Brunswick,
+and the annexation of Montreal to Upper Canada. It may safely be assumed
+that these ideas were not his own, and nobody who has read "Canada and
+the Canada Bill,"[261] published several years later, will entertain
+much doubt as to the individual from whom he derived his inspiration.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[236] Sir Francis afterwards denied that this challenge was addressed to
+the Americans. See his despatch to Lord Glenelg dated 6th November,
+1836, embodied in his _Narrative_, chap, vi. But it is quite evident
+that the denial, as well as the construction there sought to be put upon
+his language, was an after-thought. If, as he there asserts, "the
+Americans had no more to do with the subject than the Chinese," there
+was no appropriate significance whatever in his doughty defiance.
+
+[237] See despatch of May 28th.
+
+[238] See despatch of 21st April.
+
+[239] _Ib._
+
+[240] _Ib._
+
+[241] Despatch of May 28th.
+
+[242] Of April 28th.
+
+[243] _Ante_, p. 281.
+
+[244] See Dr. Rolph's _Speech to the House in Committee on the Report of
+the Select Committee on the Petition of Dr. Charles Duncombe to the
+British House of Commons_, delivered on Monday, January 30th, 1837.
+
+[245] It was afterwards urged by Sir Francis that his replies to
+addresses were made before, and not during the election. The plea will
+not bear a moment's examination. The mischief was done by the
+inflammatory and menacing tone of the replies, and the mere question of
+the time of their delivery in of no importance whatever. An English
+writer thus effectually disposes of this attempted defence: "Surely he
+[Sir F. B. Head] must have some glimmering perception that this is not a
+question of time, and that, if promises or threats are addressed to the
+electoral body with regard to their exercise of the electoral franchise,
+it is a matter of no importance whether this is done before or at the
+time of the election. Illogical as he has proved himself, we cannot
+suppose him to be so utterly destitute of the reasoning faculty as a
+sincerity in this defence would imply; and we must therefore believe
+that he knows the charge to be well founded, and has recourse to this
+shuffling evasion in pure despair."--See _London and Westminster
+Review_, vol. xxxii., No. 2, article vi.
+
+[246] During the contest people on the hustings actually demanded of the
+candidates: "Do you vote for the House of Assembly or for Sir Francis
+Head?"--a question which, as Sir Francis himself remarks, amounted in
+plain terms to this: "Are you for a republican government, or are you
+not?"--See _Memorandum on the Present Political State of the Canadas_,
+in _Narrative_, chap. vi.
+
+[247] Lord Durham, reasoning from such evidence as he had before him,
+proceeds upon the assumption that no patents were issued except to
+persons entitled to the land. But, as his Lordship admits, the granting
+of patents at all under such circumstances was an act of official
+favouritism which no Lieutenant-Governor with a proper sense of his duty
+would have permitted. See _Report_, U.C. folio edition, p. 51.
+
+[248] This was at Streetsville, while the contest for the Second Riding
+of York was in progress between William Lyon Mackenzie and Edward
+William Thomson.
+
+[249] See his speech in the Assembly on January 30th, 1837.
+
+[250] From official returns it appears that 1,478 patents passed the
+Great Seal between the 20th of April (the date of the prorogation) and
+the close of the contest in June. Of this number 1,245 were issued in
+pursuance of Orders in Council made prior to Sir Francis Head's arrival
+in the Province. Between his arrival and the close of the election 233
+were issued, whereof only 150 were issued under Order in Council on his
+authority. But that the entire 1,478 were passed under Sir Francis's
+régime within a very brief period; that a special staff of clerks was
+employed for the purpose; that for the first time in the history of the
+Province these patents were distributed at the polling-booths by
+Government agents who were strong adherents of the official party, and
+who were moreover dependent upon the Government for their
+situations--these are circumstances which admit of but one brief
+explanation. The only one of these agents whom the Committee of Inquiry
+ventured to summon before them was Mr. Welsley Richey, of Barrie, who,
+on his examination, deposed that he mentioned to the Lieutenant-Governor
+that the persons who wanted their deeds were entitled to them, and that
+_he thought they would vote for Constitutional candidates_; that Sir F.
+B. Head strictly commanded witness not in any manner to interfere as
+Government agent, or to use any influence which his situation gave him
+at the election; that out of a number not exceeding 130 patents which
+persons residing in the County of Simcoe were entitled to, and which
+were in witness's possession for them, only about thirty were called
+for, and only part of that thirty voted. This is mere petty evasion. As
+pointed out in the text, the extent to which such tactics as these
+affected the result is not the chief question to be decided. The mere
+fact that they were employed is sufficient to settle the question of
+culpability. Richey was directed not to interfere with the elections as
+_Government agent_. How was it possible for an official known to be
+connected with the Government to divest himself of the influence
+inseparable from such a connection, more especially when his strong
+political bias was well known, and when he presented himself at the poll
+as a distributor of deeds among the voters? The mere fact of a
+conference on such a subject between the head of the Government and a
+subordinate is in itself a suspicious circumstance.
+
+[251] In Lord Goderich's despatch to Sir John Colborne, dated 8th
+November, 1832, referred to _ante_, p. 246, the following language is
+employed: "His Majesty expects and requires of you neither to practise,
+nor to allow on the part of those who are officially subordinate to you,
+any interference with the rights of his subjects to the free and
+unbiased choice of their representatives;" and, as previously
+mentioned, Lord Glenelg had expressly instructed Sir Francis Head to
+adopt that despatch as a rule for the guidance of his conduct. See
+_ante_, p. 301.
+
+[252] _Ante_, p. 272.
+
+[253] Sir Francis Hincks, who, as previously mentioned in the text, then
+resided in Toronto, and was identified with the Reform party, has, in
+his _Reminiscences_, recorded his views on this subject, and as they are
+founded upon personal experience and recollection they are worth
+quoting. "Bearing in mind," he writes, "that there are exceptions to all
+general rules, I think that I am not wrong in my belief that the members
+of the Church of England and the Presbyterians generally voted for the
+Tory candidates, while the Roman Catholics and the Baptists,
+Congregationalists, etc., voted as uniformly for the Reformers. The
+Wesleyan Methodists held the balance of power in a great many
+constituencies, and I believe that it has been generally acknowledged
+that the elections in 1836 were carried against the Reformers by their
+votes." Again: "I believe that I am correct in asserting that Sir
+Francis Head carried the elections in 1836 against the Reformers mainly
+through the influence of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, who, though
+absent from Canada at the time, had, by his published impressions,
+induced those who confided in him to abandon the Reform
+cause."--_Reminiscences_, etc., pp. 17, 18.
+
+[254] U.C. folio edition, p, 49.
+
+[255] The House contained in all only sixty-two members, so that a
+majority of twenty-five constituted what might be called absolute
+control. The actual majority was twenty-six, as there were but eighteen
+Reform representatives as against forty-four supporters of the
+Government.
+
+[256] See his despatch of 1st June.
+
+[257] _Ib._
+
+[258] This language aptly characterizes Mr. Thomson, for afterwards, in
+the Assembly, it was impossible to predict how he would vote on any
+conceivable question. His "Reform" principles must have been very
+"moderate," for he frequently supported the measures of the Compact. His
+votes seem to have been dictated by chance or caprice, rather than
+political conviction of any kind.
+
+[259] Dr. Baldwin was Judge of the Surrogate Court of the Home
+District. His dismissal was probably due quite as much to the fact
+that he was President of the Society as to his remarks about the
+Lieutenant-Governor, or to the official address. Mr. Ridout was Judge of
+the Niagara District Court, Justice of the Peace, and Colonel of the
+Second Regiment of East York Militia. He was dismissed from all three
+offices, although he was not a member of the Reform Society. Mr. Small
+was Commissioner of the Court of Requests in Toronto, and also
+Lieutenant-Colonel of the First East York Militia.
+
+[260] _Ante_, p. 330.
+
+[261] Written by Chief Justice Robinson, in opposition to the project
+for uniting the two Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+REACTION.
+
+
+The closing weeks of the summer and a part of the early autumn were
+spent by the Lieutenant-Governor in an informal tour through some of the
+most interesting and picturesque districts of the Province. A great part
+of the tour, which occupied in all about two months, was performed on
+horseback, and with only two attendants. A pleasantly-written account of
+some of the experiences encountered during this invigorating holiday may
+be found in "The Emigrant," a light, sketchy, and most readable little
+volume put forth by Sir Francis ten years afterwards. Soon after his
+return to the Seat of Government his self-complacency received a check
+in the form of a despatch from the Colonial Office, enclosing copies of
+instructions which had been sent to Sir Archibald Campbell,
+Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. It appeared that the strenuous
+exertions of the Reformers of that Province had been crowned with
+success. Sir Archibald had been directed to surrender to the Assembly
+the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown, and to concede a
+responsible Executive. This was not all. Sir Francis was himself
+distinctly informed that what had been conceded in one British North
+American Province could not be withheld from the rest. Scarcely had this
+piece of intelligence been chewed and digested ere he received another
+despatch which added to his discomfiture by confirming the previous one,
+and by seating the obnoxious doctrine at his very door. He was
+instructed that the Executive Councils in the various North American
+colonies were thenceforward to be composed of individuals possessing the
+confidence of the people. This, though not altogether unexpected, was
+almost past bearing. He saw the house of cards which he had constructed
+with such pains about to crumble before him. If this course were
+persisted in, all his efforts to pack a House of Assembly would erelong
+prove to have been made in vain; for no Assembly would permanently
+uphold a clique of Councillors in whose appointment they themselves had
+had no voice, and in whose principles they had no confidence. Sir
+Archibald Campbell and he were entirely of one mind as to the vexed
+question at issue, and they were both firmly determined to resist such a
+policy to the last ditch. Of Sir Archibald's proceedings it is
+unnecessary for this work to present any detailed account. It will be
+sufficient to say that he preferred to resign his office rather than
+obey the instructions he had received, and that he carried out this
+resolve during the following year, when he was succeeded by Sir John
+Harvey. Sir Francis Head meanwhile contented himself as best he could
+with vehement protests addressed to the Home Office. "The more seriously
+I contemplate the political tranquillity of this Province," he
+wrote,[262] "the more steadfastly am I confirmed in my opinion that cool,
+stern, decisive, un-conciliating measures form the most popular
+description of government that can be exercised towards the free and
+high-minded inhabitants of the Canadas." The style of his despatches did
+not improve with time. It was wordy, bombastic and slangy. The
+despatches themselves were largely made up of inflated, impertinent
+phraseology, and quotations from the light literature of the period.
+Lord Glenelg, however, had become accustomed to the unconventional
+methods of his protégé, and was by no means disposed to judge him with
+severity. On the 8th of September he wrote to him to the effect that his
+"foresight, energy and moral courage" had been approved of by the King.
+"It is peculiarly gratifying to me," wrote his Lordship, "to be the
+channel of conveying to you this high and honourable testimony of His
+Majesty's favourable acceptance of your services." From all which it is
+sufficiently apparent that the real state of Upper Canadian affairs was
+not much more clearly understood by the Colonial Office than by Sir
+Francis Head.
+
+The new Parliament was assembled on the 8th of November. Archibald
+McLean, of Stormont, was elected Speaker by a majority of fifteen, the
+vote standing thirty-six to twenty-one. This vote did not by any means
+indicate the full strength of the Government, which was simply
+irresistible. The power of the Compact was not only completely restored,
+but increased. Never had its ascendency been so great. It was absolute,
+overwhelming; and any opposition to it was a bootless kicking against
+the pricks. In the Speech from the Throne his Excellency congratulated
+the Houses on the loyal feeling pervading the Province, and on the
+stillness and serenity of the public mind. He drew attention to "the
+conspicuous tranquillity of the country," and briefly referred to the
+legislation contemplated by the Government, which, as thus indicated,
+was of an exceedingly practical character. The Speech concluded with a
+declaration of his Excellency's intention "to maintain the happy
+constitution of this Province inviolate." If the Speech, as a whole,
+contained a faithful reflex of the official mind, it indicated that the
+Government greatly misjudged the state of opinion in the country. True,
+there was little conspicuous agitation, for the Reform party had
+sustained so signal a defeat that they for the time felt powerless. But
+they were feverishly sensible of the crushing blow that had been dealt
+them, and reeled from it in a spirit which was far removed from
+"serenity." Scores of them despaired of the future, sold out their
+belongings, and removed to the United States. During the months of
+September and October there had been a considerable emigration of
+farmers from the western part of the Province to Michigan. Such was the
+"tranquillity" upon which Sir Francis plumed himself, and upon which he
+continued to dilate at recurring intervals until he was roused from his
+slumbers by the intelligence that "the rebels" were at Montgomery's.
+
+The Legislature at once proceeded to pass a Bill to provide for the
+support of the Civil Government for the current year, a circumstance of
+which the Lieutenant-Governor hastened to apprise Lord Glenelg. Various
+matters of importance occupied the attention of Parliament during the
+session. Among other questions which came up for discussion was the
+long-standing grievance of the Clergy Reserves. On Thursday, the 8th of
+December, a Bill was introduced into the Assembly by Hiram Norton,
+member for Grenville, having for its object the disposal of the Reserves
+for purposes of general education. It passed the second reading on the
+13th of the same month, whereupon the House, in Committee of the Whole,
+after several days consideration and discussion, reported a resolution
+in favour of appropriating the Clergy Reserves lands and the proceeds
+arising from the sales thereof to the religious and moral instruction of
+the people. This gave rise to a motion of amendment by Dr. Rolph, "That
+it is expedient to provide for the sale of the Clergy Reserves, and the
+application of the proceeds to the purposes of general education, as one
+of the most legitimate ways of giving free scope to the progress of
+religious truth in the community." In support of this amendment the
+Doctor made what was unquestionably the most noteworthy speech of his
+life--a speech which a well-known writer[263] has pronounced to be
+without a parallel in the annals of Canadian Parliamentary debate. Its
+copiousness and felicity of illustration, its fluent and harmonious
+elegance of diction, could not have failed to stamp it as a great effort
+if it had been delivered before any audience in the world. No higher
+praise can be awarded to it than to record the simple fact that it added
+to the Doctor's already high reputation as an orator, and that it evoked
+the admiration of many persons who could not subscribe to the doctrines
+and arguments it contained. But no oratory and no arguments would have
+availed with that House. The amendment was lost, and on Friday, the
+16th, the original resolution was carried by a vote of thirty-five to
+twenty-one. The matter was then referred to the Upper House for its
+concurrence. As the measure fell through during the session, and
+ultimately came to nothing, it seems unnecessary to follow its fortunes
+any farther.
+
+[Sidenote: 1837.]
+
+Dr. Rolph made another powerful speech during the session; a speech
+which would of itself have entitled him to a high place as a
+Parliamentary orator, and which was inferior in vigour only to the one
+on the Clergy Reserves. It arose out of Dr. Duncombe's charges against
+the Lieutenant-Governor. Having received from the Colonial Secretary a
+copy of the complaint which had been submitted to the House of Commons,
+his Excellency, who was of course able to rely implicitly upon the
+Assembly as then constituted, handed it over to that body to be dealt
+with. The result fully justified his confidence. A partisan Committee
+was appointed, by whom the question was approached in a spirit very far
+removed from judicial fairness. How the inquiry was conducted has
+already been recorded.[264] Dr. Duncombe had made certain charges, some
+of which were easily susceptible of positive proof, while others were
+from their nature of a kind which admitted of nothing stronger than
+indirect evidence. With regard to one or two damnatory charges, he
+implicitly believed them to be true, but he failed to secure any
+substantial proof whatever. He presented himself once before the
+Committee, only to find, as he had expected, that he must not look to
+obtain a fair or patient hearing. Under these circumstances he felt that
+nothing was to be gained by any further attempt to establish the truth
+of his allegations, and permitted the case to go by default. The
+Committee accordingly proceeded to take evidence on their own
+responsibility. The verdict arrived at was such as might easily have
+been foreseen. Every charge and insinuation made against his Excellency
+was declared to be "wholly and utterly destitute of truth." Not only was
+his conduct vindicated in this comprehensive manner, but he was referred
+to as one to whom the Province owed a large debt of gratitude. In due
+course the report came before the Assembly on a motion for its adoption.
+The proceeding had from the first been of the nature of a practical
+impeachment of the Lieutenant-Governor, a matter which was really beyond
+the jurisdiction of any Canadian tribunal. It afforded to Dr. Rolph an
+opportunity for addressing the House at considerable length, and in a
+speech which, as remarked by Mr. Mackenzie's biographer, "will ever be
+memorable in Canadian history."[265] It was delivered on the 30th of
+January, 1837. It dealt in most trenchant fashion with the various
+abuses which had been practised during the elections. The serio-comic
+tone which pervaded a great part of it evoked roars of laughter, while
+its more earnest passages aroused the most conflicting feelings in the
+minds of the auditors. True oratory is never altogether fruitless, and
+it would seem as if this powerful speech must have given the spur to
+feelings which, sooner or later, were bound to produce specific results.
+So far, however, as any immediate effects upon the action of the House
+were concerned, it might as well have remained unuttered. The report was
+adopted by a vote of more than two-thirds of the members present, and
+the Lieutenant-Governor stood officially exonerated from blame.
+
+Among other matters presented for the consideration of the Assembly was
+a petition from Mr. Mackenzie. Ever since the election, he had publicly
+announced his determination to petition against the return in the Second
+Riding of York. He was prevented by illness from filing his memorial
+within the prescribed period, and an extension of time was obtained on
+his behalf. He got together a great mass of evidence, some portions of
+which the Government would certainly have found it hard to answer to the
+public satisfaction. He was jubilant, and openly boasted that he would
+expose such a mass of corruption as would make the country stare aghast.
+He was however so intent on collecting evidence and on discounting his
+contemplated triumph over his enemies that he failed to enter into the
+necessary recognizance until the allotted period for doing so had
+elapsed. The statute governing the case required that the petitioner
+should enter into recognizance within fourteen days from the
+presentation of the petition. In this case the petition was presented on
+the 20th of December, 1836, so that the fourteen days expired on the 3rd
+of January, 1837. "If at the expiration of the said fourteen days"--so
+ran the statute--"such recognizance shall not have been entered into,
+the Speaker shall report the same to the House, and the order for
+taking such petition into consideration shall thereupon be discharged;
+unless, upon matter specially stated and verified to the satisfaction of
+the House, the House shall see cause to enlarge the time for entering
+into such recognizance." Accordingly, on the opening of the House on
+Wednesday, the 4th of January, Mr. Speaker McLean announced that the
+time limited for W. L. Mackenzie, the petitioning candidate for the
+representation of the Second Riding of York, to proceed upon his
+petition, had expired. Mr. Boulton, one of the members for Durham, then
+moved that the further consideration of the petition be discharged. Dr.
+Morrison sought to obtain additional time for the furnishing of the
+statutory recognizance, but the House was under no obligation to grant
+any indulgence, and after a long debate declined to do so. Mr. Boulton's
+motion was carried; whereupon Dr. Morrison moved that Mr. Mackenzie have
+leave to present a new petition. The House negatived this motion, and
+Mr. Thomson was confirmed in his seat. The matter was again brought
+before the notice of the House a few days afterwards by Dr. Morrison,
+who moved that Mr. Mackenzie be allowed further time to enter into the
+requisite security. The motion was made in order to give Dr. Rolph--who
+had not been present during the former discussion--an opportunity of
+speaking on the subject. The member for Norfolk delivered himself of a
+vigorous and subtle argument, in the course of which he reviewed the
+English practice, as well as the practice which had generally prevailed
+in similar cases in Upper Canada. The fourteen days, he argued, should
+be computed from the time when the petition was read to the House, not
+from the date when it was handed in. The presentation referred to in the
+statute, he alleged, was not complete until the reading of the petition,
+which could not take place until it had lain on the table two days.
+Still further, the petitioner's delay had been in part due to the Clerk
+of the House, who had led Mr. Mackenzie to believe that the fourteen
+days would not begin to run against him until two days after the
+delivery of the petition. The argument throughout was plausible and
+powerful, but it shared the fate of many other powerful appeals in those
+days. The motion was lost. There seems to have been a strong
+determination on the part of the Government to burke the investigation.
+This was suggestive of a fear of the result, and was so regarded by
+many wholly disinterested persons. Some of the charges were of the
+gravest nature, and, if the Government had felt that their skirts were
+clean, it is incomprehensible that they should not have availed
+themselves of such an opportunity of establishing the fact by official
+record. There seems but too good reason to believe that, if the inquiry
+had been proceeded with, Mackenzie would have made good his boast, and
+that a disgraceful exposure of Executive corruption would have been
+made.
+
+One of the significant measures of the session was an Act to prevent the
+dissolution of the Provincial Parliament upon the demise of the Crown.
+The desire of the Executive for such an enactment arose in this manner.
+During the brief election campaign of the preceding summer the most
+tempting promises had been made to the electors on behalf of the
+Government. This had been done with the full knowledge and consent--nay,
+probably at the instigation--of the members of the Government
+themselves. The fulfilment of some of the promises would have been
+feasible enough. Others had been as absurdly impossible of fulfilment as
+were Jack Cade's pledges that seven halfpenny loaves should be sold for
+a penny, and that the three-hooped pot should have ten hoops. The
+Government now realized that their performances were far from being
+commensurate with the promises so lavishly made. In the event of a new
+election taking place within the next few months it would be easy for
+the Reformers to make out a strong case, and it would be hard for the
+Government party to reply thereto with effect. It seemed not improbable
+that a new election might erelong become necessary, for King William the
+Fourth was more than three score and ten years old, and was known to be
+in a state of health which rendered it unlikely that he would live much
+longer. Now, his death, in the ordinary course of things, would bring
+about a dissolution and a general election, and this was the contingency
+against which it was thought desirable to guard. A measure was
+accordingly passed whereby it was enacted "That the Parliament of this
+Province shall not in any case be deemed to be determined or dissolved
+by the death or demise of His Majesty, his heirs or successors; nor
+shall any session of the Parliament of this Province be deemed to be
+determined, or the proceedings therein pending in any manner abated,
+interrupted or affected by the demise of His Majesty, his heirs or
+successors; but notwithstanding such death or demise the Parliament of
+this Province shall continue, and, if sitting, shall proceed to act
+until dissolved or prorogued in the usual manner, or until the legal
+expiration of the term of such Parliament." The Reformers fought this
+Bill inch by inch on its way through the Assembly, but in vain. Upon its
+coming up for its third reading, Norton, of Grenville, moved its
+recommittal, and, upon the defeat of his motion, he made a final effort
+by moving "That the Act shall not go into operation before the
+expiration of the present Parliament." This, too, was defeated, and the
+Bill was finally passed by a vote of twenty-six to eighteen. The measure
+is suggestive of the English Act passed by the Long Parliament during
+the reign of Charles the First, which enacted that Parliament should not
+be dissolved by the King without its own consent.
+
+There was a good deal of extravagant legislation during the session.
+Large sums were voted for the construction and improvement of Provincial
+highways, for surveys of the Ottawa River and the territory contiguous
+thereto, for the improvement of the navigation of the Trent and Grand
+Rivers, for the completion of the Welland Canal, and for the
+construction of various other canals, harbours, and lighthouses.
+Provision was also made for loans to several railway and other
+companies. Most, perhaps of all these, were enterprises deserving of aid
+and encouragement, but the aggregate sum of the moneys voted was nearly
+four millions of dollars, being considerably more than the condition of
+the Province and the circumstances of the people justified. This
+exceeding liberality was probably to some extent due to a wish to
+respond to the popular demand for the expenditure of money on public
+improvements. It was during this session that an Act was passed
+providing for the establishment of a Provincial Court of Chancery. Mr.
+Jameson was soon after appointed Vice Chancellor, the Chancellorship
+being vested in the Crown.
+
+The session terminated on Saturday, the 4th of March, and its
+termination was attended by a scene of "most admired disorder" in the
+Assembly. The project of uniting the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
+had occupied a certain amount of attention on the part of both Houses,
+and had been on the order of the day throughout the greater part of the
+session. When the final day of deliberation arrived, the Legislative
+Council sent down to the Lower House an Address embodying certain
+resolutions against the proposed union. The Address was accompanied by a
+request that the Assembly would concur therein, after which it was to be
+despatched to the King. It reached the hands of the Clerk of the Lower
+House about noon, and was at once submitted in the form of a motion of
+concurrence. This was not relished by the Reformers, who were strongly
+disposed in favour of an equitable union of the two Provinces, a step
+which, as they believed, would go far to adjust the balance of parties.
+A considerable number of the members had already left for their homes,
+and Dr. Rolph took advantage of this circumstance as a plea for
+postponing the further consideration of the matter until the next
+session. He moved an amendment to that effect, and said a few words in
+support of his motion. Dr. Morrison and Thomas Parke[266] took up the
+argument, and spoke for some minutes. They were subjected to frequent
+interruptions from the supporters of the Government, who were evidently
+anxious to prevent discussion. Dr. Rolph then rose to speak to the
+question of order, upon which the interruptions were renewed. Frequent
+appeals were made to the Speaker, who soon found himself involved in an
+animated discussion with Dr. Rolph. Nearly all the prominent members of
+the House erelong became participants, and the situation became
+critical. Hard words were freely bandied about, amid the greatest
+confusion and disorder. An eye-witness compares the scene to a wasp's
+nest disturbed.[267] The Speaker finally put a stop to the ebullitions
+of temper, and brought the scene to a close by announcing that the time
+had arrived for waiting on the Lieutenant-Governor with certain
+addresses. There was no opportunity of renewing the discussion, and at
+half-past three o'clock Black Rod summoned the House to the bar of the
+Legislative Council. In proroguing Parliament the Lieutenant-Governor
+referred in complacent terms to the legislation of the session, and
+applauded the harmony which had prevailed between the two branches of
+the Legislature.
+
+By this time it began to be apparent to discerning persons that Sir
+Francis's success as an Administrator had been rather apparent than
+real. All through the election campaign, as well as for some time before
+and after, the Tory party had sounded his praises with stentorian lungs.
+He had to a large extent been accepted by the country at their
+valuation. But sufficient time had now elapsed to enable the people to
+judge for themselves, and it was shrewdly suspected that the current
+estimate of him had been too high. He had triumphed at the elections,
+and had managed to pack the Assembly with an overwhelming majority of
+members pledged to support his policy; but he now began to discover that
+he had raised a spirit which he could not control. Neither the majority
+in the Assembly nor the members of the Legislative Council were prepared
+to slavishly accept his dictation, or to follow him blindfold
+whithersoever he might choose to lead them. Some of the official
+utterances of these bodies during the session had been as strongly
+assertive of their own dignity and independence as the deliverances of
+the former Assembly had ever been. Even the Executive Council had begun
+to exhibit an impatience of being indirectly dictated to by unsworn
+advisers who were permitted by the Lieutenant-Governor to usurp the
+functions peculiarly belonging to themselves. His Excellency's
+popularity was evidently waning throughout the land. There was a decided
+reaction against him, and thousands of Reformers who had voted for
+Government candidates at the election were now animated by a strong
+sentiment of opposition. The Lieutenant-Governor was also at issue with
+the Colonial Office on several matters of importance. To the
+recommendations of the Lower Canada Commissioners, as previously
+mentioned, he had strenuously opposed himself. He had failed to carry
+out the direction of Lord Glenelg to restore Mr. Ridout to the offices
+from which that gentleman had been dismissed. He now displayed further
+insubordination by neglecting to obey several minor injunctions received
+from headquarters, by which course of procedure he involved himself in
+much disputatious correspondence. His anxieties were increased by a
+commercial crisis which set in about this time in the United States.
+There had been an era of seeming prosperity but real inflation in that
+favoured land, of which the present crisis was the legitimate
+consequence. Specie payments were suspended, and business was all but
+paralyzed. This disheartening state of things was speedily reflected in
+Canada, which was ill qualified to bear such an infliction. The banks
+and the mercantile community generally became alarmed. In the Lower
+Province the banks suspended specie payments, and our own were much
+disposed to follow the example. The directors of some of our leading
+financial institutions applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for advice and
+direction. As all these matters, however, belong rather to the
+mercantile history of the country than to the story of the Rebellion,
+there is no need to go into them with minuteness. Suffice it to say that
+Sir Francis Head deemed it proper in this emergency to convene an extra
+session of the Legislature, which met accordingly on Monday, the 19th of
+June. As Mr. McLean had accepted a seat on the bench since the close of
+the preceding session, it was necessary that a new Speaker should be
+elected, and A. N. MacNab was chosen as his successor.[268] The session
+lasted only three weeks, and terminated on Tuesday, the 11th of July. It
+was purely a session of emergency, and the legislation was confined to
+relieving the banks from certain penalties which the crisis had
+threatened to impose upon them.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[262] See despatch of 30th December, 1836, in _Narrative_, chap. vii.
+
+[263] Mr. Charles Lindsey, in his pamphlet on "_The Clergy Reserves:
+their History and Present Position_;" appendix, p. i. He adds: "The
+clear, pointed, classical diction of the speaker; the learning and
+historical research he displayed; the beauty and appositeness of his
+illustrations; the breadth and depth and immovable basis of his
+arguments; the clearness, the syllogistic accuracy and force of his
+logic, and the impressive eloquence of his delivery produced an effect
+upon those who heard the speech never to be forgotten. Its publication
+in the newspapers of the day aroused the people. It convinced them (for,
+strange as it may seem now, there were many who needed to be convinced)
+of the unscriptural, immoral and unjust character of a State religion;
+while it confirmed them in their determination to rest not until they
+had exterminated the curse from Canadian soil.... This noble effort of
+an able, learned, bold and patriotic defender of the cause of the people
+against their corrupt, unscrupulous and then powerful enemies, ought to
+be printed in letters of gold, and preserved for the instruction and
+warning of all future generations of Canadian freemen." This was written
+in 1851, when the Clergy Reserves question yet remained unsettled, and
+while it still continued to agitate the public mind almost to the
+exclusion of other matters. Now that the subject has ceased to be a
+practical one, the encomiums so lavishly bestowed upon Dr. Rolph's
+famous speech will perhaps seem a little over-strained; but it was most
+unquestionably a great oratorical and intellectual effort, such as had
+never before been heard within the walls of the Provincial Legislature.
+Even at this distance of time, when all interest in the subject has died
+out, the speech cannot be read without arousing a feeling of admiration
+for the orator.
+
+[264] _Ante_, p. 330.
+
+[265] Lindsey's _Life of Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 392.
+
+[266] Member for Middlesex.
+
+[267] See the report in the number of _The Correspondent and Advocate_
+for Wednesday, March 15th.
+
+[268] Forty-two members were present at the vote on the Speakership, all
+of whom voted for Mr. McNab with the exception of David Gibson, of the
+First Riding of York, who recorded his solitary vote in the negative.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE FORGING OF THE PIKES.
+
+
+It will be remembered that, during the summer of 1836, Dr. Baldwin,
+George Ridout and J. E. Small had been dismissed by Sir Francis Head
+from certain offices held by them at the pleasure of the Crown. Mr.
+Ridout had appealed to Lord Glenelg, to whom the Lieutenant-Governor had
+soon afterwards found himself called upon to defend his conduct. The
+only reason which had at first been assigned by his Excellency for Mr.
+Ridout's dismissal was that the latter was presumed to be a member of
+the Constitutional Reform Society. This society, just before the
+election, had issued and circulated a printed address wherein his
+Excellency was charged with a disregard of constitutional Government,
+and of candour and truth in his statements. Mr. Ridout had undoubtedly
+attended and spoken at some of the meetings of the society, but he was
+not a member of it, and had no difficulty in establishing the fact to
+the satisfaction of the Colonial Secretary, who, after mature
+consideration, conveyed to Sir Francis His Majesty's commands that Mr.
+Ridout should be reinstated in the various offices from which he had
+been removed. With this command, as mentioned towards the close of the
+last chapter, Sir Francis did not see fit to comply. Finding himself
+beaten upon the case as it stood, he proceeded to amend the record by
+alleging other matters against the accused. In this course he met with
+little encouragement from his Lordship, who patiently combated his
+untenable positions, and repeated the injunction that Mr. Ridout should
+be reinstated. While the matter was in abeyance, another difference of
+opinion arose between Lord Glenelg and Sir Francis. During the spring of
+1837, Mr. Jameson having been appointed Vice Chancellor, and Archibald
+McLean and Jonas Jonas having been appointed Judges of the Court of
+King's Bench, it became necessary for Sir Francis to submit these
+appointments to his Lordship, together with those of Mr. Hagerman and
+Mr. Draper respectively to the offices of Attorney-General and
+Solicitor-General. His Excellency seems to have felt that it was
+necessary to assign some reason for passing over Mr. Bidwell, whose
+legal acquirements were certainly superior to those of any other member
+of the Upper Canada bar since John Rolph had abandoned the long robe.
+"That gentleman's legal acquirements," wrote Sir Francis,[269] "are, I
+consider, superior to at least one of the individuals whom I have
+elevated. His moral character is irreproachable. But, anxious as I am to
+give to talent its due, yet I cannot but feel that the welfare and
+honour of this Province depend on His Majesty never promoting a disloyal
+man." His Excellency then went on to represent Mr. Bidwell as having
+been desirous of effecting the separation of the colony from the parent
+state, and of exchanging the British constitution for "the low,
+grovelling principles of democracy." There was no allegation that any
+such desire had ever been personally expressed or manifested by Mr.
+Bidwell, but it was inferred _from the conduct of his associates_. This
+was somewhat more than the Colonial Secretary could quietly pass over.
+He pointed out[270] to the Lieutenant-Governor that the disloyalty
+imputed to Mr. Bidwell's associates had not been charged against
+himself, or attempted to be proved by any act of his; that he had
+withdrawn himself from political strife; and that as his professional
+abilities and high moral character were respected by his political
+opponents, the political stand formerly taken by him ought not to
+operate against his advancement. It was further urged by his Lordship
+that the elevation of such a man to the bench would convince the Upper
+Canadian public of the impartiality of the Executive in such matters.
+Finally, his Excellency was informed that should another vacancy occur
+among the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, it was the wish of His
+Majesty's Government that the situation should be offered to Mr.
+Bidwell.
+
+Upon receipt of the missive containing this intimation the Tried
+Reformer was almost beside himself. He had none of that magnanimity
+which impels a man to admit that he is in the wrong when he has been
+clearly proved to be so. Nor could he boast of that skill of graceful
+concession which enables its possessor to recede without discredit from
+an untenable position. He replied to his Lordship[271] in the following
+blunt and explicit terms: "After very deliberate consideration, I have
+determined to take upon myself the serious responsibility of positively
+refusing to place Mr. Bidwell on the bench, or to restore Mr. George
+Ridout to the Judgeship from which I have removed him." He went on to
+deprecate the necessity for this "overt act of hostility," but added
+that disobedience on the part of a Lieutenant-Governor does not
+necessarily imply disaffection to the Minister. He hinted that he was
+quite prepared for an immediate dismissal. A great part of the despatch
+was taken up with libels upon Mr. Bidwell and his father. In order that
+there might be no misunderstanding on the matter, he emphatically
+repeated his refusal to elevate the former. "So long as I remain
+Lieutenant-Governor of this Province," he wrote, "I will _never_ raise
+Mr. Bidwell to the bench; and I think it proper to confess to your
+Lordship that I have at this moment two appointments to make of King's
+Counsel, neither of which can I conscientiously bestow upon that
+gentleman." He declined to argue the question as to Mr. Ridout any
+further, and again refused in the most explicit terms to reinstate him
+in office. This language left the Colonial Secretary no other discretion
+than to "accept Sir Francis's resignation," but before this
+determination was officially conveyed to him the peace of the Province
+was disturbed by the outbreak of the rebellion.
+
+During the whole summer of this year Mackenzie was doing his utmost to
+add to the prevalent feeling of discontent against the Government. A
+superlative bitterness had possessed him ever since the elections, and
+the fate of his petition had inflamed his resentment almost to madness.
+He felt that he had been cheated out of his seat, and that nothing was
+to be hoped for on behalf of either himself or his fellow-workers so
+long as the existing Government remained in power. To subvert that
+Government thenceforth became the dominant passion of his life. He was
+ready to adopt any means, lawful or unlawful, to secure that end. The
+tone of the _Constitution_ was not to be mistaken. The mind of the
+editor had evidently run a long course since he had first begun to
+concern himself with public affairs. In one of the early numbers of the
+_Advocate_[272] he had boasted that disloyalty could never enter his
+breast. "Even the name I bear," he had written, "has in all ages proved
+talismanic, an insurmountable barrier." What a change had come over him
+since giving utterance to those words. He now boasted of his "rebel
+blood," which he declared would always be uppermost. "I am proud," he
+wrote, "of my descent from a rebel race."[273] And, as if this were not
+sufficiently specific, he added: "If the people felt as I feel, there is
+never a Grant or Glenelg who crossed the Tay and Tweed to exchange
+high-born Highland poverty for substantial Lowland wealth, who would
+dare to insult Upper Canada with the official presence, as its ruler, of
+such an equivocal character as this Mr. What-do-they-call-him--Francis
+Bond Head." Ever and anon the Tory press retorted on him in a spirit by
+no means calculated to soften the asperity of his heart. The most
+contemptuous epithets were freely bestowed upon him, and he was from
+time to time taunted with his humble origin. It seems almost unnecessary
+to say that those who indulged in such taunts as these had very little
+wherewith to reproach Mackenzie on the score of birth and breeding.
+There must surely be some foul taint in the blood of any man who can
+stoop to such methods of humiliating a beaten enemy. Still, such
+insults, coming, as they did, in the wake of serious material injury,
+added fuel to the flame which burned within Mackenzie's heart like a
+consuming fire. All the worst part of his nature was up in arms. There
+were times when he wrote and spoke like one who has lost all
+self-control. But he was in such deadly earnest that he carried
+conviction to many a wavering mind. In the Home District, where his
+paper chiefly circulated, there were scores of people who had seen
+enough of irresponsible Government to be ready to receive his
+preachments with favour. His efforts were not restricted to writing
+virulent articles. He openly went among the people, and disseminated
+his doctrines by word of mouth. He spoke better than he wrote; and it
+was only natural that he should exercise a strong influence over the
+rural communities wherein the Radical element was in the ascendant. His
+influence became specially conspicuous at this time throughout the
+Second Riding of York, which he had represented in Parliament, and
+which, as previously mentioned, had been the scene of much high-handed
+corruption during the last election contest. The voters of that
+constituency awoke to the fact that they had been beguiled by the
+Tories, and that their representative, Mr. Thomson, was not likely to be
+of much service in the role of a Reformer. They eagerly listened to
+Mackenzie's tabulation of grievances, and cheered him to the echo when
+he hinted that the time had arrived for the Spirit of Freedom to assert
+herself.
+
+Among those who warmly sympathized with Mackenzie was Samuel Lount, of
+Holland Landing, who, it will be remembered, had sat in the last
+Parliament for Simcoe, and who had been beaten, as he believed, by
+corrupt methods, at the last election. He had contemplated a petition to
+the Assembly, but had been discouraged by the conviction that it would
+be impossible to obtain an impartial inquiry. He now made common cause
+with Mackenzie in promoting the establishment of a series of "Union
+meetings," as they were called, in the various townships of North York
+and Simcoe. These meetings were convened at irregular intervals for the
+ostensible purpose of political organization. At first they seem to have
+been conducted with a good deal of craftiness, for as a general thing
+nothing was said which could in strictness be regarded as treasonable.
+But there can be little doubt that the intention of the original
+promoter of these assemblages was the spread of revolutionary ideas,
+with a view to an ultimate resort to arms, and in a short time the mask
+of political organization was completely thrown off. Those who had once
+put their hands to the plough did not care to draw back, and, before
+they were aware of what they were doing, they found themselves committed
+to projects of which at the outset they had not so much as dreamed.
+
+Lount's example was followed by most of the leading Radicals among the
+farming community where he was best known. The Lloyds, Gorhams, Doans,
+Fletchers and others had long been active advocates of Radical
+principles, and had marked with ever-growing hostility the tactics of
+Sir Francis Head. They saw right persistently violated by might. They
+saw the respectful complaints and petitions of the people disregarded
+and set at naught. They saw the Government in the hands of persons who
+were not only devoid of sympathy with progressive ideas, but who seemed
+to have no regard for the principles of plain right and wrong. They
+found themselves of no account in the commonwealth. Their cherished
+principles were held up to public scorn, and their chosen candidates for
+Parliament were beaten by fraudulent means. They were utterly without
+weight in public affairs. After a long and hard fight with the Family
+Compact, they saw that clique more strongly entrenched in power than
+ever before. The Tried Reformer who, in response to their long and loud
+appeals, had been sent over to administer the Government, had stooped to
+a barefaced violence and tyranny in excess of anything which could be
+truly charged against the Tory Sir John Colborne. All the old abuses
+were maintained in full vigour. The incubus of the Clergy Reserves was
+not removed. Appointments to office were still made from one political
+body only. The Legislative Council still had the power to paralyze the
+efforts of the Assembly. The Assembly itself was at present as
+retrograde as the Upper House, and it had been formed by a corrupt and
+venal race of officials against whom there was no remedy. The Act to
+prevent the dissolution of Parliament would probably have the effect of
+maintaining the existing Assembly for years. To all these evils was now
+superadded great commercial depression. And there seemed to be no
+prospect of brighter times. The future seemed overcast and hopeless. Is
+it any wonder if those who were compelled to contemplate the picture
+from this dark point of view were forced to the conclusion that a change
+of any kind must surely be for the better?
+
+It is impossible to say at what precise date the idea of armed
+resistance to authority was adopted among the rural Reformers, but I can
+find no distinct trace of it until the 30th of June, when, at a secret
+meeting held at Lloydtown, a resolution was passed to the effect that
+constitutional resistance to oppression having been for many years tried
+in vain, it behooved every Reformer to arm himself in defence of his
+rights and those of his fellow-countrymen. Within a fortnight afterwards
+resolutions of a similar character were passed by small gatherings in
+other parts of the Home District. As yet, however, the idea of actual
+rebellion does not seem to have taken definite shape in the minds of the
+supporters of Mackenzie and Lount. At most, there appears to have been a
+sort of understanding that recourse to arms was justifiable, and might
+some day become expedient; but even this view of the case did not meet
+with universal acquiescence, and the advocates of insurrection sometimes
+found themselves confronted by hostile majorities, even among assemblies
+of the most trusted Radicals.
+
+But meanwhile Reformers in the cities and towns were beginning to bestir
+themselves. Toronto was the headquarters of the Reform party of Upper
+Canada, and it was natural that the adherents of that party throughout
+the Province generally should contemplate their proceedings with
+interest. As yet the idea of an armed rising against the Government had
+not been seriously hinted at among the Reformers of the capital.
+Profound sympathy, however, was felt and expressed among them for the
+Lower Canadians, who made no secret of their determination to rebel in
+case certain resolutions adopted by the British Parliament, at the
+instance of the Ministry, were acted upon. These resolutions had been
+adopted in consequence of the Lower Canadian Assembly's persistent
+refusal to grant supplies. They authorized the seizure of certain funds
+in the hands of the Provincial Receiver-General, and the application of
+them to the general purposes of the Provincial government. Papineau and
+his adherents had been maddened by this proceeding, and were actively
+engaged in preparations for an outbreak. The Upper Canadian Reformers
+warmly sympathized with their neighbours, and passed resolutions
+condemnatory of the obnoxious resolutions. On the 5th of July,
+Mackenzie, in the _Constitution_, reviewed the state of affairs in the
+Lower Province with exceeding boldness. He discussed the probability of
+an outbreak there, and the chances of success, very clearly indicating
+his own opinion in the affirmative as to both contingencies. Other
+Reform papers expressed strong opinions in favour of Papineau's side of
+the quarrel, but, with the exception of the _Constitution_, none of them
+ventured to predict and hope for the success of the rebel arms. The fact
+is, that a comparatively small number of Upper Canadian Reformers were
+either ripe for or desirous of rebellion. They were aroused to hot
+anger, and were prepared to advocate the most radical measures of
+agitation. Their hostility, however, was not chiefly directed against
+Great Britain, but against Sir Francis Head and those by whom he was
+surrounded. It was felt that the Home Office had failed in its duty, but
+the more intelligent were ready to make allowances for the ignorance
+respecting Canadian affairs of a Minister three thousand miles away.
+Such were the sentiments of Robert Baldwin and hundreds of other persons
+the sincerity of whose Reform principles were equally free from doubt.
+Dr. Baldwin felt and expressed less moderation than his son, though he
+was not the man to venture upon what he could not have regarded
+otherwise than as a hare-brained scheme of rebellion, more especially
+when his chief allies would be composed of the Mackenzie element of
+Radicals. Rolph and Bidwell were precisely of the same opinion as Dr.
+Baldwin. They were sick and weary of all that they saw around them. They
+would have cordially welcomed a bloodless revolution. As for Bidwell, he
+would gladly have seen the Province quietly absorbed by the United
+States, for Family Compact domination would then have been at an end,
+and there would have been a chance for a man to be rated according to
+his merits. One situated as he was could not be expected to be devotedly
+loyal to a Government which did its utmost to keep him down, and which
+raised a lawyer like Jonas Jones to the bench over his head. Like his
+father before him, he was a republican in principle, and would doubtless
+have been willing enough to see a republican form of Government
+established in Upper Canada; but he had never permitted his
+predilections to interfere with his duties as a citizen and legislator.
+Moreover, he was before all things a Christian and a man of peace. It is
+not by such as he that revolutions are planned or accomplished. If
+questioned on the subject, he would doubtless have admitted that
+rebellion, under certain circumstances, may be justifiable, but it is
+hardly possible to conceive of any circumstances under which he could
+have been induced to take part in such a movement. Assuredly, nothing
+short of an almost absolute certainty of success would have impelled him
+to such a course. The inherent probabilities of success in the case of
+the Upper Canadian rebellion were from the first very few and remote.
+There was a brief interval during which, owing to the stupidity and
+supineness of the Government, success might have been achieved, but
+whether it would have been temporary or permanent must ever remain an
+open question. In any case, the contingency was one upon which no
+prudent man would have allowed himself to count beforehand. As a matter
+of fact Mr. Bidwell had no more to do with the rebellion than had Robert
+Baldwin.[274] Dr. Rolph, Dr. Morrison, David Gibson, James Hervey Price,
+Francis Hincks, John Doel, James and William Lesslie, John
+Mackintosh,[275] and many other leading Reformers were full of vehemence
+and indignation, ready to go any reasonable length to bring about a
+state of things more satisfactory to their party; but up to the close of
+summer I cannot learn that any serious thought of rebellion had taken
+possession of the minds of any prominent Toronto Reformer with the
+exception of Mackenzie himself. Even up in North York and Simcoe, where
+the feeling of discontent was strongest, and where there was much talk
+about rebellion against the Government, no one seems to have realized or
+believed that there would be any actual outbreak.
+
+There could be no doubt, however, that the Reformers in both town and
+country were more thoroughly in earnest than they had ever been before.
+Energetic measures were in favour among them, and the number of
+advocates of passive endurance was very small. There were regular
+communications between them and the opponents of the Government in Lower
+Canada. They held frequent meetings, at which schemes of agitation were
+discussed, and where every member was encouraged to speak his mind
+without fear or favour. A very frequent place of meeting in Toronto was
+Elliott's tavern, on the north-west corner of Yonge and Queen Streets. A
+place for holding more secret and confidential caucuses was the brewery
+of John Doel, situated at the rear of his house on the north-west corner
+of Adelaide and Bay Streets.[276] Towards the end of July a number of
+leading Radicals assembled at Elliott's for the purpose of discussing
+the draft of a written Declaration, which was intended to embody the
+platform of the local members of the party. It reads very much like a
+cautious parody on the Declaration of Independence of the United States,
+upon which it was evidently modelled. It set forth the principal
+grievances of which the Reform party complained; declared that the time
+had arrived for the assertion of rights and the redress of wrongs; and
+expressed the warmest admiration of Papineau and his compatriots for
+their opposition to the British Government. It further expressed the
+opinion that the Reformers of Upper Canada were bound to make common
+cause with their fellow-citizens in the Lower Province; and to render
+their coöperation more effectual it recommended that public meetings
+should be held and political associations organized throughout the
+country. Finally, it recommended that a convention of delegates should
+be held at Toronto to consider the political situation, "with authority
+to its members to appoint commissioners to meet others to be named on
+behalf of Lower Canada and any of the other colonies, armed with
+suitable powers as a congress to seek an effectual remedy for the
+grievances of the colonists." Mr. Lindsey,[277] doubtless upon the
+authority of Mackenzie, represents this Declaration as having been the
+joint work of Dr. Rolph and Dr. W. J. O'Grady, somewhile editor of _The
+Correspondent and Advocate_. I can find no confirmatory evidence of
+this statement, and some of Dr. Rolph's letters would seem, at least by
+implication, to contradict the assertion that he had any hand in its
+preparation. The question of authorship, however, is not important. The
+document was discussed at considerable length. Dr. Morrison, who was
+present, fully approved of its contents, but objected to sign it, as he
+would thereby place himself in a dubious position as a member of
+Parliament. This argument was not acquiesced in by James Lesslie, and
+the Doctor finally appended his signature. His example was followed by
+all the other members present except James Lesslie, who withheld his
+name until the document should be signed by Dr. Rolph, who was absent
+from the meeting.[278]
+
+On the afternoon of Friday, the 28th of the same month, the Declaration
+was submitted to and discussed for the second time by a number of
+Reformers assembled at Elliott's. There was to be a large meeting the
+same evening at Doel's brewery, at which it was thought desirable that
+the platform should be adopted. Some discussion arose as to several
+clauses, however, and one or two immaterial alterations were made, after
+which it was thought best to postpone the final adoption of the
+Declaration in its entirety until a subsequent meeting. The meeting held
+during the evening at Doel's was very numerously attended. About three
+hundred persons were present,[279] and a good deal of important
+discussion took place. A motion expressive of sympathy and admiration
+for Papineau and his compatriots was proposed by Mackenzie, and passed
+without a dissentient voice, and it was resolved that "the Reformers of
+Upper Canada" should make common cause with those of the Lower Province.
+The persons present at this meeting of course had no authority to speak
+on behalf of the Reformers of Upper Canada as a whole, but they fairly
+enough represented the Radical wing of the party, which was quite large
+enough to be formidable. The meeting further resolved that a convention
+of delegates should be assembled at an early period in Toronto, "to take
+into consideration the state of the Province, the causes of the present
+pecuniary and other difficulties, and the means whereby they may be
+effectually removed;" and that persons be appointed by the said
+convention to proceed to Lower Canada, "there to meet the delegates of
+any congress of these Provinces which may be appointed to sit and
+deliberate on matters of mutual interest to the colonies during the
+present year." The Declaration was not submitted, as final judgment had
+not been passed upon it by those who had it in charge. After a long and
+busy session, the assemblage adjourned to meet in the same place on the
+evening of Monday, the 31st.
+
+It was matter of much regret among the Radical leaders that Dr. Rolph
+had not up to this time taken any active part in their deliberations. He
+was known to be in sympathy with the project of a movement in concert
+with the Lower Canadians for the purpose of impressing the Imperial
+Government with the necessity of changing their colonial policy. He had
+become the trusted counsellor of all the leading Radicals, who looked up
+to him as the one man in the Province who was capable of directing any
+large or wise measure of Reform. But he had not identified himself with
+them by actual coöperation in their projects, and had attended none of
+their secret meetings, although he was kept fully informed of all that
+occurred thereat. The Radicals, recognizing how much would be gained by
+securing the presence among them of Rolph and Bidwell, resolved to press
+both those gentlemen into service. At the adjourned meeting on the
+evening of the 31st, the movement made considerable progress. The
+Declaration was formally adopted clause by clause. According to a
+contemporary newspaper report,[280] it "called forth from the meeting
+the most unequivocal marks of approbation." As already mentioned, one of
+its clauses recommended the holding of a convention at Toronto. A
+resolution was accordingly unanimously adopted appointing Rolph,
+Bidwell, Dr. Morrison, James Lesslie and others as delegates to the
+proposed convention. This, it was confidently believed, would have the
+effect of identifying Rolph and Bidwell with the Radical cause, for it
+was not thought that either of them would refuse to attend as delegates.
+Other resolutions were adopted with a view to placing the party in a
+state of efficient organization throughout the Province. The persons who
+had previously appended their names to the Declaration[281] were
+appointed "a permanent Committee of Vigilance, for this city and
+liberties, and to carry into immediate and practical effect the
+resolutions of this meeting for the effectual organization of the
+Reformers of Upper Canada." John Elliott, a Toronto scrivener, who was
+also Assistant Clerk of the City Council, was requested to continue to
+act as Secretary-in-Ordinary, and Mackenzie to act as "Agent and
+Corresponding Secretary." Both of these requests were assented to. A
+resolution, doubtless adopted in emulation of similar resolutions at
+meetings held under Papineau's auspices in Lower Canada, pledged the
+members to abstain as far as possible "from the consumption of articles
+coming from beyond sea, or paying duties." A sort of rider to this was
+moved by Mackenzie, and adopted by the meeting: "That the right of
+obtaining articles of luxury or necessity in the cheapest market is
+inherent in the people, who only consent to the imposition of duties for
+the creation of revenues with the express understanding that the
+revenues so raised from them shall be devoted to the necessary expenses
+of Government, and appointed by the people's representatives; and
+therefore, when the contract is broken by an Executive or any foreign
+authority, the people are released from their engagement, and are no
+longer under any moral obligation to contribute to or aid in the
+collection of such revenues." On Wednesday, the 2nd of August, the
+Declaration was published in full, together with the names of the
+committee, in _The Correspondent and Advocate_, and in Mackenzie's
+_Constitution_. Each of these papers also published a report of the
+proceedings at the meeting.
+
+The part assigned to Mackenzie--that of "Agent and Corresponding
+Secretary"--was an important one, and involved him in the necessity of
+giving up all his time and energies to the cause. In so far as his
+abilities enabled him to do so, he was to virtually play the same part
+in Upper Canada that had long been enacted by Papineau in the Lower
+Province. He was to be a supreme itinerant organizer, and was to go
+about the country stirring up opposition to the Government. This would
+involve the arranging and holding of public meetings and secret
+caucuses, the selection of local correspondents, the supervision of
+local reports, and various other duties not definitely specified, much
+being necessarily left to his own discretion. He had been engaged in
+precisely similar tasks for some weeks previously, but henceforth he was
+able to carry out his designs as the accredited emissary of the
+Reformers of Toronto, a fact which of course gave him additional
+importance in the eyes of the Reformers generally. His appointment was
+due to his own manoeuvres, but it must be confessed that he was in
+many respects well qualified for the post.
+
+He addressed himself to his tasks with redoubled assiduity. The Province
+was mapped out into four districts, each of which was again subdivided
+into minor divisions. Local branch societies were formed or remodelled
+in all neighbourhoods where Reformers were numerous. Each of these was
+directed to report regularly to a central society, and all the latter
+were to report to the Corresponding Secretary, by whom the reports were
+classified, digested, and laid before the central committee in Toronto.
+Mackenzie at once proceeded to hold a fresh series of meetings,
+beginning with the townships in which he was best known, and thence
+flitting hither and thither as was deemed advisable. In this way, in the
+course of the late summer and autumn he went over the whole of the Home
+District, and over a great part of the adjoining country. His soul was
+in the work he was doing, and he put into it all the energy which he
+could command. He did not succeed in arousing such a feeling in the west
+as Papineau did in the east. He had not Papineau's marvellous Gallic
+eloquence, nor were the farmers of Upper Canada composed of such
+inflammable material as the _habitans_ of the Lower Province. But
+Mackenzie, when thoroughly aroused, as he now was, had considerable
+power to move the masses, and he exerted himself to this end as he had
+never done before. The manifold wrongs he had endured had exasperated
+his nature almost beyond endurance, and he could lash himself into a
+storm of indignation at a moment's notice. He succeeded in awakening
+enthusiasm in persons who had formerly been remarkable for stolidity.
+He presented few new subjects for the consideration of his auditors, but
+he presented old subjects in a light which was suggestive of new ideas.
+He declaimed against the iniquities of the Executive, the supineness of
+the Imperial Government, and the culpable indifference of the British
+Parliament. The Declaration, in fact, was the test upon which his
+harangues were founded, but he presented its respective clauses in
+ever-recurring novelty of aspect. The document was itself submitted to
+the various meetings for approval, accompanied by Mackenzie's fiery
+commentary. As a general thing the Radical element was largely in the
+ascendant at the gatherings, and he had no trouble about carrying his
+resolutions, frequently by very large majorities. He adapted his oratory
+to his audience. Where he knew that he would encounter little or no
+opposition he was much more outspoken than where the feeling was less
+favourable to him. Wherever he felt that he could carry his audience
+with him, he boldly advocated separation from the mother-country, and
+the establishment of elective institutions under an independent
+Government; though he took care to deprecate any appeal to physical
+force,[282] and generally advocated a money payment to the British
+Government as the price of a full release and quittance of all Imperial
+claims upon the colony. He employed all the paraphernalia which he
+thought likely to impress the people, and banners bearing revolutionary
+inscriptions were freely displayed from the platform in neighbourhoods
+where such a course was deemed safe. Lount, Gibson, Nelson Gorham and
+others occasionally reinforced him by their presence and their oratory.
+These gentlemen were all gifted with more than ordinary powers of
+expression. The subject-matter was one which they all had deeply at
+heart, and upon which they could speak with never-failing freshness and
+vigour. The audiences were sometimes moved to rapturous demonstrations
+of applause. Even in communities where the popular sentiment was less
+enthusiastic the recommendations embodied in the Declaration were
+generally assented to, and local vigilance committees were formed.
+Delegates to the proposed Toronto convention were appointed, but the
+date of holding it was for the time left open. About seventy of these
+delegates were appointed in the Home District alone. The necessity for
+making common cause with the Lower Canadian Opposition in their efforts
+to establish civil and religious liberty was vehemently pressed by the
+speakers, and commonly recognized by the audiences. Any reference on the
+part of the speakers to what "our brethren in Lower Canada" were doing
+for the cause of liberty was almost certain to evoke applause. A trusted
+emissary--Jesse Lloyd of Lloydtown--acted as a medium of communication
+between the Radical leaders in the two Provinces, and passed to and fro
+from time to time with despatches and intelligence between Papineau and
+Mackenzie. By this and other means the Lower Canadian leaders were from
+first to last kept promptly informed of the progress of the movement in
+the Upper Province.
+
+Sometimes--not often--Mackenzie met with considerable opposition. The
+idea of separation from Great Britain was a stumbling-block to a few
+even of the ultra-Radicals, and had to be handled with extreme delicacy.
+Others were chary of any concerted action with the Lower Canadians on
+account of the latter's religious faith. In several instances, moreover,
+the meetings were actually broken up by the Tories, in whose ears the
+language used by Mackenzie and his coadjutors was neither more nor less
+than treason. In other instances, though the opposition was not
+effective enough to actually break up the meetings, it was found
+impossible to carry any resolutions founded upon the Declaration. In
+two cases the meetings were broken up in confusion by local bodies of
+Orangemen, and a number of persons sustained more or less physical
+violence. Such incidents as these, however, were the exception, and not
+the rule. Out of all the meetings--considerably more than a hundred in
+number[283]--held between the adoption of the Declaration and the actual
+outbreak of rebellion, seventy-five per cent seem to have passed off
+without serious disturbance or interference. Most of those who
+disapproved of the meetings staid away from them, and regarded those who
+promoted them with settled hostility, frequently accompanied by
+contempt. Of those who attended and supported the resolutions, a very
+small number had any suspicion that matters were shaping themselves, or
+were being shaped by Mackenzie, towards rebellion.
+
+As for Mackenzie himself, he seems to have been intent on mischief
+during the whole summer of this eventful year. He however recognized the
+necessity of moving slowly, for no one knew better than he that a very
+small percentage of the Reformers of the Province could be brought to
+sanction such a project as rebellion under his auspices. What they might
+have been disposed to do if rebellion had been mooted by Robert Baldwin,
+Bidwell, Rolph, and other eminent Reformers, it would now be idle to
+inquire. It would be as profitless as to discuss what would have been
+the fate of the Revolution of 1688 if James the Second had died while he
+was Duke of York. The mental constitution of Baldwin and Bidwell were
+such that it would have been an impossibility for them to take part in a
+rebellion, and the general belief with respect to Rolph was that his
+doing so was equally out of the question. All this was well known to
+Mackenzie. He also well knew that the Reform press would have promptly
+denounced him had his designs been known. If he had encountered such
+denunciation his bubble would have burst there and then. But the Reform
+press knew nothing of his designs. He was believed to be agitating for
+constitutional Reform. It was of course known that he was carrying his
+agitation to an unprecedented length, but it was supposed that he was
+doing so for the purpose of intimidating the Government, and thereby
+coercing them into concessions; and the Reform press throughout the land
+was fully prepared to support him in such a course. He accordingly acted
+with much greater caution than he had been wont to display in the
+management of either public or private affairs. He perceived that the
+machinery of vigilance committees, branch societies, public meetings and
+what not, which had been so successfully set in motion under the
+auspices of the Reformers, might be turned to account for
+insurrectionary purposes. To a few of his friends in the country, over
+whom he possessed almost unbounded influence, and who, as he knew, felt
+almost as bitterly towards the Government as he himself did, he imparted
+a project involving a resort to arms. Among them were Samuel Lount,
+Jesse Lloyd, Silas Fletcher, Nelson Gorham and Peter Matthews. The
+communication was doubtless made to the several persons at different
+times, but all of those mentioned seem to have been made acquainted with
+the project before the beginning of autumn. They all yielded a ready
+enough acquiescence, but no thought of bloodshed was in their minds. It
+was intended to get together a great body of Reformers from all over the
+country, and then to advance upon the capital in the form of a monster
+demonstration. This idea seems to have originated with Lount. It was at
+first objected to by Mackenzie as unlikely to prove efficacious. He
+urged that demonstrations had been made in his favour several years
+before, and that none of them had had any effect in moderating the
+policy of the Government, or in inducing the Assembly to permit him to
+sit therein. He especially instanced the occasion upon which a great
+crowd of the York electors had accompanied him to the House of Assembly,
+and had filled the galleries and lobbies while Parliament was
+sitting.[284] All this, he pointed out, had been labour in vain, and if
+such a scene were to be re-enacted it must, in order to produce any
+satisfactory effect, be on a very large scale indeed. His argument was
+unanswerable. It was clear that any appeal to the Government's sense of
+right would be made in vain, and that they could only be influenced
+through their fears. If anything was to be effected by means of a
+demonstration, the number of persons taking part in it must be
+sufficiently numerous to overawe, and if necessary to coerce, the
+Government.
+
+Some weeks appear to have elapsed before any scheme was definitely fixed
+upon and approved by all the nine or ten persons concerned, who thus
+took upon themselves the responsibility of directing the future course
+of our colonial polity. The understanding arrived at was that the time
+of holding the proposed convention in Toronto would also be the
+appropriate time for making the proposed demonstration. The convention
+would afford a reasonable pretext for the assembling of great numbers of
+Reformers at the capital. It will be remembered that no definite time
+had been fixed upon for the holding of the convention. It was now
+settled that it should be held early in the spring of the year 1838.
+When the gathering should be complete, it was proposed to wait upon the
+Government, as the barons waited on King John at Runnymede, and wring
+from them their assent to a constitution founded upon the propositions
+embodied in the Declaration. It was agreed that if this assent should be
+obtained, Sir Francis Head was, at any rate temporarily, to be left
+undisturbed in his position of Lieutenant-Governor, but that the
+Executive Council should be altogether remodelled, and that Rolph,
+Bidwell and Mackenzie should have seats therein. The Government was to
+be carried on upon the principle of Executive responsibility to the
+Assembly. This re-adjustment was to be followed by a general election,
+after which the future of the colony would be in the hands of the
+Assembly.
+
+But how if the Government would not be coerced? What was to be done if
+they refused to be dictated to? In that case there was only one course
+open. The Lieutenant-Governor and his Council were to be seized with
+_as_ little violence as possible. A Provisional Government was to be
+formed with Dr. Rolph at its head, provided that that gentleman could be
+induced to accept the position. It was not believed that the carrying
+out of this project would necessarily involve any sacrifice of life, for
+the force at the disposal of the Provisional Government would be such as
+to render any opposition futile. Moreover, the bulk of the population of
+the capital were known to be favourable to Reform principles, and it was
+believed that they would readily take part in the movement if they saw
+an assured prospect of success.
+
+The conspirators were sanguine as to obtaining Rolph's coöperation, for,
+unlike Bidwell, he had not repudiated the position of a member of the
+convention, which had been thrust upon him by the meeting at Doel's
+brewery in July. Bidwell, immediately upon becoming acquainted with what
+had been done, had notified the secretary that he had withdrawn from
+political life, and that he could have nothing to do with the proposed
+convention. Rolph also had at first felt disposed to decline the
+appointment, but he had taken time to consider, and had talked the
+matter over with Dr. Baldwin, who had strongly counselled him to accept.
+I can find no documentary evidence of either acceptance or rejection on
+his part, but he seems to have been favourable to the holding of the
+convention, which he doubtless regarded as a possible means of
+consolidating the Reform party, and of rendering its opposition to the
+Government more effective. It was agreed that for the present nothing
+should be said to him about the contemplated subversion of the
+Government by force. The boldest features of the scheme were intended to
+be kept secret from nearly everyone until the time for action should be
+near at hand, but no oath of secrecy was imposed, and, in spite of all
+resolutions, more or less accurate hints of what was in contemplation
+were conveyed to hundreds of Radicals throughout the Home District and
+elsewhere.
+
+As the autumn advanced, the conspirators proceeded to prepare their
+adherents for the impressive display of the ensuing spring. It was
+evident that even a very numerously-attended demonstration would not
+impress the Government unless those taking part in it carried about with
+them a suggestion of strength. In order to be strong they must have
+arms, and they must furthermore know how to use them should the
+necessity arise. A system of secret training and drill was accordingly
+organized throughout the townships. People met after nightfall in the
+corners of quiet fields, in the shadow of the woods, and in other
+sequestered places, and there received such instruction in military
+drill and movements as was possible under the circumstances. Old
+muskets, pistols and cutlasses were furbished up after long disuse, and
+pressed into service once more. Small quantities of rifles and
+ammunition were surreptitiously obtained from the United States.
+Disaffected blacksmiths in the rural districts devoted themselves to the
+manufacture of rude pike-heads, which, after being fitted to hickory
+handles of five or six feet in length, formed no contemptible weapons
+for either attack or defence. Lount's blacksmith shop at Holland Landing
+was for some weeks largely given up to this manufacture. As there was no
+attempt at interference with these proceedings, the disaffected became
+bolder, and began to assemble at regular periods to engage in rifle
+practice, pigeon-matches, and the slaughter of turkeys. As intimated in
+a previous note,[285] Mr. Bidwell was applied to for a legal opinion as
+to the lawfulness of such gatherings. He advised with great caution,
+specifying how far he conceived this sort of thing might be carried with
+impunity. Gatherings for the slaughter of birds and for trials of skill
+with the rifle he conceived to be clearly within the law.
+
+Before the middle of October the movement had extended in all
+directions. The four districts into which the Province had been mapped
+out were called respectively the Toronto Division, the Midland Division,
+the Western Division and the Eastern Division. The first-named consisted
+of the counties of York, Simcoe, Durham, Halton, Wentworth, Haldimand
+and Lincoln. The second included the counties of Northumberland,
+Hastings, Prince Edward, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. The Western
+Division consisted of Oxford, Norfolk, Middlesex, Huron, Kent and Essex;
+and the Eastern included all that portion of the Province to the east
+and north-east of the Midland. Preparations for the demonstration were
+more or less active everywhere, and there were nights when the whole
+country side might be said to be in arms. In some portions of the
+Western Division, which was under the direction of Dr. Charles Duncombe,
+the feeling against the Government was as intense as in any part of the
+Home District, and the preparations there were carried on with special
+activity. Dr. Duncombe and a few leading personages among the Radicals
+were entrusted with the full plan of the conspiracy, so far as it had
+been matured; but in no part of the Province were the rank and file
+taken into anything like full confidence. Most of those who engaged in
+drill, and in the manufacture of pike-heads and handles, supposed that
+they were merely getting ready for a formidable procession which was to
+intimidate the Government by reason of its numerical strength. The
+enquiry may not unnaturally be made: What were the Government about all
+this time? Were they in total ignorance of what was going on all around
+them? Not at all. They were kept regularly informed of the banners,
+speech-makings, drillings, pigeon-matches and what not; and--at least in
+some instances--they contrived to obtain pretty accurate reports of the
+proceedings at Mackenzie's meetings. But they committed the grave error
+of undervaluing their opponents. They would not believe it possible that
+Mackenzie could ever again be dangerous. He had been so completely
+worsted in his hand-to-hand fight with Toryism that it was not to be
+credited that he would ever again be able to secure a following large
+enough to be worth seriously considering. True, he threatened all manner
+of dire calamities, but he had for so many years been accustomed to
+indulge in loud-mouthed threats that he had lost all power to create
+alarm. He was like the shepherd's boy who had cried "wolf" so often that
+nobody paid heed to him. The official party spoke of him as an upstart
+mannikin who had enjoyed his little day of notoriety, but whose power
+for either good or ill was past and gone. Sometimes, when he published
+anything of special ferocity in his paper, the attention of the
+Lieutenant-Governor would be drawn to it by his supporters, who would
+urge that a prosecution should be instituted. But Sir Francis's wiser
+counsellors knew better than to adopt any such foolish course. They knew
+that State prosecutions had done more to alienate popular sympathy and
+to weaken the power of the Government in times past than any other cause
+whatever. The editor of the _Constitution_, they believed, had steadily
+lost his influence--an influence which he could never hope to regain
+unless some imprudent act of his enemies should once more create for him
+a specious sympathy and notoriety. Nothing, it was felt, would be so
+certain to give him a fictitious importance as to prosecute him for
+treason, at least until he should proceed to such lengths as to render a
+prosecution imperative. Sir Francis Head, Chief Justice Robinson,
+Attorney-General Hagerman, Judge Jones, and the whole race of
+officialdom refused to believe in the possibility of an actual
+rebellion. They all declared that there were not fifty men in the
+Province who would consent to take arms against the Government. Plenty
+of low Radicals, it was said, were ready enough to boast and bluster,
+but their courage was only skin-deep. As for Mackenzie, he was admitted
+to be an exception, so far as the mere disposition to rebel was
+concerned, but he had lost any influence he had ever possessed, and
+counted for nothing. It was tolerably certain that he would sooner or
+later overstep the limits at which it would be possible to leave him
+alone. Then, when he should have placed himself in such a position that
+no loyal subject could defend him, would be the time to make an
+effectual disposition of him. By all means, then, give him an abundance
+of rope. This was the spirit in which the little man and his proceedings
+were regarded by the authorities, and he availed himself of the freedom
+of speech and action to the fullest conceivable extent. "First," says
+Sir Francis,[286] "he wrote, and then be printed, and then he rode, and
+then he spoke, stamped, foamed, wiped his seditious little mouth, and
+then spoke again; and thus, like a squirrel in a cage, he continued with
+astounding assiduity the centre of a revolutionary career."
+Attorney-General Hagerman was instructed to report to his Excellency as
+soon as Mackenzie had proceeded so far in the direction of treason that
+his conviction would be certain, and meanwhile he was permitted to
+invoke the Spirit of Freedom, both in prose and poetry, to his heart's
+content.
+
+In the Lower Province matters had so shaped themselves as to favour
+Mackenzie's designs. Sir John Colborne was kept tolerably well informed
+as to the proceedings of Papineau and the other fomenters of revolt, and
+he had become aware that he would very soon be compelled to have
+recourse to the strong hand. He felt perfectly secure, but at the same
+time determined to neglect no precaution which might conduce to a swift
+and decisive victory. He mustered all the forces at his command, and
+satisfied himself, from personal supervision, as to their efficiency.
+There were a few troops stationed in Toronto. Sir John shared Sir
+Francis Head's confidence in the loyalty of the Upper Canadians, and
+acquiesced in the opinion that an Upper Canadian rebellion was
+altogether out of the question. As he believed that there was no
+likelihood of the troops being needed there, he deemed it prudent to
+strengthen his position by removing them to Kingston, where they would
+be more readily available in case of his requiring their services to
+crush the rebellion in Lower Canada. When this removal had been
+effected, Toronto was left wholly unguarded by military. By command of
+the Lieutenant-Governor, several thousand stand of arms which had
+recently been sent from Kingston, together with a quantity of
+ammunition, were committed to the custody of the municipal authorities
+and deposited in the City Hall. Two constables were placed in charge,
+and this was absolutely the only precaution taken against the seizure of
+both arms and ammunition by any determined body of men who might think
+proper to possess themselves thereof.
+
+Mackenzie believed that the propitious time had arrived, and that the
+resolve to postpone until the following spring any active measures
+against the Government should be rescinded. He received an additional
+impetus from certain messages which reached him through Jesse Lloyd, on
+Monday, the 9th of October, from the leaders of the movement in Lower
+Canada. These messages apprised him that the French Canadians were about
+to make what they called a "brave stroke for liberty" without further
+delay. They entreated him to coöperate with them by simultaneously
+raising the standard of revolt in the Upper Province. Lloyd himself
+favoured the idea, and counselled its adoption.
+
+Such a momentous step, however, could not very well be taken without the
+concurrence of others. Mackenzie, who at the time of receiving the
+messages was out on Yonge Street, some miles from Toronto, hastened into
+town, and summoned a small secret caucus to meet at Doel's brewery. I am
+unable to fix the exact date of holding this caucus, but it must have
+been on the evening of either Monday the 9th or Tuesday the 10th of
+October.[287] Eleven persons were present. They were, 1. Mackenzie
+himself; 2. John Doel, the owner of the brewery; 3. Dr. Morrison; 4.
+John Mackintosh, who sat in the Assembly for the Fourth Riding
+of York; 5. John Elliott, who, as already mentioned, acted as
+Secretary-in-Ordinary to the Reform Union meetings in Toronto; 6.
+Timothy Parson, who kept a straw bonnet and fancy warehouse on King
+Street; 7. Robert Mackay, a grocer and wine merchant; 8. William
+Lesslie, one of the firm of Lesslie & Sons, booksellers, stationers and
+druggists, at number 110-1/2 King Street; 9. John Armstrong, a
+manufacturer of edged tools, having a place of business at number 33
+Yonge Street; 10. Thomas Armstrong, a carpenter, residing at number 11
+Lot (now Queen) Street; 11. John Mills, hatter, 191 King Street. Dr.
+Rolph and J. H. Price had been asked to attend, but they did not see fit
+to do so. No one except Mackenzie appears to have had any idea of the
+real object for which the meeting had been summoned. The other ten
+merely repaired to the appointed place to hear whatever communication
+the Agent and Corresponding Secretary might have to make to them. Upon
+being called upon to state the purpose for which he had called them
+together, Mackenzie proceeded to unfold his project. He had no sooner
+entered upon it than he encountered murmurs and expressions of dissent.
+He stated that he could count upon the active coöperation of at least
+fifteen hundred men in the Home District alone, of whom, however, not
+more than a third were supplied with arms. Beyond the limits of the Home
+District he could count upon from two to three thousand, but of these
+not one-fifth were properly armed. All these, he declared, might be
+implicitly depended upon to support any project which might then and
+there be determined upon. He proposed to send out trusty messengers in
+all directions to summon these "good men and true" to repair at once to
+Toronto. But there was no need, he said, to wait for the arrival of
+these supporters. He had taken pains to ascertain the exact condition of
+the city, and it was absolutely defenceless, owing to the sending away
+of the troops. Why should not the decisive blow be struck at once? Why
+not instantly send for Dutcher's[288] foundry-men and Armstrong's
+axe-makers, all of whom were true to the good cause? With these men at
+their backs, they might proceed straightway to Government House and
+seize Sir Francis, who had just come in from his daily ride on
+horseback, and who was guarded by only one sentinel. His capture having
+been effected, they might proceed to the City Hall and seize the arms
+and ammunition. The next thing would be to proclaim a Provisional
+Government, and give Sir Francis the alternative of conceding what the
+Radicals demanded or taking the consequences of refusal. There was
+absolutely nothing, Mackenzie averred, to interfere with the carrying
+out of this programme. Four-fifths of the citizens would join them when
+they saw that success had attended their efforts, and of the other fifth
+at least half would remain neutral, while the small residue of the
+population would be too insignificant in point of numbers to render it
+possible for them to offer any serious opposition.
+
+Such was the astounding scheme propounded by Mackenzie. His small
+audience could hardly credit the evidence of their senses. When he had
+proceeded thus far, Dr. Morrison could restrain himself no longer, but
+burst forth with an impetuosity and indignation which had but seldom
+been observed in him. He asked if it was possible that Mackenzie could
+be serious in unfolding so foolhardy a design. "This," said he, "is
+treason; and if you think to entrap me into any such mad scheme, you
+will find I am not your man!" He declared that if another word were said
+on the subject he would forthwith leave the room. The others present
+also repudiated the proposal with more or less of vehemence, but they
+all regarded it as a mad freak of Mackenzie's, and hardly worth grave
+consideration. Mackenzie found that nothing was to be done, and a few
+minutes later the little conclave broke up.
+
+On the following day Mackenzie called upon Dr. Rolph, who had meanwhile
+heard from Dr. Morrison of the proposal of the previous evening. Dr.
+Rolph questioned Mackenzie strictly respecting the accuracy of his
+details as to the number of men who could be depended upon as adherents
+in the event of a revolution. Mackenzie repeated his assertion that
+about four thousand could easily be got together, every one of whom was
+ripe and ready for taking up arms. He produced certain documentary
+evidence which went to confirm the truth of his statements, and
+vehemently declared that a successful revolution was not only feasible,
+but inevitable. He proposed not to wait for the proposed convention, but
+to speedily assemble all the men who could be got together at some
+point within a few miles of the city. This he proposed to effect as
+secretly as possible. The men could then advance upon the city and
+proceed in a body to the City Hall, where they could possess themselves
+of arms and ammunition. They would then be masters of the situation, and
+could set up a Provisional Government on such terms as might be agreed
+upon. Dr. Rolph was so far impressed by the documentary and other
+evidence placed before him that he consented to give the matter his
+consideration, and to discuss it with some of his friends.
+
+After turning the subject over in his mind, Dr. Rolph appears to have
+arrived at the conclusion that the subversion of the Government was
+perfectly feasible. The capital of the Province was defenceless. The
+Lieutenant-Governor had not only sent away the troops, but had
+persistently refused to take any steps for the organization of the
+militia. If several thousands of the people were really disposed to
+assert themselves, there was nothing to prevent them from carrying out
+the programme outlined by Mackenzie. They could capture Toronto and
+seize the members of the Government before any measures could be taken
+to successfully oppose them. This having been quietly effected without
+bloodshed, it seemed probable enough that the population at large would
+not refuse their support. The Reformers of the Province constituted a
+large majority of the inhabitants, and there was not a Reformer in Upper
+Canada but was heartily weary of Sir Francis Head and his clique. Only a
+small minority would have consented to enter upon the risks and dangers
+of a rebellion; but there is a great difference between a rebellion to
+be encountered and one which has been successfully accomplished.
+Thousands of persons who would strenuously refuse to have any connection
+with the former would readily acquiesce in the latter. If the Government
+were once subverted and in the hands of the Reformers, and if the entire
+Reform element were in sympathy with the change, the rebellion would so
+far be a success, for at this time there were comparatively few persons
+in the Province who cared sufficiently for the Family Compact to risk
+life or limb for the purpose of restoring them to power. But there was
+another important question to be considered: What would the Imperial
+Government have to say about it? If the might and majesty of Britain
+were to be enlisted against the project, no Upper Canadian rebellion
+could hope for permanent success, unless in the very unlikely event of
+national interference on the part of the United States. But was it not
+probable that the Imperial Government would be strongly impressed by
+this uprising of a long-enduring and much-wronged people, and that a
+sense of justice would compel them to adopt a new policy with respect to
+the Canadas? Should this conjecture prove to be correct, all that was
+sought to be effected by rebellion would have been accomplished. In any
+case, the condition of the Reformers could hardly be altered for the
+worse. The leaders of the movement would be driven to take refuge in the
+States, but some of them had already begun to regard such an emigration
+as desirable, for there seemed to be no future for them under Family
+Compact rule.
+
+With such thoughts as these passing through his mind, Dr. Rolph had
+several conferences with Dr. Morrison, with whom Mackenzie also had some
+conversation after the caucus at the brewery. Dr. Morrison was disposed
+to attach great weight to any suggestion emanating from his professional
+colleague, and when he had been placed in possession of the latter's
+views he was able to contemplate a rising of the people with much
+greater complacency than before. The idea gradually took form and shape
+in his mind. At Mackenzie's urgent request he gave him a letter
+introducing Jesse Lloyd to Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, of Montreal, who was
+editor of a Radical newspaper, and known to be favourable to
+insurrection. Lloyd was about to start from his home in the township of
+King on one of his expeditions to the Lower Province, to confer with the
+leaders of the insurrectionary movements there. This was sometime during
+the third week in October.
+
+Dr. Morrison, having thus put his hand to the plough, regarded himself
+as in a measure pledged to support the cause of the people, if they were
+really bent on subverting the Government. One day about a fortnight
+later he received an urgent message from Dr. Rolph to call at the
+latter's house on Lot (Queen) Street. Upon repairing thither he found
+Rolph and Mackenzie in conference with Lloyd, who _had_ just returned
+from the Lower Province with a letter to Mackenzie from Thomas Storrow
+Brown, one of the directors of the insurrectionary movement there. The
+letter seemed, on the surface, to be a mere business communication, but
+its phraseology had a secret meaning understood by Mackenzie, who
+expounded it to the others. Lloyd supplemented the letter by certain
+verbal communications. It appeared that the Lower Canadians were
+prepared to act, but they wished the Upper Canadian Radicals to make the
+first move, so as to divert attention from their proceedings. This would
+involve grave consequences, and could not be resolved upon all in a
+moment. After some consideration, it was agreed that Rolph, Morrison and
+Mackenzie should meet at Morrison's house on Newgate (Adelaide) Street
+that same evening to take serious counsel together. The meeting was held
+as agreed upon. Rolph and Morrison pointed out to Mackenzie the
+momentous consequences which would flow from acting on the suggestion
+from Lower Canada. They expressed some doubt as to whether the people
+were really sufficiently desirous of a change to risk their liberties
+and lives in a rebellion, and they pointed out the disastrous
+consequences of failure. Mackenzie, however, who possessed much better
+opportunities for judging as to the bent of popular opinion among the
+Radicals, would hardly listen to such remonstrances. For the hundredth
+time he pointed out the defenceless state of the capital. Within the
+last few days the troops which had been removed from Toronto to Kingston
+had been withdrawn from the Province altogether by Sir John Colborne, in
+order that they might be used against the rebels in Lower Canada. The
+whole of the Upper Province was therefore without means of defence.
+Mackenzie pledged his word that the whole Radical element were anxious
+to rise in the good cause. He asserted that he had received lists signed
+by thousands of persons, each one of whom had pledged himself to rise in
+revolt at any moment when summoned. Rebellion, he declared, must come,
+as the spirit of insurrection had been thoroughly aroused; and he
+upbraided his interlocutors for their lukewarmness in the cause of the
+people. After several hours of discussion and deliberation it was agreed
+that Mackenzie should proceed through the country and distinctly submit
+the question to the different political unions. If they really felt
+ready and anxious to put down the existing Government by force of arms,
+as Mackenzie declared, they should have their way. A plan was discussed
+for seizing the arms in the City Hall, for taking into custody the chief
+Government officials, and for establishing a Provisional Government with
+Dr. Rolph at its head. All this, it was believed, could be easily
+effected without firing a shot, and without the sacrifice of a single
+life. It was also distinctly understood that private property was to be
+respected, and that all money in the banks was to be regarded as private
+property, except such as actually belonged to the Government. It was
+however expressly stipulated that nobody was to be finally committed to
+any definite course of procedure until Mackenzie's return from his rural
+tour with the sanction of the various political unions. No authority
+whatever was meanwhile given to Mackenzie, either expressly or by
+implication, to stir the people up to rebellion. He was simply
+authorized to ascertain their views. At his own urgent request
+permission was given him to use the names of Rolph and Morrison, but
+only so far as to state that if the people were really desirous of
+effecting a revolution, they might depend upon receiving the countenance
+of those two gentlemen. On this distinct understanding Mackenzie left
+Dr. Morrison's house, and started the same night or early on the
+following morning for the north.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[269] See his Despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated 5th April, 1837, in
+Narrative, chap. ix.
+
+[270] See his Despatch dated July 14th, 1837.
+
+[271] On the 10th of September.
+
+[272] See the number for June 10th, 1824.
+
+[273] This boast seems to have been made in the columns of _The
+Constitution_, but I have been unable to find it there. I make the
+quotation on the authority of Mr. Lindsey's _Life of Mackenzie_, vol.
+i., p. 395, note.
+
+[274] Mr. MacMullen, writing, doubtless, from honest conviction,
+endeavours to convey the impression that Bidwell was more deeply
+implicated in the rebellion than he chose to acknowledge. See his
+_History of Canada_, p. 446, note. But no substantial proof has ever
+been offered in support of such a belief, whereas the proof on the other
+side is unanswerable. There is, first of all, the character of the man.
+His moral courage was great, and he could stand up for a cherished
+principle with much firmness and vigour. But he fought with weapons
+which were not carnal, and would have suffered almost any wrong that
+could have been inflicted upon him rather than resort to physical
+violence. Then, there is the fact that he always denied all knowledge of
+the rising. No man who knew Marshall Spring Bidwell would have hesitated
+to accept his bare word as against any but the most direct evidence to
+the contrary, and in this case there can hardly be said to be any
+countervailing evidence whatever. Again, there is the fact that he
+declined to act as a delegate to the proposed Reform convention, as
+subsequently mentioned in the text. But there is no need to resort to
+circumstantial or conjectural evidence. We have the testimony of
+Mackenzie himself, who, after his return to Canada, was ready enough to
+betray the secrets of his somewhile coadjutors, and who would have been
+only too glad if he could have pointed to Bidwell as one of the number.
+In his _Flag of Truce_, published in 1853, he says; "The question is
+often asked me--What part Mr. Bidwell took in 1837"--and his answer is
+explicit enough: "None that I know." It is quite certain that Bidwell
+could not have been concerned in the movement without Mackenzie's
+knowledge. The only circumstances which might be adduced as indicating a
+knowledge of the intended rising on the part of Mr. Bidwell are two in
+number, and neither of them will bear a moment's examination. First, it
+is true that he was consulted by the Radicals as to the lawfulness of
+their assembling for drill exercise and other purposes. He advised that,
+under certain restrictions, such assemblies were within the law, and
+that there could be nothing culpable in rifle-matches involving mere
+trials of skill. But when his advice was sought there was no intention,
+even on Mackenzie's part, to rise at any definite period, and Mr.
+Bidwell may very well have believed that the projects would end as most
+of Mackenzie's enterprises had ended--in talk. The other circumstance
+calling for explanation is his allowing himself to be frightened into
+leaving the country. This will be duly considered in its proper place.
+Suffice it for the present to say that, taking everything into account,
+the mere fact of his expatriation affords no evidence either one way or
+the other; whereas the attendant circumstances afford strong presumptive
+evidence of his innocence.
+
+In examining the papers of the late David Gibson within the last few
+weeks _I_ have come upon what may not unfairly be regarded as conclusive
+evidence that Bidwell was in no manner privy to the rising. Gibson,
+after his escape to the State of New York, was desirous of obtaining
+employment as a land surveyor, and, at Dr. Rolph's suggestion, he wrote
+to Bidwell for a certificate as to his character, and for advice as to
+the best means of obtaining employment. Bidwell was then in the City of
+New York, casting about in his mind to what he should direct his
+attention as a means of livelihood. His reply and the certificate
+enclosed therein--both in his own handwriting--are now lying before me.
+The latter is as follows:--
+
+"I was acquainted with David Gibson, Esquire, until the recent
+disturbance in Upper Canada, and know that by his integrity, good sense
+and amiable character, he had acquired the confidence and esteem of his
+neighbours and acquaintances. His services as a land surveyor were
+highly valued. Since the trouble commenced in Upper Canada I have not
+been in communication with him, but I have no doubt that the utmost
+reliance may be placed on his industry, ability and fidelity in all his
+engagements. I have seen his name mentioned with respect for his
+humanity in one of the most violent newspapers published in Upper
+Canada. He has my warmest wishes for his success and happiness.
+
+"MARSHALL S. BIDWELL."
+
+The following is the text of the letter accompanying the certificate:--
+
+    MY DEAR SIR:
+
+    I received to-day your letter, and have sent you a certificate. I am
+    unable to refer you to any place or situation for employment. I am
+    myself unsettled, and _do_ not know what I shall do or where I shall
+    settle.
+
+    I lament the recent proceedings in Upper Canada, and cannot to this
+    day reflect upon them but with amazement. How men of good sense like
+    you and others could be involved in so absurd and hopeless a project
+    fills me with continual surprise. However, I would not upbraid you,
+    though I shall perhaps be ruined in consequence of these movements.
+    On the contrary, I wish you well, and have the same kind feelings
+    towards you as I was wont to have. I trust you may find some
+    situation where you may be happy.
+
+    Yours truly, MARSHALL S. BIDWELL.
+
+    David Gibson, Esq., 6th March.
+
+After the publication of this letter--written, it will be remembered, to
+one of the chief participators in the rebellion--it will hardly be
+pretended that Bidwell was concerned in the enterprise. It is a
+characteristic epistle, breathing Christian kindness and good will, and,
+independently of its bearing upon the question at issue, is well worthy
+of publication as illustrative of Bidwell's individuality.
+
+[275] For the sake of consistency I adopt a uniform spelling of this
+gentleman's name, which however is spelt indifferently "Mackintosh" and
+"McIntosh," in the Journals of Assembly, in various official documents,
+in the newspapers and advertisements of the time, and even in private
+correspondence. Walton's Toronto Directory for 1837 gives it as
+"McIntosh," which seems to have been the form commonly adopted by
+members of the family.
+
+[276] A part of this building, used as a planing-mill, is still in
+existence on Bay Street, a short distance north of Adelaide Street.
+
+[277] _Life of Mackenzie_, vol. ii., p. 17.
+
+[278] According to Mr. Lindsey, James Lesslie induced his brother
+William, who had signed the Declaration, to erase his signature. _See
+Life of Mackenzie_, vol. ii., p. 18.
+
+[279] See the evidence of John Elliott, on the trial of Dr. Morrison for
+high treason, at Toronto, in the following April.
+
+[280] _Correspondent and Advocate_ for Wednesday, August 2nd.
+
+[281] These were nineteen in number, and consisted of Dr. Morrison, John
+Elliott, David Gibson, John Mackintosh, Dr. O'Grady, E. B. Gilbert, John
+Montgomery, Dr. John Edward Tims, J. H. Price, John Doel, M. Reynolds,
+Edward Wright, Robert McKay, Thomas Elliott, James Armstrong, James
+Hunter, John Armstrong, William Ketchum and W. L. Mackenzie.
+
+[282] At a meeting held in the township of Caledon, however, during the
+second week in August, a very outspoken resolution was discussed. After
+setting out with some general principles as to the duties of kings,
+governors and subjects, it ran as follows:--"If the redress of our
+wrongs can be otherwise obtained, the people of Upper Canada have not a
+just cause to use force. But the highest obligation of a citizen being
+to preserve the community, and every other political duty being derived
+from, and subordinate to it, every citizen is bound to defend his
+country against its enemies, both foreign and domestic. When a
+government is engaged in systematically oppressing a people, and
+destroying their securities against future oppression, it commits the
+same species of wrong to them which warrants an appeal to force against
+a foreign enemy. The history of England and of this continent is not
+wanting in examples by which the rulers and the ruled may see that,
+although the people have been often willing to endure bad government
+with patience, there are legal and constitutional limits to that
+endurance. The glorious revolutions obstinately persisting in
+withholding from their subjects adequate security for good government,
+although obviously necessary for the permanence of that blessing, that
+they are placing themselves in a state of hostility against the
+governed; and that to prolong a state of irresponsibility and
+insecurity, such as existed in England during the reign of James II.,
+and as now exists in Lower Canada, is a dangerous act of aggression
+against a people. A magistrate who degenerates into a systematic
+oppressor, and shuts the gates of justice on the public, thereby
+restores them to their original right of defending themselves, for he
+withholds the protection of the law, and so forfeits his claim to
+enforce their obedience by the authority of law."--For the text of this
+resolution I am indebted to Mr. Lindsey. See his _Life of Mackenzie_,
+vol. ii., p. 27, note.
+
+[283] Mr. Lindsey places the number at two hundred. See _Life of
+Mackenzie_, vol. ii., p. 32. I have not been able to find any trace of
+more than 117. Mackenzie seems to have been present at fully half of
+these.
+
+[284] _Ante_, p. 256.
+
+[285] _Ante_, p. 362.
+
+[286] _The Emigrant_, p. 157.
+
+[287] John Elliott, in his testimony on Dr. Morrison's trial, places the
+date in October; and I have evidence in my possession that Mackenzie
+received the intimation mentioned in the text on the second Monday in
+October. The second Monday fell on the 9th. There would be no delay in
+summoning the caucus, which would therefore be held on the evening of
+either Monday or Tuesday.
+
+[288] William A. Dutcher had a foundry on Yonge Street, where a good
+many hands were employed, most of whom were readers of the
+_Constitution_, and supporters of the Radical cause. The Armstrong whose
+axe-makers it was proposed to press into service was John Armstrong, who
+was himself present at the meeting.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE TO CHAPTER X.
+
+My authorities for the foregoing chapter are too numerous for citation.
+In addition to printed works and official records, they consist of
+manuscript letters, statements, affidavits and other documents which
+have never seen the light, and the most important of which will be
+given, in whole or in part, in the second volume.
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion,
+Volume 1, by  John Charles Dent
+
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion,
+Volume 1, by  John Charles Dent
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion, Volume 1
+
+Author: John Charles Dent
+
+Release Date: July 24, 2007 [EBook #22131]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UPPER CANADA REBELLION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Marcia Brooks and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian
+Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+<h1>THE STORY OF THE<br />
+<span class="smcap">Upper Canadian Rebellion</span>.</h1>
+
+<a name="John_Rolph" id="John_Rolph"></a>
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/p004.jpg" alt="p004" title="John Rolph"/>
+</div>
+
+<h1>THE STORY</h1>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span>
+<h4>OF THE</h4>
+<h1><b>UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION</b></h1>
+<h2>JOHN CHARLES DENT</h2>
+<h4>AUTHOR OF "THE LAST FORTY YEARS" &amp;C.</h4>
+<h4><span class="smcap">Vol. I.</span></h4>
+
+<div class="figcenter">
+<img src="images/p005.jpg" alt="front" title="The Upper Canada Rebellion" />
+</div>
+<h5>TORONTO.</h5>
+<h5>PUBLISHED BY C. BLACKETT ROBINSON</h5>
+<h5>1865</h5>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE STORY</h2>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span>
+<h4>OF THE</h4>
+<h2>UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION;</h2>
+<h4>LARGELY DERIVED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES AND DOCUMENTS.</h4>
+<h3><span class="smcap">By</span> JOHN CHARLES DENT,</h3>
+<h4><i>Author of "The Last Forty Years," etc.</i></h4>
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+<blockquote>
+"Well, God be thanked for these rebels."&mdash;<i>I Henry IV</i>., Act iii, sc.
+3.<br />
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote>
+"Truth is not always to be withheld because its expression may wound the feelings
+of public men, whose official acts have subjected them to public censure. If it
+were, history and biography would cease to be guiding stars, and, above all, would
+offer no wholesome restraint to the cruel, or corrupt, or incompetent exercise of
+authority."&mdash;<i>Tupper's Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir</i>
+<i>Isaac Brock</i>.
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote>
+"We rebelled neither against Her Majesty's person nor her Government, but against
+Colonial <i>mis</i>-government.... We remonstrated; we were derided.... We were
+goaded on to madness, and were compelled to show that we had the spirit of
+resistance to repel injuries, or to be deemed a captive, degraded and recreant
+people. We took up arms, not to attack others, but to defend
+ourselves."&mdash;<i>Letter to Lord Durham from Dr. Wolfred Nelson and</i>
+<i>others, confined at Montreal, June 18th, 1838.</i>
+</blockquote>
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+<h5><b>Toronto:</b></h5>
+<h4>C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, 5 JORDAN STREET.</h4>
+<h5>1885.</h5>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<center>
+<i>Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1885, by</i>
+</center>
+<br />
+<center>
+<span class="smcap">C. Blackett Robinson</span>, <i>in the office of the Minister
+of Agriculture</i>.
+</center>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span>
+<center>
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO MY ESTEEMED FRIEND,
+</center>
+<center>
+<big>GEORGE STEWART, JUN'R.</big>
+</center>
+<center>
+OF QUEBEC:
+</center>
+<center>
+WHOSE RESEARCHES IN A KINDRED DIRECTION WILL ENABLE HIM TO
+</center>
+<center>
+DO FULL JUSTICE TO WHATEVER IS MERITORIOUS IN IT; WHILE
+</center>
+<center>
+HIS GENEROUS APPRECIATION OF THE EFFORTS OF HIS
+</center>
+<center>
+LITERARY BRETHREN WILL RENDER HIM
+</center>
+<center>
+INDULGENT TO ITS DEFECTS.
+</center>
+<center>
+JOHN CHARLES DENT.
+</center>
+<center>
+Toronto, 1885.
+</center>
+
+<a name="toc" id="toc"></a>
+<h2>CONTENTS.</h2>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span>
+<ul>
+<li style="list-style: none"><span class="ralign"><i><span
+class="smcap">Page.</span></i></span><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER I.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Banished Briton</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_9">9</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER II.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">A Bill of Particulars</span> <span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_46">46</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER III.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Family Compact</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_71">71</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER IV.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">Fathers of Reform</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_96">96</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER V.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">A "Free and Unfettered" Press</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_122">122</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER VI.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Case of Captain Matthews</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_144">144</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER VII.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Niagara Falls Outrage</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_151">151</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER VIII.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The "Amoval" of Mr. Justice Willis</span><span
+class="ralign"><a href="#Page_162">162</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER IX.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Case of Francis Collins</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_195">195</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER X.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">Lights&mdash;Old and New</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_213">213</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XI.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">Parliamentary Privilege</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_231">231</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XII.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">Disenfranchisement</span> <span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_253">253</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XIII.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">Mr. Hume's "Baneful Domination" Letter</span><span
+class="ralign"><a href="#Page_264">264</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XIV.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">"See, the Conquering Hero Comes!"</span><span
+class="ralign"><a href="#Page_282">282</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XV.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">"A Tried Reformer"</span> <span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_296">296</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XVI.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Triumphs of a Tried Reformer</span> <span
+class="ralign"><a href="#Page_324">324</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XVII.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">Reaction</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_342">342</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><b>CHAPTER XVIII.</b></li>
+<li><span class="smcap">The Forging of the Pikes</span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#Page_354">354</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+</ul>
+<ul>
+<li style="list-style: none">
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+</li>
+<li><span style="margin-left: 6em;"><b>John Rolph</b></span><span class="ralign"><a
+href="#John_Rolph">Frontispiece</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+<li><span style="margin-left: 6em;"><b>David Gibson</b></span><span
+class="ralign"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></span></li>
+<li style="list-style: none"><br />
+</li>
+</ul>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h1>THE STORY</h1>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>
+<h4>OF</h4>
+
+<h1>THE UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION.</h1>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapi.jpg" width="300" height="76" alt="chapi" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER I.</h2>
+
+<h4>THE BANISHED BRITON.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1819</div>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letteri.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letteri" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">I</span>
+n the afternoon of a warm and sultry day, towards the close of one of the warmest and
+most sultry summers which Upper Canada has ever known, an extraordinary trial took
+place at the court-house in the old town of Niagara. The time was more than
+threescore years ago, when York was a place
+of insignificant proportions; when Hamilton could barely be said to have an
+existence; and when the sites of most of the other towns of the Province whose names
+are now familiar to us still formed part of the hunting-grounds of the native Indian.
+The little town on the frontier was relatively a place of much greater importance
+than it is at present; though its fortunes, even at that early period, were decidedly
+on the wane, and such glory as it could ever boast of possessing, as the Provincial
+capital, had departed from it long before. To speak with absolute precision, the date
+was Friday, the 20th of August, 1819: so long ago that, as far as I have been able to
+learn, there are only two persons now living who were present on the occasion. The
+court-room, which was the largest in the Province, was packed to the doors, and
+though every window was thrown open for purposes of ventilation, the atmosphere was
+almost stifling. Even a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg
+10]</a></span> stranger, had any such been present, could not have failed to perceive
+that the trial was one in which a keen interest was felt by the spectators, many of
+whom were restless and irritable, insomuch that they found it impossible to keep
+perfectly still, and from time to time shifted uneasily in their places. Whispers,
+"not loud, but deep," occasionally reverberated from the back benches to the
+quadrangular space in front assigned to gentlemen of the long robe, and ascended
+thence to the august presence upon the judgment seat. Ever and anon the stentorian
+voice of the crier proclaimed silence, in a tone which plainly signified that
+endurance had well-nigh reached its limits, and that he would really be compelled to
+proceed to extremities if his mandate were any longer disobeyed.</p>
+
+<p>The court-room was of the old conventional pattern. At the upper end was the large
+elevated desk, or throne, extending nearly half way across the chamber, with spacious
+cushioned chairs, and other suitable accommodation for the presiding judge and his
+associates. To right and left were the enclosed jury boxes, with seats raised
+considerably above the level of the floor, but not so high as those provided for the
+justices. Directly opposite the throne of justice, and about six yards distant
+therefrom, was the prisoners' dock, into which five or six persons might have been
+thrust, at a pinch. The intervening space enclosed by this quadrangle&mdash;throne,
+prisoners' dock, and jury boxes&mdash;was mainly appropriated to the use of
+barristers and attorneys, and their clients. A large portion of the space so
+appropriated was occupied by a table, around which were distributed a few chairs,
+every one of which was occupied; and at the end directly below the judicial throne
+was a small enclosure provided for the clerk of the court, set apart by a low
+railing, and containing a desk of diminutive size. Between the clerk's desk and the
+left-hand jury box was the witness stall, raised to a level with the highest seats
+provided for the jurors. A seat for the sheriff was placed a short distance to the
+right of the throne of justice, and on a slightly lower level.</p>
+
+<p>All these arrangements occupied perhaps one-third of the entire court-room. The
+rest of the space, extending from the rear of the prisoners' dock to the lower end of
+the chamber, was occupied by seats rising tier<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11"
+id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> behind tier, with a passage down the middle. Between
+each of the ends of these seats and the walls of the chamber were passages of about
+three feet in width, leading to the doors, for purposes of "ingress, egress and
+regress." Such was the plan of the conventional Upper Canadian court-room in the
+olden time; and such, with a few inconsiderable modifications, many of them remain
+down to the present day.</p>
+
+<p>The sole occupant of the judgment seat, on this sultry afternoon, was a gentleman
+of somewhat diminutive size, but withal of handsome and imposing appearance. Though
+he had reached advanced middle life, he presented none of the signs of age, and
+evidently retained all his vigour unimpaired. His eyes were bright and keen, and his
+small but firm and clearly cut features were lighted up with the consciousness of
+mental power. No one, looking upon that countenance, could doubt that its owner had
+all his faculties under strict and thorough control, or that his faculties were
+considerably above those of average humanity. The face was not one for a child to
+fall in love with, for it was a perfect index to the character, and was firm and
+strong rather than amiable or kind. Evidently a man who, should the occasion for
+doing so arise, would deal out the utmost rigour of the law, if not with
+indifference, at least without a qualm. He was the Honourable William Dummer Powell,
+and he occupied the high office of Chief Justice of the Province. In conjunction with
+the Reverend Doctor Strachan, Rector of York, he had for several years practically
+directed the administration of affairs in Upper Canada. Francis Gore and Sir
+Peregrine Maitland might successively posture as figure-heads under the title of
+Lieutenant-Governors, but the real depositaries of power were the Rector and the
+Chief Justice. Ominous combination! which falsified the aphorism of a great
+writer&mdash;now, unhappily, lost to us&mdash;about the inevitable incompatibility of
+law and gospel. Both of them had seats in the Executive Council, and, under the
+then-existing state of things, were official but irresponsible advisers of the
+Crown's representative. More than one would-be innovator of those days had been made
+to feel the weight of their hands, without in the least knowing, or even suspecting,
+whence the blow proceeded. They were the head and front of the junto of oligarchs who
+formed the Vehmgericht known as the Family Compact, and for all practical purposes their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> judgment
+in matters relating to the dispensing of patronage and the disposal of Crown property
+was final and conclusive.</p>
+
+<p>The counsel for the prosecution was a handsome young man of twenty-eight, who for
+some years past had been steadily fitting himself for the important part he was
+destined to play&mdash;that of Mr. Powell's judicial<a name="FNanchor_1_1"
+id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> and political
+successor in the colony. The time was only ten years distant when he, in his turn,
+was to become Chief Justice of Upper Canada. The time was still less remote when he
+was to succeed Chief Justice Powell as Dr. Strachan's most active colleague&mdash;as
+the chief lay spokesman of his party, and the chief lay adviser of successive
+Lieutenant-Governors. His name was John Beverley Robinson, and his destiny was
+doubtless sufficiently clear before him on this 20th of August, 1819. He had strong
+claims upon his party, for he was the son of a United Empire Loyalist, and during the
+late war with the United States had proved that he was no degenerate scion of the
+stock whence he had sprung. He had been present at the surrender of Detroit, and had
+borne himself gallantly at the battle of Queenston Heights. Nor had his party shown
+any disposition to ignore his claims. On the contrary, they had pushed him forward
+with a rapidity which would have turned any head with a natural tendency to
+giddiness. He had been appointed Attorney-General of the Province before he had been
+called to the bar, and when he was only twenty-one years of age&mdash;a special Act
+of Parliament being subsequently passed to confirm the proceeding. In 1815 he had
+been appointed Solicitor-General, chiefly in order that he might draw the salary
+incidental to that office during a two years' visit to England. Soon after his return
+he had again been appointed Attorney-General, and had early signalized his
+re-accession to office by his manner of prosecuting certain criminals from the Red
+River country, who had been placed on trial at York. Those proceedings do not fall
+within the purview of this work, but it may be said with reference to the young
+Attorney-General's connection with them that he had proved himself an exceedingly
+narrow partisan and a docile pupil of Dr. Strachan. He now presented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> himself to take a
+leading part in one of the most shameless and iniquitous prosecutions that ever
+disgraced a court of justice. His personal appearance was decidedly prepossessing.
+His figure, clad in well-fitting garments of the fashionable cut of the period, was
+light, agile and compact, and his face, rather inclining to narrowness, was
+surmounted by a high and smoothly-finished brow, beneath which looked out a pair of
+steel-grey eyes, the usual expression of which was eager and firm, but on the whole
+not unkindly. His mouth was finely formed, and when he was in a pleasant
+humour&mdash;as indeed he not infrequently was&mdash;his smile was sweet and
+ingratiating. In intellectual capacity he was considerably in advance of most of his
+professional brethren of that day, and he had cultivated his natural abilities by
+constant watchfulness and study. His features, one and all, were well and sharply
+defined, and he was probably the handsomest man at the Provincial bar.</p>
+
+<p>Several other members of the legal profession, all of them more or less widely
+known in the forensic, judicial or political annals of the Province, were present.
+Conspicuous among them was the brilliant but unscrupulous Christoper Alexander
+Hagerman, who had already taken high rank at the bar, and was destined to be one of
+the most active and intolerant directors of the oligarchical policy. Archibald
+McLean, tall and lithe of limb, had then been more than four years at the bar, and he
+had already given evidence of the high abilities which were to gain for him an
+honoured seat upon the judicial bench. He had been retained to defend two prisoners
+at the Niagara assizes, and his presence in the court-room was due to this fact.
+Another figure at the barristers' table was Samuel Peters Jarvis, his hands yet red
+with the blood of young John Ridout, ruthlessly shed by him in a duel two years
+before, and never to be effaced from the tablets of his memory. There, too, sat Henry
+John Boulton, a young man of much pretension but mediocre intellect, who had been
+appointed acting Solicitor-General during the previous year, and who united in his
+own person all the bigotry and narrow selfishness of the faction to which he
+belonged. He, also, had been concerned in the shedding of young Ridout's blood,
+having acted as second to the surviving principal in that affair. With this exception
+his past life had been uneventful, but his future was fated to be marked by<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> considerable
+variety of incident, and by actions which even the most favourable judgment cannot
+regard with unmixed complacency.</p>
+
+<p>The twelve jurymen sat in their places, in the jury-box to the left of the judge.
+The witnesses summoned on behalf of the Crown were the Honourable William Dickson and
+the Honourable William Claus, both of whom were members of the Legislative Council of
+Upper Canada. The former gentleman was an enterprising Scotchman who had settled in
+Niagara while it was yet known as Newark, where he had first kept a general store,
+and afterwards practised law and speculation with great pecuniary success. Like the
+Jarvis above mentioned, he was disfigured by a red right hand, having shot his man in
+a duel fought in the autumn of 1808 behind the United States fort on the opposite
+bank of the river. It is fair to Mr. Dickson, however, to say that he was the
+challenged party, and that the duel was in a measure forced upon him by the barbarous
+usages of society in those (happily) far-off days. The other witness, Mr. Claus, was
+at the head of the Indian department at Niagara, the abuses in the administration
+whereof were notorious. It was well understood throughout the district that Dickson
+and Claus between them had contrived to make a tolerably good thing out of the
+Indians, and that they had been concerned in some decidedly shady transactions. If it
+be true that Heaven helps those who help themselves, certainly both those gentlemen
+were entitled to look for divine assistance. They possessed and exercised a wide
+influence throughout the settlements in the Niagara peninsula, as well as at the
+Provincial capital, and were commonly regarded as being on the high road to great
+wealth. Two years before the date of the trial forming the subject of the present
+chapter, Dickson had purchased the whole of the splendid township of Dumfries,
+comprising 94,305 acres, at a trifle over a dollar an acre; and he had already begun
+to realize upon his investment. Claus and he occupied seats at the barristers' table,
+in close proximity to the Attorney-General. The spectators included pretty nearly
+every prominent resident of the town of Niagara and its immediate neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p>But the most conspicuous figure in that crowded court-room yet remains to be
+considered. It has been mentioned that the prisoners' dock was large enough to hold
+five or six persons. On this occasion it held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15"
+id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> but a single, solitary prisoner. A man large and
+bony, who, when in his ordinary state of health, must have weighed not less than
+fifteen stone. Just at present he was very far from being in ordinary health, for
+during the preceding twelvemonth he had undergone sufficient worry and suffering to
+destroy the life of any man of average vitality. After having successfully defended
+himself through two criminal trials, he had been cast into prison, where he had
+languished for more than seven months. During his long confinement he had been
+subjected to a course of treatment which would have been highly culpable if meted out
+to a convicted criminal, and which was marked by a malignant cruelty hardly to be
+comprehended when the nature of the offence charged against him is considered. His
+own account of the matter is a plain and simple narration of facts, the truth whereof
+rests upon the clearest and most indisputable evidence. "After two months' close
+confinement," he writes, "in one of the cells of the jail, my health had begun to
+suffer, and, on complaint of this, the liberty of walking through the passages and
+sitting at the door was granted. This liberty prevented my getting worse the four
+succeeding months, although I never enjoyed a day's health, but by the power of
+medicine. At the end of this period I was again locked up in the cell, cut off from
+all conversation with my friends, but through a hole in the door, while the jailor or
+under-sheriff watched what was said, and for some time both my attorney and
+magistrates of my acquaintance were denied admission to me. The quarter sessions were
+held soon after this severe and unconstitutional treatment commenced, and on these
+occasions it was the custom and duty of the grand jury to perambulate the jail, and
+see that all was right with the prisoners. I prepared a memorial for their
+consideration, but on this occasion was not visited. I complained to a magistrate
+through the door, who promised to mention my case to the chairman of the sessions,
+but the chairman happened to be brother of one of those who had signed my commitment,
+and the court broke up without my obtaining the smallest relief. Exasperation of
+mind, now joined to the heat of the weather, which was excessive, rapidly wasted my
+health and impaired my faculties. I felt my memory sensibly affected, and could not
+connect my ideas through any length of reasoning, but by writing, which many days I
+was wholly unfitted for by the violence of continual headache."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is a pathos about this plain, unvarnished story that appeals to every heart.
+That a man, no matter what his crimes, should have his nervous system thus cruelly
+undermined; that his physical and mental faculties should be slowly but surely
+filched from him in this deliberate fashion, is an idea not to be borne with
+composure by anyone whose breast is susceptible to human impulses. But Robert Gourlay
+was no great criminal. He had engaged in no plot to blow up King, Lords and Commons.
+He had been guilty of no treason or felony. He had threatened no man's life, and
+taken no man's purse upon the highway. He was by no means the stuff of which great
+criminals are made. He was not even a vicious or immoral man. He was an affectionate
+husband, a fond and indulgent father. His story, from beginning to end, even when
+subjected to the fiercest light that can be thrown upon it, discloses nothing cruel
+or revengeful, nothing vile or outrageously wicked, nothing grovelling or base,
+nothing sordid or mean. On the other hand, it discloses a man of many noble and
+generous impulses; a man with a great heart in his bosom which could warmly
+sympathize with the wrongs of his fellow-creatures; a man in whom was no selfishness
+or greed; a man of decided principles and stainless morals; who was incapable of
+dishonesty or cruelty; who had a high sense of human responsibility; who feared his
+God and honoured his King. When we compare his virtuous and honourable, albeit
+turbulent and much misguided life, with that of any one of his immediate persecutors,
+the contrast is mournfully suggestive of Mr. Lowell's antithesis about</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<i>"Truth forever on the scaffold; wrong forever on the throne."</i>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>To what, then, was his long and bitter persecution to be attributed? Why had he
+been deprived of his liberty; thrust into a dark and unwholesome dungeon; refused the
+benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act; denied his enlargement upon bail or main-prize;
+branded as a malefactor of the most dangerous kind; badgered and tortured to the ruin
+of his health and his reason? Merely this: he had imbibed, in advance, the spirit of
+Mr. Arthur Clennam, and had "wanted to know."<a name="FNanchor_2_2"
+id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>He had
+displayed a persistent determination to let in the light of day upon the iniquities
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span>
+rascalities of public officials. He had denounced the system of patronage and
+favouritism in the disposal of the Crown Lands. He had inveighed against some of the
+human bloodsuckers of that day, in language which certainly was not gracious or
+parliamentary, but which as certainly was both forcible and true. He had even
+ventured to speak in contumelious terms of the reverend Rector of York himself, whom
+he had stigmatized as "a lying little fool of a renegade Presbyterian." Nay, he had
+advised the sending of commissioners to England to entreat Imperial attention to
+colonial grievances. He had been the one man in Upper Canada possessed of sufficient
+courage to do and to dare: to lift the thin and flimsy veil which only half concealed
+the corruption whereby a score of greedy vampires were rapidly enriching themselves
+at the public cost. He had dared to hold up to general inspection the baneful effects
+of an irresponsible Executive, and of a dominating clique whose one hope lay in
+preserving the existing order of things undisturbed. It was for this that the
+Inquisition had wreaked its vengeance upon him; for this that the vials of Executive
+wrath had been poured upon his head; for this that his body had been subjugated and
+his nerves lacerated by more than seven months' close imprisonment; for this that he
+had been "ruined in his fortune and overwhelmed in his mind." And all these things
+took place in "this Canada of ours," in the year of grace eighteen hundred and
+nineteen&mdash;barely sixty-six years ago&mdash;while the Duke of Richmond was
+Governor-General, and his handsome scapegrace of a son-in-law nominally administered
+the government of the Upper Province.</p>
+
+<p>With a view to a clearer understanding of the circumstances which led to this most
+villainous of Canadian State prosecutions, it will be well to glance at some details
+of the prisoner's past life.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p>
+
+<p>Robert Gourlay was the son of a gentleman of considerable fortune&mdash;a retired
+Writer to the Signet&mdash;and was born in the parish of Ceres, Fifeshire, Scotland,
+in 1778. He received an education suitable to his social position, and while at the
+University of St. Andrews was the fellow-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18"
+id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>student and personal friend of young Thomas Chalmers,
+who afterwards became one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of modern times.<a
+name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4"
+class="fnanchor">[4]</a> Robert was the eldest son of his parents, and, being heir to
+the paternal estates, he grew up to manhood with the expectation of one day
+succeeding to wealth and station in society. He was put to no profession, and after
+leaving college, devoted himself to no settled pursuit. He was on visiting terms with
+the resident gentry of his native shire, and took some interest in local military
+matters. In 1806 he offered to take charge of an expedition for the invasion of
+Paris, being probably impelled thereto by the mad attempt of Lord Camelford several
+years before. He was full of energy and robust health, bountiful and generous to the
+poor of the parish, a practical philanthropist, possessed of great intelligence and a
+genuine love for his kind; but withal somewhat flighty and erratic, of impetuous
+temper, deficient in tact and discretion, and given to revery and theorizing. He was,
+in short, a bundle of contradictions, some of his idiosyncrasies being doubtless
+inherited from his father, who was a generous and high-minded but unpractical man.
+The sire would seem to have been conscious of his son's weaknesses. "Robert," he was
+wont to say, "will hurt himself, but do good to others." The son studied deeply the
+economical side of the pauper question, and his researches in this direction brought
+him into intimate relations with that eminent writer Mr. Arthur Young,<a
+name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5"
+class="fnanchor">[5]</a> at whose suggestion he was appointed to conduct an inquiry
+into the condition of the poor in England. By virtue of this appointment he
+travelled, chiefly on foot, through the most important agricultural<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> districts of the
+island, after which he was pronounced by competent authorities to be the
+best-informed man in the kingdom respecting the poor of Great Britain. As I have said
+elsewhere: "He was consulted by members of Parliament, political economists, parish
+overseers, and even by members of the Cabinet, as to the best means for reforming the
+poor laws, and was always ready to spend himself and his substance for the public
+good."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6"
+class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p>
+
+<p>Having married and settled down on one of his father's estates, he took upon
+himself various offices of public usefulness and philanthropy. His enterprise and
+public spirit caused him to be much looked up to by the yeomanry of Fifeshire, and he
+soon came to be recognized as the special champion of the smaller tenantry at
+agricultural meetings. At one of these meetings he conceived himself to have been
+discourteously treated by his neighbour, the Earl of Kellie. The discourtesy does not
+seem to have been of a serious nature, but Mr. Gourlay became irritated to a degree
+altogether disproportionate to the offence. He wrote and published a pamphlet, in
+which Lord Kellie was handled with much severity. It was circulated by the author
+throughout Fifeshire, and widely read; and from this time forward he was much given
+to taking the public into his confidence respecting his personal grievances. His
+attack on Lord Kellie, however, weakened his popularity, and in 1809, partly owing to
+this cause, and partly to his being in temporary ill-health, he accepted a proposal
+from the Duke of Somerset to become the tenant of a farm belonging to his Grace, and
+situated in the parish of Wily, in Wiltshire. For a time all went well with him in
+his new abode. His farm was a model for the emulation of all the landholders in the
+parish, and his products gained prize after prize at successive agricultural
+exhibitions. But Mr. Gourlay was nothing if not critical, and certain of his
+surroundings afforded legitimate grounds for fault-finding. There were many and
+serious defects in the system of administering the poor-laws of Great Britain in
+those days, and the administration in the parish of Wily was attended by some
+specially objectionable features. These erelong became painfully apparent to the keen
+eyes of Mr. Gourlay, who began to agitate for a reform. He went into the matter with
+characteristic<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>
+earnestness, and, by dint of constant speechifying and weekly letters addressed to
+the local newspapers, he soon began to produce an impression. His appetite for
+agitation grew by what it fed upon, insomuch that he became a confirmed
+grievance-monger and hunter-up of abuses. The magnates of the county began to look
+coldly upon him, and even, in some instances, to array themselves in open opposition
+to him. This only tended still further to arouse the native pugnacity of his
+disposition, and his attacks upon local abuses and those who upheld them became more
+and more violent. Now, in all this there can be no doubt that Mr. Gourlay was from
+first to last chiefly actuated by genuine philanthropy. He certainly had no selfish
+or pecuniary purpose to serve; and indeed it is hard to conceive of a man less
+influenced by mercenary motives. His life was passed in a perpetual war against
+veritable and undoubted evils; but unfortunately his hotheadedness and want of tact
+prevented him from doing justice to himself and his views. He lacked the calm
+intellect and patient temper necessary to the successful fighting of life's stern
+battle, and had the unhappy faculty of generally putting himself in the wrong, even
+when there could be no doubt that he had originally been in the right. Some of his
+letters to the newspapers were remarkable for nothing but their indiscretion,
+violence and bad taste, and he came to be looked upon by the landlords of Wiltshire
+as a visionary and dangerous man. His own landlord, the Duke of Somerset, was of this
+way of thinking, and after some remonstrances at second-hand which proved unavailing,
+his Grace resolved that this "pestilent Scotchman" must be got rid of. A bill in
+Chancery was filed against him on some pretext or other, with the view of putting an
+end to his tenancy. Years of irritating and ruinous litigation followed, the ultimate
+result of which was a decision in Mr. Gourlay's favour. But it was the old story of
+<i>Jarndyce</i> v. <i>Jarndyce</i>. The protracted litigation had eaten up the
+substance of the successful litigant, and upon the promulgation of the decree the
+Wiltshire Radical was a ruined man. This would have been a matter of secondary
+importance to the heir of a wealthy Fifeshire laird, but unhappily his father had
+also come to the end of his resources. Injudicious speculation and the mismanagement
+of an agent, combined with the necessity of placing a large quantity of<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> real estate in the
+market at an inauspicious time, were the causes which led to the bankruptcy of the
+elder Gourlay, who was stripped of his great possessions and left with a bare
+subsistence. The son's prospects of inheriting a fortune were thus at an end, and at
+thirty-seven years of age he found himself almost wholly without means, and with a
+family of five children and a wife in delicate health dependent upon him for support.
+The howl of the wolf began to be audible to him; distant, as yet, but still gradually
+drawing nearer. To his mind, a change of the base of his operations was clearly
+indicated.</p>
+<p>Five years before this time he had acquired a block of land in the Township of
+Dereham, in the County of Oxford, Upper Canada, where his wife also owned some
+property. He now began to cast his eyes anxiously towards the setting sun, with a
+view to the rehabilitation of his broken fortunes. After weighing the matter
+carefully, he resolved to cross the Atlantic and pay a visit to Canada, in order to
+ascertain whether it would be prudent to remove his family thither. He seems to have
+been very deliberate about making up his mind, as he did not set sail from Liverpool
+until the month of April, 1817, and did not reach Canada until early in June. The
+country delighted him, more especially the Upper Province; but one with so keen an
+eye for abuses had not far to look throughout our fair land in those days for
+subjects of criticism. Having made himself acquainted with some of the most glaring
+iniquities of the ruling faction, and with the various causes which tended to retard
+the progress of the colony, he began to liberate his mind by written and spoken
+utterances such as had not theretofore been heard in the Province. The effect of
+these appeals to popular sentiment was soon apparent. People who had long smarted
+silently under injustice did not hesitate to make known their discontent. The
+disturber of the public tranquillity continued to speak and write, and he made his
+presence felt more and more from month to month. Having resolved to engage in
+business as a land agent, and to set on foot a huge scheme of immigration to Canada
+from Great Britain, he went diligently to work to gather specific and definite
+information, and to attack one abuse after another. He travelled about the country
+hither and thither, addressed public meetings, and wrote letters to all the papers
+that would publish his animadversions. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22"
+id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> in deadly earnest, and put all the energy of his
+impassioned nature into his appeals. In commenting upon the delinquencies of public
+officials he did not mince matters, though I search in vain throughout his voluminous
+writings for any evidence that he was ever guilty of a misstatement, or even an
+exaggeration. He regaled his readers and hearers with indubitable facts&mdash;facts
+which, for the most part, were easily susceptible of proof, and which were eminently
+calculated to arouse public indignation against the harpies who reaped where they had
+sowed not, and who gathered where they had not strawed.</p>
+<p>These proceedings, as may readily be believed, rendered him inexpressibly
+obnoxious to the Executive, and to the horde of myrmidons who held office at their
+sufferance. But the cup of his transgressions was not yet full. His next proceeding
+filled it to overflowing. He addressed a series of thirty-one printed questions to
+prominent persons in different parts of the Province, asking for topographical and
+other information. The thirty-first question was so framed that, if truthfully
+replied to, it was certain to elicit facts which would form the groundwork of
+damnifying strictures on the principal abuses of the time. "What, in your opinion,"
+asked Mr. Gourlay, "retards the improvement of your township in particular, or the
+Province in general?" Throughout the Home District the influence of the Compact was
+sufficient to prevent any replies from being returned to these queries. Elsewhere
+that influence was partial only, and many answers were received from other districts.
+The all but invariable reply to the thirty-first question attributed the slow
+development of the country to the Crown and Clergy Reserves. Mr. Gourlay did not
+attempt to conceal his intention of publishing the results of his investigations, and
+of circulating them all over Great Britain and Ireland. Having succeeded in arousing
+a good deal of popular enthusiasm, he proceeded to strike what he intended to be
+another damaging blow. Owing to his exertions, a convention was held at York, whereat
+he advocated a petition to the Imperial Parliament, praying for an investigation into
+the public affairs of Upper Canada. He also suggested the sending of deputies to
+England in support of the petition, and it is not improbable that such a course would
+eventually have been followed, but the petitioners were as yet not fully organized,
+and before any of their plans could be brought to<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> maturity their champion's career of
+agitation received a sudden and, for the time, an effectual check.</p>
+<p>The oligarchs had taken alarm. If this man were permitted to go on as he had
+begun, there would soon be an end of the existing order of things, which they had so
+tremendous an interest in preserving. At any cost, and by whatever means, he must be
+suppressed. There must be a general and determined advance against him all along the
+line.</p>
+<p>The prime organizer of this most unrighteous crusade is believed to have been the
+Reverend Dr. John Strachan, Rector of York, member of the Executive Council, supreme
+director of the lay and ecclesiastical policy of the Church of England in Upper
+Canada, champion of the Clergy Reserves, and what not. It may seem a thankless task
+to write in strong depreciation of a man who, in his day and generation, was looked
+up to with reverence by a large and influential portion of the community, and whose
+memory is still warmly cherished by not a few. But truth is truth, and the simple
+fact of the matter is that Dr. Strachan did more to stifle freedom and retard
+progress in Upper Canada than any other man whose name figures in our history. His
+baneful influence made itself felt, directly or indirectly, in every one of the
+public offices. Wherever liberty of thought and expression, whether as affecting
+things spiritual or temporal, ventured to lift its head, there, bludgeon in hand,
+stood the great Protestant Pope, ready and eager to strike. It may perhaps be
+conceded that he acted according to his earnest convictions. So, doubtless, did
+Philip of Spain and Tomas de Torquemada. It is not going too far to say that Dr.
+Strachan was utterly incapable of seeing more than one side of any question involving
+the interests of himself and his church. When his cause was a just one, who so fond
+as he of appealing to the majesty of the law. When he wished to pervert the law to
+his own purposes, who so apt at enjoining a disregard therefor.<a name="FNanchor_7_7"
+id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> There is
+abundant reason for believing that he was the original instigator of the Gourlay
+prosecutions. They were at all events carried on by his satellites, and fostered by
+his fullest concurrence and approval. Their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24"
+id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> object was to drive Mr. Gourlay out of the country,
+and to this end it would appear that the Compact were prepared to go whatever lengths
+the necessities of the case might require. A criminal prosecution for libel was set
+on foot against the doomed victim of Executive malevolence, who was arrested and
+thrown into jail at Kingston, where he lay for some days. The trial took place on the
+15th of August, 1818, when Mr. Attorney-General Robinson put forth the utmost power
+of his eloquence to secure a conviction. In vain. The prisoner conducted his own
+defence, and so clearly exposed the flimsiness of the indictment that the prosecution
+utterly failed. A second arrest on a similar charge resulted in another acquittal at
+Brockville. It was by this time manifest that no jury could be found subservient
+enough to become blind instruments of oppression. The alleged libel consisted of two
+paragraphs in a petition to the Prince Regent, drafted by Mr. Gourlay, approved of,
+printed and published by sixteen residents of Niagara District, six of whom were
+magistrates. These paragraphs contained a vivid but faithful picture of the abuses
+existing in the Crown Lands Department, and it would probably have been difficult to
+find a jury anywhere in Upper Canada, some members whereof had not had personal
+experience of those abuses. Having failed in two attempts to convict him of libel,
+Mr. Gourlay's foes hit on another and more effectual method of accomplishing his
+destruction.</p>
+
+<p>By a Provincial statute known as the Alien Act, passed in 1804, authority was
+given to certain officials to issue a warrant for the arrest of any person not having
+been an inhabitant of the Province for the preceding six months, who had not taken
+the oath of allegiance, and who had given reason for suspicion that he was "about to
+endeavour to alienate the minds of His Majesty's subjects of this Province from his
+person or government, or in anywise with a seditious intent to disturb the
+tranquillity thereof." In case the person so arrested failed to prove his innocence,
+he might be notified to depart this Province within a specified time, and if he
+failed so to depart he was liable to be imprisoned until he could be formally tried
+at the general jail delivery. If found guilty, upon trial, he was to be adjudged by
+the court to quit the Province, and if he still proved contumacious he was to be
+deemed guilty of felony, and to suffer death as a felon, without benefit of
+clergy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> This
+statute, be it observed, was not passed at Westminster during the supremacy of the
+Plantagenets or the Tudors, but at York, Upper Canada, during the forty-fourth year
+of the reign of George the Third. More than one eminent authority has pronounced it
+an unconstitutional measure. There was, however, some show of justification for it at
+the time of its enactment, for the Province was then overrun by disloyal immigrants
+from Ireland and by republican immigrants from across the borders, many of whom tried
+to stir up discontent among the people, and were notoriously in favour of annexation
+to the United States.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> It was against such persons that the
+Act had been levelled, and there had never been any question of attempting to apply
+it to anyone else. Now, however, it was pressed into requisition in order to compass
+the ruin of as loyal a subject as could have been found throughout the wide expanse
+of the British Empire; who had resided in Upper Canada for a continuous period of
+nearly eighteen months; who was no more an alien than the King upon the throne; and
+whose only real offence was that he would not stand calmly by while rapacious and
+dishonest placemen carried on their nefarious practices without protest.</p>
+<p>Among the various dignitaries authorized to put the law in motion, by the issue of
+a warrant under the Act, were the members of the Legislative and Executive Councils.
+William Dickson and William Claus, as has been seen, were members of the former body;
+and as such they had power over the liberty of anyone whose loyalty they thought fit
+to call in question. Dickson was a connection by marriage of Mr. Gourlay, and for
+some months after that gentleman's arrival in this Province had gone heart and hand
+with him in his schemes of reform. For Mr. Dickson then had a grievance of his own,
+arising out of the partial interdict of immigration from the United States which had
+been adopted after the War of 1812-15. He was the owner of an immense quantity of
+uncultivated land in the Province, including the township of Dumfries already
+men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>tioned,
+which he was desirous of selling to incoming settlers. The shutting out of United
+States immigrants tended to retard the progress of settlement and the sale of his
+property. His anger against the Administration had been hot and bitter, and he had
+even gone so far as to state publicly that he would rather live under the American
+than under the British Government. But he had managed to induce the Assembly to pass
+certain resolutions, recognizing the right of subjects of the United States to settle
+in Upper Canada. The restrictions being relaxed, his only cause of hostility to the
+Administration vanished, and he ceased to clamour against it. His sympathy with Mr.
+Gourlay's projects vanished into thin air. Those projects contemplated enquiry and
+reform. Dickson, having accomplished his own ends, desired no further reform; and as
+for enquiry, he had excellent reasons for burking it, as it would probably lead to
+the disclosure of certain reprehensible transactions on the part of himself and
+Claus, the Indian agent. He therefore presented a sudden change of front, and, so far
+from continuing to act with Mr. Gourlay, he became that unfortunate man's bitterest
+foe.</p>
+
+<p>How far Dickson's enmity was stimulated by co&ouml;peration with the leaders of
+the Compact party at York will probably never be known. That there was something more
+than a merely tacit understanding that Mr. Gourlay was to be got rid of is beyond
+question. But before any arrest could be effected under the Act of 1804 it was
+necessary that perjured testimony should be forthcoming. It was easily provided. On
+the 18th of December, 1818, a secret consultation took place between Dickson and one
+Isaac Swayze, at the former's private abode. Swayze was a resident of the Niagara
+District, and the representative of the Fourth Riding of Lincoln in the Legislative
+Assembly, but was nevertheless a man of indifferent character, and so illiterate as
+to be barely able to write his name. During the Revolutionary War he had been a spy
+and "horse-provider" to the loyalist troops. More recently he had been chiefly known
+as one of the most bigoted and unprincipled of the Compact's minor satellites; a
+hanger-on who was ever ready to undertake any disreputable work which the Executive
+might have for him to do. He was a smooth-tongued hypocrite, who made extravagant
+professions of zeal for religion when he was in the society of religious people, but
+after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span>wards
+laughed at their credulity for believing him. "When electioneering," said he, "I pray
+with the Methodists." At other times he gained votes by threatening to bring down
+upon the electors the vengeance of the Executive, who, he averred, were specially
+desirous of having his services in the Assembly. Corruption can always find apt tools
+to do its bidding.</p>
+
+<div class="poem"><div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>"Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye see;</i></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>And wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client still will be."</i></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Isaac Swayze was a veritable modern counterpart of the client Marcus, and when he
+gained votes by holding his patrons <i>in terrorem</i> over the heads of the
+electors, he was merely echoing his ancient prototype:&mdash;</p>
+
+<div class="poem"> <div class="stanza">
+<span class="i0"><i>"I wait on Appius Claudius, I waited on his sire;</i><br /></span>
+<span class="i0"><i>Let him who works the client wrong beware the patron's ire."</i><br /></span>
+</div></div>
+
+<p>His employers knew their man, and that he would not stick at a trifle to keep
+their favour. On the day after his secret interview with Dickson he proved his
+subordination to authority by committing wilful and deliberate perjury. He swore that
+Mr. Gourlay was an evil-minded and seditious person, who was endeavouring to raise a
+rebellion against the government of Upper Canada; that he, deponent, verily believed
+that said Gourlay had not been an inhabitant of the Province for six months, and had
+not taken the oath of allegiance.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the strength of this sworn statement, Mr. Gourlay was arrested under the Alien
+Act of 1804, and carried before Dickson and Claus, both of whom were specially and
+personally interested in putting him to silence. The examination and hearing before
+them, which took place on the 21st of December, was a transparent mockery of justice.
+Dickson, Claus and Swayze, in common with nearly every one in Upper Canada, well knew
+that their victim had been resident in the Province for nearly three times the period
+specified in the Act. Dickson had been in constant and familiar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> intercourse with
+him for sixteen months. Claus had known him nearly as long. Swayze had conversed with
+him at York more than a year before, and had been acquainted with his proceedings
+from month to month&mdash;almost from week to week&mdash;during the entire interval.
+The charge of being an evil-minded and seditious person was too absurd to be
+seriously entertained for a moment by any one who knew Mr. Gourlay as intimately as
+Dickson had done for more than eight years.<a name="FNanchor_10_10"
+id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> As for
+his not having taken the oath of allegiance, it had never been required of him, and
+he was both able and willing to take it with a clear and honest conscience. But as
+matter of fact no one suspected his loyalty, and the charge against him was the
+veriest pretext that malice could invent. When he appeared before his judges,
+however, Messieurs Dickson and Claus professed to be dissatisfied with his defence,
+and alleged that his "words, actions, conduct and behaviour" had been such as to
+promote disaffection. They accordingly adjudged that he should leave the Province
+within ten days. A written order, signed by them, enjoining his departure, was
+delivered to him. "To have obeyed this order," writes Mr. Gourlay,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11"
+class="fnanchor">[11]</a> "would have proved ruinous to the business for which, at
+great expense, and with much trouble, I had qualified myself. It would have been a
+tacit acknowledgment of guilt, whereof I was unconscious. It would have been a
+surrender of the noblest British right; it would have been holding light my natural
+allegiance; it would have been a declaration that the Bill of Rights was a Bill of
+Wrongs. I resolved to endure any hardship rather than to submit voluntarily."</p>
+
+<p>He paid a heavy penalty for his disobedience. On the 4th of January,
+1819&mdash;the third day after the expiration of the period allowed him for
+departure&mdash;Dickson and Claus issued an order of commitment, under which he was
+arrested and lodged in Niagara jail, there to remain until the next sitting of the
+Court of Oyer and Terminer. His pugnacity was by this time fully aroused, and he
+determined to fight his ground inch by inch. After some delay, he caused himself to
+be taken before Chief<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg
+29]</a></span> Justice Powell, at York, under a writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>, for the
+purpose of being either discharged from custody or admitted to bail. The argument was
+heard on the 8th of February, when several persons of wealth and good social position
+presented themselves, and offered to become responsible to any amount for his
+appearance whenever called upon to stand his trial. The attorney who argued the cause
+on behalf of the prisoner presented three affidavits, made respectively by the
+Honourable Robert Hamilton, Peter Hamilton, and the prisoner himself, who, in order
+to render his position doubly unassailable, had meanwhile taken the oath of
+allegiance. In the first affidavit it was deposed that Mr. Gourlay had been
+domiciliated at Queenston for more than nine months, and that the deponent verily
+believed him to be a natural-born subject of Great Britain. By the second it appeared
+that deponent had known Mr. Gourlay in Britain, where he was respected, esteemed, and
+taken to be a British subject; "and that he is so"&mdash;thus ran the
+affidavit&mdash;"this deponent verily believes is notoriously true in this district."
+The prisoner's own affidavit set forth that he was a British subject; that he had
+taken the oath of allegiance, and that he had been an inhabitant of Upper Canada for
+more than a year prior to the date of the warrant first issued against him. There
+could hardly have been a clearer case. But the prisoner's enlargement at this time
+would have been a triumph for him, and would have made him a popular idol, which
+would not have comported with the policy of the Unholy Inquisition at the capital. He
+was remanded to jail, the Chief Justice indorsing judgment on the writ to the effect
+that the warrant of commitment appeared to be regular, and that the Act under which
+it was issued made no provision for bail or main-prize.</p>
+<p>When Mr. Gourlay was first placed in durance at Niagara he was possessed of robust
+health, a vigorous frame, a seemingly unconquerable will, and a perfervid enthusiasm
+for the cause of truth and justice. But his sufferings during the ensuing six months
+were of a nature well calculated to sap the health of the most robust, to rack the
+frame of an athlete, to tame the wildest enthusiasm, and to subjugate the strongest
+will. When we read of what the gentle and erudite John Fisher or the eloquent and
+upright Sir John Eliot underwent in the Tower for conscience sake, the heart's blood
+within us is stirred with righteous indignation. But we<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> are calmed by the reflection that
+these things took place centuries ago, and in a far-distant country. In the case of
+Robert Gourlay we can lay no such flattering unction to our souls. His slow
+crucifixion was accomplished in our own land, and at a time well remembered by many
+persons now living among us. Some idea of what he passed through may be derived from
+his own words already quoted. Further light on the subject may be obtained from
+noting his demeanour when placed on trial, as the reader will presently have an
+opportunity of doing.</p>
+
+<p>For some months after his incarceration his fine state of health and exuberant
+animal spirits kept him from utterly breaking down. His whole nature was up in arms
+at the wrongs he had sustained, and his pugnacity asserted itself as far as his
+circumstances would admit of. He obtained the opinions of eminent English lawyers as
+to the legal aspect of his case. The unanimous opinion of counsel was that his
+imprisonment was wholly unjustifiable. Sir Arthur Piggott was clear that Chief
+Justice Powell should have discharged the prisoner when brought before him under the
+writ of <i>habeas corpus</i>, and that Dickson and Claus were liable to actions for
+false imprisonment. This opinion was acted upon, and proceedings were instituted
+against the two last-named personages. But the contest was too unequal. Each of the
+defendants obtained an order for security for costs, which security the plaintiff,
+being in confinement, and subject to various disabilities, was unable to furnish. The
+actions accordingly lapsed, and Dickson and Claus thus escaped all civil liability
+for their most reprehensible deeds.</p>
+
+<p>The thread of the narrative may now be resumed pretty nearly where it was dropped
+a few pages back. It was, as has been said, the 20th of August&mdash;nearly a year
+subsequent to the Kingston trial<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a>&mdash;when the prisoner was finally
+placed in the dock to undergo the semblance, without the reality, of a judicial
+investigation into his conduct. He was himself firmly persuaded that the jury
+empanelled in his case was a packed one. We have no means of knowing all the
+circumstances whereby he was led to this conclusion, but the idea is not in itself
+inherently improbable. In those days, and for long after, no man tried in Upper
+Canada for anything savouring of radicalism in politics could hope to<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> receive fair play.
+In Gourlay's case there were one or two suspicious features which, to say the least,
+require explanation. The custom ordinarily adopted by the sheriff, in selecting
+jurymen, was to draw them in rotation from the various townships in the district. "In
+my case," says Mr. Gourlay, "it was said that he had varied his course; and not this
+only, but, instead of drawing from a square space of country, he chose a line of
+nearly twenty miles, along which it was well known that there were the greatest
+number of people prejudiced and influenced against me."<a name="FNanchor_13_13"
+id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> Mr.
+Gourlay further declares that it was observed by people in court that in the glass
+containing the folded transcripts from the jury-list some of the folded papers were
+distinctly set apart, so as to admit of their being drawn, apparently with fairness,
+in the ordinary manner. These papers so set apart from the rest, as Mr. Gourlay
+informs his readers, were "caught hold of" as the twelve which should decide his
+fate. The names of the jurors, which, so far as I am aware, have not hitherto
+appeared in print, are worthy of preservation. They were William Pew, John Grier,
+William Servos, James B. Jones, Ralfe M. Long, David Bastedo, John C. Ball, John
+Milton, James Lundy, William Powers, Peter M. Ball and John Holmes.</p>
+<p>The personal appearance of the prisoner had undergone a woful change during his
+confinement. Had his own wife seen him at that moment it is doubtful whether she
+would have recognized her lord. Could it be possible that that frail, tottering,
+wasted form, and that blanched, sunken-eyed, imbecile-looking countenance were all
+that were left of the once formidable Robert Gourlay? The sight was one which might
+have moved his bitterest enemy to tears. His clothing, a world too wide for so
+shrunken a tenant, hung sloppy and slovenly about him, and it was remarked by a
+spectator that he had aged fully ten years during the six months that had elapsed
+since his journey to York in the previous February. His limbs seemed too weak to
+support him where he stood, and as he leaned with his hands upon the rail in front of
+him his fingers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> twitched nervously, while his whole frame visibly trembled. The
+saddest change of all had been wrought in his once fine eyes. They were of light
+grey, and their ordinary expression had been more sharp and piercing than is commonly
+found in eyes of that colour. They had been clear and keen, and expressive of an
+active, vigorous brain behind them. At present they were wandering, weak and watery,
+altogether lacking in lustre or expression. They told their sad tale with piteous
+brevity. The brain was active and vigorous no longer, or, if still active, was so to
+no definite purpose. The spark of reason was for the time quenched within him. His
+oratory and his writings were no longer to be dreaded. The man whose large presence
+had once carried about with it unmistakable evidences of physical and mental power
+had been reduced to a physical and mental wreck. No man in that closely-packed
+court-room was now more harmless than he. The Compact had indeed set an indelible
+mark upon him&mdash;a mark which he was to carry to his grave, for during the
+forty-four years of life that remained to him he was never again the Robert Gourlay
+of old, and was subject to periodical seasons of mental aberration.</p>
+
+<p>And yet, as he stood there trembling and distraught, with that sea of faces turned
+upon him, he was not altogether without some glimmering of reason. He was at least
+passively conscious, like one in a troubled dream, of what was going on around him.
+He realized, in a misty, dazed sort of fashion that he was on his trial; but, cudgel
+his memory how he would, he could not recall the nature of his alleged offence. The
+fact is that, though no stimulant had passed his lips, he was in a state that can
+only be characterized as one of intoxication. We know, on undoubted authority, that
+very emotional persons are sometimes intoxicated by a plate of soup, and that
+invalids have become tipsy upon eating their first beefsteak after convalescence. Mr.
+Gourlay was endowed with an enthusiastic, exuberant nature, which required to be kept
+in subjection by abundant exercise. Up to the time of his imprisonment he had led an
+active out-of-door life, whereby the demon of nervousness within him had been kept at
+bay. But long-continued confinement in a close cell, deprivation of fresh air and
+suitable exercise, had hindered his exuberance from finding vent. His mind had<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> been thrown back
+upon itself. He had not been permitted to confer with his friends, except under such
+restrictions as made converse intolerable. He had been kept in such a state of
+nervous tension that he had had no appetite, and had eaten scarcely any food. His
+sleep had been broken by mental discomfort, and he had sometimes lain the whole night
+through without a minute's unconsciousness. What wonder that his flesh had sunk away
+from his bones, and that his frame had lost its elasticity! For some hours every day
+he had lain prostrate on the bed in his cell, in a state of feebleness pitiful to
+behold, unable to speak or move, and hardly able to breathe. "One morning," he
+writes, "while gasping for breath, I besought the gaoler to let me have more air, by
+throwing up the window. 'You are no gentleman,' said he; 'you gave that letter<a
+name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14"
+class="fnanchor">[14]</a> out of the window, and I will come presently to nail it
+down.' Happily a friend soon after called upon me, and through his interference the
+window was put up. The brutal gaoler had never before been uncivil to me ... but
+there is a spirit throughout animal nature, brute and human, to oppress in proportion
+as opportunity is safe, and the object defenceless. The wounded stag, and the close
+prisoner of a Provincial Government, experience similar treatment."<a
+name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15"
+class="fnanchor">[15]</a></p>
+
+<p>The summer heat, as before mentioned, had been excessive. No rain had fallen for
+weeks until just before the opening of the assizes, when there had been three days of
+damp, cool weather. During these three days the prisoner's strength had rallied
+wonderfully, and he had been able to prepare a written defence, as well as a written
+protest against the legality of his trial, in case of a hostile verdict. But the
+exertion had been too much for him in his enfeebled condition, and, as though to add
+to his miseries, the heat had become more intolerable than before. He had not known
+how utterly his nerves were shattered until his case had been called for trial, and
+he had been placed in the prisoners' dock. Hot and stifling as was the air of the
+court-room, it was balm itself when compared with the vitiated element which he had
+long been forced to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg
+34]</a></span> breathe. The stimulus was too great, and he was no longer master of
+himself. To quote his own words, he became rampant with the fresh air, and was
+reduced to imbecility at the very moment when he specially needed strength, patience
+and recollection. Such was his condition when Mr. Attorney-General rose from his seat
+and proceeded to lay bare the prisoner's unspeakable enormities. It had been
+determined that no attempt should be made to convict him of sedition, and that the
+only charge to be pressed against him should be his refusal to leave the Province.
+The indictment, however, was read and commented upon, doubtless for the purpose of
+influencing the minds of the audience. It charged, with wearisome iteration and
+reiteration, that he, the said Robert Gourlay, being a seditious and ill-disposed
+person, and contriving and maliciously intending the peace and tranquillity of our
+lord the King within the Province of Upper Canada to disquiet and disturb, and to
+excite discontent and sedition among his Majesty's liege subjects of this
+Province&mdash;and so forth, and so forth, to the end of the tedious and tautological
+chapter. The patriotic and disinterested conduct of Dickson and Claus, in performing
+the imperative but unpleasant duty of committing their personal friend to jail, lest
+he should undermine the loyalty of the people, was commented upon with periphrastic
+eloquence. When the official inquiry was put to the prisoner: "How say you, Robert
+Gourlay, are you guilty or not guilty?" he instinctively replied "Not guilty." Then
+came the next query: "Are you ready for your trial?" Ready for his trial, indeed!
+when his helpless condition was apparent to everybody who could catch a glimpse of
+his tottering frame and his vacant, expressionless face. The unmeaning sound which
+issued from his lips was taken for an affirmative, and the farce of an impartial
+investigation proceeded with.</p>
+
+<p>During the whole of these proceedings the prisoner stood like one amazed and
+confounded; as one who gropes blindly in the dark for what he cannot find. From the
+various hints scattered here and there throughout his numerous writings, we are able
+to form some idea of what he underwent during that trying ordeal. His imagination had
+been rendered more lively by weakness and prostration of body, and he was so
+stimulated by the change of air from his cell to the court-room that his<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> sensations were
+chiefly those of a vague and unreasoning delight&mdash;delight at the prospect of
+freedom; delight at the prospect of once more enjoying the luxury of heaven's
+sunlight unimpeded by the bars of a prison cell; of running rampant through the land,
+and feeling upon his sunken cheeks the deliciously invigorating air of the open
+fields. His high spirit had been effectually tamed by that rigid, excruciating
+torture of close confinement during the dog days, with no other companion than
+despair. By this time personal liberty and fresh air seemed to him the only things
+greatly to be desired. He was cognizant of a sensation of thankfulness that his trial
+had come on at last, even though it should result in his banishment. He rejoiced that
+he should even thus be set at liberty from his horrible situation.<a
+name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16"
+class="fnanchor">[16]</a> He longed to feel the tide of human life ebbing and flowing
+around him, and to feel that he himself was not a mere drone in the hive. During the
+progress of the trial, though he was oblivious of most that was going on in the
+court-room, memory and fancy were keenly alert, and he rapidly lived over again many
+episodes of his past life. The dead and gone years rose up before him like the scenes
+of a rapidly-shifting panorama, even as the past is said to arise before the mental
+vision of those lying on beds of pain, just before the great mystery of the grave is
+unfolded to their view. Subjects and scenes long forgotten or seldom remembered
+presented themselves. There was the little Fifeshire school, with its umbrageous
+playground, where he had been a merry laughing lad, and where Dominie Angus had given
+him his first taste of ferule and Fotherup. There was the patched portrait of
+Cardinal Beaton, in St. Mary's College, at which he and his friend John Dean had been
+wont to gaze with rapt admiration in the old days left so far behind. There was that
+odd adventure among the Mendip Hills, during his professional peregrination through
+Somersetshire more than a dozen years before, and upon which he could not remember
+that he had bestowed a single thought since his arrival in Canada. There, too, was
+the drunken type-setter from Bristol, who had taught him the technical marks to be
+used in making corrections for the press, and whom he had neither seen nor thought of
+since the publication of his pamphlet in which be had portrayed the sufferings of Bet
+Bennam and Mary Bacon. Who shall say what other<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> scenes, sad or mirthful, presented
+themselves among his "thick-coming fancies"? Possibly he recalled the high hopes of
+his boyhood, when he thirsted to better the condition of the poor, and was almost
+persuaded that he had been sent into the world expressly to guard their interests
+against the exactions of grasping landlords. Visions, too, may have arisen before him
+of his beautiful Wiltshire farm, where the modest daisies peeped above the grass, and
+the joyous lark sang from the meadow; where he had once been so happy in the
+companionship of his fond wife and little ones, who at this moment waited in longing
+expectation for tidings from the absent husband and father. Perchance also he called
+to mind, at that crisis, his little dead daughter, who had blossomed and faded among
+the green glades of Wily, and over whose grave the parson of the parish had refused
+to read the services of the Church.<a name="FNanchor_17_17"
+id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> The poor
+babe had died unchristened, and under such circumstances the rubric forbade the
+solemnization of funeral rites.</p>
+
+<p>From all such musings he was recalled by the voice of Chief Justice Powell,
+demanding if he had aught to say ere the sentence of the court should be pronounced
+upon him. The sentence of the court! For the best part of two hours he had been
+wool-gathering, and the words beat upon his brain without arousing any just
+appreciation of their significance. He now once more awoke to the fact that he was on
+his trial, but he could not grasp the potentialities of his situation, nor could he
+for the life of him recall the precise nature of the offence with which he had been
+charged. He did, however, realize that the jury had returned a verdict to the effect
+that he had been guilty of refusing to leave the Province, pursuant to the order
+served upon him. By a desperate effort he managed to rally his senses sufficiently to
+remember that he had been accused of being a seditious person, though whether the
+accusation had been made yesterday, or the day before, or half a century ago, he was
+wholly unaware. Turning towards the jury-box, he enquired of the nearest occupant
+whether he had been found guilty of sedition. Suddenly it flashed across him that he
+had prepared a defence, together with a written protest against the anticipated
+verdict. But by no mental exertion of which he was capable could he remember what he
+had done<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> with
+the defence, nor could he call to mind the word "protest," although at that moment he
+had the written one in his pocket. After a moment's struggle to remember what he
+wished to say, he found himself hopelessly befogged, and abandoned the attempt. Then,
+to the amazement of all who heard him, he burst out into a loud, strident peal of
+unmeaning, maniacal laughter&mdash;laughter which had no spice of merriment in it,
+and which was a mere spontaneous effort of nature to relieve the strain upon the
+shattered nerves. Bench, bar, jury and spectators stared aghast. Such laughter
+sounded not only incongruous, but sinister, ominous. It was suggestive of the
+expiring wail of a lost soul. It was more eloquent than any mere words could have
+been, and spoke with most miraculous organ. Over more than one heart there crept a
+sort of premonition that a dread reckoning must sometime arrive for that day's work:
+that Eternal Justice would sooner or later exact a fit penalty for the cruel
+perversion of right which was then and there being consummated. It would be
+interesting to know what, at that particular moment, were the innermost sensations of
+William Dickson and William Claus, both of whom sat within a few feet of their
+victim, and both of whom had repeatedly received offices of kindness at his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>Strange to say, the miserable man's memory was merely suspended, and he afterwards
+recalled with much clearness the thoughts and reflections which passed through his
+mind during that delirium of more than two hours. He even remembered the senseless
+bray of laughter which, to the sympathetic mind, is not the least impressive feature
+of that iniquitous trial. His overwrought nerves being temporarily relieved by the
+cachinnation, he regained for a few minutes some measure of composure and sanity.
+With the return of reason came a returning sense of injustice and oppression. He made
+a brief but ineffectual attempt to argue the matter with the Chief Justice, who
+informed him that the facts had been dealt with by the jury, and that he could be
+permitted to speak only on questions of law. The sentence of the Court was then
+pronounced. It was to the effect that the prisoner must quit the Province within
+twenty-four hours. He was reminded of the risk he would run in the event of his
+presuming to disobey, or to return to Upper Canada after his departure therefrom. He
+would be liable, according to the words of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38"
+id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> the Act of 1804, to suffer death as a felon, without
+benefit of clergy. The Chief Justice finally proceeded to read him a severe lecture
+upon his past course since his arrival in Canada, and furthermore to give him some
+excellent advice. He informed him that in this country the law is supreme; that no
+man can be permitted to run counter to it with impunity; that those who administer
+the law should be no respecters of persons; that justice is even-handed, and metes
+out impartially to the poor man and the rich. He advised him to turn his great
+abilities to practical account, whereby he would no doubt win happiness and
+distinction. "Perhaps," says George Eliot, "some of the most terrible irony of the
+human lot is to hear a deep truth uttered by lips that have no right to it." Poor
+Gourlay was conscious of some feeling of this sort when he heard such truths
+proclaimed from such lips. To his morbidly-sensitive nature, such irony seemed an
+aggravation of all he had endured. To think that, after such experiences as had
+fallen to his share, a Family Compact judge should gravely inform him that in Upper
+Canada the administrators of the law should be no respecters of persons! that justice
+is even-handed! To think that such an one should presume to advise him to become
+practical, with a view to wealth and happiness! It was like the adulterous woman who,
+on eloping with her paramour, wrote to her husband enjoining him to be virtuous if he
+would be happy. The incongruity struck the prisoner so forcibly that for a moment he
+was on the verge of another explosion of sardonic laughter. Before leaving the dock
+he made one last attempt to draw attention to the treatment he had sustained while in
+prison. By way of heightening the effect of his narration, he informed the Court that
+his letters had been suppressed by the sheriff:<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> that
+while his enemies had been allowed to fill the newspapers with lying diatribes
+against him, and to prejudice the public mind in view of his impending trial, his own
+letters to the Niagara <i>Spectator</i> had been<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> rigidly withheld from the light of
+day, and this by official interference. Chief Justice Powell put the cap-sheaf upon
+the pinnacle of absurdity by informing him that if he chose he might prosecute the
+sheriff. Prosecute the sheriff! when he had just been sentenced by the Chief Justice
+himself to leave the Province within twenty-four hours, and when he was liable to the
+last penalty of the law in case of his return to prosecute!</p>
+
+<p>The trial was ended, and&mdash;blissful thought!&mdash;for the ensuing twenty-four
+hours he was free to come and go whithersoever he would. He was taken in charge by
+his friends the Hamiltons, and spent the night in their house at Queenston. Next
+day&mdash;Saturday, the 21st of August&mdash;he obeyed the mandate of the law, and
+shook from his feet the parched dust of Upper Canadian soil. His mental condition was
+far from satisfactory, but he would brook no interference with his actions, even from
+his best friends. The feeling uppermost in his bosom was a delicious sense of being
+at large, with no one to shut the cell door upon him, or otherwise to control his
+actions. He felt like one recalled to life. The unhappy man was well aware that his
+brain was weak, but he also knew that he was not what is ordinarily understood as
+insane. Like Baldassarre, he carried within him that piteous stamp of sanity, the
+clear consciousness of shattered faculties. His feebleness was as patent to himself
+as to others. He knew that he was the mere wreck of what he had once been, and he
+knew further that his mental and bodily ruin was due to the triumph of tyranny and
+injustice. Still, he was, for the moment, happy. There was sunshine in his heart, and
+gladness in his eye. Having crossed the Niagara river, he knew that he was beyond the
+material grasp of those whose baneful shadow was nevertheless destined to darken the
+rest of his life. "I thanked God," he writes, several years afterwards, "as I set my
+first foot on the American shore, that I trod on a land of freedom. The flow of
+animal spirits carried me along for more than two miles in triumphant disgust. It
+carried me beyond my strength, till, staggering by the side of the road, I sunk down,
+almost lifeless, among the bushes, and awoke from my dream to a state of sensibility
+and horror past all power of description. If at my trial, and so long after it, I was
+callous to feeling; if I was blind to objects around me, and regardless of
+consequences, the scenes I had passed through were now too visible: my<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> senses were too
+keen; my feelings too acute. Before, all was frozen and rigid; now, extreme
+relaxation resigned me to the torture of a distracted mind, feeble, doubting, and
+irresolute. In fact, my nervous system had undergone a most violent change; and, to
+this hour, the effects are permanent: to this hour, with every effort and every
+appliance, my natural tone of health and vigour cannot be regained."<a
+name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19"
+class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p>
+
+<p>One of the bitterest reflections which forced itself upon him was that he, a man
+of unimpeachable loyalty, had been banished&mdash;"flung out like a spoilt jelly,"<a
+name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> under a statute which had been passed to guard against the
+machinations of aliens and traitors. "Banishment" was to him a word replete with
+repulsive and disgraceful associations. He liked it no better than did the sweet rose
+of the Capulets.</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+"Banished: that one word&mdash;<i>banished</i>.
+</blockquote>
+<blockquote>
+There is no end, no limit, measure, bound,<br />
+In that word's death."
+</blockquote>
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<p>On the 27th of August, precisely a week after the trial above described, a high
+and mighty English nobleman who was for the time domiciled in Canada underwent a more
+terrible experience than ever fell to the lot of Robert Gourlay. He was travelling at
+the time through a part of the county of Carleton, and while wandering through the
+woods, attended by several companions, he found himself exceedingly unwell. His
+spirits were depressed, and he was dominated by what seemed an unaccountable dread of
+water. His valet had noticed that for a day or two previously he had shrunk from
+performing his customary ablutions, and had cleaned his hands and face by the
+application of a damp towel. On approaching within a few yards of a forest stream he
+was seized by violent spasms. By a desperate resolution he forced himself to take his
+seat in a canoe which had been provided, but the little craft had not proceeded many
+yards ere he was seized by a fresh paroxysm, and in a frenzied tone ordered the
+boatman to land him on the nearest bank. The order was promptly obeyed, and he had no
+sooner escaped from the boat than he ran frantically into the depths of the wood. He
+was pursued and overtaken by his companions, who found him foaming at the mouth and
+raving mad. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg
+41]</a></span> secured him until the paroxysm had spent itself, when they conveyed
+him to a neighbouring shanty. The sufferer, at his own request, was soon after
+removed to an adjoining barn, where he said he should be more comfortable than in the
+shanty, as it was <i>further from the water</i>. Throughout the rest of the day and
+ensuing night he was subject to repeated returns of the paroxysms, during which he
+suffered untold agonies. It was evident to himself and those about him that he was
+afflicted by the most terrible of all maladies to which humanity is
+subject&mdash;hydrophobia. He had been bitten by a tame fox a few weeks before, and
+the deadly rabies had ever since been rankling in his system. He realized that he
+must die, and the instincts of his race&mdash;he was a remote by-blow of
+royalty&mdash;taught him to make an ending in a manner becoming a gentleman. Towards
+evening he consented to be taken back to the shanty, where a bed had been prepared
+for him. Except while the paroxysms were upon him, he was perfectly calm and
+collected, and gave his last sad directions to a friend who stood by his side. About
+eight o'clock on the morning of the 28th the death-agony came upon him, and his
+excruciating tortures were at an end.</p>
+<p>Thus passed away Charles Gordon Lennox, Fourth Duke of Richmond, Earl of March and
+Baron Settrington in the peerage of England; Duke of Lennox, Earl of Darnley and
+Baron Methuen in the peerage of Scotland; Duc d'Aubigny in France, Governor-General
+of Canada, lord of Halnaker, Goodwood and West Hampnett. There was, as has been above
+hinted, a bar sinister in his escutcheon, for he was descended from King Charles the
+Second and the fair and frail Frenchwoman Louise Ren&eacute;e de Querouaille, who was
+commonly known among Englishmen of her day as Madam Carwell. This lady, who was
+probably the least bad of the unlicensed prostitutes of Charles's seraglio at
+Whitehall, was for her many virtues created Duchess of Portsmouth. Her descendants,
+like those of Nell Gwynn and the rest of that frail sisterhood, are reckoned among
+the great ones of the earth. The Duke whose melancholy fate has just been chronicled
+was the father of Lady Sarah, spouse of Sir Peregrine Maitland, Lieutenant-Governor
+of Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 35%;' />
+<p>Was there any connection between these two tragical events: the trial of Robert
+Gourlay and the death of the Duke of Richmond? Mr. Gourlay<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> evidently leaned to the belief that
+there was.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21"
+class="fnanchor">[21]</a> The Duke and his son-in-law had passed through Niagara
+during the hot weather of July, while the victim of Family Compact villainy was
+gradually having his health and reason tortured out of him in the jail at that place.
+He was of opinion that the two distinguished visitors should have exercised their
+prerogative by setting him at liberty. This, of course, was an altogether
+unreasonable belief. His Grace was not at all likely to interfere in the matter, and
+as for Sir Peregrine, he was completely in the hands of Mr. Gourlay's enemies. The
+belief, however, is worth recording, as exhibiting the extent to which Mr. Gourlay's
+persecution continued to prey upon his mind, even after the lapse of years, and when
+he was in as good health as he ever regained.</p>
+<p>It was deemed advisable that Mr. Gourlay's case should be a perpetual warning to
+any and every person who might thereafter dare to tread in his venturesome footsteps.
+Accordingly, as has been seen, he had to drink the cup of mortification to the very
+dregs. And, by way of deterring public writers from aiding and abetting any such
+pestilent innovators for the future, it was determined that a notable example should
+be made of the editor of the Niagara <i>Spectator</i>, who had dared to side with the
+oppressed against the oppressor, and had published some of Mr. Gourlay's attacks upon
+the abuses of the time. His name was Bartemus Ferguson, and he had on several
+occasions manifested his sympathy with projects of reform. The discipline inflicted
+upon him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> was
+swift and severe. He was seized while in bed, in the middle of the night, a hundred
+and fifty miles from home, conveyed to jail at Niagara, and thence to York, where he
+was detained in prison for some days out of the reach of friends to bail him. He was
+tried for sedition at the Niagara assizes a day or two before Mr. Gourlay. In order
+that public journalists of the present day may note in what comparatively pleasant
+places their lines have fallen, I transcribe the sentence of the court, which was as
+follows:&mdash;"Therefore it is considered by the said court here that the said
+Bartemus Ferguson do pay a fine to our said lord the King of fifty pounds of lawful
+money of Upper Canada: That he, the said Bartemus Ferguson, be imprisoned in the
+common jail of the District of Niagara for the space of eighteen calendar months, to
+be computed from the eighth day of November, in the sixtieth year of the reign of our
+said lord the King: that in the course of the first month of the said eighteen months
+he do stand in the public pillory one hour, between the hours of ten o'clock in the
+forenoon and two o'clock in the afternoon: and that at the expiration of the said
+imprisonment he do give security for his good behaviour for the term of seven years:
+he the said Bartemus Ferguson in the sum of five hundred pounds, and two sureties in
+the sum of two hundred and fifty pounds each; and further, that he, the said Bartemus
+Ferguson, do remain imprisoned in the said jail until the aforesaid fine be paid and
+security given."</p>
+
+<p>The composition for which the editor was thus held to so stern an account was a
+letter written by Mr. Gourlay, and signed by his name, published in the
+<i>Spectator</i> during the editor's absence from home, and without his knowledge. It
+animadverted pretty sharply on the Administration of the day. In the jingling and
+jangling phraseology of the indictment, it was calculated to "detract, scandalize,
+and vilify His Grace Charles Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, Captain-General
+and Governor in and over the Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada, Nova Scotia and New
+Brunswick and their dependencies; and to scandalize and vilify Sir Peregrine
+Maitland, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, His
+Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor of this Province of Upper Canada." Certain public
+officials, not specifically alluded to by name, were referred to as fools and
+sycophants. But the letter did not contain a syllable which was not literally true,
+and was mildness itself when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg
+44]</a></span> compared with letters and articles which are constantly published with
+impunity in newspapers of all shades of political opinion in these present times. It
+appears that, upon the humble and unequivocal submission of the culprit, some of the
+most severe penalties imposed by the court were remitted, and that he was erelong
+allowed to resume his business;<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> but all enthusiasm for the public
+good had meanwhile been crushed out of him, and he became one more added to the list
+of subservient tools which the Executive always managed to have at their control.
+Such were the glories of a free press in enlightened Upper Canada sixty-six years
+ago. Such were the "good old times" which our grandfathers are never weary of
+belauding to the echo. How bright are the hues of retrospection! But for us of the
+present generation, let us be thankful to the Giver of all Good that such brave old
+times are long past, and that they can never return. Let them go; but surely it is
+too much to expect us to pronounce a benison upon their dead and departed dry
+bones.</p>
+
+<p>Even before the commencement of proceedings against Mr. Gourlay under the Alien
+Act, his conduct had furnished a pretext to those in authority for striking a heavy
+blow against freedom of speech and action. The holding of conventions, whereat
+meddlesome persons of the Gourlay stamp might air their grievances and agitate for
+investigations into public abuses, was a thing not to be tolerated in Upper Canada.
+Upon the assembling of the Legislature at York, in October, 1818, the
+Lieutenant-Governor, in his opening Speech, hinted at a law to prevent the holding of
+such meetings; and in the course of the ensuing session a Bill to effect that object
+was introduced into the Assembly by Mr. Jonas Jones, member for Grenville. The Bill
+was supported by twelve out of the thirteen members present, and was speedily passed
+into law; but, as will hereafter be seen, it was not destined to a long life.</p>
+<br />
+
+<p>After a brief delay in the State of New York, Mr. Gourlay repaired to Boston, and
+thence took ship for Liverpool. On a subsequent page we shall catch one more brief
+glimpse of him, but with that exception<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45"
+id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> the present work has no further concern with his
+chequered existence. He will be referred to from time to time, but only incidentally,
+and for purposes of illustration. Those who may feel sufficient interest in him to
+follow his fortunes and misfortunes to the bitter end, will find some account of them
+in the authority quoted below.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span
+class="label">[1]</span></a> Not, however, his <i>immediate</i> judicial
+successor. Mr.&mdash;afterwards Sir William&mdash;Campbell became Chief Justice
+in 1825, and Mr. Robinson's succession did not take place until four years later.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span
+class="label">[2]</span></a> "Upon my soul, you mustn't come into the place
+saying you want to know, you know! You have no right to come this sort of
+move!"&mdash;<i>Little Dorrit.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span
+class="label">[3]</span></a> For a much more comprehensive account of Mr.
+Gourlay's life than the one here given, the reader is referred to a sketch by the
+author of this work in <i>The Canadian Portrait Gallery</i>, Vol. III., pp. 240-256.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span
+class="label">[4]</span></a> More than half a century later the venerable Doctor
+thus wrote to his old school-fellow: "... I received your interesting letter ...
+with no slight emotion of kindness and respect, having ever regarded you as one
+of the ablest of my fellow-students at St. Andrews; and who, if human life had
+not been the lottery it is, would have earned by his talents, and merited by his
+friendly disposition, a place of high and honourable distinction in society."</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span
+class="label">[5]</span></a> The following observations, written concerning Mr.
+Young by Mr. Gourlay many years afterwards, contain, so far as they go, a
+singularly accurate portraiture of the Banished Briton himself:&mdash;"He was an
+enthusiast, and of course honest: he was well educated, and a gentleman. In all
+his voluminous writings a mean sentiment is not to be found. His habit of making
+free with people's names, and taking liberties with their writings, arose from an
+uncontrollable ardour in the cause of improvement.... His inclination to
+accumulate crude and undigested information, sufficiently evinced in some of his
+tours, had their full scope: he then lost himself, and bewildered others, in the
+confusion of detail. I question if he ever had the power of correct abstract
+reasoning. His imagination was too busy for it: his eye was too ravenous,
+devouring all within its reach."&mdash;<i>General Introduction to Statistical
+Account of Upper Canada</i>; p. xcvii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span
+class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Canadian Portrait Gallery</i>, Vol. III., p. 241.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span
+class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Ex. gr</i>.:&mdash;"The law! the law!"
+impatiently exclaimed the Reverend Doctor, in his most strident vernacular, when
+the question of Barnabas Bidwell's expulsion from the Assembly was under
+discussion in his hearing&mdash;"Never mind the law; toorn him oot, toorn him oot."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span
+class="label">[8]</span></a> "The local situation of Upper Canada exposes it to
+the inroad of aliens of all nations, who, having no tie of allegiance or
+affection to Britain, may thence be suspected of evil designs; and for that
+reason terrors may be held out to keep them at a distance; but for British
+subjects to be suspected and made liable to penalties on mere suspicion, is
+contrary at once to nature and the spirit of our constitution. It is more
+especially absurd when we consider that the law was expressly made for
+<i>their</i> protection."&mdash;<i>General Introduction to Statistical Account of
+Upper Canada,</i> p. lxviii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span
+class="label">[9]</span></a> Seven or eight years after this time Swayze narrowly
+escaped prosecution for the murder of Captain William Morgan, who is presumed to
+have been slain for his threatened disclosure of the Masonic Ritual. Swayze
+openly boasted that he had been concerned in the abduction of Morgan, and in the
+execution of Masonic vengeance upon him. He professed to be able to indicate the
+precise spot where the body was buried&mdash;which spot, he declared, was not far
+from the bottom of his garden. Upon investigation these vainglorious boastings
+proved to be utterly without any foundation in fact.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> Dickson had originally
+made Gourlay's acquaintance in 1810, when he visited and spent a week with him at
+his farm in Wiltshire. See Gourlay's <i>Statistical Account of Upper Canada,</i>
+Vol. 2, p. 494.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>General
+Introduction to Statistical Account of Upper Canada</i>, p. ix.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> In these times there
+was but one jail delivery per annum in Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> <i>Statistical
+Account</i>, Vol. II., p. 342. In a note to p. xv. of the <i>General
+Introduction</i>, Mr. Gourlay says further: "The jury in this case was
+notoriously packed. To guard against the effects of this as much as possible, I
+had, in the expectation of trial for libel, obtained lists of inimical jurymen,
+and had people willing to appear in court to swear that many of them had
+prejudged me openly, in the rancour of party dispute. These lists were handed to
+me through the door, before and during the assizes; but all caution and care
+forsook me in the time of need."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> Referring to a letter
+written to attract sympathy to the case of the editor of the Niagara
+<i>Spectator</i>, who had been imprisoned and shamefully abused for publishing
+several of Mr. Gourlay's criticisms. Some account of the persecution to which
+this gentleman was subjected will be found on a future page.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>Statistical
+Account</i>, Vol. 2, pp. 393, 394.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> <i>General
+Introduction</i>, p. xv.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> <i>General
+Introduction</i>, pp. ccviii., ccix., and note.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> The sheriff was Thomas
+Merritt, father of the gentleman who afterwards became the Hon. William Hamilton
+Merritt, to whose enterprise, more than to that of any other man, we owe the
+Welland Canal. It is right to add that most of the subordinate duties of the
+office of sheriff were discharged by an underling, and that Thomas Merritt may
+have been personally free from blame in respect of Mr. Gourlay. Assuming him to
+have been blamable, his son, the Hon. W. H. Merritt, in after days, did his
+utmost to atone for it by espousing Mr. Gourlay's cause in the Canadian Assembly,
+as will be seen by reference to the Parliamentary debates of 1856, 1857 and 1858.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>Statistical
+Account</i>, Vol. II., pp. 400, 401.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Ib., p. 401.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Mr. Gourlay was in
+error as to the date of the Duke's death. He represents him as "writhing in agony
+at the self same hour," and as dying on the same day when he, Mr. Gourlay,
+crossed over into the United States.&mdash;<i>Statistical Account</i>, vol. 2, p.
+401. He was astray by exactly a week. By reference to the precept of the court, I
+find that Mr. Gourlay's trial took place on the day specified in the
+text&mdash;Friday, the 20th of August. He left the Province on the following
+day&mdash;Saturday, the 21st. The Duke's death took place on Saturday, the
+28th.</p>
+
+<p>It may perhaps be as well for me to refer here to a story which seems to have
+obtained some currency, to the effect that the Duke of Richmond's death was due,
+not to hydrophobia, but to delirium tremens. There is not the shadow of truth in
+the story. The evidence as to the Duke's having been bitten at Sorel by a tame
+fox; as to his showing the healed wound on his thumb several weeks afterwards; as
+to his dread of water during the day before his death, and as to all the
+circumstances attending that tragical event, is as clear as evidence can very
+well be. Moreover, his habits were by no means such as to lead to <i>mania a
+potu</i>. He was a <i>bon vivant</i>, but, so far as I have been able to
+ascertain, he did not drink to excess, and was always master of such brains as he
+possessed. His end was one which his family might honestly mourn, and there was
+little in his life, nothing in his death, of which they had any cause to feel
+ashamed.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> "Major-General" D.
+McLeod, in his "History of the Canadian Insurrection," p. 75, incorrectly states
+that Ferguson "died in jail from extremely cruel usage."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> <i>Canadian Portrait
+Gallery</i>, Vol. III., pp. 240-256.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapii.jpg" width="300" height="93" alt="chapii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER II.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p>
+
+<h4>A BILL OF PARTICULARS.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/lettert.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="lettert" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">T</span>
+he course of bitter persecution sustained by Mr. Gourlay was really the first
+remote germ of the Upper Canadian Rebellion. In making this statement I would not be
+understood as asserting that Gourlay was the first person to set himself up in
+opposition to authority in the Province, or even that he was the first victim of
+Executive tyranny. There had been more or less of dissatisfaction at the selfish and
+one-sided policy of the Administration ever since shortly after the departure of
+Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in 1796. Between that date and Mr. Gourlay's arrival in
+the Province several personages of some local note had paid heavy penalties for
+daring to have opinions of their own. Mr. Wyatt, the Surveyor-General, had been
+dismissed from office because he had presumed to point out certain official
+irregularities, and because he would not betray the trust reposed in him. Joseph
+Willcocks had been goaded into treason by a long course of persecution. Judge Thorpe
+had been driven from the country quite as effectually as Mr. Gourlay, for no other
+reason than that he had persisted in holding up official corruption to the public
+gaze. But none of these manifestations of "the oppressor's wrath, the proud man's
+contumely," had taken so deep a hold upon the public mind as did the case of Mr.
+Gourlay. The injuries inflicted upon him had been so cruel, the perversion of justice
+so vile, that the public conscience received a shock from which it did not recover
+during the existing generation. For the first time in Upper Canada's history signs of
+an organized Opposition began to appear upon the floor of the Assembly. Thenceforward
+the antagonism between the two parties grew in intensity from year to year. In
+process of time the Opposition frequently became the controlling power in the House.
+At a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> later
+stage of its development it divided into two parts. One of these constituted the
+moderate Reform Party of the Province. The other was made up of the advanced Radical
+element, whence emanated the Rebellion which forms the especial subject of the
+present work. All of which will hereafter be narrated with greater amplitude of
+detail.</p>
+
+<p>It has been intimated that traces of dissatisfaction began to be apparent soon
+after Governor Simcoe's time. Upon his demission of authority the direction of
+affairs devolved upon the Honourable Peter Russell, as senior member of the Executive
+Council; and that gentleman had not been long in authority before murmurs began to be
+heard about the partial and defective administration of the important department of
+Crown Lands. There were comparatively few men in the country possessed of sufficient
+education and business experience to admit of their being entrusted with the charge
+of public affairs; and where all the offices were necessarily in the hands of a small
+number of persons, it was a foregone conclusion that irregularities should creep in,
+and that cliquishness and favouritism should prevail to a greater or less extent.
+When Lieutenant-Governor Hunter arrived, in 1799, he found that certain objectionable
+practices had become common, and that the foundation had been laid of serious public
+evils. Greed and favouritism had obtained a strong foothold, and scarcely any branch
+of the public service was efficiently managed. The sin of covetousness was not
+confined to subordinate officials, but included among its votaries some of the
+highest dignitaries of the Province. It would seem that President Russell himself had
+an itching palm, and that his individual interests were carefully watched over during
+his temporary administration of affairs. Everybody has heard how he made grants of
+public lands from himself to himself,<a name="FNanchor_24_24"
+id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> thereby violating
+one of the most cherished maxims of English jurisprudence. Lieutenant-Governor
+Hunter, in a letter written to a friend in England soon after his arrival at York,
+refers to P. R.&mdash;by whom Mr. Russell is clearly indicated&mdash;as "an
+avaricious one." In a subsequent part of the same epistle he adds: "So far as
+depended upon him [Mr. Russell] he would grant land to the de'il and all his family
+as good Loyalists, if they would only pay the fees." During Governor Hunter's own
+term of office, though there is no evidence of corruption or double-dealing on his
+own part, abuses continued to exist, and dishonesty too often stared honesty out of
+countenance. During the <i>r&eacute;gime</i> of his successor, Commodore Grant, these
+abuses grew steadily, both in number and in bulk; and during Francis Gore's long
+though interrupted administration, they reached a height which called aloud for
+redress.</p>
+
+<p>And here it is desirable to enquire into the specific nature of the manifold evils
+which enriched a few at the expense of the many; which endowed a venal and corrupt
+clique with a practical monopoly of political and social power; which sowed the
+deadly seed of factious strife, and stemmed the tide of Upper Canadian
+prosperity.</p>
+
+<p>Theoretically speaking, the constitution granted to Upper Canada by the Act of
+1791 was not unfairly represented by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe as being "the very
+image and transcript of that of Great Britain."<a name="FNanchor_25_25"
+id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> We had a
+Legislative Council, the members whereof were appointed by the Crown for life. This
+body bore some resemblance to the British House of Lords. Next, we had a Legislative
+Assembly, the members whereof were periodically elected by the people&mdash;or rather
+by such of the people as possessed a sufficient property qualification to entitle
+them to exercise the franchise; and this property qualification was placed so low as
+almost to constitute universal suffrage.<a name="FNanchor_26_26"
+id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> The
+Assembly corresponded to the British House of Commons; and these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> two
+bodies&mdash;Council and Assembly&mdash;with the Lieutenant-Governor, constituted the
+Provincial Parliament. The last-named functionary of course corresponded to the
+Sovereign of Great Britain. He was appointed by the Crown, to whom he was solely
+responsible. He was in no constitutional sense responsible to either branch of the
+Legislature, or to both branches combined, or to any other cis-Atlantic authority
+whatsoever.</p>
+
+<p>With such substitutes for King, Lords and Commons, Upper Canada might therefore be
+said to possess a pretty close copy of the British constitution. But when carried
+into practice the resemblance failed in a matter of the very highest import. The
+absence of ministerial responsibility was an all-comprehending divergence. When a
+British ministry fails to command the confidence of the electorate, as represented by
+the House of Commons, resignation must follow. In other words, the Government of the
+day derives its power from the people, to whom it is responsible for the manner in
+which it discharges the trust reposed in it; and the moment it fails to command
+public confidence it must give way to those who possess such confidence. The test of
+confidence is the vote in the House of Commons. This has been a recognized principle
+of English Parliamentary Government for nearly two hundred years; in fact, ever since
+the settlement of the constitution after the Revolution of 1688. With us in Upper
+Canada there was none of this ministerial responsibility. We had a ministry, but not
+a responsible ministry. It was manifestly impossible that each member of the
+Legislative Council and Assembly should be consulted as to every minute detail of the
+administration. Such a system would be cumbrous, and altogether impracticable. The
+actual task of carrying on the Government was therefore, as in England, entrusted to
+a small body of men who, from the nature of their functions, were known as the
+Executive Council. The members of this body were appointed by the Crown&mdash;that is
+to say, by the Lieutenant-Governor&mdash;at will. It was not necessary that they
+should have seats in either branch of the Legislature, to neither of which were they
+in any sense responsible. They were not required to possess any property or other
+qualification. In a word, the Crown's representative was at liberty to select them
+without any restriction, and no one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> in the Province would have had any constitutional
+right to call him to account if he had seen fit to enrol his own valet as an
+Executive Councillor. As matter of fact they were commonly selected from the
+judiciary and other salaried officials, and from the members of the Legislative
+Council. Their number was indeterminate, but was seldom less than four or more than
+six, in addition to the Lieutenant-Governor himself. Their functions consisted of
+giving advice to the Lieutenant-Governor on all matters of governmental policy,
+whenever he might deem it expedient to consult them. With respect to mere matters of
+detail, such as appointments to office, he was not supposed to be under the necessity
+of advising with them, nor, according to an opinion long and ostentatiously
+proclaimed, was he in these early days under the smallest obligation to follow their
+advice after it had been given. This, however, was merely the prescriptive view, and
+it derived no sanction from the Constitutional Act itself, which incidentally refers
+to the Executive Council as being appointed "within such Province, for the affairs
+thereof." On the other hand, the Executive Councillors themselves were not legally or
+constitutionally responsible to the Upper Canadian people, either individually or
+collectively, for any line of policy they might inculcate, or for any advice they
+might give. There were no means whereby they could be called to account by the
+people, even should they corruptly and openly abuse the trust reposed in them.</p>
+<p>It is not difficult to foresee the result of so anomalous a state of things,
+though in this Province, owing to sparsity of population and other local causes, the
+result did not immediately become apparent. Simcoe was a strong-minded, as well as a
+conscientious man. He had a policy of his own for the government of the country, both
+at large and in detail, and during his <i>r&eacute;gime</i> he carried out that
+policy as to him seemed best. He from time to time went through the form of
+consulting with his Executive Council, but, so far from receiving any impulse from
+them, he invariably carried all before him at the Council Board, and was the be-all
+and end-all of the Administration. He was, in short, a beneficent despot, of high and
+disinterested views, who accomplished much good for Upper Canada, and would doubtless
+have accomplished more but for his too early removal. The moment his all-pervading<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>
+influence was gone, however, the mischief, as has already been seen, began to work.
+President Russell granted public lands to Peter Russell, and rapidly laid up a store
+of wealth. Where the head of the public service was thus disposed to help himself, we
+may be sure that subordinate officials were not slow to follow his example.
+Subsequent Lieutenant-Governors were for the most part military men, with little
+knowledge of the country's needs, and with a disposition to make their voluntary
+exile as easy and agreeable&mdash;and withal as profitable&mdash;as might be.<a
+name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27"
+class="fnanchor">[27]</a> They naturally turned for counsel and assistance to their
+Executive Councillors, who thus became the dispensers of patronage and the supreme
+power in the State. The Crown's representative was a mere tool in their hands. Their
+domination was complete. "A body of holders of office thus constituted," says Lord
+Durham,<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28"
+class="fnanchor">[28]</a> "without reference to the people or their representatives,
+must in fact, from the very nature of colonial government, acquire the entire
+direction of the affairs of the Province. A Governor, arriving in a colony in which
+he almost invariably has had no previous acquaintance with the state of parties or
+the character of individuals, is compelled to throw himself almost entirely upon
+those whom he finds placed in the position of his official advisers. His first acts
+must necessarily be performed, and his first appointments made, at their suggestion.
+And as these first acts and appointments give a character to his policy, he is
+generally brought thereby into immediate collision with the other parties in the
+country, and thrown into more complete dependence upon the official party and its
+friends."</p>
+
+<p>It has been the fashion with most writers on our early history to represent the
+Executive Council as an arbitrary creation of the early Lieutenant-Governors: as an
+arrangement sanctioned by the Imperial authorities, but not authorized by the
+Provincial constitution. Such writers cannot have read the debates which took place
+in the House of Commons while the Constitutional Act of 1791 was under discussion
+there. Nay, they cannot have read the Act itself with much care.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> Nothing is more
+certain than that the framers of that statute contemplated the creation of an
+Executive Council. By reference to the seventh, thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth
+clauses it will be seen that the Executive Council is definitely mentioned by name,
+and that the appointment of such a body is assumed, and treated as a matter of
+course. But that the Council should occupy the same relative position as in Great
+Britain, and that it should be amenable to public opinion as expressed by the vote of
+the House of Assembly, does not appear to have been clearly understood. Indeed, with
+the exception of a few master minds, such as Pitt, Fox, and Burke, but little
+interest seems to have been taken by British legislators in this important colonial
+experiment. Parliamentary Government, though it had been long established in England,
+had not then been reduced to a science. Even such clear-sighted statesmen as Pitt and
+Fox were blind to facts which at the present day force themselves upon the attention
+of every student of constitutional history. What wonder, then, that there should have
+been defects in the measure of 1791? What wonder that even eminent statesmen should
+have attempted to square the circle in politics by introducing such an incongruity as
+representative institutions without Executive responsibility? Power was given to the
+popular branch of the Legislature to pass measures for the public good. But, no
+matter how overwhelming might be the majorities whereby such measures were passed,
+there was no obligation on the other branches of the Legislature to accept or act
+upon them. In the words of one of our own writers: "the Legislative Councils,
+nominated by the Crown, held the Legislative Assemblies by the throat, kept them
+prostrate, and paralyzed them."<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> As for the members of the Executive
+Council, they were to all intents and purposes independent of public opinion, and
+could override a unanimous vote of the Assembly without incurring any responsibility
+whatever. By reference to the correspondence between successive colonial Governors
+and the Home Office, it appears to have been tacitly recognized by the magnates on
+both sides of the Atlantic that it was unnecessary for a colonial Executive to defer
+to a Parliamentary majority. The right of appointment to office was considered to be
+the exclusive prerogative of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg
+53]</a></span> the representative of the Sovereign, and it was regarded as a badge of
+colonial dependence that the people should have no voice in such matters.</p>
+
+<p>It seems to have been assumed that certain Imperial interests were involved in
+this great question, and that to give way to the popular demand would be to render
+the colonies free from Imperial control. What those particular interests were which
+required to be protected by so jealous and anomalous a doctrine does not appear to be
+anywhere specified with precision. But nothing is more certain than that confusion
+and chaos must be the inevitable outcome of any attempt to reduce to practice such
+opposite principles as are involved in Representative Government and Executive
+irresponsibility. Such an attempt in England would very soon produce revolution. Such
+an attempt in France did actually produce revolution in 1830, when Charles the Tenth
+was deposed for his persistent endeavours to maintain an unpopular ministry in power.
+No country in the world would long continue to tolerate a Parliamentary system which
+was free and representative in theory, but tyrannous and despotic in practice. Upper
+Canada was indeed long-suffering, but a time arrived when it became evident that
+there was a limit to her powers of endurance.</p>
+
+<p>As the years rolled by, and the country steadily advanced in wealth and
+population, abuses grew apace.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> The Executive became rapacious and
+tyrannical. Commanding, as they did, the entire administrative and official influence
+of the Province, they ordered all things according to their own pleasure. They could
+count upon the support of every member of the Legislative Council. Indeed, through
+their pliant tool, the Lieutenant-Governor for the time being, they controlled the
+mem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span>bership of
+the latter body, and took care that no man was appointed a Legislative Councillor
+unless he was either one of themselves or wholly subject to their influence. The
+Assembly soon found that it was deliberately and systematically deprived of the
+privileges which of right belonged to it, and that it was little better than a
+nullity. It might meet and go through the form of passing such measures as it saw
+fit, but if the measures so passed were not acceptable to the Legislative and
+Executive Councils they were contumeliously vetoed when they reached the Upper House.
+This brought the two deliberative branches of the Legislature into direct and
+perpetual conflict. The Assembly, however, in early years, was always largely made up
+of such men as Isaac Swayze&mdash;subservient creatures of the Administration, who
+opposed their influence to that of the tribunes of the people, and prevented any
+collision between the two Houses from assuming a very serious constitutional aspect.
+It was not till the third decade of the century that the conflict assumed such a
+character as to threaten the foundations of the constitution itself; and it was not
+till the fourth decade that any actual attempt was made to subvert those
+foundations.</p>
+
+<p>The Province was about fifteen years old before the inhabitants of Upper Canada
+generally began to realize what an intolerable burden they had to bear in this
+irresponsible Executive. Before that time some of the better educated and more
+intelligent among them recognized its existence as an evil with which they or their
+descendants would at some future time be called upon to deal. But such persons were
+comparatively few in number, and as the burden did not lie with special heaviness
+upon their own backs, they did not feel called upon to involve themselves in what
+might prove a ruinous quarrel with persons who would not tamely submit to
+interference. As for the inhabitants generally, they were too busily occupied in
+clearing their lands, in hewing out homes for themselves and their families in the
+vast wilderness, and in reducing the soil to a state fit for cultivation, to give
+themselves much concern about public affairs. There was no newspaper press to
+stimulate them to enquiry. The only sheet published in the Province which by any
+license of language could be called a regular newspaper was <i>The Upper Canada
+Gazette</i>, which was the official mouthpiece of the Administration. <i>The Canada
+Constellation</i>, which was a quaint long folio, published at the old capital,
+Niagara,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> had
+but a brief existence, and expired during the very early years of the century. The
+<i>Upper Canada Guardian</i>, to be hereafter referred to, did not come into being
+till 1807. Editorial articles, except of the briefest and crudest sort, were a still
+later development. The bucolic mind had no intellectual stimulant whatever except
+such as was to be obtained from contact with other bucolic minds through the medium
+of conversation. It was no wonder, then, that for the first fifteen years after the
+creation of Upper Canada, the Provincial Government should have been permitted to do
+very much as it chose, without being subjected to any formidable criticism on the
+part of the community.</p>
+
+<p>The Legislative Council, as has been said, was composed of members nominated by
+the Sovereign's representative. By the sixth section of the Constitutional Act
+provision had been made for the creation of a hereditary nobility, with the
+hereditary right of being summoned to the Legislative Council. Happily this authority
+was not exercised; otherwise, as Gourlay has remarked, "we should have seen, perhaps,
+the Duke of Ontario leading in a cart of hay, my Lord Erie pitching, and Sir Peter
+Superior making the rick; or perhaps his Grace might now have been figuring as a
+pettifogging lawyer, his Lordship as a pedlar, and Sir Knight, as a poor parson,
+starving on five thousand acres of Clergy Reserves."<a name="FNanchor_31_31"
+id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> We were
+spared the spectacle of such absurdities, and life members of the Legislative Council
+were the nearest approach to a nobility vouchsafed to us. Some of the first
+appointees were men of intelligence and probity, but few of those subsequently
+created could with any show of truthfulness be so characterized. They were for the
+most part dependants of the Government, with no fitness, educational or otherwise,
+for the discharge of grave legislative functions, and with no motive but to do the
+bidding of those who had clothed them with the dignity of office. All things
+considered, this condition of things was to be looked for; but the inevitable result
+followed. The few upright members either died off in the course of time, and were
+succeeded by sycophantic placemen, or, finding themselves outnumbered, ceased to
+attend the sittings of the branch of the Leg<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56"
+id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span>islature to which they belonged. In one way and
+another, those who really wished to preserve the public interests were weeded out,
+and nothing was left but a rump devoted to the Executive will. Instead of answering
+the purpose for which it was originally intended, the Legislative Council became a
+mere instrument in the hands of the oligarchy for stemming back the tide of public
+opinion. Instead of forming a seasonable and wholesome check upon extravagance and
+inconsiderate legislation in the Lower House, it contributed to the impoverishment of
+the Provincial revenue by assisting to keep the control of public affairs in the
+hands of selfish and unprincipled men. Instead of preserving the "happy balance of
+our glorious Constitution"&mdash;a phrase constantly placed in the mouths of
+Lieutenant-Governors, and embodied in their addresses to our Canadian simulacrum of
+the House of Lords&mdash;it tended to keep the balance all on one side, and that side
+was the one most prejudicial to the public good. It became a mere stop-gap interposed
+by the Government between itself and the Assembly. The Assembly passed measure after
+measure with careful deliberation, only to find that their time had been thrown away,
+for upon reaching the Upper House these measures were ignominously thrust aside. One
+who had himself been a member of the Assembly, and who had had personal experience of
+the evils whereof he wrote, has left the following description of the manner in which
+Bills from the Lower Chamber were treated in the Upper: "Sitting for a short time
+each day, the Bills of the Assembly are despatched under the table with unexampled
+celerity. Deputations, conveying up popular measures, no sooner have their backs
+turned than the process of strangulation commences. Bills that have undergone
+discussion for days in the other House, and that have been amended and perfected with
+the greatest care, no sooner arrive in their august presence than their fate is
+sealed."<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32"
+class="fnanchor">[32]</a> He adds: "Of those who attend to their duties, two-thirds
+are dependent on the Government for either salaries or pensions. It is not harsh to
+say that they become the willing tools of the hand that feeds them, instead of
+looking to the interests of those from whom they indirectly derive their support.
+Such gratitude may be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> very amiable, but it is no qualification for an independent
+legislator."<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> These lines were written as late as
+the year 1837, and their author informs us that within the preceding eight years the
+Council had rejected no fewer than three hundred and twenty-five Bills passed by the
+Assembly, being an average of more than forty for each session<a
+name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34"
+class="fnanchor">[34]</a>&mdash;a statement which is fully confirmed by reference to
+the official journals of the respective Houses.</p>
+
+<p>Such a method of procedure, leading to inevitable conflicts between the two
+Houses, caused the public business to be impeded and the public interests to be very
+inefficiently conserved. The whole administrative system of the Province was
+disorganized. The contest was very unequal, for the Government could frequently
+command a majority of votes in the Assembly. The minority in that House smarted under
+a sense of tyranny and injustice, and felt that they were of no weight in the body
+politic. That sense of dignity which is imparted by a consciousness of contributing
+to the formation of public policy and opinion was wanting. Not only were the benefits
+arising from a proper organization of labour altogether lost, but the antagonism
+between the two factors in political life was so great that they to a large extent
+neutralized each other. The Upper House had no weight with the people; the Lower
+House had no weight with the Crown.</p>
+
+<p>One of the greatest drawbacks to the country's prosperity was the method of
+granting public lands. It had been the policy of Governor Simcoe to encourage
+immigration from the United States, as well as from Great Britain and continental
+Europe. He had offered great inducements, in the shape of free grants of wild lands,
+to persons settling in Upper Canada, and his offer had produced the expected results
+in the shape of a full tide of immigrants. He had, however, exercised a rigid
+personal supervision over these grants, and had done his utmost to prevent the abuse
+of his bountiful regulations. His successors were less scrupulous, and being, as has
+been seen, under the control of greedy and selfish persons, they permitted the public
+lands to be used as means of enriching and corrupting the favourites of the
+Administration. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg
+58]</a></span> land-granting department was honeycombed by jobbery and corruption.
+Grants of five thousand acres were made to each member of the Executive Council, and
+of twelve hundred acres to each of their children. Similar grants were made to
+certain favoured members of the Legislative Council and their children.<a
+name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35"
+class="fnanchor">[35]</a> Numerous other personages who could command sufficient
+influence at Court obtained grants of twelve hundred acres each. The extent of an
+ordinary grant was two hundred acres. From the creation of the Province down to 1804
+these donations were unattended by any cost whatever to the grantees beyond trifling
+fees to the officials for their trouble in passing the entries through the office
+books. The privilege of obtaining landed estates for nothing was abused to such an
+extent, however, that the Home Office interfered, and in the year last named a scale
+of fees proportionate to the extent of the grant was introduced; but U. E. Loyalists,
+officers, soldiers, Executive Councillors and their children were exempt even from
+this trifling burden. In 1818 the performance of certain settlement duties was
+imposed upon all persons receiving grants, without any exemptions, and in after years
+several other scales of fees were introduced from time to time. The public lands were
+committed to the care of an official called the Surveyor-General, and it was not
+until 1827 that a Commissioner of Crown Lands was appointed. During the first
+thirty-five years of the Province's history grants of land were entirely subject to
+the discretion of the Governor-in-Council, not merely as to the quantity and
+situation of the land itself, but also as to whether the applicant should receive any
+grant at all.<a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> Under such a system it was
+inevitable that the grossest par<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>tiality should prevail, and it was but seldom that any
+one succeeded in obtaining a grant until those in authority had satisfied themselves
+that he was to be relied upon to uphold any policy which they might see fit to
+dictate. Official dignitaries granted lands to their servants and other dependants,
+and, as soon as certain requisite forms had been complied with, these lands were
+transferred to themselves or their children. In other cases persons were actually
+hired by the month to draw land and perform the settlement duties, after which the
+land was conveyed to their employers. Having the run of the official books, these
+cormorants contrived in one way and another to acquire for themselves and their
+creatures all the best lands in the Province, either wholly for nothing or at a price
+which was merely nominal. "The keys of office," says a writer already quoted from,
+"were held by themselves or friends, and no admittance to their secrets was allowed
+except to the initiated, whose favourable out-of-door statements could be relied on.
+Never since the Norman invasion of England was there such a wholesale partition of
+plunder."<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37"
+class="fnanchor">[37]</a> Many persons owned or controlled, directly or indirectly,
+entire townships.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Others owned thousands of acres
+which they had never seen. As the taxes imposed on unsettled lands were trifling,
+these immense tracts were no appreciable expense to their owners, who could hold them
+from year to year, until the progress of settlement rendered them of immense value.
+Such progress was inevitable, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60"
+id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> though these huge reservations tended to keep back
+the country, settlers obtained grants of adjoining lands, and their labours could not
+fail to increase the value of all contiguous territory. The Home District, including
+the most valuable portion of Upper Canada, was especially afflicted by these
+wholesale reservations, but every part of the Province was more or leas crippled by
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The ruling faction and their favourites, not satisfied with the enormous direct
+and indirect grants of lands which they managed in one way and another to obtain,
+availed themselves of every opportunity to buy up land which had been granted to
+persons who had expended their little all on their properties, and had thereby become
+impoverished. Among these latter were many half-pay officers and others of good birth
+but limited means, who had sought homes for themselves in the Canadian wilderness.
+Not a few had been compelled to sell their commissions in order to obtain the
+wherewithal to settle themselves and their families on the lands granted to them.
+Finding themselves cut off from society, and ill-suited to face the privations of
+pioneer life, they became discouraged, and sold their lands for whatever meagre price
+they could get. The land-jobbers were ever on the alert to buy up these tracts at a
+few shillings an acre, not with any intention of settling upon or improving them, but
+solely for the purpose of holding them for an increased value. The grants to the
+children of U. E. Loyalists were the constant subjects of bargain and sale, and
+wrought great evil to the Province without producing any corresponding benefit to the
+recipients. Very few of the lots so granted were ever occupied by the grantees, most
+of whom were young persons of both sexes who resided with their parents, and had no
+inclination to set up for themselves in the wilderness. These grants were frequently
+sold at ridiculously low prices. From two to five pounds was an ordinary price for a
+lot of two hundred acres. Mr. John Radenhurst, who was Chief Clerk in the office of
+the Surveyor-General for many years, is entitled to speak on this subject with
+authority. In his evidence taken before Lord Durham's Commissioner, in 1838, he
+states that the general price paid by speculators for the two-hundred-acre lots
+granted to sons and daughters of U. E. Loyalists was "from a gallon of rum up to
+perhaps six pounds." In answer to another question, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> states that while millions of acres
+were granted in this way, the settlement of the Province was not advanced, nor the
+advantage of the grantee secured in the manner that may be supposed to have been
+contemplated by Government. He mentions the Honourable Robert Hamilton, a member of
+the Legislative Council, and the two Chief Justices, Elmsley and Powell, as among the
+largest purchasers of these lands. Mr. Hamilton's acquisitions amounted to about a
+hundred thousand acres.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> Elmsley and Powell, in addition to
+the five thousand acres which each of them had obtained for nothing as members of the
+Executive Council, managed to acquire quantities of land which, had they been brought
+together in one spot, would have made a township of average size. Thus was monopoly
+perpetuated and increased from year to year, and thus were large tracts of the
+Provincial territory maintained in a state of primitive wilderness.</p>
+<p>Intimations of the gigantic abuses existing in the land-granting system of Upper
+Canada were more than once sent across the Atlantic to the Colonial Secretary, who
+instructed the Lieutenant-Governor to impose certain regulations with a view to
+preventing the continuous repetition of injustice. The Colonial Office, however, was
+more than three thousand miles away, and means were easily found for evading any
+restrictions imposed at such a distance. Some idea of the extent which the evil had
+attained in the year 1818 may be derived from the two passages in that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> very petition to
+the Prince Regent for which Mr. Gourlay was indicted at Kingston and Brockville, as
+related in the preceding chapter. "The lands of the Crown in Upper Canada," proceeds
+the petition, "are of immense extent, not only stretching far and wide into the
+wilderness, but scattered over the Province, and intermixed with private property
+already cultivated. The disposal of this land is left to ministers at home, who are
+palpably ignorant of existing circumstances, and to a council of men resident in the
+Province, who, it is believed, have long converted the trust reposed in them to
+purposes of selfishness. The scandalous abuses in this department came some years ago
+to such a pitch of monstrous magnitude that the Home ministers wisely imposed
+restrictions upon the Land Council of Upper Canada. These, however, have by no means
+removed the evil; and a system of patronage and favouritism, in the disposal of the
+Crown Lands, still exists; altogether destructive of moral rectitude and virtuous
+feeling in the management of public affairs. Corruption, indeed, has reached such a
+height in this Province that it is thought no other part of the British Empire
+witnesses the like, and it is vain to look for improvement until a radical change is
+effected. It matters not what characters fill situations of public trust at
+present&mdash;all sink beneath the dignity of men&mdash;become vitiated and weak, as
+soon as they are placed within the vortex of destruction. Confusion on confusion has
+grown out of this unhappy system; and the very lands of the Crown, the giving away of
+which has created such mischief and iniquity, have ultimately come to little value
+from abuse. The poor subjects of His Majesty, driven from home by distress, to whom
+portions of land are granted, can now find in the grant no benefit; and Loyalists of
+the United Empire&mdash;the descendants of those who sacrificed their all in America
+in behalf of British rule&mdash;men whose names were ordered on record for their
+virtuous adherence to your Royal Father&mdash;the descendants of these men find now
+no favour in their destined rewards; nay, these rewards, when granted, have in many
+cases been rendered worse than nothing, for the legal rights in the enjoyment of them
+have been held at nought; their land has been rendered unsaleable, and, in some
+cases, only a source of distraction and care. Under this system of internal
+management, and weakened from other evil influences, Upper Canada now pines in
+comparative decay;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> discontent and poverty are experienced in a land supremely blessed
+with the gifts of nature; dread of arbitrary power wars, here, against the free
+exercise of reason and manly sentiment; laws have been set aside; legislators have
+come into derision; and contempt from the mother-country seems fast gathering
+strength to disunite the people of Canada from their friends at home."
+Notwithstanding these long, involved, awkwardly-constructed sentences, there is no
+more accurate picture to be found anywhere of the effect of the pernicious
+administration of affairs in the Public Lands Office at York in 1818. Twenty years
+later Lord Durham found it not much improved.<a name="FNanchor_40_40"
+id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a></p>
+
+<p>Another hydra-headed monster which ate into the very vitals of the commonwealth
+was the provision for the clergy, known as the Clergy Reserves. This was perhaps the
+greatest of all the curses imposed upon Upper Canada by the Constitutional Act, for
+its ill effects were both direct and incidental. It not only tended to stop the march
+of progress, but it created a degree of sectarian animosity and hatred little
+calculated to inspire respect for Christianity in the breasts of the secular portion
+of the community, and it disturbed the public tranquillity for nearly two
+generations.</p>
+
+<p>By the thirty-sixth section of the Act of 1791, power was given to reserve out of
+all future grants of land in Upper and Lower Canada, as well as in respect of all
+past grants, an allotment for the support of "a Protestant Clergy." It was provided
+that this allotment should be "equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so
+granted." By the thirty-seventh section, the rents, profits and emoluments arising
+from the lands so appropriated were to be applicable solely to the maintenance and
+support of a Protestant Clergy. By subsequent sections provision was made for the
+erection and endowment by the Lieutenant-Governor, under instructions from the Crown,
+of parsonages or rectories, one or more in every township or parish, according to the
+establishment of the Church of England, and for the presentation of incumbents,
+subject to the bishop's right of institution. By section forty-two it was enacted
+that no Provincial statute varying or repealing these provisions should receive the
+royal assent until thirty days after it had been laid before both Houses<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> of Parliament in
+Great Britain. These famous enactments were destined to produce more discord and
+heartburning than all the other clauses of the Constitutional Act combined. They were
+destined to make the Church of England more cordially detested in this Province by
+persons without the pale of her communion than she has ever been in any other part of
+the world. They were destined to set one Legislative faction against another in such
+fierce array that the public business frequently had to be suspended. They were
+destined to divide the Provincial population into two hostile camps, each filled with
+envy, malice and all uncharitableness towards the other. They were destined to be the
+key-note of general elections, and to shape the policy of successive Administrations.
+They were destined to be the chief factor in bringing about a Rebellion which for a
+time seriously disturbed the industries of the Province; which filled the Provincial
+jails with suffering prisoners; which consigned a number of persons to a premature
+and ignominous death; which brought sorrow and ruin to many a once happy fireside;
+which bequeathed a legacy of hatred to the children of those who took part in it; and
+which seriously disturbed the international amity between Great Britain and the
+United States.</p>
+
+<p>It may be doubted whether all the ill effects of these appropriations were
+foreseen by their promoters in the early years of our history. It was at all events
+some time before those effects began to be apparent to the people generally. In
+making the appropriations, care was taken that the reserved lands should be
+intermixed with grants to actual settlers, whereby they were spread over a large
+area; the manifest intention being to increase their value by their proximity to
+cultivated farms, and at the same time to create a tenantry in the settled townships,
+with a view to the creation of parishes and the endowment of rectories. In several
+portions of the Province, however, it was impossible to follow this plan. Much of the
+Niagara peninsula had been granted to Butler's Rangers before the passing of the
+Constitutional Act. In like manner, certain townships along the north bank of the St.
+Lawrence, as well as several portions of the Western District, had been granted to
+other United Empire Loyalists. In none of these cases had any reservations been made,
+and the lands had already become vested in the grantees.<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> The appropriators accordingly set
+apart large tracts of aggregated reservations in contiguous townships which were yet
+unsettled. The prejudicial results soon began to appear. Huge tracts of reserves
+interposed themselves between one settler and another, enhancing the difficulties of
+communication and transportation, and hindering or altogether preventing that
+co&ouml;peration of labour which is essential to the prosperity of pioneer
+settlements. The inhabitants, instead of being drawn together, were isolated from one
+another, and combination for municipal or other public purposes was rendered all but
+impracticable. They were kept remote from a market for the sale of their produce, cut
+off from the privileges of public worship and public education for their children;
+deprived, in a word, of the blessings of civilization. Settlement was seriously
+obstructed, and the industrious immigrant was to a great extent paralyzed by his
+surroundings.</p>
+
+<p>The evils arising out of these Clergy Reserves were intensified by the unfair and
+illegal manner in which the appropriations were made. It has been seen that by the
+Act of 1791 the land reserved for the clergy was to be equal to one-seventh of all
+grants made by the Crown. One-seventh of all grants would obviously be one-eighth of
+the whole. Yet, instead of acting on this self-evident proposition, it was the
+practice of those to whom the duty of reservation was entrusted to set apart for the
+clergy one-seventh of <i>all</i> the land, which was equal to a sixth of the land
+granted. The surplus thus unjustly appropriated on behalf of the clergy had in 1838
+footed up to a total of three hundred thousand acres. The excess was confined to
+about two-thirds of the surveyed townships, from which circumstance, as well as from
+the obvious construction of the statute, it is to be inferred that the excessive
+reservations were made deliberately, and not from mere oversight or inadvertence.<a
+name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p>
+
+<p>As the Province increased in population, and as land advanced in value, the
+grievance became more and more manifest. The growl of discontent began to be heard,
+and the people began to combine against the intolerable evil. This, at first, was
+chiefly due to the purely secular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> reasons above indicated. By degrees, however, the
+sectarian element was developed, and the growl of discontent became a roar of
+opposition. A dominant church was not acceptable to the Dissenters<a
+name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42"
+class="fnanchor">[42]</a> who composed the bulk of the population; yet it was
+contended by those in authority&mdash;all of whom were Episcopalians&mdash;that the
+Clergy Reserves were the exclusive domain of the Church of England. It must be
+conceded that there was some ground for this contention, and that the question was
+not quite free from doubt. The Act authorizing the setting apart of the Reserves had
+appropriated them for the maintenance and support of "a Protestant Clergy." The word
+"clergy" was not commonly applied in those days to dissenting ministers of religion.
+It had never been used in any English statute to designate any ministers except those
+of the Church of Rome and the Church of England. The Church of Rome being excluded by
+the term "Protestant," it was contended that the provision had been for the exclusive
+benefit of the Church of England, more especially as the creation and endowment of
+parsonages and rectories&mdash;which are institutions peculiar to the Church of
+England&mdash;had been expressly provided for by the same Act. Such was the plea put
+forward on behalf of the Church of England. Dissenters took a different view. They
+argued that the term "Protestant Clergy" had been used in the Act in mere
+contradistinction to the clergy of the Church of Rome. They further urged that the
+limited construction sought to be put upon the term by the Anglicans was plainly
+negatived by the thirty-ninth section of the Act, wherein the words "incumbent or
+minister of the Church of England" were expressly employed. Such terms, it was said,
+would not have been used by the framers of the Act if they had regarded them as
+synonymous with "Protestant Clergy," as used in other clauses. "The manifest
+intention of the Act," said the Dissenters, "was to provide for a
+<i>Protestant</i>&mdash;as distinguished from a <i>Roman Catholic</i>&mdash;clergy.
+The provision for the establishment of parsonages and rectories is a mere matter of
+detail, which cannot be allowed to override the larger intention so plainly evidenced
+by other sections."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> The Presbyterian body took higher ground than their non-Anglican
+brethren. The Church of Scotland had been expressly recognized as a Protestant Church
+by the Act of Union of England and Scotland in 1707. It was therefore contended that
+the ministers of that church were entitled to be considered as "Protestant Clergy;"
+and this contention was sustained by the English law officers of the Crown in 1819.
+The opinion expressed by those learned officials was acted upon, and the
+Presbyterians of Upper Canada put forward claims to a share of the Reserves. Their
+claims were allowed; whereupon other Protestant denominations followed their example,
+and demanded, as "Protestant Clergy," to participate in the provision made for them.
+The private and public quarrels which ensued between leaders of the different sects
+kept the country in a state of chronic disturbance; while the greed displayed by
+professed ministers of religion furnished a striking practical commentary upon the
+doctrines taught by the Founder of all Christian faiths. Opinions were obtained from
+eminent lawyers as to the respective rights of the various sects, and as to the true
+meaning of the Constitutional Act. The most opposite conclusions were arrived at by
+different lawyers, and it became manifest that no apportionment satisfactory to all
+the claimants could be made by any tribunal. The Church of England meanwhile
+contrived to secure the great bulk of the spoils. According to a return to the House
+of Assembly of lands set apart as glebes in Upper Canada during the forty-six years
+from 1787 to 1833, it appears that 22,345 acres were so set apart for the Clergy of
+the Church of England, 1160 acres for Ministers of the Kirk of Scotland, 400 for
+Roman Catholics, and "none for any other denomination of Christians."<a
+name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a></p>
+
+<p>But there was a broader and stronger argument than any of these purely technical
+contentions: an argument founded on experience and practical utility. No matter what
+had been the intent of the original framers of the Constitutional Act, the fact had
+become patent to all Dissenters, and even to many liberal-minded lay members of the
+Anglican Church, that the Clergy Reserves were a curse to the Province&mdash;a
+mill-stone about her neck, which dragged her down in spite of all exertions to raise
+her to the surface. Not long after this fact had become generally<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> recognized, an
+agitation arose in favour of the total abolition of State aid to religious bodies.
+The plan advocated by Reformers was the sale of the Reserves, and the application of
+the proceeds to public education and municipal improvements. The agitation was kept
+up until long after the period covered by this work, and the object sought to be
+attained by it was not fully accomplished until the year 1854. Meanwhile, however, it
+was the most important question before the country, and it occupied the attention of
+the Legislature during a large part of almost every session. Here was where the
+conflict between the two Houses was felt with most pernicious effect. The advocates
+of abolition and secularization clearly had the country with them, and the Assembly
+passed Bill after Bill to effect those objects. Their efforts were utterly nullified
+by the Upper House, which would not listen to any such proposals, and which threw out
+as many Bills relating to this important subject as the Assembly thought proper to
+send up for its consideration. Such were the merits of the long and
+fiercely-contested question of the Clergy Reserves.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span></p>
+<p>Another serious obstacle to Upper Canadian prosperity was the continual
+interference of the Colonial Office in our domestic concerns. Bills passed by the
+Provincial Legislature for the regulation of our own internal affairs were disallowed
+with vexatious frequency, and sometimes, apparently, from mere caprice. Sometimes the
+irresponsible Executive, unwilling that their obedient servants in the Upper House
+should incur popular odium by opposing the will of the Assembly, permitted Bills to
+pass both Houses, and then, through their tool the Lieutenant-Governor, had these
+identical measures disallowed. Advice, the compliance with which could not fail to be
+prejudicial to the interests of the colony, was also sent across the Atlantic through
+the Lieutenant-Governor, to whom it came back by return post in the shape of Imperial
+instructions to be acted upon. The Colonial Minister, whoever he might for the time
+happen to be, knew little and cared little about the British North American colonies,
+and did not generally concern himself with despatches to colonial Governors any
+further than to sign his name to them. He was thus the unconscious means of
+furthering Executive tyranny, and to some extent of alienating the loyalty of the
+colonists.</p>
+
+<p>Among other drawbacks, sufficiently serious in themselves and in their ulterior
+consequences, but of minor importance when compared with the all-permeating
+grievances already referred to, may be mentioned the quartering of military men upon
+the colony in the capacity of Lieutenant-Governors; the unequal representation of the
+people in the Assembly; the exorbitant salaries of certain public officials; the
+union of judicial and legislative functions in the same persons; the appointment of
+judges, sheriffs, magistrates, and other officials during the pleasure of the
+Executive, and not during good behaviour.</p>
+
+<p>The evils attendant upon placing the local administration of the colonies in the
+hands of military officers, who were inexperienced in constitutional government, and
+unfitted by training for such duties as were demanded of them, have already been
+glanced at.<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44"
+class="fnanchor">[44]</a> Such persons naturally enough found themselves altogether
+out of their proper element upon their arrival in the colony, and looked to the
+Executive Councillors for advice and instruction. That they should follow the
+instruction received, and that they should surrender themselves to the judgment of
+those enemies of the public weal, followed almost as a matter of course. In this way
+the strength of the oligarchy was consolidated and enlarged, and its members rendered
+more and more independent of public opinion. All that can be urged on behalf of the
+Home Ministry, by way of excuse for committing the direction of our affairs to such
+persons, is that the position of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was not a
+sufficient inducement to make it sought after by really capable men. The office, in
+at least one instance to be hereafter recorded, went a-begging.</p>
+
+<p>Unequal representation was a fruitful source of discontent, though Upper Canada
+was no worse off in that respect than the mother-country prior to the passing of the
+Reform Bill of 1832. For years before the Rebellion, the little district towns of
+Niagara, Brockville and Cornwall each enjoyed the privilege of sending a
+representative to the Assembly. All three of them were notoriously rotten
+boroughs&mdash;as rotten as Gatton, Grampound or Old Sarum&mdash;and always returned
+Tory members prepared to do the bidding of the Executive. By such means was the
+Assembly corrupted, and the elective franchise turned into an instrument of
+oppression. Some of the salaries of public officials were altogether<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> out of proportion
+to the state of the revenue, and to the nature and extent of the duties performed.
+Certain highly-paid offices were the merest sinecures, and had been created for no
+other purpose than to provide for serviceable tools of the Administration. The
+practice of permitting judges to sit and vote in the Legislature needs no comment.
+Whatever justification there might have been for such a union of functions in the
+first infancy of the Province, when educated men were few in the land, there was
+certainly none in the days when Chief Justice Robinson was Speaker of the Legislative
+Council. The effect of making the tenure of office of judges and other dignitaries
+dependent on the will of the Executive was such as has attended upon such a system in
+all countries where it has been in vogue. The officials were selected almost entirely
+from one political party, and had always an eye upon the nod of their taskmasters,
+who had the power to make or unmake them. Whenever it was desirable, in the supposed
+interests of the Executive, that the authority of the courts should be strained to
+the perversion of judgment, the dispensing of even-handed justice was altogether a
+secondary consideration. Mr. Gourlay's case, to say nothing of that of Bartemus
+Ferguson, affords a sufficient illustration of the extent to which the traditions of
+the Star Chamber were revived in Upper Canadian practice, when it was thought
+desirable to crush a champion of popular liberty and equal rights.</p>
+
+<p>Such were a few of the burdens which the people of Upper Canada were compelled to
+bear in the by-gone epoch when tyranny reigned supreme throughout the Province:
+when</p>
+
+<span style="margin-left: 21.5em;">"the law's delay,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">The insolence of office, and the spurns</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 11.5em;">That patient merit of the unworthy takes,"</span><br />
+
+<p>were the all too frequent portion of such of the inhabitants as dared to call in
+question the righteousness of existing ordinances. There was a further intolerable
+grievance which was closely bound up with, and which, so to speak, grew out of or
+sustained all the rest: which comprehended within itself all the evils affecting the
+body politic, and which left traces of its existence that have survived down to the
+present time. This was the Family Compact&mdash;a phrase which is in everybody's
+mouth, but the significance whereof, I venture to think, is in general but
+imperfectly understood. The subject deserves a chapter to itself.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Being somewhat
+doubtful as to the truth of this oft-repeated story, I have taken the trouble to
+consult the records in the Crown Lands Office, where I find that Mr. Russell on
+several occasions made grants of land to himself. Among other such grants I may
+mention lot number twenty-two, in the third concession of the township of York,
+which was made on the 16th of July, 1797. See Liber A., folio 382, Provincial
+Registry Office. He also granted various tracts of land to his sister, Miss
+Elizabeth Russell, the first of which bears date the 15th of December, 1796. See
+Liber B., folio 334. So that the President appears to have begun to "do good unto
+himself" and his family before he had been three months in office as
+Administrator of the Government. Further investigation would doubtless prove that
+he kept up the practice until the arrival of Governor Hunter.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> See his speech at the
+close of the first session of the First Parliament of Upper Canada, on the 15th
+of October, 1792.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The property
+qualification for a voter was, in counties, the possession of lands or tenements
+of the yearly value of forty shillings sterling or upwards, over and above all
+rents and charges; and in towns or townships, the possession of a dwelling house
+and lot of the yearly value of five pounds sterling or upwards, or the having
+been a resident for twelve months, and the having paid a year's rent at the rate
+of ten pounds sterling or upwards. See the twentieth section of the Constitutional Act.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> The latter part of
+this clause has no application to Brock, who was made of manlier stuff. Brock,
+however, was not Lieutenant-Governor, but merely Provisional Administrator of the Province.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Report on the
+Affairs of British North America</i>, English folio edition, p. 29.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> <i>The Constitutional
+History of Canada</i>, by Samuel James Watson, Vol. I., p. 128.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> The abuses specified
+in the present chapter were not confined to Upper Canada. They existed, with
+certain local variations, throughout all the British North American colonies, and
+produced similar results in each; viz., ever-recurring conflicts between the
+Executive and the popular branch of the Legislature, followed by more or less
+alienation of loyalty to the mother country on the part of the more radical
+element in the community. In the Maritime Provinces the alienation was not
+sufficiently widespread to manifest itself in actual rebellion, though the
+conflict between the oligarchy and the popular tribunes sometimes produced a very
+disturbed state of feeling. In Lower Canada, where the element of race-hatred was
+added to all other sources of disturbance, the conflict attained an intensity far
+beyond what was reached in any of the other colonies, and left traces behind it
+which are not even yet wholly obliterated.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> <i>Statistical
+Account</i>, Vol. II., p. 296.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> <i>Canadiana</i>, by W. B. Wells, p. 103.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> Ib.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> Ib., p. 104.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> These grants of five
+thousand acres to members of the Executive Council were in direct violation of
+the instructions framed by the Home Government for the regulation of
+land-granting in Upper Canada. They continued to be made down to 1807, when they
+were stopped by a peremptory order to that effect from the Colonial Secretary.
+There is one instance on record of a reserve being applied for and made on behalf
+of the child of a member of the Legislative Council, though the child was not
+three days old. See the evidence of John Radenhurst, Chief Clerk in the office of
+the Surveyor-General, in Appendix B. to Lord Durham's <i>Report on the Affairs of
+British North America</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> Most of these facts
+with reference to the granting of public lands may be obtained from the archives
+of the Crown Lands Office in Toronto, and from the newspapers and official
+reports of the period. They may also be found, together with a vast accumulation
+of other important facts bearing on the same subject, in Charles Buller's Report
+on Public Lands and Emigration, forming Appendix B. to Lord Durham's <i>Report on
+the Affairs of British North America</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>Canadiana</i>, p. 130.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> In 1796 or thereabouts
+the Executive offered to grant entire townships to persons who would undertake to
+settle them with a certain number of colonists within a specified time. The
+number of colonists required was made proportionate to the extent of territory to
+be settled. This offer was taken advantage of by ten different individuals. The
+grants were not actually made, but the respective townships were allocated in the
+official books to the various persons concerned. Upon the faith of the pledge of
+the Executive, several of the ten assignees proceeded to carry out the conditions
+imposed. Among them was Mr. William Berczy, who, having obtained an assignment of
+the township of Markham, went to great expense in bringing over a number of
+German families, whom he settled according to the conditions of the contemplated
+grant. After he had spent a sum of money variously stated at from twenty to
+thirty thousand pounds sterling, the Executive coolly announced that they had
+determined to abandon the township system, and that they did not even intend to
+carry out the grants to those who had complied with the conditions. The
+compensation offered for this unparalleled breach of faith was a grant of twelve
+hundred acres to each assignee. Nine of the individuals concerned assented to
+those terms, but Mr. Berczy refused to accept any such inadequate recompense, and
+he remained for the rest of his life a ruined man. He shook the dust of Upper
+Canada from his feet, and took up his abode in Montreal, whence he subsequently
+repaired to New York, where he died in the year 1813.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> See Appendix B. to
+Lord Durham's <i>Report</i>, folio edition, p. 99. Mr. Charles Rankin,
+Deputy-Surveyor in the Western District, in his evidence before the Commission
+(<i>ib.</i> pp. 120, 121), says:&mdash;"The system of making large grants to
+individuals who had no intention of settling them has tended to retard the
+prosperity of the colony by separating the actual settlers, and rendering it so
+much more difficult, and in some cases impossible, for them to make the necessary
+roads. It has also made the markets more distant and more precarious. To such an
+extent have these difficulties been experienced as to occasion the abandonment of
+settlements which had been formed. I may mention, as an instance of this, the
+township of Rama, where after a trial of three years, the settlers were compelled
+to abandon their improvements. It should be noticed that the settlers in this
+instance were not of a class fitted to encounter the privations of the
+wilderness, being half-pay officers. In the township of St. Vincent almost all
+the most valuable settlers have left their farms from the same cause, the
+townships of Nottawasaga and Collingwood, the whole of the land in which had been
+granted, and which are almost entirely unsettled (Collingwood, I believe, has
+only one settler), intervening between them and the settled township, and
+rendering communication impossible. There have been numerous instances in which,
+though the settlement has not been altogether abandoned, the most valuable
+settlers, after unavailing struggles of several years with the difficulties which
+I have described, have left their farms." This witness further states his belief
+that nine-tenths of the lands in the Western District were still&mdash;in
+1838&mdash;in a state of wilderness.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> See his <i>Report,
+passim</i>; also see the portion of Appendix B. relating to Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> See the Special Report
+of Mr. R. Davies Hanson, Assistant Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration,
+forming the commencement of Appendix A. to Lord Durham's <i>Report on the Affairs
+of British North America</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> I use this word for
+want of a better, though it is not strictly accurate as applied to Upper Canada,
+where there were no clearly prescribed standards of religious faith from which
+non-supporters of Episcopacy could be said to dissent. The word "Nonconformist"
+is objectionable for a similar reason.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> See <i>Seventh
+Grievance Committee's Report</i>, p. 164.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 51.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapiii.jpg" width="300" height="78" alt="chapiii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER III.</h2>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>
+<h4>THE FAMILY COMPACT.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letterw.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterw" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none">W</span>
+hat was the nature and origin of this powerful organization&mdash;this
+informally-constituted league, the name whereof has been familiar to the ears of
+Upper Canadians during the whole, or nearly the whole, of the present century; which
+is referred to in nearly all books dealing with the political and social life of this
+Province before the Union of 1841; which for forty years regulated the public policy
+of the colony, and ruled with an iron hand over the liberties of the inhabitants?</p>
+<p>Immediately after the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, whereby Canada
+was ceded by France to Great Britain, it became necessary for the British Government
+to appoint a considerable number of officials to fill the public offices in the
+country so ceded. It did not suit the policy of the conquerors to leave much power in
+the hands of the conquered. The introduction of the English language and laws was
+moreover a practical disqualification for most of the native inhabitants of the
+colony, and the new officials were nearly all sent over from England. Some of the
+principal personages among them were men of probity and brains. Others, though
+possessed of a full share of brains, had but a younger brother's portion of the other
+commodity. The underlings, generally speaking, had but a slender allowance of either.
+They were for the most part appointed on the recommendation of various supporters of
+the Government of the day, who were thus able to provide for a number of their needy
+relatives and dependants&mdash;a matter of vastly greater importance in their eyes
+than the proper administration of the affairs of a distant and newly-acquired colony.
+The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> Conquest
+thus proved a boon to many servile hangers-on of public men in Great Britain, and
+scores of the waifs and strays of British aristocracy began to turn their eyes
+towards Canada as a possible resource in the last emergency. It was said to be a cold
+and comfortless land, but it was surely preferable to the Fleet Prison or the
+Marshalsea, with the alternative of starvation or enlistment in the army. Many of
+these pimps and panders to the whims or the passions of those in high station found
+their way to Quebec and Montreal, and were provided for at the public expense by
+being installed in places of greater or less emolument.<a name="FNanchor_45_45"
+id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a></p>
+
+<p>When Upper Canada was set apart as a separate Province, in 1791, the field of
+operations was considerably extended. Indeed, the Upper Province soon came to be
+regarded with special favour by intending aspirants to office, as it was in all
+respects an English colony; whereas Lower Canada, in spite of all attempts to
+Anglicize it, remained much more French than English. Lower Canada, indeed, remained
+in some respects more French than any other part of the world, not even excepting
+France itself, for in that country the Great Revolution had swept away many effete
+institutions which were still retained in all their decrepitude among the Frenchmen
+of the New World. Now, the French Canadians, though most of the avenues to power and
+office were closed to them, composed a vast majority of the population. They did not
+take kindly to the British colonists, and declined to fraternize with them. The
+latter could bear this isolation, as they were comforted by the spoils of office, but
+their lives were rendered much less agreeable than they would have been in a colony
+where no such disturbing elements were known. Upper Canada was precisely such a
+colony. No part of Britain was more British in sentiment. In no part of the world
+would an expatriated Englishman find himself more entirely in harmony with his
+environment, from a purely patriotic point of view. What wonder, then, that Upper
+Canada was regarded by place-hunting emigrants from England<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> with wistful eyes? What wonder that an
+appointment to a public office in Upper Canada should have been regarded by such
+persons as a thing greatly to be coveted? Such aspirants were regarded with but
+little favour by Governor Simcoe. His great object was to launch the Province
+successfully on its career, and to lay the foundations of good government. He brought
+with him his own staff, selected by himself with a single eye to their fitness for
+the positions which they were respectively intended to fill. During his day there was
+little or no favouritism in public appointments, and but little, if anything, to find
+fault with in the conduct of the administration. His demission of office was almost
+immediately followed by a relaxation of discipline, and by a looseness in the
+management of the public business. As the years passed by, the Province became the
+resort of numerous office-seekers from beyond sea&mdash;half-pay officers and scions
+of good English, Scotch and Irish families, who sought to better their fortunes by
+expatriation. As they were, generally speaking, men of some education, and of manners
+more polished than were ordinarily found among the colonists, they naturally
+assimilated, and were drawn towards each other. They likewise coalesced, to some
+extent, with a few United Empire Loyalist families of exclusive pretensions, in whose
+veins the blood was supposed to possess an exceptionally cerulean tint. Several
+persons who had rapidly gained wealth by trade and speculation, and who had thereby
+acquired influence in the community, were also admitted. In an inconceivably short
+space of time this union of several influential cliques was followed by important
+results. They acquired a strength and influence which, in the then primitive state of
+the colony, carried all before them. They wormed themselves into all the more
+important offices, directed the Councils of the Sovereign's representative, and, in a
+word, became the power behind the Throne. In the early years of their domination they
+organized their forces with much tact and judgment, and did not develop their plans
+until they had been carefully matured. They may be said to have practically absorbed
+the Executive and Legislative Councils, as those bodies were entirely made up of
+persons either selected from among them or entirely subservient to their influence.
+No man, whatever his abilities, could hope to succeed in any<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> profession or calling in Upper Canada
+if he dared to declare himself in opposition to them. A few made the attempt, and
+failed most signally.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the Family Compact. "For a long time," says Lord Durham,<a
+name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46"
+class="fnanchor">[46]</a> writing in 1838, "this body of men, receiving at times
+accessions to its members, possessed almost all the highest public offices, by means
+of which, and of its influence in the Executive Council, it wielded all the powers of
+Government; it maintained influence in the Legislature by means of its predominance
+in the Legislative Council; and it disposed of the large number of petty posts which
+are in the patronage of the Government all over the Province. Successive Governors,
+as they came in their turn, are said to have either submitted quietly to its
+influence, or, after a short and unavailing struggle, to have yielded to this
+well-organized party the conduct of affairs. The bench, the magistracy, the high
+offices of the Episcopal Church, and a great part of the legal profession, are filled
+by the adherents of this party: by grant or purchase they have acquired nearly the
+whole of the waste lands of the Province; they are all-powerful in the chartered
+banks, and, till lately, shared among themselves almost exclusively all offices of
+trust and profit."</p>
+
+<p>The influences which produced the Family Compact were not confined to Upper
+Canada. In the Lower Province, as well as in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, similar
+causes led to similar results, and the term "Family Compact" has at one time or
+another been a familiar one in all the British North American colonies. But in none
+of them did the organization attain to such a plenitude of power as in this Province,
+and in none of them did it wield the sceptre of authority with so thorough an
+indifference to the principles of right and wrong. Its name is a rather indefinite,
+but not inapt characterization. Lord Durham refers to the term "Family Compact," as
+being not much more appropriate than party designations usually are; "inasmuch as,"
+he writes, "there is, in truth, very little of family connexion among the persons
+thus united.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a>" "Much" is a saving clause, but if
+his Lordship had thought it worth his while to enquire minutely into the relations
+subsisting between the members of this body, he would have found that<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> there had been a
+good many intermarriages between them, and that the pecuniary interests which bound
+them together had been welded by the most powerful of social bonds.<a
+name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48"
+class="fnanchor">[48]</a> The designation "Family Compact," however, did not owe its
+origin to any combination of North American colonists, but was borrowed from the
+diplomatic history of Europe. By the treaty signed at Paris on the 15th of August,
+1761, by representatives on behalf of France and Spain, the contracting parties
+agreed to guarantee each other's territories, to provide mutual succours by sea and
+land, and to consider the enemy of either as the enemy of both. This treaty, being
+contracted between the two branches of the House of Bourbon, is known to history as
+the Family Compact Treaty, and the name was adopted in the Canadas, as well as in the
+Maritime Provinces, to designate the combination which enjoyed a monopoly of power
+and place in the community, and among the members whereof there seemed to be a
+perfect, if unexpressed, understanding, that they were to make common cause against
+any and all persons who might attempt to diminish or destroy their influence.<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The members of the Family Compact, with very few exceptions, were members of the
+Church of England, which, owing to the before-mentioned provisions in the
+Constitutional Act, they regarded as the State Church of Upper Canada, established by
+law, and entitled to the special veneration of the inhabitants. They accounted all
+persons as members of the Church of England who were not actual members of some other
+religious body, and in enumerating the people for statistical purposes they sometimes
+even <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>went so
+far as to include the infant children of Dissenters as Episcopalians. They sought to
+defend the alleged establishment of a State Church in Canada by arguments which it is
+astonishing to think that men of education and intelligence should ever have stooped
+to employ. "There should be in every Christian country an established religion," said
+Dr. Strachan, in his evidence before the Select Committee on Grievances, in 1835,
+"otherwise it is not a Christian but an infidel country."<a name="FNanchor_49_49"
+id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> According
+to their theory, one of the principal ends of the Government of Upper Canada was the
+propagation of religious truth as set forth in the doctrines of the Church of
+England. True, the arguments on the subject were not so well understood then as now.
+Mr. Gladstone's little volume on "The State in its Relations with the Church," and
+Macaulay's answer thereto in the <i>Edinburgh Review</i>, had not then been
+published. But some of the most conclusive arguments adduced by Macaulay were as old
+as the world itself; and even Mr. Gladstone, in all his youthful exuberance, did not
+venture to take so preposterous a stand as was assumed by the upholders of a State
+Church in this Province. Their bigotry and intolerance were utterly out of keeping
+with the times in which they lived, and were better suited to the days of Archbishop
+Laud or Sir Robert Filmer. Of that heaven-born charity which suffereth long, and is
+kind; which vaunteth not itself, and is not puffed up; which seeketh not her own, and
+is not easily provoked; which thinketh no evil; which rejoiceth not in iniquity, but
+rejoiceth in the truth; which beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all
+things&mdash;of the spirit which impels to such a state of mind as this, we find few
+traces in the lives and writings of the upholders of State-Churchism in Upper Canada
+in those days. We find, on the contrary, much unkindness, much vaunting of
+themselves, much selfish conceit, much seeking, not only of their own, but of that
+which of right belonged to their neighbours. The champions of ecclesiastical monopoly
+were easily provoked to anger, and to thinking and speaking all manner of evil of
+those who differed from them as to the distribution of the Clergy Reserves. Roman
+Catholicism they contemplated with a certain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78"
+id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> amount of toleration, as the Roman Catholic hierarchy
+yielded the Government an unwavering support in return for the freedom and privileges
+which they enjoyed. But their toleration was not broad enough to cover any other form
+of religious belief. Dissent, in all its multiform phases, they looked upon with
+mingled abhorrence and contempt&mdash;as a thing to be shunned and tabooed by all
+right-minded persons. Dissenting ministers of religion were regarded as "low
+fellows," whom it was no sin to persecute, and, if possible, drive out of the
+country. Comparatively few of the latter were permitted to solemnize matrimony during
+the first forty years of the Province's history. By the statute 38 George III.,
+chapter 4, passed in 1798, the privilege of doing so was accorded to ministers of
+"The Church of Scotland, or Lutherans or Calvinists;" but it was hedged about with
+cumbrous restrictions which must have been felt as humiliating and unnecessary. No
+person was to be regarded as a minister under the Act until he had appeared before
+the Justices of the Peace in Quarter Sessions, and had produced satisfactory
+credentials of his ordination. He was also compelled to take the oath of allegiance.
+Even after complying with all formalities, his functions were restricted to cases
+where one or both of the parties to be joined together belonged to his own religious
+society. Ministers of other denominations, including those of the Methodist body,
+which was the most numerous religious community in the Province, were not allowed the
+privilege of solemnizing marriage rites till the year 1831. The ignominous
+disqualification was removed by the statute 11 George IV., chapter 36, which was
+passed in 1830, but which did not receive the royal assent until the following year.
+A similar measure had repeatedly been passed by the Assembly in former sessions, but
+had as often been rejected by the Upper House. Before the law was finally and
+equitably settled as above mentioned, several ministers of religion had been tried
+and banished from the Province for having ventured to solemnize matrimony without
+legal authority. It is said that in one case where a minister was tried on a charge
+of this kind, the accused protested against his sentence, alleging that the Chief
+Justice, who presided at the trial, had himself sanctioned the performance of the
+ceremony. The Chief Justice, being called upon to descend from the judgment seat and
+give evidence as to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> this fact, declined to do so; but he afterwards procured a pardon for
+the prisoner.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Compact always contained within its ranks a few persons of more than average
+ability. Some of them doubtless believed that the course pursued by their
+organization was for the advantage of the colony, though, reasoning by the light of
+present knowledge, it is difficult to comprehend how men of even moderate
+perspicacity and judgment could have brought themselves to such a conclusion. It was,
+however, inevitable that persons of such narrow and contracted views&mdash;persons to
+whom self and pelf were the mainsprings of life&mdash;should degenerate, mentally as
+well as morally. The persons composing the second generation were, with very few
+exceptions, striking illustrations of the doctrine of the descent of man. Their sires
+had been men of energy and force of character. They themselves were&mdash;to borrow a
+phrase from the acting drama&mdash;the mere walking gentlemen of the colony. The
+sires had originated a bold and determined policy, and had from first to last pursued
+it with consistent vigour. The sons had neither brains to conceive nor discretion to
+carry out the conceptions of others. The sires had been persons whom it had been
+possible for the commonalty to respect. The sons were persons whom it was impossible
+not to despise. Surely a more superlatively commonplace and contemptible race of
+human beings has seldom been seen on the earth than four-fifths of the second
+generation of this bastard aristocracy of Upper Canada. It bore no resemblance to any
+other aristocracy whereof history has preserved any record. The old Roman commonalty,
+while they groaned beneath the iron heel of tyranny, were one and all conscious of a
+secret pride in their imperial oppressors. For the Roman aristocracy was an
+aristocracy of nature. The Roman patricians made foreign rulers to crouch and tremble
+at the name of Rome. Their triumphs were the triumphs of the nation. Caius of
+Corioli, Furius Camillus, Titus Capitolinus, were names the mere utterance of which
+stirred the Roman blood like the blast of a trumpet. For many a long year after one
+haughty dictator had slept his last sleep beneath the walls<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> of Pr&aelig;neste, and after another had
+taken his final plunge beneath the yellow Tiber or from the Tarpeian rock, their
+exploits furnished themes for tale and song around the Roman camp-fires. These
+puissant representatives of the dominant class had shown little sympathy for the
+plebeians, upon whom they had looked down from a lofty height, and towards whom they
+had ever borne themselves with haughtiness and disdain. But their pride was a
+something to be tolerated by Romans of every degree, for they had achieved much glory
+for the Roman name. In the words of one who has interpreted the sentiment of those
+times with rare felicity, Rome could bear the pride of him of whom herself was proud.
+The old French noblesse, again, were not devoid of redeeming qualities. Their galling
+yoke would not have been borne from reign to reign, and through century after
+century, even by such seeming reconcilables as constituted the bulk of the French
+populace during the ante-Revolutionary period, if they had all been like the wicked
+St. Evr&eacute;monde of Mr. Dickens's tragic story. As a class, they had a subtle
+French grace about them which rendered their most grievous exactions less hard to
+bear than were the exactions of their eastern neighbours. They were an unmistakable
+<i>haute noblesse</i>, ever polished and dignified. Some of them, like Philippe
+Egalit&eacute;, had the cunning, when the time of trial arrived, to bend to the
+popular storm, and even to affect a zeal for citizenship. Comparatively few of them
+were at once <i>blas&eacute;</i> and brainless. It may be doubted if a single one of
+them combined&mdash;as did many of the rank and file of the second generation of the
+Family Compact of Upper Canada&mdash;the pretensions of an aristocrat with the
+sentiments of a boor and the intellectual development of a child. Yet further. The
+feeling of veneration with which the English commonalty have for centuries regarded
+the House of Lords is easy enough to understand. That feeling seems to be rapidly
+passing away, if, indeed, it has not already departed. But it would not have endured
+from the time of the Plantagenets to the time of Queen Victoria if it had not had
+some substantial foundation to rest upon. The House of Lords has always contained a
+number of men of high integrity and ability. Take it for all and all, it is probably
+the most just-minded and intellectual aristocratic assembly the world has ever seen.
+This may not be very high praise, but it may at least be taken for what it is
+worth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> Its
+individual members are seldom brought sufficiently near to the lower order of the
+commonalty to enable the latter to detect their weaknesses. Their wealth, prestige
+and social position give them a vast influence, while at the same time their
+legislative powers are held in check by the direct representatives of the people.
+Most of these conditions were directly reversed in Upper Canada, where the members of
+the dominant faction were brought into the closest relations with the people
+generally, insomuch that their many deficiencies could not be concealed. Such wealth
+as they had they were too often known to have obtained at the expense of the rest of
+the community. The Lower House formed no efficacious check upon them, for they either
+managed to return a sufficient number of their tools to control the vote in that
+body, or else they rendered the Assembly's operations of no avail by means of their
+influence in the Legislative Council. They had none of the graceful suavity of the
+Lower Canadian seigneurs. Nor could they boast of the superiority derived from a
+liberal education. Many of them&mdash;even including some of those who held high
+public offices&mdash;were so illiterate that they were unable to write a simple
+business letter without committing errors of orthography of which any one but Artemus
+Ward or Jeames de la Pluche might well feel ashamed.</p>
+
+<p>Nearly all the leading spirits of this strangely-assorted oligarchy were either
+wealthy or on the direct road to wealth. Being comfortably provided for at the public
+cost, in the form of fat offices or wild lands, or both, they assumed a swelling
+port, and aped, as best they knew how, the manners and customs of the upper classes
+in Great Britain. They built their dwellings in imitation of old-fashioned English
+manor-houses, with a variety of wings and gables, and with broad entrance halls which
+in an emergency might have served the purpose of presence-chambers. They dined long
+and late, and with much old-world pomp and ceremonial. They drove out in coaches
+emblazoned with heraldic bearings, and attended by broad-calved flunkeys in family
+livery. Certain social observances of the early Georgian era, long since effete and
+worn out in England, flourished in the social life of Little York down to a period
+within the memory of many persons who are still living. The aristocratic clique which
+preserved these customs was in the highest degree rigid and exclusive. No outsider
+was admitted into the charmed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg
+82]</a></span> circle unless he came duly ticketed and accredited. The attempt to
+transplant the usages of an old and advanced state of society into the primitive
+streets and lanes of such places as York, Kingston, and Woodstock was for a time more
+successful than might be supposed. Such of the families as had been to the manner
+born carried off these observances with considerable grace. They had brought their
+traditions with them across the Atlantic, and though such traditions were not well
+suited to the genius of a young and sparsely-settled colony, they were at least
+maintained with some regard to the sources whence they had been derived. With the
+pretenders who formed a portion of the clique, and who had been admitted into it for
+special political reasons, the attempt to copy the habits of their social superiors
+was, generally speaking, less satisfactory. There was, in truth, an inner social
+circle which these latter were never invited to join. They, however, enjoyed all the
+political and pecuniary advantages arising from their connection, and were not easily
+distinguishable by outsiders from the very head and front of the organization.</p>
+
+<p>So far as to the wealthy members of the ruling faction. But there were a good many
+of them who not only were not wealthy, but who were in positively indigent
+circumstances. These, for the most part, were members of old country families who had
+sent them to Canada with the sole object of getting rid of them. Others were half-pay
+officers who had spent their whole fortunes in settling on land, after which they had
+found themselves unable to make a livelihood, and had then sold their property for as
+much&mdash;or as little&mdash;as they could manage to get. These latter, after having
+disposed of their lands, generally repaired to the towns, and most of them sooner or
+later found their way to the Provincial capital. There they became obedient slaves of
+those in authority, and picked up a precarious livelihood by making themselves useful
+in various ways. The Executive could always find a certain amount of work for such
+persons, though, if the truth must be told, the supply was often greater than the
+demand. The code of social ethics in vogue among this class was such as might have
+been expected from persons who had been reared to regard themselves as the objects of
+a special dispensation of fortune. They looked upon manual labour as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> degrading. Any
+person, no matter what his abilities, who earned a livelihood by the sweat of his
+brow, or even by honest trade, was considered as no fit company for the brood of
+parasites who hung on to the heels of the Compact, and who nevertheless did not
+hesitate to perform tasks from which the average costermonger would have shrunk in
+disgust. Their employers occasionally admitted them to their tables, and even to some
+degree of social intimacy. More frequently they presented them with their cast-off
+clothing, with new gowns for their wives at Christmas, or&mdash;when things were at a
+remarkably low ebb&mdash;with a hundredweight of flour or half a barrel of mess pork.
+Yet the recipients of these favours piqued themselves upon their good birth and high
+connexions, and would have felt themselves insulted if anyone had ventured to hint
+that they should visit, upon terms of equality, with the grocer or the butcher in the
+next street.</p>
+
+<p>The reader now has before him a sufficient array of facts to enable him to form a
+pretty accurate conception of the state of social life in Upper Canada during
+ante-Rebellion times. It was a matter of course that such a monopoly of power as was
+possessed and exercised by the ruling faction should excite envy and opposition on
+the part of those who did not revel in its smiles or share in its plunder. Loud
+murmurings began to make themselves heard against the delay and partiality in the
+land-granting department, and against the corrupt manner in which the public affairs
+of the Province generally were carried on. Before the close of Governor Hunter's
+<i>r&eacute;gime</i> these murmurings had become loud enough to occasion no little
+disquiet to some of the officials who had most reason to dread enquiry and
+investigation. The abuses were greater in some branches of the service than in
+others, but peculation prevailed to a greater or less extent almost everywhere. The
+Indian department was notorious for the corruption of its officials. A sum of sixty
+thousand pounds sterling was annually granted by the Imperial Government for
+distribution among the various tribes, and for the payment of agents and
+interpreters. The distribution among the Indians chiefly took the form of commodities
+which had a particular fascination for the mind of the noble savage&mdash;such
+commodities, for instance, as muskets, powder, bullets, knives, tomahawks,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> hatchets, blankets,
+spangles, pocket mirrors, and&mdash;last, but by no means least&mdash;fire-water. The
+opportunities which this grant afforded for peculation and plunder were too tempting
+to be resisted. The agents and their subordinates, from highest to lowest, owed their
+positions to their servility and usefulness to those in authority. So long as they
+proved serviceable and obedient to their masters, there was not much likelihood of
+their being called to serious account for any iniquities they might commit towards
+Mohawk or Seneca, Oneida or Mississauga. By way of consequence, the Indians were
+robbed and the Government was robbed; and the robbers, feeling secure of protection
+from their superiors, plied their nefarious traffic with impunity.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51"
+class="fnanchor">[51]</a> There were equally culpable but less notorious abuses of
+power in other branches of the service. Probably not one in ten of these ever came to
+light, but from time to time there were awkward revelations which could not be
+suppressed. All these things combined to beget a widespread lack of confidence in the
+official clique. The want of confidence, not without good reason, extended even to
+the administrators of the law. The judges, as already mentioned, held office at the
+will of the Executive, and, at least in some instances, were shamelessly servile and
+corrupt. This led to their dicta being disregarded by sturdy juries who cared less
+for the letter of the law than for its spirit. Mr. John Mills Jackson, in his "View
+of the Political Situation of the Province of Upper Canada," published in 1809,
+speaks of an instance where the people became tumultuous, and broke the public stocks
+in the presence of the Chief Justice.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> The
+public distrust of the administrators of the law does not seem to have been confined
+to the judges of the Superior Courts. It extended to the rural magistrates, some of
+whom turned their offices to commodity in a manner which would have excited the
+admiration of Falstaff himself. "The shop-keepers," writes Mr. Jackson, "are Justices
+of Peace. They have the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> means of extortion, and the power of enforcing payments. They are
+first the criminals, then the judges; and the court of appeal seems to be so
+constructed as to prevent an honest verdict from passing into effect. The practice of
+the court is unjust, oppressive, and influenced. Favourite attorneys were made deputy
+clerks of the peace, so that process might be entered and writs obtained most
+partially. The crown lawyer is allowed nearly seven pounds sterling for every
+criminal prosecution! an inducement to listen to trifling complaints, and prefer
+frivolous indictments, when, if power was gratified and independence harassed, it was
+a sufficient excuse for an inflated contingent account." The author of this scathing
+philippic against petty oppression proceeds to recount a case wherein an action was
+brought against a magistrate who had exerted his authority in an illegal and
+oppressive manner. A verdict was obtained against him for a hundred pounds. An
+application was made to the Court of King's Bench to set the verdict aside, which was
+rejected; whereupon the clerk of the court in which the judgment had been obtained
+was ordered by the Crown lawyer not to issue execution. The clerk knew better than to
+disobey an order from such a source, and the plaintiff accordingly took nothing by
+his verdict. The unrighteous magistrate escaped the penalty of his misdeeds, and
+furnished a sort of standing precedent for magisterial iniquity. Other equally
+flagrant perversions of justice are recorded by the same authority. An illegal and
+unjustifiable extent issued, at the suit of the Crown, against one of the civil
+officers. It lasted for years; yet the officer dared not resist oppression by
+applying for justice. "When [the extent] was as imperiously taken off as it was
+arbitrarily laid on," writes Mr. Jackson, "the sheriff dared not apply for fees
+expended in holding possession under the writ, or the printer sue for the money voted
+him by the House of Assembly for printing their journals. The surveyors could not
+obtain the money they had actually expended in the public service, nor the people
+find redress for extorted fees. Therefore, when there was neither substance nor
+shadow of law or justice, but the will of power was the rule of decision, the public
+mind was agitated in the extreme, and universal gloom pervaded the Province."</p>
+
+<p>The discontent produced by official tyranny was however almost impotent as against
+the wrong-doers, who were so strongly entrenched<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> in their places that it seemed as
+though nothing could shake them. Many of them, conscious of their misconduct,
+doubtless felt secret misgivings whenever any specially significant outburst of
+popular dissatisfaction occurred. But for many years they were able to present a
+united and brazen front, and to crush anyone who dared to so much as wag a finger
+against them. It was intimated on a former page that Robert Gourlay was not the first
+victim of Executive tyranny. The first conspicuous victim of whom any record has been
+preserved was Mr. Robert Thorpe, an English barrister of much learning and acumen,
+who in 1805 was appointed a puisne judge of the Court of King's Bench for Upper
+Canada. Previous to his arrival in this country Mr. Thorpe had never been remarkable
+for any specially liberal opinions, but he was a man of enlightened mind, and
+actuated by an honest desire to do his duty. He was not long in perceiving that the
+administration of justice in this Province was little better than a hollow mockery.
+He resolved to do what one man could to restore public confidence in the judicial
+bench, and his court erelong became a popular forum for honest litigants, for it was
+evident to all that he held the scales of justice with an even hand, and was not to
+be either cajoled or bullied into perverting the law. Before he had been a
+twelvemonth in the country he was known far and wide as an upright judge, and as a
+sort of champion of popular rights. Grand juries took him into their confidence, and
+tabulated their grievances before him. These were laid by him before the authorities
+at York, upon his return from circuit; a proceeding which was quite sufficient to
+bring down upon his head the opposition of the faction which flourished by reason of
+those very grievances. The whole of the Family Compact influence arrayed itself
+against him in deadly enmity. Francis Gore arrived in the capacity of
+Lieutenant-Governor in the summer of 1806. He was informed by his Councillors that
+Judge Thorpe was a dangerous and revolutionary personage. It was certain that the
+past year had been signalized by a decided propensity on the part of the people to
+assert themselves against the intolerable exactions of their oppressors, and that a
+spirit of opposition was on the increase throughout the land. Governor Gore and his
+Councillors reversed the inductive process, and attributed the popular discontent to
+the influence of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> new judge. This seeming conviction on their parts was strengthened by
+certain remarks of Judge Thorpe himself, made in reply to an address from the Grand
+Jury of the London District. "The art of governing," said he, "is a difficult
+science. Knowledge is not instinctive, and the days of inspiration have passed away.
+Therefore, when there was neither talent, education, information, nor even manners in
+the Administration, little could be expected, and nothing was produced." The
+reference here is manifestly to the <i>r&eacute;gime</i> of Governor Hunter and
+Commodore Grant; and the intimation is that better things are to be hoped for under
+the recently-arrived Governor. "But," continued the judge, "there is an ultimate
+point of depression, as well as of exaltation, from whence all human affairs
+naturally advance or recede. Therefore, proportionate to your depression, we may
+expect your progress in prosperity will advance with accelerated velocity." He also
+in the course of his address, inveighed against the Alien Act of 1804. When he
+reached York, at the close of the circuit, he laid before the new Lieutenant-Governor
+the various recapitulations of grievances which had been entrusted to him. They were
+received by Mr. Gore and his Councillors with a very ill grace. The complaints from
+the London District were stated with great vigour and lucidity, and as they had got
+into print they could not be suppressed or wholly ignored. An attempt was made to
+show that the chapter of grievances had been presented by the jurors, not because
+there was really anything of importance to complain of, but because Judge Thorpe
+himself had instigated them to such a course. As this charge was openly made, Mr.
+Thorpe in his capacity of a Justice of the King's Bench, caused a proceeding of the
+nature of <i>scandalum magnatum</i> to be instituted. His brother judges, however,
+some of whom were members of the Executive Council, and all of whom were subject to
+strong influences from that quarter, ruled that the proceeding could not be
+maintained, and it accordingly fell through. An attempt was also made, first to
+intimidate, and afterwards to corrupt the Grand Jury. A letter was sent to them from
+the office of the Lieutenant-Governor, requesting them to state the grounds of their
+complaints more specifically. The recipients responded by preparing and forwarding a
+stronger case than before. A recantation was then drawn up by a skilful hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> and presented to
+each individual member of the Jury, a reward being at the same time offered as an
+inducement to sign it. The jurymen, however, were not prepared to barter away their
+liberties in this manner, and the attempt wholly failed. While the Executive were
+deliberating as to how they could most effectually strike Judge Thorpe, a vacancy
+occurred in the representation of one of the constituencies in the Home District. In
+those times, as has already been seen, a judgeship was no disqualification for
+political life, and a deputation waited on Mr. Thorpe with a numerously signed
+address, requesting him to become their representative. He replied that he would not
+become a partisan, but that if he were returned to Parliament he would not hesitate
+to do his duty. No sooner did it become known that "the Radical Judge," as he was
+called, was a candidate for the Assembly than the leading spirits of the Compact
+aroused themselves to defeat him. This was natural enough. That they should employ
+against him every means which their ingenuity could devise&mdash;among others,
+bribery, vilification and deliberate slander&mdash;that also was natural, when the
+time and persons are considered. "Every engine within the reach of authority," writes
+Mr. Jackson, "was used for the purpose of defeating the wishes of the people on this
+occasion. All interests were required to yield in favour of the candidate most likely
+to succeed as against Mr. Thorpe. Any person in employment, in expectation of, or
+entitled to land, was gratified, promised, or threatened; magistrates were made and
+unmade, as best suited the purposes of electioneering; grants were given; fees
+excused, or promised to be paid by those high in authority. Even domestics were
+bribed with places, land, and money, to vilify and accuse, by direct falsehoods, the
+most upright, serviceable and esteemed persons in the Province." For once public
+opinion proved too strong for Family Compact influence. Judge Thorpe was returned,
+and great things were hoped for from his career in Parliament. But the triumph of
+freedom was short-lived. The Compact was too strong to be opposed by the multitude
+with impunity. Lieutenant-Governor Gore was subservient to its wishes, and besides he
+had by this time come to hate the popular judge on his own account, and his mind was
+fully made up to solicit from the Colonial Secretary Judge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> Thorpe's recall. One of his private
+letters, written from Kingston, during a journey from York to Montreal, several
+months after the Judge's election to the Assembly, announces this resolution in
+unmistakable terms. "The object of Mr. T.'s [Thorpe's] emissions," he writes,
+"appears to be to persuade the people to turn every gentleman out of the House of
+Assembly. However, keep your temper with the rascals, I beseech you. I shall
+represent everything at St. James'." He was as good as his word, and in October,
+1807, the announcement was made in the <i>Gazette</i> that the Lieutenant-Governor
+had been instructed to suspend Mr. Thorpe from his judgeship, which we may be quite
+sure was done without unnecessary loss of time.</p>
+
+<p>Thus did might continue to triumph over right. There was not the slightest
+imputation of any sort against the Judge's character. His professional attainments
+were high; his personal character without a stain. His continued presence in Canada
+would have been a blessing to all but the race of tyrants who trampled on popular
+liberty. Yet he was removed because he respected himself and his office too highly to
+pervert judgment, and because he bade fair to abridge the rule of corruption. Upon
+his return to England the Colonial Office urged nothing whatever against him, and
+merely suggested, by way of justification for his recall, that his stay in Upper
+Canada would have led to perpetual disturbance of the public tranquillity. He
+instituted proceedings in one of the English courts against Mr. Gore, who was
+convicted of libel, but who escaped much more easily than he deserved with a fine of
+trifling amount. By way of recompense for his recall from Upper Canada, Judge Thorpe
+was appointed Chief Justice of Sierra Leone. There he remained for two years, by
+which time his constitution had become so much broken by the climate that he was
+compelled to return home. At the request of a number of the inhabitants he carried
+with him to England a petition complaining of certain abuses of power there. For this
+he was discarded by the Ministry of the day. His appointment as Chief Justice was
+cancelled, and another judge was sent out to West Africa in his stead. The rest of
+his life was passed in obscurity and neglect, and when he died his family were left
+without any provision for their future. Such was the untoward fate of an<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> honourable and
+high-minded man, whose only fault was that he was too pure for the times in which he
+lived, and for the people among whom his lot was cast.</p>
+
+<p>Another early victim, whose life record seems to contradict the adage that honesty
+is the best policy, was Surveyor-General Wyatt. There is no need to go minutely into
+the particulars of his case. He was universally recognized as a competent and honest
+official, insomuch that it was currently said of him that he was too good for the
+masters whom he served. But he ventured to interfere on behalf of one of the
+subordinates in his office, who had been refused a stipend to which Mr. Wyatt
+considered him entitled. Then, he presumed to oppose the Council in respect of an
+irregular purchase of a large tract of land from the Mississauga Indians. Finally, he
+went so far as to profess a high degree of respect for the manly and independent
+conduct of Judge Thorpe. The secret conclave speedily pronounced his doom. No one
+ventured to allege any fault against him, yet he was deprived of his situation by the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and a pliable tool was installed in his office.</p>
+
+<p>Joseph Willcocks had a more bitter experience still. He was an Irishman, of
+liberal education, and of much energy of character, whose influence in official
+circles was wide enough to obtain for him the post of Sheriff of the Home District.
+For several years no occasion for any difference of opinion arose between him and his
+superiors. He was known as a competent officer, who discharged his duties with great
+consideration for the impecunious and unfortunate. But his frequent official
+peregrinations through the Home District enabled him to see with his own eyes the
+disastrous effects of the Clergy Reserves, of the land-granting system, and of Family
+Compact domination generally; and on several occasions he had sufficient courage to
+express his opinions thereupon. Attempts were made to silence him, first by
+remonstrances, and afterwards by threats, but all to no purpose. When Judge Thorpe
+began to figure as a sort of popular tribune, Willcocks declared himself as being
+also on the side of the people. When the Judge became a candidate for Parliament, the
+Sheriff, who had a vote in the constituency, recorded it in his favour. For this he
+shared the fate of the Surveyor-General, and was promptly dismissed from office by
+the Lieutenant-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>Governor. But he came of a fighting stock, and was not to be suppressed
+by the mere circumstance of being deprived of an official income. He started a
+newspaper called <i>The Upper Canada Guardian, or Freeman's Journal</i>. In this
+sheet, which was edited by Mr. Willcocks himself, various desirable measures of
+reform were advocated, and the dominant faction were from time to time referred to in
+opprobrious, but certainly not untruthful or unmerited language. The paper obtained a
+considerable circulation, and soon made its editor an object of bitter hatred on the
+part of the authorities. The vilest abuse was poured out upon him, and he was
+subjected to a course of persecution well-nigh as grievous as subsequently fell to
+the lot of Robert Gourlay. Governor Gore himself, in a letter still extant, written
+in 1807, refers to him as "that execrable monster who would deluge the Province with
+blood." The execrable monster's influence, however, continued to grow, and upon Judge
+Thorpe's retirement from Upper Canada, he was returned to the Assembly in his stead,
+for the West Riding of the County of York, the First Riding of the County of Lincoln,
+and the County of Haldimand. As he was a ready and powerful speaker, as well as a
+vigorous writer, it was felt that he would soon become intolerable if his career were
+not effectively checked. He was accordingly tried before the Assembly on a frivolous
+charge of having, in a private conversation held at the house of a Mr. Glennan, in
+York, spoken disrespectfully of some of the members. The proceedings were the veriest
+travesty of the forms of justice. The accused was found guilty, and committed to the
+common jail of the Home District, there to remain during the sitting of Parliament.<a
+name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53"
+class="fnanchor">[53]</a> This indignity he was compelled to suffer, being confined
+for many weeks in a small close cell, which he was not permitted to leave for a
+single moment. He was further wrought upon by informations for libel, as well as by
+secret inquisitions into his private affairs. After his enlargement he continued to
+publish his paper, but he was so tortured by the incessant persecutions to which he
+was subjected that he could accomplish little or nothing in the way of reform. From
+some of his votes in the Assembly it would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> appear that he made tacit overtures towards
+reconciliation with his enemies,<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> but he had offended too deeply to be
+forgiven, and their rancour was not to be appeased. Eventually he was compelled to
+relinquish the publication of the <i>Guardian</i> for want of funds to carry it on.
+Notwithstanding all that he had endured, his loyalty remained unshaken, and when the
+War of 1812<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55"
+class="fnanchor">[55]</a> broke out he responded to the call for volunteers by
+shouldering his musket and doing his devoirs like a man at the battle of Queenston
+Heights. Even this obtained for him neither complaisance nor immunity from abuse. He
+found himself ruined in fortune, opposed and hated by those in authority, without any
+prospect before him but starvation. It is not singular that a man subjected to such
+conditions should become disheartened. In a moment of exasperation he deserted the
+ranks where he had been held as of so little account. Accompanied by a small body of
+Canadian volunteers, he repaired to the camp of the enemy, where he offered his
+services, and obtained a colonel's commission. He served under Major-General Brown at
+the siege of Fort Erie, where he was slain while planting a guard.</p>
+
+<p>Such are three of the most notable examples of ministerial tyranny in
+comparatively early times. As before mentioned, they attracted less widespread
+attention than did Mr. Gourlay's case some years later, because, though they were
+signal instances of the abuse of power, they were not marked by such refinement in
+cruelty, and because they appealed to the political sympathies of comparatively few.
+In the time of Judge Thorpe, Wyatt and Willcocks, the dominating class not only held
+a monopoly of power, but they and their adherents were numerically in the ascendant.
+At the time of Gourlay's persecution the population was much more evenly divided. The
+oligarchy still had control of all the avenues to power, but there was a large and
+steadily-increasing class in the community who recognized the fact that many changes
+were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> necessary
+before Upper Canada could become a prosperous and well-governed colony, and a
+satisfactory place of abode for the average British immigrant.</p>
+
+<p>In closing this hasty review of the nature and effects of Family Compact
+domination in Upper Canada, I would not be understood as pronouncing a sweeping
+condemnation upon all the individual members of that body. John Beverley Robinson,
+for instance, though he lent himself to many high-handed acts of oppression, was a
+man of undoubted ability, and of a character which inspired respect. His descendants
+are to-day among the most respected and influential members of society in our
+Provincial capital. Several others were men of high personal character, and of
+abilities above the average. They acted in accordance with time and circumstance, and
+must be supposed to have done so conscientiously. But such persons as these composed
+but a very slender proportion of the Compact's entire membership. The rank and file
+were of a totally different complexion. The characteristics of the more
+poverty-stricken among them have already been hinted at; but, independently of these,
+there were many who were well-to-do, and who held their heads high in the air, who
+were nevertheless very ill qualified to win admiration for the caste to which they
+belonged. To state the simple truth, most of them were very ordinary commonplace
+personages, respectable, sapless, idealess&mdash;what Dr. Johnson would have
+characterized as exceedingly barren rascals. Some were of obscure origin, and would
+have been hard put to it if required to trace their ancestry beyond a single
+generation. Of these latter, a few, as has already been seen, had amassed wealth by
+trade or speculation, and had made their way into the exclusive circle by a fortunate
+combination of circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>Among the Compact, then, the number of persons of good birth and descent,
+possessed of sufficient qualifications to justify their aristocratic predilections,
+and of sufficient capacity to enable them to direct the colonial policy, was small.
+And it must by no means be supposed that all the good blood in the Province was
+confined to the Compact. There were many persons among the pioneers of Upper Canada
+of gentle nurture and breeding, who nevertheless scorned to pose in the character of
+aristocrats in a land where such assumptions were altogether out of<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> place, and who
+manfully accommodated themselves to their primitive surroundings. As has been well
+remarked by Mr. MacMullen,<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> "While they learned to wield the axe
+and swing the cradle with the energy and skill of the roughest backwoodsman, they
+retained their polished manners, their literary tastes, their love for the beautiful
+and the elegant; and thus exercised the most beneficial influence upon their rustic
+neighbours. In the absence of schools, of churches, of most of the refining
+influences of civilized society, this class of the early settlers of Upper Canada
+were foremost in usefulness. Their superior education, their well-bred manners, their
+more refined habits, raised them in the estimation of the rural population, who soon
+tacitly admitted a superiority which would never have been conceded [had it been]
+more directly asserted." Most, though not all, of these gentlemen were Tories, and,
+with hardly an exception, preserved their loyalty through all chances and changes.
+During the War of 1812-15, and again during the agitation arising out of the
+Rebellion, they proved true to their Tory instincts, and rallied to the side of the
+Government with ready fervour. Their social proclivities were equally removed from
+the rude boorishness of the ordinary settler as from the pretence and ceremonial of
+the clique of self-constituted aristocrats. They generally preserved a modicum of
+state in the regulation of their household affairs, though they kept aloof from the
+Compact and its practices, and devoted themselves to various branches of
+industry&mdash;among others, to the education of youth; to the practice of the
+learned professions; to the opening and cultivating of new avenues of commerce; and
+to reducing the pathless forests to arable and smiling fields.</p>
+
+<p>One other fact it is essential to bear in mind, in estimating the effects of the
+Compact's <i>r&eacute;gime</i>. In seizing upon all the official and other spoils
+within their reach, and in trampling upon the liberties of the people, the magnates
+of Upper Canada were merely treading in the footsteps of the Tite Barnacles of Great
+Britain. The period was one of transition, all over the civilized world. Popular
+rights were but imperfectly understood, and the idea that good government is best
+served by the extension of justice and equal rights to all classes was only beginning
+to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> dawn upon
+the minds of public men, even in old and long-established communities. That Canada
+was not in advance of the times is not to be wondered at; but the ordeal through
+which she was compelled to pass on the way to full and assured liberty forms an epoch
+highly necessary to be understood and frequently remembered by all who appreciate the
+blessings which are the birthright of every Canadian of the present day. A knowledge
+of the principles and practices of the Family Compact in the olden days constitutes
+the most effectual guarantee that such days can never return, and that neither our
+children nor our children's children will ever be compelled to fight over again the
+battle which was so long and so patiently waged by their ancestors.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> It may perhaps be
+thought by some readers that the closing sentences of this paragraph are pitched
+in too high a key. Those who entertain that opinion will receive light on the
+subject by a careful perusal of various official reports issued just prior to the
+passing of the Quebec Act in 1774, and more especially of <i>A Cry from
+Quebec</i>, published at Montreal in 1809.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> <i>Report on the
+Affairs of British North America</i>, English folio edition, p. 53.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> How far Lord Durham
+was justified in saying that there was "little of family connexion" among the
+members of the Compact will appear from the following "curious but accurate
+statement," prepared by Mr. W. L. Mackenzie for his <i>Sketches of Canada and the
+United States</i>, published in England in 1833. It will be found on pp. 405-409
+of that work. "When I left Upper Canada last year," writes Mr. Mackenzie, "some
+of the offices, sinecures, and pensions of the Government were divided as
+follows:&mdash;No. 1. <span class="smcap">D'Arcy Boulton</span>, senior, a
+retired pensioner, &pound;500 sterling. 2. <span class="smcap">Henry</span>, son
+to No. 1, Attorney-General and Bank Solicitor, &pound;2400. 3. <span
+class="smcap">D'Arcy</span>, son to No. 1, Auditor-General, Master in Chancery,
+Police Justice, etc. Income unknown. 4. <span class="smcap">William</span>, son
+to No. 1, Church Missionary, King's College Professor, etc., &pound;650. 5. <span
+class="smcap">George</span>, son to No. 1, Registrar of Northumberland, Member of
+Assembly for Durham, etc. Income unknown. 6. <span class="smcap">John Beverley
+Robinson</span>, brother-in-law to No. 3, Chief Justice of Upper Canada, Member
+for life of the Legislative Council, Speaker of ditto, &pound;2000. 7. <span
+class="smcap">Peter</span>, brother to No. 6, Member of the Executive Council,
+Member for life of the Legislative Council, Crown Land Commissioner,
+Surveyor-General of Woods, Clergy Reserve Commissioner, etc. &pound;1300. 8.
+<span class="smcap">William</span>, brother to Nos. 6 and 7, Postmaster of
+Newmarket, Member of Assembly for Simcoe, Government Contractor, Colonel of
+Militia, Justice of the Peace, etc. Income unknown. 9. <span class="smcap">Jonas
+Jones</span>, brother-in-law to No. 2, Judge of the District Court in three
+districts containing eight counties, and filling a number of other offices.
+Income about &pound;1000. 10. <span class="smcap">Charles</span>, brother to No.
+9, Member for life of Legislative Council, Justice of the Peace in twenty seven
+counties, etc. 11. <span class="smcap">Alpheus</span>, brother to Nos. 9 and 10,
+Collector of Customs, Prescott, Postmaster at ditto, Agent for Government Bank at
+ditto, etc. Income &pound;900. 12. <span class="smcap">Levius P. Sherwood</span>,
+brother-in-law to Nos. 9, 10, 11, one of the Justices of the Court of King's
+Bench. Income &pound;1000. 13. <span class="smcap">Henry</span>, son to No. 12,
+Clerk of Assize, etc. 14. <span class="smcap">John Elmsley</span>, son-in-law to
+No. 12, Member of the Legislative Council for life, Bank Director, Justice of the
+Peace, etc. 15. <span class="smcap">Charles Heward</span>, nephew to No. 6, Clerk
+of the District Court, etc. Income &pound;100. 16. <span class="smcap">James B.
+Macaulay</span>, brother-in-law to Nos. 17 and 19, one of the Justices of the
+Court of King's Bench. Income &pound;1000. 17. <span class="smcap">Christopher
+Alexander Hagerman</span>, brother-in-law to No. 16, Solicitor-General.
+&pound;800. 18. <span class="smcap">John McGill</span>, a relation of Nos. 16 and
+17, Legislative Councillor for life. Pensioner, &pound;500. 19 and 20. <span
+class="smcap">W. Allan and George Crookshanks</span>, connexions by marriage of
+16 and 17, Legislative Councillors for life, the latter President of the Bank.
+&pound;500. 21. <span class="smcap">Henry Jones</span>, cousin to Nos. 9, 10,
+etc., Postmaster of Brockville, Justice of the Peace, Member of Assembly for
+Brockville, Income unknown. 22. <span class="smcap">William Dummer Powell</span>,
+father of No. 24, Legislative Councillor for life, Justice of the Peace,
+Pensioner. Pension, &pound;1000. 23. <span class="smcap">Samuel Peters
+Jarvis</span>, son-in-law to No. 22, Clerk of the Crown in Chancery,
+Deputy-Secretary of the Province, Bank Director, etc. Income unknown. 24. <span
+class="smcap">Grant</span>, son to No. 22, Clerk of the Legislative Council,
+Police Justice, Judge Home District Court, Official Principal of Probate Court,
+Commissioner of Customs, etc. Income &pound;675. 25. <span class="smcap">William
+M.</span>, brother to 23, High Sheriff Gore District. Income from &pound;500 to
+&pound;800. 26. <span class="smcap">William B.</span>, cousin to Nos. 23 and 25,
+High Sheriff, Home District, Member of Assembly. Income &pound;900. 27. <span
+class="smcap">Adiel Sherwood</span>, cousin to No. 12, High Sheriff of Johnstown,
+and Treasurer of that district. Income from &pound;500 to &pound;800. 28. <span
+class="smcap">George Sherwood</span>, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize. 29. <span
+class="smcap">John Strachan</span>, their family tutor and political
+schoolmaster, archdeacon and rector of York, Member of the Executive and
+Legislative Councils, President of the University, President of the Board of
+Education, and twenty other situations. Income, on an average of years, upwards
+of &pound;1800. 30. <span class="smcap">Thomas Mercer Jones</span>, son-in-law to
+No. 29, associated with No. 19, as the Canada Company's Agents and Managers in
+Canada. This family connexion rules Upper Canada according to its own good
+pleasure, and has no efficient check from this country to guard the people
+against its acts of tyranny and oppression. It includes the whole of the judges
+of the supreme civil and criminal tribunal (Nos. 6, 12, and 16)&mdash;active Tory
+politicians. Judge Macaulay was a clerk in the office of No. 2, not long since.
+It includes half the Executive Council or provincial cabinet. It includes the
+Speaker and other eight Members of the Legislative Council. It includes the
+persons who have the control of the Canada Land Company's monopoly. It includes
+the President and Solicitor of the Bank, and about half the Bank Directors;
+together with shareholders, holding, to the best of my recollection, about 1800
+shares. And it included the crown lawyers until last March, when they carried
+their opposition to Viscount Goderich's measures of reform to such a height as
+personally to insult the government, and to declare their belief that he had not
+the royal authority for his despatches. They were then removed; but, with this
+exception, the chain remains unbroken. This family compact surround the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and mould him, like wax, to their will; they fill every
+office with their relatives, dependants, and partisans; by them justices of the
+peace and officers of the militia are made and unmade; they have increased the
+number of the Legislative Council by recommending, through the Governor, half a
+dozen of nobodies and a few placemen, pensioners, and individuals of well-known
+narrow and bigoted principle; the whole of the revenues of Upper Canada are in
+reality at their mercy;&mdash;they are Paymasters, Receivers, Auditors, King,
+Lords, and Commons!"</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> See his evidence
+annexed to the Committee's Report, p. 86.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Gourlay, commenting
+upon this episode, remarks: "Who pardoned all the poor sinners that for years had
+been getting bastards, and who legitimized these, was not determined when I bade
+farewell to Upper Canada."&mdash;<i>Statistical Account</i>, Vol. 2, p. 348.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Those who wish to gain
+an insight into some of the most revolting features of this traffic may consult
+<i>Claws and the Clauses</i>, a pamphlet published at Buffalo in 1818; also
+<i>Gourlay</i>, vol. 2, pp. 486, 487; together with Jackson's pamphlet referred
+to in the text.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> This must have been
+Chief Justice Thomas Scott, after whom Scott Street, Toronto, was called. He was
+Chief Justice from August, 1806, to Michaelmas Term, 1816. He is referred to by
+Dr. Scadding in <i>Toronto of Old</i>, p. 51, as "a man of fine culture, spoken
+of affectionately by those who knew him." A picture of him in his decline is
+presented on page 130 of the same work.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> For a full account of
+these infamous proceedings, the reader is referred to <i>The Upper Canada
+Guardian</i> of February 6th and March 18th, 1808, quoted by Gourlay in his
+<i>Statistical Account</i>, Vol. 2, pp. 655-662.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> See an extract from
+the minutes of the proceedings in the Assembly, 10th March, 1810, quoted by
+Gourlay, Vol. 2, pp. 328, 329. See also Gourlay's remarks thereon, Vol. 2, pp.
+334, 335.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> There is reason to
+believe that the discontent begotten of the abuse of power in Canada was one of
+the inducements to this attempt on the part of the United States, the Government
+of which was led to believe that Canadians generally would welcome any relief
+from the yoke which the Compact had placed upon their necks.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> <i>History of
+Canada</i>, p. 243.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapiv.jpg" width="300" height="75" alt="chapiv" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER IV.</h2>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span>
+<h4>FATHERS OF REFORM.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/lettert.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="lettert" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none">T</span>
+he history of Upper Canada, from the time of Mr. Gourlay's banishment, in 1819,
+down to the actual outbreak of rebellion, is largely made up of a succession of
+abuses on the part of the Executive, and of more or less passive endurance on the
+part of the great body of the people. As has been intimated, the Gourlay prosecutions
+and their attendant circumstances aroused much popular indignation, and led to the
+formation of an organized Opposition. During the session of 1820 the "Gagging Bill,"
+as it was called, which had been introduced and carried through the Assembly under
+the auspices of Mr. Jonas Jones<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> two years before, was repealed,<a
+name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58"
+class="fnanchor">[58]</a> and the holding of conventions was no longer prohibited by
+law. It is a fact worth mentioning that Attorney-General Robinson was the only member
+who recorded his vote against the repealing statute, whereas at the time of the
+enactment of the original repressive law in 1818 only one vote had been given against
+it. Such a change of opinion among the members of the Assembly within so brief a
+space of time is in itself significant of the progress of liberal views among the
+people generally.</p>
+
+<p>The vote on this repealing statute was somewhat of a surprise to the authorities.
+It was evident that Reform sentiment was growing, and that many persons who had never
+been classed as Reformers were weary of the long reign of tyranny. It was not the
+policy of the Compact, however, to yield anything to popular demands, and they held
+on their course with dogged pertinacity, as though animated by a fixed resolve that
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> public
+indignation which had been aroused by the Gourlay prosecutions should not be
+permitted to subside. Erelong a new opportunity for applying the thumb-screw
+presented itself, and it was taken advantage of to the fullest practicable extent.
+During the recess following the close of the first session of the Eighth Provincial
+Parliament, which was prorogued on the 14th of April, 1821, a vacancy occurred in the
+representation of the constituency of the United Counties of Lennox and Addington.
+The local Reformers took advantage of the opportunity thus afforded of bringing out a
+candidate who had rendered much service to Liberal principles in Upper Canada, and
+who was eminently fitted to impart strength to the Opposition in the Assembly. His
+name was Barnabas Bidwell, and he was known far and wide as one of the keenest
+intellects and as one of the best public speakers in the country. His past history
+had been unfortunate, and as it was soon to be made the subject of strict
+Parliamentary enquiry, a few leading facts in connection with it may as well be set
+down here.</p>
+
+<p>He was a native of Massachusetts, where he was born in the old colonial days
+before the Revolution. He came of a Whig family which espoused the colonial cause
+with ardour, but he was himself too young to take any part in the great struggle
+which gave birth to the United States. Having completed his education at Yale
+College, he studied law, and at an early age rose to eminence at the Massachusetts
+bar. He became Attorney-General of the State, and, though he had for his rivals some
+of the ablest men known to American history, he was regarded by his countrymen as one
+whose future was in his own hands. His manners were courtly and refined, and his
+scholastic attainments wide and various. He soon found his way to Congress, where his
+brilliant eloquence caused him to be listened to with attention and respect.</p>
+<p>Up to this time his career had been an uninterrupted success. But in achieving his
+political eminence he had been unfortunate enough to make for himself a good many
+bitter enemies. His political course seems to have been somewhat arbitrary and
+uncompromising, insomuch that his opponents regarded him with more rancorous feelings
+than are commonly entertained among public men where there are no personal grounds
+for enmity. Whether such personal grounds existed in the case of Barnabas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> Bidwell cannot now
+be readily ascertained. It is however certain that he was regarded by a host of
+clever and unscrupulous persons with a bitterness of enmity almost amounting to
+ferocity. He seems to have made no attempt to conciliate his foes, but treated them
+with a sort of haughty contempt. In the year 1810 the weight of their anger descended
+upon him like an avalanche. He was then, and he for some years previously had been,
+Treasurer of the County of Berkshire, Massachusetts. An accusation of a very serious
+nature was brought against him. He was charged with having applied the public funds
+to his own use, and with having falsified entries in his books in order to cover up
+his malversations. It is difficult to get at the exact truth in the matter. Mr.
+Bidwell's attention to public affairs had caused him to neglect his private and
+professional business, which consequently had not flourished. He was far from
+wealthy, and it is not improbable that he was sometimes financially embarrassed.
+Whether he succumbed to temptation, and dipped his hands into the treasury without
+leave, cannot now be certainly declared. His own version of the matter was that he
+was entirely free from blame, but that his enemies had deliberately woven a subtle
+web about him from which he was unable to extricate himself, as it would have been
+impossible for him, under the existing state of things, to obtain justice. At all
+events, he seems to have felt himself to be unable to face the situation. Learning
+that an indictment had been laid, and that a warrant had been issued for his
+apprehension, he fled from his native country, and took refuge in Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<p>Accompanied by his family, consisting of a son and daughter, he settled at the
+village of Bath, in the County of Addington, on the Bay of Quint&eacute;. He soon
+obtained employment as a school teacher, and encountered no difficulty in gaining a
+livelihood, though the humble role he was compelled to play comported ill with his
+past experience and present ambition. There is little doubt that he was an admirer of
+republican institutions, and that he so remained to the end of his life, though his
+admiration was thrown away in this country, and it was impossible for him to return
+to his own. He was a useful man in the little community where he resided, and his
+education and intelligence caused him to be looked up to by people of all classes. He
+did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>
+intrude his political views further than to proclaim himself an advocate of Liberal
+ideas, and upon the breaking out of the War of 1812 he took the oath of allegiance to
+His Majesty. His ordinary pursuits were altogether insufficient for his enthusiastic
+nature, and after the lapse of several years he removed to Kingston, and took up his
+abode there. He found an outlet for his superabundant energy through the medium of
+frequent contributions to the press. Among the best known of his writings are a
+series of letters on practical agriculture and political economy, originally
+contributed to a Kingston newspaper, and subsequently republished in pamphlet form
+under the title of "The Prompter." The series of historical and topographical
+sketches forming the first half of the first volume of Gourlay's "Statistical Account
+of Upper Canada" are also from Mr. Bidwell's pen, and they are upon the whole the
+most valuable portion of the entire work. He espoused Mr. Gourlay's cause with great
+fervour, and by his written and spoken words did much to arouse public sympathy for
+that unfortunate man, as well as to awaken abhorrence for the cruelty and selfishness
+of his persecutors. From that time forward he began to take a more conspicuous part
+in politics than he had been accustomed to take since his arrival in Canada. From the
+hustings and elsewhere he thundered against the Compact domination with an eloquence
+which thrilled his audiences. He soon made himself felt as a power in the land, and
+as one from whom the ruling faction had good reason to apprehend more serious
+antagonism than they had ever had to encounter.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the man chosen by the Reform element in Lennox and Addington, during the
+summer of 1821, to represent its interests in the Provincial Assembly. The ensuing
+campaign was an exciting one, but at its close Barnabas Bidwell was the undoubted
+choice of a large majority of the electors. This was a heavy blow to the Executive
+party. The Reformers would now have a representative in the House who could not be
+cajoled or bullied. His eloquence, aggressiveness, intelligence and shrewdness could
+not fail to produce a decided impression on the House and on the country. Would it
+not be well if he could be got rid of, as Thorpe and Gourlay had been got rid of
+before him?</p>
+
+<p>During the progress of the election campaign, some of the main facts connected
+with Mr. Bidwell's migration from Massachusetts to Upper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Canada had become known to his
+opponents. The pretext afforded by these disclosures was too good to be neglected. An
+emissary was despatched to Berkshire County, where there was no difficulty in
+ascertaining that he had been Treasurer of the municipality; that he had been
+indicted for misapplying public funds; that a warrant had thereupon been issued for
+his apprehension; and that he had then fled beyond the jurisdiction. Certified copies
+of the indictment and of several other important documents bearing on the matter were
+obtained by the agent, and by him brought over to Upper Canada. On the strength of
+the information and documents thus obtained a petition was filed against the election
+of Mr. Bidwell, upon the ground that he was an alien and a fugitive from justice, who
+had moreover taken an oath of allegiance to the Government of the United States. The
+accused notwithstanding appeared in his place in the Assembly upon the opening of the
+session, and when the matter of the petition came up for discussion he defended
+himself before the House with an eloquence and pathos which stirred every heart. He
+declared, in language and tones which left no doubt of his sincerity, that he was
+guiltless of the embezzlement with which he had been charged, and that the accusation
+had been solely due to the machinations of a powerful clique of enemies. He further
+urged that, whatever might be the facts as to the charge, he had never been tried or
+convicted, and that the Assembly had no right to assume his guilt in the absence of
+positive proof. He admitted having taken the oath of allegiance to the Government of
+the United States, but urged that such an oath was required of every man assuming a
+public office in all civilized countries; that it applied only to the period of his
+actual residence, and was no legitimate bar to his advancement in another country.
+Since his arrival in Canada he had taken an oath of allegiance to the King of Great
+Britain. That his loyalty was not open to suspicion was sufficiently manifest from
+the mere fact of his having been returned to Parliament by a constituency the
+inhabitants whereof were largely composed of United Empire Loyalists and their
+immediate descendants. Such was the course of his argument, which from beginning to
+end was singularly lucid and clear. But all was unavailing. He was assailed by the
+Government party in language such as is rarely to be met with in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> annals of
+Parliamentary debate in this country. Mr. Attorney-General Robinson went beyond any
+former effort of his life in the way of vituperation, and overleapt the bounds of the
+commonest decency. He proclaimed himself to be the son of a United Empire Loyalist
+who had fought and bled for his country, and as therefore being no fit company for
+runaway felons and pickpockets. His sympathy with himself was so great that the tears
+chased one another down his cheeks as he was speaking. All the amiability which
+commonly marked his intercourse with his fellowmen seemed to have utterly departed
+from him, and he towered above his seat in a perfect whirlwind of rage and fiery
+indignation. Mr. Bidwell's calm and temperate reply was in striking contrast to the
+levin bolts which had been hurled at him, and produced a marked effect upon his
+hearers. But the Compact commanded a majority in the Assembly,<a
+name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59"
+class="fnanchor">[59]</a> which sustained a motion for his expulsion. And as it was
+well known that the electors of Lennox and Addington would again return him, and that
+he could not be permanently excluded by any ordinary means, it was determined to
+disqualify him by special legislation. An Act was accordingly passed intituled "An
+Act to render ineligible to a seat in the Commons House of Assembly of this Province
+certain descriptions of persons therein mentioned."<a name="FNanchor_60_60"
+id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> Among the
+persons declared ineligible were those who had held any of the principal public
+offices in a foreign country, which was of course an effectual disqualification for
+Barnabas Bidwell, who, as already mentioned, had been Attorney-General of
+Massachusetts. It was a veritable Act of Exclusion, aimed at a particular person, and
+it served its purpose by keeping the obnoxious individual perpetually out of public
+life.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61"
+class="fnanchor">[61]</a></p>
+
+<p>In consequence of Mr. Bidwell's expulsion a new election for Lennox and<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> Addington became
+necessary. The writ was issued, and, to the chagrin and disgust of the supporters of
+the Government, a new champion of popular rights appeared in the field in the person
+of Marshall Spring Bidwell, the only son of the recently-expelled member. The new
+candidate was a young man of twenty-three years of age. He was a native of
+Massachusetts, and had accompanied his parents to Canada at the time of their
+migration in 1810. At an early age he had given proofs of the possession of splendid
+abilities. His father, who was exceedingly proud of the bright boy, had cultivated
+his faculties to the utmost, and by the time that Marshall Spring Bidwell had
+attained his majority he was regarded by all who knew him as having a brilliant
+future before him. A year before his candidature he had been called to the Provincial
+bar. He now presented himself before the electors of Lennox and Addington in
+opposition to the Tory candidate, a gentleman named Clark. The combined modesty and
+assurance displayed by young Bidwell throughout the contest gained for him many warm
+friends, while at the same time his earnestness and flowing eloquence proved that he
+was a true son of his father. He conducted the campaign with signal ability, and laid
+the foundation of a lasting reputation in the constituency. At the close of the poll
+the returning-officer declared Mr. Clark to have been duly elected,<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> but, as it was
+notorious that corrupt practices had been resorted to, a protest was entered by the
+friends of the Reform candidate, who himself appeared in person at the bar of the
+House to conduct the argument. The result of the enquiry was that the return was set
+aside and a new election ordered. Young Bidwell so distinguished himself by his
+argument before the House that the official party perceived that he was likely to be
+no less formidable as an opponent than his father would have been. When the new
+election was held he again presented himself as a candidate, but found that the
+returning-officer had received instructions to accept no votes for him, upon the
+ground that he was an alien. The Tory candidate, Mr. Ham, was accordingly returned;
+but another protest was filed, with a similar result. The election was once more set
+aside, and Lennox and Addington still remained without a Parliamentary
+representative. It had by this time become notorious that the whole power of the
+Executive was exerted to keep the Bidwells out of public life, and the conviction
+that such was the fact gave rise to a counter-movement on the part of the victims.
+The friends of Reform bestirred themselves to such purpose that during the session of
+1823-24 an Act was passed<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> repealing the measure of two years
+before, and relaxing the conditions under which persons who had resided in or taken
+the oath of allegiance to a foreign state should be eligible for election to the
+Provincial Parliament. It was provided that a residence in the Province of seven
+years next before election should render such persons eligible for membership in the
+Assembly. This clause removed all existing disqualifications from young Mr. Bidwell;
+but his father still remained disqualified, for it was expressly re-enacted that no
+person who had been a member of the Senate or House of Representatives of the United
+States, or who had held office in any of the executive departments of "the United
+States of America, or any one of the said United States," should be capable of being
+elected to the Assembly. Under this clause the elder Bidwell was doubly disqualified,
+for he had not only been Attorney-General of Massachusetts, but had also sat in
+Congress. It was much, however, that the son was rendered eligible. A general
+election took place during the summer of 1824, at which he was returned for the
+constituency which he then contested for the third time.<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> He continued to sit in Parliament
+for eleven successive years. He is properly regarded as one of the founders of the
+Reform party in Upper Canada, and by his eloquence, tact and discretion, no less than
+by the high respect in which his character was held, he did much to advance the
+progress of Reform principles.</p>
+
+<p>The general election of 1824 resulted in the return of a number of prominent
+Reformers who now for the first time came forward to take part in public affairs. It
+was evident that a spirit of Reform had been awakened, and that from this time
+forward every important public question was likely to have two sides to it.</p>
+<p>The most conspicuous of all the new members was Mr. John Rolph, who had been
+returned as one of the representatives for the County of Middlesex. As he played an
+important part in the event which forms the subject of this work, and as he was one
+of the ablest men who have ever taken part in public affairs in this country, it is
+desirable to give some fuller account of him than is to be found in the various books
+relating to the place and times in which he lived.</p>
+
+<p>John Rolph was unquestionably one of the most extraordinary personalities who have
+ever figured in the annals of Upper Canada. He possessed talents which, under
+favouring circumstances, would have made him a marked man in either professional or
+public life in any country. Chief among his qualifications may be mentioned a
+comprehensive, subtle intellect, high scholastic and professional attainments, a
+style of eloquence which was at once ornate and logical, a noble and handsome
+countenance, a voice of silvery sweetness and great power of modulation, and an
+address at once impressive, dignified and ingratiating. His keenness of perception
+and his faculty for detecting the weak point in an argument were almost abnormal,
+while his power of eloquent and subtle exposition had no rival among the Canadian
+public men of those times. His famous speech&mdash;to be hereafter more particularly
+referred to&mdash;delivered in the Assembly, in 1836, on the subject of the Clergy
+Reserves, was one of the most powerful indictments ever heard within the walls of a
+Canadian Parliament. His arraignment of Sir Francis Bond Head before the same body
+early in the following year was hardly less impressive. He was of a full habit of
+body, even in comparative youth, and though he was rather under than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> above the middle
+height, there was a dignity and even majesty in his presence that gave the world
+assurance of a strong man, while it at the same time effectually repelled unseemly
+familiarity. A pair of deep clear blue eyes, surmounted by rather heavy eyebrows,
+glanced out from beneath his smooth and expansive forehead. He had light brown hair,
+a well-moulded chin, a firmly-set nose, and a somewhat large and flexible mouth,
+capable of imparting to the countenance great variety of expression. Such, according
+to the universal testimony of those who knew him, and according to portraits painted
+from life and preserved in his family, was the John Rolph of fifty to sixty years
+ago.</p>
+
+<p>There was unquestionably a <i>per contra</i>. Though he was a man of many friends,
+and was the repository of many familiar confidences, there was probably no human
+being&mdash;not even the wife of his bosom&mdash;who ever possessed John Rolph's
+entire confidence. There was about him no such thing as self-abandonment. This was
+not because he was devoid of natural passions or affections, or even of warm
+friendship, for he was a kind, if not a tender husband and father, and there were
+many persons whom he held in very high esteem, and for whom he cheerfully made great
+sacrifices. But the quality of caution seems to have been preternaturally developed
+within his breast. No man was ever less open to the imputation of wearing his heart
+upon his sleeve. He had a temperament of great equableness, and doubtless felt much
+more deeply than was suspected, even by those who were constantly about him. To the
+outer world he was ever self-possessed, calm and dignified, of pleasant and amiable
+manners, and not deficient in good-fellowship, but seldom or never abandoning himself
+to frolicsomeness or fun. His smile had a winsome sweetness about it, but it was a
+very rare occurrence indeed for him to indulge in anything approaching to hearty
+laughter. His self-control was marvellous. He was never surprised or startled, never
+dismayed by unexpected intelligence, never taken off his guard. Yet he possessed
+great dramatic talent, and in his addresses to juries and public audiences could
+successfully simulate the most contradictory feelings and emotions. One who judged
+him simply from such exhibitions as these might well have set him down for an
+emotional and impetuous man, apt to be led away by the fleeting passions and
+weaknesses of the moment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg
+106]</a></span> Yet no one coming to such a conclusion would have had any conception
+of his real character and idiosyncrasies. He certainly never acted without motive,
+but his motives were sometimes dark and unfathomable to everyone but himself. Not one
+among his contemporaries was able to take his moral and intellectual measure with
+anything approaching to completeness; and throughout the entire length and breadth of
+Canadian biography there is no man of equal eminence respecting whose real
+individuality so little is known.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Rolph's peculiarities were probably inherent, for the facts of his early life,
+so far as known, afford no clue to the reading of the riddle. He was the second son
+in a family consisting of eighteen children, and was born at Grovesend, in the market
+town of Thornbury, Gloucestershire, England, on the 4th of March, 1793. His father,
+Thomas Rolph, was a physician of some local repute, who seems to have been impelled
+to emigrate in consequence of the impossibility of making any suitable provision in
+England for so numerous a progeny. The ascertained facts with reference to John
+Rolph's early life in England are singularly meagre. He accompanied his parents to
+Canada some time prior to the War of 1812, for he served as a volunteer during the
+early part of that conflict, and was for some months a paymaster of militia. During
+the progress of the war he was taken prisoner by the enemy, and was detained in
+custody for a short time at Batavia, in the State of New York. An exchange of
+prisoners having been effected, he was set at liberty. After his liberation he
+returned to England, where he entered one of the colleges of the University of
+Cambridge; and, though he seems to have left there without taking a degree, he was
+recognized as a young man of very remarkable and precocious intellectual powers,
+likely to become conspicuous in after-life. He absorbed knowledge with marvellous
+facility, and never forgot anything he had learned. After leaving college he repaired
+to London, where he was entered as a student-at-law, and was in due time called to
+the bar of the Inner Temple. Like Bacon, he seems to have taken all knowledge to be
+his province, for, not satisfied with having acquired what, in so young a man, was
+accounted a wide knowledge of jurisprudence, he studied for some time under Sir
+Astley Cooper, and was enrolled as a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. He soon
+afterwards returned to Canada, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> took up his abode on a lot of land in the Township
+of Charlotteville, about midway between the villages of Turkey Point and Vittoria, in
+what is now the County of Norfolk, but which then and for long afterwards formed part
+of the Talbot District. In Michaelmas Term of 1821 he was called to the bar of Upper
+Canada, and for some years thereafter he appears to have practised the two
+professions of law and medicine concurrently. His great acquirements and pleasant
+manners made him a favourite with all classes of the people, and caused him to be
+regarded as a genuine acquisition to the district in which he resided. He became the
+professional adviser and familiar friend of Colonel Thomas Talbot, founder of the
+Talbot Settlement, and was one of the originators of the Talbot Anniversary,
+established in 1817, and kept up for more than twenty years thereafter, in honour of
+the day of the Colonel's arrival at Port Talbot&mdash;the 21st of May, 1803. The
+Colonel was not, in the strict sense of the term, a politician, but he was a member
+of the Legislative Council, and naturally supported the official party; whereas
+Rolph, though a man of equable mind, and by no means constitutionally inclined
+towards Radicalism, had much better opportunities for mixing with the people than had
+Colonel Talbot, and his keen eye revealed to him many official abuses which did not
+commend themselves to his sense of justice. It is probable that differences of
+opinion on public questions led to their ultimate estrangement. At all events, Rolph
+espoused the side of the people, and declared himself a foe to the Family Compact
+policy, and from that time forward the intimacy between him and Colonel Talbot seems
+to have grown less and less. The Gourlay prosecutions aroused Rolph's hot
+indignation, which he did not hesitate to express with much freedom whithersoever he
+went. Being a brilliant and eloquent talker, strong in opinion and logical in
+argument, he made many converts to his views, the number of whom was not lessened by
+the course of treatment adopted towards the Bidwells. It seems to have been about
+this time that he took up his abode at Dundas, where he subsequently resided for many
+years. When the general elections of 1824 took place the Reformers of Middlesex
+brought out John Rolph and Captain John Matthews, both of whom were returned at the
+head of the poll.</p>
+
+<p>Rolph made his presence felt in the Assembly from the time of taking his seat
+there. He was then thirty-one years of age, and of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> compact, well-built figure,
+inclining to portliness. His face was at once handsome and intellectual, and his
+presence carried with it a suggestion of undoubted power. He spoke comparatively
+seldom during his early Parliamentary sessions, but when he did speak it was always
+with effect. His diction was singularly luminous and expressive, and would have
+attracted attention in any public assembly in the world. There was a clear metallic
+ring in his voice which did full justice to the language employed, and there were few
+empty benches in the House when it was known that Rolph was to speak.</p>
+
+<p>His colleague from Middlesex, though a staunch Reformer, was a man of very
+different cast. Captain Matthews was a retired officer of the royal artillery, who
+had seen twenty-seven years' service. At a very early period of his residence in
+Upper Canada he had become disgusted with Family Compact rule, and had spoken his
+mind on the subject with much freedom. Being a resident of the County of Middlesex,
+and being held in much esteem there among the adherents of Liberal principles, he was
+induced to offer himself along with Dr. Rolph at the general election of 1824 as one
+of the candidates for the county. His candidature was successful, and he became very
+popular in the House, though the texture of his mind was somewhat light and airy, and
+he was not well fitted, either by nature or by training, to deal with such grave
+constitutional questions as were continually forcing themselves upon public
+attention.</p>
+
+<p>Another prominent Reformer who now took his seat in Parliament for the first time
+was Peter Perry, who had been returned as young Marshall Bidwell's colleague in the
+representation of Lennox and Addington. Although thirty-four years have elapsed since
+his death, Mr. Perry is still well remembered by the older generation of our
+politicians. During the twelve years succeeding his entry into public life he was one
+of the most conspicuous Reformers in the Province. Though not possessed of a liberal
+education, and though his demeanour and address were marred by a sort of impetuous
+coarseness, he was master of a rude, vigorous eloquence which under certain
+conditions was far more effective than the most polished oratory would have been. He
+was certainly the ablest stump orator of his time in this country, and there was no
+man in the Reform ranks who could so effectively conduct a difficult election<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> campaign. No man
+was more dreaded by his opponents, more especially by those who had to encounter him
+while a contest was pending. It may here be added that he continued to take an active
+part in politics down to a short time before his death in 1851, and that he rendered
+great services to the cause of Reform, but in the years following the Union of the
+Provinces he was overshadowed by Robert Baldwin, whose social position, spotless
+reputation and disinterestedness of purpose combined to place him on a pedestal
+beyond the reach of ordinary politicians. Peter Perry, however, while yielding a
+loyal support to Mr. Baldwin, continued to the end of his life to fight his political
+battles in his own way. The sincerity of his convictions was beyond any sort of
+question, and his shrewdness, experience and hard common sense caused his opinions to
+be regarded with respect, even by such men as Rolph, Baldwin and the Bidwells.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Perry was a native Upper Canadian, having been born at Ernestown in 1793,
+during the early part of Governor Simcoe's administration of affairs. He was the son
+of a U. E. Loyalist, and was brought up on a farm, at a time when public schools were
+few and far between in the rural districts. He grew to manhood without having
+acquired much in the way of education, but the quickness of his parts and the
+soundness of his judgment did much to atone for his want of regular school training.
+He began to take an active interest in public affairs at an early age, and before he
+was thirty he had acquired wide notoriety as a strongly-pronounced Reformer. Living
+in the same part of the country as the Bidwells, he took a warm interest in their
+candidature. As his political ideas coincided with theirs, and as his rough eloquence
+had already made him well known throughout the constituency, he espoused their side
+in the successive election contests, and at the general election of 1824 was himself
+returned to the Assembly as the colleague of the brilliant young lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>In addition to John Rolph, Marshall Spring Bidwell, Captain John Matthews and
+Peter Perry, a number of other advocates of Reform principles were returned at the
+general election of 1824. For the first time in Upper Canadian annals, it was
+manifest not only that the Reformers had a majority in point of numbers in the
+Assembly, but that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> they had a decided preponderance of ability. No adherent of the
+official party&mdash;not even the Attorney-General, John Beverley Robinson&mdash;was
+a match for Rolph or Bidwell, to say nothing of Perry, whose oratory was of an
+altogether different complexion, though scarcely less effective. Upon the meeting of
+the Houses the numerical strength of the respective parties was fairly tested by the
+vote on the Speakership. The Reformers nominated as their candidate John Willson, one
+of the members for Wentworth. Mr. Willson was an unpretending farmer, of strong
+political convictions, but of good sense and calm judgment, who had allied himself
+with the Reformers, and who might safely be depended upon to discharge the duties
+incidental to the Speakership with judicial impartiality. The vote stood twenty-one
+to nineteen, the majority of two being in Mr. Willson's favour. The Reformers felt
+that they had achieved a triumph, and were accordingly jubilant; but they soon found
+that the mere control of the Assembly signified very little in the absence of
+Executive responsibility. The Legislative Council interposed its dead weight, and
+vetoed one bill after another sent up by the Assembly.</p>
+
+<p>The Reform preponderance in the Assembly, however, and the bringing together of
+the leading supporters of Liberal principles, led to the establishment of an
+organized body of Reformers, which from that time forward made its existence felt
+throughout the constituencies, and presented an obstacle to the continued rule of the
+Compact. Conspicuous among the Fathers of Reform, in addition to John Rolph, Peter
+Perry, Captain Matthews and the two Bidwells, were Doctor William Warren Baldwin, his
+son Robert, and William Lyon Mackenzie. None of the three last-named gentlemen was at
+this time in Parliament, but they were nevertheless all able to render very valuable
+services to Reform principles&mdash;the first two by reason of their wealth and high
+social position, and the third from the fact that he was the publisher of a
+newspaper, and that he was a man of strong opinions and superabundant energy in
+giving expression to them.</p>
+
+<p>The elder Baldwin was a gentleman of high character and social position, resident
+at York. He had emigrated from Ireland to Canada towards the close of the last
+century, and, like Mr. Rolph, had for some time practised law and medicine
+concurrently. He achieved considerable success, both<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> pecuniarily and otherwise, and,
+notwithstanding his political principles, which were of a decidedly advanced
+character, he was respected by the entire community of the little Provincial capital.
+The family to which he belonged were well known in Ireland for their adherence to
+advanced political doctrines, and he himself remained true to family traditions. At a
+time when it required no slight courage to espouse the Liberal side in York, Dr.
+Baldwin was always to be found in the ranks of Reform. He was wealthy, as, in
+addition to the property which he had personally accumulated, he had succeeded, by
+bequest, to the bulk of the large possessions of the Honourable Peter
+Russell&mdash;whose method of doing good unto himself has already been glanced
+at&mdash;and of that gentleman's maiden sister Elizabeth. Miss Russell resided in Dr.
+Baldwin's family during the last few years of her life, and survived until 1822. The
+Russells and the Baldwins were remotely connected by ties of relationship, and as
+neither the Administrator nor his sister ever married, there was nothing strange in
+the disposition made by them of their property.</p>
+
+<p>High as Dr. Baldwin stood in the Reform ranks, however, he was destined to be
+eclipsed by his more distinguished son. It is safe to say that no public man in
+Canada has ever gained so enviable a reputation as attaches to the name of Robert
+Baldwin. As was intimated two or three pages back, he stood upon a lofty pedestal,
+and was a very man <i>per se</i>. And this high position he attained, not by means of
+brilliant oratory, keenness of perception, or subtle comprehensiveness of judgment.
+No one has ever pretended to claim for him any special intellectual greatness of any
+kind. He was a plain man, of abilities not much above the average, who possessed
+strong convictions, and whose high principles, sterling honesty and disinterestedness
+of purpose were unimpeachable. Had he been a member of the British House of Commons
+during Sir Robert Walpole's r&eacute;gime, the proverbial dictum of that high priest
+of corruption would never have been uttered, for certainly no man would ever have
+dreamed of offering a bribe to Robert Baldwin. He has been in his grave for more than
+a quarter of a century; thirty-four years have elapsed since his withdrawal from
+public life; yet he is still referred to by adherents of both political parties in
+Canada as a statesman of unblemished integrity,<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> whose character was without spot,
+and in whose bosom was no guile. He more than once occupied the foremost position in
+the public eye. During much of his career a fierce light beat upon him, yet failed to
+disclose anything whereof the most august character in history would have had any
+cause for feeling ashamed. As I have said elsewhere: "We can still point to him with
+the admiration due to a man who, during a time of the grossest political corruption,
+took a foremost part in our public affairs, and who yet preserved his integrity
+untarnished. We can point to him as the man who, if not the actual author of
+Responsible Government in Canada, yet spent the best years of his life in contending
+for it, and who contributed more than any other person to make that project an
+accomplished fact. We can point to him as one who, though a politician by
+predilection and by profession, never stooped to disreputable practices, either to
+win votes or to maintain himself in office. Robert Baldwin was a man who was not only
+incapable of falsehood or meanness to gain his ends, but who was to the last degree
+intolerant of such practices on the part of his warmest supporters. If intellectual
+greatness cannot be claimed for him, moral greatness was most indisputably his. Every
+action of his life was marked by sincerity and good faith, alike toward friend and
+foe. He was not only true to others, but was from first to last true to himself....
+Robert Baldwin was neither a bigot nor a fanatic, but he was in the best and truest
+sense of the word a Christian. He was strict in his observance of religious duties,
+and brought up his children to seek those things which make for righteousness, rather
+than the things of this world. His piety was an ever-present influence in his life,
+and was practically manifested in his daily walk and conversation. As we contemplate
+the fifty-four years which made up the measure of his earthly span, we cannot fail to
+be impressed by its uniform consistency, its thorough conscientiousness, its devotion
+to high and noble objects. It is a grand thing to acquire a famous name, but it is a
+much grander thing to live a pure and noble life; and in estimating the character of
+Robert Baldwin it should be remembered that he was not merely a statesman and a
+lawyer, but was, over and above all else, a man and a Christian."<a
+name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63"
+class="fnanchor">[63]</a></p>
+
+<p>The foregoing account, be it understood, applies to a later period. At<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> the date of the
+general election in 1824 Robert Baldwin was still a young man, whose reputation,
+professional and political, was yet to be made. He had not even been called to the
+bar, and was still a student in his father's office. Notwithstanding his youth,
+however&mdash;he was only in his twenty-first year&mdash;he had given some thought to
+the political questions of the time, and had even begun to look forward to the
+possibility of an ultimate political career. His father, from whom he had learned
+many political lessons, had recently become very wealthy through the death of Miss
+Russell, as already mentioned. Much of his wealth consisted of landed property.
+Robert was the first-born child of his parents, and, as the law of primogeniture was
+then in force in Upper Canada,<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> it was to be anticipated that he
+would succeed to large possessions, and would be independent of any income arising
+from his own exertions. He bore an honoured name, and it was tolerably certain that,
+under such a combination of circumstances, he would sooner or later find his way to
+Parliament. He had already imbibed what were in those days considered as advanced
+Liberal views, and was in full accord with his father, who had to a large extent
+moulded his opinions. He was present at the meetings of the Reform members held
+during the first session following the elections of 1824, for the purpose of
+organization. It was then that a distinct Reform Party, with common objects and a
+specific policy, may be said to have been formed in this Province. There had been
+Upper Canadian Reformers from the very foundation of the Province, but no Reform
+Party can strictly be said to have had an existence prior to the latter part of the
+year 1824.</p>
+
+<p>No man was more conspicuous in contributing to the founding of the Reform Party
+than was William Lyon Mackenzie, whose personality yet remains to be considered.
+Owing in some measure to the force of circumstances, but chiefly to his own energy,
+impulsiveness and love of notoriety, Mr. Mackenzie's name and achievements have
+become more widely known than have those of many abler and wiser men. He was the
+only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> child
+of humble parents, and was born at Springfield, a suburb of Dundee, in Forfarshire,
+Scotland, on the 12th of March, 1795. When he was four weeks old his father died,
+leaving him and his mother wholly unprovided for, insomuch that they were dependent
+upon the bounty of relatives. To adopt his own language, poverty and adversity were
+his nurses, and want and misery were his familiar friends. "It is among the earliest
+of my recollections," wrote he in 1824, "that I lay in bed one morning during the
+grievous famine in Britain in 1800-1, while my poor mother took from our large kist
+the handsome plaid of the tartan of our clan, which in her early life her own hands
+had spun, and went and sold it for a trifle, to obtain for us a little coarse barley
+meal, whereof to make our scanty breakfast; and of another time during the same
+famine when she left me at home crying from hunger, and for (I think) eight shillings
+sold a handsome and hitherto carefully preserved priest-gray coat of my father's, to
+get us a little food." His mother, from whom he inherited his most salient
+peculiarities, was a woman of strongly-marked character. She was endowed by nature
+with a high temper, and with a tendency to act from impulse rather than from reason.
+To these qualities were added great energy and strength of will. She brought up her
+son in the straitest of theological creeds, which left a certain permanent mental
+impress upon him, though during the last quarter of a century of his life he wandered
+far afield from the religious teachings of his childhood. He seems to have been born
+with a genuine love for knowledge, for, notwithstanding the inauspicious surroundings
+of his youth, he contrived to acquire a better education than was commonly obtainable
+by lads in his rank of life in Scotland in those times. The education thus acquired
+was almost to the end of his days supplemented by reading and study. As soon as he
+was old enough to enter upon employment he became an assistant in a draper's shop,
+after which he filled various temporary situations which led to nothing. When only
+nineteen he opened a small store on his own account at Alyth, a village about twenty
+miles from Dundee. This he conducted for about three years, by which time it had
+become apparent that the business could not be successfully carried on, so he
+abandoned it and removed to England. There he spent more than two years, during some
+part of which he acted as clerk to a coal company.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> In the spring of 1820 he sailed for
+Canada, where he was destined to gain great notoriety, and to become an important
+factor in the moulding of public opinion.</p>
+
+<p>In a new country like Canada a young man of Mackenzie's energy was soon able to
+make his presence felt. After being employed for a short time on the survey of the
+Lachine Canal, he opened a store at York, whence he removed to Dundas, and entered on
+a more extensive mercantile business in partnership with Mr. John Lesslie, the style
+of the firm being "Mackenzie &amp; Lesslie." His mercantile venture in Dundas was
+fairly successful. During his residence there he married Miss Isabel Baxter, a native
+of Dundee, after a brief courtship of three weeks. In the spring of 1823 the firm of
+Mackenzie &amp; Lesslie was dissolved, and for a few months thereafter the senior
+partner carried on business by himself. In the autumn of the same year he removed to
+Queenston, where he embarked in business by opening a general store. The store had
+not been many months in operation before its proprietor abandoned commercial pursuits
+and embraced the life of a journalist. This change seems to have been the result of
+some deliberation, and it must be admitted that Mr. Mackenzie possessed considerable
+aptitude for the new field of labour which he had chosen. His writing, though very
+unequal, and sometimes exceedingly verbose and amateurish in point of style, was
+almost always direct and easy to understand. His observation was keen, and he had
+taken a warm interest in politics ever since his arrival in the country. Though many
+of his views were what would now be considered Toryish and out of date, they were
+then classed by the Compact and their adherents as ultra-Radical and revolutionary.
+He had formed the acquaintance of Rolph, Perry, the Bidwells, and other prominent
+Reformers, by all of whom the sincerity of his political professions were regarded as
+being beyond question. The first number of his newspaper, which was christened <i>The
+Colonial Advocate</i>, made its appearance on the 18th of May, 1824. It consisted of
+thirty-two pages, and, although its owner had neither received nor sought a single
+subscriber, he issued an edition of twelve hundred copies. Whether he embarked in
+newspaper life at this particular time with a view to influencing votes during the
+impending general election cannot now be known<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> with certainty. Probably enough
+this may have been one of his motives, which were doubtless of a mixed nature. That
+he was sincere in his advocacy of Reform must in all fairness be conceded, though his
+itch for notoriety must always be considered in reviewing and estimating his actions.
+This tendency of his mind would readily lead him to select journalism as his vocation
+in life, more especially as he found that his opinions were regarded as having some
+value. As compared with his life in Britain, his career in Canada had been an
+undoubted success. He had acquired some property, and was in fair pecuniary
+circumstances. From the inner side of his counter he had been in the habit of holding
+forth to his customers on the political and other questions of the day, and had found
+that his arguments were accepted by a majority of the unlettered yeomen of Wentworth
+as being unanswerable. He was looked up to as a man of weight and influence in the
+community, and the consciousness of this was naturally gratifying to the whilom
+shop-boy of Dumfries. He felt incited to address larger audiences than any which had
+hitherto listened to him. The time seemed propitious for the establishment of a
+Reform newspaper. There was a general awakening in the direction of Reform, extending
+over the greater part of the Province. There could be no sort of doubt that public
+opinion was in a state of transition: that many people had begun to look forward to a
+time when Responsible Government would be conceded, and when the domination of the
+Compact would be no more. When that much-wished-for epoch should arrive, those who
+had been the means of bringing it about, or of hastening its advent, would stand high
+among the Reformers of Upper Canada. Who would be likely to stand higher than a
+clever and aspiring man who was at once editor and proprietor of the leading organ of
+Liberal opinion in the Province? Such a personage might command anything within the
+power of his party to grant. That he would soon be able to write his way into
+Parliament was a foregone conclusion; and a seat in Parliament appeared a very proud
+distinction in the eyes of one whose past surroundings had been so far removed from
+such a sphere.</p>
+
+<p>That these, or something like these, were among the chief motives whereby Mr.
+Mackenzie was actuated in establishing <i>The Colonial Advocate</i> seems tolerably
+certain. Nor is there anything unusual or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117"
+id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> censurable in such an ambition. The labourer is
+worthy of his hire, and no labourer is better entitled to a full recompense than is
+the man who, through long and weary years, struggles to win success for a depressed
+and righteous cause. That he was not devoid of a spirit of sincere patriotism is
+evident, alike from his words and his deeds. He had amassed a few hundreds of pounds,
+and was in no dread of poverty, being sanguine and self-confident to an uncommon
+degree. He ardently longed to see this fair colony rescued from the thraldom under
+which it groaned. In a letter<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a> written many years afterwards, when
+he was an outlaw and an exile, he gives his own version of the motives which impelled
+him to embark upon what he calls "the stormy sea of politics." "I had long," he
+writes, "seen the country in the hands of a few shrewd, crafty, covetous men, under
+whose management one of the most lovely and desirable sections of America remained a
+comparative desert. The most obvious public improvements were stayed; dissension was
+created among classes; citizens were banished and imprisoned in defiance of all law;
+the people had been long forbidden, under severe pains and penalties, from meeting
+anywhere to petition for justice; large estates were wrested from their owners in
+utter contempt of even the forms of the courts; the Church of England, the adherents
+of which were few, monopolized as much of the lands of the colony as all the
+religious houses and dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church had had the control of
+in Scotland at the era of the Reformation; other sects were treated with contempt and
+scarcely tolerated; a sordid band of land-jobbers grasped the soil as their
+patrimony, and with a few leading officials, who divided the public revenue among
+themselves, formed the Family Compact, and were the avowed enemies of common schools,
+of civil and religious liberty, of all legislative or other checks to their own will.
+Other men had opposed, and been converted by them. At nine-and-twenty I might have
+united with them, but chose rather to join the oppressed, nor have I ever regretted
+that choice, or wavered from the object of my early pursuit."</p>
+
+<p>A man entertaining such views as these, more especially a man of energy and
+intelligence, with a newspaper at his back, could not fail to be acceptable to the
+little knot of politicians who formed the nucleus of<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> the Reform Party of Upper Canada.
+Mr. Mackenzie was cordially welcomed into the ranks, and was soon recognized as a
+most useful and valuable acquisition thereto. He could make no pretence to the
+various learning, fine presence, subtle intellect or polished eloquence of Rolph, nor
+even to the high but less marked qualities of the Bidwells, but the time was at hand
+when he was to prove that he possessed the power to move audiences, by his voice as
+well as by his pen. In person he would have been pronounced by a casual passer-by to
+be rather insignificant, being exceedingly short in stature, and not well
+proportioned as to his figure, which was slight, wiry, and&mdash;owing to a restless
+habit and a highly-strung nervous system&mdash;seldom in repose. Still, no one who
+contemplated his features with attention would ever have dreamed of pronouncing him
+commonplace. His intellectual vigour and determination were attested by his large
+head, massive brow, keen, light-blue eyes and firmly-set mouth. His physical energy
+was placed equally beyond doubt by the nervous activity above mentioned. Until he was
+long past the prime of his manhood he was never still for many consecutive moments
+during his waking hours. When labouring under any unusual excitement his frame seemed
+to be set on steel springs. As his temper was easily aroused, it was no uncommon
+thing to see him in one of these phases of excitement. But though he was thus quickly
+moved to anger, it could not with justice be said that his temper was bad, for, so
+far from being implacable, he was readily appeased, and always quick to forget and
+forgive. Altogether, he had an active but ill-balanced organization. His sympathies
+were too quick and strong for his judgment, and he frequently acted from impulse and
+hot blood. From his cradle to his grave he was never fit to walk alone and without
+guidance through any great emergency.</p>
+
+<p>No two human beings could well be more unlike than were William Lyon Mackenzie and
+John Rolph. They were compelled to work together in a common cause for many years,
+but the two entities were thoroughly antagonistic, and there was never much personal
+liking between them. The structure of their bodies was not more dissimilar than was
+that of their minds. The one, slight, wiry, and ever in motion, seemed as though it
+might be blown hither and thither by any strong current.<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> The other, solid almost to
+portliness, was suggestive of fixity&mdash;of self-dependence, and unsusceptibility
+to outside influences. The one was suggestive of being in a great measure the
+creature of circumstances; the other of being a law unto himself&mdash;one who would
+be more likely to influence circumstances than to be influenced by them. Mackenzie's
+nature, though it could not strictly be called a shallow one, at any rate lay near
+the surface, and its characters were not hard to decipher, even upon a brief
+acquaintance. There were depths in Rolph's nature which were never fathomed by those
+nearest and dearest to him&mdash;possibly not even by himself. Mackenzie seems to
+have long regarded Rolph with a sort of distant awe&mdash;as a Sphinx, close,
+oracular, inscrutable. Rolph evidently estimated Mackenzie correctly, as one whose
+politics were founded upon deeply-rooted convictions, and not upon mere opinions,
+although he would probably have found it difficult to subject those opinions to a
+rigid analysis; as one whose energy and journalistic resources might be turned to
+good account in the cause of Reform, but whose discretion was not always to be relied
+on. This estimate, indeed, was sufficiently obvious to any one who maintained
+frequent or familiar relations with Mackenzie, and was concurred in by most, if not
+all, of his friends. His earnestness and good faith, however, were manifest to all
+who knew him, and these were sufficient to cover much more culpable weaknesses than
+any which he had hitherto displayed.</p>
+
+<p>Having now become acquainted with some of the <span class="smcap">Fathers</span>
+of Reform, it is desirable to cast a momentary glance at the material which went to
+the composition of the Reform Party generally. That material was of the most
+heterogeneous character imaginable. It included a few U. E. Loyalists of advanced
+opinions, and their descendants; but the bone and sinew were made up of more recent
+immigrants from Great Britain and the United States. The organization of the party,
+such as it was, was of too recent a date at this time to admit of any absolute
+unanimity of opinion on all questions of public policy having been arrived at among
+so numerous a body. On one cardinal point, however, all were agreed: it was in the
+highest degree desirable that the Canadian constitution should be more closely
+assimilated to that of the mother-country, and that the Executive Council should be
+made responsible to the popular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120"
+id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> branch of the Legislature. True, there was a small
+element&mdash;almost entirely made up of immigrants from across the border&mdash;who
+held republican theories, but no class of the community clamoured more loudly for
+Responsible Government than did the advocates of republicanism, very few of whom
+regarded their opinions as coming within the domain of practical politics in Upper
+Canada. On the question of the Clergy Reserves there was less uniformity of
+sentiment. Many sincere Reformers disapproved of the voluntary principle, and
+believed in a State provision for the Clergy,<a name="FNanchor_66_66"
+id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> though
+very few of them went so far in that direction as to defend the exclusive pretensions
+of the Church of England. On this and other important public questions, however, the
+diversity of opinion henceforth became less and leas from year to year. In point of
+numbers the adherents of Reform principles constituted a majority of the inhabitants
+of the Province.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Advocate</i> was only six months old when its proprietor removed to York.
+If any good service was to be done to Reform by his means it was clear that the
+Provincial capital must be the seat of his operations. The removal took place in
+November, 1824, and in the following January the new Parliament met for the first
+time. Much of the interval was spent by the Reformers in preparations for
+organization. In all these proceedings Mr. Mackenzie took an active and prominent
+part. He also assumed, to a greater extent than he had previously done, the
+<i>role</i> of a public censor, and, in the columns of his paper, opened a hot fire
+upon the official party and their myrmidons. His writing was "personal journalism,"
+with a vengeance, for he usually expressed himself in the first person singular, and
+directed his animadversions against any one who, for the time being, happened to have
+attracted his notice. He wrote very erratically, and from the impulse of the<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> moment; in one
+number lauding some particular personage in extravagant terms, and in subsequent
+numbers assailing the self-same individual in language which certainly reflected no
+credit upon the writer. Sometimes he even extended his attacks to the friends and
+relatives of those who had become obnoxious to him. In all this he merely followed
+the example of his opponents, from whom better things might have been expected, but
+he certainly lessened his influence, even among his friends and fellow-labourers, by
+his onslaughts upon particular individuals. There can be no manner of doubt, however,
+that he achieved his object of holding some of his opponents up to public ridicule,
+and that in at least one or two instances he was the means of affecting votes in the
+Assembly thereby. To what extent, if at all, his efforts in this direction
+contributed to the election of Mr. Willson, the Reform candidate for the Speakership
+in the Assembly, already referred to, is not easy to say. That his deliverances may
+have produced an effect upon one or two waverers, and thereby have brought about the
+desired result&mdash;the vote, it will be remembered, was a close one, standing
+twenty-one to nineteen<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a>&mdash;is possible enough. It is at
+all events certain that the combined action of the Reform Party in and out of
+Parliament produced early and specific consequences. On a number of questions the
+Government found themselves confronted by a hostile majority considerably greater
+than they had encountered on the Speakership. But these seeming triumphs were of no
+immediate advantage to the Opposition. Let the majority against the Government be
+ever so great in the Assembly, the official policy remained the same. The Upper House
+rejected Bill after Bill which had been passed by the Lower, and the Executive clung
+to their places in undisturbed serenity.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+44.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> The repealing statute
+is 1 Geo. IV. chapter 4. The statute repealed is 59 Geo. III., sess. 1, chapter
+2.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> It was however a bare
+majority, the vote standing 17 to 16.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> See Stat. 2 Geo. IV.
+chapter 4, passed 17th January, 1822.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Six years later
+Francis Collins, editor of <i>The Canadian Freeman</i>, lay in York jail for
+having charged Attorney-General Robinson with "native malignancy." During his
+incarceration he addressed several open letters to his prosecutor, in one of
+which may be found the following comments upon the episode referred to in the
+text:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"In the next place, a most respectable portion of the colony returned the
+venerable Mr. Bidwell, Sen., to Parliament, and upon this occasion I think you
+displayed more 'native malignancy' than I ever witnessed, in a political way, in
+the colony. A hired pimp was despatched to Boston to hunt up slanders,
+originating in political feuds there. Mr. Bidwell was put on his trial before a
+corrupt House, and when thus you saw your innocent victim within your reach, then
+it was you lifted up the flood-gates of your loyal wrath, and let your vengeance
+fall upon his devoted head. Then it was that the overflowings of your 'native
+malignancy' hurled the tears of loyalty down your pallid cheeks. Then it was that
+your natural flippancy gave rapid birth to the most gross, unqualified and
+unjustifiable abuse I ever heard heaped, not only upon a member of Parliament,
+but even upon the commonest member of society. 'Am I,' said you, 'the son of a U.
+E. Loyalist, who fought and bled for his country, to sit within these walls with
+disloyal runaway felons, pickpockets and murderers from the United
+States?'&mdash;(the loyal tears flowing.) Yes, Sir, you coaxed, you threatened,
+you argued, you wept, until you prevailed upon a corrupt and cringing House, as I
+have before remarked, to turn Mr. Bidwell out of his seat, unconstitutionally,
+illegally and unjustly; and the next day you were obliged to get one of your
+tools to bring in a Bill to cover this illegal proceeding, and prevent his
+re-election, thus forever depriving the country of the valuable services of a man
+better qualified for a legislator, in point of learning, talent and experience
+than yourself, or any other man, perhaps, in Upper Canada. Now, Sir, if you
+viewed it as a disgrace to sit in the same House with the father, although in
+every respect your superior, how will it suit you to bend your outrageously loyal
+neck to his son in the Speaker's chair, who, it is my opinion, is the most fit
+person in the new House to fill it, and who, I doubt not, will be elected?"</p>
+<p>The letter from which the foregoing extract is taken bears date December 25th,
+and appears in the <i>Freeman</i> of that date. The prediction in the concluding
+sentence was verified. Mr. M. S. Bidwell was elected Speaker at the opening of
+the session in January, 1829.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> See 4 Geo. IV., sess.
+2, chapter 3, passed 19th January, 1824.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> <i>Canadian Portrait
+Gallery</i>, Vol. I., pp. 17, 46.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> It is to the exertions
+of Robert Baldwin himself that we owe the abolition of the doctrine of
+primogeniture as applied to real estate in Upper Canada. He it was who, while
+Attorney-General for the Western Province, introduced and carried through the
+measure of 1851.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Quoted by Mr. Lindsey,
+in his <i>Life and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie</i>, Vol. I., pp. 40, 41.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> Among those who
+approved of such a provision no one was more outspoken than was Mr. Mackenzie
+himself. In the very first number of the <i>Advocate</i> he clearly laid down his
+platform on this question. "In no part of the constitution of the Canadas," he
+writes, "is the wisdom of the British Legislature more apparent than in its
+setting apart a portion of the country, while yet it remained it wilderness, for
+the support of religion." He expressed himself in favour of a law whereby the
+ministers of every body of professing Christians, being British subjects, should
+receive equal benefits from the Reserves. On this, as on many other subjects,
+however, the editor of the <i>Advocate</i> subsequently saw fit to alter his
+opinions. The instability of his opinions, indeed, was one of his most dangerous
+characteristics, and this alone marked him out as unfit to be trusted with the
+guidance of others.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+110.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapv.jpg" width="300" height="83" alt="chapv" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+<h2>CHAPTER V.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p>
+<h4>A "FREE AND UNFETTERED" PRESS.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letterm.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterm" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">M</span>r. Mackenzie's newspaper devoted much space to the advocacy of Responsible
+Government, which for many years constituted the main plank in the Liberal platform.
+He pointed out the injustice and absurdity of the existing state of things, where the
+people were beguiled with a mockery of representation in Parliament without having
+any voice in the nomination of the persons composing the Government of the day. There
+was no attempt on the part of the official body to distort the real facts of the
+case. They straightforwardly avowed their independence of public opinion, and sneered
+at arguments founded on the doctrine of ministerial responsibility. They proclaimed
+their immunity from all outdoor influence whatever, and smiled pleasantly when
+taunted across the floor of the Assembly with repeated violations of the
+constitution. Rolph, Bidwell, and other Reform members in the House were sufficiently
+masters of themselves to argue this and other questions on purely public grounds, and
+without gross violations of the laws of Parliamentary discipline. This, however, Mr.
+Mackenzie's impetuous temperament prevented him from doing, and as he was not in the
+House he felt at liberty to give full rein to his impetuosity. He made every
+important question a personal matter between himself and each individual supporter of
+the Government who contradicted him. Through the columns of his paper he poured out
+much bitter invective. What he said was for the most part undeniably true, but he had
+such an offensive way of expressing himself that the amenities of journalism were
+constantly violated. By this means he brought down upon his head the rancorous hatred
+of those whom he made the objects of attack.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The feelings entertained towards him by the members of the Government, and by the
+Tory party generally, were largely personal and independent of politics. The conflict
+between them may be said to have begun before the removal from Queenston to York, and
+indeed almost before the ink was dry upon the first number of the <i>Advocate</i>. In
+that number Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor, was accused of
+indolence, and of being the cause why Upper Canada was less progressive than her
+enterprising republican neighbour. He was referred to as one who, after spending his
+earlier days in the din of war and the turmoil of camps, had gained enough renown in
+Europe to enable him to enjoy himself, like the country he governed, in inactivity;
+whose migrations were, by water, from York to Queenston and from Queenston to York,
+like the Vicar of Wakefield, from the brown bed to the blue, and from the blue bed to
+the brown. Such comparisons as these could not be expected to find much favour with
+Sir Peregrine, more especially as they notoriously contained more than a
+<i>soup&ccedil;on</i> of truth. The faction naturally sympathized with the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and only waited a suitable opportunity to give adequate
+expression to their abhorrence of Mackenzie and his doctrines. As for Sir Peregrine,
+he was ready enough to co&ouml;perate with his supporters in any proceeding for the
+suppression of this free-spoken and most objectionable little Radical, who dared to
+wag his plebeian tongue against the son-in-law of a Duke. An occasion for the first
+overt act of hostility was afforded by certain rites connected with the erection of
+the monument on Queenston Heights to the memory of Major-General Sir Isaac Brock. The
+construction of the monument having been determined upon, and considerable sums of
+money having been granted by Parliament for the purpose, commissioners were appointed
+to superintend the work, which was duly proceeded with. The second funeral of the
+dead hero, and the removal of his remains from Fort George, had been fixed for the
+18th of October (1824), being the twelfth anniversary of the battle; but in the
+interim some of the local magnates of the Niagara District resolved that the
+foundation-stone should be laid with masonic honours. The 1st of June was appointed
+for this ceremonial, and on that date a considerable number of persons assembled on
+the Heights to witness it. Mr. Mac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>kenzie, who, it will be remembered, then resided at
+Queenston, seems to have taken an active part in the proceedings, and this with the
+full consent and approval of the committee of management. A glass vessel,
+hermetically sealed, and enclosing a number of coins and a copy of <i>The Upper
+Canada Gazette</i>, together with the recently-issued first number of <i>The Colonial
+Advocate</i>, was produced for the purpose of being placed within the hollow of the
+foundation-stone. The vessel and its contents, enveloped in an otter's skin, were
+placed by Mr. Mackenzie in the cavity, the spectators looking on in quiet approval.
+The stone was then touched with the trowel, the deposit was covered up, and the rite
+was complete. An account of the proceedings found its way into the newspapers, and
+Sir Peregrine Maitland learned, to his intense disgust, of the part which Mackenzie
+had been permitted to take in the ceremony. He sent for Colonel Thomas Clark, one of
+the commissioners appointed by Parliament to superintend the construction of the
+column, and, in a voice of undisguised passion, gave orders to that gentleman that
+the glass vessel should forthwith be disinterred, and the copy of the <i>Advocate</i>
+removed therefrom. The mandate was of course obeyed. As the column had by this time
+reached a considerable height, the excavation was no slight task. Mr. Mackenzie
+himself, who personally attended at what he called the "premature resurrection,"
+claimed and obtained possession of the number of the paper which had caused so much
+unnecessary labour and ill-temper.</p>
+
+<p>From this time forward there was almost incessant warfare between Mr. Mackenzie
+and the official party: warfare sometimes suppressed, sometimes altogether concealed
+for a brief season, but always ready to break out upon the slightest
+pretext&mdash;sometimes, indeed, without any apparent pretext at all.</p>
+<p>Soon after the <i>Advocate's</i> removal to York, and not long before the opening
+of the Legislature, the Honourable D'Arcy Boulton, one of the puisne judges, laid
+himself open to attack by conduct of the most reprehensible kind. In a case tried
+before him, in which his son, the Solicitor-General, appeared on behalf of the Crown,
+the Judge displayed such gross partiality that one cannot read the report of the
+proceedings, even as chronicled by one of the organs of the Government,<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> without mingled
+feelings of wonder and disgust. At the present day such conduct on the part of an
+occupant of the judicial bench would bring down upon his head the animadversions of
+the press of the whole country. Sixty years ago it passed without editorial remark
+from any of the journals of the time, with the single exception of the
+<i>Advocate</i>, which certainly used some very plain words in characterizing the
+Judge's behaviour. It appealed to the Legislature to address the Governor on the
+subject, with a request to dismiss from office the whole of the Boulton race, root
+and branch. "If a Government emanating from England," wrote Mr. Mackenzie, "can
+cherish such a corrupt, such a Star Chamber crew, then the days of the infamous
+Scroggs and Jeffries are returned upon us; and we may lament for ourselves, for our
+wives and for our children, that the British Constitution is, in Canada, a phantom to
+delude to destruction, instead of being the day-star of our dearest liberties."</p>
+<p>Such language as this, which was a mild specimen of the writer's trenchant style,
+was not, upon the whole, too strong for the occasion. In other instances he was
+roused to greater fury on less provocation, and used phrases unbefitting the columns
+of any paper which aspires to be a public instructor. But he was not alone in his
+scurrility. Some of the persons attacked in the <i>Advocate</i> retorted upon the
+editor through the official press in language far less defensible than his own. He
+was denounced as an upstart and a demagogue, whose low origin placed him far beneath
+the notice of gentlemen. This language, be it understood, was used by at least one
+wealthy and influential personage whose own origin was such that Mr. Mackenzie's
+might have been pronounced aristocratic by comparison. To all such vapourings Mr.
+Mackenzie responded in the <i>Advocate</i> in kind. He had a large vocabulary of
+Billingsgate at his command, and as his temper became thoroughly aroused he proved
+that he could fully hold his own in this sort of wordy warfare. He followed the
+example of his antagonists, invaded the sanctities of private life, and descended to
+outrageous personalities. The persons thus placed in the journalistic pillory were
+merely paid back in their own coin, but they had never been accustomed to yield to
+others the privileges they claimed for themselves, and could not understand how "this
+fellow" dared presume to retort<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126"
+id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> the foulness hurled at him. His paper meanwhile
+enjoyed a fair circulation, and his enemies periodically saw themselves held up
+before the people of the Province in a light well calculated to bring down public
+execration upon them. They winced, and hated their aggressor with a hatred which knew
+no bounds.</p>
+
+<p>Before the close of the first session of the Ninth Parliament, in 1825, the
+struggle between the two political parties had assumed a distinct form. The
+Opposition contended for a responsible Executive; the Government repudiated the
+contention with sarcastic contempt. There were various other grounds of dispute, but
+this great question overshadowed and practically included all. It cannot truly be
+said that there was much perceptible progress in reform during the session; indeed
+material progress was impossible so long as the Government controlled the Legislative
+Council, and while the Executive Councillors held on to office in spite of the
+hostile votes of the Assembly. The way towards reform was however paved by the
+debates. Never before had the Government of Upper Canada been subjected to the
+incessant criticism of a watchful and vigorous phalanx of censors within the walls of
+Parliament. They were not wise enough to read the signs of the times, and would yield
+nothing to the demands of their opponents. They still believed in the efficacy of
+repression, and the next few years were marked by a series of high-handed
+persecutions which did more to speed the progress of reform than all the eloquence of
+Rolph and Bidwell could have effected in half a century.</p>
+<p>As for Mackenzie, he would doubtless have been dealt with as Gourlay had been,
+could such a course have been adopted towards him with safety. Isaac Swayzes in
+abundance might no doubt have been found to swear that the obnoxious personage had
+not been a resident of the Province for the preceding six months. Doubtless, also,
+phrases had been used in the <i>Advocate</i> which, isolated from the context, might
+have been tortured into something like sedition. But the party in power were not so
+dull as to be unable to perceive that <i>that</i> experiment must not be repeated.
+The Liberal schoolmaster had been actively at work within the last few years, and any
+attempt to re-enact that glaring iniquity would, to say the least, be attended with
+serious risk to the actors.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg
+127]</a></span> The most feasible method of disposing of the noisy little firebrand
+presented itself in the shape of successive indictments for libel, to which his
+aggressive and unguarded mode of writing would be certain to expose him. It is of
+course impossible to obtain direct evidence of an express conspiracy on the part of
+the Government to destroy him by such means. A conspiracy of that nature would not be
+likely to take the shape of a written contract which might be produced against the
+contracting parties in the future. Nor would the parties to such a conspiracy be
+likely to leave any written traces of it behind them. Still, anyone who has the
+opportunity and inclination to go minutely into the question will be irresistibly
+driven to the conclusion that there was some sort of understanding among the chiefs
+of the official party that the publication of the <i>Advocate</i> was to be stopped,
+and that its editor was to be either driven out of the country or reduced to
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Mr. Mackenzie himself had serious difficulties to contend with.
+The <i>Advocate</i>, notwithstanding its considerable circulation, did not yield any
+appreciable income. Subscribers were backward in their payments, and the cost of
+making collections reduced the profit to little or nothing. The postage to country
+subscribers had to be paid in advance by the publisher, which was in itself a
+considerable drain upon his resources. The issue of the paper was moreover
+necessarily attended by a good deal of expense. It did not appear regularly, and the
+intervals between successive numbers were sometimes of considerable duration. This
+irregularity was a serious drawback to its prosperity, and a source of much
+dissatisfaction to its patrons. Such a combination of discouragements could have but
+one result. By the beginning of June, 1826, Mr. Mackenzie had been reduced to serious
+pecuniary embarrassment, and had temporarily withdrawn himself from the jurisdiction,
+pending an arrangement with his creditors. It is in the highest degree improbable
+that another number of the paper would ever have been issued. It was moribund, if not
+already dead. But when matters had arrived at this pass, the violence of Mackenzie's
+enemies led them to commit an act of lawless ruffianism which gave the
+<i>Advocate</i> a new lease of life. The act moreover aroused much popular
+indignation against the perpetrators, and a proportionate degree of sympathy for
+their victim, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> whom it gave additional importance, while it at the same time
+materially improved his financial condition.</p>
+
+<p>During the spring of the year 1826 the <i>Advocate's</i> criticisms upon certain
+members of the oligarchical faction were marked by exceptional acerbity. The persons
+attacked, however, sought in vain throughout the closely-packed columns for any
+material upon which a criminal prosecution might be founded; for Mr. Mackenzie,
+whether by prudence or good fortune, contrived for some weeks to say very acrid
+things without rendering himself liable to an indictment. Among the persons who were
+compelled to pass through the fire of his criticism was the Honourable James Buchanan
+Macaulay, a gentleman who in after years attained the honour of knighthood, and
+became Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Upper Canada. At the period
+under consideration he was a member of the Executive Council, and occupied a high
+position at the local bar. The language employed by the <i>Advocate</i> with respect
+to him was comparatively mild, and did not even mention him by name. Moreover, the
+editor's remarks appear to have been entirely in accordance with facts. At any rate
+they were altogether insufficient to account for the state of ferocity into which Mr.
+Macaulay allowed himself to be lashed. He prepared and published a pamphlet, in which
+he gave vent to such scurrility as it seems incredible that any man of education, or
+even of decent social training, could ever have descended to write. Truly, no man is
+ever so effectually written down as when he himself holds the pen. Those readers who
+wish to be better acquainted with the depths to which an angry man can lower himself,
+and who have not access to Mr. Macaulay's pamphlet, can obtain some inkling of the
+truth by reference to Mr. Lindsey's "Life and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie."<a
+name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68"
+class="fnanchor">[68]</a> As Mr. Lindsey very justly remarks:&mdash;"The cause of the
+quarrel was utterly contemptible, and Mr. Macaulay showed to great disadvantage in
+it." It seems probable enough that one main object of the publication of the pamphlet
+was to goad Mr. Mackenzie into a retort which would render him amenable to the law of
+libel. In one sense this plan&mdash;if such there were&mdash;succeeded. The
+<i>Advocate</i> came out with a long reply which contained an abundance of scandalous
+matter, a great part of which, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129"
+id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> the writer must have been well aware, had no shadow
+of foundation in truth. The matter related not only to persons occupying public
+situations, but to individuals altogether unconnected with public life, including
+respectable married women and persons who had long been dead. But most of the
+statements and insinuations, even those which were unsupported by a tittle of
+evidence&mdash;nay, even those which were notoriously groundless&mdash;related to and
+were interwoven with circumstances which, as the persons involved well knew, would
+not bear discussion. It would never do to permit such matters to become the subject
+of judicial investigation. Anything in the shape of an enquiry would inevitably lead
+to disclosures seriously affecting the honour of more than one member of the Compact.
+An indictment, therefore, was out of the question.</p>
+
+<p>It has often been asserted that the oligarchy are to be held accountable for the
+display of ruffianly violence which followed Mackenzie's retort to Macaulay's
+pamphlet. In one sense this is true, for it was in consequence of their long abuse of
+the supremacy which they enjoyed that feelings of hatred and enmity were begotten
+between one stratum of society and another; and it was this hatred which gave rise to
+violent measures. But if it is meant to be implied that the oligarchy, as a body,
+conceived the design, or that it was carried out under their auspices, the
+implication is too absurd to stand in need of serious rebuttal. To carry the argument
+no farther, the body was too numerous to admit of any general secret co&ouml;peration
+between them for such a purpose. As simple matter of fact, all knowledge of the
+contemplated violence was confined to the breasts of those who took part in it. No
+one familiar with the circumstances, however, can doubt that it met with the fullest
+approval of the ruling faction after it had been effected, and that, so far as such a
+thing was possible, the wrong-doers were protected by them from the consequences of
+the outrage. To this charge they must perforce plead guilty; but there are degrees in
+guilt, and the endorsation, or even the approval of an act after it has been
+committed, is a different thing from the original conception and carrying out of it.
+The respective weight of culpability, in the case under consideration, is a matter
+which the reader may very well be left to estimate according to his own judgment.</p>
+<p>And now for the outrage itself.</p>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1826.</div>
+<p>The office of the <i>Advocate</i> was situated on the north-west corner of
+Frederick and Front<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> streets, in a building which had
+been the birthplace of Robert Baldwin, and in which the Cawthras subsequently carried
+on a large and very successful mercantile business.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> Readers
+acquainted with the neighbourhood will not need to be informed that this site is in
+close proximity to the bay. Mr. Mackenzie, with his aged mother&mdash;who had long
+before followed him to Canada&mdash;and the rest of his family, resided in the
+building, which was therefore his home, as well as his place of business. At about half-past six o'clock in the afternoon of
+Thursday, the 8th of June, 1826, in broad daylight, and while the proprietor was
+absent in the United States,<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> a raid was made upon the printing
+establishment, which, in the course of a few minutes, was reduced to a state of
+confusion and chaos. The door was broken open, the press partly demolished, the
+imposing-stone overturned, and a quantity of type battered and thrown into the
+adjacent bay. The contents of some of the cases were "pied" and scattered around the
+floor. Frames, chases, galleys, composing-sticks and office furniture were thrown
+together in one confused heap. In a word, the entire office was turned topsy-turvy.
+Mr. Mackenzie's mother, who was then in her seventy-eighth year, stood and watched
+the proceedings in a state of great fear and agitation from a corner of the office.<a
+name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a></p>
+
+<p>The most remarkable feature about the whole of this extraordinary transaction was
+that there appeared to be no attempt at concealment. It was carried out as though it
+had been the most legitimate and ordinary business enterprise, to which no one could
+reasonably offer any sort of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131"
+id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> objection. The raiders did not think it necessary
+to wait for darkness, nor did they resort to any disguises. If they did not court
+publicity, they at least took no care to avoid it. They chose a time of day when the
+journeymen and apprentices connected with the establishment were almost certain to be
+absent, and when there would be no one to oppose their entrance; though, according to
+the printed admission of the prime mover and instigator of the affair, they were
+prepared, if necessary, to oppose force to force in order to effect their purpose. As
+there was nobody in the office, any such display of force was happily uncalled for.
+Having made their way inside, the work of destruction was proceeded with coolly and
+calmly, as though there was no necessity for extraordinary haste. When they had fully
+worked their will, they departed as quietly as they had arrived.</p>
+
+<p>The actual perpetrators of this unique act of ruffianism were nine in number. They
+were none of them ruffians by profession, and were not commonly rated as blackguards.
+They could not even plead the poor excuse that they were under the influence of
+strong drink. Most of them were young men, and nearly all of them were closely
+identified, either by interest or by close relationship, with prominent members of
+the oligarchy. They were, in short, with few exceptions, the flower of the
+aristocracy of the little capital. Chief among them was Samuel Peters Jarvis,
+barrister, the slayer of poor young John Ridout, mentioned on a former page.<a
+name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73"
+class="fnanchor">[73]</a> He, at least, could not plead in extenuation of his share
+in the transaction that he had been carried away by the uncontrollable effervescence
+of youth, for he was at this time not far short of thirty-four years of age<a
+name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74"
+class="fnanchor">[74]</a>. His acquittal on a more serious charge nearly nine years
+before might well have led him to believe that he could with impunity set the law at
+defiance. His identification with the ruling faction is easily traced, for he was a
+son of Mr. William<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg
+132]</a></span> Jarvis, who was for many years Secretary of the Province; and he was
+moreover son-in-law to ex-Chief Justice Powell.<a name="FNanchor_75_75"
+id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> He
+himself held a situation under Government at this time&mdash;being Clerk of the Crown
+in Chancery&mdash;and stood high in the favour of Sir Peregrine Maitland, towards
+whom he sometimes acted in the capacity of private secretary. He was the chief
+offender, for it was by him that the outrage was planned, and he was the directing
+spirit throughout, as well as the most noisy and impudent apologist for it
+afterwards. Another active participant in the raid was Captain John Lyons, a
+confidential clerk in the Lieutenant-Governor's office. A third was Henry Sherwood,
+student at law in the office of Attorney-General Robinson, and Clerk of Assize. He
+was a son of the Honourable Levius Petere Sherwood, one of the puisne judges, and was
+also connected with other leading members of the ruling faction. It is due to him to
+say that he eventually outgrew the follies of his youth, and became an able lawyer, a
+prominent politician, and a useful member of society. He alone, of all the
+participators in this shameful business, attained to anything like honourable
+distinction. A fourth member of the gang of kid-gloved housebreakers was Charles
+Heward, a son of Colonel Stephen Heward, who, in addition to being an active spirit
+among the Compact, was a magistrate, Clerk of the Peace in and for the Home District,
+and Auditor-General of Land Patents. The others were Charles Richardson, a student in
+the office of Attorney-General Robinson; James King, a student in Solicitor-General
+Boulton's office; Peter McDougall, a well-known shopkeeper in York in those times;
+and two sons of the Honourable James Baby, Inspector-General, and member of the
+Executive Council. These were all the active participants in the outrage. While it
+was in progress a number of other persons appeared upon the scene, but did not take
+any part therein otherwise than as spectators.</p>
+
+<p>It is of course not to be supposed that this incursion was attributable, either
+directly or indirectly, to the Government as a body, or that it had formed a subject
+of deliberation at the Council Board. The charge that it was attributable to the
+entire oligarchy has already been disposed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133"
+id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> of.<a name="FNanchor_76_76"
+id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> But it is
+at least fairly to be inferred that, after the thing had been done, the Government
+considered themselves as being under obligations to the misguided persons concerned
+in it. Several of the latter received appointments to positions of public trust and
+emolument, such as are usually conferred by Governments upon deserving supporters.
+Jarvis was successively appointed to various posts, the most important of which was
+that of Indian Commissioner, in which capacity he became a defaulter to the
+Government, and was involved in serious pecuniary and other difficulties. The
+avenging ghost of John Ridout pursued him, and his subsequent career was not one to
+be contemplated with admiration. Richardson, again, was appointed Clerk of the Peace
+for the Niagara District. Sir Peregrine Maitland could not pretend to overlook the
+dereliction of his confidential clerk, Captain Lyons, who was accordingly dismissed
+from that position. But this was not the end of the story. Many readers are doubtless
+familiar with Halifax's remark when Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, was removed
+from the post of First Lord of the Treasury and installed in that of Lord President.
+"I have seen people kicked downstairs," remarked the great Trimmer, "but my Lord
+Rochester is the first person that I ever saw kicked up-stairs."<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77"
+class="fnanchor">[77]</a> In like manner the Lieutenant-Governor's clerk was soon
+afterwards kicked up-stairs, by being appointed Registrar of the Niagara
+District.</p>
+
+<p>It really seemed as though this wanton and most reprehensible invasion of private
+rights was regarded by those in authority as a high and meritorious action. It was
+certainly so regarded by "the best society" of York at the time. The young men, who
+ought to have been made to suffer social ostracism, were petted and caressed as
+heroes who had done some grand service to the State; and, as will presently be seen,
+they were not even permitted to suffer any considerable pecuniary loss by reason of
+their breach of the law. Finding that their conduct led to their being made the
+subjects of a sort of hero-worship, it is not surprising that they soon came to pique
+themselves upon what they had done, and, so far from feeling any consciousness of
+shame or regret, to openly court publicity for their proceedings. Jarvis was
+especially culpable in this respect, and was not ashamed to write letters to the
+papers on the subject, in one of which he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134"
+id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> avowed himself as the author and originator of the
+outrage. He admitted having led on his band of semi-official desperadoes, determined
+to "persevere, if resistance had been made." As to the morality or immorality of the
+act, he professed himself "easy on that head." Such language as this, coming, as it
+did, from one who had shed the blood of a fellow-creature upon very slight
+provocation; who had been tried for murder, and acquitted because the crime was
+sanctioned by the usages of society; and who, moreover, in the estimation of many
+people, richly deserved the hangman's noose&mdash;such language, under the
+circumstances, was not merely injudicious and unfeeling, but positively revolting.
+The only conceivable excuse that can be made for it arises from the fact that Jarvis
+was at the time irritated by a succession of attacks in the newspapers, in which his
+conduct, bad as it had been, was held up in even a more odious light than it
+deserved. The excuse may be taken for what it is worth. It is at least certain that
+had the transgressor been imbued with feelings of ordinary delicacy he would not have
+permitted himself to be goaded into using such expressions as are to be found in his
+"Statement of Facts," published at York nearly two years after the type riot.<a
+name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78"
+class="fnanchor">[78]</a> His callousness stirred the hot blood of Francis Collins,
+of <i>The Canadian Freeman</i>, to speak his mind editorially on the
+subject:&mdash;"We view it," he wrote, "as the greatest misfortune that could happen
+to any man in this life to imbrue his hands in the blood of a fellow-man. But as this
+barbarous practice has, by long usage, become familiar to the mind of civilized
+society, we think it is a misfortune that might occur to an otherwise virtuous and
+well-disposed man, and therefore ought not (unless under aggravated circumstances) to
+be a reproach either to himself or to his children; provided that, during the
+remainder of his life he will show that caution which becomes his delicate situation,
+and prove by his subsequent benevolence that he regrets his misfortune. But if, after
+once having stained his hands with human blood, he will act the desperado, and become
+a leader in such outrages as may end in a repetition of his former act&mdash;then, we
+say, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> is
+worthy of reproach, and ought to be viewed as the common enemy of mankind."<a
+name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79"
+class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p>
+
+<p>News of the aggression soon found its way to Mr. Mackenzie at Lewiston.<a
+name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80"
+class="fnanchor">[80]</a> He at once returned to York, and lost no time in
+instituting proceedings against eight of the aggressors who had constituted
+themselves a vigilance committee at his expense. He brought a civil action for
+damages, and erelong these incipient "Regulators of Upper Canada" began to realize
+that they had acted with some precipitation and foolhardiness. It seemed probable
+that they would be mulcted in heavy damages; and even these would be no bar to a
+criminal prosecution. The aforementioned James Buchanan Macaulay was appointed to
+conduct their defence. The plaintiff's attorney was James Edward Small, a rising
+young lawyer who afterwards made some figure in political life, and who belonged to a
+well-known family in York. Overtures in the direction of a compromise were made on
+behalf of the raiders, who offered first two hundred pounds and afterwards three
+hundred by way of full compensation. The smaller amount would have been an abundant
+recompense for the actual loss,<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> but Mackenzie felt that public
+sympathy was with him, and he was desirous that the facts should go to a jury. The
+offer of the defendants was rejected, and the case came on for trial before Chief
+Justice Campbell and a special jury in the following October. Associated with the
+Chief Justice were the Honourable William Allan and Mr. Alexander McDonnell, as
+Justices of the Peace. The plaintiff's counsel were Marshall Spring Bidwell, J. E.
+Small, and Alexander Stewart, of Niagara. The defendants were represented by J. B.
+Macaulay and Christopher Alexander Hagerman. These names afford sufficient evidence
+that full justice was done to the case on both sides. Hagerman was a counsel of
+remarkable ability, and he fought very hard. His argument was a masterpiece of
+clever, specious reasoning, well calculated to produce an effect upon uneducated or
+half-educated jurymen. He took an enlightened stand,<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> admitting the advantage to a
+community of a free and unfettered press. He then proceeded to argue away all the
+consequences of the admission, alleging that the career of the <i>Advocate</i> had
+been one of license, and not of mere freedom. But the evidence of the outrage was
+clear and unassailable, and the defence did not venture to call any witnesses. It was
+proved on behalf of the plaintiff that three members of the ruling faction, two of
+whom were magistrates, had been in close proximity to the scene of the raid at the
+time when it took place; and there appears to be very little doubt that all three
+must have been eye-witnesses of the outrage. One of these was the Honourable William
+Allan, who, at the very moment when this evidence was given, sat on the bench to the
+right of the Chief Justice as an associate judge on the trial. Colonel Heward, whose
+son Charles was one of the delinquents, was the other magistrate compromised by the
+evidence. The third person alleged to have witnessed the transaction was Mr.
+Macaulay, leading counsel for the defence. The utter incongruity and unseemliness of
+the whole affair from first to last seems incomprehensible at the present day. All
+sense of the fitness of things seems to have been wanting.</p>
+
+<p>The trespass had been flagrant and bold, and the only question which the jury had
+to consider was the amount of damages. There were conflicting elements among the
+jurors, who were long in coming to a decision. After much deliberation they returned
+a verdict of &pound;625, which sum, together with costs of suit, was soon afterwards
+paid over to the plaintiff's attorney.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> But the
+rioters themselves were not suffered to sustain this loss. Prominent adherents of the
+official party did not hesitate to say that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137"
+id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> by the attack upon Mr. Mackenzie's press and type,
+and by the consequent stoppage of publication of his paper,<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a> the
+perpetrators of the outrage had rendered an essential service to society, by abating
+an intolerable nuisance. Under such circumstances it was only just that society
+should bear harmless those who had thrown themselves into the breach and vindicated
+her rights. It was resolved that a subscription should be set on foot with this
+laudable object.</p>
+
+<p>Among the few high Tories resident at York in those days upon whose characters it
+is possible for one of modern ideas to look with sympathy, and even with a
+considerable degree of admiration, was Colonel James Fitz Gibbon. The Colonel was a
+gallant veteran who had fought the battles of his country on two continents, at
+Copenhagen and the Helder, at Fort Erie and the Beaver Dams. His military career was
+not yet quite at an end, for he was destined to play an important part in the
+putting-down of the Upper Canadian Rebellion; a circumstance which furnishes a
+sufficient justification for a somewhat more extended reference to him in this place
+than his mere connection with the press riot would have rendered necessary. He was an
+Irishman of humble origin, who had enlisted as a private soldier at the age of
+seventeen, and who, by sheer force of energy, bravery and aptitude for his
+profession, had fought his way to military rank and honour. After seeing much service
+on the continent, and passing through as many adventures as a knight-errant of old,
+he was transferred to British North America. His gallant services in this country are
+imperfectly recorded in various accounts of the War of 1812, and in Tupper's "Life of
+Brock." Every Canadian is, or ought to be, familiar with the circumstances attending
+the capture by him of a force of 450 infantry, fifty cavalry, and two guns, he
+himself being at the time in command of only forty-eight men. After the close of the
+war he was placed on half pay, and took up his abode at York. He attached himself to
+the Provincial militia, whence he derived his rank of Colonel. He likewise obtained a
+post in the Adjutant-General's office, and subsequently became Deputy
+Adjutant-General, which position he held at the period at which the narrative has
+arrived. He was also in the Commis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>sion of the Peace, and frequently sat in Quarter
+Sessions. His share in suppressing the revolt in 1837 will be narrated in its proper
+place. For the rest it may be added that he was always impecunious, for, apart from
+the fact that he was no financier, and never knew how to take care of money when he
+had any, the expenses of his outfit when promoted to the rank of Adjutant, in 1806,
+formed the nucleus of a debt which hampered him from youth to old age. His indigence
+often subjected him to straits which must have been hard to bear; but he was of a
+sanguine, joyous disposition, and poverty, though it might temporarily overcloud his
+happiness, had no power to break his indomitable spirit. During his long residence in
+Canada he was a persistent seeker after office, because he was almost always in
+pecuniary straits; but he fully earned all the emoluments he ever received from the
+Government, and if his income had been five times as large as it ever was he would
+probably have been neither more comfortable nor less impecunious. It seemed as though
+no experience could lead him to take thought for the morrow. His chief
+characteristics were such as are not uncommon among his fellow-countrymen. He was
+generous and open-hearted to a fault, ever ready to bestow his last shilling upon
+anybody who needed it, or who even made a plausible pretence of needing it. He was
+rash, impetuous and indiscreet, but the ranks of the British army held no braver or
+more loyal heart than his. In his simple and gentle soul there was no room for envy
+or guile. He seems, indeed, to have been in many respects a sort of Irish reflection
+of Colonel Newcome; and the parallel even extended to the outward circumstances
+attending the close of their respective lives. Colonel Newcome, when all his worldly
+possessions had gone from him, retired to Grey Friars&mdash;the Charterhouse&mdash;a
+retreat for "poor and decayed brethren," when the world seemed to afford no other
+asylum. There he passed the remainder of his days, and there he said "Adsum" when his
+name was called for the last time in this world. In like manner Colonel Fitz Gibbon,
+when all other resources failed him, was able, through the kindness of Lord Seaton,
+to obtain a place in an asylum of somewhat similar character. At Royal Windsor there
+is an institution which provides a retreat from the cares and storms of life for a
+limited number of depleted old military officers. The members are styled Military
+Knights of Windsor, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg
+139]</a></span> abodes provided for them are situated "within the precincts." Hither,
+in 1850, when he had entered upon his seventieth year, the battered old hero of many
+fights retired to pass in quiet the evening of an active life. He survived for more
+than ten years, during which period he succeeded in obtaining for himself and his
+brother knights certain important privileges of which they had theretofore been
+deprived.</p>
+
+<p>Though he was not, in the proper sense of the word, a politician, both his
+interests and his superabundant loyalty impelled him to the side of those in power.
+No one in the Province had less respect for radicals of the Mackenzie stamp. It was
+sufficient for him to reflect that the official party reflected the might and majesty
+of the Crown of Great Britain. His whole nature, fostered by his military training,
+revolted at the idea of opposition to those in authority. He was moreover dependent
+upon the Government for his place in the Adjutant-General's office, and would
+naturally espouse the side of his patrons. The Compact had no more faithful adherent,
+and by no one were "low radicals" held in more profound abhorrence. He was roused to
+a high pitch of fervour by the trial of the press rioters, who, in his opinion, had
+acted in the most patriotic and praiseworthy spirit. When the verdict had been
+rendered, and when it had become manifest that the defendants must pay the penalty of
+their acts, the Colonel regarded them as martyrs. He promptly volunteered to canvass
+the town for subscriptions to a fund for discharging the liability, and thus saving
+"the boys," as he called them, from loss. He was as good as his word, and the
+requisite sum was soon forthcoming. Who the contributors to this fund were has never
+been fully revealed, and the secret is likely to be well kept, for the list was
+burned by Colonel Fitz Gibbon immediately after it had served its purpose, and there
+is probably no man now living who can throw any light upon the subject. Mr. Lindsey
+observes<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84"
+class="fnanchor">[84]</a> that "it is believed the officials of the day were not
+backward in assisting to indemnify the defendants in the type-riot trial, for the
+adverse verdict of an impartial jury"&mdash;a belief which, under the circumstances,
+is certainly not an extravagant one. It was commonly rumoured that several heads of
+departments had contributed twenty pounds each to the fund, and Francis Collins
+gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>
+currency to the rumour through the columns of his paper. The controversy to which
+this gave rise was the indirect means of furnishing almost the only evidence now
+obtainable as to the signatures to the subscription list. Collins asserted that Sir
+Peregrine Maitland's own name was understood to be at the head of the list, opposite
+to a large contribution. Colonel Fitz Gibbon was so indiscreet as to write a reply,
+in which he distinctly declared that the latter's assertion was wholly untrue, <i>so
+far as the Lieutenant-Governor was concerned</i>. From this letter, which was duly
+given to the public in the <i>Freeman</i>, it was not unfairly to be inferred that
+the assertion, so far as it related to the heads of departments, could not be
+truthfully denied. That some, at least, of the members of the official body
+contributed to the fund was matter of notoriety in York at the time, and, so far as I
+am aware, has never been denied. The Honourable James Baby, indeed, who was then or
+shortly afterwards the senior member of the Executive Council, and who, as before
+mentioned, was the father of two of the young men concerned in the raid, contributed
+his share with great reluctance. He was at this time advanced in life&mdash;he was in
+his sixty-fifth year&mdash;and he had ceased to carry much weight in the Great
+Council of the Province, having been to a large extent superseded by younger and more
+energetic men. His opinions were no longer deferred to as they had once been, and on
+one or two occasions he had, as he conceived, been treated with inadequate respect by
+some of his junior colleagues. He felt his position keenly, and there is reason for
+believing that he would have resigned his office of Inspector-General and his seat at
+the Council Board, had it not been that there were many demands upon his purse, and
+that he was largely dependent upon his official salary for the support of his family.
+On a subsequent page a notable instance will be given of the degradation to which his
+poverty compelled him to submit at the hands of the Lieutenant-Governor. Under the
+circumstances, however, he could not refuse to contribute to Colonel Fitz Gibbon's
+list; and it is recorded that when one of his sons called upon him for the amount
+which he had subscribed, he handed over the sum with justifiable petulance, saying:
+"There, go and make one great fool of yourself again."<a name="FNanchor_85_85"
+id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a><span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> Such of the
+rioters as were possessed of means contributed to the fund according to their
+respective ability, but the others were not allowed to bear more than a very small
+share of the loss.</p>
+
+<p>The only other documentary evidence to be had on the subject of the subscribers to
+the fund is to be found in the "Statement of Facts" of Samuel Peters Jarvis himself.
+"I have on my part to assure the public," he writes, "that so far from being
+indemnified by the contributions which from various motives were made for our relief,
+the burthen fell heavily upon such of us as had the means of paying anything; and I
+affirm that the share of the verdict which I myself had to defray, from no very
+abundant means, was such that if Mr. Mackenzie had made as much clear profit by his
+press during the whole time he has employed it in the work of detraction, he would
+not have found it necessary to leave the concern, and abandon it to his creditors."
+To which statement it may be added that a gentleman now living in Toronto distinctly
+remembers hearing Mr. Jarvis say that his own contribution to the fund was precisely
+&pound;109; that that of Peter McDougall was about the same; and that none of the
+rest of the rioters paid anything, except through their parents or relatives.</p>
+<p>The civil liability having been discharged, the public looked forward to a
+criminal prosecution, for it seemed outrageous that the perpetrators of such an
+offence against society should escape without any greater penalty than had thus far
+been exacted from them. Mr. Mackenzie himself seems to have been desirous of
+proceeding to extremities, although the amount which he had recovered was far more
+than compensation for any loss he had sustained, whether direct or incidental. But
+the brains of his professional advisers were cooler than his own, and saved him from
+the consequences of his want of judgment. Mr. Bidwell dissuaded him from taking any
+steps which might seem to be dictated by a feeling of revenge. It was represented to
+him that he was a decided gainer by the raid, not only in pocket but in popularity.
+The public sympathy had been with him from first to last. A policy of war to the
+knife on his part would certainly cool, and in some cases altogether alienate that
+sympathy. The jury's liberal verdict bad placed him "in funds," and he was thus in a
+position to resume the publication of the <i>Advocate</i> under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> favourable
+circumstances. The transaction had distinctly increased his prestige in the rural
+constituencies, and he might reasonably hope to be a successful candidate for
+Parliament when a suitable vacancy should occur. Such being the position of affairs,
+he was strongly advised to let well alone. Contrary to his habit, he proved amenable
+to advice, and refrained from a criminal prosecution.</p>
+
+<p>The issue fully justified the advice of Mr. Mackenzie's counsellors. Several of
+the newspapers in the Province commended his forbearance, and contrasted his conduct
+with that of his enemies. But, it was asked, what was the Attorney-General about? How
+was it that he, who never failed to stretch his authority to the utmost when a
+Reformer rendered himself amenable to the law&mdash;how was it that he permitted such
+an outrage as this to pass without notice? Surely it was his duty to officially
+proceed against the wrong-doers. But the Attorney-General was deaf to all such
+remonstrances, and did not concern himself with the matter further than to maintain
+the most cordial relations with the persons implicated. How far his conduct in this
+respect was consistent will hereafter appear. Colonel Fitz Gibbon was rewarded for
+his zeal in a bad cause by receiving the appointment of Clerk to the Legislative
+Assembly, and the additional income thus afforded him left him neither better off nor
+worse than before.</p>
+<p>The participators in perhaps the grossest outrage ever committed in the Provincial
+capital thus escaped, for the time, all due penalty for their misconduct. It may
+almost be said, indeed, that they escaped altogether, for though, as will hereafter
+be seen, seven of them were eventually brought to trial and convicted at the instance
+of another person, they received no adequate punishment, and were thus able to boast
+that gentlemen in their station of life in York were above the law.</p>
+
+<p>Rash deeds often produce unlooked-for consequences. So it was in the case under
+review. The attempt to suppress the <i>Advocate</i> was the means of re-establishing
+it on a fairly satisfactory financial basis, and of extending its life for about
+seven years. The indignity to which the printing-office had been subjected, and the
+trial resulting therefrom, had furnished the best advertisements that could possibly
+have been desired. With a portion of the sum recovered from the hands<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> of the spoilers
+Mr. Mackenzie was able to satisfy the most pressing of his creditors. With the
+balance he provided himself with new printing material, and the <i>Advocate</i> soon
+made its appearance under more favourable auspices than ever. It continued to be
+marked by the same characteristics as during the first epoch of its existence. It was
+not conducted with more discretion, and there were as many gross personalities in its
+columns. It however contributed much to the spread of Reform doctrines, and during
+much of its life it rendered undoubted service to the party to which it yielded its
+support. Had the editor's judgment been commensurate with his energies, his journal
+would undoubtedly have been a great power for good. Even as it was, it probably acted
+to some extent as a check upon Executive aggression, and thus served a beneficial
+purpose in spite of its many weaknesses and shortcomings.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mr. Mackenzie, his persecutions were by no means at an end. They had, in
+fact, only begun. Of the many other shameful indignities to which he was
+subjected&mdash;indignities which finally drove him into rebellion, and involved him
+in overwhelming disaster&mdash;the narrative will hereafter take full account. It is
+at present desirable to advert to a number of other pregnant examples of abuse of
+power in which Mr. Mackenzie had no special concern.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Vol. I., p. 89, et seq.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> This portion of Front
+Street was then and for many years afterward known as Palace Street. It had been
+so named, in the early years of York's history, from the circumstance that it led
+down to the Parliament Buildings in the east end of the town, and because it was
+believed that the official residence or "palace" of the Lieutenant-Governor would
+be built there.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> This historic landmark
+was burned down during the winter of 1854-5.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> He had, as previously
+mentioned in the text, withdrawn from the Province with a view to a settlement
+with his creditors. He was at Lewiston, in the State of New York. In the
+beginning of the second part of his pamphlet, published at York in 1826, giving
+an account of the affair, he represents himself as having been at Queenston when
+he received news of the raid.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> The statement to be
+found in various books&mdash;among others in Wells's <i>Canadiana</i>, p. 164,
+and Roger's <i>Rise of Canada from Barbarism to Civilization</i>, Vol. I., p.
+405&mdash;that Mr. Mackenzie's mother was grossly maltreated by the rioters is
+wholly without foundation. The affair was disgraceful enough, in all conscience,
+and needs no fictitious embellishments.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>. p. 13.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> According to a
+contemporary pamphlet giving an account of the duel, which took place in 1817, he
+was then twenty-five years of age. He would therefore be at least in his
+thirty-fourth year at the time of the press riot in 1826. By reference to the
+Barristers' Roll I find that he was called to the bar in Trinity Term, 55 Geo.
+III., 1815, at which time he must have been at least twenty-one years old, so
+that the statement in the text cannot be far from the fact. It is from him that
+Jarvis Street, Toronto, derives its name.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> The Hon. W. D. Powell
+ceased to be Chief Justice during the previous year (1825), when he was succeeded
+by Mr. (afterwards Sir William) Campbell.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 129.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Macaulay's <i>History
+of England</i>, Vol. I., Chapter 2.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> <i>Statement of Facts
+relating to the Trespass on the Printing Press in the Possession of Mr. William
+Lyon Mackenzie, in June, 1826. Addressed to the Public generally, and
+particularly to the Subscribers and Supporters of the Colonial Advocate.</i>
+York, 1828.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> See the <i>Freeman</i>
+for Thursday, Feb. 21st, 1828.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> See note to p. 130 <i>ante</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> Mr. Mackenzie, when
+taken before the Grand Jury to give evidence in support of a criminal prosecution
+of the type rioters, admitted that his actual, as distinguished from his
+incidental loss by the riot, did not exceed &pound;12 10<i>s</i>. sterling.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> It was the policy of
+the official party to suppress, as far as was practicable, all reference in the
+public newspapers to the misdoings of themselves and their adherents. This was
+but natural. No one likes to see his transgressions preserved to future ages in
+all the pitiless coldness of type, which may rise up against his descendants long
+after he himself is forgotten. The following is a complete transcript of the
+contemporary report of the trial of these rioters, as published in <i>The U. E.
+Loyalist</i>, a sheet issued as a sort of supplement or rider to the official
+<i>Gazette</i>. It appears in the <i>Loyalist</i> for October 21st, 1826:</p>
+<p>"<i>Court of King's Bench.</i>&mdash;In the suit of MacKenzie <i>vs</i>
+Jarvis, McDougall, and others, for Trespass, the Jury, after a consultation of
+twenty-four hours, returned into Court&mdash;Verdict for the Plaintiff &pound;625."</p>
+
+<p>This is absolutely the only information obtainable from the contemporary
+number of the official organ on a subject which was <i>par excellence</i> the
+topic of the time. It may be added that the organ contained no reference whatever
+to the type riot until many weeks after its occurrence.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> Apparently they were
+not then aware that the publication had actually ceased before the riot took place.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> <i>Life of
+Mackenzie</i>, Vol. I., p. 99.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> See Dr. Scadding's
+<i>Toronto of Old</i>, p. 38. Mr. Baby's idiom was due to his French origin and training.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapvi.jpg" width="300" height="81" alt="chapvi" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VI.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p>
+<h4>THE CASE OF CAPTAIN MATTHEWS.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft">
+<img src="images/letterc.jpg" width="50" height="95"  alt="letterc" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">C</span>aptain Matthews, who, it will be remembered, had been returned to the Assembly for
+the County of Middlesex, gave great umbrage to the official party by allying himself
+with the Opposition. His birth and social standing, it was said, unfitted him for
+such companionship. The Captain himself was apparently conscious of no incongruity,
+and bent all his energies to the advancement of the Reform cause. Upon his first
+arrival in the country he could not be said to have had any political convictions at
+all. He had been bred a Tory, and his military career had been such as might
+naturally have led him to seek his allies in the ranks of those in authority. But his
+own experience of the abuses in the Land Office had impelled him to consider the
+political situation of affairs in Upper Canada generally, and the upshot of his
+deliberations had been his alliance with the new movement in the direction of Reform.
+Being a man of much local influence, his example had won to his side a number of the
+Middlesex farmers, more especially in the Township of Lobo, in which he resided.
+During his first session in Parliament he attracted considerable attention to
+himself, for he spoke frequently and well, and generally with a humorous eloquence
+which made him a favourite with those who were not bitter partisans on the other
+side.</p>
+
+<p>It was to be expected that Captain Matthew's defection from the political faith of
+his ancestors would render him specially odious to the High Tories of Upper Canada.
+It was shameful, they thought, that an officer deriving an income from His Majesty's
+Government should entertain, much less give utterance to, such vile democratic
+opinions as were constantly heard from his lips. The Captain was indiscreet, and
+became more and more outspoken the oftener he was charged with radicalism; but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> on no occasion
+did he utter anything savouring of disloyalty, for the very sufficient reason that
+there was no disloyalty in his heart. It was apparent to the Compact that his
+influence was most pernicious to them; yet no feasible plan for getting rid of him
+presented itself. Would it not be possible, by a little extra exertion, to deprive
+him of his pension? Could this laudable object be accomplished, the obnoxious
+Captain, who was of an impetuous temperament, would probably be goaded into saying or
+doing something really culpable&mdash;something which would place weapons in the
+hands of his enemies whereby he might be effectually silenced. The plan was at any
+rate worth trying. A system of espionage was accordingly adopted towards him.<a
+name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86"
+class="fnanchor">[86]</a> During the sitting of the Legislature, myrmidons of the
+Executive dogged his footsteps wherever he went, in order to obtain some grounds for
+a hostile accusation against him.</p>
+
+<p>The spies did not have long to wait, for any shallow pretext was sufficient to
+serve as a peg upon which to hang an imputation of disloyalty, and the doomed man
+himself was unsuspicious of any design against him. The pretext actually resorted to
+was so utterly contemptible that one feels almost ashamed to record the attendant
+circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>A company of theatrical performers from the United States visited York during the
+session which assembled in the autumn of 1825. The actors met with little
+encouragement, and became, in stage parlance, "stranded." Being reduced to extremity,
+they resolved upon giving a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> special performance for the delectation of the members of the
+Legislature, whose patronage was solicited for the occasion. Sixteen or eighteen of
+the members&mdash;among whom was Captain Matthews&mdash;complied with the
+solicitation, and the performance took place at the little York theatre on the night
+of December 31st. During the intervals between the acts the orchestra played the
+national airs, "God Save the King," "Rule Britannia," and "The British Grenadiers."
+Several persons in the audience&mdash;Captain Matthews among the number<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87"
+class="fnanchor">[87]</a>&mdash;apparently out of compliment to the actors, all of
+whom were from across the lines, called out for "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia."
+The demand was complied with, at least in part. The orchestra were unable to play
+"Hail Columbia," but the audience were regaled with the lively strains of "Yankee
+Doodle." Captain Matthews joined in the applause which followed, and removed his hat,
+calling upon others to do the same. The weight of evidence would seem to favour the
+idea that he was not the first to raise his hat, or to request the removal of the
+hats of his fellow-members. At all events the request was generally complied with.
+And this was the gist of the story. Captain Matthews's share in the events of the
+evening was the having joined in the demand for the two objectionable airs, in the
+applause which ensued upon the rendering of one of them, and in the request for the
+uncovering of heads. These dire offences sealed the doom of a gallant officer who had
+served his king for more than a quarter of a century, and whose acquiescence in the
+call for the national airs of the republic was probably due, at least in part, to the
+effervescence of feeling begotten of a good dinner.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to trace, step by step, the progress of the measures adopted
+against him. Distorted and exaggerated accounts appeared in <i>The Kingston
+Chronicle</i> and <i>The Quebec Mercury</i>. But it is hardly likely that any <i>ex
+officio</i> notice would have been taken of the affair if the news<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span>paper reports had
+not been backed by a specific charge. Captain Matthews appears to have been secretly
+accused to the military authorities. He soon afterwards received a letter from the
+military secretary to the Earl of Dalhousie, Commander of the Forces in Lower Canada,
+stating that that dignitary's attention had been attracted by a report in the public
+prints of a representation that Captain Matthews had, in a riotous and outrageous
+manner, in the theatre at York, called for the national airs and tunes of the United
+States, "urging the audience there assembled to take off their hats, as is usual in
+the British Dominions in honour of 'God Save the King.'" The letter went on to say
+that "finding the statement corroborated, upon inquiry," the Commander of the Forces
+called upon Captain Matthews to explain conduct which was pronounced to be "utterly
+disloyal and disgraceful." Even this was not all. By a subsequent letter, received
+from the Board of Ordnance, the Captain was directed to repair forthwith to Quebec,
+and there remain until he could, by the first vessel in the spring, proceed to
+England, there to give an account of his conduct. This order was stated to have been
+made in consequence of a communication from the authorities in Canada to Lord
+Bathurst, the Colonial Secretary, and by him transmitted to the Master-General and
+Board of Ordnance.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mackenzie asserts that the object of the authorities was to get the Captain
+out of the Province, and thus deprive the Opposition of his vote, "in order to give
+the local Government a preponderance in the Legislature against the people's
+rights."<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88"
+class="fnanchor">[88]</a> This, however, can hardly be accepted as a full or true
+explanation, as the Captain's absence at the time would not have given such a
+preponderance to the Government on any test vote. The weakening of the Opposition may
+or may not have been one of the objects sought to be achieved by the Captain's
+accusers. If so, it signally failed. Captain Matthews, be it understood, was not in
+receipt of half-pay, but of a pension. He had served twenty-seven years, and, on his
+corps being totally disbanded, he had settled in Upper Canada with the approbation of
+the Government. Having since been elected a member of the Provincial Assembly, his
+first duty was to that body, and it was necessary that he should obtain its leave
+before proceeding to obey<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg
+148]</a></span> the order of the Master-General. Accordingly, on Thursday, the 28th
+of December, 1826, he rose in his place and made a motion involving an application
+for leave of absence. He explained the circumstances, and, in the course of the
+debate which ensued, expressly stated that he asked for leave, not with any desire of
+its being granted, but merely in order that the House might do its duty. The
+Opposition stood faithfully by him in this emergency. The House felt that the honour
+of one of its members was concerned. It refused the application for leave, and, on
+motion of Mr. Rolph, set on foot an inquiry into the circumstances on its own
+behalf.</p>
+
+<p>The inquiry was searching and minute, and the witnesses were not examined in
+presence of each other. Much of the evidence was beyond measure ludicrous and absurd.
+The scene at the theatre was described by one witness after another in endless
+variety. The merits of "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia," philologically and
+aesthetically, were made the subjects of the gravest investigation. It appeared that
+with the exception of Mr. John Beikie, Clerk of the Executive Council, and a very few
+of the townspeople, the audience was entirely made up of members of the Legislature.
+There were no ladies present, and, as it was New Year's Eve, the audience generally
+felt a considerable freedom from restraint. Many of the members had partaken freely
+of the cup that cheers&mdash;assuredly not the cup indicated by Cowper&mdash;and were
+in the blissful condition of Tam O'Shanter upon a certain memorable occasion to which
+no more specific reference is necessary. In plain English, some of them were so drunk
+as to be unable to recall anything that occurred. All were full of mirth and jollity,
+and the scene enacted was of the most uproarious description. Three grave legislators
+"danced while 'Yankee Doodle' was played." Several others had reached the quarrelsome
+stage of inebriety, and, in the language of one of the witnesses, "showed fight." Mr.
+Philip Vankoughnet, one of the members for Stormont, was constrained to admit that he
+had stripped off his coat, and threatened to knock somebody down. Captain Matthews,
+among others, called for "Hail Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle," but the general opinion
+among the more sober of the party appeared to be that he had done so "in derision."
+It was a bibulous age, and sobriety<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> was the exception rather than the rule. The whole
+affair was little better than a bar-room orgy, and could properly be regarded in no
+other light.</p>
+
+<p>When the Assembly's report made its appearance, early in 1827, Captain Matthews
+was fully exonerated, so far as that body was concerned, from everything savouring of
+disloyalty. "The circumstances of the transaction"&mdash;thus ran the
+report&mdash;"as they are related without the contradiction of a single witness,
+irresistibly bespeak the absence of that disloyalty with which it has been basely
+attempted to sully the character of a most honourable man." The report moreover read
+a sharp lesson to the promoters of the accusation against him. It declared that "If
+every effervescence of feeling upon every jovial or innocent occasion is, in these
+Provinces, to be magnified into crime by the testimony of secret informers&mdash;if
+there can longer exist a political inquisition which shall scan the motives of every
+faithful servant of the public&mdash;if the authorities in Canada shall humble the
+independence of the Legislature by scandalizing its members and causing them to be
+ordered to Quebec, and thence to England, to sustain a fate which, under such
+corroboration as Lord Dalhousie received, might cover them with ignominy, or bring
+them, however innocent, to the block&mdash;or if the members of our community shall
+be awed into political subserviency by fear of oppression, or lured by the corrupt
+hope of participating guilty favours, then, indeed, will the prospect before us four,
+and this fine Province become a distant appendage of a mighty empire, ruled by a few
+aspiring men with the scourge of power."<a name="FNanchor_89_89"
+id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Committee professed their inability to learn by whom the pernicious
+representations had been made to the newspapers, or to the authorities in Canada, or
+from what source Lord Dalhousie had obtained his "corroboration." They expressed
+their conviction that there was no ground for the charge preferred against Captain
+Matthews, the malignity and falsity of which they believed to have derived their
+origin and support from political hostility towards him.</p>
+
+<p>The United States press was loud in its expressions of contempt. "Behold how great
+a matter a little fire kindleth;" said <i>The New York Enquirer</i>&mdash;"truly,
+there is something very undignified in such vexatious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> stretches of
+authority"&mdash;referring, of course, to the attempt to drag Captain Matthews across
+the Atlantic on a charge depending on such ridiculous evidence. Attention was drawn
+to the fact that the national airs of Great Britain, "God Save the Queen," and "Rule
+Britannia," are often heard at theatres and elsewhere in the republic without any
+such momentous consequences, and without being received either with laughter, dancing
+or contempt. "The evidence," continued the <i>Enquirer</i>, "does not speak very
+strongly in favour of the amenity and decorum of the M. P.'s of Upper Canada. If
+calling for one of our national airs, in a time of profound peace, within a few miles
+of the frontiers, is regarded as an unpardonable crime by the British Government, who
+shall wonder or complain that the British people are full of prejudice against us."
+The Liberal press of the Maritime Provinces harped to the same tune. "Really,"
+remarked <i>The Halifax Recorder</i>, "we think people must have their wits about
+them now-a-days, if such things as these are to be construed into disaffection."</p>
+
+<p>But though Captain Matthews had been cleared by the Legislature, he had still to
+run the gauntlet of the military inquisition. They could not compel his attendance
+during the existence of the Parliament then in being, but they possessed an effectual
+means of reducing him to ultimate submission. This power they exercised. His pension
+was stopped&mdash;a very serious matter to a man with a large family and many
+responsibilities. He continued to fight the battles of Reform with dogged courage and
+pertinacity as long as his means admitted of his doing so, but he was soon reduced to
+a condition of great pecuniary distress, and was compelled to succumb. Broken-hearted
+and worn out, he resigned his seat in the Assembly, and returned to England, where,
+after grievous delays, he succeeded in getting his pension restored. He never
+returned to Canada, and survived the restoration of his pension but a short time.
+Thus, through the malignity of a selfish and secret cabal, was Upper Canada deprived
+of the services of a zealous and useful citizen and legislator, whose residence among
+us, had it been continued, could not have failed to advance the cause of freedom and
+justice.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> That spies were
+employed by Sir Peregrine Maitland and his Council, and that certain Government
+officials were encouraged to act in that capacity, are facts which will be denied
+by no one who familiarizes himself with the local legislative, official and
+newspaper literature of the time. An apparently well-informed contributor to
+<i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> for September, 1829, in an article headed "Colonial
+Discontent," comments on this retrograde system in the following terms:&mdash;"A
+system of espionage assumes that there is something which ought to be watched and
+to be prevented; and as the existence of such a system probably did exist in
+Upper Canada during the administration of Sir Peregrine Maitland, it may be said
+that so far his Government was led to act on false principles.... We do not
+suppose that there was anything like an organized system, but only that tales to
+the personal disadvantage of the Anti-Ministerial party were too readily listened
+to. No doubt the members of that party were as credulous in listening to tales to
+the prejudice of the adherents of Government, but then they had it not in their
+power, like them, to inflict punishment. It is unnecessary to explain in what
+manner a system of espionage begets heart-burnings. It is to the public what
+tattle and malicious gossip are to private society, with this essential
+difference, however, that the tale of the slanderer is in time forgotten or
+refuted, whereas the report of the spy is received in secret, placed in the
+confidential archives of office, and referred to as a testimonial of character,
+in which such set of testimonials can be applied with effect when the occasion arises."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Mr. Mackenzie, in his
+<i>Sketches of Canada and the United States</i>, p. 419, denies that Captain
+Matthews called for these airs, as stated in the text. But anyone who carefully
+examines into the Provincial events of those times will not be long in arriving
+at the conclusion that Mr. Mackenzie's unsupported testimony, more especially as
+to matters in any way coming within the scope of politics, is of very little
+value. The evidence as to the Captain's having called for "Yankee Doodle" is
+conclusive. That his doing so constituted a serious offence is another matter, as
+to which there will, at the present day, be very little difference of opinion.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> <i>Sketches of
+Canada</i>, etc., p. 419.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> See Journal of
+Assembly for 1826-7, Appendix P. See also Journal for 1828, p. 122.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapvii.jpg" width="300" height="57" alt="chapvii" title="" />
+</div>
+
+<h2>CHAPTER VII.</h2>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span>
+<h4>THE NIAGARA FALLS OUTRAGE.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/lettert.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="lettert" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">T</span>
+he case of William Forsyth&mdash;commonly known in the chronicles of the time as
+the Niagara Falls outrage&mdash;differed materially from that of Captain Matthews,
+not only in kind, but in degree. In the latter case there was no gross violation of
+the decencies of life, or of the outward forms of law. The mischief was effected by
+means of spies and secret information, and the damage inflicted was incidental rather
+than direct. The Forsyth case, on the contrary, was more in the manner of the type
+riot. It was a violent and utterly unjustifiable exercise of brute force. But in one
+important respect it was worse than the type riot. <i>That</i> display of ruffianism
+had been accomplished without the open approbation of the authorities. The Niagara
+Falls outrage was committed not only with the full assent, but by the express
+command, of the Lieutenant-Governor himself. Not even the poor excuse that it was
+done in a moment of anger or irritation could be made for it. It was done
+deliberately, in cold blood, and was as deliberately repeated. It was a simple case
+of Might <i>versus</i> Right.</p>
+
+<p>A few words of explanation are necessary by way of prologue.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1786, before the setting apart of Upper Canada as a separate Province,
+and just after the commencement of the settlement of the Niagara Peninsula by
+Butler's Rangers, the territory contiguous to the west bank of the Niagara River was
+surveyed and laid out into lots by Augustus Jones, a surveyor whose name is familiar
+to all students of the early history of this Province. In pursuance of instructions
+received from the Government, Mr. Jones, in laying out these lots, made a reservation
+of a chain in width&mdash;sixty-six feet&mdash;along the top of the bank.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>The reservation was made partly with a view to the military defence of the
+Province, and partly for the purpose of preserving a convenient communication.<a
+name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90"
+class="fnanchor">[90]</a> It was expressly specified in the Crown Patents to the
+owners of adjoining lands, and embodied in all subsequent deeds upon successive
+transfers. It may therefore be conceded that the Crown's title to the reserved land
+was indisputable.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1827, and for some time previously, the principal inn on the Canadian
+side of the river at Niagara Falls was owned and kept by one William Forsyth. The man
+and his establishment were well known to travellers, and "Forsyth's" had a high
+reputation as one of the most comfortable houses of public entertainment in the
+country. During the heat of summer, many residents of York paid more or less frequent
+visits to the Falls, not more to enjoy the change of air and the majestic scenery,
+than to partake of "mine host" Forsyth's hospitality. The inn was in close proximity
+to the great cataract, and was known as the Niagara Falls Pavilion. It was built on
+ground that bordered upon and ran up to the Government's reservation, which alone
+intervened between it and the top of the bank.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1827.</div>
+<p>Mr. Forsyth drove a flourishing business, but, like some of his successors at the
+same spot, his greed grew with his increasing gains, and he was not content to grow
+rich by degrees. He determined to augment his income by the erection of a high post
+and rail fence, placed so as to shut out visitors from approaching near to the Falls,
+and rendering it necessary for them to pass through his house before the desired view
+could be obtained. It should be mentioned that Mr. Forsyth, in addition to the
+Pavilion and its immediate grounds, owned the adjoining lands for a considerable
+distance, including all the points from which the great spectacle was to be seen to
+advantage. By the erection of the fence, therefore, visitors would be debarred and
+shut off from all that was best<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> worth seeing in the neighbourhood, until they had
+passed through his inn; and it was of course anticipated that most of those so
+passing through would spend more or less money on the premises. There was, however,
+one rather serious objection to the contemplated change. It would involve the
+enclosure of the Government reservation, a proceeding which was not likely to be
+permanently tolerated. Forsyth was probably ill advised by his attorney in the
+matter, for he seems to have been really of opinion that the Government's title to
+the land was at least open to question, and he had been permitted to occupy a portion
+of it without remonstrance for about six years. Sometime during the early spring of
+the above-mentioned year&mdash;in time to catch the expected influx of summer
+visitors&mdash;he carried out his design, and constructed the enclosure. His house
+was thus converted into a thoroughfare, which necessarily gave rise to a greatly increased number of
+visitors, and to much additional expenditure within its walls. But the public
+serenity soon began to show signs of disturbance. There was a rival innkeeper named
+Browne, who was not long in discovering that his own losses were in proportion to
+Forsyth's gains. He bestirred himself in the matter, and soon succeeded in arousing a
+good deal of indignation in the minds of visitors. No one was allowed to either enter
+or pass by his door without being importuned to sign a petition to the Government,
+praying for a removal of the objectionable fence. Other persons residing in the
+neighbourhood took umbrage at the innovation, and also made appeals to the Government
+on the subject. In this way several numerously-signed petitions were obtained and
+forwarded to headquarters.</p>
+
+<p>Such proceedings as these were in themselves reasonable and proper enough. Forsyth
+had acted in a selfish and unwarrantable manner, and it would have been nothing more
+than he had a right to expect if the Government had instituted immediate action
+against him. It would have been an injustice to the public if he had been permitted
+to enjoy his monopoly undisturbed. But neither the trespasser himself nor any of
+those who protested against his conduct was prepared for such high-handed measures as
+were actually resorted to; measures which effectually proved the unfitness of Sir
+Peregrine Maitland for his high office; which led to his being cordially hated
+throughout the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> length and breadth of Upper Canada; and which doubtless had something
+to do with his removal to another sphere of action.</p>
+
+<p>One day about the middle of May, when the enclosure had been erected about six
+weeks, and when the season's regular flow of tourists had fairly set in, the landlord
+of the Pavilion received a call from Captain George Phillpotts, of the Royal
+Engineers, who then held command in the District. The latter demanded why Forsyth had
+presumed to fence-in the Government reserve. Forsyth replied, denying that the
+reserve belonged to the Government, and asserting his own title thereto, whereupon he
+was informed that unless the enclosure was removed without delay, he, Captain
+Phillpotts, would himself undertake its removal. Forsyth professed to feel strong in
+his rights, and threatened to prosecute the Captain or any one else who might
+interfere with his property. Here the interview ended. Several days
+afterwards&mdash;on the 18th&mdash;the landlord was summoned to his door by a message
+that a gentleman there wished to see him. The gentleman proved to be Captain
+Phillpotts, who was accompanied by a sergeant and four other soldiers in fatigue
+jackets, without arms. Major Richard Leonard, Sheriff of the Niagara District, and
+Augustus Jones, who had made the original survey of the property forty-one years
+before, were also in attendance. The Sheriff, who had merely accompanied the party at
+the Captain's request, took no part in the subsequent proceedings, but contented
+himself with quietly looking on. Mr. Jones had been brought for a specific purpose,
+and, at the request of Captain Phillpotts, he then and there made a hasty re-survey
+of the reserve, the limits of which he indicated by pickets. Upon the completion of
+this task, the Captain demanded that Forsyth should immediately remove the enclosing
+fence, and upon his refusal to do so, the soldiers, under orders from their Captain,
+deliberately cut and threw down the fence, exposing the gardens, meadows and about
+sixty acres of growing crops to waste. A blacksmith's shop which had been erected on
+the reserve was demolished, and the building material thrown over the bank. The
+Captain avowed that he was acting under express orders from the Lieutenant-Governor,
+which proved to be the fact.</p>
+
+<p>Having accomplished his purpose, Captain Phillpotts and his soldiers<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> departed,
+accompanied by the Sheriff and the surveyor. They were no sooner out of the way than
+Forsyth and his servants set themselves to work to repair damages, and before
+nightfall the enclosure was rebuilt; the premises, with the exception of the
+blacksmith's shop, being restored to the condition in which they had been before the
+assault upon them. But intelligence of the restoration was speedily conveyed to Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, who again despatched the same emissary, and the drama of
+demolition was re-enacted. The landlord of the Pavilion then gave up the contest, so
+far as any attempt at reconstruction was concerned, and proceeded to obtain redress
+by due course of law.</p>
+
+<p>Now, it may perhaps be admitted that Forsyth was rightly served, or at any rate
+that he deserved little or no sympathy. His enclosure of the Crown reserve had been
+without any strict colour of right, and had been due to pure greed and selfishness.
+But his blacksmith's shop had been constructed on the land as far back as 1821, when
+he had purchased the adjoining lot from William Dickson, and no one had ever
+questioned his right to maintain it there. He seems to have thought that he had as
+good a claim to the property as anybody. He had been informed, contrary to the fact,
+that the Government reserve extended only to the lower bank, and did not cover the
+land at the top. He might easily have discovered that his information was misleading,
+but he had not chosen to take so much trouble, and deserved to suffer the legal
+consequences of his neglect. He could undoubtedly have been dispossessed by means of
+an action of ejectment, with the costs of which he would justly have been saddled.
+But he had a right to expect that, after being allowed to remain so many years in
+undisturbed possession, he should only be dispossessed by civil process. It was not a
+case where an arbitrary removal was justifiable, such as may lawfully take place when
+it becomes necessary to abate a nuisance. But it was above all things intolerable
+that the military should have been employed for such a purpose. Sir Peregrine
+Maitland, in sending Captain Phillpotts on the expedition, had acted, not in his
+capacity of Lieutenant-Governor, but in that of Major-General Commanding the Forces
+in Upper Canada. This it was that wrought up the public pulse to such a pitch of
+excitement. This it was that created a dangerous antagonism between the people and
+the soldiery, and led to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> frequent quarrels and bickerings between them. The Committee
+subsequently appointed by the Assembly to investigate the subject echoed the popular
+sentiment when they reported that "a person long in possession of land, like the
+petitioner, ought to have been ejected by the law of the land, which is ample, when
+impartially administered, for securing the rights of property, but the interference
+of the military, by such acts of violence, for maintaining supposed or contested
+rights, is justly regarded with jealousy in all free countries, and ought to be
+seriously regarded in a colony where the most unprecedented outrages have been
+perpetrated without prosecution, and even followed by the patronage of the local
+Government upon the wrong-doers."<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> The presence of the civil power on
+the occasion, in the person of the Sheriff, had been even an aggravation of the
+offence, for the Sheriff had thus been made to lend his countenance to the
+proceeding. As for the Lieutenant-Governor's action in the matter, he himself was
+solely to blame, for his intentions were not made known to the Executive Council, or,
+so far as appears, to any member of that body. It was simply and solely a barefaced
+and most impudent abuse of authority, the responsibility for which rests upon no
+shoulders but his own.</p>
+
+<p>Forsyth had no success in his appeals to the law. He brought two actions of
+trespass, one of which was against Sheriff Leonard and Captain Phillpotts jointly,
+for removing the fence and blacksmith's shop; and the other of which was against
+Captain Phillpotts alone for removing the fence the second time. Sir Peregrine
+instructed Attorney-General Robinson to defend both these suits, and to vindicate the
+Crown's title to the reserved land.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> To effect
+the latter object in the most formal and decisive manner, the Attorney-General filed
+an information for intrusion against Forsyth, upon which a verdict was rendered in
+favour of the Crown. The plaintiff altogether failed in his action against Phillpotts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>
+and the Sheriff, and the decision in that case rendered it useless for him to proceed
+with the action against Phillpotts alone.<a name="FNanchor_93_93"
+id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a></p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1828.</div>
+<p>While those suits were in progress, Forsyth, finding that public opinion, if not
+in his favour, was at least hostile to the Lieutenant-Governor, sent in a petition to
+the Assembly, setting forth the circumstances, and praying for redress. This was
+during the session of 1828. The Assembly entertained the petition, and appointed a
+Committee of Inquiry. The Committee proceeded to inquire accordingly. While their
+investigations were in progress they resolved to examine two of the Government
+officials, who, as there was reason to believe, could throw light upon Sir
+Peregrine's reasons for such arbitrary conduct as that of which he had been guilty.
+The officials whose evidence it was thought desirable to obtain were Colonels Coffin
+and Givins, both of whom were heads of departments. The former occupied the position
+of Adjutant-General of Militia for Upper Canada; the latter was Superintendent of
+Indian Affairs. Both of these gentlemen were summoned to attend before the Committee
+at a specified time. In this there was nothing strange or unusual. It was a matter of
+frequent occurrence for officials of the Government, high and low, to be summoned
+before Parliamentary committees while the Legislature was in session; and there was
+no question as to the right of such committees to require such attendance. In this
+instance, however, the persons summoned were not permitted to obey the behests of the
+Committee, and in the attendant circumstances there were pretty plain indications of
+crookedness and collusion between the Crown officers and Sir Peregrine Maitland. Each
+of the two officers concerned, immediately upon receiving his summons, caused the
+fact to be communicated to the Lieutenant-Governor, and each wrote a shuffling letter
+to the Chairman of the Committee. Later in the day the Lieutenant-Governor positively
+declined to permit the attendance of the persons summoned, assigning as a reason that
+he had not been made acquainted with the facts as to which it was desired to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> interrogate
+them. Now, when one considers all the facts and circumstances of the case, one is
+driven to the conclusion that Colonels Coffin and Givins were in possession of
+certain information which the Executive, or at any rate the Lieutenant-Governor, had
+a strong interest in keeping secret. Why else were they forbidden to attend? The
+reason assigned was certainly not a sufficient one. In the first place it was not
+founded upon fact. That the Committee had been appointed for the specific purpose of
+investigating the circumstances connected with the Niagara Falls outrage was matter
+of common notoriety. When the two Government officers were summoned to give evidence
+before that Committee there could be no doubt that the intention was to examine them
+touching their knowledge of the matter in hand.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> Some
+years before this time, when the Compact were all-powerful in the Assembly, as well
+as in the Upper House, a custom had been introduced of notifying the
+Lieutenant-Governor whenever it was proposed to examine any of the Government
+officials as witnesses before a Parliamentary committee. It had been customary to
+specify, in the address of notification, the subject on which it was intended to take
+evidence. This, however, had been a mere matter of courtesy and conventionality, upon
+which nobody had any right to insist; and the practice had not been uniform or
+consistent, various instances having occurred where Crown officers had been summoned
+and examined as witnesses without any such notification having been given. Upon such
+a flimsy pretext, however, did Sir Peregrine Maitland base his refusal to permit the
+two witnesses to attend for examination in the Forsyth case.</p>
+
+<p>The Chairman of the Committee duly reported to the Assembly the non-attendance of
+the witnesses, and that body determined that its authority should not thus be defied
+and set at naught with impunity. The chief offender, the Lieutenant-Governor&mdash;or
+the Commander of the Forces, if he was to be considered as acting in that
+capacity&mdash;was of course beyond reach, but proceedings were forthwith instituted
+against<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> the
+recalcitrant witnesses. Warrants were issued against them by the Speaker, in order
+that they might be brought up before the House, in custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms,
+to answer for their contempt. Acting under legal advice, they declined to submit to
+such authority unless compelled to do so by force; and they boldly threatened that in
+case of force being resorted to they would prosecute the Speaker. It is to be
+presumed that the warrants would in any case have been acted upon, but this impudent
+threat left the Assembly no alternative. If Government officers, paid out of the
+public purse, were to be allowed to defy that branch of the Legislature which alone
+represented the popular voice&mdash;if they were to be permitted to treat its
+mandates with contempt, and to threaten its representative with ulterior consequences
+in the event of those mandates being enforced&mdash;then, indeed, liberty and equal
+rights were at a low ebb in Upper Canada. The warrants were promptly executed, the
+house in which the two officials had ensconced themselves being forcibly entered for
+the purpose. Being brought to the bar of the House, and charged with their contempt,
+they sought to vindicate themselves by pleading the action of the Lieutenant-Governor
+in refusing to sanction their attendance. The House then adopted a resolution under
+which they were handed over to the custody of the Sheriff, and committed to the
+common jail of the Home District. They formally notified the Lieutenant-Governor,
+through his private secretary, of the calamity which had come upon them through
+obedience to his behests, and requested that the advice and assistance of the Crown
+officers&mdash;that is to say, of the Attorney-General and
+Solicitor-General&mdash;might be vouchsafed to them. They however remained in
+confinement only three days, for the Lieutenant-Governor, in accordance with an
+intimation previously given, prorogued the Legislature on the 25th of
+March&mdash;they had been committed on the 22nd&mdash;and the power of the Assembly
+to commit did not extend beyond the time when it was actually in session.</p>
+
+<p>Colonels Coffin and Givins carried out their threat, and sued the Speaker for
+damages for false imprisonment. The right of the Assembly to commit for contempt was
+however a matter too well established, and was confirmed by the Court of King's Bench
+in another cause then pending. So that the Adjutant-General of Militia and the
+Superintendent<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> of Indian Affairs, in addition to their respective bills of costs,
+had their three days' imprisonment as a reward for their fealty to Sir Peregrine
+Maitland, and for their disloyalty to the Canadian people.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Peregrine appears to have felt a little dubious as to how his proceedings
+would be regarded at the Home Office. It was quite certain that the Colonial
+Secretary would hear of the affair, but that dignitary's approval was open to
+question. It would at all events be well that the official mind should receive its
+first impression on the subject from Sir Peregrine himself, who accordingly lost no
+time in sending over his own version of the transaction. His despatch, which bears
+internal evidence of having been written or revised by Attorney-General Robinson, is
+dated the 29th of March&mdash;the fourth day after the prorogation. Under the pretext
+of asking for advice as to how he should act in the future in case of any of the
+officials being summoned before Parliamentary committees without any notification
+having been made to himself, he recounts the story of the Niagara Falls outrage. His
+narrative, it is almost needless to say, is from first to last garbled and one-sided.
+Forsyth is referred to therein as "a person notoriously of indifferent character;"
+and the Assembly and its committees are maligned in language highly improper to be
+employed in a confidential communication from the Lieutenant-Governor of a colony to
+his superiors at home.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> The Colonial Secretary, however, was
+shrewd enough to penetrate the veil of misrepresentation in which the despatch was
+enveloped, and to arrive at a pretty just appreciation of the merits of the case. He
+officially expressed his opinion that there had been adequate grounds for inquiry by
+the Assembly. "I cannot but consider," he wrote, "that Sir Peregrine Maitland would
+have exercised a sounder discretion had he permitted the officers to appear before
+the Assembly; and I regret that he did not accomplish the object he had in view in
+preventing Forsyth's encroachments by means of the civil power, which is said to have
+been at hand, rather than by calling in military aid." This despatch, however, was
+written, not to Sir Peregrine Maitland himself, but to his successor,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Sir John
+Colborne. The Forsyth case, coming, as it did, in the wake of other ill-advised
+proceedings on the part of Sir Peregrine, determined the Home Government to withdraw
+him from Upper Canada, where it was quite evident that his usefulness&mdash;if he had
+ever had any&mdash;was gone. He was transferred to Nova Scotia, whither it is not
+necessary that this narrative should follow him.</p>
+
+<p>With respect to Forsyth, it may he added that, being unable to obtain any
+recompense for the Phillpotts invasion, and being harassed by protracted litigation,
+he sold his property at Niagara Falls at a price considerably below its value, and
+removed from the spot. It cannot be said that he deserved much sympathy, for he had
+brought his losses on himself by his own selfishness. He took advantage of the
+situation to pose in the character of a martyr to Executive tyranny, and he succeeded
+in deceiving many of his contemporaries into the belief that he was a much injured
+man. The historical interest, however, centres not in him, but in the consequences
+arising out of the employment of soldiers to do the Sheriff's work in a time of
+profound peace, and without any initiatory civil process having been issued. The
+popular excitement consequent on the outrage encouraged Forsyth to petition the
+Assembly. The petition led to the appointment of the Committee of Inquiry, which in
+its turn led to the summoning of witnesses and the conflict between the Assembly and
+the Lieutenant-Governor. The conflict led to the latter's removal, and, from that
+point of view, is not to be regarded in the light of an unmixed evil.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> See the letter from
+Chief Justice Robinson to Lieutenant-Colonel Rowan, Secretary, etc., etc., dated
+at York, 31st December, 1832, and appended to the Report of the Committee of the
+House of Assembly on the Petition of William Forsyth, dated April 1st, 1835. In
+one part of this letter the Chief Justice says that the laying out of the lots
+took place "some time between the years 1785 and 1790, and while General
+Haldimand administered the Government of Canada." General Haldimand did not
+administer the Government of Canada during any part of the time thus
+specified&mdash;a fact of which Chief Justice Robinson ought to have been aware.
+In a subsequent part of the same letter he properly gives the date as 1786.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> See the report, p.
+iv., appended to the <i>Seventh Report of the Grievance Committee</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> The defence of these
+two suits would seem to have been the means of considerably augmenting the
+Attorney-General's already ample income. From certain accounts sent down to the
+Assembly it appears that a sum of <i>&pound;127 6s. 6-&frac34;d.</i> sterling
+were paid to him during the year 1834 for "expenses incurred by him in defending
+two suits with costs in reference to the military reserve near the Falls of Niagara."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> There was a very
+general belief throughout the Niagara District at the time that Major Leonard,
+who was an obedient servant to the Executive, had manipulated the lists from
+which the jurors in those cases were selected. The truth or falsity of the belief
+cannot now be pronounced upon, the circumstances upon which it was founded being buried in oblivion.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> "He [Sir Peregrine
+Maitland] must have inferred that the Committee proposed to examine these
+officers respecting the employment of a military force for the ejecting of
+Forsyth from the land."&mdash;See Despatch from the Colonial Secretary, Sir
+George Murray, to Major-General Sir John Colborne, dated 20th October, 1828,
+appended to the Report on Forsyth's petition.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> See the despatch,
+appended to the Report on the Forsyth Case, at end of Grievance Committee's
+Report. The Colonial Secretary's despatch quoted in the text will be found appended to the same Report.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapviii.jpg" width="300" height="75" alt="chapviii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII.</h2>
+<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span>
+<h4>THE "AMOVAL" OF MR. JUSTICE WILLIS.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/lettert.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="lettert" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">T</span>
+he Forsyth embroilment extended over a long period, and from time to time during
+several years it continued, at longer or shorter intervals, to thrust itself upon
+public attention. Meanwhile it was not the only instance of abuse of power on the
+part of the Executive to which the people of Upper Canada were constrained to submit.
+Several other notable contemporaneous examples shared with it in the unenviable work
+of widening the breach between the Government and the people, and in destroying
+popular confidence in the impartial administration of justice. It is a rather
+singular fact that of all the many high-handed measures resorted to during the
+existence of the Ninth Parliament, the one which aroused the greatest indignation was
+perhaps the least blameworthy of them all. It has been the fashion with writers who
+have dealt with this period of our history to represent the amoval of Justice Willis
+as being upon the whole the most glaring iniquity of the time. This view is not borne
+out by the facts. In the Willis affair Sir Peregrine Maitland had recourse to the
+espionage system, and certainly went to the utmost verge of his authority, but he
+cannot be said to have run violently in the teeth of precedent and good sense, as was
+done, for instance, in the Forsyth case. Nor can it be said that he acted with
+despotic rashness or precipitation. His decade of misrule in Upper Canada was
+characterized by many cruel, tyrannical and shameful deeds: deeds which stare out
+from the pages of the past with lurid distinctness. He has enough to answer for at
+the bar of history; and it is quite unnecessary to load the formidable indictment
+against him with surplusage or dubious matter. A careful and dispassionate
+examination of all the circumstances in the Willis case must convince the inquirer
+that the faults were not all on one side, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163"
+id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> that the Judge himself is bound to at least share
+with Sir Peregrine the responsibility for the bitterness arising out of the
+"amoval."</p>
+
+<p>John Walpole Willis, whose name was destined to win considerable celebrity in the
+judicial annals of this Province; was a lawyer of good standing at the English
+Chancery bar. He came of a respectable county family, but had no hereditary
+expectations, and from his earliest youth had applied himself to study with a zeal
+begotten of the conviction that he would be compelled to depend upon his own
+exertions for a livelihood. He devoted himself with assiduity to studying the
+literature pertaining to the equity branch of the law. By the time he reached manhood
+he had acquired considerable erudition, and it was predicted of him that he would
+make a mark in his profession. He did his utmost to justify the prediction, for he
+had no sooner been called to the bar than he came before the world as an author. His
+first publication was a work bearing upon the law of Evidence. In 1820 he issued a
+work on Equity Pleading; and in 1827 appeared his treatise "On the Duties and
+responsibilities of Trustees." These works obtained a fair share of recognition, and
+doubtless tended to promote his professional success. He enjoyed the reputation of
+being an industrious and painstaking lawyer, and a brilliant and accomplished member
+of society.</p>
+
+<p>In 1823, when he had reached the age of thirty-one years, he was applied to for
+professional advice by the Earl of Strathmore. This event was destined to have
+important consequences. The advice led to important professional employment extending
+over several months, during which the clever lawyer was a frequent guest in the
+Earl's household, and on terms of intimate social intercourse with the family. In an
+unhappy hour for his future peace of mind he formed an attachment to Lady Mary
+Isabella Bowes Lyon Willis, one of his lordship's daughters. His attachment was
+reciprocated by the young lady, who was possessed of great personal attractions, and
+who might doubtless have looked forward to a more ambitious match; but her noble
+father had little to offer in the shape of dowry, and did not oppose her wishes. The
+marriage took place at Marylebone Church, in August, 1824. The bridegroom was then
+thirty-two years of age, and the bride had just completed her twenty-second year.
+This disparity was not sufficient to excite any remark,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> for Lady Mary was mature for her
+age, and the bridegroom had scarcely taken leave of his youth. For about three years
+after the marriage the pair resided with Mr. Willis's mother, at Hendon, a pleasant
+suburb lying to the north-west of London; he meanwhile continuing the practice of his
+profession in town. All these circumstances materially contributed to the shaping of
+the young barrister's future career.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1827.</div>
+<p>Mr. Willis enjoyed the social advantages which his union with a nobleman's
+daughter was certain to confer. These advantages were fully appreciated, but they
+involved certain inevitable consequences, the principal of which was a material
+increase in the domestic expenditure. As neither Lady Mary nor her husband was
+possessed of much property, and as the latter's income was almost entirely derived
+from his profession, he resolved to try for some public appointment whereby his
+pecuniary condition might be improved. Early in 1827 the project of establishing a
+Court of Equity in Upper Canada was for a short time under some sort of consideration
+at the Colonial Office. Through the influence of his father-in-law, Mr. Willis was
+mentioned as a most suitable man to undertake that important duty. His heart
+responded to the idea. He felt that he was well fitted for such a responsibility, and
+that a congenial sphere of usefulness would thus be presented to him. His vanity also
+seems to have been flattered by the prospect of being raised to the bench&mdash;even
+the colonial bench&mdash;at so early an age. Visions of social and intellectual
+supremacy among the magnates of Upper Canada doubtless presented themselves in
+alluring shapes before his mind. He had no difficulty in obtaining a promise that in
+the event of the contemplated appointment being made it should be offered to him. The
+project, however, was still in embryo, and&mdash;as the event proved&mdash;was not
+fully carried out until about ten years later. It was meanwhile desirable that a
+puisne judge of the Court of King's Bench for Upper Canada should be appointed
+without delay, and that position was offered to Mr. Willis. It was at the same time represented to him that his acceptance would
+in no wise interfere with the scheme of the establishment of a Court of Chancery, and
+that he would be none the less fitted, to carry out such a scheme from his having
+resided for some time in the Province, and from his having become to some extent
+familiar with local laws and institu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span>tions. After mature reflection he accepted the
+offer, and set out for Canada towards the end of the summer, accompanied by his wife,
+mother, sister and infant son.</p>
+
+<p>His marriage had not proved in all respects a felicitous one. Lady Mary was imbued
+with patrician ideas, and bore herself towards her husband's family with considerable
+hauteur. She was very particular in exacting certain observances in which she
+considered herself entitled. There were doubtless faults on both sides. Mrs. and Miss
+Willis took umbrage at the patronizing airs of Lady Mary, who, in her turn,
+complained that she was made a cipher in her own house. There were also petty
+jealousies on the part of Lady Mary, which led to disputes between herself and her
+husband. Altogether the domestic establishment at Hendon was not a harmonious one,
+but the means of the family were insufficient to admit of the keeping up of two
+separate households. The true remedy for such a state of things lay in the exercise
+of a spirit of mutual forbearance&mdash;an exercise to which Lady Mary, at least,
+seems to have been little accustomed. Under such ominous auspices was the Willis
+household transferred from Hendon to Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<p>The Willises reached the Upper Province on the 17th of September, and on the
+following day the new judge proceeded to Stamford Cottage, the summer residence of
+the Lieutenant-Governor, in the Niagara District. Having presented the royal warrant
+for his appointment, together with certain other documents, he was cordially received
+by Sir Peregrine. He dined and spent the evening at the Cottage. In the course of
+conversation he referred to the project of establishing a Court of Equity&mdash;which
+by this time was no secret&mdash;and was surprised to find that the theme was
+distasteful to his host, who, in a tone not to be misunderstood, remarked: "Sir, you
+have not got your Court of Equity yet." "The words," wrote Mr. Willis,<a
+name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96"
+class="fnanchor">[96]</a> "made some impression at the time, and subsequent events
+tended to throw further light upon their meaning."</p>
+
+<p>Upon his arrival at York, on the 20th, Mr. Willis was welcomed with apparent
+cordiality by the judiciary, the bar, and society generally. The<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> leaders of local
+fashion vied with each other in their attentions to the ladies of the family, more
+especially to Lady Mary, who was almost overwhelmed with civilities. The new judge
+was sworn in on the 11th of October. He entered with avidity upon the duties of his
+office, and also made himself conspicuous in society, where he was from the first
+regarded in the light of a decided acquisition. He entered with keen zest into plans
+for party-giving and entertaining, and evidently derived heartfelt pleasure from
+receiving and dispensing courteous hospitalities. He attended several public meetings
+which had been called for charitable and other purposes, at all of which he spoke
+with what was considered a somewhat perfervid eloquence. In a word, he not only took
+the rank to which he was entitled by virtue of his office, but jumped at once into
+the position of a leader of society and social movements. His name was on everybody's
+lips. Persons to the manner born, who had been accustomed to fill the foremost places
+in the public eye, found themselves, for the time, almost superseded and ignored.
+Judge Willis duly appreciated the homage which was rendered to him, and exhibited
+himself to society in his brightest and most amiable colours. To a few great
+personages, however, it seemed as if the new-comer carried himself with wonderful
+<i>sang-froid</i>, and contemplated himself and his position with too much
+complacency. To them it appeared as if he regarded all the eager admiration which was
+lavished upon him as being nothing more than his transcendent qualifications entitled
+him to look for at the hands of the little world of York. He seemed, they thought, to
+accept it all as his just due. And the belief was not unreasonable on their part, for
+the Judge seems to have been in a measure carried off his feet by the attentions paid
+to him on every hand. His position was one calling for the exercise of calm judgment
+and discretion. It was not surprising that leading members of the bench and bar, who
+had long served the Government with zeal and acceptance, should entertain some
+jealousy at the appointment of an outsider to a place of high honour and emolument.
+Attorney-General Robinson, for instance, had filled his responsible office for many
+years, and the Crown had certainly no reason to complain that he had favoured liberty
+at the expense of prerogative. Hagerman and Boulton, too, had for years lent
+themselves to the purposes of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> Executive. It was not singular that these persons
+should feel as though their own claims to preferment had been passed over in favour
+of Judge Willis, a stranger to Canada, her institutions and her polity. Nor was it
+wonderful that their deportment towards the stranger should, in spite of themselves,
+be influenced by the feeling. Judge Willie was not long in discovering that some
+sentiment of this sort was in the air, but he does not appear to have made sufficient
+allowance for it, and manifested a disposition to carry things with a high hand. He
+entertained a poor opinion of the Attorney-General's professional attainments, and
+did not sufficiently conceal this opinion. He was at first disposed to think highly
+of Judge Sherwood's abilities, but erelong came to the conclusion that he had greatly
+overestimated them,<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> and plainly showed, by his conduct,
+that he attached little weight to his brother judge's decisions. This course was the
+very opposite to what would have been adopted by a discreet and really able man. Such
+a man would have made due allowance for jealousies which, under the circumstances,
+were almost inevitable. Such a man would have adopted a policy of friendly
+conciliation. Such a man would have refrained from making himself specially
+conspicuous, at least until he had been some time settled in his new career, and had
+become accustomed to the novel atmosphere. Judge Willis's conduct was the very
+reverse of all this. In his intercourse with his brother judges&mdash;one of whom, it
+must be remembered, was Chief Justice&mdash;he adopted a tone of superiority, and
+even, to some extent, of dictation. He was of course not to be blamed for dissenting
+from their opinions&mdash;which he very frequently did&mdash;provided that he was
+honest in his dissent; but he acted very cavalierly on such occasions, and in
+pronouncing his own judgments seldom thought it necessary to make any reference to
+the decisions of his brethren on the bench. It was impossible for the latter to
+ignore the fact that he despised, or affected to despise their legal attainments; and
+their recognition of this neces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span>sarily gave rise to irritation and anger on their
+part. They felt his conduct to be all the more disrespectful to them in consequence
+of his admitted want of familiarity with Common Law, his own reading and practice
+having been almost exclusively confined to the Equity branch of the profession.</p>
+
+<p>In the very first judgment ever rendered by him, he gave utterance to sentiments
+which, to put the matter mildly, were very much out of place. The case was one
+brought by George Rolph, of Dundas, against T. G. Simons and others, for a gross
+outrage which had been perpetrated on the plaintiff, who was a brother of the
+Attorney-General's great political rival. The outrage had arisen out of private
+complications, and no political question arose in the course of the trial. In
+concluding his judgment Mr. Willis took occasion to remark that he had formed his
+opinion of the case on its intrinsic merits, unbiased by any political
+considerations. He added that he was totally devoid of party feelings, and that it
+would ever be his most earnest desire to render to every one impartial justice. It
+goes without saying that these are very proper sentiments on the part of an occupant
+of the judicial bench. Such principles were especially required in Upper Canada,
+where there had long been much judicial partiality and frequent miscarriages of
+justice by reason of political differences. But a judge should at least assume that
+his integrity is taken for granted, and should deem it beneath his dignity to attempt
+any vindication of his rectitude while an occupant of the bench. Moreover, there were
+no circumstances to call forth such expressions as were used by Judge Willis. No hint
+of any partiality had ever been heard against him. There had been no opportunity for
+any display of partiality by him, for he then took his seat on the bench for the
+first time. Saith the proverb: "He who makes unnecessary excuses accuses himself." In
+this case the Judge certainly indulged in wholly unnecessary self-vindication. And
+there were reasons why any such vindication by him was especially indelicate. The
+Radical newspapers had heralded his arrival as the dawn of a new era, when judicial
+corruption would cease in the land. It is pretty evident that he had been flattered
+by the eulogy, and that he now went out of his way to administer a covert reproof to
+his colleagues on the bench. His remarks were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169"
+id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> undoubtedly taken in that sense, and tacitly
+resented by them. It may have been that they were all the more ready to take the
+remarks as applying to themselves from their consciousness of past shortcomings; but
+it was not from a brother on the bench&mdash;one, too, who had been only a few weeks
+in the country&mdash;that they should have been subjected to reproof.</p>
+
+<p>To the feelings of his colleagues, however, Mr. Willis paid little consideration.
+His heart was specially set upon the establishment of a court of equitable
+jurisdiction, and to this end he bent much of his energy. He forced the matter upon
+the attention of the Attorney-General, who, he found, differed from him in respect of
+certain important details. He also prepared and submitted a scheme to the
+Lieutenant-Governor. He found great difficulty in inducing any member of the
+Government to discuss the matter with him. He was informed that an Act of the
+Provincial Legislature was considered necessary to the creation of such a court as
+the one contemplated by him. In this opinion he did not coincide, but by way of
+expediting matters he bestirred himself with a view to bringing about the necessary
+legislation. After a Bill, originally prepared by his own hand, had been introduced
+into the Assembly, he attended to hear the debates, and fraternized with Rolph,
+Bidwell, and other members of the Opposition&mdash;a circumstance which was
+afterwards very strongly urged against him at the Colonial Office. The Bill did not
+run smoothly, and was denuded of certain clauses which he deemed to be essential to
+the successful carrying out of the scheme. He vainly endeavoured to bring the
+Attorney-General round to his view of the matter. Mr. Robinson had too long been
+supreme in all legal affairs to submit to any dictation, more especially from one
+towards whom he bore no good will. Judge Willis found himself opposed and thwarted at
+every turn; and he erelong discovered that the Government were averse to the scheme,
+although the aversion was not directly avowed. He then recalled the
+Lieutenant-Governor's remark on the subject made to him some months before at
+Stamford Cottage. Certain dubious expressions which had from time to time fallen from
+the lips of the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, the Judges, and other
+prominent officials also recurred to his mind. As for Attorney-General<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> Robinson, "I at
+length discovered," wrote Judge Willis, "that any proposition that did not originate
+with himself was not generally attended with his approbation."<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98"
+class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p>
+
+<p>A despatch from the Colonial Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor was promulgated
+about this time, from which it appeared that the project of establishing a Court of
+equitable jurisdiction was in abeyance, or had, for the time, been abandoned. Judge
+Willis was greatly disappointed at this abandonment, which, in conversation, he
+openly ascribed to the influence of Sir James Scarlett, the English Attorney-General,
+with whom he had once had some unpleasantness while on circuit. But it also became
+known about the same time that Chief Justice Campbell was about to retire from the
+bench, and that his office would accordingly soon be vacant. Judge Willis lost no
+time in making application for the post. Neither did Attorney-General Robinson, whose
+application was backed by the entire influence of the Upper Canadian Executive. Here
+was a fresh ground of rivalry, whereby the unpleasant relations between these two
+officials were intensified. It soon became impossible for the new Judge and the
+Attorney General to come into contact without feelings and expressions indicative of
+personal hostility. The hollow friendship which had at first seemed to subsist
+between them was cast to the winds, and all social intercourse between them was at an
+end. Any proposition emanating from Judge Willis was systematically opposed by the
+Attorney-General. The Judge in his turn availed himself of several opportunities of
+showing how little weight he attached to the Attorney-General's opinions. Worse
+still, he brought upon himself the lasting indignation of the Lieutenant-Governor. It
+would perhaps be more correct to say that his wife brought this calamity upon him,
+for the origin of the trouble was a hot dispute between Lady Mary Willis and Lady
+Sarah Maitland on a question of rank and precedence. In this quarrel it is quite
+clear that Lady Mary was in the wrong, but the whole affair was utterly contemptible
+on both sides. The ladies dragged their respective liege-lords into the dispute, and
+each of the latter espoused the side of his helpmeet. Sir Peregrine necessarily got
+the better of his adversary, whom he never forgave. It is impossible to<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> say how far this
+unseemly women's wrangle contributed to the humiliation which Judge Willis was
+subsequently compelled to endure, but it is pretty clear that from that time forward
+Sir Peregrine was bent upon getting his adversary removed from his position.
+Unhappily the Judge, by his want of discretion, made this resolution comparatively
+easy of accomplishment. He constituted himself a sort of general censor of judicial
+and official shortcomings, and from his seat on the bench gave utterance to petulant
+and unbecoming strictures on various transactions with which he had no need to
+concern himself.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1828.</div>
+<p>At the York Assizes held in April, 1828, Judge Willis came into such serious
+public collision with the Attorney-General that the affair was bruited abroad, and
+made considerable noise throughout the Province. On Thursday, the 10th of the month,
+Francis Collins, editor of the <i>Freeman</i>, was brought up on certain indictments
+for libel preferred against him by Attorney-General Robinson, under circumstances
+which will be detailed in a subsequent chapter. The bench was occupied by Mr. Justice
+Sherwood. The Clerk was just about to proceed to arraign the accused, when a
+postponement was asked for on the latter's behalf. The application was granted, and
+there the matter ended for the day. Next morning&mdash;Friday, the 11th&mdash;the
+bench was occupied by Justice Willis, who then for the first time in his life
+presided at an Assize. He had no sooner taken his seat than Collins rose at the bar.
+"May it please your Lordship," said he, "I have a motion or two to make in Court, if
+I, not being a lawyer, am in order in so doing."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," replied the Judge; "step forward, that the Court may hear you."</p>
+
+<p>Collins then stepped forward, and addressed the Court in a speech which had
+evidently been prepared for the occasion.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> "My
+Lord," said he, "I am the humble conductor of a public press in this town. I come
+forward to accuse His Majesty's Attorney-General of vindictiveness and foul
+partiality in the discharge of his duty as prosecuting officer for the<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> Crown. He has
+sent his nephews and apprentices as spies into my office in order to hunt up
+imaginary offences. He has preferred bills of indictment against me on supposition of
+libel, and I have been dragged from my business by a common constable, and obliged to
+give bail in this Court, while he, the Attorney-General, has allowed the most
+infamous crimes to pass in review before him, without taking any notice whatever of
+them." And so on, with much more to the same purport.</p>
+
+<p>The speaker was interrupted by the Attorney-General, who had been conferring with
+a member of the bar in an adjoining room, but who had been specially summoned into
+Court by his clerk, Henry Sherwood, who had informed him that Collins was making a
+long harangue to the Judge. Observing that the Judge showed no disposition to put a
+stop to the proceedings, Mr. Robinson requested to be informed what was the
+defendant's object in addressing the Court, and whether he had made any motion. "If
+Mr. Collins is allowed to proceed," replied Judge Willis, "I dare say his object will
+appear." Collins accordingly proceeded:&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"My Lord, while I have been dragged into this Court, on the mere suspicion of
+libel, by His Majesty's Attorney-General, I hold in my hand the printed confession of
+His Majesty's Solicitor-General, Henry John Boulton Esquire, of a crime that the law
+of England calls murder, committed ten or eleven years ago.<a name="FNanchor_100_100"
+id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> Yet
+no indictment has been brought against him, and this confession is attested by James
+Fitz Gibbon Esquire, a magistrate of this District, and by the Sheriff of this Court.
+I hold also in my hand the printed history of an outrage of the grossest character,
+where a number of young official gentlemen in this town assembled together and
+committed a noonday burglary, by breaking into the private house of William Lyon
+Mackenzie, and destroying his property. This atrocious outrage, please your Lordship,
+was proved on the floor of this Court, in the presence of His Majesty's
+Attorney-General. The perpetrators were identified and sworn to, yet no indictment
+has ever been brought against them, while the Attorney-General is busying himself in
+sending spies and informers into my printing office to bring me up for imaginary
+offences."</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span>
+The Attorney-General could hardly be expected to sit quietly under such
+accusations as these, made in open Court, and listened to by the bench without any
+expression of disapprobation. He rose in some heat, and remarked that he hoped the
+Court would not allow the public business to be thus interrupted. "The defendant,"
+said he, "is not upon his trial, nor has he ever been arraigned. He seems merely to
+be indulging himself in an attack upon me as Attorney-General&mdash;an attack which
+could not have any bearing upon his own case, even if it were now before a jury; but
+which at present is nothing but a most improper interruption of the business of the
+Court, by an harangue intended to prejudice the public mind before he shall be put
+upon his trial. As to the matters of which he has spoken, I am not to be called to
+account by him, or by any other defendant, for the discharge of my official duties
+with respect to other parties not now before the Court. I am at all times ready to
+account for my proceedings as Attorney-General to the Government for whom I act, and
+to whom I am responsible; but I trust that the Court will not suffer a person whom I
+merely know as defendant upon bills for libels of the most disgraceful kind, and
+whose arraignment upon these charges has been postponed, as an indulgence, at his own
+request&mdash;I trust that such a person will not be allowed to address the Court in
+this irregular manner, for the mere object of calumniating me, whose duty it is to
+conduct the prosecutions against him."</p>
+
+<p>A brief silence followed these words, after which Collins resumed, and was allowed
+to proceed without further interruption.</p>
+
+<p>"The object of my present motion, then, my Lord, is to compel the Attorney-General
+to do that duty which he has so long neglected when his own friends were concerned;
+and as I think his present proceedings against me are both partial and unjust, I
+shall press the criminal prosecution of his friends, Henry John Boulton Esquire, for
+murder, and Samuel P. Jarvis and others for riot. In the latter case, please your
+Lordship, the rioters were sued in a civil action, and damages to a considerable
+amount recovered from them; yet I feel it my duty to press the criminal prosecution,
+because James Fitz Gibbon Esquire, a magistrate of this District, begged the amount
+of the fine from door to door in this town, and the rioters have so far gone wholly
+unpunished. All I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg
+174]</a></span> ask, please your Lordship, is justice and impartiality, and from your
+Lordship's character I doubt not I shall receive them at your hands."</p>
+<p>After a moment's consideration, during which silence reigned supreme in the
+Court-room, Judge Willis remarked:&mdash;"If the Attorney-General has acted as you
+say, he has very much neglected his duty. Go you before the Grand Jury, and if you
+meet with any obstruction or difficulty I will see that the Attorney-General affords
+you every facility."</p>
+
+<p>This was, beyond doubt, very unbecoming language to be used by a Judge under such
+circumstances. It must be understood that Judge Willis had not properly before him
+any facts upon which to base his opinion as to the Attorney-General's having
+neglected his duty. That that official had much to answer for; that his practice had
+been one-sided and inconsistent; that much of his life had been spent in endeavouring
+to smother public opinion and to maintain the supremacy of a selfish and corrupt
+caste&mdash;this must be conceded at the bar of history. But no such allegations were
+before Judge Willis in an official form, and he had no right to assume anything
+against the Attorney-General in the absence of the most irrefragable evidence.
+Instead of evidence, he had merely heard the <i>ex parte</i> statements of an alleged
+libeller. This was the legal aspect of the matter, and it is impossible to avoid the
+conclusion that the Judge permitted himself to be influenced, by his personal dislike
+to Attorney-General Robinson.</p>
+
+<p>The Attorney-General sat for a moment as if thunderstruck. He had so long been
+accustomed to having his own way in Courts of Justice, and to seeing his opinions
+deferred to by the bench, that he could scarcely credit what was passing before his
+eyes. That a Judge should dare to censure him in this irregular way, before the bar
+and the public, was almost beyond belief. A contemporary account says that he turned
+to "a rich cream colour."<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> He was at all events labouring
+under suppressed rage as he deliberately arose to address the Court. He denied that
+he had neglected his duty in not preferring indictments against persons in cases
+where no formal complaint had been laid, and he utterly repudiated the idea that his
+office imposed upon him the <i>role</i> of a thief-catcher. "It is not my business,"
+said he, "to play the part of a detec<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175"
+id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>tive, or to hunt about the country for evidence in
+support of voluntary prosecutions. I have now discharged the duties of a Crown
+officer for nearly thirteen years, and this is the first time that a failure in my
+duty has been imputed to me. I have always conceived it to be my duty to take
+official cognizance of offences against the State. As to other cases, I have been
+accustomed to proceed only upon informations and complaints placed in my hands by
+justices of the peace, and upon presentments of Grand Juries. In cases of injuries to
+individuals and their properties, such as assaults and riots, where a double remedy
+is afforded by action and indictment, I have not been accustomed to set the law in
+operation on my own motion."</p>
+
+<p>"That," interrupted Judge Willis, "merely proves that your practice has been
+uniformly wrong, and I take leave to remark that you have neglected your duty. Why
+are you placed here, as prosecuting officer? To prevent the violation of the public
+peace, or, when it has been violated, to punish the offenders, whoever they may be,
+or whatever may be your private feelings with respect to them. The moment a violation
+of the public peace was proved before you, as in the case mentioned by Mr. Collins,
+it was your duty to proceed against the offenders. Do you not consider that the
+Solicitor-General and yourself have the exclusive right to conduct all criminal
+prosecutions; or do you admit them to be open to the bar in general, as in
+England?"</p>
+
+<p>The Attorney-General's feelings were by this time worked up to a tremendous pitch
+of excitement. To think that a Judge&mdash;a junior Judge, who had been only a few
+months in the country&mdash;should presume to lecture him in this manner, and to
+instruct him in his duties as though he were a petty juryman! "My Lord," he burst
+forth, in a tone of hot anger, "I know my duty as well as any Judge on the bench. I
+have always acted in the way I have indicated, in which respect I have followed the
+practice of all my predecessors in this Province; and I shall continue to act in the
+same manner as long as I am prosecuting officer for the Crown."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, Sir," retorted Judge Willis, "if you know your duty you have wilfully
+neglected it; and as you say you will continue to act as you have done hitherto, I
+shall feel it to be my duty&mdash;holding, as I do, His<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> Majesty's commission on this
+bench&mdash;to make a representation of your conduct to His Majesty's
+Government."</p>
+
+<p>This far from edifying scene was without precedent in the annals of Upper Canadian
+courts of justice, and was for some days the talk of the town, more especially among
+the members of the legal profession. The bar generally sided with the
+Attorney-General, and were loud in their aspersions upon Judge Willis. Some of the
+leading members, however, among whom were Rolph, Bidwell and the two Baldwins, took a
+different view, so far, at least, as the legal aspect of the dispute was concerned.
+As for public opinion generally, it was largely in favour of Judge Willis. On Monday,
+the 14th, before the public pulse had had time to cool, there was a scarcely less
+notable interchange of asperities between the same personages. The Attorney-General,
+in a criminal case in which he was officially concerned, took occasion to reiterate,
+in effect, the views to which he had given expression on the previous Thursday as to
+the duties of a Crown prosecutor. When he had finished his remarks Judge Willis
+expressed himself to the same effect as before. "The practice in this country," said
+the Judge, "as stated by the Attorney-General, does not agree with my notions as to
+the duty of that officer, and I have laid a statement of the question before His
+Majesty's Government here for the purpose of having it transmitted to England, where
+it will be decided how far the Attorney-General is right in expressing his sentiments
+as he has done." Mr. Robinson hereupon remarked that he was Attorney-General to His
+Majesty, and not to Judge Willis, and that he would act as he believed to be right,
+even though he should differ in opinion from his Lordship.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Justice Willis.</span>&mdash;Mr. Attorney-General, I am one of
+His Majesty's Judges in this Province. As such, it is my place to state to the Crown
+officers what their duties are, and it is for them to perform those duties according
+to direction. If the interests of the Crown had not been concerned I would not have
+permitted any discussion on the question. But I am sure His Majesty's Government will
+protect me from insult in the exercise of my judicial functions, and in stating to
+any public officer what I conceive to be his duties.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p>
+<p><span class="smcap">Attorney-General Robinson.</span>&mdash;And will also protect
+His Majesty's officers in the execution of their duty.</p>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Justice Willis.</span>&mdash;Mr. Attorney-General, I beg that
+you will not reply to the bench in that manner.</p>
+
+<p>The unseemliness of thus discussing, in open Court, how far the Attorney-General
+had proved to be an effective public servant, must be apparent to everybody. And it
+must be admitted that the discussion was provoked by Justice Willis, who had made
+something very like an attack upon the Attorney-General&mdash;an attack based upon
+the unsworn statements of an indicted libeller. He had moreover permitted Collins to
+go a most unwarrantable length in his onslaught upon the Crown prosecutor, more
+especially as no affidavits had been produced in support of the motion. A layman who
+comes before the Courts <i>inops consilii</i> is allowed more latitude in the conduct
+of his case than is generally conceded to a counsel whose professional business it is
+to plead at the bar; but the latitude permitted in the case under consideration was
+beyond all legitimate bounds. The Judge's dislike to the Attorney-General seems to
+have predisposed him to believe that all Collins's allegations were true. In reality
+they were exaggerated presentations of notorious facts. That they were largely
+founded upon facts Judge Willis probably knew from common hearsay. But while sitting
+on the bench he had nothing to do with common hearsay. <i>A fortiori</i>, he was not
+justified, upon the mere assumption of a hypothetical case,<a name="FNanchor_102_102"
+id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a> in
+admonishing the Attorney-General in the presence of his accuser, and in humiliating
+him in the presence of the bar of which he was the rightful head. An English judge
+would be considered as departing widely beyond the sphere of his duty if he were thus
+openly to arraign the conduct of the Attorney-General, especially in a matter clearly
+lying, as in the case under consideration, within that officer's discretion. English
+judges, on the contrary, are much more likely to interpose on behalf of the officers
+of the Crown, and to prevent their acts and motives from being called in question in
+open Court by persons against whom proceedings have been instituted by them. Judge
+Willis seems to have been wrong in his law, wrong in his etiquette, wrong in his
+temper, and wrong in his construction of judicial amenities.</p>
+
+<p>Henceforth the Judge's "amoval" was only a matter of time, for the<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> entire influence
+of the Executive, direct and indirect, was arrayed against him. From the
+Lieutenant-Governor down to the most insignificant clerk in the departments there
+arose a howl of indignation against the man who had dared to set up his wife in
+opposition to Lady Sarah Maitland; who had dissented from the judgments of Chief
+Justice Campbell and Mr. Sherwood, and sneered at their legal acumen; who consorted
+with the leading members of the Opposition; who had even gone the inconceivable
+length of berating Attorney-General Robinson for neglecting his duty. Such a man was
+not to be tolerated. He must surely be a Radical, who had got himself sent over to
+this colony in order that he might stir up dissatisfaction among the people. To go
+over all the interminable squabbles which took place between Judge Willis, on the one
+hand, and the various judicial and official dignitaries on the other, would be alike
+wearisome and profitless. Judge Willis availed himself of every opportunity which
+presented itself for officially and publicly animadverting upon the conduct of those
+who were opposed to him. He added to his enormities by announcing, through the
+newspapers, that he was preparing for publication a work on Upper Canadian
+jurisprudence, and it appeared that the title-page was to bear the deprecatory motto
+<i>Meliora sperans</i>.<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> <i>Meliora sperans</i>, indeed!
+What manner of personage was this outsider, who arrogated to himself the
+responsibility of ameliorating the rigours of Upper Canadian laws?<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104"
+class="fnanchor">[104]</a> It was not long before an opposition announcement
+appeared, being an exact counterpart of the other, except that the motto was
+<i>Deteriora timens</i>. The authorship of the latter, whether rightly or wrongly,
+was very generally attributed to Attorney-General Robinson. Judge Willis's
+announcement gave great offence to the official guardians of the law, from the
+highest to the lowest. The motto, which in reality had been adopted by him prior<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> to his coming to
+Canada, was believed to have been specially assumed for the occasion, and was
+regarded as a covert sneer at existing institutions in the Province. As a
+consequence, it was taken as additional evidence of disrespect. Owing to the Judge's
+"amoval" the projected treatise was never issued, though several chapters of it had
+actually been written. A small portion of it was incorporated in a work published by
+the author in England twenty-two years afterwards.<a name="FNanchor_105_105"
+id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a></p>
+<p>In an elaborately-worded despatch to the Colonial Secretary, dated the 6th of
+June, 1828, Sir Peregrine Maitland called the attention of that official to Judge
+Willis's announcement and the accompanying motto, which he declared to be, in his
+opinion, neither discreet nor delicate, as emanating from a Judge upon the bench, who
+had been but a few months in the Province. The laws of Upper Canada, in Sir
+Peregrine's estimation, were highly satisfactory, and needed nothing so much as to be
+let alone. "I have been ten years in this government," he wrote, "and as I have never
+received any representation against the laws, or the manner in which they have been
+administered, I must conclude that the people are content with both." Content with
+laws which prescribed capital punishment for the killing of a cow! Content with laws
+which had been conceived in an iron age, and under a state of society which was now
+happily passing away! Content with the laws! When a majority of the population,
+through their representatives in the Assembly, had for years been using their utmost
+endeavours to procure the repeal of the Sedition Act of 1804! When a Select Committee
+of the British House of Commons had directed the attention of Government to this
+medi&aelig;vally-conceived statute, and had expressly recommended its repeal! Content with
+the manner in which the laws had been administered, when the trial of Robert Gourlay
+was yet fresh in the public memory! When a score of almost equally vile but less
+conspicuous perversions of justice were matters of yesterday! When no obscure
+litigant could sue a member of the Family Compact with any assurance of obtaining his
+rights! When the Reform newspapers had for years been filled to overflowing with
+complaints about the imperfect administration of justice! When a very<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> strongly-worded
+complaint of neglect in the administration of justice had only a few weeks before
+been made in open court to Judge Willis when he first took his seat in a Court of
+Assize! When a large proportion of the population had ceased to have any confidence
+in the integrity of the judiciary! When this want of confidence was shared by several
+leaders of the Provincial bar, who certainly had exceptional opportunities for
+forming a correct opinion on the subject! The time was not far distant when one of
+the most eminent and successful lawyers in the country was to abandon his profession,
+owing to this very want of confidence. Truly, a wonderful manifestation of content
+with the laws and the manner in which they were administered. Sir Peregrine thought
+and acted as other opponents of reform have acted from time immemorial. He refused to
+believe in the existence of discontent which he did not share. He refused to believe
+that he himself was not an object of adoration to the great body of the people,
+because the official lickspittles by whom he was surrounded vied with each other in
+flattering his imbecile vanity. Had he been left to his own devices he would have
+been like the doomed king who refused to believe that his people were hungry until
+thirty thousand starving <i>sans-culottes</i> were thundering at his palace
+gates.</p>
+
+<p>It soon became generally known throughout the country that strained relations
+existed between Judge Willis and the whole race of officialdom at the capital. The
+new Judge was known to have given expression to a desire for a reform of the law; and
+it was commonly assumed that it was to his liberal ideas that he was indebted for the
+hostility with which he was regarded by the ruling faction. The Reform Party warmly
+espoused his cause, and their organs devoted much space to extolling his wisdom,
+moderation and other high qualities. Addresses to him were circulated throughout some
+of the rural constituencies, and there was a manifest disposition to cater for his
+favour and patronage. Had he been endowed with discretion and good judgment he might,
+without any dereliction from his judicial duty or integrity, have rendered
+incalculable service to the cause of freedom and good government. Doubtless the
+rendering of such service would sooner or later have involved him in complications
+with the official party, but if he had kept his head it is doubtful if they could
+have prevailed against him. Unfortunately he proved to be too weak<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> for his
+position, and allowed himself to be completely out-man&oelig;uvred. He ruined himself,
+without accomplishing anything for the cause which he wished to serve. The time was
+rapidly drawing near when, by means of a judicial decision, he was to shut the door
+forever upon any prospect of his advancement in this country, and when he was to be
+made the subject of official communications resulting in his permanent removal
+therefrom.</p>
+
+<p>As has already been mentioned, there had been frequent differences of opinion
+between Mr. Willis and his colleagues, almost from the beginning of the former's
+assumption of judicial functions. The acting justices of the Court of King's Bench
+were at that time three in number, and consisted of the Hon. William Campbell, Chief
+Justice, the Hon. Levius Peters Sherwood, senior puisne judge, and Mr. Justice Willis
+himself. During the first Term which ensued after Mr. Willis's arrival in this
+country&mdash;which was Michaelmas Term, 1827&mdash;he had occupied the bench along
+with the other two judges. In Hilary Term of 1828 the Court had been presided over by
+the same three judges, except that Chief Justice Campbell had occasionally been
+absent from his seat in consequence of infirm health. Immediately after the close of
+the last-named Term the Chief Justice, having obtained from the Lieutenant-Governor
+six months' leave of absence, departed for England, whence he did not return until
+after a long holiday. The Court of King's Bench was thus left with only the two
+puisne judges, who accordingly presided by themselves during the following Easter
+Term. They had by this time come to dislike each other most cordially, insomuch that
+it taxed their powers to the utmost to treat each other with becoming respect.
+Sometimes the effort was beyond their power, and they snapped and snarled at one
+another upon the bench like two querulous old women. They now differed in opinion
+upon almost every case which came before them, and it is impossible to doubt that
+their differences were in large measure due to their personal hostility. This was a
+serious matter, for, as no third judge was at hand to give the preponderance of
+authority to either side, there was a practical dead-lock in much of the business of
+the Court. Suitors were put to serious delay, inconvenience, and consequent expense.
+Counsel were profoundly disgusted, and of course took sides for and<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> against. Judge
+Willis was so sensible of the deplorable consequences of such a state of things that,
+as soon as Term was over, he entered into a minute and searching investigation of the
+constitution and power of the Court of King's Bench as established in Upper Canada.<a
+name="FNanchor_106_106" id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106"
+class="fnanchor">[106]</a> He was desirous of finding some way out of the difficulty,
+or at all events of knowing precisely upon what ground he stood. But a still more
+serious evil soon began to loom up before his mind, for the result of his
+investigations was a conviction that the Court could not legally sit in Term, unless
+the full court&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, the Chief Justice and the two puisne
+Justices&mdash;were present.</p>
+
+<p>This conviction was a momentous one, for, if sustained, it would nullify much that
+had been done in the Court ever since its establishment in 1794. The frequent
+practice had been for two Judges, and sometimes even for only one, to sit during
+Term; and, as has been seen, Judge Willis himself had so far acquiesced in this
+practice as to sit during a part of the preceding Hilary Term, and during the whole
+of Easter Term, with Justice Sherwood as his only colleague. He had however assumed
+the prevailing practice to be justified by the constitution of the Court, and had not
+examined the matter on his own account until impelled to do so by the reasons already
+indicated. He now discovered, as he believed, that the practice was altogether
+unwarranted, and that all that had been done under it was liable to be upset. The
+first section of the Provincial Statute under which the Court had been created<a
+name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a href="#Footnote_107_107"
+class="fnanchor">[107]</a> enacted that "His Majesty's Chief Justice, together with
+two puisne justices," should preside therein. All the subsequent sections except
+those relating to appeals had been repealed by a later Provincial Act,<a
+name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108"
+class="fnanchor">[108]</a> and although power was given to the senior puisne Judge,
+in the absence of the Chief Justice, to <i>teste</i> the process, and to <i>any</i>
+of the Judges to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg
+183]</a></span> sit at <i>Nisi Prius</i>, there was no authority to sit <i>in
+Banco</i>, unless the Court were full. Having arrived at a conclusion on the subject,
+Judge Willis at once communicated the fact to the Colonial Secretary, the
+communication being made by letter, forwarded through the Lieutenant-Governor, and
+left purposely unsealed in order that that dignitary might possess himself of the
+contents, to which his attention was specially called by a separate note. Sir
+Peregrine could not refuse to transmit the Judge's missive, but he took good care to
+malign him in an accompanying despatch. "It is with pain" he wrote, "I am compelled
+to observe that, having presided as a Judge for the first two terms after his
+arrival, without finding more occasion than all the respectable Judges who have
+preceded him to make the administration of justice subservient to popular excitement,
+Mr. Willis has been either unable or unwilling within the last few months to avoid
+making his proceedings, either in the Civil or Criminal Court, the prominent subject
+of political discussion, and the pretence of attacks <i>from the vilest quarters</i>,
+and of the grossest kind, upon those who were associated with him in the
+administration of justice, and of whom I shall speak only justly when I say that the
+measure of respect and esteem in which their public conduct has ever hitherto been
+held, and is now held, by their Government, and by every person except by Mr. Willis,
+and by a party with whom I have lamented to find him associate himself, and <i>who
+are not very respectable in any sense</i>, is not to be attained but by a long period
+of correct and honourable service." The italics are not Sir Peregrine's, but they are
+deserving of all the emphasis which distinguishing type can give them, as
+exemplifying the way in which the representative of Majesty in those days was not
+ashamed to secretly vilify persons who opposed his policy: persons who, whether
+contemplated from a moral or an intellectual point of view, were elevated so far
+above him that it is impossible to institute any comparison between them. Will it be
+believed that the gentlemen who were "not very respectable in any sense" were John
+Rolph, Marshall Spring Bidwell, Dr. William Warren Baldwin, and Robert Baldwin? Was
+it not an honour to be disreputable in such company? Some of these, at least, were
+men whom no pressure of outward circumstances could have induced to stab their
+bitterest foe in the dark, as this eminently respectable vice-regal assassin<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> was in the
+frequent habit of doing in his despatches, and as he did when he wrote the mendacious
+words above quoted. Judge Willis doubtless associated with these men because he found
+them more to his taste than anyone else with whom he became acquainted in York. And
+his doing so was made much more of than the facts warranted. His acquaintance with
+the persons named was not of such a nature as to be called intimate. In his
+"Narrative," already quoted from, he has recorded that to the best of his
+recollection he never conversed with Dr. Baldwin, Mr. Rolph, Mr. Bidwell, "or any
+other person politically opposed to Mr. Robinson" a dozen times in the course of his
+life; and in a separate defence of his conduct written at Bath in December, 1828, he
+says: "From what I know of Dr. Baldwin and his family, I must always sincerely regret
+that I have not known more."<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a></p>
+
+<p>Having arrived at such a decision as to the constitution of the Court, and having
+apprised the Colonial Secretary thereof, he took the earliest feasible opportunity of
+making it known to the Provincial bar. At ten o'clock in the forenoon of the opening
+day of Trinity Term&mdash;which was Monday, the 16th of June&mdash;he repaired to the
+Court House at York. While robing himself in the Judge's chamber he was joined by his
+colleague, Justice Sherwood, and a few moments afterward they both proceeded to the
+Court room, attended by the Sheriff in the usual manner. The Court having been
+formally opened, Judge Willis arose and addressed the audience, standing all the
+while, after the manner of a counsel at the bar. In the course of his remarks, which
+occupied nearly an hour in delivery, he expressed himself in very positive terms as
+to the constitution of the Court. He declared it to be his decided opinion that the
+Court could not be legally held without the presence of the Chief Justice and two
+puisne Judges; that everything which had theretofore been done in the Court by two
+Judges only was null and void; that the Lieutenant-Governor had no authority to grant
+leave of absence to a Judge without the express approbation of the Executive Council;
+that he (Judge Willis) had made enquiry at the office of the Executive Council, and
+had found that leave had always been granted by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> the Lieutenant-Governor alone, in
+pursuance of which leave Chief Justice Campbell was now absent from the Province. The
+manner in which the leave of absence to the Chief Justice, as well as to many other
+persons holding situations under the Provincial Government, had been granted by the
+Lieutenant-Governor, was pronounced to be, in Judge Willis's opinion, not only
+irregular but illegal, whereby the incumbents had forfeited their several offices.
+During the preceding Term an order of the Court had been passed by Judge Sherwood and
+himself. That order he now rescinded, so far as his authority was concerned, and he
+expressed his regret that he had entered upon the discharge of his judicial functions
+without having previously acquainted himself with the state of the law. He added that
+he had felt it to be his imperative duty to declare his opinion as to the incapacity
+of the Court to legally proceed with the business before it; and that, holding that
+opinion, he had resolved to decline to sit any longer upon the bench, though he would
+remain at hand to attend to any functions which he could legally discharge.</p>
+<p>This extraordinary address, it may be presumed, was not altogether a surprise to
+Justice Sherwood, as Justice Willis had previously notified the Lieutenant-Governor
+of his intention to give currency to his views at the commencement of Term, and Sir
+Peregrine would be certain to discuss the matter with the Attorney-General, through
+which medium the facts would be tolerably sure to find their way to Justice Sherwood.
+The latter seemed to take the matter very coolly. He informed the bar that he would
+not take upon himself to pronounce an opinion on the subject of the constitution of
+the Court, as there was nothing before him which rendered it necessary for him to do
+so. He added that he would adhere to the practice which had uniformly prevailed, and
+that he would not hesitate to proceed with the ordinary business of the Court,
+adjourning it from day to day as occasion required. Judge Willis, still standing,
+then said: "You cannot adjourn a Court that does not exist. The Court is not legally
+constituted. Its functions cannot be exercised, and any proceedings you may take will
+be void." "I am aware," replied Mr. Sherwood, "that such is your opinion; but I have
+a right to mine and I shall pursue the course I have indicated. If that course,
+notwithstanding the practice which has hitherto prevailed, should prove to be<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> wrong, I shall
+extremely regret it; but I feel it to be a matter of too much importance to the
+business of the country to take upon myself to vary from it, without the interference
+of a higher authority." Judge Willis then briefly repeated his protest, and retired
+from the bench. His colleague, after transacting some unimportant routine business,
+adjourned the Court until the following day. Throughout the rest of the Term he was
+the sole occupant of the Bench.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Willis's conduct on this occasion does not admit of much diversity of
+opinion. For one thing, as was subsequently decided by the Privy Council, he was
+wrong in his view of the law. This is of itself an important consideration. But even
+if his view had been a sound one, admitting of no doubt, he incurred a very serious
+responsibility in giving currency to it at such a time, and in such a manner. His
+conduct was certain to produce great excitement and disturbance in the public mind.
+It was certain to create an increased distrust of long-settled institutions, which it
+was highly essential for the well-being of society that the public should regard with
+confidence and respect. Besides, the rendering of the past and present proceedings of
+the Court liable to doubt and uncertainty could not fail to seriously affect the
+business interests of the country. If the practice of the Court had been wrong, and
+if many of its proceedings were invalid, the wisest course would have been to quietly
+take steps to bring about remedial legislation, whereby all defects might have been
+cured, without the serious risk of reviving old animosities and long-settled
+disputes. But such a course as Judge Willis saw fit to adopt was wholly uncalled for,
+no plea to the jurisdiction having been pleaded in any case before the Court. It was
+certain to produce ill, without any possibility of good. He moreover placed in the
+hands of the Executive a rod for his own back&mdash;an implement of which they
+speedily availed themselves to inflict grievous punishment.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, which was Thursday, the 17th, Judge Willis formally notified
+the Lieutenant-Governor of the public delivery of his opinion, adding that he was
+nevertheless most desirous of discharging such duties as he could legally perform
+consistently with his view of the law. Judge Sherwood meanwhile continued to sit on
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> bench
+alone, and to transact such business as came before him. Some influential members of
+the bar found themselves in a quandary. After Judge Willis's decision, they
+entertained grave doubts as to the legality of the Court, and hesitated as to the
+advisability of taking any further proceedings in cases committed to them, until the
+vexed question should be settled. Judge Sherwood, though he had dissented from his
+colleague's view, and though he plainly testified by his persisting in sitting and
+holding Court that he still continued to dissent, had not given any formal judgment,
+nor had he even verbally stated any grounds for his opinion. With a view to obtaining
+light for their guidance in this perplexing emergency, Dr. Baldwin, his son Robert,
+and Mr. Simon Washburn, another prominent member of the bar, addressed a written
+application to the Court, in the person of Justice Sherwood, requesting to be
+favoured with his opinion on the matter. The application was made on Thursday, the
+17th, and replied to by Mr. Sherwood in writing next day. The phraseology of the
+reply made it quite clear that the Judge felt by no means strong in his position.
+"You are desirous," he wrote, "that I should express an opinion from the bench on the
+present state of this Court, but it appears to me any opinion of that sort would be
+extra-judicial. No one but His Majesty's Representative has any right to ask for the
+opinion of a Judge where no cause or regular motion, according to the practice of the
+Court, is pending before him." There was more to the same no-purport. It was clear
+that the applicants were not to receive much assistance from Justice Sherwood in
+resolving their doubts. The Judge's response was no sooner communicated from the
+bench than the two Baldwins and Mr Rolph then and there threw off their gowns and
+left the Court, declaring that they concurred in opinion with Judge Willis, and that
+they could not continue to transact business in a Court which they believed to
+illegally constituted.</p>
+
+<p>The emergency brought about by Judge Willis's decision, and by his consequent
+withdrawal from the bench, was one for which the Executive deemed it essential to
+provide without unnecessary delay. It was manifestly impossible that matters should
+remain <i>in statu quo</i>. The time for holding the annual circuits was approaching.
+Mr. Sherwood was the only Judge remaining on the bench, and a Court composed of a
+single Judge is not a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg
+188]</a></span> satisfactory tribunal for all purposes of justice. The Council took
+the opinions of the law officers of the Crown as to the soundness of the Judge's
+views with respect to the constitutionality of the Court of King's Bench. Those
+opinions were in direct opposition to the conclusion at which Judge Willis had
+arrived. The Attorney-General's was a remarkably exhaustive and lucid exposition of
+the law bearing upon the question. It was also free from ambiguity, and left little
+room for doubt. These opinions were strengthened by that of Justice Sherwood, who, at
+the request of the Executive, also prepared an elaborate paper on the subject, in
+which he expressed precisely similar views to those enunciated by the
+Attorney-General. The question was then submitted to the Crown officers whether the
+Lieutenant-Governor could legally remove Judge Willis from office and appoint a
+successor. The answer prepared by the Attorney-General, and signed both by him and
+Solicitor-General Boulton, came with remarkable promptitude. "Upon the points
+submitted to us," it ran, "we are of opinion, 1st: That the power to remove an
+officer depends on the tenure of his office. In this, as in other colonies, the
+appointment of a judge is during pleasure; and we conceive that in law any person
+holding an office on such a tenure is removable at pleasure: that is, at the pleasure
+of the Lieutenant-Governor, acting in the name and on behalf of the King. The reasons
+for such removal are to be rendered to His Majesty by the Lieutenant-Governor, who is
+responsible for their sufficiency.... 2nd: We are of opinion that a removal of a
+Judge of the Court of King's Bench necessarily vacates the office, and that another
+person may be appointed to fill the vacancy, subject to be confirmed or disallowed by
+His Majesty."</p>
+
+<p>The Executive acted with great circumspection. Fortified as they were by these
+strongly-worded opinions, and assured as they felt of the legality of their
+contemplated proceedings, they did not permit themselves to be betrayed into
+indiscretion. On the 25th of the month they addressed a letter to Judge Willis,
+referring to his communication to the Lieutenant-Governor on the 17th, in which he
+had professed willingness to discharge such duties as he could legally perform. He
+was asked what explanation he had to offer, and what duties he was prepared to
+undertake. On the 26th he replied that he did not feel at liberty to pronounce an
+extra-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg
+189]</a></span>judicial opinion, and that he could only define the precise nature of
+his duties when the matter should come judicially before him. The Executive thereupon
+pronounced his doom, and a writ was issued whereby he was removed from office until
+His Majesty's pleasure should be known. The Lieutenant-Governor, through his
+Secretary, notified him that the Council had felt it incumbent upon them to advise
+this step.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a> The "amoval" was now an
+accomplished fact. A vacancy was thus created on the bench, which was filled on the
+2nd of July by the appointment of Christopher Alexander Hagerman to a puisne
+judgeship.</p>
+
+<p>The news of Judge Willis's "amoval" spread rapidly through the Province, and
+produced widespread excitement. The circumstance that his course had met with the
+approval of Rolph and the Baldwins led to the belief among non-professional people
+that he was sound on the legal question, and that he had been driven from the bench
+because he would not stoop to corruption. The case of Judge Thorpe was exhumed from
+the dust of twenty years, and the amoval of Judge Willis was believed to be a mere
+re-enactment of that forgotten iniquity. As for Judge Willis himself, he determined
+to proceed at once to England to present his side or his case, in the form of an
+appeal from the order of amotion, at the Colonial Office. Before his departure he
+received addresses of condolence from various parts of the Province.
+Numerously-signed petitions in his favour were transmitted to the king, and to the
+several other branches of the Imperial and Provincial Legislatures. A long
+requisition from a number of influential persons in the County of Lincoln entreated
+him to represent their constituency in the Assembly. People who were usually sensible
+appear to have lost their heads for a time during this exciting period. A large
+meeting of the Judge's sympathizers was held in Toronto, at which Dr. Baldwin and Mr.
+John Galt,<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a> with their wives, were appointed
+a Committee to watch over the interests and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190"
+id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> insure the protection of Lady Mary and her family
+during the absence of her lord; and Robert Baldwin was added to the Committee as her
+Ladyship's solicitor.</p>
+
+<p>Judge Willis took his departure from York on the 11th of July. As he expected that
+he would very soon be able to procure from the Colonial Office a reversal of his
+"amoval," and that he would be reinstated in his judgeship, to the great discomfiture
+of the Lieutenant-Governor and his satellites, he did not think it necessary that his
+family should accompany him to England. The suitable disposal of the members of his
+household was an embarrassing problem for him. In good sooth, he was in a situation
+somewhat analogous to the man in the familiar old story, who came to the bank of a
+wide stream, having in his possession a fox, a goose, and a bag of corn. The
+application is easy. Mrs. Willis and Lady Mary could by no means be left to keep
+house together unless the head of the establishment was near at hand to keep the
+peace between them. The relations between Lady Mary and Miss Willis, though far from
+amicable, were somewhat less strained. Mr. Willis accordingly took with him his
+mother only, leaving his wife, child and sister behind him; though it is to be
+presumed that the above-mentioned Committee had a sinecure, so far as any special
+attendance upon or protection over Lady Mary was concerned.</p>
+
+<p>A series of acrimonious despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor preceded Mr.
+Willis across the Atlantic. For weeks&mdash;probably for months&mdash;before the
+delivery of his unfortunate decision, the espionage system had been put in full
+operation against him, and measures had been taken to watch his personal habits and
+pastimes. There had been a firm determination to effect his ruin,<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a href="#Footnote_112_112"
+class="fnanchor">[112]</a> and the strong suspicion that such was the case had done
+much to array a majority of the inhabitants on his side. "It is my duty to state to
+you in the most decided terms," wrote Sir Peregrine Maitland to the Colonial
+Secretary, on the 6th of July, "that his [Mr. Willis's] restitution to office, while
+it would be received by the most portion of the population as a triumph over the
+Government which Mr. Willis has ungratefully and wantonly insulted, would be most
+pernicious to the peace of this colony, and an act of the<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> most aggravating injustice to those
+faithful servants of the Crown against whom he has, for unworthy purposes,
+dishonourably laboured to excite the prejudice and hatred of the ignorant and
+malicious." It is worth while to note that this extract contains a clear admission by
+the Lieutenant-Governor that his Government was regarded with disfavour by "the most
+portion of the population:" an admission directly at variance with many statements
+made by him in former despatches, as well as in speeches to the Provincial
+Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>Upon reaching England Mr. Willis put himself into immediate communication with the
+Colonial Office. He took up his quarters at the house of his brother, the Reverend W.
+D. Willis, at Bath. There he prepared an elaborate statement of his case, which was
+duly forwarded to the Colonial Secretary. After some delay he succeeded in obtaining
+copies of the several despatches of Sir Peregrine Maitland in which the charges
+against him were formulated with wearisome reiteration. These indictments against
+him, which, though signed by Sir Peregrine, were doubtless in reality prepared by Mr.
+Willis's arch-enemy, Attorney-General Robinson, were certainly of the most formidable
+character. They went over the whole course of the Judge's procedure, from the time of
+his arrival in the Province down to his departure therefrom. To the serious grounds
+of complaint which had unquestionably been given were added numerous delinquencies of
+the most petty and trifling nature. It was stigmatized as "a great indecency" that
+Judge Willis had been seen in a dress "but little according with his situation."<a
+name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113"
+class="fnanchor">[113]</a> In view of the interests involved, and of the grave nature
+of the questions to be decided, it seems ludicrous that the appellant should have
+been called upon to reply to an accusation of this nature.<a name="FNanchor_114_114"
+id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> A
+perusal of these despatches,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> however, rendered necessary a supplementary
+statement and narrative, wherein every count in the indictment was either traversed,
+or, in legal parlance, confessed and avoided. But Mr. Willis soon found that he was
+not to gain so easy a triumph over his enemies as he had previously allowed himself
+to suppose would be the case. The question to be decided was a purely technical one,
+and after the matter had been for some time under consideration at the Colonial
+Office it was referred for decision to the Privy Council, where it was not disposed
+of for nearly a year. The conclusion finally arrived at was that Mr. Willis had been
+wrong in his view of the question in dispute, and that the Executive Council, in
+amoving him from office, had not acted in excess of their authority. Under such
+circumstances his return to Upper Canada was of course out of the question; but as
+his conduct was attributed to error of judgment rather than to any serious
+dereliction from duty, he received an appointment to a judgeship in the South
+American colony of Demerara.</p>
+
+<p>From all the circumstances, then, it is clear that Judge Willis, though he was in
+some sense a victim of Executive intolerance in Upper Canada, was himself largely to
+blame for his downfall, to which he contributed by his want of caution and calm good
+sense. But many of the circumstances detailed in the present chapter were unknown to
+the bulk of the Canadian people, by whom he was regarded as a martyr to his upright
+and liberal principles. His amoval produced a wider excitement than any event since
+Gourlay's time. It tended greatly to embitter public opinion, and was unquestionably
+a strong factor in producing the discontent which ultimately found expression in open
+rebellion. For this reason it has been thought desirable to go somewhat minutely into
+details which are in themselves fraught with instruction, and as to which the people
+of Canada, even at the present day, are very inadequately informed.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Willis felt his defeat very keenly, more especially as he had confidently
+looked forward to a successful termination of his appeal. At his instigation the
+subject was brought before the attention of the House of Commons by Lord Milton, on
+Tuesday, the 11th day of May, 1830.<a name="FNanchor_115_115"
+id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> Sir
+George's Murray's explanation, which involved a narrative of the circum<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span>stances in
+detail, proved satisfactory to the House, and the matter was allowed to drop. But the
+amoved Judge was fated to have greater reasons still for deploring that he had ever
+taken up his abode in Canada, as his residence there led to the rupture of his family
+ties and the total wreck of his domestic happiness. It will be remembered that Lady
+Mary and her child, together with Miss Willis, had remained at York. Upon learning
+the decision of the Privy Council in his case, Mr. Willis wrote to his wife and
+sister, requesting them to dispose of his house there, and to return home as speedily
+as possible. During the long interval which had elapsed since the ex-Judge's
+departure for England, the two ladies had been left to amuse themselves as best they
+could in the little capital. They occasionally went into society, and received a
+certain amount of attention from that portion of it which had been favourable to
+Judge Willis, as well as from some of the military officers stationed there. Among
+others whose acquaintance they formed was a certain Lieutenant Bernard, an officer of
+the 68th Light Infantry, whose regiment was then in Canada. He occasionally rode out
+with Miss Willis, who was an accomplished equestrienne, but he did not appear to be
+on specially intimate terms with Lady Mary.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1829.</div>
+<p>On the 16th of May, 1829, Lady Mary set out for England by way of Montreal, Miss
+Willis remaining behind for a week to make a final disposition of the house. On
+reaching Kingston, Lady Mary was met by Lieutenant Bernard, who accompanied her to
+Montreal, whence the pair several months afterwards fled together to England, Lady
+Mary leaving her child behind her in the care of one of her maids. Mr. Willis brought
+an action against Bernard, who had by that time succeeded to a Captaincy. The case
+was tried in the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster on Thursday, the 9th of
+February, 1832, when the plaintiff recovered &pound;1000 by
+way of damages. A report of the proceedings will be found in <i>The Times</i> of the
+following day.<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a></p>
+<div class="sidenote">1832.</div>
+
+<p>It may be of interest to Canadian readers to learn that Mr. Willis was some years
+afterwards appointed to a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
+On the 8th of February, 1841, he was under a local statute appointed resident Judge
+for the District of Port Philip. While officiating in that capacity he came into conflict<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>
+with Sir George Gipps, Governor of the Colony, and the Executive Council, by whom he
+was once more "amoved" from office. The order of amotion, which was made on the 17th
+of June, 1843, was however reversed by the Imperial Privy Council for irregularity.
+The Lords of the Judicial Committee, before whom the case was heard in June and July,
+1846, reported that in their opinion the Governor-in-Council had power in law to
+amove Mr. Willis, and that the facts were sufficient to justify his amoval, but that
+an opportunity ought to have been afforded him of being previously heard. The
+requisite notice not having been given, the omission was held to vacate the order of
+amotion, and judgment was rendered accordingly.<a name="FNanchor_117_117"
+id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> See his "Narrative of
+Occurrences in Upper Canada," written from Bath to the Secretary of State for the
+Colonial Department, dated 5th December, 1828, and included in pp. 273-288 of the
+blue book on the subject issued by the Imperial Government in 1829.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> There is a covert
+irony in the portion of Judge Willis's <i>Narrative</i> which refers to this
+subject. "I wished to think," he writes, "and from the attention he seemed to pay
+to business I actually worked myself up into the belief, which I frequently
+expressed, that Mr. Justice Sherwood was a <i>hard-headed</i> sensible man; but I
+became convinced that, though right in the former conjecture, yet so far as legal
+knowledge or abilities were concerned, I was mistaken in the latter part of my
+conclusion." The italics are Judge Willis's own.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> See Judge Willis's
+<i>Narrative</i>, ubi supra.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> So far as mere diction
+is concerned I have here chiefly followed Collins's own report of this episode,
+as published in the <i>Freeman</i>, but I have also before me the
+Attorney-General's account, as well as the more elaborate one of Judge Willis
+himself, and the three do not materially differ in this respect.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+13.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> The <i>Freeman</i>,
+April 17th, 1828.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> The case, as put by
+the Judge, was purely hypothetical. "<i>If</i> the Attorney-General has acted so
+and so, he has neglected his duty." See <i>ante</i>, p. 174.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> The announcement
+ran as follows:&mdash;"Preparing for publication.&mdash;A View of the Present
+System of Jurisprudence in Upper Canada; by an English Barrister, now one of His
+Majesty's Judges in this Province.&mdash;<i>Meliora sperans.</i>"</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> It was time for
+some one to undertake the duty of ameliorating the criminal law of Upper Canada,
+which was that of England as it stood on the 17th of September, 1792, except in
+so far as it had been altered by subsequent legislation. At the Assizes for the
+Home District, held at York in the autumn of 1827, within a few weeks after Judge
+Willis's arrival in the Province, a boy was capitally convicted and sentenced to
+death for killing a cow.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> <i>On the
+Government of the British Colonies.</i> London, 1850.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> The investigation,
+according to Judge Willis's own testimony, was entered into partly in consequence
+of a suggestion which he received on the subject. See the text of his written
+opinion, embodied in pp. 66-74 of the Imperial blue book issued in 1829, entitled
+"Papers relating to the Removal of the Honourable John Walpole Willis from the
+Office of One of His Majesty's Judges of the Court of King's Bench of Upper
+Canada." It seems probable that the suggestion emanated from Dr. Baldwin.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> 34 Geo. III., c. 2.
+This statute was framed by the Hon. William Osgoode, first Chief Justice of Upper
+Canada, a gentleman of great learning, who had been sent out from England for the
+express purpose of organizing the Courts of the Province.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> 2 Geo. IV., c.
+1.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> See pp. 249-267 of
+the Imperial Government's blue book on the subject, <i>ubi supra</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> The notification
+was dated the 26th of June, whereas the formal document issued by the Council was
+not signed until the 27th. Mr. Willis attached a good deal of weight to this
+irregularity, which however was of less importance than might at first sight be
+supposed. The Council had fully made up their minds on the 26th, and the
+notification was despatched accordingly, though the order of amotion was not
+actually ready for signature until the day following.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> The well-known
+author, who was then in Canada as representative of the Canada Land Company.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> "Cabot," in
+<i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> for September, 1829.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> See despatch marked
+"Separate," from Major-General Sir Peregrine Maitland to Mr. Secretary Huskisson,
+dated 6th July, 1828.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> His reply will be
+matter of surprise to the staid and decorously-attired judges of the present day.
+"On all ordinary occasions," he wrote, "I usually wore a <i>black velvet coat and
+waistcoat</i>. The first time I saw the Chief Justice he had on a black kalimanco
+or camlet jacket, which I have seen him wear even on the bench. I have met the
+Lieutenant-Governor frequently walking through the streets with an olive-coloured
+square-cut velveteen jacket and waistcoat; and a few days before I left York I
+beheld Mr. Justice Sherwood in a grass-green cloth jacket with white metal
+buttons. I merely mention these 'extravagancies' to show that my dress was
+neither improper nor extraordinary."&mdash;See the <i>Narrative</i>, ubi supra.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> See Hansard's
+<i>Parliamentary Debates</i>, N. S., Vol. xxiv., 551-555.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Some further
+particulars may be found in 8 Bingham, 376; also in 5 C. &amp; P., 342.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a> See the case of
+John Walpole Willis, Appellant, <i>versus</i> Sir George Gipps, Knt., Respondent,
+5 Moore's Reports of Privy Council Cases, 379. From an <i>obiter dictum</i> of
+one of the judges in the case it would appear that the order of amotion from the
+bench of this Province was finally set aside on technical grounds, owing to the
+appellant's not having been heard in Canada. After diligent search, I have been
+unable to find any report of this decision, either in the official reports of the
+Privy Council or in any of the newspapers or periodicals of the time.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapix.jpg" width="300" height="81" alt="chapix" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER IX.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p>
+<h4>THE CASE OF FRANCIS COLLINS.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letteri.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letteri" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">I</span>n the foregoing pages mention has several times been made of Francis Collins,
+editor, proprietor and publisher of <i>The Canadian Freeman</i>, a Radical weekly
+newspaper issued at York. Mr. Collins was an enthusiastic young Irish Roman Catholic,
+who had immigrated to Canada a short time before the excitement arising out of the
+Gourlay persecution reached its height, and when he himself was barely twenty years
+of age. He was a printer by trade, and for some time after his arrival worked as a
+compositor in the office of <i>The Upper Canada Gazette</i>, published at York by the
+King's Printer, Dr. Robert Charles Horne. Finding that he possessed much intelligence
+and a fair education, his employer deputed him to report the debates in the Assembly
+during the sessions of Parliament. In 1821 he reported certain proceedings which the
+Government were annoyed at seeing in print, more especially as the version given was
+not strictly accurate. For this offence Dr. Horne was summoned to the bar of the
+House, where he sought to evade responsibility by pleading that the debates had not
+been reported by himself, but by Francis Collins. The Doctor further offered a humble
+apology, and was glad to escape with a sharp reprimand, accompanied by a caution from
+the Speaker that he would thereafter be held responsible for the reports in the
+<i>Gazette</i>.<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>Within a short time after receiving this admonition Dr. Horne ceased to be King's
+Printer, whereby the post became vacant. As Collins was familiar with the nature of
+the work, and was naturally desirous of bettering his condition, he applied for the
+appointment. The office was at the disposal of the Lieutenant-Governor, and was held
+entirely at his pleasure. Collins was curtly checked for his presumption by a leading
+official, who informed him that the office would be conferred upon "no one but a
+gentleman." It would be interesting to know whence the official who was guilty of
+this wanton insult had derived his ideas of courtesy and good breeding. If his
+statement were to be credited, any application on his part for the post of King's
+Printer would most assuredly have been made in vain. The appointment was given to Mr.
+Charles Fothergill, who belonged to a good Yorkshire family, and was therefore fully
+entitled to rank as a gentleman.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a></p>
+
+<p>Collins was excusably indignant at the gross insult which had been hurled at him.
+He considered himself as at least the social equal of any member of the Government,
+for he claimed descent from the old Irish kings, and on one or two occasions when
+more than ordinarily exhilarated he had even been known to refer to his ancestor,
+Brian Boru. Yet, for all this mendacious and vainglorious boasting, Collins was a man
+of unquestionable ability, and when fully aroused could write a paragraph well
+calculated to make the ears of his enemies to tingle. His nationality was clearly
+indicated by his personal appearance, his features being rough-hewn and unmistakably
+Celtic; while his red hair and beard, usually not very well cared for, gave him an
+aspect of uncouth wildness. Up to this time he had not taken any very conspicuous
+part in politics since his arrival in Canada; but henceforward the Executive had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> no more bitter
+or sleepless foe. He continued to report the proceedings in Parliament, and kept his
+eyes ever open for an opportunity to strike the Government with effect. In 1825 he
+succeeded in establishing the <i>Freeman</i>, which was thenceforth to some extent a
+rival of Mackenzie's <i>Advocate</i>. It was from the first conducted with great
+energy, and the editorials, which were often set up without being committed to paper,
+displayed exceptional vigour, but they were frequently disfigured by a coarseness and
+bad taste equal to anything of Mackenzie's production. For some time the better class
+of Liberals fought shy of the enterprise, but the editor steadily forced his way into
+general recognition.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Freeman</i> was permitted to continue its course unchecked for nearly three
+years. During that time it followed up the shortcomings of the Executive with
+ceaseless vigilance. To Sir Peregrine Maitland and Attorney-General Robinson it was a
+veritable thorn in the flesh. There was abundant occasion for criticism, and it was
+seldom, if ever, that Collins resorted to pure invention for the purpose of attacking
+the innumerable abuses of the time. There was always a sufficient substratum of truth
+in his accusations to render it inexpedient to prosecute him for libel. The
+punishment of what was false would have involved the public exposure of what was
+true. The official party realized the force of the laureate's dictum, not then
+propounded, that</p>
+
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">"A lie that is all a lie may be met with and fought outright,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 4em;">But a lie that is part of a truth is a harder matter to fight."</span><br />
+
+<div class="sidenote">1828.</div>
+<p>They of course did not present the matter in this aspect to the world at large. On
+the contrary, their organs claimed for them a spirit of generous and Christian
+forbearance. But this could not go on for ever. Collins continued to pour in his
+chain-shot from week to week with never-failing pertinacity, and with seeming
+impunity from the law. The Executive in the first place tried to check his career by
+crippling him financially. The Assembly had for some years previously been accustomed
+to vote him an annual sum by way of remuneration for reporting their proceedings. The
+paying over of this sum, however, was a matter entirely within the control of the
+Lieutenant-Governor. As it was known that Collins was poor, and that his resources
+were sometimes taxed to the uttermost to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198"
+id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> enable him to bring out his paper, it was hoped
+that, by withholding payment for his services as reporter to the Assembly, he might
+be compelled to suspend publication. He was accordingly informed, when he applied for
+his money in the early spring of 1828, that the funds were not forthcoming. The sum
+in question was &pound;118 10s., and was a matter of serious importance to him; but
+he well understood the object of the Executive, and spurred himself up to fresh
+effort. His paper appeared with the most provoking regularity, and its tone was, if
+possible, intensified by the withholding of the sum due to its editor. He told the
+story to the public, his account being garnished with profuse comments in his
+bitterest vein. The Executive found that they had miscalculated his resources, and
+that his press was conducted with renewed vigour. It was finally resolved that a
+dead-set should be made upon him, and that he should be overwhelmed by a shower of
+contemporaneous indictments. On Thursday, the 10th of April, 1828, as mentioned in the preceding chapter,<a
+name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120"
+class="fnanchor">[120]</a> two bills of indictment for libel were found against him.
+One of these was for having, in his paper, charged the Lieutenant-Governor with
+partiality, injustice and fraud, in not paying over the money voted by the Assembly.
+The other was on the information of the Solicitor-General, Henry John Boulton, for
+animadversions on his conduct in connection with the duel, in 1817, between Samuel
+Peters Jarvis and John Ridout.<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> Upon the strength of these
+indictments Collins was forthwith arrested, and compelled to appear and give the
+required bail. On the following morning two other bills were found, upon which he
+also gave bail. It was at this time that he made his extraordinary attack upon the
+Attorney-General, before Justice Willis, as already narrated at length.<a
+name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122"
+class="fnanchor">[122]</a> It will be remembered that he was instructed by the Judge
+to go before the Grand Jury and prefer his complaints. These instructions he followed
+without a moment's unnecessary delay. He appeared before the Grand Jury, and charged
+H. J. Boulton and J. E. Small with being accessary to murder in the killing of young
+Ridout. He next laid a charge of rioting against S. P. Jarvis and six other persons
+who had figured as defendants in the action brought by Mac<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>kenzie. The Grand Jury speedily
+returned a true bill against Boulton and Small. Both those gentlemen were then in
+Court with their gowns on. They were immediately put under arrest, and they so
+remained until late in the afternoon, when Judge Willis, upon the application of Mr.
+Macaulay, admitted them to bail. As Jarvis had been tried for the offence and
+acquitted, shortly after the duel in 1817, the Grand Jury now returned "No bill" as
+to him. On the following Monday a true bill was returned by the Grand Jury against
+the seven persons charged with riot. They were promptly arrested and held to
+bail.</p>
+
+<p>Collins, having no faith in Attorney-General Robinson's integrity, was very
+unwilling that the prosecution of these cases should be conducted by him. Boulton was
+not only the Attorney-General's colleague as a law officer of the Crown, but was his
+warm personal friend, as well as a connexion by marriage. Boulton, in fact, was a
+profound admirer and faint <i>umbra</i> of the Attorney-General, in whose
+professional sunshine he basked, and at whose feet he may in an intellectual sense be
+said to have grovelled. Even the most Spartan of Crown prosecutors could hardly be
+expected to do his utmost to secure a conviction under such circumstances; and
+Attorney-General Robinson had nothing of the Spartan in his composition where the
+interests of his friends were concerned. Collins accordingly applied to Robert
+Baldwin to conduct the prosecution for murder. But the prosecution of criminal cases
+was not then open to the bar as a matter of course, and without the consent of the
+Crown. Mr. Baldwin applied to the Court for the necessary permission, which was
+granted with the Attorney-General's consent. The trial was proceeded with before
+Justice Willis at the opening of the Court on the morning of Monday, the 14th. The
+defendants, upon being arraigned, pleaded "Not guilty." The proceedings extended over
+two days, during which the same evidence was given that had been adduced at the trial
+in 1817. All the horrible details of the duel were revived for the edification of a
+crowded Court-room. Many of the spectators, as well as the Judge himself, were
+affected to tears. The custom of society was once more successfully pleaded in
+extenuation of a cruel and dastardly murder. As the chief offender had himself
+escaped scot-free, however, it would have seemed anomalous to punish the acces<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>saries. The
+charge from the bench was eloquent and judicial, and the jury were absent from the
+box only ten minutes, when they returned into Court with a verdict of acquittal.</p>
+
+<p>The trial of the type-rioters next required consideration. Collins's counsel moved
+for leave to the prosecutor to conduct this case also by private counsel, but to this
+the Attorney-General firmly refused to consent. It was urged that one of the accused
+was his nephew, and that two others had been clerks in his office at the time of the
+outrage. No matter; he was determined to withstand any further interference with
+Crown prosecutions on the part of the bar. There was no telling, he remarked, where
+such interference would end. There had already been too much of it. He was about to
+proceed with the prosecution, when Mr. Rolph arose on behalf of Collins, and
+expressed a wish that, as the painful investigation of the murder case had been
+finished, the prosecutions for libel might be discontinued. Judge Willis warmly
+seconded the proposal, and further suggested that the prosecution of the type-rioters
+might also be dropped. The type-rioters, however, were ready and waiting for their
+trial, and, through their counsel, objected to any abandonment so far as they were
+concerned. It was urged on their part that they had never wished to avoid
+prosecution, but had rather courted it; that they would accept of no compromise of a
+proceeding which had been maliciously and vexatiously instituted, not by the person
+injured, but by one who, being brought into Court for libel, had been received as a
+sort of public prosecutor, and allowed to harass them by raking into old transactions
+which had long since been investigated and atoned for. They insisted upon the matter
+being there and then finally disposed of, so that it might no longer be in the power
+of any malicious person wholly unconnected with the case to prosecute them at his
+pleasure.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span>
+The trial was then proceeded with. The persons charged were of course found
+guilty. Judge Willis was very lenient, and sentenced them to a nominal fine of five
+shillings each, expressly stating as a reason for this slight punishment that more
+than ample recompense had already been obtained in the civil action.<a
+name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123"
+class="fnanchor">[123]</a></p>
+
+<p>With respect to the indictments against Collins, the Judge's appeal to the
+Attorney-General was not altogether without efficacy, notwithstanding the ill blood
+between them. The fact is that the latter was glad enough of any excuse for
+abandoning the two prosecutions instituted by Boulton and Jarvis, feeling well
+assured that there was no likelihood of securing a conviction in either case. He
+could subserve his own and his friends' interests, and at the same time assume the
+appearance of deferring to the suggestion from the bench. The consent of the
+prosecutors having been obtained, he therefore announced in open Court that he would
+proceed no further upon those indictments. He added, however, that there were further
+indictments against Collins which had emanated from the Grand Jury, and that he could
+not with proper deference to them at once relinquish proceedings therein. "But I have
+no objections to state," said the Attorney-General, "that I will forbear any further
+action during the present Assizes, and that in proceeding or not hereafter, I shall
+be governed in a great measure by the sense which the defendant shall show of his
+duty and obligations as the conductor of a public newspaper." Bail was accordingly
+furnished by Collins on one of the presentments. The other was tacitly allowed to
+lapse; and there, for the time, the matter ended.</p>
+
+<p>The editor of the <i>Freeman</i> certainly gave the Attorney-General no excuse for
+leaving him unmolested. In each successive issue of his paper he lashed the whole
+race of officials, to some of whom he applied the most opprobrious epithets. The
+Government organs pursued a similar course on their side, and characterized Collins
+and his friends in language too gross for quotation. The Attorney-General probably
+repented that he had not proceeded on at least one of the indictments during the late
+Assizes, and resolved that another opportunity should not pass unimproved. The autumn
+Assizes opened during the second week in October, when he attempted to press one of
+the old charges against Collins. The defendant appealed to Judge Sherwood, who
+occupied the bench, representing that his counsel was not in Court, and that he had
+never been arraigned. The Attorney-General replied that the absence of the
+defendant's counsel was not the fault of the Crown, and that he had been arraigned at
+the spring Assizes. The latter statement was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202"
+id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> denied by the defendant, and upon referring to the
+Clerk of Assize it appeared that there had been no arraignment. Next day the
+Attorney-General again attempted to force on the trial, but as it was clear that the
+defendant had not been arraigned the latter now claimed the right to traverse. As
+this right was indisputable it was conceded by the Court, the result being that the
+defendant was entitled to have the trial held over until the next sittings, which
+would not take place until the following spring. The Attorney-General, however, was
+entitled to demand that the defendant should find security, and promptly urged his
+demand. Collins knew that were he to find the required security it would embarrass
+him in the conduct of his paper, and stated that he would prefer to be tried at once
+rather than adopt such an alternative. He was accordingly tried, and, though the
+prosecution was pressed against him with all the vigour at the Attorney-General's
+command, he was acquitted by the jury.</p>
+
+<p>But the Attorney-General was not the man to allow his prey to escape him while any
+chance remained of securing a conviction. A fresh indictment was laid against him for
+a personal libel upon the Attorney-General himself. Collins, in reporting the trial
+which had just resulted in his acquittal, had accused the Attorney-General of "open
+palpable falsehood," and "native malignancy," and had referred to Judge Hagerman as
+"our old customer." This report had been published at full length in the
+<i>Freeman</i>, and it was the ground of the prosecution now instituted. The
+defendant laboured under the same compulsion with regard to security as before, and
+elected to stand his trial at once, which was precisely what the Attorney-General
+desired. The indictment, which may still be seen among the records at Osgoode Hall,
+was a truly formidable instrument, and set out the offence with great prolixity. The
+trial took place on Saturday, the 25th, before Mr. Justice Sherwood, who, in charging
+the jury, inveighed against the defendant with nearly as great vehemence as did the
+Crown prosecutor, stigmatizing him as "a wholesale retailer of calumny." He
+pronounced the <i>Freeman's</i> report to be "a gross and scandalous libel."<a
+name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124"
+class="fnanchor">[124]</a> It was plainly evident that Mr. Sherwood's mind was not
+equable, and that he was influenced by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> considerations not properly before him. The fact
+that his son Henry, and his brother-in-law, H. J. Boulton, had respectively been
+prosecuted for riot and murder at Collins's instigation was too clearly held in
+remembrance, insomuch that every point was strained to the utmost against the
+defendant. Judge Sherwood, however, was absent from the bench when the jury returned
+into Court with their verdict, his place being taken by Judge Hagerman, who had many
+times been subjected to the arrows of Collins's satire, and who was referred to with
+bantering contumely in the very report which formed the subject of the present
+prosecution. The jury, after deliberating about five hours, brought in a verdict of
+"Guilty of a libel on the Attorney-General." The Clerk recorded a general verdict of
+"Guilty," which was read to the jury. The defendant's counsel objected to the
+recording of the verdict in this form, inasmuch as the jury had found his client
+guilty of libel on the Attorney-General only. A brief argument on the subject ensued,
+whereupon the Judge charged the jury to the effect that such a verdict as they had
+found could not be received. He informed them that if they found the defendant guilty
+of any part of the alleged libel, they ought to return a general verdict of "Guilty;"
+but that they might, if they thought proper, suggest to the Court on what particular
+part of the publication their verdict was founded, in which case the Court would
+confine the punishment to that part only. The jury thereupon retired a second time,
+but soon returned with a general verdict of "Guilty." On being asked by the Judge
+whether they adhered to their former opinion as to the libellous part of the
+publication, they answered in the affirmative.</p>
+
+<p>The sentence of the Court was not pronounced until sufficient time had elapsed to
+admit of a conference on the subject between Justices Sherwood and Hagerman. That
+such a conference really took place is clear enough from a letter of Judge Sherwood
+himself, to be presently referred to. The sentence, when it came, created much
+surprise, not only in the bosom of the individual who was directly concerned, but
+among the public at large. It condemned the defendant to pay a fine of fifty pounds,
+to be imprisoned for twelve calendar months, to find securities for his good
+behaviour for three years after his liberation, himself in four hundred pounds and
+two sureties in one hundred pounds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204"
+id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> each, and to stand committed until all these
+conditions should be complied with.</p>
+
+<p>Certainly it was no wonder that the little world of upper Canada opened its eyes
+at such a Star Chamber sentence as this, pronounced in the year of Grace 1828. It
+seemed as if the whirligig of time had brought back the days of Bartemus Ferguson and
+<i>The Niagara Spectator</i>.<a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a> It was an open question with many
+persons, even among those who were upon the whole favourable to the measures of the
+Government, whether the prosecution should have been sustained at all or not. A
+charge of "native malignancy" was not likely to seriously affect the character or
+standing of Attorney-General Robinson, who was ready enough to apply much stronger
+epithets to his enemies. But, however that might be, there could be no sort of doubt
+that the punishment awarded was wholly disproportionate to the offence, more
+especially when the defendant's circumstances were considered. If persisted in, the
+sentence really involved the latter's perpetual imprisonment, for no two men of
+substance were likely to be found who would feel safe in guaranteeing the good
+behaviour of such a turbulent spirit as Francis Collins for so long a period as three
+years. Throughout the whole of this infamous persecution the Attorney-General showed
+to very little advantage. As previously mentioned, he had showered four indictments
+upon the defendant within the brief space of two days. Three of these he had
+withdrawn, and upon the fourth the defendant had been acquitted. He had then gone out
+of his way to lay a personal information upon a very insignificant pretext. Poor
+Collins was his enemy, and must not be allowed to characterize his conduct as "native
+malignancy," whereas the editors of newspapers under the patronage and pay of the
+Government were permitted to pursue a deliberate system of malicious vilification
+with impunity. The latter were allowed to publicly malign not only individual members
+of the Opposition, but to circulate the grossest libels upon the House of Assembly
+itself. With these offences the Attorney-General did not think fit to meddle. They
+were committed by his personal and political friends, and, unless common rumour
+seriously belied him, were not seldom committed at his own instigation. At any rate
+he maintained the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> amicable relations with the libellers, and allowed no opportunity of
+serving their material interests to pass unimproved. Such inconsistency forced itself
+upon public attention. People who up to that time had supported the official party
+began to ask where this one-sidedness was to end. The Attorney-General had no right,
+it was said, to reward his friends for doing precisely the same things as those for
+which he punished and imprisoned his enemies. It was remembered against him how, when
+disputing with Judge Willis as to the nature of his official duties, he had with
+scorn repudiated the suggestion that he should proceed in the absence of
+instructions, even against notorious evil-doers. It was remembered that he had
+declined to take any official cognizance of so serious an offence against the public
+peace as the type-riot, which had been committed by his own friends and
+prot&eacute;g&eacute;s. Yet he had here gone out of his way to prosecute to his ruin
+a poor wretch who, certainly not without great provocation, had merely accused him of
+falsehood and native malignancy. A man who accommodated his conduct to his
+inclinations in this way might perhaps be much beloved by his friends, but he
+certainly had no claim to be considered either good or great. The faction, from Dr.
+Strachan downwards, had for years been holding up John Beverley Robinson to the
+admiration of Upper Canadians. By many he had been accepted at their valuation. The
+Selkirk and Gourlay episodes, together with a score of others less noteworthy, had
+been slurred over. As the worst of these had occurred some years before, they had
+been partly forgotten by the existing generation. But the remorseless vindictiveness
+and cruelty displayed throughout the Collins prosecution were patent to everybody.
+They did much to lower the Attorney-General in popular estimation, and to destroy
+public confidence in the integrity of the Judges. They gave rise to an uneasy feeling
+of discontent, and doubtless had their share in bringing about the troubles of
+1837-38.</p>
+
+<p>Collins went to jail, where, in spite of great exertions on his behalf, he was
+compelled to remain for many months. The fine was paid, like the damages in the
+type-riot case, by public subscription. Appeals from various quarters to the
+Lieutenant-Governor on the prisoner's behalf were made in vain. The incumbent of that
+office was no longer Sir Peregrine Maitland, whose torpid and nerveless
+administra<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>tion had come to an end some weeks before,<a name="FNanchor_126_126"
+id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a>
+when, as previously mentioned, he had taken his departure for Nova Scotia. His
+successor as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was Major-General Sir John Colborne,
+a distinguished officer of the 52nd Regiment, who had done gallant service in the
+Peninsula, and had fought at Waterloo. He is described by Napier, the historian of
+the Peninsular War, as having developed "an extraordinary genius for war." After the
+return of peace he had had some experience in diplomacy, having for some time been
+placed in charge of the Government in the island of Guernsey. His appointment to the
+more onerous and responsible post of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was heralded
+as the precursor of better times. It was announced that he had come over charged with
+instructions to reverse the fatuous policy of his predecessor, and to conduct the
+administration in accordance with the well understood wishes of the people. It seems
+tolerably certain that some such general directions as these had actually been given,
+but great latitude was necessarily left to Sir John himself; and, as after events
+proved, he was ill fitted for the discharge of such duties as had been entrusted to
+him. He was destined to furnish, in his own person, a sufficient argument against the
+absurd system pursued by the Home Government of saddling the colonies with military
+rulers. That Sir John was an excellent soldier goes without saying. It is certain,
+too, that he was in the main actuated by upright and honourable motives. But he had
+been "a man of war from his youth," and his early training and long military career
+had made him stern and unbending. He had no sympathy with the aspirations of a people
+who were just beginning to grasp the principles of constitutional liberty, and who
+saw many things in the body politic which called aloud for reform.</p>
+
+<p>It did not take long for the people of Upper Canada to gauge the character of the
+new Governor, for he had not been a fortnight in the Province before he had
+practically allied himself with the Compact. Hardly had he assumed the functions of
+his office ere a petition, signed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207"
+id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> by a number of influential inhabitants of York and
+its neighbourhood, was presented to him by a Committee on behalf of Collins. The
+facts were set out in detail, and his Excellency was asked to exercise the royal
+clemency by releasing the prisoner from his melancholy situation. Sir John's reply
+was non-committal, but not wholly discouraging. It conceded the advantages resulting
+from a free and well-conducted press, but expressed reverence for trial by jury, and
+referred to the danger of interfering with the verdicts of juries or the opinions of
+Judges unless their illegality could be clearly demonstrated. It added, however, that
+if his Excellency; after inquiring into the case, should come to the conclusion that
+his interposition was called for, a communication to that effect would be made to the
+person chiefly concerned.</p>
+
+<p>In the face of this reply, it behooved the prisoner and his friends to wait a
+reasonable time before taking any further steps. Within the next few days a number of
+facts came to light which certainly went to show that there were at least good
+grounds for a new trial. It appeared that John Hayden, one of the jurymen, had been
+ignorant of the true meaning of the word "malignancy," and had sent out to the Court
+for Johnson's Dictionary, in order to arrive at a true definition. This indulgence
+was refused by the Court, and Hayden was constrained to accept the definition of
+another juror, whereby he was led to believe that the word in question has a much
+more serious significance than really attaches to it. By this means he had been
+induced to give his voice for the conviction of the defendant. Two other jurymen,<a
+name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127"
+class="fnanchor">[127]</a> who were servile tools of the Attorney-General, had been
+actuated by undue prejudice, insomuch that they had expressed a strong
+pre-determination to convict the defendant. Then, the conduct of Mr. Hagerman, in
+sitting as a Judge in a case wherein he was personally concerned&mdash;it will be
+remembered that he had been derisively referred to in the report which formed the
+subject of the indictment&mdash;was an infringement of decency, to say nothing of its
+being a perversion of the letter and spirit of the law. He had also conferred with
+the Judge by whom the sentence was pronounced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208"
+id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> as to the measure of punishment to be awarded. But
+he had not only sat in judgment in his own cause: he had refused to record the
+finding of the jury, whom he had misled and coerced into bringing in a verdict
+contrary to what they really intended. Judge Sherwood's conduct had been little
+better. He had delivered a charge to the jury which practically left them no
+alternative but to convict, unless they altogether disregarded his counsels. John
+Carey, editor of the York <i>Observer</i>, who was present on the occasion, testified
+that the Judge's charge appeared to him to outrage law and common sense.<a
+name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128"
+class="fnanchor">[128]</a> Then, the sentence itself was so grossly out of proportion
+to the offence as to shock all ideas of justice, and to form a standing menace
+against the liberty of the press in Upper Canada. Yet Judge Sherwood, in pronouncing
+it, had expressly stated that it should be light, in consequence of its being awarded
+for a first conviction. It would be curious to know what punishment he would have
+awarded if the defendant had been previously convicted on a similar charge.</p>
+
+<p>All these circumstances went far to prove that the defendant had met with
+considerably more or less than justice. And there were other facts which had an ugly
+look. The defendant, as already mentioned, was a Roman Catholic; yet, out of a large
+and respectable population professing the same religious faith, not one was to be
+found on the panel, although at the Quarter Sessions, held a few days later, the
+number of Roman Catholics summoned to serve on juries was exceptionally large. The
+Sheriff who empanelled the jury was a political enemy of the accused. So was each
+individual member of the Grand Jury who found the true bill against him. So were a
+large majority of the petty jury by whom he was tried. So was the Attorney-General
+who prosecuted him. So were the two Judges who presided at the trial. Taken in
+connection with the specific facts mentioned in the preceding paragraph, these
+matters gave rise to many unpleasant conjectures, and it was no wonder that the
+public voice exclaimed against the verdict as an unrighteous one. It was no wonder
+that public meetings were held in some of the rural districts to protest against what
+was almost universally pronounced to be a tyrannical abuse of the process of the
+Courts. It was no wonder that hisses and groans<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> were sometimes heard from quiet
+nooks and corners when the Attorney-General passed along the streets of York. And it
+was no wonder that, coming, as it did, on the heels of other trials that differed
+with it only in degree, the case of Francis Collins caused many theretofore loyal
+subjects to ask themselves whether their loyalty demanded that they should forever
+continue to bend their necks to the yoke of the oppressor. What was Collins's case
+to-day might possibly be theirs or their sons' on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>On the 26th of November Collins sent in to the Lieutenant-Governor a
+pathetically-worded petition, in which the desolate condition of his young and
+helpless family was alluded to in brief but moving terms. It set out that, in
+consequence of his imprisonment, the business whereby he had supported his family was
+all but ruined, as its success depended solely on his personal exertions. Finally, he
+prayed to be restored to his liberty. Accompanying the petition were affidavits
+setting forth the admitted ignorance of one of the jurymen, and the pre-determination
+of the other two to convict. But the prisoner knocked at the gates of Sir John
+Colborne's heart in vain. The Lieutenant-Governor was by this time as completely hand
+and glove with the official party as his predecessor had ever been. Dr. Strachan and
+John Beverley Robinson managed him with great skill, and, by dint of much seeming
+deference, had him under complete control. Without being in the least aware of it, he
+was clay in the hands of the potter, who moulded him at will. As well might poor
+Collins have appealed for mercy to a half-famished tiger of the jungle as to these
+two Provincial representatives of law and gospel. His memorial, dated "York Gaol,
+November 26th, 1829," was not replied to until more than three weeks had elapsed, and
+when the answer came its contents indicated perfect callousness to the prisoner's
+unhappy condition. He was curtly informed that the Lieutenant-Governor could not
+think it right to comply with the petition, but that on the expiration of the
+specified term of imprisonment, any application which he might desire to make would
+be taken into consideration.</p>
+
+<p>From this time forward the prisoner seems to have resigned himself to his fate,
+although his friends did not relax their exertions on his behalf. It seemed useless
+to apply for a new trial, as the application<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> would have to be made to either Sherwood or
+Hagerman, from neither of whom could he hope to obtain justice. The <i>Freeman</i>
+continued to make its appearance, although its publication was necessarily carried on
+under great disadvantages. The editor's spirit was by no means broken, and he sent
+forth from his place of confinement a succession of editorials as bitterly vigorous
+as any previous efforts of his pen. He also wrote a series of open letters addressed
+to the Attorney-General, in which that official's career, from his infancy onwards,
+was reviewed with caustic bitterness.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a>
+These letters were published in successive numbers of the <i>Freeman</i>, and must be
+presumed to have been a source of great annoyance to the gentleman to whom they were
+directed. Though many of the statements therein were perverse and wilful distortions
+of facts, there was a large element of truth, and it would not have been easy to
+expose the falsehood without admitting much that could not be denied. The
+Attorney-General contemplated another prosecution, but thought better of
+it&mdash;not, it is to be presumed, from any want of vindictiveness, but because he
+felt that there was a limit to the public endurance, and that that limit had pretty
+nearly been reached.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1829.</div>
+<p>In January, 1829, the Collins case was taken into consideration by the Assembly. A
+Committee was appointed, and a rigid inquiry instituted into some of the most
+interesting features. Attorney-General Robinson was examined at considerable length.
+Judges Sherwood and Hagerman were summoned before the Committee, but both of them
+declined to answer any questions. A good many important facts were elicited, upon the
+strength of which an Address to his Excellency was passed, recapitulating the
+circumstances, and praying for a remission of the sentence. The reply was of the same
+inexorable character as that previously made to Collins's own petition. "It is my
+anxious wish," was the response of the Lieutenant-Governor, "to render service to the
+Province, by concurring with the Legislature in everything that can promote its
+peace, prosperity and happiness; and I regret exceedingly that the House of Assembly
+should have made an application to me which the obligation I am under to support the
+laws, and my duty to society, forbid me, I think, to comply with." For the
+information of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> the House, his Excellency forwarded a copy of a letter addressed by
+Justice Sherwood to the Governor's Secretary, embodying certain reasons for the
+judgment of the Court in the case. The Judge, it will be remembered, refused to
+assign any such reasons when questioned on the subject by the Committee of the House
+of Assembly. As to his right to so refuse there can hardly be much difference of
+opinion, but he would have been more consistent if he had also refused when applied
+to by the Lieutenant-Governor. After admitting the right to publish fair and candid
+opinions on the Government and constitution, the Judge declared that if a publisher
+"steps aside from the high road of decency and peaceable deportment, and adopts a
+course of public calumny and open abuse against the officers of Government generally,
+or particularly against the principal law officer of the Crown, in the legal
+discharge of his duty in the King's Courts, as the defendant did," then it was the
+Judge's conviction that the publisher so offending should be "punished to that extent
+which, in human probability, would prevent a recurrence of the offence." And yet this
+same Judge, in pronouncing sentence, had expressly declared that the sentence should
+be a light one, as it was the defendant's first offence. The conclusion of the letter
+showed plainly enough that a conference had taken place between Justices Sherwood and
+Hagerman before the imposition of the penalty. It proved, indeed, that the sentence
+was to be considered as the joint sentence of the two Judges. "Taking all the
+circumstances of the case into consideration," it ran, "Mr. Justice Hagerman and
+myself deemed the sentence which we passed on the defendant both proper and necessary
+for the public good, and what the case itself required."</p>
+
+<p>Two or three further appeals were made to the Lieutenant-Governor on the
+prisoner's behalf, all of which proved ineffectual. The matter was really in the
+hands of the Attorney-General himself, who was inexorable, and would be satisfied
+with nothing short of the fullest expiation. The Assembly meanwhile did not relax its
+efforts to obtain a commutation of the sentence. On the 12th of March an address to
+the King was passed by that body, whereby His Majesty was entreated "to extend to
+Francis Collins the royal clemency, by remitting the residue of his punishment." Not
+much was hoped for from this proceeding, as it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> was felt that the whole influence
+of the Executive would be put forward against it. The prisoner himself made up his
+mind to accept the inevitable, and to serve out at least the full term of the
+sentence imposed. He continued to supply editorial articles for his paper, couched in
+a strain which seemed to indicate his superiority to circumstances. But his buoyant
+spirit was measurably tamed by his long imprisonment, and it was remarked that he was
+never again quite the same man as before. Contrary to his anticipations, the address
+of the Assembly finally proved effective, and he was permitted to walk forth from the
+jail a free man. His paper came forth from week to week, but its tone was evidently
+modified and subdued. Something of the old spirit occasionally flashed forth, but
+fitfully and transitorily only, like the flicker of a lamp before its extinction. It
+was clear that the editor had not forgotten the indignity and mental suffering he had
+undergone, and throughout the remaining years of his life he always dwelt more or
+less in the shadow of the cold and solitary cell. The records of the jurisprudence of
+civilized countries contain few modern instances of the exaction of so severe a
+penalty for so insignificant an offence.</p>
+
+<p>The narrative has no further concern with Francis Collins, except to record that
+he continued to edit and publish the <i>Freeman</i> down to 1834, when he fell a
+victim to the cholera invasion by which the Provincial capital was ravaged during
+that year. He died on the 2nd of September, and the <i>Freeman</i> thenceforth ceased
+to exist.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span class="label">[118]</span></a> The
+Attorney-General, John Beverley Robinson, was ever valiant on the stronger side.
+He tried to induce the Assembly to compel Dr. Horne to insert in the next issue
+of the <i>Gazette</i> a paragraph in the following words: "From the incompetence
+or negligence of our reporter, the debates of the House of Assembly inserted in
+the last number of this paper were so imperfect and so untruly reported that no
+dependence can be placed in their accuracy." The Assembly, however, were
+satisfied with the humiliation to which the Doctor had been subjected, and would
+not compel him to further self-abasement.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Mr. Fothergill held
+the office barely three years, when he was dismissed for voting with the
+Opposition in the Assembly against the Government. It was an anomaly to permit
+the King's Printer to hold a seat in the Legislative Assembly, and the Government
+could hardly be expected to tolerate opposition from such a quarter. Mr.
+Fothergill was the first incumbent of the office to develop liberal opinions. He
+was sufficiently deep in the secrets of the Administration to make him a
+dangerous opponent if he had felt disposed to wage war to the knife. Of this fact
+the Administration seem to have taken a sort of oblique cognizance. He had
+overdrawn his account by &pound;360, and in settling with him this sum was not
+taken into consideration. In other words, the Government made him a present of
+&pound;360. His successor in the office of King's Printer was Mr. Robert Stanton.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 171.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 13.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, pp. 171-174.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 136.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> The charge, as
+reported by Collins, will be found in the Appendix to the <i>Journals of
+Assembly</i> for 1829, pp. 27, 28.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 42 et seq.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> Sir Peregrine was
+gazetted to be "Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia and its dependencies" on the
+14th of August, 1828. On the same date Sir John Colborne was gazetted as
+Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, but he did not reach the seat of his
+Government until late in the autumn, and Sir Peregrine did not actually demit
+office until the arrival of his successor.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> William Davenish
+and Andrew A. Thompson. The former stated that in the event of his being called
+as a juror he would "put it on to" Collins. See the <i>Freeman</i> for Thursday December 25th, 1828.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> See Appendix to
+<i>Journals of Assembly</i> for 1829.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, pp. 101, 102, note.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapx.jpg" width="300" height="84" alt="chapx" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER X.</h2>
+<a href="#NOTE_TO_CHAPTER_X"><sub><i>Note to Chapter X</i></sub></a>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p>
+<h4>LIGHTS&mdash;OLD AND NEW.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letteri.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letteri" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">I</span>n the preceding five chapters an attempt has been made to reduce to narrative form
+a great mass of heterogeneous material bearing upon the "Story" which it is the
+purpose of these volumes to relate. A considerable proportion of this material is to
+all practical intents inaccessible to the general reading public, being scattered
+here and there through old and long-forgotten newspapers, blue-books, pamphlets and
+unedited manuscripts. Yet some acquaintance with it is absolutely necessary to a
+clear comprehension of the deplorable state of things which existed in this Province
+during the r&eacute;gime of Sir Peregrine Maitland and his successor. No one who is
+ignorant of it is capable of expressing an intelligent opinion as to the merits or
+demerits of the Rebellion and those who took part therein. The principal facts and
+circumstances attendant upon some of the most flagrant exhibitions of Family Compact
+oppression which mark the fourth decade of Upper Canadian history have therefore been
+set forth in consecutive order, and with considerable minuteness. The picture thus
+afforded of Provincial-society and Government, though pregnant with instruction, is
+by no means an attractive one, and any person contemplating it for the first time may
+well be excused for questioning its perfect accuracy. The drawing, at times, seems to
+be too wavy in outline, and some of the details have the appearance of being painted
+in colours too glaring to be natural. But a strict examination of the properties will
+correct all such impressions. Varying themes require varying methods of treatment.
+There are certain features of landscape which must not be drawn with absolute
+sharpness of outline, and there are subjects to which neutral tints<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> altogether fail
+to do justice. Of such a character are more than one of the scenes here reproduced.
+Independently of the mere method of treatment, the historical evidence is so clear
+and explicit that it can be questioned by no one who takes the trouble to examine it.
+As to mere matters of fact, there will be little or no difference of opinion among
+those who consult and compare the various authorities cited in the notes.<a
+name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130"
+class="fnanchor">[130]</a></p>
+
+<p>The cases hitherto recorded are merely a few out of many, but they suffice to tell
+the story of Executive cruelty and selfishness during the period referred to more
+effectively than it could possibly be told without their aid. To set forth with equal
+fulness of detail the circumstances attendant upon the persecution of Jonah Brown,
+Robert Randal, Hugh Christopher Thompson, and a round score of minor victims, would
+be to extend this work to an interminable length. The materials for a work written on
+such a plan are abundant, as they include all the facts arising out of the stupendous
+iniquity sought to be perpetrated under the guise of the Alien Bill. The particulars
+connected with the attempt to force this infamous measure upon the people of Upper
+Canada cannot be inquired into in these pages. Sufficient to say that it was a most
+dishonest and unstatesmanlike attempt on the part of the Executive to get rid of
+political opponents by repudiating the well-understood obligations of their
+predecessors in office: an attempt to dispossess persons who, relying upon the faith
+of the Government of the day, had settled in the country and taken up lands, to which
+they had received titles, and upon which they and their parents had in many cases
+resided ever since Governor Simcoe's time. The attempt failed through the vigilance
+of the Opposition and the interference of the Imperial Government, but it proved the
+length to which the official party were prepared to go in order to maintain the
+existing order of things. It was of a piece with the rest of the Executive policy,
+which seemed to wax more and more exacting and one-sided with lapse of time. It was
+abundantly clear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> to many persons unconnected with the Reform party that there was no
+justice in the land for a Reformer, and that the oligarchy by whom the country was
+dominated cared nothing for its best interests. Constitutional liberty was
+systematically trampled under foot. The oft-quoted boast of the Founder of the
+Province about the Upper Canadian constitution being "the very image and transcript
+of that of Great Britain"<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> seemed the hollowest mockery when
+viewed in the light of events which had become a matter of frequent occurrence.</p>
+<p>It was not only to the thumbs of political opponents that the Executive screw was
+applied. When occasion arose it was applied with surprising energy and vigour to the
+thumbs of those who had long been obedient slaves of the Administration. Nothing more
+clearly shows the shameless exercise of power on the part of the faction: nothing
+more clearly proves the complete subordination of their tools, and the depths of
+degradation to which public men could be made to stoop: than an episode which
+occurred during the Parliamentary session of 1828. The persons chiefly involved were
+the Hon. James Baby, who was himself Inspector-General of Public Accounts and senior
+member of the Executive Council, and ex-Chief Justice Powell. It has already been
+explained that the first-named personage had for some time past ceased to carry any
+great weight at the Council Board, where he had been to a considerable extent
+superseded by his juniors.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> His seniority was merely in point
+of time, and his influence on the policy of the Government was as insignificant as it
+possibly could be, consistently with the position which he held. He keenly felt his
+having been, so to speak, thrust into the background, and in several instances showed
+a disposition to assert himself by acting independently. A similar feeling, but
+milder in degree, animated the breast of the ex-Chief Justice, whose place as
+principal lay adviser of the Lieutenant-Governor had long since been taken by
+Attorney-General Robinson. During the session of 1823-4 he had seen fit to protest
+against a School Bill passed by the Assembly, under which Dr. Strachan was intended
+to and did actually derive a sinecure salary of three hundred pounds a year. His
+protest, at his own urgent request, was entered on the journal, where it seemed
+likely to remain a perpetual<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216"
+id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> memento of his independence and of the servility of
+his colleagues. But this was by no means desired by the Lieutenant-Governor and the
+Attorney-General. Pressure was brought to bear upon the recalcitrant member, under
+the influence of which he was forced to succumb. He consented that the protest should
+be erased from the journal, and it was erased accordingly.<a name="FNanchor_133_133"
+id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a> But
+a still more sickening humiliation was in store for him, as well as for the venerable
+Mr. Baby.</p>
+
+<p>During the session of 1828 several petitions were received by the Assembly praying
+for relief against a law passed in 1825, whereby certain taxes had been imposed on
+wild lands.<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a> Among other grievances complained
+of was the manner in which the law had been passed. It was distinctly alleged in one
+of the petitions that the measure had been pushed through both Houses with too great
+rapidity, and that most culpable means had been employed in order to procure the
+assent of certain members to whom it was objectionable. The Assembly entertained the
+petitions, and appointed a Committee to inquire into the matter. A number of
+witnesses were examined, and some astounding facts elicited. The allegations as to
+undue influence were proved by the clearest evidence, and by witnesses who had
+generally been accustomed to act with the Government. One of these was our somewhile
+acquaintance, the Hon. William Dickson, who, as has previously been seen, was the
+owner of an immense tract of land,<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> and
+was consequently seriously affected by the law enacted in 1825. His evidence, as
+printed in the Appendix to the Journals of the Assembly,<a name="FNanchor_136_136"
+id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136" class="fnanchor">[136]</a>
+stands as a perpetual indictment against Sir Peregrine Maitland and the venal clique
+by whom he was surrounded. It appears that from the time when the Bill relating to
+the taxation of wild lands was first introduced into the Upper House it<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> was an unpopular
+measure, and that it was opposed by a majority of the members. Most of the latter
+were large landholders by virtue of their membership, and some of them had acquired
+additional blocks by purchase. The obnoxious Bill was opposed at every stage, and
+there seemed to be no possibility of its becoming law. Its defeat being regarded as
+inevitable, its opponents to some extent relaxed their efforts, and congratulated
+each other upon their apparent success. On the third reading, however, Mr. Dickson
+found, to his supreme astonishment and disgust, that some of the members upon whom he
+had relied for votes presented an entire change of front, and appeared in the
+<i>role</i> of supporters of the measure. It was noticeable that all the converts, or
+perverts, held offices under the Government. The Hon. John Henry Dunn, Provincial
+Receiver-General, took a different course. He had been among the most determined
+opponents of the Bill, and had declared that it would never pass.<a name="FNanchor_137_137" id="FNanchor_137_137"></a><a href="#Footnote_137_137"
+class="fnanchor">[137]</a> He had too much self-respect, after taking such a stand,
+to give the lie to all his protestations by voting for the measure, so he quietly
+staid at home on a pretence of sickness.<a name="FNanchor_138_138" id="FNanchor_138_138"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_138" class="fnanchor">[138]</a>
+Referring to those who took a more determined stand, by voting contrary to their
+pledges, Mr. Dickson says: "This change, I am satisfied, arose from intimidation by
+the Local Government, who seemed determined to carry the measure at any sacrifice. It
+was most painfully manifest from their countenances and demeanour that the change was
+not from conviction, but from coercion. The business of the Legislative Council was
+suspended for two hours for a meeting of the Executive Council. And I do believe that
+at that Council the members of the Legislative Council holding offices were
+constrained at the peril of their situations to vote for the measures they had a week
+before decidedly opposed. Upon those members returning that day to their legislative
+duties there was a change of voting, and one of those who staid away on pretence of
+sickness was, to my knowledge, able to attend." The reference here is presumably to
+Mr. Dunn. Mr. Dickson's evidence then goes on to say that about ten minutes before
+the vote was taken, a message was delivered to the Hon. James Baby that Major Hillier
+wished to speak to him. Major Hillier was the Lieutenant-Governor's most confidential
+secretary, and was employed in numberless<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218"
+id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> little transactions requiring the exercise of
+coolness and tact. In response to the message Mr. Baby left his place in the House,
+and did not return for some time. Upon his return from the interview to his
+accustomed seat he was evidently much confused and agitated. Being spoken to by Mr.
+Dickson he found it impossible to conceal his agitation, but told his interlocutor,
+to that gentleman's great astonishment, that he must vote for the Bill. When the time
+came he accordingly voted with the Government, and the Bill was carried by a small
+majority, Messieurs Dickson and Clark entering a determined protest against it.
+"After the passing of the Bill," continues Mr. Dickson, "the Hon. Mr. Baby, after
+leaving the House, put his hand upon his heart, and, with reference to his change of
+conduct on the measure, said something about his children, expressive of his regret
+at the necessity which drove him to the abandonment of the course he had
+pursued."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Powell, who was then Speaker of the Legislative Council, was evidently
+subjected to similar influences. Like Mr. Baby, he had been strenuous in his
+opposition to the Bill, and had even gone so far as to speak harshly of some of those
+who promoted it. But he was speedily made to know his place, and the tenure by which
+he held it. During a portion of the two hours when the business of the Legislative
+Council was suspended he was in secret conference with Major Hillier and one or more
+members of the Executive Council.<a name="FNanchor_139_139"
+id="FNanchor_139_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_139" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> When
+he took his seat upon the resumption of the business of the day, it was noticeable
+that he, as well as Baby, was labouring under undue embarrassment and agitation. It
+was beyond any reasonable doubt that they had been shamelessly coerced, and had been
+compelled to choose between voting as they were commanded or being dismissed from
+their respective offices. Upon being questioned by Mr. Dickson, Powell admitted that
+he had changed his opinion, and added, in seeming sincerity, that he had received new
+light on the matter within the last ten minutes. Such an exchange of an old lamp for
+a new one must surely have been the work of some malignant and monstrous genie at the
+Council Board.</p>
+
+<p>It should be mentioned that Dickson's evidence, so far as "extraordinary and undue
+influence by the Local Government" is concerned,<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> is fully confirmed by the evidence
+of the Hon. Thomas Clark, who was also a member of the Upper House, and was present
+at the proceedings above described.</p>
+
+<p>There could not well be any more conclusive proof of the unconstitutional and
+corrupt manner in which the Government was carried on during Sir Peregrine Maitland's
+time than is afforded by the circumstances just narrated. They read like a chapter
+out of the political history of England during the last century. The methods employed
+by Walpole exhibit nothing baser or more repulsive than these. His aphorism about
+"every one of them" having his price might well have been echoed by Sir Peregrine, so
+far as the Legislative Council was concerned, with the addition that the price in
+Upper Canada was sometimes ridiculously low. The persons who were guilty of these
+gross violations of the constitution, to say nothing of the commonest principles of
+honesty, were incessantly prating of their devoted loyalty to the Crown. Yet it is
+plain enough that their fealty was always subservient to what they deemed to be their
+personal interests. This was as clearly apparent in 1837 as it had been in 1828.
+When, a few years later,<a name="FNanchor_140_140" id="FNanchor_140_140"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_140_140" class="fnanchor">[140]</a> a crisis arose in which they were
+compelled to choose between those interests and their devotion to the Crown, it was
+once more abundantly manifest that theirs was the veriest lip-loyalty. The burning of
+the Parliament Buildings at Montreal was as direct an act of treason as was the
+affair at Montgomery's Farm.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1829.</div>
+<p>In 1828 there was a general election, in the course of which the Executive party
+made tremendous exertions to regain a predominating influence in the Assembly. They
+perceived plainly enough that a hostile majority in the Lower House must in the end
+prove fatal to them. They might temporarily set it at naught, through their control
+over the Legislative Council and the absence of ministerial responsibility, but they
+could not hope to keep up such a farce for all time. This knowledge impelled them to
+adopt every means which their ingenuity could devise to secure the return of
+candidates who might be relied upon to support their policy. Their success was by no
+means proportionate to their efforts. When the returns were all in it appeared that
+the Opposi<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span>tion had rather gained than lost by the contest. Two staunch members
+of the Compact were defeated in what had theretofore been regarded as safe Tory
+boroughs, and Attorney-General Robinson's majority in the Town of York was
+greatly was greatly diminished. All the most prominent Reformers were returned, and at the
+opening of the session on the 8th of January, 1829, Rolph, Bidwell, Perry, Matthews
+and Dr. Baldwin took their seats on the Opposition benches. To their number was now
+added William Lyon Mackenzie, who had been returned for the County of York. His
+election was a surprise to the Government party, and was pronounced by them to be an
+everlasting disgrace to the intelligent and populous constituency which had returned
+him. He repaid such compliments as these with others of a like character, and gave
+back as much as he received, if not with usury, at least with fair interest.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Bidwell was elected to the Speaker's chair by the new Assembly, and on every
+test question the Government were left in a hopeless minority. The vote on the
+Address in Reply will afford some clue to the political complexion of the House. It
+referred to the Lieutenant-Governor's advisers as having deeply wounded the feelings
+and injured the best interests of the country; yet it was carried with only one
+dissentient vote&mdash;that of J. H. Samson, one of the members for Hastings. Reform
+was evidently in the ascendant throughout the Province; but, as during the preceding
+Parliament, the exertions of the majority in the Assembly could do little for Reform
+under the existing state of the constitution. The Lieutenant-Governor responded with
+curt ambiguity to the Assembly's Address, and cemented his alliance with the Compact
+by refusing to grant the prayer of the petition for the release of Collins. The
+Government submitted to one defeat after another with dogged sullenness, but with
+undiminished contempt for the idea that successive defeats imposed upon them any
+obligation to resign.</p>
+
+<p>The session of 1829 was a noisy and quarrelsome one. Hardly had Mackenzie taken
+his seat before he began that system of inquiry and agitation which he thenceforward
+pursued throughout the whole of his career as a member of Parliament. He instituted
+an investigation into the management of the Provincial Post Office, conducted an
+inquiry as to the privileges of members of the Assembly, and as to the behaviour<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> of certain
+returning officers, and generally busied himself with important matters of detail. He
+displayed precisely the same characteristics as a legislator that he had displayed as
+the conductor of a newspaper&mdash;great energy and vigilance, accompanied by a
+critical and fault-finding spirit, and an almost entire absence of tact and
+discretion. He gave wanton and unnecessary offence to those who differed from him in
+opinion, not only on important political questions, but even on comparatively
+insignificant matters of every-day occurrence. His coadjutors found that,
+independently of the sincerity or insincerity of his intentions, his judgment was not
+to be trusted. He could be misled by any <i>ignis fatuus</i> that displayed a bright
+light, and was led into many a Serbonian bog from which he was not extricated without
+serious difficulty. Some men have an unerring instinct which, even in the absence of
+calm judgment or mature reflection, commonly leads them in the right path.
+Mackenzie's first conceptions, on the contrary, were almost invariably erroneous; and
+he had a perverse habit of frequently clinging to an idea once formed, even when
+experience and deliberation had proved it to be unsound.<a name="FNanchor_141_141"
+id="FNanchor_141_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_141" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> At
+other times his opinions were as changeable as the hue of the chameleon. In short, he
+was a creature of impulse, and too often acted upon the motto of "First
+fire&mdash;then inquire." This was perhaps a misfortune rather than a fault, and
+under ordinary circumstances would have merited lightness of touch on the part of the
+historian. But Mr. Mackenzie is identified with a movement which forms a conspicuous
+and dramatic passage in Upper Canadian chronicles, and in justice to others it
+becomes highly necessary to form a correct estimate of his personality. This is all
+the more essential from the fact that he himself at different times gave various and
+conflicting accounts of the episode<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> with which his name is inseparably blended, which
+accounts have hitherto been the only sources of information drawn upon by so-called
+historians. All the references to the Upper Canadian Rebellion to be found in current
+histories are traceable, directly or indirectly, to Mackenzie himself, and all are
+built upon false hypotheses and perverted representations of events. To Mackenzie,
+more than to any other person, or to all other persons combined, are to be attributed
+all the worst consequences which flowed from that feebly-planned and ill-starred
+movement. All the facts point to the conclusion that if he had been content to play
+the patient and subordinate part properly belonging to him, the whole course of his
+subsequent life might have been shaped much more smoothly, and he might have been
+saved the most serious of the privations which he was compelled to undergo. Much
+sorrow and suffering would also have been spared to others. The injury that may be
+done in a primitive community by a man who combines good intentions and great energy
+with excessive obstinacy, misguided ambition, and perversity of judgment, is simply
+incalculable. The subsequent course of the narrative will be found to fully bear out
+these reflections, and to point a moral even where there is no intention to
+moralize.</p>
+
+<p>Beyond the perpetual friction which was kept up between the Executive body and the
+Opposition, the session of 1829 was barren of events of permanent political
+importance. The Executive was tolerably independent of the popular branch of the
+Legislature, for it retained the casual and territorial revenues, and could get along
+without an annual vote for supplies. No fewer than twenty-one Bills passed by the
+Assembly were rejected by the Legislative Council during the session. "The Province,"
+says Mr. MacMullen,<a name="FNanchor_142_142" id="FNanchor_142_142"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_142_142" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> "presented the unconstitutional
+spectacle of a Government requiring no moneys from the Assembly, and a Legislative
+Council of a totally different political complexion from the popular branch of the
+Legislature. No restraint could now be imposed on the Executive by an annual vote of
+supplies. It was completely independent of the people." And it declared its
+independence in the most emphatic manner by inserting in one of the
+Lieutenant-Governor's messages a direct intimation that the Assembly would not be
+asked to trouble itself about ways and means.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span>
+Certain episodes occurred during this session which are deserving of something
+more than passing reference, not only as indicative of the manners of those times,
+but because they concern personages whose achievements were fated to occupy much
+space in the annals of our country. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne, had
+not long been installed in office before he was exhibited in effigy in the streets of
+Hamilton. Certain Tories who were believed to have taken part in the exhibition
+openly asserted that the Hamilton Reformers were responsible for it. It was at the
+same time alleged that there was a plot on the part of the Reformers to release
+Francis Collins from York jail by force of arms. The two stories emanated from a
+common source, and as they were without any foundation in truth the Reform leaders in
+the Assembly deemed it proper to institute an inquiry into the matter. Upon motion of
+Mr. John Rolph a Committee of Investigation was appointed, with power to send for
+persons and papers. It was known that Allan Napier MacNab, who was then an
+impecunious young lawyer in Hamilton, could give certain important information about
+the affair, and he was summoned to appear before the Committee during the second week
+in February. He obeyed the summons, so far as presenting an appearance was concerned,
+but he refused to reply to certain questions put to him, and conducted himself with
+great insolence and want of discretion. Being again summoned before the Committee, to
+answer for his conduct, he read a written defence which had been prepared for him,
+and which rather aggravated his offence than otherwise. Accordingly, on motion of Dr.
+Baldwin, seconded by George Rolph, the future baronet was committed to York jail,
+under warrant of the Speaker, during the pleasure of the House. After remaining in
+custody about ten days, Mr. MacNab addressed a letter to the House which reads very
+much like a repetition of his former contempt, but which the Assembly seem to have
+construed very charitably, as on the 3rd of March a motion was carried for his
+discharge, and he was set at liberty.</p>
+
+<p>This brief term of imprisonment, which in all lasted less than a fortnight, was
+the turning point in the reckless young lawyer's career. Up to that time he had been
+nobody, and had had no apparent prospect of ever attaining to any importance. But
+from this time forward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> official party regarded him in the light of a martyr who had suffered
+in the good cause. They feasted and lionized him, and did their utmost to advance his
+fortunes. At the elections which took place during the following year they returned
+him as one of the representatives of the County of Wentworth in the Assembly, where,
+though he lacked sufficient ballast to display anything like statesmanship, he made
+considerable noise, and erelong became a notable personage. He was voluble, and made
+many verbose speeches, the matter of which never rose above the veriest commonplace,
+but as it was always charged with emphatic High Toryism it was applauded to the echo
+by the official party. Eventually, as every Canadian knows, he obtained high
+distinction and eminence, and had abundant reason to bless the discipline which he
+had received at the hands of a Parliamentary Committee. But for that discipline he
+might have lived and died an obscure country lawyer. To that discipline he was
+indebted for all the honours which subsequently descended upon him. By its aid he
+successively became a member of the Upper Canadian Parliament, Speaker of the
+Assembly, Commander-in-Chief of the Upper Canadian land forces during the Rebellion,
+Knight, Queen's Counsel, member of the United Parliament of Canada, leader of the
+Tory Party in the Canadian Legislature, Premier, President of the Council and
+Minister of Agriculture, Baronet, honorary Colonel in the British Army, Aide-de-Camp
+to the Queen, Speaker of the Legislative Council. He also became father-in-law to a
+peer of the realm, and died Sir Allan MacNab of Dundurn. Certain passages of his life
+will form the subject of future consideration. Meanwhile it will be sufficient to
+remark that each successive link in the long chain of his triumphs may be distinctly
+traced to his supposed martyrdom at the hands of the Reform majority in the Upper
+Canadian Assembly in 1829.</p>
+
+<p>Another personage cited to appear before the Assembly's Committee on the same
+investigation was the Hon. H. J. Boulton, Solicitor-General. He displayed the same
+reticence as young MacNab, and refused to reply to certain questions put to him by
+the Chairman. He was soon taught that the high position which he occupied, backed, as
+it was, by the support of the party in power, could not shield him from the
+consequences of his refusal. Upon motion of Dr. Baldwin a resolution was<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> adopted that the
+Solicitor-General had been guilty of a high contempt and breach of the privileges of
+the House. He was placed at the bar, where he showed more sense of propriety than had
+been shown by his predecessor. He had no desire to wear a crown of martyrdom, and did
+his utmost to purge himself of his contempt. He pleaded that he had intended no
+disrespect to the Committee, nor any breach of the privileges of the Assembly, and
+concluded by saying that he stood ready to answer, if the House so desired. The House
+acted magnanimously, not choosing to humiliate a beaten man any farther than was
+necessary for the due vindication of its own authority. John Rolph, seconded by Dr.
+Ambrose Blacklock, one of the members for Stormont, moved that the Solicitor-General
+be admonished by the Speaker, and discharged on payment of fees to the
+Sergeant-at-Arms. The motion was carried, and it only remained for the culprit to
+submit to the mild discipline which he had been adjudged to bear.</p>
+
+<p>But there was reason for believing that that discipline would be a trying ordeal
+for the Solicitor-General. The Speaker who was to pronounce the admonition was no
+commonplace piece of clay, trained to the set phrase of office, like the previous
+occupant had been. He was no less a personage than Marshall Spring Bidwell, who, with
+perhaps the single exception of John Rolph, was the most eloquent and powerful
+speaker in the Province. When moved to righteous anger, he was capable of
+administering a scorching reproof, and if a man is ever justified in taking his
+antagonist at a disadvantage, ample justification was to be found in the present
+instance. Mr. Bidwell had reason to hate the very name of Boulton, and might well be
+expected to avail himself of such an opportunity of darting the hot iron into his
+enemy's soul. There was a feud of long standing between the Bidwells and the
+Boultons. The Bidwells had sustained serious wrong and insult at the hands of the
+Boultons, and the Boultons hated the Bidwells with the hatred which small natures
+always feel towards higher natures which they have wronged. It was a Boulton who had
+been despatched to Massachusetts in 1821, to hunt up evidence as to the alleged
+misconduct of the elder Bidwell.<a name="FNanchor_143_143"
+id="FNanchor_143_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_143" class="fnanchor">[143]</a> It
+was this same Henry John Boulton who had joined with his friend the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> Attorney-General
+in abusing and maligning the elder Bidwell during the election campaign of 1821, and
+afterwards. It was he who had put forth all the little strength that was in him to
+assist his party in bringing about the expulsion of the elder Bidwell from the
+Assembly.<a name="FNanchor_144_144" id="FNanchor_144_144"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_144_144" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> He had done his utmost, and
+successfully, to induce members of Parliament to vote for the statute which had
+forever closed the doors of the Upper Canadian Legislature to the ex-member of
+Congress.<a name="FNanchor_145_145" id="FNanchor_145_145"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_145_145" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> He had opposed the return of the
+younger Bidwell to the Assembly, and more recently, though he was not then a member
+of the House, he had done what he could to keep him out of the Speaker's Chair by
+influencing members in favour of John Willson. He had lost no opportunity of making
+himself personally offensive to Mr. Bidwell, whose abilities he envied, and whose
+character he was utterly incapable of appreciating. It will thus be seen that all the
+attendant circumstances combined to make Mr. Bidwell hate and contemn his adversary.
+If he failed to do so the explanation was to be found in his own gentle nature, and
+not in the lessons of humiliation which the Boultons had endeavoured to impose upon
+him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a memorable scene when the Solicitor-General stood up, on the 20th of
+February, to receive the admonition which he had been adjudged to endure. He was in a
+state of tremor, for he was conscious of the disadvantage of his position, and he
+dreaded the power of the Speaker's tongue. His friends also felt much solicitude on
+his account, for they knew how little consideration he deserved at the hands of the
+man who now had him in his power. For some moments a solemn silence reigned supreme.
+Then the Speaker's voice was heard; low at first, but steadily rising into clear and
+impressive tones which made every word sink deep into the hearts of the listeners.
+And the words themselves: how different from what the expectant personage at the bar
+had looked for! Nothing of malice or revenge there. Nothing but quiet dignity and
+forbearance. No mere spectator could have told whether the offender was a personal
+friend or an enemy of the Speaker. The voice was full of feeling, but utterly devoid
+of passion or malevolence. The power of Parliament was fully vindicated, yet the
+transgressor escaped without any unnecessary laceration of his pride. "By every<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> member of the
+community," proceeded Mr. Bidwell, "a ready and cheerful respect should be shown
+towards the House of Assembly, who represent the people of the Province, whom the
+constitution has entrusted with important privileges for the benefit of their
+constituents, and who are amenable to them for all that they do. But it might in a
+peculiar degree have been expected of you, whose duty it is to enforce submission to
+the laws and respect for the institutions of the country." Here Mr. Boulton bowed his
+head as if in mute assent. He was then informed that the House could not permit this
+formal and gratuitous denial of its authority to pass unnoticed. "It is important,"
+continued the Speaker, "that by its proceedings against you a warning should be
+given, before others are led by the influence of your sentiments and conduct to
+dispute an authority which the House is bound to vindicate and enforce. It is
+necessary that it should go thus far; but it gives me great satisfaction to observe
+that its duty does not compel, nor its inclination induce it, in your case, to go any
+farther than is requisite to attain this object; and, finding from your answer that
+you are now disposed to treat its privileges with just and becoming respect, and to
+defer your own private opinion to the judgment of that body whose constitutional
+right it is to decide upon its own privileges, it is willing to dismiss you with no
+other punishment than this admonition from its Speaker. This moderation is a proof
+that these privileges have been safely lodged by the constitution in its hands, and
+that they will never be used in a wanton or oppressive manner. It is by the order and
+in the name of the House that I thus admonish you, and direct that the
+Sergeant-at-Arms do now discharge you from custody." He was discharged accordingly,
+and left the house profoundly affected by the magnanimity of the man whom he had so
+grievously injured. One who seems to have watched him as he took his departure has
+recorded that the Boulton crest never hung so low as at that hour.<a name="FNanchor_146_146" id="FNanchor_146_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_146"
+class="fnanchor">[146]</a> Nothing could have more clearly proved the greatness of
+soul of Mr. Bidwell than this episode; nothing could have more effectually
+illustrated his capacity to rise superior to all merely personal considerations when
+entrusted with the discharge of a public duty. The London <i>Times</i> published a
+full<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> report
+of his admonition, which it pronounced to be the best paper of the kind on
+record.</p>
+
+<p>During the following summer an event took place which removed Attorney-General
+Robinson from the atmosphere of the Assembly, and was the indirect means of
+introducing Robert Baldwin to public life. This was the appointment of Mr. Robinson
+to the place of Chief Justice of Upper Canada. The office had just become vacant
+through the retirement of Chief Justice Campbell, who had received the honour of
+knighthood during his absence in England. Mr. Robinson thus obtained the reward which
+he had long coveted, and which his devotion to successive Lieutenant-Governors had
+richly earned. There was some doubt as to the strict legality of his passing directly
+from the office of Attorney-General to that of Chief Justice. To remove the doubt he
+accepted the position of Registrar of the County of Kent, which he resigned after
+holding it a few days. His appointment to the Chief Justiceship was made on the 13th
+of July, but owing to the delay occasioned by his acceptance of the inferior office
+it was confirmed and re-dated on the 3rd of August following. He then took his seat
+on the bench, and was destined to remain there for more than thirty-three years. As
+Chief Justice he succeeded to the Presidency of the Executive Council, and at the
+opening of the session in the beginning of 1830 he was nominated Speaker of the Upper
+House. His removal from the Assembly therefore did not remove him from the political
+arena, and for years afterwards he continued, in conjunction with his friend and
+quondam tutor Dr. Strachan, to direct the policy of the Government as completely as
+he had done for some years previously. He was succeeded in the office of
+Attorney-General by Henry John Boulton. The temporary purpose for which Mr. Hagerman
+had been appointed to the bench, in place of Mr. Justice Willis, having been fully
+effected, that gentleman now threw off his official robes and succeeded his friend
+Boulton as Solicitor-General.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Robinson's elevation to the bench left a vacancy in the representation of the
+Town of York. This vacancy young Robert Baldwin successfully aspired to fill. At the
+last general election, in conjunction with J. E. Small, he had unsuccessfully
+contested the County of York with W. L. Mackenzie and Jesse Ketchum. He was now
+opposed in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg
+229]</a></span> town by the same individual who had so lately been his coadjutor in
+the county. Mr. Small was defeated, but, at his instance, the return was declared
+void, the writ for the election having inadvertently been issued by the
+Lieutenant-Governor instead of by the Speaker of the Assembly, as in strictness it
+should have been. A new writ was issued, and Mr. Baldwin again contested the seat,
+his opponent now being the Sheriff of the County, William Botsford Jarvis. The
+Sheriff naturally enjoyed many advantages in such a contest, but he was defeated by a
+considerable majority, and on the opening of the session in the following January,
+Robert Baldwin, then in his twenty-sixth year, took his seat in Parliament for the
+first time. He however did not make any conspicuous figure during the session. He had
+already fully imbibed the idea that a responsible Executive was the great want of
+Upper Canadian polity, and took comparatively little interest in the subordinate
+questions of the day. He could see no good purpose to be served by recording
+successive majorities against the Government, so long as the members of that
+Government could retain their offices, together with the favour of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, in spite of any vote which the Assembly might see fit to record.
+He made no remarkable speeches, and seemed rather disposed to remain in the
+background. It so happened that he did not again have an opportunity of winning
+honours in the Legislature for many years, as, in consequence of the death of the
+king, a dissolution of Parliament took place before the time had arrived for the
+meeting of another session, and Robert Baldwin was one of the many Reform candidates
+who were beaten at the general elections which ensued.</p>
+
+<p>There are few facts worthy of record in connection with the session of 1830. In
+the Speech from the Throne the Lieutenant-Governor was able to announce that the
+revenue at the disposal of the Crown had been found sufficient to meet the
+requirements of the civil list, and that there still remained a considerable surplus
+in the Provincial Treasury. The Assembly's Address in Reply once more drew his
+Excellency's attention to the want of confidence felt in the advisers by whom he was
+surrounded. "We still feel unabated solicitude about the administration of public
+justice," it ran, "and entertain a settled conviction that the continuance about your
+Excellency of those advisers who from the unhappy policy<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> they pursued have long deservedly
+lost the confidence of the country, is highly inexpedient, and calculated seriously
+to weaken the expectations of the people from the impartial and disinterested justice
+of His Majesty's Government." The response to this intimation is probably the
+briefest official deliverance of the kind on record. Divested of the formal
+commencement, it contained exactly six short words: "I thank you for your Address."
+The number of Bills passed by the Assembly and rejected by the Upper House during the
+session was twenty-seven. In addition to these there were several Bills which
+originated in the Assembly, but were afterwards rejected by that House by reason of
+amendments made to them by the Legislative Council.<a name="FNanchor_147_147"
+id="FNanchor_147_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_147_147" class="fnanchor">[147]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span class="label">[130]</span></a> It has not been
+thought desirable to incumber the text with footnotes except where they seemed to
+be needed for purposes of elucidation; but in every matter of real importance,
+where the reader of average information and intelligence may reasonably be
+supposed to be in doubt as to the source of the narrative, care has been taken to
+indicate the authority.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+48.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+140.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> See <i>Seventh
+Report of Grievance Committee</i>, p. xxxvii. The School Act referred to was 4
+George IV. cap. 8, passed on the 19th of January, 1824. John Henry Dunn,
+Receiver-General of the Province, seems also to have protested against the
+measure, and to have consented, under pressure, to the erasure of his protest.
+See the evidence of the Hon. William Dickson and the Hon. Thomas Clark, referred
+to in the ensuing paragraph of the text.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> The royal assent to
+this Act was promulgated by a proclamation bearing date April 4th, 1825.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+14.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a> See <i>Report on
+Petitions against Wild Lands Assessment Law</i>, in Appendix to <i>Journals of
+Assembly</i> for 1828, p. 107 <i>et seq.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_137_137" id="Footnote_137_137"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_137_137"><span class="label">[137]</span></a> See <i>The Split in
+the Legislative Council</i>, by F. C. [? Francis Collins], p. 7.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_138_138" id="Footnote_138_138"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_138_138"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i>, p.
+8.</p>
+<p><a name="Footnote_139_139" id="Footnote_139_139"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_139_139"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> <i>The Split in the
+Legislative Council</i>, ubi supra, p. 10.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_140_140" id="Footnote_140_140"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_140_140"><span class="label">[140]</span></a> In 1849.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_141_141" id="Footnote_141_141"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_141_141"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Such, as far as I
+have been able to learn, was the conviction of all Mackenzie's contemporaries,
+even of those most favourably disposed, including those who were thrown into the
+most intimate relations with him, and were bound to him by close ties. One of the
+foremost of these, in a conversation with me a short time since, remarked:
+"Mackenzie generally meant well, but he was unpractical and unmanageable. I knew
+him intimately from his boyhood, and I am compelled to say that whenever he was
+in the least excited he acted like a spoiled child. He underwent no change in
+this respect, and was the same in youth, manhood and old age. A more unfit person
+to be entrusted with the management of any great enterprise, or with the control
+of his fellow-creatures, I can hardly conceive." I have abundant written
+testimony to the same effect.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_142_142" id="Footnote_142_142"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_142_142"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> <i>History of
+Canada</i>, p. 370.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_143_143" id="Footnote_143_143"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_143_143"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+100.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_144_144" id="Footnote_144_144"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_144_144"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+101.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_145_145" id="Footnote_145_145"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_145_145"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_146_146" id="Footnote_146_146"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_146_146"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> <i>The Hamilton
+Outrage</i>, by "Vindex," p. 9. York, 1829.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_147_147" id="Footnote_147_147"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_147_147"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> For the titles of
+these measures, see the <i>Seventh Report of Grievance Committee</i>, pp. 266,
+267.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 75%;">
+<img src="images/chapxi.jpg" width="300" height="52" alt="chapxi" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XI.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p>
+<h4>PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 75px;">
+<img src="images/letterf.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterf" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">F</span>
+or several years before this time a quiet and almost imperceptible change had been
+taking place in Upper Canadian politics. On one side was the old High Tory or Family
+Compact party, who revelled in the spoils of office, and held the representative of
+Majesty in the hollow of their hands. The policy of this body was unchanged and
+unchangeable. The Reform party, though it had not been in existence more than six
+years, already began to show symptoms of want of cohesion. The men of moderate views,
+like the Rolphs, the Baldwins and the Bidwells, composed fully two-thirds of the
+entire number. The ultra-Radicals, composed for the most part of unlettered farmers
+and recently-arrived immigrants, began to show evidence of a desire to rally
+themselves under the banner of Mackenzie, who, through the combined influence of his
+paper and his election to Parliament, had of late come prominently before the public.
+A large and intelligent body of electors had however grown up within the last few
+years who, while they professed Conservative principles, were disgusted with the
+greedy, self-seeking Compact, whose practices they held in utter disdain. They held
+politicians of the Mackenzie stamp in still greater abhorrence, to which was added a
+large modicum of contempt. With the moderate Reformers, on the other hand, they had
+much in common. Many of them approved of the doctrine of Responsible Government, and
+almost all of them desired to see the end of Compact domination. At the last general
+election their votes had been very much divided. But they were now disposed to hold
+aloof from the Reformers in consequence of the latter's being nominally of the same
+party as the Mackenzie Radicals, who had only recently come into exist<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span>ence. The
+exercise of a little diplomacy and mutual forbearance at this time might, it is
+believed, have effected that union between these two classes of persons which was
+actually accomplished about a quarter of a century later. Such an union would have
+made the united party all powerful. It would have swept away the Compact, together
+with the long-standing abuses which had grown up under their rule, and the united
+party would quietly have assumed the reins of power with an overwhelming majority at
+its back. There would thus have been no <i>raison d'&ecirc;tre</i> for the Radical
+element, which would necessarily have been absorbed, or would at least have ceased to
+be an important factor in political life.</p>
+
+<p>These things, however, were not to be. Neither of the parties primarily interested
+made any advances to the other, and each was left to pursue its own line of policy.
+As a consequence the moderate Conservatives henceforth voted as one man. They saw the
+Radical element assuming an importance which, as they believed, was fraught with far
+greater danger to the commonwealth than was likely to arise from the continued
+ascendency of the Compact. They gave the official party a qualified support, merely
+because they regarded them as the less of two evils, and their votes at the general
+election of 1830 resulted in the return of a considerable majority of candidates
+favourable to the official body.</p>
+
+<p>The Reformers could no longer hope to obtain justice, even in the Assembly, where
+they had exerted a predominating influence during the last two Parliaments. So long
+as they had had control of the Lower House they had possessed the shadow of power
+without the reality. Even the shadow had been better than nothing; but of this shadow
+they were henceforth to be deprived. They had not only sustained numerical defeat.
+Some of their most trusted leaders had been beaten at the polls, and were no longer
+able to raise their voices in Parliament. Robert Baldwin's defeat in York has already
+been mentioned.<a name="FNanchor_148_148" id="FNanchor_148_148"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_148_148" class="fnanchor">[148]</a> His father had suffered a similar
+fate in Norfolk. In Middlesex John Rolph and Captain Matthews had been succeeded by
+Colonel Mahlon Burwell and another adherent of the Compact. Lennox and Addington had
+again returned Bidwell and Perry,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> but, owing to the changed complexion of the House,
+there was no possibility of the former's re-election to the Speaker's chair. Among
+other triumphs scored by the official party were the return of the Solicitor-General,
+Christopher A. Hagerman, for Kingston; of the Attorney-General, H. J. Boulton, for
+Niagara; of William B. Robinson (brother of the Chief Justice) for Simcoe, and of
+Allan N. MacNab for Wentworth. York still remained true to Mackenzie, and, as will
+presently be seen, his presence in a House composed mainly of political opponents was
+destined to lead to serious complications. Upon the assembling of the Legislature
+early in the following year, Archibald</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1831.</div>
+<p>McLean, the official candidate for the Speakership, was elected by a majority of
+twelve votes. No adherent of the official party could have been more acceptable to
+the Reformers than Mr. McLean, who was a gentleman of high standing at the bar, and
+who personally enjoyed great popularity. He sat for the County of Stormont, which he
+had represented for many years, during all of which period he had maintained friendly
+personal relations with the members of the Opposition. Great confidence was felt in
+his personal integrity, and in his earnestness for the country's welfare. He had
+special claims to consideration, for he was a Canadian by birth, and had fought and
+bled in defence of his native land during the War of 1812. Still, he represented
+political principles which the Reform members had been expressly returned to combat,
+and the mere fact of his election to the Speaker's Chair by a majority of twelve
+votes in a House which numbered fewer than fifty members was in itself a sufficient
+indication that those principles were for the time unmistakably in the ascendant in
+Upper Canada. The proceedings of the House during the session furnished an apt and
+conclusive commentary upon this fact.</p>
+
+<p>The session of 1831 was chiefly memorable for two things: the passing of the
+Everlasting Salary Bill, as it was called by those opposed to it; and the
+commencement of the agitation which had for its object the exclusion of Mr. Mackenzie
+from the Legislature.</p>
+
+<p>The Salary Bill was simply a measure granting to the Provincial Government a
+permanent Civil List, in return for the cession by the Crown of the control of the
+Imperial duties. It was introduced in accordance with a suggestion from the King, but
+the Provincial Execu<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg
+234]</a></span>tive concealed certain facts in connection with it, of which the
+Opposition did not become aware until some time afterwards.<a name="FNanchor_149_149"
+id="FNanchor_149_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_149" class="fnanchor">[149]</a></p>
+<p>By this Bill provision was made for the salaries of the Lieutenant-Governor, the
+three Judges of the Court of King's Bench, the Attorney-General, the
+Solicitor-General, five Executive Councillors, and the Clerk of the Executive
+Council. Reformers were strenuously opposed to the measure, which they regarded as
+another blow at the constitutional rights of the Assembly. It of course had the
+effect of rendering the Executive more independent of the Assembly, and more
+indifferent to its opposition, than ever. Hagerman and Boulton, whose official
+salaries were thereby provided for, were conspicuous above all other persons in the
+House in defending this measure, and in browbeating those who ventured to raise their
+voices against it. The Reform members found Attorney-General Boulton an infliction
+specially hard to bear. His predecessor, Mr. Robinson, had been a sufficiently
+galling yoke, but his abilities had made him respected, and he had seldom attempted
+to play the bully. In cases where no important party interests were at stake he had
+generally been amenable to reason, and had not gone out of his way to needlessly
+exacerbate the feelings of those who disagreed with him. Now, a different order of
+things prevailed. Boulton was simply unendurable. His capacity was barely such as to
+enable him to discharge his official functions, and what he lacked in ability he made
+up for in bluster. He had an abominable temper, and a haughty, overbearing manner. He
+was always committing blunders which he refused to acknowledge, and he roared and
+bullied his way through one compli<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235"
+id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span>cation after another in a fashion which disgusted
+even those with whom he acted. During the discussion on the Salary Bill he shrieked
+and raved himself hoarse in denouncing what he called the "factious insolence" of the
+Opposition. Of his own factious insolence he seems to have been altogether oblivious.
+The Bill was passed, but he was not destined to a long enjoyment of the provision
+thereby made for the Attorney-General.</p>
+
+<p>The Mackenzie persecution was a matter of greater moment than the Salary Bill, and
+was fated to produce results altogether unexpected by those who set it on foot. The
+session was not many days old when Mr. Mackenzie once more began to make himself
+conspicuous in Opposition. He moved a resolution denying the authority of the
+Executive to prescribe the religious observances of the Assembly, and affirming the
+right of the latter body to appoint its own chaplain. He made a forcible but
+exasperating speech in support of his motion, which, by vote of the House, was not
+submitted. He then moved that the ministers of religion of various denominations
+resident in York should be requested to say prayers in the House during the session.
+This motion was equally unsuccessful. During the debate, the Assembly was favoured
+with a characteristic specimen of Attorney-General Boulton's oratory. He stigmatized
+the assumption that the House was entitled to appoint its own chaplain as of a piece
+with the assumption of an assassin that he has a right to shoot down a man in the
+street&mdash;the right of brute force. This nonsensical tirade he shrieked out by way
+of peroration to a speech intended as a defence of the right of the Government in the
+matter of the chaplaincy. It is strange that the House should have listened to such
+balderdash, not only with patience, but even with apparent submission.
+Solicitor-General Hagerman spoke in a similar strain, but with less of irascibility.
+He warned the House that the Government was too powerful for them; that the
+Lieutenant-Governor had strong feelings on this subject, and that if they persisted
+in opposing his wishes confusion would ensue, and an end would be put to their
+proceedings.</p>
+
+<p>But Mackenzie was not to be dismayed by the want of success of his exertions to
+popularize the religious ceremonial of the Assembly. He next moved for an inquiry
+into the state of the representation. Such<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> an inquiry was urgently needed, for the House was
+full of postmasters, county registrars, inspectors of licenses, and other placemen
+who held office at the will of the Executive, and who therefore could not be expected
+to be honest exponents of public opinion in their respective constituencies.
+Mackenzie, in the course of a vigorous speech, presented such an array of facts that
+a committee of inquiry was appointed. This success he followed up by a motion for an
+inquiry into certain pensions, fees and salaries. Then he instituted a crusade
+against the management of the Bank of Upper Canada, of which institution
+Attorney-General Boulton was solicitor. Each of these motions afforded opportunities
+for inflammatory speeches, in the course of which the Government and its official
+favourites were handled with scant consideration. The Attorney-General was several
+times lashed into a state of almost insane fury, and on one occasion seemed to be on
+the point of rushing across the floor and making a personal onslaught upon Mr.
+Mackenzie. The "little mannikin from York," as he was called, always had the courage
+of his opinions, and rather courted such an attack than otherwise. That he had many
+and grave faults cannot be denied, but certainly cowardice was not among the number.
+No more certain means of intensifying his opposition could have been found than an
+attempt to put him down by the strong hand. He continued to make motion upon motion
+and speech upon speech, and before the session was half over he had managed to cause
+an amount of annoyance to the Government such as they had never before known. And all
+this time the party to which he belonged was in an insignificant minority in the
+Assembly. What then was to be anticipated when the chances and changes of time should
+once more place that party in the ascendant there?</p>
+
+<p>In former times it had been possible for the official party to rid themselves of a
+troublesome opponent upon any slight pretext. Why not now, when the Assembly was
+well-nigh as obedient as the Upper House, and when some of the ablest members of the
+Reform party had ceased to occupy themselves with public affairs? Certainly there had
+never been a time when suppression was more imperatively required, for did not this
+man Mackenzie spout something very much like democracy in their very faces? Had he
+not made several speeches in the House<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237"
+id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> which had aroused a spirit of inquiry? If he were
+allowed to continue, was it not inevitable that some of his waspish stings must take
+serious effect?</p>
+
+<p>Prosecutions for libel had become unpopular. The case of Francis Collins had
+aroused such a clamour that it was not deemed wise to try further experiments in that
+direction. In April, 1828&mdash;about the same time when measures had been instituted
+against Collins&mdash;an indictment for libel had actually been laid against
+Mackenzie for a paragraph published in the <i>Advocate</i>, in which the Crown
+lawyers and other supporters of the Government had been referred to in contumelious
+terms, and wherein a hope had been expressed that the constituencies returning
+certain Tory members to Parliament would clear the Assembly of "the whole of that
+ominous nest of unclean birds."<a name="FNanchor_150_150" id="FNanchor_150_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_150" class="fnanchor">[150]</a> But
+the Attorney-General, after keeping the prosecution impending over the defendant's
+head for many months, had seen fit to abandon it. The times, in fact, had ceased to
+be propitious for libel prosecutions, and some other way out of the difficulty had to
+be found. The device actually hit upon to get rid of Mackenzie's opposition in the
+Assembly was worthy of the minds which had plotted the ruin of Captain Matthews,
+Justice Willis and Francis Collins. Mackenzie, who had the contract for printing the
+journals of the House, and who generally had a number of copies of those journals on
+hand, had distributed a hundred and sixty-eight of them throughout some of the
+constituencies just prior to the last general election. This had been done at his own
+expense, and in the interest of the Reform candidates; for he believed that no more
+effective campaign document could be devised than a truthful record of the
+proceedings in the House. But as strict matter of Parliamentary law he had been
+guilty of a breach of privilege, no one having a right to publish reports of the
+proceedings of the Houses without authority. The existence of such a rule is perhaps
+salutary, as there are conceivable cases in which it would be inexpedient to allow
+such publication. But, as everybody knew, Parliament had long been accustomed to wink
+at perpetual violations of this rule. Newspapers all over the world had been
+permitted, and even encouraged, to transgress it. Some of the leading organs of pub<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span>lic
+opinion in different parts of the world had built up their reputations mainly by the
+fulness and accuracy of their reports of Parliamentary proceedings. Nothing can be
+more certain than that there would have been no talk about enforcing the obsolete
+rule at this time but for the fact that it seemed to afford a pretext for punishing
+the man whom the Government party wished to destroy. The attempt to enforce it was
+not a success. The motion to that end was made by Allan MacNab, and was to the effect
+that Mackenzie had abused the trust reposed in him as the printer of the journals, by
+distributing portions of the same for political purposes, and among persons not
+entitled to copies thereof, thereby committing a breach of the privileges of the
+House. The junior member for Wentworth thundered with tremendous vehemence in support
+of his motion. To judge from his language, his soul had been stirred to its
+nethermost depths by this lamentable violation of Parliamentary privilege, which he
+characterized as a species of treason. Hagerman and Boulton followed in the same
+strain, the latter waxing almost pathetic in his expressions of devotion to the
+British constitution. But their exertions were ineffectual. The House, subservient
+though it was, was not to be coerced into supporting a motion which, if carried,
+would almost certainly be converted into a basis of attack on persons who were
+favourable to the Administration. A majority of the members foresaw that if Mackenzie
+were punished on such a pretext, his fellow-workers in the Assembly would not fail to
+institute measures against the publishers of various newspapers throughout the land
+who had been in the constant habit of reporting the proceedings in Parliament without
+leave. Only fifteen members voted for MacNab's motion, while twenty recorded their
+votes against it, and among the latter were several of the most redoubtable Tories in
+the House. The organizers of the attack perceived that they had made a false move,
+and withdrew their forces for a fresh assault in a different quarter.</p>
+
+<p>The opportunity for a fresh attack did not present itself until the following
+session. Meanwhile, Mackenzie occupied himself in turning his notoriety to account,
+and in developing his policy of agitation. He resolved upon getting up a series of
+petitions to the King and the Imperial Parliament, calling attention to the various
+grievances wherewith the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg
+239]</a></span> inhabitants of the Province were burdened, and praying for redress.
+During the summer he carried out his project by organizing a series of public
+meetings in some of the most populous cities and towns of the Province, at each of
+which a petition was adopted and numerously signed. It is said that the aggregate
+number of signatures obtained exceeded 24,500. The agitator's success encouraged him
+to persevere in the course he had adopted, and when Parliament re-assembled in
+November he was ripe and ready for the fray that was sure to follow. The assault
+against him now took the shape of a charge of gross, scandalous and malicious libel,
+intended and calculated to bring the House and the Government of the Province into
+contempt, and to excite groundless suspicion and distrust in the minds of the
+inhabitants, thereby constituting a breach of privilege. The matter complained of was
+embodied in two articles published in the <i>Advocate</i> subsequent to the opening
+of the session, and both publication and authorship were admitted by Mackenzie. One
+of the articles was a sharp criticism on the manner in which the House had treated a
+petition from certain inhabitants of Vaughan. The other was a well-merited tirade
+against the local Executive, which was unfavourably contrasted with that of the
+sister Province. Neither of them was grossly abusive, nor even unfair. They were
+indeed exceptionally favourable specimens of the Mackenzie style of journalism, and
+were incomparably milder than articles which may constantly be seen in the Canadian
+party journals of the present day.</p>
+
+<p>Being called upon for his defence, Mackenzie addressed the House with more than
+his wonted ability. He exposed the flimsiness of the charges against him, and the
+gross partiality of the proceedings. But the House was in search, not of justice, but
+of a victim, and neither the eloquence of a Demosthenes nor the reasoning powers of a
+Pascal would have availed aught with that hostile majority. Attorney-General Boulton,
+in the course of the discussion, delivered himself of a tempest of characteristic
+abuse against the accused, to whom he referred as a reptile. Solicitor-General
+Hagerman could always be depended upon as a good second in such emergencies, and
+followed up by referring to Mr. Mackenzie as a spaniel dog. The House seemed to
+accept these choice Parliamentary epithets with approval. They came from an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> official source,
+and it is so easy to be strong upon the stronger side. Little chance was there for
+the maimed and bleeding under dog in the fight among that crowd of venal and
+merciless sycophants, some of whom had libelled the late Assembly in terms thrice as
+gross as any that had been employed in the articles in question. The <i>tu quoque</i>
+argument is not generally admissible in legal investigations, but surely it might
+have been permitted to have some weight with the judges&mdash;who were likewise the
+jurors&mdash;in this case. Neither that nor any argument appears to have been
+seriously considered. The usual forms were gone through, in order to preserve some
+appearance of conventional propriety, but a verdict of guilty was altogether certain
+and beyond peradventure from the moment when the indictment was laid. By a vote of
+twenty-seven to fifteen it was resolved that Mackenzie was guilty of the libel
+charged against him. By a vote of twenty-six to fourteen it was resolved that he was
+guilty of a high breach of the privileges of the House. And by a vote of twenty-four
+to fifteen, it was resolved that he be expelled therefrom.</p>
+
+<p>To characterize these proceedings as a series of shameful abuses of power is
+certainly not to exceed the bounds of moderation. The persons responsible for them
+must stand tainted at the bar of history for all time to come. It is far from
+desirable to perpetuate the bitterness of the past, but it is possible for oblivion
+to be too charitable. It is well that those who are accustomed to speak of "the
+rebels" of 1837 with contumely and indignation should bear in mind against whom and
+what it was that they rebelled. The expulsion of Mackenzie from the Assembly was not
+the greatest act of tyranny to which the people of Upper Canada were compelled to
+submit in the far-away days that are gone; but the nature of the abuse was such that
+it awoke widespread alarm, and gave rise to ominous forebodings. It indicated that
+constitutional opposition to the Government was no longer safe in the Assembly, as it
+had been during the two preceding Parliaments. It indicated that nothing approaching
+to a fair trial was to be had, even from the High Court of Parliament, for a
+politician who dared to criticize the official methods of transacting the public
+business. Growls of discontent were heard from all over the County of York, whose
+representative was treated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> with such ignominy. People were heard to express an opinion that
+Upper Canada was no longer a fit place of abode for free men and women.</p>
+<p>The public indignation found expression in several petitions, addressed to the
+Lieutenant-Governor by electors in York and elsewhere, in which his Excellency was
+asked to "dismiss a House tainted with the worst vices of judicial partiality." A
+deputation, consisting of more than nine hundred persons, called at Government House
+to present one of these manifestations of popular sentiment. His Excellency could not
+well refuse to receive a respectfully-worded petition, but his reply was so curt and
+unsatisfactory as to amount to positive insolence. "Gentlemen," said he, "I have
+received the petition of the inhabitants." And with this wholly unnecessary item of
+information the deputation was compelled to withdraw. So utter a disregard for the
+expression of the opinion of a considerable body of the inhabitants was without
+precedent in the annals of the Province. That the prayer of the petition would be
+granted, or even that it would be taken into serious consideration, was hardly to be
+expected. Its very nature forbade any such expectation. But, considering the number
+of names appended to it, it certainly merited a serious response, in which light the
+actual rejoinder could not be regarded. The proceeding showed not merely
+indifference, but contempt; and thenceforward Sir John Colborne was as cordially
+hated by the Reformers of Upper Canada as ever Sir Peregrine Maitland had been.<a
+name="FNanchor_151_151" id="FNanchor_151_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_151"
+class="fnanchor">[151]</a></p>
+
+<p>The efforts of the faction to ruin and humiliate Mackenzie had the effect which
+such treatment always produces in communities where the inhabitants have been
+indoctrinated with ideas of fair play and equal rights. It made a popular hero of one
+who, if the truth must be told, had very little of the heroic in his composition. Had
+the Government been wise enough in their own interests to let him have his say in the
+Assembly, he would soon have found his proper level, and would have<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> ceased to carry
+any weight there.<a name="FNanchor_152_152" id="FNanchor_152_152"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_152_152" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> He would undoubtedly have raised
+a good deal of temporary excitement by unearthing abuses, and by vituperating persons
+whom he disliked. But he could never have seriously threatened the supremacy of the
+Compact, for the very sufficient reason that he could not command the sympathies or
+respect of the leading spirits of his own party. Rolph, the Bidwells and the Baldwins
+had by this time come to rate Mackenzie at about his true value. They recognized his
+talents, which were many and considerable. He had a clear head for accounts, and was
+full of suggestive ideas about matters of finance. Some of these ideas were
+unpractical, and even chimerical, but anyone capable of separating the wheat from the
+chaff could learn much from him, and could render his suggestions available. He was
+an excellent subordinate, useful on committees, and active in the management of
+details. He also had his uses as the conductor of a public press, though, owing to
+the erratic and ill-balanced mind of its editor, the <i>Advocate</i> was in some
+respects a source of weakness rather than of strength. His influence was pretty much
+confined to the farmers and mechanics of that portion of the country where his paper
+was chiefly circulated; and even there his influence would never have been anything
+like so great as it actually became had it not been for the persecution to<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> which he was
+subjected. Over and beyond, he could not be said to have any distinctive <i>locus
+standi</i> in the Reform party. Of statesmanship, properly so called, he had nothing
+beyond the most misty conception. The structure of his mind prevented him from seeing
+a question in its various aspects, and in judging of future political events he was
+much more often wrong than right. That he was honestly desirous of advancing the
+cause which he had espoused there seemed no good reason to doubt, but it was evident
+to those who were brought into intimate relations with him that the fiery zeal which
+he displayed was made up at least as much of hatred of his foes as of any
+overpowering enthusiasm for Reform. Another quality which seriously interfered with
+his usefulness was his exceeding want of discretion. He seemed to be utterly
+incapable of keeping his own counsel, and a secret once told to him was a secret no
+longer. His rashness and impetuosity were proverbial, and were perpetually involving
+him in disputes, not only with enemies but with friends.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1832.</div>
+<p>It was surely a short-sighted policy which gave to a man so constituted a
+factitious importance, and which made him for some years the most notorious personage
+in Upper Canada. The treatment he had received aroused popular sympathy on his
+behalf, and preparations were made to return him again for the County of York by an
+increased majority. When the new election was held, on the 2nd of January in the
+following year, a long procession of sleighs escorted him to the polling-place, which was the Red
+Lion Tavern, on Yonge Street. Two thousand persons assembled to witness the triumph
+of "the people's friend." An Oppositionist was nominated, but as he received only one
+vote during the hour and a half which elapsed after the opening of the poll, he
+abandoned the contest, and Mackenzie's triumph was assured. The close of the poll was
+followed by the presentation of a gold medal by his constituents, as a token of their
+approbation. A number of sleighs were then formed in line and paraded down Yonge
+Street, and thence past Government House and down to the Parliament Buildings. The
+foremost sleigh was decorated with enthusiastic mottoes painted on calico, and cheers
+for the successful candidate rent the air as the procession passed along the
+principal thoroughfares. All this popular adulation was grateful to Mackenzie's soul.
+He was in his element.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>There is no need to linger over this part of the narrative. Parliament was still
+in session, and the Assembly were resolved that, no matter what the electors of York
+might think proper to do, Mackenzie should not sit in the House. A new pretext for
+his expulsion was found in an article of which he avowed himself to be the author,
+and which appeared in the <i>Advocate</i> of the 5th of January. This article was a
+true and by no means intemperate recital of certain well-known facts as to certain
+measures which had been passed by the Assembly. It was notwithstanding adjudged, by a
+vote of twenty-seven to nineteen, to be a libel on the House, and a high breach of
+its privileges; and it was further resolved that Mr. Mackenzie be expelled the House,
+and declared unfit and unworthy to hold a seat therein during the existing
+Parliament. But his constituency stood loyally by him, and again re-elected him by an
+overwhelming majority within a few weeks after this second expulsion. His popularity
+reached a higher point than ever. Public meetings were held all over the Province to
+protest against the measures which had been adopted towards him, and petitions to the
+King and the Imperial Parliament were again circulated and signed by great numbers of
+the inhabitants. These meetings proved so successful that the Government party deemed
+it wise to take some steps of a similar character on their own behalf, with a view to
+checkmating the operations of the Reformers. Nothing is more easy than to obtain
+signatures to petitions, which are frequently signed without being read. Opposition
+meetings were held by supporters of the Government, at which excuses were attempted
+to be made for the expulsions of Mackenzie, and at which counter petitions to the
+King and Parliament of Great Britain were signed by many thousands of persons. One of
+the meetings was held at Hamilton on the 19th of March, and Mackenzie attended it by
+special invitation. That same night an attack was made upon him by certain myrmidons
+of the official party, who kicked and beat him severely. At another meeting held at
+York four days later the proceedings became so riotous that the Sheriff professed
+himself unable to preserve the peace. An attack was made upon the office of the
+<i>Advocate</i>, the windows of which were broken. The town remained in a very
+disturbed state throughout the ensuing night, and a large proportion of the
+inhabitants<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span>
+did not venture to seek repose. Mackenzie deemed it prudent to retire into the
+country for several weeks; and almost immediately after his return to town he set off
+on an important mission to England. It was considered that the most effectual method
+of impressing the subject-matter of the various Reform petitions upon those to whom
+they were addressed would he to send Mackenzie himself across the Atlantic to present
+them, and to urge the many much-needed colonial reforms upon the attention of members
+of the British House of Commons. It was believed that he could accomplish the various
+objects of his mission and return in time to take his seat in the Assembly at its
+opening towards the close of the year. He deputed the editing and publication of the
+<i>Advocate</i> to other hands, and sailed from New York on the 1st of May. In due
+course he reached his destination, and put himself into communication with Hume,
+Roebuck, Cobbett, O'Connell, and other eminent persons of Liberal proclivities,
+including Lord Goderich, the Colonial Secretary.</p>
+
+<p>The reader hardly needs to be informed that this was a momentous period in the
+history of England. It was the epoch of Reform, and the nation was in a state of
+ferment. During the brief space while Mackenzie had been crossing the Atlantic great
+events had taken place. Earl Grey's ministry had resigned; Sir Robert Peel had
+refused to join the Duke of Wellington in an attempt to form a Government; and Earl
+Grey had resumed office, armed with the King's written authority to Lord Brougham and
+himself to create as many peers as might be necessary to ensure the passing of the
+Reform Bill. This authority it did not become necessary to exercise. The titled
+aristocracy bowed to the unconquerable will of a great and thoroughly-aroused people,
+and Mackenzie reached London in time to hear the third reading of the Great Bill in
+the House of Lords. He was soon afterwards received at the Colonial Office, not as
+the representative of any particular class of Canadian politicians, but as a person
+interested in Canadian affairs, and able to afford much valuable information
+concerning them.<a name="FNanchor_153_153" id="FNanchor_153_153"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_153_153" class="fnanchor">[153]</a> He then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> found that the efforts of the
+official party in Upper Canada to render his mission inoperative had not been barren
+of results. Petitions had been received at the Colonial Office in which entire
+satisfaction was expressed with the existing laws and institutions of the Province;
+and the signatures thereto slightly exceeded in number those appended to the
+petitions of which he himself had been the bearer. He however devoted himself with
+characteristic energy to the presentation of his case, and prepared a memoir wherein
+all the most serious grievances of the Upper Canadian people were set forth in
+detail. In this document the writer adopted a discursive and rhetorical style which,
+as the Colonial Secretary justly remarked, were "singularly ill adapted to bring
+questions of so much intricacy and importance to a definite issue." The facts were
+nevertheless pretty comprehensively embodied, and were generally speaking of such a
+character as to tell their own story. The perusal of the memoir seems to have
+produced an impression upon the Colonial Secretary's mind. He wrote a long and
+elaborate despatch to Sir John Colborne, in which the weak points of Mackenzie's
+arguments were exposed with cutting severity, and wherein it was evident that very
+little weight had been attached to most of his representations; but at the same time
+certain concessions to popular opinion were plainly hinted at. When this despatch was
+submitted to the Legislative Council and Assembly of Upper Canada at the ensuing
+session it was treated with scant respect. The Upper House formally declared that it
+did not regard it as calling for serious attention, and returned it to the
+Lieutenant-Governor. The Assembly discussed the propriety of sending it back, but
+finally resolved not to do so. Both the Crown Law Officers made hot-headed speeches
+on the subject, and referred to the Colonial Secretary in the most contemptuous
+terms.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span>
+Meanwhile, Mackenzie, who still remained in England, was in his absence expelled
+from the Assembly a third time. On this occasion there was no preliminary attempt to
+convict him of any fresh libel or breach of privilege. The Law Officers of the Crown
+simplified the proceedings by declaring that the House had a right to determine as to
+the eligibility of members, and a resolution to that effect was moved and carried. It
+was then resolved that the person returned for York was the same William Lyon
+Mackenzie who had been twice expelled the House and declared unfit to hold a seat
+therein; and that by reason thereof the said Mackenzie could not sit or vote in the
+House as a member thereof. He was then expelled for the third time, and a new writ
+was issued for the County of York. The inhabitants of that constituency felt so much
+aggrieved, and gave such loud-mouthed expression to their dissatisfaction, that no
+candidate hostile to Mackenzie dared to present himself at the ensuing election, and
+the choice of the people was returned by acclamation.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1833.</div>
+<p>The part taken by the Law Officers of the Crown in these repeated expulsions was
+not acceptable to the Colonial Office. Neither was the contemptuous manner in which
+they had seen fit to refer to the Secretary's despatch written after the perusal of
+Mackenzie's memoir. A missive on the former subject had been sent to Sir John
+Colborne some months before the commencement of the session of 1832-3, the contents
+of which seem to have been promptly communicated to Messieurs Boulton and Hagerman.<a
+name="FNanchor_154_154" id="FNanchor_154_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_154"
+class="fnanchor">[154]</a> Notwithstanding that communication, those gentlemen had
+seen fit, soon after the opening of the session, to take a leading part in another
+expulsion, and to make contemptuous references to the conduct of the Colonial
+Secretary himself. The Attorney-General had expressed an opinion that the Secretary
+might have found something better to do than to sit down and answer "Mackenzie's
+rigmarole trash." Solicitor-General Hagerman had remarked that the Secretary had
+stultified himself by noticing statements which rested on no better authority than
+that of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> a
+person who had been twice expelled the Assembly, and who had been declared unfit to
+sit therein in consequence of his having "fabricated and reiterated libels of the
+grossest description." Lord Goderich signified his disapprobation of this conduct in
+the most emphatic manner by dismissing the two virulent critics from office. Their
+dismissal was effected by a despatch to Sir John Colborne dated March 6th, 1833. "By
+the accounts I have lately received of the proceedings of the Legislature of Upper
+Canada," wrote his Lordship, "I have learnt that the Attorney and Solicitor-General
+of that Province have, in their places in the Assembly, taken a part directly opposed
+to the avowed policy of His Majesty's Government. As members of the Provincial
+Parliament, Mr. Boulton and Mr. Hagerman are of course bound to act upon their own
+view of what is most for the interest of their constituents, and of the colony at
+large. But if, upon questions of great political importance, they unfortunately
+differ in opinion from His Majesty's Government, it is obvious that they cannot
+continue to hold confidential situations in His Majesty's service without either
+betraying their duty as members of the Legislature, or bringing the sincerity of the
+Government into question by their opposition to the policy which His Majesty has been
+advised to pursue." It was intimated that the Law Officers of the Crown could not be
+permitted to impede the Government policy, and that in order that those gentlemen
+might be at full liberty to follow their own judgment, they were to be relieved from
+their offices.<a name="FNanchor_155_155" id="FNanchor_155_155"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_155_155" class="fnanchor">[155]</a></p>
+
+<p>When this despatch reached York, towards the end of April, its contents were
+communicated to Attorney-General Boulton. Mr. Hagerman had started for England a
+short time before on a mission connected with the Clergy Reserves, and, as was
+said,<a name="FNanchor_156_156" id="FNanchor_156_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_156"
+class="fnanchor">[156]</a> in order to obtain a permanent appointment to a judgeship.
+He learned of his dismissal immediately upon his arrival in London, and lost no time
+in putting himself in com<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg
+249]</a></span>munication with the Colonial Minister. An important change had
+recently taken place at the Colonial Office. Lord Goderich had vacated the
+Secretaryship, and had become Lord Privy Seal, being at the same time created Earl of
+Ripon. He was succeeded as Colonial Secretary by Mr. Stanley, afterwards Earl of
+Derby, who had been Secretary for Ireland, but had aroused such hostility against
+himself among O'Connell's followers by his stand on the Irish question<a
+name="FNanchor_157_157" id="FNanchor_157_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_157"
+class="fnanchor">[157]</a> that it had been deemed prudent to find another portfolio
+for him. He now admitted Mr. Hagerman to an audience, and was so won upon by that
+gentleman's specious representations that he restored him to his stewardship.
+Accordingly, although he had been only moderately successful in carrying out the
+specific objects of his mission, Mr. Hagerman returned to Upper Canada in triumph;
+and he was greeted, upon his arrival, with a tempest of acclamation from the Tory
+press.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Boulton, upon receiving from the Lieutenant-Governor's secretary an intimation
+of his dismissal, raised a howl of indignation against Lord Goderich and the Imperial
+Government generally. It was notorious that he controlled the columns of <i>The Upper
+Canada Courier</i>, a newspaper published at York in the interests of the official
+party, and edited by Mr. George Gurnett. That paper, in its next issue, contained an
+article more scurrilous and abusive than had been either of those articles in the
+<i>Advocate</i> on the pretext whereof Mackenzie had been expelled from the Assembly.
+It reeked with scurrility and disloyalty from beginning to end. It alleged that the
+well-affected people in the country were more than half alienated from the Home
+Government, and that they began to cast about in their mind's eye for some new state
+of political existence. There was more to the same purport. Some new state of
+political existence! This was a pretty strong suggestion of rebellion! And it
+emanated from the organ of a faction in whose mouths the word "loyalty" was ever
+present; whose "loyalty" had for years been vaunted from every hustings, and who, so
+long as the tide ran in their favour, had preached doctrines worthy of the middle
+ages about submission to the higher powers. How changed was the tone now that there
+seemed to be some prospect of their being<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250"
+id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> placed upon the same footing, and judged by the
+same standard as their neighbours. If they did these things in the green tree, what
+would they do in the dry? What might have been expected from them if they had been
+subjected to such injustice and ignominy as the party to which they were opposed?
+Here was a faction professedly ready to throw off their allegiance because two of
+their number had been deprived of offices which they had notoriously prostituted and
+disgraced.<a name="FNanchor_158_158" id="FNanchor_158_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_158_158" class="fnanchor">[158]</a> Here was a "well-affected" people
+"casting about" in their "mind's eye" for a new state of political existence, because
+two of the most corrupt, brazen and audacious officials in the colony were no longer
+to be allowed to pervert legislation under the mantle of Imperial countenance. And
+they were as little disposed to brook interference with their pecuniary interests by
+the Colonial Office. Early in the following year they gave utterance to rank treason
+in consequence of the threatened disallowance by the Imperial Government of certain
+Bank Charter Acts passed by the Provincial Parliament.<a name="FNanchor_159_159"
+id="FNanchor_159_159"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_159" class="fnanchor">[159]</a> A
+pearl is proverbially uncomely in the snout of a swine; and truly the word "loyalty"
+was never more absurdly out of place than when pronounced by such lips.</p>
+
+<p>The ex-Attorney-General followed the ex-Solicitor-General to England, where he
+represented his case to the new Colonial Minister. After giving much attention to the
+matter, Mr. Stanley expressed himself as satisfied with the explanations which had
+been offered. The explanations seem to have chiefly consisted of solemn declarations
+on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> the part
+of Mr. Boulton that he had been insufficiently informed of the views of the Home
+Government, and that he had had no desire whatever to set up his own will in
+opposition to those views.<a name="FNanchor_160_160" id="FNanchor_160_160"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_160_160" class="fnanchor">[160]</a> He doubtless professed his
+readiness to go any length in the way of sycophancy which might be required of him
+for the future. It was however impossible to restore him to the Attorney-Generalship,
+as a successor to that office had been appointed in the person of Mr. Robert Sympson
+Jameson,<a name="FNanchor_161_161" id="FNanchor_161_161"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_161_161" class="fnanchor">[161]</a> an English barrister, who had
+actually sailed from Liverpool for Canada, and was already well on his way thither.
+Mr. Boulton was informed that he should have the first good appointment at the
+Secretary's disposal. His success was even greater than that of his recent colleague,
+for on the 17th of June he was notified that the King had been graciously pleased to
+accept of his further services, and that the Colonial Secretary had His Majesty's
+commands to offer him the appointment of Chief Justice of Newfoundland, which
+situation had recently become vacant.<a name="FNanchor_162_162"
+id="FNanchor_162_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_162" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> This
+appointment was fully approved by the Earl of Ripon, under whose advice he had been
+dismissed from the Attorney-Generalship of Upper Canada,<a name="FNanchor_163_163"
+id="FNanchor_163_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_163" class="fnanchor">[163]</a> but
+who had been induced to change his views after hearing Mr. Boulton's
+explanations.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Boulton's triumph, however, was to be followed by a downfall more humiliating
+than that which he had so narrowly escaped. He repaired to Newfoundland in the
+autumn, and entered upon the performance of his duties. He had not been long in his
+new position before he had aroused a feeling of disgust and alarm on the part of a
+large proportion of the public and the profession. He began by being arbitrary,
+tyrannical and unjust. He proceeded from bad to worse, until it was found impossible
+to permit him to retain his position.<a name="FNanchor_164_164"
+id="FNanchor_164_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_164" class="fnanchor">[164]</a>
+There is no need to follow the proceedings adopted against him. He was not
+finally<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> got
+rid of until 1838, when he returned to Upper Canada, and once more entered political
+life as member for Niagara. The Home Government turned a deaf ear to his perpetual
+applications for employment, and would have nothing more to do with him. Some years
+after the Union of the Provinces, finding that he had nothing to hope for from the
+Conservative party, who refused to elevate him to a judgeship, he abandoned them, and
+for some time acted with Mr. Baldwin. It seems almost cruel to record the fact that
+he supported Responsible Government and the Rebellion Losses Bill.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_148_148" id="Footnote_148_148"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_148_148"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p.
+229.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_149_149" id="Footnote_149_149"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_149_149"><span class="label">[149]</span></a> "When, in the year
+1831, His Majesty was graciously pleased to suggest a further provision for the
+Civil List, which the Colonial Ministry required to be made either for seven
+years or for the life of His Majesty, the terms of the proposition were not
+candidly submitted to the Assembly, and notwithstanding the strenuous exertions
+of those who desired to make no provision at variance with the spirit of our
+constitution, the Executive influence in the Assembly succeeded in carrying a
+measure for a permanent and extravagant supply, popularly called 'the Everlasting
+Salary Bill,' while the liberal and gracious terms proposed by His Majesty on the
+subject were concealed and known only to those who, feeling themselves to be
+above responsibility, consummated a measure which has spread universal
+dissatisfaction and distrust. If this undue and impolitic concealment was
+practised from any pretended apprehension that a just provision would not be made
+for His Majesty's Government by his faithful Commons, there is nothing in the
+country to justify it, and as it encroached upon the privileges of the
+Legislature there is no language of censure too strong against
+it."&mdash;<i>Seventh Report of Grievance Committee</i>, p. xlii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_150_150" id="Footnote_150_150"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_150_150"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> See <i>The Colonial
+Advocate</i> of April 3rd, 1828.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_151_151" id="Footnote_151_151"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_151_151"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> I can find no
+confirmation of the statement made by Mackenzie, and re-echoed by subsequent
+writers, about the excessive fears of the Government at this juncture, and the
+preparations made by them to resist an uprising of the people. There were no
+grounds for any such fears, nor for any anticipations of an uprising. The people
+were long-suffering, and were by no means ripe for revolt.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_152_152" id="Footnote_152_152"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_152_152"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> If any evidence
+were needed of this obvious truth, it is furnished by Mackenzie's career in the
+Canadian Parliament after his return from exile. He was there brought into
+contact with politicians of a succeeding generation, most of whom knew him by
+tradition only. His misfortunes, and the manifold sufferings he had been
+compelled to endure, impelled most of the contemporaries to regard him with a
+large measure of forbearance, and he was permitted to indulge a license of speech
+which would not have been tolerated in any other member. He adopted precisely the
+same <i>role</i> as of yore, and delivered himself with great vehemence on
+matters which he did not understand. The inevitable result was that the Assembly
+soon ceased to attach any weight to his opinions. He had lived long enough to
+repudiate many of his old doctrines, and to eat many of his past words. His views
+on Tuesday were frequently the very opposite to what they had been on Monday, and
+neither were any indication of what they would be on Wednesday. Members ceased to
+attach any importance to his statements, or to think of them as calling for
+serious consideration. He came to be regarded as a sort of unlicensed jester who
+might be permitted to amuse the House by his antics when there was no pressing
+business on hand; but as to any real influence, he had no more than the junior
+messenger. It took him several years to find this out, and when it was brought
+thoroughly home to him he resigned his seat. Had the Family Compact politicians
+of fifty to sixty years ago been as wise in their generation as the members of
+the Assembly during the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Parliaments of United Canada,
+they would have ceased to defend the indefensible, and would have let Mackenzie
+alone. They might then have held the reins of power for ten&mdash;or possibly
+twenty&mdash;years longer; but the day of reckoning, when it came, would probably
+have been a darker one.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_153_153" id="Footnote_153_153"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_153_153"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> Lord Howick,
+writing on behalf of the Colonial Secretary, under date of June 23rd, 1832, in
+reply to Mackenzie's application for an interview, informed the applicant that
+although the Secretary was ready to hear any observations which he (Mackenzie)
+might have to offer upon the affairs of Upper Canada, as an individual interested
+in the welfare of that Province, and as a member of the Assembly, yet that the
+Secretary could not recognize him as being deputed to act for any other person,
+nor could he enter into any discussion with him on measures which His Majesty's
+Government might think it right to pursue. "The views and intentions of His
+Majesty's Government with respect to the affairs of the Province," wrote his
+Lordship, "can only be made known to the people of Upper Canada through the
+medium of the Governor or of the Legislature; it is to one or other of these
+authorities that any complaints which individuals may have occasion to make
+should properly be addressed; and if the course pursued by the Executive
+Government should be such as to give just ground for dissatisfaction, the
+inhabitants have, by their Representatives, the means of bringing their
+grievances under the immediate attention of His Majesty." The full text of the
+letter will be found on pp. 191, 192 of the <i>Seventh Report of Grievance
+Committee</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_154_154" id="Footnote_154_154"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_154_154"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> Mr. Boulton denied,
+at least by implication, that any such communication had been made to him. See
+his letter dated April 30th, 1833, and published in the <i>Courier</i> of the
+following day. But it is certain that the contents of the missive had been made
+known to Mr. Hagerman, and it is hardly conceivable that he would have failed to
+communicate to his colleague matters of such vital importance to their
+welfare.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_155_155" id="Footnote_155_155"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_155_155"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> The full text of
+the despatch will be found on p. 295 of the <i>Seventh Report of Grievance
+Committee</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_156_156" id="Footnote_156_156"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_156_156"><span class="label">[156]</span></a> "We have been very
+credibly informed that, on account of the extent of the settlements and
+consequent increase of court business, it was thought expedient by our wise ones
+that a fourth judge was necessary, and that he [Mr. Hagerman] had obtained
+(previous to his leaving here) a recommend from the other judges for himself to
+be appointed to the new created situation."&mdash;<i>Colonial Advocate</i>,
+Thursday, May 2nd, 1833.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_157_157" id="Footnote_157_157"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_157_157"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> It was at this time
+that Mr. Stanley, by his fiery speech against O'Connell, won for himself the
+sobriquet of "the Rupert of Debate."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_158_158" id="Footnote_158_158"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_158_158"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Henry Sherwood, who
+had by this time attained to a prominent place in the ranks of the official
+party, was especially loud in his denunciations of the British Government for
+dismissing Boulton and Hagerman. According to a correspondent of the <i>Colonial
+Advocate</i>, he declared, in the course of an ordinary conversation, that if
+such proceedings were to continue, he, for his part, did not care how soon the
+British authority was superseded by a republican one.&mdash;See letter of "John
+Bull," on first page of the <i>Advocate</i> of December 14th, 1833.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_159_159" id="Footnote_159_159"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_159_159"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> They were equally
+intolerant of opposition from their own adherents when their pecuniary interests
+were at stake. In December, 1833, the Hon. John Elmsley, who had been called to
+the Executive Council three years before, was forced to resign his seat in that
+body because he could not act independently there. In his letter of resignation,
+which is dated "Holland House, York, December 3rd, 1833," he says: "Since I have
+assumed the duties of that high office [<i>i.e.</i>, the office of an Executive
+Councillor], I find that I cannot fearlessly express my real sentiments and
+opinions, if opposed to the Government for the time being, without incurring the
+risk of dismissal from that Honourable Board, which constitutes my inability to
+advance the public good. I have therefore deemed it expedient most respectfully,
+but reluctantly, to tender the resignation of my seat in the Executive
+Council."&mdash;See evidence of the Hon. Peter Robinson, in Appendix to
+<i>Seventh Report on Grievance</i>, p. 91. See also p. xxvii of the Report
+itself.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_160_160" id="Footnote_160_160"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_160_160"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> See <i>Case of the
+Honourable Henry John Boulton, Chief Justice of the Island of Newfoundland</i>,
+etc.&mdash;being a report of the Case before the Privy Council&mdash;p. 3.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_161_161" id="Footnote_161_161"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_161_161"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> This was the
+husband of the accomplished Anna Jameson, whose brilliant art criticisms are
+among the most readable things of their kind in the English language, and whose
+Canadian sketches have made her name well known in this country.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_162_162" id="Footnote_162_162"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_162_162"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> <i>Case of the Hon.
+H. J. Boulton</i>, etc., p. 3.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_163_163" id="Footnote_163_163"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_163_163"><span class="label">[163]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i>, p. 4.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_164_164" id="Footnote_164_164"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_164_164"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> Full particulars of
+his misconduct may be found in the work already quoted from.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxii.jpg" width="300" height="62" alt="chapxii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XII.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p>
+<h4>DISENFRANCHISEMENT.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letterm.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterm" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">M</span>ackenzie remained in England much longer than he had anticipated, and did not
+return to Canada until towards the end of August, 1833. He was absent in all nearly
+sixteen months, which was considerably longer than was necessary for the
+accomplishment of the objects of his mission. He doubtless enjoyed life in the
+metropolis, and was loth to relinquish it.<a name="FNanchor_165_165"
+id="FNanchor_165_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_165" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> His
+mission had not been wholly fruitless, for his representations at the Colonial Office
+had led to the writing of Lord Goderich's despatch already referred to, by which the
+faction in Upper Canada were led to see that they would for the future be compelled
+to act with somewhat more of circumspection. Several much-needed suggestions were
+made in the despatch on subjects of practical import<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span>ance&mdash;among others as to the
+remuneration of members of the Assembly representing Town constituencies; as to the
+extension of the franchise to persons who, by reason of their religious scruples,
+could not conscientiously take the prescribed oath; as to the repeal of the law
+disqualifying British subjects from voting at elections till the expiration of seven
+years after their return from a residence in a foreign country; and as to the
+interference of ecclesiastical Legislative Councillors in secular matters.<a
+name="FNanchor_166_166" id="FNanchor_166_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_166"
+class="fnanchor">[166]</a> Mackenzie was also entitled to claim credit for obtaining
+important reforms in the management of the Provincial Post Office. He had brought the
+affairs of the Province conspicuously before the minds of several eminent public men,
+whose interest in Canada had thus been aroused, and who were thenceforth able to
+display some familiarity with Canadian questions as they came up for discussion in
+the House of Commons. During his stay in London he had published a duodecimo volume,
+extending to 504 pages, entitled "Sketches in Canada and the United States," in which
+a good many Provincial abuses had been specified. The information contained in this
+work had been thrown together in a higgledy-piggledy fashion, and it could not be
+said to have much real value, more especially as many of its statements were
+inaccurate, and must have been known to be so when they were written.<a
+name="FNanchor_167_167" id="FNanchor_167_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_167"
+class="fnanchor">[167]</a> Still, it probably had some effect in seconding the
+author's efforts to attract attention to himself and the interests which he
+represented. He had moreover acquainted the Colonial Secretary with matters
+which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> could
+not possibly have been clearly explained otherwise than orally. It was tolerably
+certain that information furnished by him had led to the dismissal of Boulton and
+Hagerman, a proceeding which had wonderfully exhilarated his mind; and his depression
+had been correspondently deep upon learning that the one had been promoted and the
+other reinstated. He had hoped to see Mr. Rolph appointed to the
+Solicitor-Generalship, and, if his word is to be credited, he really seems to have
+had some grounds for believing that such an appointment would be made.<a
+name="FNanchor_168_168" id="FNanchor_168_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_168"
+class="fnanchor">[168]</a> He afterwards declared that he had "good reasons for
+believing" that Mr. Rolph's appointment had actually been made out and transmitted to
+Canada, but that Sir John Colborne and Chief Justice Robinson had prevented it from
+taking effect.<a name="FNanchor_169_169" id="FNanchor_169_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_169" class="fnanchor">[169]</a></p>
+
+<p>As has already been seen,<a name="FNanchor_170_170" id="FNanchor_170_170"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_170_170" class="fnanchor">[170]</a> Mackenzie, during his absence in
+England, had once more been elected to represent the County of York in the Assembly.
+Upon the first meeting of Parliament after his return he presented himself as a
+member. There was however a persistent determination that he should not be permitted
+to take his seat. The hostile majority in the House professed to believe that they
+had a right to exercise a discretion as to who should be permitted to sit therein.
+Mackenzie, they alleged, had libelled the House by libelling a majority of its
+members, and he had neither made nor attempted to make any reparation or apology. The
+Clerk, acting most probably on instructions, refused to administer the oath to him. A
+resolution was adopted that he should not be permitted to sit or vote as a member
+during the session, and a writ for a new election was ordered. Again did he return to
+his constituents, and again was he returned without opposition. The electors of York
+were by this time heartily tired of the farce, the perpetual re-enactment whereof had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> the
+effect of partly disfranchising them by leaving them with only one representative in
+the Assembly instead of two. They were nevertheless fully resolved not to yield their
+undoubted rights without some further assertion of them. The member of their choice
+was under no legal disability. They were advised that there was no constitutional
+justification for the action of the Assembly. They declared that they owed it to
+themselves and those who were to come after them not to submit tamely to injustice of
+such a nature. The election being over, a considerable body of them escorted him to
+the Houses of Parliament. But a short time had elapsed since the last expulsion, and
+the Legislature was still in session. The members of the Assembly stared in
+astonishment at the sudden and altogether unlooked-for incursion of strangers, who
+poured into the gallery and into the space below the bar, where they were permitted
+to intrude themselves, and where Mackenzie presented himself to take the oath. Those
+who could not find room inside remained without in the lobbies. In a few moments a
+lull occurred in the proceedings of the House, whereupon burly Peter Perry rose in
+his place and announced that he had a petition to present on behalf of the
+inhabitants of the County of York. The contents of the petition were not of a nature
+to render it acceptable to a majority of the members. It referred to Mackenzie's
+expulsion, and prayed that that indignity might not be repeated. There was a very
+general feeling among the supporters of the Government that the House ought not to
+receive such a petition, and several of them gave utterance to their opinions on the
+subject. Allan MacNab expressed himself to this effect with his customary emphasis,
+and was greeted with a storm of hisses from the York electors in the gallery. Ominous
+sounds! The House could not be expected to tamely brook such a manifestation, and an
+order was given to clear the gallery. While the order was being obeyed, the
+Sergeant-at-Arms approached Mackenzie where he stood below the bar, and directed him
+to leave. Mackenzie replied to the effect that he had a right to be there, and that
+he intended to remain. The door was then opened by the Sergeant-at-Arms, who
+proceeded to eject Mackenzie by force; but before he could carry out his purpose a
+rush was made from the adjacent lobby. The door was promptly closed and barricaded,
+but not until several of the invaders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> had effected an entrance. The excitement was
+intense, and for some minutes the proceedings of the House were suspended. When quiet
+had been in some measure restored, the Speaker directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to clear
+the space below the bar of strangers. That functionary again ordered Mackenzie to
+leave, and he received the same reply as before. This was communicated to the
+Speaker, who decided that, as Mackenzie had not taken the oath, he was not a member
+of the House, and was not entitled to remain. Mackenzie was there, ready and anxious
+to take the oath; but he was nevertheless removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the
+Assembly was once more purged of his presence. On the next day he was again formally
+expelled by a vote of the House<a name="FNanchor_171_171" id="FNanchor_171_171"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_171"
+class="fnanchor">[171]</a>&mdash;an anomalous proceeding in view of the Speaker's
+decision that he was not a member! He had thus been thrice expelled from the House,
+and once excluded therefrom upon the ground that he was not a member.</p>
+
+<p>It was by this time clear that from a House so constituted Mackenzie could not
+expect to meet with fair play. Mr. Bidwell, Mr. Perry, and others of his friends had
+all along spoken manfully on his behalf when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span>ever an opportunity of doing so had presented
+itself, but their arguments had simply been thrown away. His pugnacious spirit was
+however fully aroused, and he determined to exhaust every means before abandoning his
+endeavours to take the seat to which he was entitled. He applied to the
+Lieutenant-Governor for permission to take the oath prescribed for members of the
+Legislature before his Excellency, or before some one specially appointed for the
+purpose, under the twenty-ninth section of the Constitutional Act of 1791.<a name="FNanchor_172_172" id="FNanchor_172_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_172"
+class="fnanchor">[172]</a> The question involved in this application was submitted to
+the Attorney-General, Mr. Jameson, who pronounced the opinion that Mackenzie was
+entitled to the privilege asked for. The matter was nevertheless allowed to remain in
+abeyance for some weeks, as the hostile members of Assembly had been worked up to a
+great pitch of excitement by the incursion of the rural population, and were in no
+humour to tolerate Mackenzie's presence. Meanwhile petitions to the
+Lieutenant-Governor were sent in from various parts of the County of York, as well as
+from other places. The language in some of these was of the most unmistakable kind,
+and it was evident that endurance had nearly reached its limits.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1834.</div>
+<p>On Monday, the 10th of February, Mackenzie, having taken the oath before the Clerk of
+the Executive Council, and having obtained a duly attested certificate of the
+ceremonial, ventured once more to present himself in the Chamber of the Assembly.</p>
+
+<p>The House was in Committee on the question of improving the navigation of the St.
+Lawrence when he entered. The gallery was crowded with spectators, most of whom were
+sympathizers with Mackenzie, and had assembled there to impart to him a sort of
+outside numerical support. He walked to the seat which he had once been accustomed to
+occupy, and quietly sat down in it. Ere many minutes the Sergeant-at-Arms<a
+name="FNanchor_173_173" id="FNanchor_173_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_173_173"
+class="fnanchor">[173]</a> approached and requested him to withdraw. This he declined
+to do, alleging that he was a member legally elected, duly sworn, and charged with no
+offence or irregularity which could disqualify<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> him from sitting and voting.<a
+name="FNanchor_174_174" id="FNanchor_174_174"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_174"
+class="fnanchor">[174]</a> He produced the attested copy of the oath, and bade the
+Sergeant-at-Arms interfere at his peril. The following is Mackenzie's own account of
+what ensued; and, unlike most of his narratives, it is in all substantial respects
+confirmed by several eye-witnesses. "He [the Sergeant-at-Arms] said he must use
+force, and he did so in as gentle a manner as was consistent with the act. Although
+his proceedings were illegal, his whole conduct in carrying them into effect was
+marked by a discretion wisely adopted in the excited state of the minds of the dense
+audience by whom he was surrounded. I almost immediately returned to the seat I had
+occupied, and while on my way was seized hold of by Colonel Frazer, Collector of
+Customs at Brockville, and obliged to change my route. Before I had got well seated,
+one of the members, I think Mr. Boulton<a name="FNanchor_175_175" id="FNanchor_175_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_175" class="fnanchor">[175]</a>
+moved that the Speaker take the chair. He did so, and I addressed him, stating the
+insult I had received while in the performance of my duty as a member. To this he
+made no reply, but said that the Sergeant-at-Arms must know his duty. He then left
+the chair; the Committee resumed, and I was a second time forced from my seat by
+violent means. After a little reflection I decided to resume my seat; was a third
+time forced from it by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and when the Speaker had returned I was
+placed at the bar, charged by the Sergeant-at-Arms with refusing to leave the
+House."<a name="FNanchor_176_176" id="FNanchor_176_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_176" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> The Sergeant-at-Arms then
+reported to the Speaker that he had taken into custody William Lyon Mackenzie for
+disorderly conduct, and that he had him in charge at the bar; whereupon it was moved
+by Mr. Samson, and seconded by Mr. Vankoughnet, member for Stormont, that William
+Lyon Mackenzie, having been brought to the bar of the House by the Sergeant-at-Arms
+for disorderly conduct, be called upon to state what he might have to say in his
+defence. To this motion Mr. Perry moved an amendment to the effect that Mackenzie was
+under no legal disqualifications, and had a right to sit and vote in the House. Then
+followed a long debate which lasted nearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> six hours,<a name="FNanchor_177_177"
+id="FNanchor_177_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_177" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> and
+which left the question at issue pretty nearly where it had been. Mr. Perry's motion
+was lost by a vote of twenty-one to fifteen. A dense crowd occupied the gallery until
+far into the night, but good order was preserved, the only demonstration being a
+subdued hiss while Mr. William B. Robinson, member for Simcoe, and brother of the
+Chief Justice, was speaking. Much rancour was exhibited by some of the Tory speakers,
+several of whom approved their loyalty by inveighing loudly against the
+Lieutenant-Governor for permitting the Clerk of the Executive Council to administer
+the oath to Mackenzie. Allan MacNab declared his intention to vote for committing
+Mackenzie to the common jail. Casting his eyes up to the gallery, he scowled at the
+occupants, to whom he referred as a band of ruffians who had come there to intimidate
+the House. The Lieutenant-Governor, he said, had interfered very improperly, and in a
+manner no way creditable to himself. He had acted like the Vicar of Bray, and might
+yet find, like that individual, that by taking both sides of a question he might fall
+through between. Mr. Samson, member for Hastings, spoke to a similar purport,
+declaring himself to be in favour of sending Mackenzie to jail without a hearing, and
+referring to the Lieutenant-Governor in terms of strong censure. "His Excellency,"
+remarked Mr. Samson, "knew perfectly well that Mr. Mackenzie had been expelled by us,
+and for him to allow the oath to be administered under such circumstances was a most
+unwarrantable proceeding. He had no right whatever to interfere. I do say he acted a
+most improper part, and I do not know but this House ought to take it up." When
+Mackenzie attempted to speak at the bar, William Hamilton Merritt, member for
+Haldimand, rose in much anger, and exclaimed: "Drown his voice. He ought to be put
+out of the House, and two men stationed continually at the door to keep him out."
+Absalom Shade, of Galt, member for Halton, was of the same opinion. The speech of the
+member for Simcoe, which evoked the hiss from the gallery as already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> mentioned, was
+perhaps the most violent of all. He advocated that Mackenzie should be punished and
+consigned to jail without being allowed to utter "one single word" in defence of his
+outrageous proceedings. "Mackenzie," said he, "would never have dared to show himself
+in this House again if he had not had his Excellency's sanction for doing so in his
+pocket. His Excellency's conduct, I maintain, has been utterly unjustifiable. Indeed,
+I could not have believed it possible that his Excellency should have thought of
+taking such a step without consulting the Speaker of this House. He had no right
+whatever to do so, and now that he is told that we do not recognize such a right on
+the part of the Executive, I trust he will not persevere."<a name="FNanchor_178_178"
+id="FNanchor_178_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_178" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> For
+milder language than this, many of the Reformers had been branded as "traitors,"
+"disaffected," and "republicans," by the very person who now gave utterance to it.
+The beam in one's own eye is so much harder to perceive than the mote in the eye of
+one's brother.</p>
+
+<p>The plain fact of the matter is, that no sentiment of either loyalty or disloyalty
+had anything whatever to do with the treatment to which Mackenzie was subjected at
+the hands of the Compact and their supporters. It was simply this: Mackenzie was a
+thorn in their sides. He watched them closely, and exposed their conduct in language
+which was telling and vigorous, albeit often ill-considered and unbecoming. They felt
+that their supremacy was menaced, and largely by his instrumentality. His expulsions
+were due to a fixed determination to keep him out of Parliament, irrespective not
+only of what was constitutional or unconstitutional, but even of what was right or
+wrong. To carry out this determination they resorted to all the party devices which a
+majority in the Assembly placed at their disposal. "From first to last," as Mr.
+Lindsey remarks,<a name="FNanchor_179_179" id="FNanchor_179_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_179" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> "the proceedings against Mr.
+Mackenzie were conceived in a party spirit, and carried by party votes. No worse
+descrip<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>tion
+or condemnation of them could be given, seeing that they were in their nature
+judicial."</p>
+
+<p>The debate, as has been said, came to nothing. Mackenzie was not permitted to take
+his seat, and did not again attempt to do so during the session. No new writ was
+issued for the election of a member by the County of York. Mackenzie's supporters
+opposed the issue of a writ because such a proceeding would have assumed that the
+expulsion had been legal, and that there was a legal vacancy in the representation.
+Others, who were not friendly to Mackenzie, felt that a new election would only lead
+to fresh complications. York would undoubtedly return the expelled member, and he
+would again be refused a seat in the House. The session accordingly dragged on to its
+close without any writ having been issued: a matter of little practical importance,
+inasmuch as there was to be a general election in the course of a few months. It will
+thus be seen that the County of York underwent a partial disfranchisement for three
+years, during which three sessions were held. Before another session came round a new
+Parliament had come into being, and the political situation had undergone a complete
+metamorphosis.</p>
+
+<p>During the session of 1833-4, which witnessed the tumultuous scene just described,
+the Provincial Parliament made one important concession to public opinion by passing
+an Act to render the Judges of the Court of King's Bench independent of the Crown. It
+is right to state, however, that this was done in consequence of pressure from the
+Imperial Government,<a name="FNanchor_180_180" id="FNanchor_180_180"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_180_180" class="fnanchor">[180]</a> and not from any wish to remove
+an abuse of long standing. The Act provided that "the Judges of His Majesty's Court
+of King's Bench for this Province shall hold their offices during their good
+behaviour, notwithstanding the commissions which have been heretofore granted to
+them, or either of them, may specify that the office is to be held during the
+pleasure of His Majesty; and that from and after the passing of this Act the
+commissions to the Judges of the said Court shall be made to them respectively to
+hold during their good behaviour, and that the commissions of Judges of the said
+Court for the time being shall be, continue, and remain in full force during their
+good behaviour, notwithstanding the demise of His Majesty, or of any of his heirs and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span>
+successors." Thus were the Judiciary rendered independent of the humours of the
+Executive, whereby a long step was taken towards securing a pure administration of
+justice in the Superior Court of the Province. Had a similar policy been pursued with
+respect to other gross abuses, the effect upon the public mind would have been most
+pacificatory. Standing, as it did, alone, the Act exhibited a striking contrast to
+every other feature of the Executive policy, and it may be doubted whether a solitary
+inhabitant of the Province was conciliated thereby.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_165_165" id="Footnote_165_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_165"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> Prior to his
+departure from Canada he travelled about here and there through the country to
+collect subscriptions towards the expenses of his journey. He met with but
+slender success. After his return he made further efforts in the same direction,
+and with similar results. Persons who professed much zeal for Reform were slow to
+put their hands in their pockets for such a purpose, and he succeeded in
+collecting only about &pound;150. It should however be remembered that most Upper
+Canadian Reformers in those days were poor. Mackenzie's actual disbursements
+during his absence are stated by Mr. Lindsey to have been &pound;676 (<i>Life of
+Mackenzie</i>, vol. i., p. 287), but a considerable part of this sum was expended
+on a visit to Scotland. It is probable, too, that the amount stated includes the
+cost of publishing <i>Sketches in Canada and the United States</i>, which must
+have been considerable. It is fairly to be inferred from Mr. Lindsey's account
+that Mackenzie was himself compelled to pay the difference between &pound;150,
+the amount collected from subscribers, and &pound;676, the amount actually
+expended. "The people's agent," he informs us, "was left to bear the greater part
+of the expense." This, no doubt, was Mr. Lindsay's belief when his book was
+written; but nothing could be further from the fact. It would be much nearer the
+truth to say that Mackenzie enjoyed a sixteen months' holiday at the expense of
+his political friends, for all, or nearly all the money expended over and above
+the &pound;150 was contributed by Dr. Morrison, Dr. Rolph, David Gibson, the
+Lesslies, Shepards, and others; and as no portion of the money so contributed was
+ever repaid, they, and not Mackenzie, were compelled to bear the loss. The
+implied slur upon the Reform party is therefore wholly undeserved.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_166_166" id="Footnote_166_166"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_166_166"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> His Lordship
+expressed himself with much clearness on this subject. "Whether," he wrote, "even
+under this restriction [<i>i.e.</i>, the restriction of non-interference in
+secular affairs], their holding such seats is really desirable, is a question
+upon which I am fully prepared to listen with the utmost attention to any advice
+which I may receive from yourself, from the House of Assembly, or from any other
+competent authority. I have no solicitude for retaining either the Bishop
+[McDonnell] or the Archdeacon [Strachan] on the list of Councillors, but am, on
+the contrary, rather predisposed to the opinion that by resigning their seats
+they would best consult their own personal comfort and the success of their
+designs for the spiritual good of the people. But any such resignation must be
+voluntary, since the office is held for life; and were it otherwise, no
+consideration could induce me to advise His Majesty to degrade the Bishop or the
+Archdeacon from the stations they occupy, except upon the most conclusive proof
+of misconduct." One might not unreasonably construe these words into a pretty
+broad hint to Bishop McDonnell and Dr. Strachan that they ought to resign.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_167_167" id="Footnote_167_167"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_167_167"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> The London
+<i>Morning Herald</i> of July 11th, 1833, correctly characterized it as "the
+oddest mixture of slander and truth, of knowledge and ignorance, of bold
+assertion and vacillating opinion."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_168_168" id="Footnote_168_168"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_168_168"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> "Mr. Rolph will, we
+have no doubt, have the offer of the Solicitorship, but whether he will accept it
+is a matter more doubtful; though we think he possibly may, provided he is to be
+associated in the administration with men of a liberal policy; otherwise we are
+of opinion he will decline. Such an appointment would certainly do credit to our
+country, and we hope he (Mr. Rolph) will accept the appointment if
+offered&mdash;that is, if he can consistently do so."&mdash;<i>Colonial
+Advocate</i>, Thursday, May 2nd, 1833. See also the <i>Advocate</i> for October 3rd, 1833.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_169_169" id="Footnote_169_169"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_169_169"><span class="label">[169]</span></a> See <i>An Account
+of the Dismissal of the Attorney and Solicitor-General from Office, and of the
+Re-appointment of Mr. Hagerman</i>, written by Mackenzie for the General [Reform]
+Committee at York, and published in the <i>Advocate</i> for Thursday, August 29th, 1833.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_170_170" id="Footnote_170_170"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_170"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 247.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_171_171" id="Footnote_171_171"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_171_171"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> As the resolution
+recited the facts relating to the two former expulsions, as well as the grounds
+of the present one, it may not be amiss to transcribe it in full. It was voted
+upon on Tuesday, the 17th of December (1833). Its mover was William Morris,
+member for Lanark. It was in the following words: "That this House, on the
+thirteenth day of December, 1831, in consequence of a false and scandalous libel
+published against a majority of its members by William Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire,
+one of the members then representing the County of York, of which he avowed
+himself the author and publisher, was induced to expel him, the said William Lyon
+Mackenzie, from this House: That notwithstanding the gross and scandalous nature
+of the said libel, this House, in the hope that the said William Lyon Mackenzie
+would abstain from a continuance of the offensive conduct for which he had been
+expelled, permitted him to take his seat on the third day of January following,
+as a member for the County of York, after being re-elected: That in this hope, so
+important to the deliberate transaction of public business, so essential to the
+respectability of the Legislature and peace of the country, a few days'
+experience convinced this House there was so little reason to rely, that on the
+seventh day of the same month of January, it was by a large majority again deemed
+necessary to expel the said William Lyon Mackenzie, for a repetition and
+aggravated reiteration of the aforesaid false and scandalous libel; and in doing
+so, this House, in order to support the dignity which ought to belong to a
+Legislative body, considered it just and proper to declare the said William Lyon
+Mackenzie unfit and unworthy to hold a seat in this House during the continuance
+of the present Parliament: That as the said William Lyon Mackenzie has never made
+reparation to this House for the gross injuries which he has attempted to inflict
+on its character and proceedings, there is no reason to depart from the
+resolution of the said seventh day of January, 1832." In amendment, Mr. MacNab,
+seconded by Mr. Robinson, moved that the following words be added to the original
+resolution: "And therefore he, the said William Lyon Mackenzie, again elected and
+returned to represent the County of York in this present Parliament, is hereby
+expelled." The amendment, as well as the original motion, was carried by a vote
+of 22 to 18.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_172_172" id="Footnote_172_172"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_172_172"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> This section
+provides for the taking of the oath before the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or
+person administering the Government, or "before some person or persons authorized
+by the said Governor or Lieutenant-Governor," etc.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_173_173" id="Footnote_173_173"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_173_173"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> The
+Sergeant-at-Arms was Allan MacNab, Sr., father of the junior member for Wentworth.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_174_174" id="Footnote_174_174"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_174_174"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> See the
+<i>Advocate</i> of Thursday, February 13th, 1834.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_175_175" id="Footnote_175_175"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_175_175"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> Not H. J. Boulton,
+who had several months before departed for Newfoundland, but George Strange
+Boulton, one of the members for Durham.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_176_176" id="Footnote_176_176"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_176_176"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> See the
+<i>Advocate</i> of February 13th, 1834.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_177_177" id="Footnote_177_177"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_177_177"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Mackenzie, in the
+<i>Advocate</i>, says "full seven hours," but he did not reach the Assembly
+Chamber until nearly half-past three in the afternoon, and the House adjourned at
+9.30 for want of a quorum. See the sessional journal. The three removals of
+Mackenzie from his seat must have occupied some minutes, and the entire debate
+could not possibly have extended over quite six hours. The matter is of no
+particular importance, but it shows how carefully all unsupported statements of
+Mackenzie ought to be scrutinized before being admitted as evidence.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_178_178" id="Footnote_178_178"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_178_178"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> "It is probable,"
+says Mackenzie (<i>Colonial Advocate</i>, Feb. 13th), "that the provoking
+language of some of the members would have ended in a disturbance had I not
+warned the people through the press, personally at many of their dwelling houses,
+and in the House before I took my seat, to preserve perfect silence whatever the
+members said or did. They were very orderly, and it is creditable to them that
+they were so. If public opinion will not avenge our cause, violence and tumult
+will not help us." The irony of fate had decreed that this admirable sentiment
+should not find a permanent lodgement in the writer's breast.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_179_179" id="Footnote_179_179"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_179_179"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> <i>Life and Times
+of Mackenzie</i>, vol. i., p. 311.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_180_180" id="Footnote_180_180"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_180_180"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> See Lord Goderich's
+despatch of 8th November, 1832.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxiii.jpg" width="300" height="70" alt="chapxiii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p>
+<h4>MR. HUME'S "BANEFUL DOMINATION" LETTER.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letterm.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterm" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">M</span>ackenzie's repeated expulsions, unjust as they were, and humiliating as were some
+of the attendant circumstances, were not wholly without compensation. For one thing
+they caused him to be more talked about than any other man in Upper Canada. This, of
+itself, would have gone far towards reconciling him to the indignities which had been
+heaped upon him, for notoriety was very dear to his heart. But a more substantial
+reward, and one altogether unlooked for, was in store for him.</p>
+
+<p>Within a month after the scene in the Assembly described towards the close of the
+last chapter, the town of York ceased to exist, having exchanged its name for the old
+Indian appellation which it has ever since borne. An Act of incorporation had been
+obtained during the session, whereby it was enacted that York should be constituted a
+body corporate and politic by the name of the City of Toronto. The city was to be
+divided into wards, with two aldermen and two common councilmen for each ward, to be
+elected by the inhabitants; and with a mayor, to be elected by the aldermen and
+councilmen from among themselves. This Act, like the rest of the measures passed
+during the session, was assented to on the day of adjournment&mdash;the 6th of March,
+1834. On the 15th of the same month an official proclamation appeared whereby
+Thursday, the 27th, was appointed for the first election of municipal
+representatives. A campaign of active canvassing was forthwith set on foot throughout
+the city. As has often happened in more recent times, the contest assumed a political
+complexion. The Act of incorporation had been procured by Tory influences, and had
+been carried through the Assembly under the auspices of Sheriff Jarvis, the local
+member. In his speeches<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg
+265]</a></span> on the subject in the House Mr. Jarvis had taken the reasonable and
+legitimate ground that the Provincial capital had attained dimensions which rendered
+a separate government necessary to the efficient management of its affairs. This view
+was participated in by Tory residents generally. The Reformers, on the other hand,
+had all along been opposed to incorporation. York, they argued, was the main fortress
+and stronghold of the official party, who would be almost certain to acquire a
+pernicious ascendency in municipal affairs, to the detriment of the rest of the
+community. The Province at large had already suffered enough from Compact domination,
+and it was far from desirable to afford an opportunity for its exercise in a more
+restricted field. Again, it was urged that the expense of a separate administration
+for the city would more than counterbalance any advantages to be derived therefrom.
+These views were put forward with much vehemence by reformers, both in Parliament and
+through the medium of the press. From all which it was evident that the impending
+elections would afford a pretty accurate test of the strength of the respective
+political parties in the city.</p>
+
+<p>Generally speaking, the Tory vote in the capital had been largely in excess of
+that polled by the Reformers. That it was not so in the spring of 1834 was due in no
+small degree to public indignation at the unfair treatment to which Mackenzie had
+been subjected. Persons who had never recorded a Reform vote before now came forward
+to support candidates who were known to be strong Reformers. It was not so much that
+these persons sympathized with Mackenzie, who was by many of them held in detestation
+and abhorrence; but they felt that gross injustice had been done, against which it
+behooved them to record their formal protest. The result was that the sanguine
+calculations of the Tories were altogether falsified, and that a majority of Reform
+candidates were returned to the first Council of the City of Toronto. Among the
+latter were Mackenzie himself, who was elected as one of the aldermen for St. David's
+Ward, and John Rolph, who was elected for the Ward of St. Patrick.</p>
+<p>A few words of explanation are necessary in this place with regard to Mr. Rolph.
+It will be remembered that he and the two Baldwins had divested themselves of their
+gowns during the progress of the Willis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span> dispute, and had declined to transact any further
+business in a court which they believed to be illegally constituted.<a
+name="FNanchor_181_181" id="FNanchor_181_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_181"
+class="fnanchor">[181]</a> They did not again present themselves before the court
+during Term until after the decision of the Privy Council had set their minds at rest
+on the subject. There was no longer anything to prevent them from resuming their
+practice. The Baldwins did so, and Rolph for a time followed their example, albeit in
+a half-hearted manner. He had long been profoundly disgusted with the partiality
+displayed by the judges, and by their complete subserviency to the wishes of the
+Executive, as expressed by their forensic mouthpiece, Attorney-General Robinson. On
+account, as he believed, of his political opinions, he had been forced to contend
+against the persistent hostility of the judiciary. His triumphs at the bar had been
+won by reason of his power over juries, and in spite of one-sided charges from the
+bench. Of the understanding and judicial integrity of Mr. Sherwood he had formed a
+very low estimate. Hagerman, who temporarily succeeded Judge Willis, was an abler
+man, but his political feelings were so strong that Rolph would not imperil the
+interests of his clients by appearing before him. Upon the accession of
+Attorney-General Robinson to the bench the state of affairs from Rolph's point of
+view was not much improved. Mr. Robinson and he had so long fought each other at the
+bar and on the floor of the Assembly that they had come to regard each other as
+personal enemies. Rolph, rightly or wrongly, came to the conclusion that he could no
+longer hope to obtain any measure of justice. The necessary consequence of such a
+conclusion was a resolve to abandon the practice of law, and to resume that of
+medicine, which latter, indeed, he had never wholly abandoned. This resolution was
+not fully carried out until more than two years after it had been formed, though he
+meanwhile accepted no new suits, and steadily prepared himself for the impending
+change. The decisive step does not appear to have been taken until 1832, when he
+transferred his legal practice to his brother George. Thenceforward John Rolph never
+again appeared in a Court of justice in the capacity of an advocate. It was a
+momentous decision, for he had a fine legal practice, and enjoyed the reputation of
+being the most eloquent man at the Upper Canadian bar. He had outlived the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span> exuberance of
+youth, and was at this time nearly forty years old&mdash;an age at which few men
+would have had the courage to abandon a pursuit which had been followed with signal
+success for many years. He resumed the practice of medicine and surgery, and was
+thenceforward known as "Doctor" Rolph. For some years before this time he had resided
+at Dundas. He now removed to the capital, where he was well known, and where he
+continued to reside until the breaking out of the Rebellion towards the close of
+1837. He soon won a distinguished place in the ranks of his new calling, and reached
+a preeminence therein as great as he had ever attained at the bar. There was no
+regularly-organized medical college in Upper Canada, and the facilities for acquiring
+a competent medical training were few. In response to urgent requests from a number
+of influential persons in Toronto he established a private medical class, and gave
+instruction to a limited number of students. His teaching was eminently successful,
+and he made himself greatly beloved by his students. He seemed to have the whole
+round of medical literature at his fingers' ends, and his marvellous knowledge and
+graphic power of expression kindled in the breasts of the young men a love of
+knowledge for its own sake.<a name="FNanchor_182_182" id="FNanchor_182_182"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_182_182" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> By no one were his attainments
+held in higher respect than by the Lieutenant-Governor. Sir John urged him to found a
+permanent medical college, and promised that Government aid for such an enterprise
+should not be wanting. But Dr. Rolph had other views. He had for several years been
+out of public life, but with no idea of so remaining. He was resolved to re-enter
+Parliament at the first suitable opportunity, and did not allow his professional
+pursuits to absorb all his attention. Unlike Robert Baldwin, who to a great extent
+held himself aloof from politics at this time, Rolph took a leading part at Reform
+meetings and caucuses, and did his utmost to give practical shape to the Reform
+policy. Baldwin, notwithstanding his undoubted zeal for Liberal principles, was
+imbued with somewhat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> exclusive social ideas, and was not in active sympathy with the
+Reformers at this period. He regarded Mackenzie as very much of a demagogue, and as a
+person with whom he could not hold any very intimate relations. The sentiments
+entertained by Baldwin for Mackenzie seem to have been closely akin to those
+entertained by Sir John Falstaff for the troops with whom he declared that he would
+not march through Coventry. Mackenzie's noisy verbosity and self-assertion offended
+the patrician instincts of Mr. Baldwin, to whom, indeed, the little proletarian was
+altogether distasteful and repulsive. This feeling, however, seems to have been due
+to the antipathetic natures of the two men, rather than to any mere feeling of
+exclusiveness on the part of Mr. Baldwin. They had as little in common as two persons
+very well could have. Without entering any further into the question, it will be
+sufficient to say that the one had a judgment under strict discipline, while the
+judgment of the other was always subordinate to the circumstances or prejudices of
+the moment&mdash;a fatal defect in one who aspires to be a leader of men. Mr. Baldwin
+made no secret of his conviction that no substantial progress could be made by the
+Reform party so long as one like Mackenzie was permitted to have any commanding voice
+in its counsels, or at any rate to have any hand in the shaping or directing of its
+policy. Rolph took a broader view, and while he admitted the notoriously weak points
+in Mackenzie's character, did not feel disposed either to throw him overboard
+altogether or to deprive him of a share in the direction of party affairs. He
+naturally felt and spoke strongly on the subject of the expulsions. For Mackenzie
+personally he had never felt much liking, but he hated injustice, and did not
+hesitate to give the expelled member all the support, moral and otherwise, which he
+could command. He was wont to say that Mackenzie might yet do much good work for
+Reform, if he could only be kept in his proper place. Mackenzie, on his side, never
+wearied of sounding Rolph's praises, and he sometimes did so in extravagant terms.
+Wherever he went he proclaimed the Doctor as the one man in Upper Canada capable of
+leading the Reform party to triumph and permanent power. Bidwell and Perry were well
+enough in their way, but to neither of them would he pin his faith if Rolph
+questioned the wisdom of their counsels.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span>
+Such was the state of affairs at the time of the election of the first Council of the
+City of Toronto. In that Council, as already mentioned, there was a preponderance of
+Reform members. According to the provisions of the Act of incorporation the aldermen
+and councilmen were to hold their first meeting on Thursday, the 3rd of April, when
+they were to proceed to the election of a mayor. As the Reform members were able to
+command the situation, they held a caucus on the evening of Monday, the 31st of
+March, to concert a scheme of action, and to take steps to turn their numerical
+superiority in the Council to the best account. An understanding had already been
+arrived at as to the mayoralty. Dr. Rolph had been pitched upon by common consent to
+fill the chair of the chief magistrate. He was upon the whole better fitted to grace
+the position than any other man in the city, and the Reform members contemplated
+their candidate with pride. But at the caucus held on the evening of the 31st matters
+took an altogether unexpected turn. Dr. Rolph did not attend, being kept away by
+professional duties. It was suggested by James Lesslie, one of the aldermen from St.
+David's Ward, that the Doctor was indifferent as to the mayoralty, and that he would
+be quite willing to waive any claims to the position which he might be supposed to
+have. It was further suggested that the interests of the Reformers would be best
+promoted by the elevation of the editor of the <i>Advocate</i> to the chief
+magistracy. Mackenzie, it was urged, had been treated with shameful indignity by the
+Assembly, and had been held up to contempt by the official party generally. He had
+been maligned at the Home Office as a personage whom the Secretary could not admit to
+his presence consistently with due respect to himself and his office. He had been
+represented as a snarling little upstart who, by the votes of the lowest and most
+rascally section of the Radicals, had been placed in a position unsuited to his
+character and belongings. It had been especially urged against him in England that
+the better class of Reformers held aloof from and thoroughly despised him. There
+could be no doubt that by such representations as these Mackenzie had been subjected
+to much unmerited obloquy and annoyance during his sojourn in the old country. The
+present conjuncture of affairs, it was said, afforded an excellent opportunity for
+atoning to him for what he had endured, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> at the same time for scoring a double victory for
+Reform principles. His elevation to the chief magistracy of the capital city of Upper
+Canada would furnish the most conclusive answer that could possibly be made to the
+abuse and slander wherewith he had been assailed. The position was one of high honour
+and dignity. It would be impossible to represent the occupant of that position as the
+mere tool and mouthpiece of a low Radical clique, or as a person whom no gentleman
+could admit to a conference. There was much plausibility about these arguments, and
+they had the more weight inasmuch as Dr. Rolph was said to be personally indifferent
+about the matter. Dr. Rolph, moreover, needed no accession of dignity. He could
+certainly derive none from being elected to the mayoralty, and could very well afford
+to waive his claims. This view of the matter finally prevailed, and it was agreed,
+before the adjournment of the caucus, that, provided Dr. Rolph were a consenting
+party, Mackenzie should be the first mayor of Toronto.</p>
+
+<p>When the matter was submitted to Dr. Rolph he expressed some surprise at the
+action of the caucus. He appears to have felt convinced that no credit to the Reform
+cause was to be won by placing Mackenzie in a prominent position. He knew Mackenzie
+to be a man who could not stand prosperity, and whose want of mental ballast was such
+that he was not fit to be trusted with power. He was moreover very much disposed to
+suspect that the little man himself was at the bottom of the movement in his favour,
+which was probably the fact. Still, the Doctor was compelled to admit that there was
+much force in the arguments put forward, and he was by no means disposed to press his
+own claims. He therefore gave his assent; and from that moment the question was to be
+regarded as practically settled, although the matter was kept a profound secret among
+the persons most immediately concerned.</p>
+
+<p>The Conservative members of the Council also held a caucus before the day
+appointed for the election of a mayor. Their purpose was to organize their forces,
+and to present the best front which their numerical inferiority would admit of. They
+had assumed that Dr. Rolph would as a matter of course be the choice of the Reform
+members for the chief magistracy, and this assumption had been confirmed by common
+rumour, so that they entertained no doubt on the subject. The selection<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> met with their
+full approval. In fact, unless a mayor was to be chosen from their own number&mdash;a
+thing out of the question with such a preponderance of Reform members&mdash;no man
+would have been so acceptable to them as Dr. Rolph. He was known to and respected by
+them all, and it was felt that he would fill the chair with credit to the city. They
+accordingly resolved to give him their support, and one of their number, Mr. Thomas
+Carfrae, Jr., wrote to him on the subject. But, Dr. Rolph had meanwhile given his
+assent to the project of Mackenzie's election, and was not in a position to accept
+support from any quarter. After careful consideration he had determined to resign his
+seat in the Council. He foresaw that Mackenzie would render himself unpopular, and
+deemed it probable that he would be guilty of indiscretions which no public
+representative of a political party could properly defend. The course of subsequent
+events was such as to fully justify this forecast. Dr. Rolph replied to Mr. Carfrae,
+thanking him for his offer of support, but announcing that he was about to resign his
+seat. He also wrote to his friend Dr. Morrison, one of the representatives of St.
+Andrew's Ward, to the same effect. The contents of these two letters did not become
+known until the meeting of the Council on the 3rd of April, otherwise steps would
+unquestionably have been taken to prevent Mackenzie's election; for the Reformers,
+with two or three exceptions, were not sufficiently anxious to elect him to oust Dr.
+Rolph for his sake; and as for the Conservatives, the idea of Mackenzie's elevation
+to the highest seat in the Council would at all times have been simply intolerable to
+them. At the appointed time all the aldermen and councilmen were in their places
+except Dr. Rolph. The chair was temporarily taken by John Doel, one of the
+representatives from St. Andrew's Ward. It was moved by Franklin Jackes, councilman
+from St. David's Ward, and seconded by James Lesslie, Mackenzie's colleague as
+aldermanic representative from the same ward, "that William Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire,
+be the mayor of this city." The motion took the Conservative members completely by
+surprise, and they did not attempt to conceal their dissatisfaction, and even
+disgust. Several of them arose in succession, and spoke in favour of Dr. Rolph. Dr.
+Morrison then announced Dr. Rolph's decision, and read his letter by way of
+confirmation. Mr. Carfrae intimated that he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> received from the Doctor a letter
+to the same purport. There was thus no room for further discussion. The pre-concerted
+programme was carried out. Mackenzie received ten votes in support of his
+candidature, which constituted a majority. He was declared duly elected, and took the
+chair of honour. During the afternoon of the same day he took the prescribed oath,
+and his authority was complete. He could boast that he was the first mayor of
+Toronto, and also the first mayor ever elected in Upper Canada.</p>
+
+<p>Scarcely had he been installed in office ere he began to furnish examples of that
+perverse and almost inconceivable want of judgment which attended upon him from the
+beginning of his life to its end. Knowing the light in which he was regarded by the
+Conservative members of the Council, it might have been supposed that he would be
+specially circumspect in his demeanour towards them, and careful not to give
+gratuitous offence. On the contrary, he conducted himself like a veritable
+Jack-in-Office, and disgusted not only the Conservatives but some of his own friends.
+He was constantly intruding his personal antagonisms upon the Council, and trying to
+induce the members to take sides. His indiscretion in the matter of the famous
+"baneful domination" letter is absolutely incomprehensible. The particulars can only
+be given very briefly in these pages.</p>
+
+<p>During the month of May, Mr. Mackenzie received from Joseph Hume, the Radical
+member for Middlesex in the British House of Commons, an extraordinary letter&mdash;a
+letter which, for violence of tone and intemperance of language, might almost have
+been written by the editor of the <i>Advocate</i> himself. It referred to the
+Reverend Egerton Ryerson, a leading minister of the Methodist Church and editor of
+<i>The Christian Guardian</i>, in terms which it is astonishing to think that a
+gentleman in Mr. Hume's position should have permitted himself to employ. Now,
+Mackenzie had quarrelled with Mr. Ryerson not long before, and had devoted much space
+in the <i>Advocate</i> to maligning him. He saw here an opportunity for a further
+attack, with which view he deliberately published "copious extracts"<a
+name="FNanchor_183_183" id="FNanchor_183_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_183"
+class="fnanchor">[183]</a> from the letter in the issue of his paper<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> dated the 22nd
+of May. The effect was electrical, for the references to Mr. Ryerson, bad as they
+were, were not the portions of the letter most calculated to excite astonishment in
+the public mind. The phrase which called forth prompt execration from all classes of
+the community was one in which the writer, referring to Mackenzie's last election to
+the Assembly and his expulsion therefrom, characterized those proceedings as events
+which must hasten the crisis that was fast approaching in the affairs of the Canadas,
+and which would "terminate in independence and freedom from the baneful domination of
+the mother country." These extraordinary words&mdash;extraordinary as proceeding from
+a British statesman to a colonist who was likewise a public character&mdash;were
+printed in the <i>Advocate</i>, like the rest of the letter, in large type. It was
+subsequently urged<a name="FNanchor_184_184" id="FNanchor_184_184"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_184_184" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> on Mr. Hume's behalf that he had
+not meant to imply <i>separation</i> from the mother country, but only an end to the
+false and pernicious system of governing the colony; and this explanation was
+admitted by him<a name="FNanchor_185_185" id="FNanchor_185_185"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_185_185" class="fnanchor">[185]</a> to express what he had intended
+to signify. But if Mr. Hume could write so indiscreetly on such a subject, what is to
+be thought of the newspaper editor and the politician who had no better sense than to
+give such a production to the world of Upper Canada, more especially while he himself
+occupied the position of mayor of its most important city?</p>
+
+<p>No sooner was the number of the <i>Advocate</i> containing this letter in the
+hands of the public than an outcry arose on every hand. The Tories saw their
+advantage, and made the most of it. Now, it was said, the real designs of Mackenzie
+and those who acted with him were no longer masked. What they wanted was not
+constitutional Reform, but separation from the Empire, and the establishment of a
+republic. And it was not only Tories who spoke and felt thus. Persons who cordially
+hated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> the
+domination of the Compact, and who had condemned the treatment of Mackenzie as
+unconstitutional, tyrannical and unjust, now felt that such a man deserved no
+sympathy. He was evidently a rebel at heart.<a name="FNanchor_186_186"
+id="FNanchor_186_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_186" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> He
+had brought reproach not only on himself, but upon the party to which he belonged.
+Reform journals hastened to signify their repudiation of the sentiments of the
+objectionable letter. "We profess ourselves Radical Reformers," said the
+<i>Freeman</i>, "and willing to go any reasonable length in correcting abuses,
+because we know extensive grievances have existed both in the mother country and in
+these colonies.... but we cannot bring ourselves to support violent and unprincipled
+factions." "It has often been the misfortune," said <i>The British Whig</i>, of
+Kingston, "for those who have laboured to emancipate the people of this colony from
+Tory misrule to be accused of disaffection to the mother country, and of a design to
+effect the substitution of a republican mode of Government for their present
+monarchical form. That no accusation is more generally false we are thoroughly
+satisfied; and yet, owing to the indiscreetness of certain writers, the enemies of
+political change have had too many opportunities afforded them to ground their
+assertions on something like proof. Here is a letter published by a leading Reformer,
+without one single remark in detestation of the doctrine it promulgates.... Does Mr.
+Mackenzie sincerely believe that the independence of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> this Province would be beneficial
+to its inhabitants; or is he of opinion that the domination of the mother country is
+baneful? If he answer in the negative, as we think he will, why in the name of common
+sense did he afford his enemies so much occasion to brand him with disloyalty?" Said
+<i>The Free Press</i>, of Hamilton, "It is not the domination of the mother country
+that Reformers complain of; it is only the tyrannical conduct of a small and
+despicable faction in the colony. The domination of the mother country is as
+necessary to our present happiness and future greatness as the mother's breast is to
+the infant." "There can be but one opinion," said <i>The British American
+Journal</i>, of St. Catharines, "in the minds of honest men, relative to the
+sentiments contained in this letter. That they are seditious and revolutionary is
+painfully evident; besides the language in which it is couched, the brief reference
+to the important subjects treated of, and the peculiar manner of its appearance
+before the Canadian public, irresistibly force the conclusion upon our mind that it
+is the premature disclosure of a plan long premeditated to separate the Canadas from
+the empire of Great Britain, and either annex them to the confederated union of the
+States, or establish separate independent republic Governments; as far as the author
+or publisher of the letter is concerned, it is immaterial which." Mackenzie himself
+was characterized as a man who was doing his best to drive the people headlong and
+blindfold into rebellion. Such being the tone of the Liberal press, that of the Tory
+journals may readily be conceived. Some of them demanded that the Government should
+institute an immediate prosecution of Mackenzie. Indignation meetings were held all
+over the Province, at which loyal addresses to His Majesty were passed. The Methodist
+Conference and other bodies, secular as well as religious, hastened to pass
+resolutions condemnatory of Mr. Hume's sentiments, and to forward the same to the
+Lieutenant-Governor. The excitement in Toronto was tremendous. Before noon of the day
+on which the offensive letter appeared in print a public meeting had been called to
+protest against the disloyal sentiments embodied in it. It was numerously attended,
+and, though a good many Reformers were present, a vote of censure on Mackenzie was
+passed without a dissentient voice. The matter was brought up in the City Council,
+and, though the support<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> of the Reform members enabled him to escape the official censure of
+that body, he was compelled to submit to a series of criticisms which must have been
+exceedingly galling to his feelings. By this one misguided act he had contrived to do
+enough harm to far more than counterbalance any good which had been effected through
+his mission to England; and there were many Reformers who, in spite of all his
+protestations, never again felt any confidence in him, politically or otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>In his capacity of mayor he was fairly assiduous in his attention to his duties.
+The city was subjected to a visitation of Asiatic cholera during the year, and he
+appears to have done his utmost to stay the progress of the pestilence, as well as to
+provide for the treatment of the stricken patients. He was nevertheless guilty of a
+number of indiscretions which rendered him odious to a large proportion of the
+population. His pettiness of spirit was incessantly asserting itself. No person in
+the community, however insignificant, was beneath his wrath when his sense of
+personal dignity was wounded. On one occasion a wretched woman of intemperate habits
+and loose character was brought before him in the Mayor's Court. She was loquacious
+and abusive, and Mackenzie, in a rage, ordered her to be placed in the public stocks.
+There were still a public pillory and stocks within the city, but, like those in
+Squire Hazeldean's parish, they had long been disused. Mackenzie had probably never
+heard of the maxim <i>Quieta non movere</i>. At any rate, the greater part of his
+life was spent in efforts in an opposite direction. His sentence was carried out, and
+the culprit was placed in the stocks. Had this been the act of a fossilized member of
+the Compact it would not have appeared very incongruous, but in Mackenzie it seemed
+ludicrously out of keeping with his professions. It aroused the popular indignation
+against him to a higher pitch than ever; but it had one good effect: it led to the
+removal and destruction of the barbarous relics of medi&aelig;valism. To Mackenzie belongs
+the questionable credit of reviving their use when Tory magistrates had become
+ashamed to employ them any longer. He is entitled to the further distinction of being
+the last magistrate in Upper Canada to sanction their use; and that, too, in the case
+of a poor and defenceless woman, whose wretchedness ought to have removed her far
+from the possibility of his vengeance.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span>A
+considerable part of the summer was spent by both the political parties in the
+Province in preparing for the general election contest which was to take place before
+the close of the year. It was held in October. Had it been held some months earlier,
+while the public sympathy with Mackenzie in consequence of his repeated expulsions
+was at its height, an overwhelming preponderance of Reform members would have been
+returned. The publication of Mr. Hume's letter in the interval had alienated many
+sympathies and lost many votes to the Reform cause. Still, there was a strong
+tendency throughout the greater part of the Province in the direction of Reform, and
+the Reformers made unprecedented exertions. They succeeded in winning to their side a
+large number of the Roman Catholic electorate, and they absorbed most of the recent
+arrivals from beyond sea. Bidwell and Perry were re-elected for Lennox and Addington.
+William Benjamin Wells, a young lawyer of twenty-five, who afterwards made some mark
+as a newspaper writer on the Reform side, and from whose "Canadiana" several extracts
+have already been made in these pages, was returned for the County of Grenville. He
+was an Upper Canadian by birth, of U. E. Loyalist stock, and the grandson of a
+volunteer who fought at the siege of Louisbourg. Oxford returned for one of its
+members Dr. Charles Duncombe, who was destined to take a conspicuous part in the
+insurrectionary events of two years later. He was a medical practitioner of great
+intelligence and wide influence, an eloquent and forcible speaker, and an ardent
+Reformer. He resided on the Burford Plains, near the present village of Bishopsgate,
+a few miles west of Brantford. The two members returned for the County of Simcoe
+represented very nearly the two extremes of political opinion. William Benjamin
+Robinson, a brother of the Chief Justice, was, as became one of his race, the
+incarnation of Family Compact Toryism. His colleague was Samuel Lount, whose name,
+owing to his untimely fate and the melancholy circumstances attending it, arouses a
+host of sad memories. It may safely be said that of all the victims of the rising of
+1837 none has been so sincerely and generally mourned. His execution is justly
+regarded in the light of a judicial murder and a stain upon our country's annals. As
+a peculiar interest has ever since attached to his name, and as but little is
+generally known with respect to him, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278"
+id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> may be proper to record a few particulars. He was
+born on the banks of the Susquehanna River, in the State of Pennsylvania, on the 24th
+of September, 1791. His father, Gabriel Lount, was an Englishman, and a native of
+Bristol, who settled in the United States after the close of the Revolutionary War,
+and married an American lady of English descent. Gabriel Lount never lost his British
+proclivities during his residence in the republic, and in the spring of the year
+1811, accompanied by his son and the rest of his family, he removed to Upper Canada.
+He settled in the township of Whitchurch, where he practised as a surveyor, and in
+the course of the nest few years laid out many official surveys for the Provincial
+Government. Samuel, prior to his removal to Canada, had learned the trade of a
+blacksmith, which he carried on for some years at Holland Landing. He had a farm in
+the same neighbourhood which he cultivated with much pecuniary success. Being a man
+of great industry and intelligence, he gradually amassed considerable property, and
+became what for those days might be regarded as wealthy. Better still, he acquired
+the respect and confidence of the people around him, for he was kind-hearted and
+generous, and spent much of his time in ministering to the necessities of those
+incoming settlers who were less advantageously situated than himself. To this day the
+neighbourhood abounds with traditions of his noble unselfishness, and there are old
+men and women who, after the lapse of half a century, cannot speak of Samuel Lount
+without a dimness of vision and a huskiness of the voice.<a name="FNanchor_187_187"
+id="FNanchor_187_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_187" class="fnanchor">[187]</a>
+Though a zealous loyalist, he was an enthusiastic <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span>Reformer, and vehemently opposed to
+the domination of the faction whose selfishness went far to paralyze the life of the
+Province. He was an excellent speaker, and during election contests did much to
+awaken public opinion on the fruitful subject of Executive abuses. He now, in
+response to pressing solicitations, allowed himself to be nominated as a candidate
+for the representation of Simcoe in the Assembly, and, as has been seen, was returned
+for that constituency along with an ultra-Tory. In personal appearance he was
+considerably above the medium height, and of robust figure; of dark complexion, and
+with a pleasant, intelligent expression of countenance.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><img src="images/p284.jpg" alt="p284" title="David Gibson"/></div>
+<div class="figcenter"><span class="caption">[Handwritten.] I am your obt Servant David Gibson</span></div>
+
+<p>The County of York, smarting under a sense of indignity and partial
+disfranchisement, rendered itself specially conspicuous in the contest. During the
+preceding year an Act<a name="FNanchor_188_188" id="FNanchor_188_188"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_188_188" class="fnanchor">[188]</a> had been passed extending and
+readjusting the representation of the County, and dividing it for electoral purposes
+into four Ridings, designated respectively the First, Second, Third and Fourth. Each
+of these now returned a Radical Reformer. The First Riding returned David Gibson, a
+land surveyor who resided on Yonge Street, about eight miles north of the city, near
+the present village of Willowdale. He was of Scottish nationality, having been born
+in the parish of Glammis, Forfarshire, on the 9th of March, 1804. Within legitimate
+bounds there was no more pronounced Reformer in the Province than Mr. Gibson, whose
+house was a sort of rendezvous or place of meeting for party caucuses. He was an
+honourable and high-minded man, much esteemed by his neighbours, and in high favour
+with his party. The Second Riding chose Mackenzie. Many of the voters disapproved of
+some of his acts, but his paper was largely read among them, and it was felt that
+some recompense was due<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg
+280]</a></span> to him for the indignities which he had suffered. The Third Riding
+returned Dr. Thomas David Morrison, of Toronto, who has already been referred to in
+connection with the municipal affairs of the city. He was a physician enjoying a good
+practice; a man of good sense and wise counsels, and a prominent personage in the
+ranks of Reform. For the Fourth Riding was returned John Mackintosh, a resident of
+Toronto, and a connexion, by marriage, of Mackenzie. He was a steady Reformer, of no
+remarkable abilities, who a few months previously had been elected President of the
+Metropolitan District Reform Convention, and was known to be to a large extent under
+Mackenzie's control. Such were the four York representatives.</p>
+
+<p>At the close of the contest the Reformers of the Province had secured a certain
+majority, which led them to look eagerly forward to the meeting of Parliament,
+although, with the exception of Bidwell and Perry, their best and most trusted chiefs
+had no seats therein. Rolph and the Baldwins had positively refused to stand for any
+of the constituencies, although strongly urged to do so. They seem to have felt that
+the political pulse was not healthy, and that no credit was to be won, either for
+themselves or for the Reform cause, while the morbid symptoms continued. The worst
+symptom of all in their eyes was the ascendency of Mackenzie and his satellites among
+the rural and uneducated part of the community.<a name="FNanchor_189_189"
+id="FNanchor_189_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_189" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> With
+this ascendency they were wholly out of accord, and they awaited the time when he
+should find his proper level in public opinion. Dr. Rolph had brought himself to
+acquiesce in this estimate of Mackenzie with great reluctance; and it is<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> probable that
+his strong suspicions of double-dealing in the matter of the mayoralty election had
+something to do with his change of views.</p>
+
+<p>By this time Mackenzie had become tired of publishing the <i>Advocate</i>, which
+was not a commercial success. Early in November the last number published under his
+auspices made its appearance, and the editor was at liberty to devote his chief
+energies to his legislative duties.<a name="FNanchor_190_190" id="FNanchor_190_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_190" class="fnanchor">[190]</a>
+During the second week in December he and a number of his political friends formed
+what they called the Canadian Alliance Society, for the promotion of Responsible
+Government, the abolition of the law of Primogeniture, the secularization of the
+Clergy Reserves, and other needful reforms, most of which have since been conceded.
+At the beginning of the new year (1835) Mackenzie again offered himself as a
+candidate for the representation of St. David's Ward in the City Council of Toronto,
+but he was defeated by Robert Baldwin Sullivan, a brilliant Toronto lawyer, and a
+kinsman of Robert Baldwin. The Council elected the successful candidate as mayor for
+the ensuing year.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_181_181" id="Footnote_181_181"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_181_181"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 187.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_182_182" id="Footnote_182_182"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_182_182"><span class="label">[182]</span></a> "To his
+instruction, and the love of knowledge which he never failed to inspire in those
+who came within the magic of his eloquence, many men who have since made their
+mark on the history of Canada owe their first start in intellectual progress.
+Notable among these is the present Chief Superintendent of Education, who has
+acknowledged that if he has achieved any distinction, it is mainly due to the
+love of knowledge with which he was inspired by the eloquence and example of Dr.
+Rolph." Such was the late Dr. Ryerson's own testimony, as published in the
+<i>Journal of Education</i>, upon Dr. Rolph's death in 1870.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_183_183" id="Footnote_183_183"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_183_183"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> The phrase is
+Mackenzie's own. See his remarks preceding the extracts in the <i>Advocate</i> of May 22nd.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_184_184" id="Footnote_184_184"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_184_184"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> By Dr. Morrison in
+the Toronto City Council. See the report of the proceedings of that body at the
+meeting held on Monday, June 9th, 1834. On the subject generally, see the
+pamphlet published in Toronto in 1834 entitled <i>The Celebrated Letter of Joseph Hume</i>, etc.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_185_185" id="Footnote_185_185"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_185_185"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> In a letter dated
+14th July, 1834, and published in the <i>Advocate</i> of September 25th. Mr. Hume
+there states his meaning to have been "that the misrule of the Government in
+Canada, and the monopolizing selfish domination of such men as had lately (though
+but a small faction of the people) resisted all improvement and reform, would
+lose the countenance of the authorities in Downing Street, and leave the people
+in freedom to manage their own affairs."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_186_186" id="Footnote_186_186"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_186_186"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> The following
+extract is from a cleverly-written letter signed "O. P. Q.," which appeared in
+the <i>Courier</i> of June 5th, 1834. It spoke the sentiments of nearly all the
+newspapers in the country, of whatsoever shade of politics: "But for that letter
+the people of this Province might long remain in ignorance of the real motives by
+which your conduct has been actuated. They might long regard you as a persecuted
+patriot.... But your imprudence or your vanity has been the means of completely
+unmasking and placing you before the people of this country in all the naked
+deformity of an acknowledged traitor. Henceforth you must be content to be
+regarded as the secret abettor of a heartless conspiracy.... Do not think, Sir,
+that these are the sentiments of a violent political opponent who approves of the
+measures adopted towards you by the House of Assembly.... These views, Sir, are
+the views of a man who has ever denounced the course your adversaries have
+pursued towards you as unwise, unjust and unconstitutional. They are the
+sentiments of a man who, if he had the power to punish the persons who first rose
+you from poverty, ignominy and ruin, to comparative affluence and popular
+notoriety, would have sent the destroyers of your press to less favoured regions.
+They are the sentiments of one who had up to the publication of the letter ...
+regarded you as a man attached to the institutions of your country.... It is an
+old adage, 'Give him rope enough,' etc. You have a moderate quantity, and if the
+avowal of such sentiments as you have lately promulgated do not afford you a few
+yards more, you may regard yourself as infinitely more fortunate than many better
+and bolder men."</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_187_187" id="Footnote_187_187"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_187_187"><span class="label">[187]</span></a> "To the many poor
+settlers who came from Europe, and obtained grants of lands from the government,
+he was a friend and adviser, and in cases of necessity their wants were supplied
+from his purse or his granaries. Many is the time, said some of our
+fellow-prisoners, that we have seen him, after the toils of the day were over,
+leave his home to carry provisions for miles through the pathless forest, to the
+shanty of some poor and destitute settler, who with wife and family were rendered
+by want and sickness utterly destitute. Those acquainted with the history of new
+settlements need not be told how often those who have been accustomed to better
+days are obliged to embark in a new career of life, the duties of which they are
+totally ignorant and wholly unfitted for, nor how often sickness is engendered by
+their great bodily exertions, by neglect and deprivation. In a country like that
+in which Mr. Lount was settled, the inhabitants resided far apart, and consisted
+generally of old, worn, and superannuated British officers, who, at the close of
+the war, pitched their tents, for the last time, in the wilderness. The sums
+which they obtained from the sale of their half-pay, almost expended in the
+transportation of their little families, before arriving on the lands assigned
+them by government&mdash;unfitted, from their former pursuits, to bear the
+drudgery their new course of life required, it was frequently the case, that
+before they could raise anything from their lands, they became perfectly
+destitute of the necessaries of subsistence. Too proud to seek assistance, they
+would starve rather than communicate their situation; but in Lount, their
+generous neighbour, they found one quick to discover and prompt in affording
+relief, and he would minister to their wants with such delicacy that the most
+sensitive would experience a pleasure rather than the pang of wounded
+pride."&mdash;Theller's <i>Canada in 1837-38</i>, vol. i., pp. 233, 234. I
+transfer these remarks, not because I have any respect for Theller's personal
+testimony on any subject, but because in the present instance his language
+clearly expresses the general sentiment of the period with regard to Samuel
+Lount, and is confirmed by the remembrance of many persons still living in and
+near Holland Landing.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_188_188" id="Footnote_188_188"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_188_188"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> 3 Wm. IV., c. 15,
+passed 13th February, 1833.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_189_189" id="Footnote_189_189"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_189_189"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> In the preceding
+February Dr. Baldwin had thus written in reply to a notification to attend as a
+delegate at the District Convention: "This honour I beg leave to decline, and for
+this reason: that having heretofore served the country to the utmost of my humble
+abilities as their representative in Parliament, with the sincerest integrity of
+purpose in maintenance of popular rights, unspotted, I trust, by one single vote
+of a contrary tendency, I, together with many others of the staunchest friends of
+those rights, experienced such extreme fickleness of popular opinion that this
+conclusion has long been formed in my mind: that the great body of the people of
+this Province (without doubt there are many honourable exceptions), in no wise
+ignorant of their rights or the great value of them, are nevertheless shamefully
+indifferent into whose hands they commit their preservation and due exercise.
+Experience alone must teach the people. This experience is coming to them by
+painful lessons.... Under these circumstances I beg you will make my apology,"
+etc. The letter appears in the <i>Advocate</i> of March 13th, 1834, following one
+to a similar purport from Dr. Rolph.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_190_190" id="Footnote_190_190"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_190_190"><span class="label">[190]</span></a> It was continued
+for some time after by another hand, under the name of <i>The Correspondent and Advocate</i>.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxiv.jpg" width="300" height="71" alt="chapxiv" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p>
+<h4>SEE, THE CONQUERING HERO COMES!</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1835.</div>
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letterp.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterp" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">P</span>arliament met on the 15th of January, 1835, when the Reform majority in the
+Assembly were able to once more elect Mr. Bidwell to the Speakership. The vote stood
+thirty-one to twenty-seven. Among the minority were five or six Conservative members
+who repudiated the name of Tory, and were opposed to the policy of the official
+party, to whom, as has been seen,<a name="FNanchor_191_191" id="FNanchor_191_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_191" class="fnanchor">[191]</a> they
+merely yielded a qualified support as the less of two evils. Such being the state of
+affairs in the Assembly, the Compact party were of course precluded from making any
+further serious attempts to keep Mackenzie out of the House. The proceedings of
+previous sessions relative to the several expulsions were upon motion of Mackenzie
+himself expunged from the journals of the House. The baneful domination letter was
+made the subject of a long discussion, in the course of which Mackenzie received some
+exceedingly hard hits from Solicitor-General Hagerman; but as he had been manifestly
+in the wrong in giving publicity to that letter, and as he had been disciplined by
+members of his party to keep silence in the event of an attack on that score, he sat
+quietly through the Solicitor-General's onslaught.</p>
+
+<p>The most important proceedings of the session, and the only ones of which it is
+necessary to take cognizance in these pages, were those relating to the Seventh
+Report of the Grievance Committee, to which frequent reference has already been made.
+On Friday, the 23rd of January, Mackenzie moved for and obtained the appointment of a
+Special Committee on Grievances, with power to send for persons, papers and<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> records, and
+with authority to report to the House from time to time by bill, address or
+otherwise. Mackenzie himself acted as Chairman of the Committee, the other members of
+which, as finally struck, were Dr. Morrison, David Gibson and Charles Waters, one of
+the members for Prescott. The famous Seventh Report, which did more to arouse the
+Home Government on the subject of Upper Canadian affairs than all previous efforts in
+that direction, was completed and presented to the Assembly on Friday, the 10th of
+April. It was a truly formidable indictment. It recapitulated the various grievances
+under which the Province laboured, and which called loudly for remedy. These have
+been already set forth in former chapters of the present work, and need not here be
+enlarged upon. The prevailing tone of the Report was temperate and calm, and there is
+little or nothing in it to which serious exception can be taken, although, as may
+easily be discerned from internal evidence, the compilers felt strongly the
+importance of a vivid presentation of their case. The Report proper occupies only
+fifteen folio pages of the appendix to the official journals of the session; but the
+evidence taken by the Committee, and the various letters, papers and documents which
+go to make up the mass of valuable information submitted to the Assembly, extend to
+voluminous dimensions. In addition to the copies printed for insertion in the
+appendix to the journal, two thousand copies of the complete work were issued
+separately in octavo form for distribution. It thus obtained a considerable
+circulation throughout the Province; and a copy was also sent to each member of the
+British House of Commons. The first copy that left the binder's hands was forwarded
+to the Colonial Secretary. All the most pressing grievances were dealt with in
+greater or less detail, but special prominence was given to the necessity for a
+responsible Government&mdash;a Government responsible to public opinion, which must
+cease to exist when it ceases to command popular confidence. The wished-for
+settlement of this important question would necessarily comprehend and include the
+removal of many of the most glaring abuses to which the people of the Province had
+long been subject and the Reform party were keenly alive to the importance of
+obtaining the concession. More than a third of the Report proper was devoted to
+dealing with the question in its various aspects, and it was shown that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> the Provincial
+Executive were not only impervious to public opinion, but were also ready enough to
+disregard the views of the Home Government itself when those views failed to coincide
+with their own plans for self-aggrandizement. Some of the evidence taken was of the
+most compromising character, while the refusal of leading members of the Compact to
+answer certain questions propounded to them did not tend to place matters in a more
+favourable light. Archdeacon Strachan's response to many of the questions put to him
+amounted to a practical contempt of the Committee. "I do not answer that
+question."&mdash;"I have no answer to give."&mdash;"I refer you to the Constitutional
+Act."&mdash;"I cannot answer that question, owing to its assumptions, which I do not
+admit." Such are a few of his replies. The whole of his examination is worth reading,
+as exemplifying how far an intelligent man will sometimes permit bigotry and
+intolerance to gain possession of his soul. Indeed, the evidence of all the witnesses
+may be read with profit by those who wish to gain a full insight into the state of
+the Province at that time, and to fully appreciate the necessity which existed for a
+change in the mode of conducting public affairs.</p>
+
+<p>The report, though presented to the Assembly as above intimated, does not appear
+to have been formally adopted during the session, but the passing of the order for
+the printing of it, together with two thousand extra copies, amounted to a practical
+adoption, and was probably so considered. The Committee could easily have secured its
+adoption, for the vote on the Speakership had not fully represented the strength of
+the Opposition, who on several questions were able to command a majority of from ten
+to eleven. But the fact was again brought vividly home to the Reform party that mere
+success at the polls had availed them little. Notwithstanding the numerical minority
+of the official party in the Assembly, they continued to exercise supreme power, and
+to strengthen themselves by the constant dispensing of patronage. They controlled the
+Legislative Council, and could thus control the legislative powers of the Assembly,
+independently of any question of the numerical strength or weakness of the Opposition
+in that House. The Legislative Council now assumed an attitude of determined
+antagonism to the popular voice, and would entertain no legislation of a liberal
+character. The vivid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> realization of these facts gave a keen edge to the remarks on
+Responsible Government in the Grievance Committee's Report. An Address setting forth
+these various discouragements was forwarded to His Majesty by the Assembly. The
+language was respectful but firm, and it was hinted that, if a remedy were not
+provided, resort would have to be had to the extreme measure of withholding the usual
+supplies. Earnest petitions to His Majesty were at the same time sent across the
+Atlantic from some of the rural districts, praying that the principles of the British
+constitution might be applied to Canadian affairs.</p>
+
+<p>The Address and petitions were accompanied by the fullest documentary and other
+evidence, and, in conjunction with the Grievance Committee's Report, they stirred the
+Home Government to action. The Colonial Secretaryship had changed hands more than
+once since Mr. Stanley's tenure of office. The incumbent at this time, and for
+several years afterwards, was Lord Glenelg. His Lordship gave much consideration to
+the Report, and laid it before the King in person. The Home Government had by this
+time fully realized that there was much well-grounded discontent in the Canadas, and
+that something must be done to allay it. It was clear that the Reformers were
+justified in at least some of their demands, and that reasonable concessions should
+be made to them. This conviction led to an ungracious correspondence between the
+Colonial Office and Sir John Colborne,<a name="FNanchor_192_192" id="FNanchor_192_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_192" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> who,
+owing, as is to be presumed, to the advice of Chief Justice Robinson and Archdeacon
+Strachan, was very reluctant to make concessions as suggested. As this reluctance was
+made manifest in the course of the correspondence, the Colonial Secretary resolved
+upon His Excellency's recall. Sir John had been appointed by a Tory Government, the
+traditions of which had been pretty well swept away by the effect of the Reform Bill.
+His mode of conducting the Provincial Administration may perhaps be to some extent
+palliated by the circumstances attending his appointment. But a Whig Government had
+now been for some time in power, and an effete colonial policy could not be permitted
+to be maintained to the detriment of colonial loyalty. If Sir John Colborne was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> not amenable to
+Whig discipline he must make way for some one of a more plastic mind. He was
+meanwhile instructed to delay the assembling of the Legislature until the Home
+Government could fully consider the aspect of affairs, and take such steps for the
+redress of the Provincial grievances as might seem advisable.</p>
+
+<p>Having arrived at this conclusion, the Colonial Secretary began to look about him
+for a successor to Sir John Colborne. It was not easy to find one in all respects
+suitable, for the appointment was not a prize of such magnitude as to attract persons
+of really first-rate abilities. There seems good reason to believe that the place was
+offered to at least two fairly competent public servants, both of whom declined it.<a name="FNanchor_193_193" id="FNanchor_193_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_193"
+class="fnanchor">[193]</a> In view of his subsequent conduct, it is fair to assume
+that Lord Glenelg was sincerely anxious to do his best for Upper Canada, and to
+confer the appointment upon the best man within his reach. How ignominously he failed
+to carry out his wishes in this particular is known to every student of Upper
+Canadian history; but what is not known, either to students of history or anyone
+else, is&mdash;What was the motive power which directed his choice? By what whimsical
+combination of circumstances it came about that the appointment was finally offered
+to, and accepted by, one of the most unlikely men in the three kingdoms, is one of
+those official riddles which appear to defy solution. The fact remains, that the post
+of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was conferred upon Sir Francis Bond Head, a
+Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, a retired half-pay Major, an Assistant
+Poor-Law Commissioner for one of the Kentish districts, and the author of several
+entertaining but exceedingly superficial books of travel. To no one was the
+appointment a greater surprise than to Sir Francis himself. He must have felt the
+utter absurdity of the thing&mdash;that he had no claim to such a post, and was
+disqualified from filling it with credit. He neither knew nor cared anything about
+Canada. He was altogether ignorant of politics. He had never joined any political
+party; never attended a political discussion; never even voted at an election or
+taken any part in one.<a name="FNanchor_194_194" id="FNanchor_194_194"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_194_194" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> So far as any knowledge of the
+British constitution was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> concerned, he had as little as any Englishman of decent education
+could possibly have. He had no claim upon the Government; was not acquainted with any
+member of it; and had never so much as seen Lord Glenelg in his life.<a
+name="FNanchor_195_195" id="FNanchor_195_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_195"
+class="fnanchor">[195]</a> It is certainly not strange that he should have been, as
+he says,<a name="FNanchor_196_196" id="FNanchor_196_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_196" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> "altogether at a loss to
+conceive" why this appointment should have been offered to him.</p>
+
+<p>From that day down to the present time the circumstance has puzzled wiser heads
+than his, and there have been various attempts to solve the mystery. A tradition is
+said to be current in the Colonial Office that the appointment was the result of a
+singular misapprehension of identity, and the late Mr. Roebuck assured Sir Francis
+Hincks that such was really the fact.<a name="FNanchor_197_197" id="FNanchor_197_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_197" class="fnanchor">[197]</a> A
+"distinguished Imperial statesman" also assured Sir Francis that he had heard the
+same statement,<a name="FNanchor_198_198" id="FNanchor_198_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_198" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> which was to the effect that the
+person for whom the appointment was really intended was the kinsman of Sir Francis,
+afterwards Sir Edmund Walker Head, Governor-General of Canada. It is said that at a
+meeting of the Cabinet, while the selection of a successor to Sir John Colborne was
+under consideration, one of the Ministers suggested that "young Head" would be a
+likely man for the position&mdash;the person meant being Edmund Walker Head, who was
+even then known as possessing wide political knowledge, in so far, at least, as such
+knowledge can be obtained from books. Edmund was moreover known to many public men in
+Great Britain as an able writer on political subjects, and was a
+prot&eacute;g&eacute; of the Marquis of Lansdowne, who was at this time President of
+the Council, and, by consequence, a colleague of Lord Glenelg. Edmund, as well as
+Francis, was a Poor-Law Commissioner, though he occupied a more exalted position than
+his kinsman. Thus, it is argued, there was some show of excuse for confusing the one
+with the other. Lord Glenelg, so the story goes, took the suggestion of his colleague
+as applying to Sir Francis, and acted upon it; and before the error was discovered
+the appointment had been offered to and accepted by the wrong man.<a name="FNanchor_199_199" id="FNanchor_199_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_199"
+class="fnanchor">[199]</a> How much truth there may be in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> this account of the matter it is
+not easy to say. Such a blunder would imply an amount of carelessness barely
+conceivable in the management of an important Department of the State. Sir Francis
+Hincks, however, who has enjoyed exceptional opportunities of discussing the story
+with leading English statesmen, is strongly disposed to believe it.<a name="FNanchor_200_200" id="FNanchor_200_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_200"
+class="fnanchor">[200]</a> Whatever opinion may be formed as to its truth or falsity,
+certain it is that Sir Francis Bond Head received the appointment, and that his
+conduct in Upper Canada did more to alienate the minds of the colonists generally
+than anything which had been done by either Sir John Colborne or Sir Peregrine
+Maitland. There is this to be said on his behalf: that he came to Canada at a very
+critical time&mdash;at a time when diplomatic shrewdness and statesmanlike sagacity
+were imperatively demanded of one occupying the position of Lieutenant-Governor.
+Injustice had so long borne sway in the land that many of the inhabitants had ceased
+to hope for better times. Many despaired of the future, and a few, whose natural
+element was opposition, had little desire to be conciliated.<a name="FNanchor_201_201" id="FNanchor_201_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_201"
+class="fnanchor">[201]</a> Even a born statesman would have found his task by no
+means a sinecure.</p>
+
+<p>To statesmanship no shadow of pretence could be made on behalf of Sir Francis
+Head. The texture of his mind was light and airy. He was inordinately vain and
+self-conscious; and, as has been seen, he was devoid of political knowledge and
+experience. The whole course of his previous life had been of a character to render
+him unfit for such greatness as was now thrust upon him. A considerable part of it
+had been spent in travel and adventure, and very little of it in study. He had left
+school at an early age, since which time he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289"
+id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> had encountered innumerable moving accidents by
+flood and field in various parts of the world. He had received a certain amount of
+training at the Military Academy at Woolwich, and had obtained a commission in the
+Royal Engineers in his nineteenth year. He had seen some active service in Spain
+towards the close of the Peninsular War; had been present at Quatre Bras and
+Waterloo, and had fought at Fleurus under the Prussian General Ziethan, where he had
+had his horse shot under him. After the restoration of peace he had for some time
+been engaged in making a trigonometrical survey of the island of Lampedoza, in the
+Mediterranean. Thence he had embarked in a Greek vessel for Tripoli; had been nearly
+wrecked through the skipper's intemperance, and had finally been put ashore at Malta.
+He had also been Byron-smitten, and had followed in the wake of the author of "Childe
+Harold" to the Levant; had contemplated "the Niobe of nations" among the ruins of
+Rome; had witnessed the dance of the dervishes amid the fallen temples of Athens; and
+had "felt his patriotism gain force upon the plain of Marathon."<a name="FNanchor_202_202" id="FNanchor_202_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_202"
+class="fnanchor">[202]</a> He had twice visited South America as the agent of a
+company formed for the working of certain gold and silver mines, and known as the Rio
+de la Plata Mining Association. During one of these expeditions he had ridden on
+horseback from the port of Buenos Aires across the pampas to the silver mines of
+Upsallata, near the foot of the Andes, whence, without any companion whatever, he had
+galloped back to Buenos Aires&mdash;a distance of nearly a thousand miles&mdash;in
+the brief space of eight days. Then he had retraced his course across the pampas,
+and, collecting a party of miners at Mendoza, had conducted them over the Andes to
+Santiago, the capital of Chili. After "prospecting" the country in various
+directions, he had ridden back across the Andes and the pampas to Buenos Aires,
+having traversed six thousand miles on horseback in an inconceivably short time. His
+"Rough Notes" contains a graphic account of this expedition, and is very interesting
+reading. It won for him wide notoriety, and led to his being commonly referred to in
+the current literature of the time as "Galloping Head." His adventurous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> career had left
+an indelible stamp upon his character. He was rash, impetuous, inconsiderate and
+superficial, fond of producing dramatic effects, and ever with an eye to some <i>coup
+de th&eacute;&acirc;tre</i>. He had not been a Poor-Law Commissioner long enough to
+have become thoroughly settled down when a king's messenger arrived at his Kentish
+abode about midnight, with a missive offering him the appointment of
+Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. He seems to have at first had sufficient good
+sense to decline the proffered honour; but he allowed himself to be talked into
+accepting it by Lord Glenelg and his under-secretary, Mr. Stephen. As I have said
+elsewhere: "The result of an appointment made under such circumstances was disaster
+to the Province, and something nearly approaching ignominy to himself. As a civil
+administrator in a disturbed and grievance-ridden colony, he was altogether out of
+his proper element, and furnished a signal instance of the round peg in the square
+hole. His administration extended over little more than two years, but during that
+period he contrived to embroil himself with his own Executive, with the Home
+Government from which he had received his appointment, and with pretty nearly every
+one who was desirous of promoting the cause of political liberty in Upper Canada. He
+also contrived to do an amount of mischief which left traces behind it for many years
+after he had ceased to have any control over Canadian affairs. And yet it would be
+most unjust to represent him as a deliberately bad or ill-intentioned man. He was
+simply a weak man out of his proper sphere."<a name="FNanchor_203_203" id="FNanchor_203_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_203" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> That
+a man of such mental endowments should have been sent out to stem the tide of Upper
+Canadian discontent, and to conciliate noisy Radicals of the Mackenzie stamp, is in
+itself sufficient proof that a huge official blunder of some sort was committed. What
+was wanted was a statesman, and a man of Liberal political views. Had there been any,
+even the slightest inquiry, it would have been ascertained that Sir Francis hardly
+knew the meaning of the word statesman, and that he had no political views whatever.
+It is hardly going too far to say that on all current political subjects, whether
+pertaining to the colonies or the mother country, his mind was little more than a
+blank.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> Lord
+Glenelg had an elaborate paper of instructions prepared for the new
+Lieutenant-Governor, This was intended as the Imperial response to the strong
+representations which had been received from Upper Canada in the course of the year.
+Sir Francis was directed to communicate the substance of his instructions to both
+Houses of the Provincial Parliament. Having been schooled for a few days by Mr.
+Stephen, and having gone down to Brighton and been presented to the King, he set
+sail, with his suite, from Liverpool for Canada, by way of New York. While crossing
+the Atlantic he devoted some time to studying his instructions, together with the
+Seventh Report of the Grievance Committee, with which he had been provided at the
+Colonial office.<a name="FNanchor_204_204" id="FNanchor_204_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_204" class="fnanchor">[204]</a> Upon arriving at New York he
+pushed on to his final destination. "There would be no end to this chapter," he
+writes, in the third chapter of his "Narrative," "were I to describe the simplicity
+of mind, ill-naturedly called ignorance, with which I approached the city of Toronto.
+With Mr. Mackenzie's heavy book of lamentations in my portmanteau, and with my
+remedial instructions in my writing case, I considered myself as a political
+physician, who, whether regularly educated or not, was about to effect a surprising
+cure; for, as I never doubted for a moment either the existence of the 553 pages of
+grievances, nor that I would mercilessly destroy them, root and branch, I felt
+perfectly confident that I should very soon be able proudly to report that the
+grievances of Upper Canada were defunct&mdash;in fact, that I had veni-ed, vidi-ed
+and vici-ed them." Infatuated man, to compare himself to Caesar, even in this
+half-jocular manner, at such a time, and to suppose that the bitter animosities which
+had been accumulating for the best part of a generation could be swept out of
+existence at the mere wave of the hand of such a weak substitute for "the mighty
+Julius" as he!</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1836.</div>
+<p>He reached Toronto on the 23rd of January, 1836. Sir John Colborne was just ready
+to take his departure, to the great regret of the official party, and very much to
+the delight of the Reformers, who had been led to believe that the incoming
+Lieutenant-Governor was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> thorough-going Liberal, sent over expressly to redress their
+grievances, and to hurl the Compact from the seat of power which they had so long
+usurped. Parliament had been assembled on the 14th of the month, and had ever since
+been expecting the arrival of the King's new representative. As for Sir John
+Colborne, he was in no good humour with the Imperial Government, although his rigid
+ideas as to discipline prevented him from giving utterance to his displeasure except
+to some of the members of the Executive, and even to them his views were imparted
+with great caution, and in the strictest secrecy.<a name="FNanchor_205_205"
+id="FNanchor_205_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_205" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> In
+consequence of his unsatisfactory communications from the Colonial Office, he had for
+some time felt his position growing more and more uncomfortable, and had solicited
+his recall; but his deposition had been fully resolved upon before the receipt of his
+request by the Colonial Secretary. He had served out his full term of six years, and
+somewhat more, so that his removal did not imply any reflection upon him. His nature
+and training unfitted him to carry out the projects of Reform which it had been
+determined to set on foot, but, in his proper sphere, he was recognized as a valuable
+public servant, who had all his life done his duty according to the light which had
+been vouchsafed to him. The leading spirits of the ruling party in the Province
+contemplated his departure with gloomy forebodings. They also had been led to suppose
+that Sir Francis Head was a Reformer of wide experience, who was coming among them to
+introduce a new order of things. They resolved to put forth one great effort while
+the chance remained to them. They induced Sir John, before his departure, to
+perpetrate what may fitly be characterized as the most unstatesmanlike act of his
+life: an act which aroused a perfect transport of public indignation, and caused the
+name of the perpetrator to be execrated throughout the length and breadth of the
+Province.</p>
+
+<p>It will be remembered that<a name="FNanchor_206_206" id="FNanchor_206_206"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_206_206" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> provision had been made by the
+Constitutional Act for the creation and endowment, out of the lands reserved for the
+support of a Protestant Clergy, of parsonages or rectories, according<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> to the
+establishment of the Church of England. The discussion to which the Clergy Reserves
+had repeatedly given rise had prevented any advantage being taken of this authority.
+Nearly half a century had elapsed since the passing of the Constitutional Act, and as
+the power had been allowed to remain unexercised during all that time, there was good
+reason to believe that there would be no attempt to put it in operation, more
+especially in view of the strong feeling entertained with regard to the Reserves, and
+of the fact that the Provincial Parliament had been requested by the Imperial
+Government to legislate on the subject. Previous Colonial Secretaries, Lord Goderich
+among the number, had given what might fairly be construed as pledges on the part of
+the Imperial Government that no steps would be taken with respect to the disposal of
+any part of the Reserves, unless in accord with the views of a majority of the Upper
+Canadian people. Yet Sir John allowed himself to be persuaded into creating and
+endowing forty-four rectories<a name="FNanchor_207_207" id="FNanchor_207_207"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_207_207" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> with more that 17,000 acres of
+land, giving an average of about 386 acres to each. These were put in possession of
+clergymen, who were thus enabled to acquire such a personal vested and possessory
+interest in the lands as, it was believed, would enable them to make good their
+titles thereto in a court of law.</p>
+
+<p>This most reprehensible "clerical land grab" was made on the 15th of January,
+eight days before the arrival of Sir John Colborne's successor, and while Sir Francis
+was actually <i>en route</i> for Toronto. It was thus one of Sir John's last official
+acts. It is said that he was with difficulty brought to accede to the advice of his
+Council on the subject. He at all events seemed to feel that his creation of the
+rectories was an extraordinary act, and he took care to say nothing about the matter
+to the Imperial Government, who did not discover the facts until Sir Francis Head had
+been for some time in office. That the creation and endowment of the rectories were
+the means of greatly intensifying the general discontent throughout the Province,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> that
+they were thus factors in bringing about the Rebellion, is beyond question; though to
+say, as has been said by Mackenzie and others, that they were the <i>prime</i>
+factors, is to talk nonsense. The sequel of the story may as well be briefly outlined
+here. The Executive Council kept the matter secret as long as they could, but it was
+of such a nature that its early disclosure was inevitable. The transaction became
+public property in the course of the spring, soon after the close of the session of
+Parliament. No sooner did it become known than the public indignation began to
+manifest itself in lurid speeches and newspaper articles. Meetings were held to
+denounce Sir John Colborne and those who had prompted him to this high-handed
+iniquity. The Wesleyan Methodist Conference and the Synod of the Church of Scotland
+in Upper Canada, if agreeing on no other subject, were of one mind as to this, and
+officially pronounced upon it with a vehemence which commended itself to popular
+opinion. Petitions without number were sent over the sea. "The Imperial Government,"
+says Mr. Lindsey,<a name="FNanchor_208_208" id="FNanchor_208_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_208" class="fnanchor">[208]</a> "was besieged with petitions,
+praying for the annulment of the rectories. The temper of the public mind became
+imbued with that sullenness which a sense of injury begets, and which forebodes the
+approach of civil commotion. It was the idea of violated Imperial faith; of a broken
+compact between the Sovereign and his Canadian subjects, that constituted the sting
+of the injury. The people recurred to the promise of Lord Goderich that their wishes
+should be the Sovereign's guide in the matter, and regarded themselves as the victims
+of a deception which brought dishonour on the Crown and distrust on Imperial faith."
+The Home Government were in two minds about repudiating the transaction. The right of
+the Lieutenant-Governor to create and endow without the express assent of the King
+was not perfectly clear, and the Law Officers of the Crown were consulted on the
+question. Those gentlemen, on the case submitted for their consideration, pronounced
+the opinion that there had been an excess of authority, and that the creation and
+endowment were invalid. Dr. Strachan, upon becoming acquainted with this
+circumstance, prepared a report embodying certain facts and documents which had not
+been before the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> Law Officers, to whom the case was now submitted a second time. The
+additional data placed a different face upon the question, and the Law Officers
+arrived at a conclusion contrary to that which they had formerly expressed. The
+grantees were accordingly permitted to retain their property undisturbed, but the
+name of Sir John Colborne continued to be execrated in Upper Canada for his share in
+the transaction for many a year.<a name="FNanchor_209_209"
+id="FNanchor_209_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_209" class="fnanchor">[209]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_191_191" id="Footnote_191_191"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_191_191"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, pp. 231, 232.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_192_192" id="Footnote_192_192"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_192_192"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> See <i>Report of a
+Select Committee of the House of Assembly on the Political State of the Provinces
+of Upper and Lower Canada</i>, p. 25. Toronto, 1838.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_193_193" id="Footnote_193_193"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_193_193"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> See <i>Rough Notes
+on Head's Narrative</i>, by a Liberal, p. 17. London, 1840.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_194_194" id="Footnote_194_194"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_194_194"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> See his
+<i>Narrative</i>, Chapter III.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_195_195" id="Footnote_195_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_195"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> <i>Narrative</i>, Chapter II.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_196_196" id="Footnote_196_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_196"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_197_197" id="Footnote_197_197"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_197_197"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> See
+<i>Reminiscences of his Public Life</i>, by Sir Francis Hincks, K.C.M.G., C.B. p. 14. Montreal, 1884.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_198_198" id="Footnote_198_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_198"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i>, p. 15.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_199_199" id="Footnote_199_199"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_199_199"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> See <i>The Canadian
+Portrait Gallery</i>, vol iv., p. 172.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_200_200" id="Footnote_200_200"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_200_200"><span class="label">[200]</span></a>
+<i>Reminiscences</i>, etc., pp. 14, 15.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_201_201" id="Footnote_201_201"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_201_201"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> The Colonial Office
+could not even plead, in extenuation of such a fatal blunder as the appointment
+of Sir F. B. Head, that it was unaware of the importance of the crisis in
+colonial affairs. In the beginning of the instructions prepared for Sir Francis,
+dated "Downing Street, December 15th, 1835," the following words may be found: "I
+have the honour herewith to transmit to you a Commission, under His Majesty's
+sign-manual, appointing you Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper Canada.
+You have been selected for this office at an era of more difficulty and
+importance than any which has hitherto occurred in the history of that part of
+His Majesty's dominions. The expression of confidence in your discretion and
+ability which the choice implies would only be weakened by any more formal
+assurance which I could convey to you." What a commentary upon such language was
+furnished by the mere fact of the appointment of such an one as Sir Francis Head!</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_202_202" id="Footnote_202_202"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_202_202"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> See a brief account
+of Sir F. B. Head's life published in <i>The Courier of Upper Canada</i> of June
+11th, 1836, written by Alan Fairford (John Kent), and prefixed, with notes, to
+the collection of his Excellency's <i>Speeches, Messages and Replies</i>,
+published at Toronto during the same year.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_203_203" id="Footnote_203_203"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_203_203"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> <i>Canadian
+Portrait Gallery</i>, Vol. II., p. 169, where the sentences above quoted form
+part of a tolerably full sketch of the life of Sir F. B. Head.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_204_204" id="Footnote_204_204"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_204_204"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> He seems to have
+been provided with a duplicate copy by Joseph Hume. See that gentleman's letter
+to Mackenzie, dated 5th December, 1835, and included in the third chapter of
+Head's <i>Narrative</i>.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_205_205" id="Footnote_205_205"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_205_205"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> See <i>Report of a
+Select Committee of the Assembly</i>, etc., 1838. See also <i>The Rectory
+Question</i>, p. 2. Toronto, 1836.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_206_206" id="Footnote_206_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_206"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 63.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_207_207" id="Footnote_207_207"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_207_207"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> The intention was
+to create fifty-seven rectories, and patents for that number were actually made
+out, but thirteen of them were left unsigned by the Lieutenant-Governor, and the
+authorities refused to complete them or to admit their validity. See <i>The
+Rectories of Upper Canada, being a Return to an Address of the Honourable the
+House of Commons</i>, etc. Colonial Office, Downing Street, 1839. See also <i>The
+Last Forty Years</i>, vol. ii., p. 199: <i>Religious Endowments in Canada; a
+Chapter of Canadian History</i>, by Sir Francis Hincks, K.C.M.G., C.B.; London,
+1869.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_208_208" id="Footnote_208_208"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_208_208"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> See <i>The Clergy
+Reserves, their History and Present Position</i>, by Charles Lindsey, pp. 30, 31. Toronto, 1851.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_209_209" id="Footnote_209_209"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_209_209"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> It has not been
+deemed necessary to go very fully into the Rectory question in these pages.
+Anyone desiring to do so will find very full details in the various authorities above cited.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxv.jpg" width="300" height="76" alt="chapxv" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XV.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span></p>
+<h4>"A TRIED REFORMER."</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letters.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letters" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">S</span>ir Francis Head, upon reaching Toronto on Saturday, the 23rd of January,
+temporarily took up his quarters at a hotel, where apartments had been engaged for
+him. He was not a little surprised, as he rode along the streets, to see himself
+placarded in large letters on the walls as "Sir Francis Head, a Tried Reformer." What
+a farce the thing must have appeared in his eyes, knowing, as he did, that up to the
+date of receiving the king's messenger, he had never read a page of practical
+politics; that he had never recorded a political vote, and that he was at this
+present moment, to use his own frank expression, no more connected with human
+politics than the horses that were drawing him! How he must have marvelled at Fate
+for playing him such a trick! On the same day, at the urgent request of Sir John
+Colborne, he removed to Government House. On Monday, the 25th, he was sworn into
+office as Lieutenant-Governor; and on Tuesday Sir John and his family took their
+departure for Montreal. The Compact took care that their staunch friend should not
+leave the seat of his Government without some mark of what might pass for popular
+favour. A crowd of persons was got together to cheer as Sir John passed along the
+streets on his way eastward, and a stranger might have been excused for believing
+that the ex-Lieutenant-Governor was regarded by the populace with feelings of the
+warmest affection. He proceeded to Montreal, and had arranged to sail from New York
+for England, when he received a despatch appointing him Commander-in-Chief of the
+Forces in Canada. He accordingly repaired to Quebec, the capital of the Lower
+Province,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span>
+which was already in a state of ferment, and preparing for the outburst which ensued
+towards the close of the following year.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Francis being now formally installed in office, an era of Reform was commonly
+supposed to have begun. His manner and address were in the highest degree pleasing,
+and he at first produced a most favourable impression upon all who came within the
+immediate circle of his influence. The Reform press sang paeans in his praise. He
+held no sooner received his appointment than Joseph Hume had written to Mackenzie
+congratulating the Province on the circumstance, and stating that the conduct and
+principles of Sir Francis had been much approved of. "My anxiety is," wrote Mr. Hume,
+"that you and all the Reformers should receive Sir Francis in the best possible
+manner, and do everything consistent with principle to meet his views and wishes."<a
+name="FNanchor_210_210" id="FNanchor_210_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_210"
+class="fnanchor">[210]</a> The fact was that Mr. Hume was in precisely the same
+condition as Lord Glenelg himself with respect to Sir Francis: that is to say, he
+knew nothing whatever about him. He seems to have very unwisely taken it for granted
+that the new Lieutenant-Governor was a good man for the position because he had been
+appointed under Whig auspices. His letter found its way into all the Reform
+newspapers in Upper Canada, and Sir Francis had no reason to complain of the
+treatment he received at their hands. He was welcomed as the "Tried Reformer" for
+whom they had so long prayed in vain. The Tories and Conservatives, on the other
+hand, naturally regarded him with considerable apprehension. They entertained no
+doubt that his advent boded their downfall; but they were too wise to betray any
+solicitude, and quietly waited the march of events. Parliament being in session, he
+received from both Houses congratulatory addresses upon his assumption of the
+Government. On the 27th he went down to the Council Chamber, and made a brief and
+rather meaningless speech to the Legislature.<a name="FNanchor_211_211"
+id="FNanchor_211_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_211" class="fnanchor">[211]</a> "As
+regards myself," said he, "I have nothing either to promise or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> profess, but I
+trust I shall not call in vain upon you to give me that loyal, constitutional,
+unbiased and fearless assistance which your King expects, and which the rising
+interests of your country require." He had been directed by Lord Glenelg to
+communicate to the Provincial Legislature the substance of his instructions. He not
+only communicated the substance, but a verbatim copy of the letter itself, together
+with a copy of the appendix, to each of the Houses. By this injudicious proceeding he
+caused no little embarrassment to the Colonial Secretary, and proved his utter want
+of experience in diplomatic affairs.<a name="FNanchor_212_212"
+id="FNanchor_212_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_212" class="fnanchor">[212]</a> Lord
+Glenelg, in common with the official world of Great Britain generally, felt and
+expressed strong disapprobation of this extraordinary conduct on the part of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, who ought to have been recalled for this act alone, and probably
+would have been but for the difficulty of finding a competent man to succeed him.</p>
+<p>A certain space must be devoted to an examination of these instructions. Speaking
+generally, it may be premised that they showed a disposition to conciliate the
+discontent of the colonists, but only after a partial and piecemeal fashion, such as
+might be exercised towards persons in a state of tutelage. It was evident that the
+Home Government regarded the colonists as persons who had not reached full political
+stature, who were not in all cases able to judge as to what was best for themselves,
+and who needed the constant supervision of calmer and loftier intelligences than
+their own. In reply to the allegation that the number of public offices in the colony
+was in excess of the people's needs, it was said that in Upper Canada, as in other
+new countries, the number of public employments was necessarily larger in proportion
+than in older and more densely-peopled states. "In the early stages of such a
+society," wrote Lord Glenelg, "many duties devolve upon the Government which, at a
+more advanced period, are undertaken by the better educated and wealthier classes, as
+an honourable occupation of their leisure time." He went on to say that His Majesty's
+Government were not solicitous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> to retain more patronage than was necessary for the
+people's welfare, but that the selection of public officers must be entrusted to the
+head of the local Government, and could not wisely be exercised in any form of
+popular election, or committed to any popular body. Such exercise or transfer, it was
+suggested, would be destructive of responsibility and discipline. This doctrine was
+laid down as a general rule of action, but any wish to urge it beyond its just and
+necessary limits was expressly disclaimed, and it was even suggested that there were
+cases in which the doctrine might be contravened. There was no attempt to go into
+details as to specific cases, but it was stated as a general principle that whatever
+patronage was necessary to maintain perfect subordination to the prerogatives of the
+Crown must be retained, and that whatever was unnecessary for that purpose should be
+abandoned. His Excellency was directed to review and consider the subject with
+diligence, and to report the result of his investigation. Should he meanwhile deem it
+wise to reduce the number of offices, either by abolition or consolidation, he was
+authorized to exercise his discretion in that respect, but any appointment made under
+such circumstances was to be merely provisional, and subject to cancellation by the
+Home Government. In the selection of persons for public offices his Excellency was to
+be guided exclusively by the comparison of the claims of the candidates by reason of
+past services or personal qualifications; and as a general rule no person was to be
+appointed to office who was not either a native of the Province or a settled
+inhabitant of it. Exceptions to this latter rule were admitted where a knowledge of
+some particular art or science was demanded, and where no Provincial candidate could
+be found possessing the necessary qualifications. His Excellency was also left free
+from restriction in the choice of those officers immediately attached to his own
+person. There were various other directions, not necessary to be specified, on the
+subjects of patronage and pensions, salaries and fees, and the Provincial Post
+Office. The Clergy Reserves question was dealt with in the most general manner, no
+definite course being suggested; and the instructions on this subject are absolutely
+devoid of historical or other value. With regard to the Land-Granting Department, it
+was assumed that some of the grievances had been remedied. Reference was made to a
+despatch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> of
+Lord Ripon's on the subject, and it was stated that any ambiguity therein was to be
+removed, while prompt obedience to the instructions embodied therein was inculcated.
+Upper Canada College, established by Sir John Colborne only five years before this
+time, had already become a ground of offence to many Reformers. The Assembly, in
+their Address to His Majesty, had declared that it was upheld at great public
+expense, with high salaries to its principal masters. They had expressed the opinion
+that the Province in general derived very little advantage from it, and that it might
+be dispensed with. On this subject Lord Glenelg remarked that there was no desire to
+retain any charge for the establishment more than sufficient to suitably provide for
+the effective performance of the teachers; but the advantages of such an institution,
+it was said, ought to be great, and if the Province derived no benefit from it the
+explanation was to be found in some error of management susceptible of remedy. His
+Lordship remarked that he should deeply lament the abolition of a college "of which
+the defects would appear so remediable, and of which it does not seem easy to
+exaggerate the benefits." As for King's College, which was another educational bone
+of contention between the two branches of the Provincial Legislature, it was
+intimated that His Majesty would cheerfully resume the consideration of the charter,
+provided the assent of both Houses to his doing so could be obtained, but that, as
+the subject had been committed to the local Legislature, he could not withdraw it
+from their cognizance at the instance of one branch only. The system of auditing the
+public accounts had been complained of as being insufficient for ensuring the proper
+application of the revenue. As a remedy, the establishment of a Board of Audit, the
+regulation of which should be secured by well-considered legislation, had been
+suggested. In this suggestion the Colonial Secretary expressed his concurrence, and
+he transmitted various documents explanatory of the system of auditing the public
+accounts of the Kingdom. The Assembly having expressed its belief that the
+Legislative Council would not assent to any efficient legislation on the subject, the
+Lieutenant-Governor was empowered, in case of that belief being realized, to
+constitute a provisional Board of Audit. To remedy another evil which had been
+complained of&mdash;the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> withholding of public accounts from the Assembly&mdash;it was
+proposed that a statute should be passed providing the time and manner of making
+periodical returns, and naming the officers who should render them to the
+Legislature. Then followed brief instructions to be observed by the
+Lieutenant-Governor in his intercourse with the Assembly. "You will always," wrote
+his Lordship, "receive the addresses of the Assembly with the most studious attention
+and courtesy. As far as may be consistent with your duty to the King, you will accede
+to their wishes cheerfully and frankly. Should that duty ever compel you to differ
+from their opinion, or to decline compliance with their desires, you will explain in
+the most direct, and of course in the most conciliatory terms, the ground of your
+conduct." His Excellency was instructed to adopt Lord Goderich's despatch to Sir John
+Colborne of the 8th of November, 1832,<a name="FNanchor_213_213"
+id="FNanchor_213_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_213" class="fnanchor">[213]</a> as a
+rule for the guidance of his conduct. He was directed to select Justices of the Peace
+without reference to political considerations. In the Grievance Committee's Report,
+as well as in the Address from the Assembly to the King, great stress had been laid
+on the mode of appointing members of the Legislative Council. It had been represented
+that that body had utterly failed to answer the ends for which it had been created,
+and that the restoration of legislative harmony and good government required its
+reconstruction on the elective principle.<a name="FNanchor_214_214"
+id="FNanchor_214_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_214" class="fnanchor">[214]</a> The
+inhabitants of the Lower Province felt still more strongly on this subject than did
+their fellow-colonists in Upper Canada, and had made urgent representations to His
+Majesty thereupon in ninety-two resolutions which had been adopted by the local
+Assembly during the session of 1834. "The greatest defect in the constitution of
+Canada," said they, "is the right of nomination, by the Crown, of the Legislative
+Councillors." These resolutions had led to the appointment by the Imperial Government
+of a commission of investigation into the affairs of Lower Canada, and as the
+principles bearing upon the question of an elective Legislative Council were the same
+in both Provinces, Lord Glenelg now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> contented himself with appending the instructions
+issued to the commissioners, and referring to the views therein contained as having
+received the deliberate sanction of the King. A similar device was adopted with
+respect to the demand for the control by the Assembly of the territorial and casual
+revenues of the Crown.</p>
+
+<p>The one great overshadowing question of Executive responsibility was dealt with by
+Lord Glenelg in a most perfunctory and unsatisfactory manner. It was apparent that he
+either wholly failed to grasp the real significance of the theme, or that he fenced
+with it for the mere purpose of beguiling the colonists with a counterfeit
+presentment. "Experience would seem to prove," he wrote, "that the administration of
+public affairs in Canada is by no means exempt from the control of a sufficient
+practical responsibility. To His Majesty and to Parliament the Governor of Upper
+Canada is at all times most fully responsible for his official acts. That this
+responsibility is not merely nominal, but that His Majesty feels the most lively
+interest in the welfare of his Canadian subjects, and is ever anxious to devote a
+patient and laborious attention to any representations which they may address to him,
+either through their representatives or as individuals, is proved not only by the
+whole tenor of the correspondence of my predecessors in this office, but by the
+despatch which I am now addressing to you. That the Imperial Parliament is not
+disposed to receive with inattention the representations of their Canadian
+fellow-subjects is attested by the labours of the committees which have been
+appointed by the House of Commons during the last few years to inquire into matters
+relating to those Provinces." It was declared to be the Lieutenant-Governor's duty to
+vindicate to the King and the Imperial Parliament every act of his administration. In
+the event of any complaint being preferred against him, his conduct was to receive
+the most favourable construction. The Assembly, it was said, were at all times able
+to invoke the interference of the King and Parliament. Every public officer was to
+depend on the King's pleasure&mdash;<i>i.e.</i>, upon the pleasure of the
+Lieutenant-Governor&mdash;for the tenure of his office. Certain rules were then laid
+down, the observance of which, it was said, would produce a system of perfect
+responsibility. As these rules differed in no essential respect from those which had
+consistently been acted upon by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> Francis Gore, Sir Peregrine Maitland and Sir John
+Colborne, it was evident that the system of responsibility contemplated by Lord
+Glenelg was not identical with that desired by Upper Canadian Reformers. Lord Glenelg
+certainly made good his asseveration that the Upper Canadian Executive were
+"practically responsible." But to whom were they responsible? To the Upper Canadian
+people? Not at all. The responsibility was to the King and Parliament of Great
+Britain&mdash;that is to say, to Downing Street, several thousand miles away. Of what
+avail was such responsibility, guarded, as it was, by secret despatches, "like a
+system of espionage"?<a name="FNanchor_215_215" id="FNanchor_215_215"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_215_215" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> Had this responsibility to
+Downing Street ever saved "a single martyr to Executive displeasure"?<a
+name="FNanchor_216_216" id="FNanchor_216_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_216"
+class="fnanchor">[216]</a> Had it been of any avail for the protection of Robert
+Gourlay, Captain Matthews, Francis Collins or Robert Randal? Had it preserved from
+the dry pan and the slow fire any one of a score of individuals whose only offence
+against the State was that they would not willingly sacrifice their rights, and
+become the tools of venality and corruption? In not one solitary instance had it
+served any such purpose. Such responsibility was a mockery, "a broken reed, which it
+would be folly ever again to rest upon."<a name="FNanchor_217_217"
+id="FNanchor_217_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_217" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> Of
+real, constitutional responsibility to the people there was not so much as a
+pretence. "All the powers of the Government," says Mr. Lindsey, "were centralized in
+Downing Street, and all the colonial officers, from the highest to the lowest, were
+puppets in the hands of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. At the same time,
+the outward trappings of a constitutional system, intended to amuse the colonists,
+served no other end than to irritate and exasperate men who had penetration enough to
+detect the mockery, and whose self-respect made them abhor the sham."<a name="FNanchor_218_218" id="FNanchor_218_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_218_218"
+class="fnanchor">[218]</a></p>
+
+<p>In an early paragraph of these instructions, Lord Glenelg had objected, on behalf
+of His Majesty's Government, to any resort on the part of the Assembly to that
+ulterior measure&mdash;the stoppage of the supplies&mdash;to which allusion had been
+made in the Address of that body, and had referred to it as a proceeding to be
+justified only by an extreme<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304"
+id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> emergency. He concluded with an expression of
+earnest hope that the representatives of the Upper Canadian people would receive with
+gratitude and cordiality this renewed proof of His Majesty's paternal solicitude for
+the welfare of his loyal subjects in the Province, and that, laying aside all
+groundless distrusts, they would cheerfully co&ouml;perate with the King and the
+Lieutenant-Governor in advancing the prosperity of "that interesting and valuable
+portion of the British Empire."</p>
+
+<p>As already mentioned, the full text of the instructions was communicated by the
+new Lieutenant-Governor to the Upper Canadian Assembly. Apart from the fact that this
+proceeding was not warranted either by usage or express permission, it was
+short-sighted and unwise, for the instructions were not such as to be by any means
+satisfactory, either to the official party or the Opposition. The Opposition
+perceived that, under a cover of many fair words and specious phrases, there was very
+little substantial concession. To the official party it seemed that the spirit of
+concession was manifested much too strongly, and as the appointment of Sir Francis
+Head had been hailed by the Reformers as a triumph, anything in the nature of
+concession, filtered through such a medium, was naturally regarded with strong
+suspicion. As for Sir Francis himself, his mind seems to have been for some weeks in
+a chaotic state. He had not been installed in office many days before he had a
+succession of private interviews with several leading members of the Reform party. In
+the course of a conversation with Mr. Bidwell, who, it will be remembered, was
+Speaker of the Assembly, he for the first time became aware that the Report of the
+Grievance Committee was not recognized by the Reform party as being a complete
+exposition of the case as between the Home Government and themselves.<a
+name="FNanchor_219_219" id="FNanchor_219_219"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_219"
+class="fnanchor">[219]</a> He soon after had an interview with Mackenzie, who, in
+conjunction with Dr. Morrison, was chiefly responsible for the existence of the
+Report. "I thought," writes Sir Francis,<a name="FNanchor_220_220"
+id="FNanchor_220_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_220" class="fnanchor">[220]</a>
+"that of course he would be too happy to discuss with me the contents of his own
+book, but his mind seemed to nauseate its subjects even more than Mr. Bidwell's.
+Afraid to look me in the face, he sat, with his feet not reaching the ground, and
+with his countenance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305]</a></span> averted from me, at an angle of about seventy degrees; while, with
+the eccentricity, the volubility, and indeed the appearance of a madman, the tiny
+creature raved about grievances here and grievances there, which the Committee, he
+said, had not ventured to enumerate." This was a revelation to the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and set him thinking. He attempted to discuss the merits of the
+Report with various persons, but encountered what was to him an inexplicable
+reluctance to talk about it. All were ready to discuss the grievances themselves, but
+no leading Reformer was disposed to admit the Report into the discussion. The reason
+of this was doubtless because the Report had been chiefly fathered by Mackenzie, and
+they were unwilling to accept him as their mouthpiece. As for Mackenzie's own
+disinclination to enter into a discussion of the matter, it probably arose from a
+feeling that it would be unwise for him to tie himself down to a particular record,
+beyond which he would not be permitted to travel. Sir Francis, writing three years
+afterwards, declares that "the light of truth" at once burst upon his mind, and that
+he perceived that the Grievance Report was a mere pretext for Rebellion.<a
+name="FNanchor_221_221" id="FNanchor_221_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_221_221"
+class="fnanchor">[221]</a> It is quite clear that he perceived nothing of the kind,
+and that "the light of truth" was a mere after-thought with him. It is impossible for
+one in his sober senses to see what does not exist, and at this time there was no
+purpose of rebellion in the heart of anyone with whom the Lieutenant-Governor came in
+contact&mdash;not even in the heart of Mackenzie himself, who might easily have been
+conciliated by wisdom and prudence. Had Sir Francis been half as clever and astute as
+he professed to believe himself to be&mdash;nay, had he even been fairly honest and
+truthful, and possessed of the most ordinary good sense&mdash;there would probably
+have been no such thing as an Upper Canadian Rebellion.</p>
+
+<p>He had not been a fortnight in the country when suggestions began to be made to
+him from various quarters as to the membership of the Executive Council. That body,
+for the nonce, consisted of only three persons, namely, Peter Robinson, Commissioner
+of Crown Lands; George Herchmer Markland, Inspector-General; and Joseph Wells,
+Bursar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[Pg 306]</a></span> of
+King's College. The presence of all three of these persons was necessary to the
+formation of a quorum, and in case of the illness or unavoidable absence of any one
+of them the public business would have been interrupted and delayed. Mr. Robinson,
+moreover, was not only an Executive Councillor, but, as just mentioned, was also
+Commissioner of Crown Lands. In the former capacity the duty was imposed upon him of
+taking part in the auditing of his own accounts. This invidious necessity would no
+longer exist if additional members were appointed, as a quorum could easily be
+obtained without Mr. Robinson's presence being required at the Council Board. These
+facts were indisputable, and the argument to be deduced therefrom was unanswerable.
+Additional Councillors must be appointed. But from what class of the community should
+they be selected? Sir Francis, the "Tried Reformer," had begun to conceive a distaste
+for the Reformers of Upper Canada. There seemed to be a natural antagonism between
+him and them. The reason is not far to seek. Persons of the social grade of Mackenzie
+were inconceivably odious to this "diner-out of the first water;" while men like
+Bidwell and Baldwin made him painfully conscious of his own littleness and
+insufficiency for the task which he had undertaken. Yet he could not venture to call
+to his Council any of the remnant of the Tory Compact, and thereby utterly ignore the
+Liberal principles which were presumed to have dictated his appointment. The Tories,
+moreover, had seen fit to petition the King against his very first administrative
+act&mdash;the appointment of a Surveyor-General. As for the Conservatives, as
+distinct from the Tories, they had not yet formulated a distinct policy, and none of
+their leaders had come very conspicuously to the front.</p>
+
+<p>It seemed clear, then, that the choice must be made from the Reform ranks. After
+much deliberation and inquiry,<a name="FNanchor_222_222" id="FNanchor_222_222"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_222_222" class="fnanchor">[222]</a> the Lieutenant-Governor came to
+the conclusion that approaches should be made to Robert Baldwin, a gentleman to whom
+he refers as "highly respected for his moral character, being moderate in his
+politics, and possessing the esteem and confidence of all parties."<a
+name="FNanchor_223_223" id="FNanchor_223_223"></a><a href="#Footnote_223_223"
+class="fnanchor">[223]</a> His Excellency's resolve on this subject was approved of
+by the Speakers of the two Houses, as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307"
+id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span> well as by the three members of the Council, to all
+of whom the project was submitted before any attempt was made to carry it out. When
+the proposal was made to Mr. Baldwin it was received by him with becoming respect,
+but with a coolness of demeanour which was far from flattering to the vanity of Sir
+Francis, who seems to have expected that the recipient would be well-nigh overwhelmed
+by the honour. The latter stated that he was very reluctant to again embark in public
+life, and he explained his views on the political situation with great frankness.
+There were several interviews, in the course of which Sir Francis did his utmost to
+induce Mr. Baldwin to accede to his wishes. Mr. Baldwin required time for
+consideration, an indulgence which was of course accorded. The Lieutenant-Governor
+being anxious to carry his point, sent for Mr. Baldwin's father, Dr. W. W. Baldwin,
+for the purpose of securing his influence in the negotiations. Father and son were
+both of one mind. There was little or nothing in common between the political
+sentiments of the three members of the existing Executive Council and the man whom it
+was proposed to add to their number. How, then, could it be expected that they would
+agree as to the policy of the Administration. If they did not agree, what would Mr.
+Baldwin's single voice avail against the other three? And, even admitting that this
+anomaly could be got rid of, it was deemed necessary that there should be some
+understanding on the subject of Executive responsibility before Mr. Baldwin could
+consent to accept a seat in the Council. He and his father, from whom his political
+ideas had been chiefly derived, had for years contended that Responsible Government
+already existed in Upper Canada by virtue of the Constitutional Act, and that when a
+Government failed to command a majority of votes in the Assembly it was legally bound
+to resign. It was of course notorious that this principle had never been recognized
+by the Provincial Administration, but Mr. Baldwin was of opinion that the
+constitution had been systematically violated in this particular. In talking over the
+matter with the Lieutenant-Governor he now discovered that the latter was entirely
+unacquainted with constitutional questions, and that he had no ideas on the subject
+whatever, beyond such as he had picked up within the past few days. Still, his
+Excellency's good temper, and his seeming<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> anxiety to do his duty, won upon the sympathies of
+Mr. Baldwin, who naturally felt desirous to be of service to a man who had come to
+Canada in the guise of a tried Reformer, and who professed to be actuated by a
+sincere desire to govern the colony on Liberal principles. After several courteous
+refusals, and after much consideration and repeated consultations with his friends,
+Mr. Baldwin consented to accept office, provided that seats in the Council were at
+the same time offered to his father, and to Dr. Rolph and Mr. Bidwell. Dr. Baldwin
+was so unwilling to accept the cares of office that his name was dropped by common
+consent. To Dr. Rolph no objection was felt, but his Excellency had conceived an
+antagonism towards Mr. Bidwell, with whom he had had frequent interviews, and who had
+not scrupled to express himself with much freedom on the necessity for a regular
+system of Provincial Reform. After considerable discussion, it was agreed that John
+Henry Dunn, the Provincial Receiver-General, should be substituted for Mr. Bidwell.
+Mr. Dunn was not a member of any political party, nor had he any special aptitude for
+political life; but he was a man of high character and moderate views, and was held
+in much public estimation. On Saturday the 20th of February the three new Councillors
+were sworn into office and gazetted, "until the King's pleasure be known."<a
+name="FNanchor_224_224" id="FNanchor_224_224"></a><a href="#Footnote_224_224"
+class="fnanchor">[224]</a> The three old members retained their places.</p>
+
+<p>This manifestation of a resolve to carry on the Government of the Province by
+means of Councillors possessing the public confidence was hailed with great favour by
+the Reform party, and indeed by the Conservatives as well, for Messieurs Baldwin,
+Rolph and Dunn were persons for whom the highest respect was felt by all classes of
+the community, and were regarded as being altogether above suspicion. Even the
+members of the Compact were disposed to favour the arrangement, for, in consequence
+of rumours which had reached their ears, they had dreaded that the
+Lieutenant-Governor might possibly ally himself with the Radicals, who, if placed in
+power, would have done their utmost to exact a reckoning for past abuses. Upon the
+whole, then, Sir Francis had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> materially strengthened his position. But the
+strength was fictitious rather than real, and the baseless fabric which he had reared
+with such pains quickly tottered and fell. The three new Councillors were not long in
+discovering that their places were sinecures. His Excellency wanted none of their
+counsel, and had no intention of permitting them to have any real voice in the
+carrying-on of the Government. To one person only did he apply for advice in every
+emergency. That person was not a member of the Government, and was therefore an
+unsworn counsellor, under no semblance of responsibility to anybody. He was a power
+behind the throne, with all the privileges and none of the disabilities attaching to
+such a position. The gentleman elevated to this anomalous dignity was Chief Justice
+Robinson, Speaker of the Legislative Council, the master-spirit of the Family
+Compact, and the life-long champion of those very abuses which the "Tried Reformer"
+was currently supposed to have been sent out to remove. The Councillors, old as well
+as new, were treated as mere figure-heads. They were consulted about land matters and
+insignificant questions of detail, but the policy and measures of the Government
+seldom passed under their review, or were submitted to them for advice.<a
+name="FNanchor_225_225" id="FNanchor_225_225"></a><a href="#Footnote_225_225"
+class="fnanchor">[225]</a> Some of these measures were such as they could not approve
+or sanction. His Excellency nominated two adherents of the old official party to
+vacant offices upon which they had no sort of claim. He refused the royal assent to
+the Felons' Counsel Bill, a measure "demanded by justice and humanity, and passed for
+more than ten years, almost unanimously, by repeated and different Houses of
+Assembly."<a name="FNanchor_226_226" id="FNanchor_226_226"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_226_226" class="fnanchor">[226]</a> The Councillors were thus made to
+seem responsible for acts over which they had no control, and of which some of them,
+at least, highly disapproved. The Reform party were astonished to see such things
+done under the auspices of a Government of which Robert Baldwin and Dr. Rolph were
+members. They however acquitted both those gentleman of having advised such acts. It
+was believed by Reformers generally that the three new Councillors were not
+consulted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>
+or else that the old members, with the umpirage of the Lieutenant-Governor, predominated.<a name="FNanchor_227_227" id="FNanchor_227_227"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_227_227" class="fnanchor">[227]</a></p>
+
+<p>This state of things could not be allowed to continue. The Executive Councillors
+consulted together, and determined upon a remonstrance with the Lieutenant-Governor.
+This remonstrance was formally prepared in writing, and sent in to his Excellency on
+Friday, the 4th of March. The three old members concurred in it, and it was signed by
+all the six in order of seniority. The mere fact of this concurrence affords strong
+evidence of the growth of the power of public opinion in the Province. In past times
+members of the Executive Council had been content to pose as figure-heads year after
+year, while John Beverley Robinson and one or two others manipulated and directed the
+whole course of public affairs. It is probable, however, that in the present instance
+the three senior Councillors may have been influenced by the arguments of Baldwin and
+Rolph, who felt very strongly on the question at issue.</p>
+
+<p>The Lieutenant-Governor's reply, every paragraph of which bears evidence of the
+Chief Justice's cunning hand, is dated on the following day, but was not actually
+communicated until the next regular Council day, which was Thursday, the 10th. It
+contained a firm but courteous expression of his Excellency's dissent from the
+opinions expressed by the Executive Councillors as to their privileges and duties. It
+was contended that the Lieutenant-Governor was the sole responsible minister, and the
+difference between the constitution of the mother-country and the colony was referred
+to as being highly advantageous to the latter. His Excellency, it was said, was only
+bound to consult his Council when he felt the need of their advice, and to do so on
+the innumerable subjects upon which he was daily compelled to decide would be "as
+utterly impossible as for any one but himself to decide upon what points his mind
+required or needed" advice. The position taken by the Councillors was declared to be
+unconstitutional, but his Excellency informed them that his estimation of their
+talents and integrity, as well as his personal regard for them, remained unshaken,
+and that he was not insensible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311"
+id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> to the difficulties to which he would be exposed
+should they deem it necessary to resign. He added, however, that should they be of
+opinion that their oaths required them to retire from office, he begged that they
+would not on his account hesitate to do so. As they were very strongly of that
+opinion, they waited on his Excellency on Saturday, the 12th, and tendered their
+resignations, which were accepted. They had held office precisely three weeks.</p>
+
+<p>The clue to this puzzle is easily found. Sir Francis had conceived an utter
+distaste for the persons and political principles of the Reformers of Upper Canada.
+There was an inherent antagonism between the nature of this shallow, feather-brained
+sketcher by the wayside and the natures of men like Rolph, Bidwell and the Baldwins,
+whose quiet earnestness and fixity of purpose had been intensified by the long course
+of injustice to which they, in common with their party, had been subjected. The
+earnestness of these gentlemen presented itself to him in the light of importunity,
+if not of impertinence. He could hardly be expected to sympathize very strongly with
+their unconquerable zeal for principles which he did not understand: which he was
+perhaps incapable of understanding. Then, Sir Francis was an eminently social
+personage, and the social qualities of the leaders of Upper Canadian Reform were not
+of a high order. To them, small talk across the walnuts and the wine seemed utterly
+incongruous in view of the momentous public questions which were urgently pressing
+for a solution. In this particular they presented a marked contrast to the leading
+spirits of the Compact. The Robinsons, Hagermans and Sherwoods, one and all, could
+not only advise the Lieutenant-Governor on the affairs of the Province, but could be
+pleasant and entertaining companions. They were not very different from the county
+magistrates and other officials with whom he had been accustomed to confer in his
+capacity of a poor-law commissioner. They were moreover exceedingly diplomatic. They
+saw the importance of winning him to their side, and governed themselves accordingly.
+They lost no opportunity of making themselves agreeable to him. Instead of boring him
+with what, to his understanding, seemed abstruse speculations on executive
+responsibility and an elective Legislative Council, they scouted such doctrines as
+myths begotten in the moody brains of unpractical and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> discontented men. The wide
+knowledge, long experience and specious eloquence of the Chief Justice enabled him to
+present the Tory side of these arguments with much plausibility. Sir Francis soon
+became convinced that the issue was not merely between two sides of colonial
+politics, but between monarchy and republicanism, between loyalty and disloyalty,
+between Great Britain and the United States. As he afterwards declared, he believed
+that he was "sentenced to contend on the soil of America with Democracy,<a
+name="FNanchor_228_228" id="FNanchor_228_228"></a><a href="#Footnote_228_228"
+class="fnanchor">[228]</a>" and that if he did not overpower it, he would himself be
+compelled to succumb. Having brought himself to this conclusion, he not unnaturally
+preferred the <i>role</i> of the hammer to that of the anvil. It was surely better to
+strike than to be struck. Acting on this principle, he made a complete surrender of
+himself to the Family Compact, and from that time forward was in all essential
+respects guided by their counsels. His rashness and impetuosity sometimes led him to
+act on his own motion, and without waiting to take counsel from any quarter; but in
+all ordinary affairs of administration he was guided by Sir John Robinson quite as
+effectually as Sir John Colborne had ever been.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner was it announced that the Executive Councillors had all resigned office
+than the public pulse began to beat at an accelerated pace. The excitement was
+greatly intensified upon the publication of a letter written by Robert Baldwin to
+Peter Perry, in which, by the Lieutenant-Governor's special permission, all the
+attendant circumstances were set forth in detail. This letter, having been written
+for the express purpose of being read by Mr. Perry from his place in the Assembly,
+and of being afterwards published in the newspapers, is somewhat formal and official
+in its tone, but it presents the subject-matter in a clear light, and must be
+regarded as an important contribution to the history of Responsible Government in
+Upper Canada. It is the chief, indeed the only trustworthy original authority for the
+facts as to the precise dispute between Sir Francis and his Council, for the former's
+account<a name="FNanchor_229_229" id="FNanchor_229_229"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_229_229" class="fnanchor">[229]</a> is more than usually incomplete
+and one-sided when dealing with this episode. The essential portions of Mr. Baldwin's
+presentation of the case have been embodied in the foregoing narrative.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> The
+Lieutenant-Governor lost no time in providing himself with a new Council. On the 14th
+of March, when the resignation was only two days old, an extraordinary issue of the
+<i>Gazette</i> announced that Robert Baldwin Sullivan, John Elmsley, Augustus Baldwin
+and William Allan had been appointed members of the Executive Council of the
+Province. The reader has already made the acquaintance of all these gentlemen with
+the exception of Augustus Baldwin, who was a retired naval officer of high character,
+but of no particular politics; a brother of Dr. Baldwin, and by consequence an uncle
+of Robert Baldwin. All four of the new Councillors were persons of character and
+position, but they were not in sympathy with the Liberal sentiments of the period,
+and the people generally were not disposed to place any political confidence in them.
+Elmsley and Allan were consistent, old-fashioned Tories. Baldwin's leanings, so far
+as he had any, were in the same direction. Sullivan's youth and early life had been
+passed amid more or less Liberal influences, but of late he had shown a retrogressive
+tendency in political matters. This was largely due to personal rivalry between
+Mackenzie and himself in municipal affairs. As previously mentioned, he had defeated
+Mackenzie at the municipal elections for St. David's Ward, and had been elected mayor
+of Toronto in the beginning of 1835. The contest had been waged between them with
+unseemly rancour. Sullivan had denounced Mackenzie as a noisy upstart and demagogue;
+while Mackenzie had characterized Sullivan as an oily-tongued, unprincipled lawyer,
+who would lie the loudest for the client who had the longest purse. All Mackenzie's
+supporters during the contest had been Radicals, or at least persons of strong Reform
+proclivities. This had arrayed the whole Tory and Conservative vote on the side of
+Sullivan, who was thus in a measure brought under anti-Reform influences. His social
+tastes also inclined him in the same direction, so that he soon came to be classed as
+a Conservative. Reformers were disposed to look askance at him as a political
+renegade, and this disposition was increased upon his acceptance of office under Sir
+Francis Head at the present juncture. He alone, of all the new Councillors, was a man
+of exceptional ability. He was not inaccurately described, a few years later, as "an
+Irishman by birth, and a lawyer by profession; a man who, if he had united<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> consistency of
+political conduct and weight of personal character with the great and original
+talents which he unquestionably possessed, might have taken a conspicuous part in the
+public affairs of any country."<a name="FNanchor_230_230"
+id="FNanchor_230_230"></a><a href="#Footnote_230_230" class="fnanchor">[230]</a></p>
+
+<p>These transactions&mdash;the resignation of the Councillors and the appointment of
+their successors&mdash;produced a tremendous effervescence of feeling among the
+Opposition in the Assembly, who had already conceived strong suspicions of the
+Lieutenant-Governor's motives. But the excitement was not confined to the Opposition.
+It was participated in by the Conservatives, and, even, for a time, by most of the
+ultra-Tories. On the 14th of March, the House, by a vote of fifty-three to two,
+adopted a resolution unequivocally assertive of the principles which the
+ex-Councillors had endeavoured to maintain. Ten days later an address to the
+Lieutenant-Governor, based on this resolution, was passed by a vote of thirty-two to
+nineteen. It expressed deep regret that his Excellency had consented to accept the
+resignation of his late Council. It declared the Assembly's entire want of confidence
+in the new appointments, and humbly requested that immediate steps might be taken to
+remove the new Councillors from office. Meanwhile, petitions on the all-engrossing
+subject poured into the Assembly from all over the Province.<a
+name="FNanchor_231_231" id="FNanchor_231_231"></a><a href="#Footnote_231_231"
+class="fnanchor">[231]</a> Public meetings were called in Toronto, as well as in some
+other of the principal towns, at which resolutions were passed echoing the Assembly's
+address, imploring the Lieutenant-Governor to dismiss his present advisers, and to
+call to his Council gentlemen possessing public confidence.</p>
+
+<p>One of these gatherings tended in an especial manner to widen the irreparable
+breach between Sir Francis Head and the Reform party. On the 25th of March a meeting
+was held in the City Hall, Toronto, at which an Address to his Excellency of
+exceptional significance was passed. It dealt at considerable length with the
+constitutional question at issue; referred to Responsible Government as having been
+introduced by the Constitutional Act; expressed surprise and sorrow at the
+resignation of the late Councillors, and an entire want of confidence in<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span> their
+successors. It deplored the apparent fact that his Excellency was acting under the
+influence of evil and unknown advisers. In conclusion, it claimed all the rights and
+privileges of the British constitution, and that the representative of the Crown
+should be advised by men known to and possessing the confidence of the people. When
+the deputation called at Government House to present this Address, they were treated
+with an off-hand abruptness and <i>brusquerie</i> which gave them much offence. The
+reply of his Excellency was wordy and unsatisfying in tone; but its most
+objectionable feature was the air of assumed superiority by which it was pervaded. It
+referred to the meeting represented by the deputation as having been composed
+principally of "the industrious classes," but added, with a seeming loftiness of
+condescension, that the Address should be replied to with as much attention as if it
+had proceeded from either of the branches of the Legislature&mdash;"although," said
+his Excellency, "I shall express myself in plainer and more homely language." This
+was bad enough, but its effect was intensified by the demeanour of the
+Lieutenant-Governor and several military officers who were in attendance upon him. It
+seemed to the deputation that those gentlemen regarded them with supercilious
+impertinence; as a something which viceroyalty must be content, for the nonce, to
+endure, but as being altogether beyond the pale of their sympathies or interests.
+Nothing could have been in worse taste than such conduct as this, though it is
+possible enough that more sensitiveness was displayed than was called for by the
+actual circumstances. The deputation withdrew, cut to the quick by the indignities
+which they, rightly or wrongly, conceived themselves to have sustained. On the
+succeeding evening a meeting of themselves and some of their friends was held at the
+house of Dr. Morrison&mdash;who was now mayor of the city&mdash;at which a bitterly
+sarcastic rejoinder was prepared. It thanked his Excellency for replying to an
+Address from "the industrious classes" with as much attention as if it had proceeded
+from either branch of the Legislature, and acknowledged his condescension in
+expressing himself in plain and homely language&mdash;language presumed to be brought
+down to the level of the plain and homely understandings of his interlocutors, whose
+deplorable want of education was accounted for by the maladministration by<span
+class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span> former
+Governments of the endowments of King's College, and by the impossibility of
+obtaining a sale of the Clergy Reserves and the appropriation of the proceeds to
+educational purposes. "It is," proceeded this cutting rejoinder, "because we have
+been thus maltreated, neglected and despised, in our education and interests, under
+the system of Government that has hitherto prevailed, that we are now driven to
+insist upon a change that cannot be for the worse." Reference was made to the desire
+to bring about a system of Responsible Government, and the utter futility of mere
+responsibility to Downing Street was pointed out with a pointed eloquence which
+proved that the signatories were in deadly earnest. The misgovernment of Dalhousie
+and Aylmer in Lower Canada, and of Gore, Maitland and Colborne in Upper Canada, was
+touched upon in a few brief, vitriolic sentences. It was shown that, though these
+gentlemen had been responsible to Downing Street, they had not only met with no
+punishment, but had actually been promoted to higher honours. "We do not mean," said
+they, "in our plain and homely statement, to be discourteous, by declaring our
+unalterable conviction that a nominal responsibility to Downing Street, which has
+failed of any good with the above gentlemen of high pretensions to honour, character
+and station, cannot have any magic operation in your Excellency's administration,
+which, should it end as it has unhappily begun, might make us drink the cup of
+national misgovernment to the very dregs, without (as experience proves) redress on
+our part, or retribution on yours." There was much more of the same sort. The
+document concluded by stating that if the Lieutenant-Governor would not govern upon
+sound constitutional principles he would violate the charter, virtually abrogate the
+law, and justly forfeit submission to his authority.</p>
+
+<p>This was beyond doubt the most vigorously-written protest that had ever been
+presented to an Upper Canadian Lieutenant-Governor. It was signed by Jesse Ketchum,
+James Hervey Price, James Lesslie, Andrew McGlashan, James Shannon, Robert McKay, M.
+McLellan, Timothy Parsons, William Lesslie, John Mills, E. T. Henderson, John Doel,
+John E. Tims, and William J. O'Grady. All these were ardent Radicals, and coadjutors
+of Mackenzie. Two of them&mdash;Jesse Ketchum and James Lesslie&mdash;delivered the
+rejoinder at Government House, without waiting<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> for a reply. It was already in
+type, and during the next day was widely read and commented upon. The
+Lieutenant-Governor was not insensible to its cutting irony, but it did not admit of
+any sur-rejoinder, and after the first transient ebullition of his wrath, the matter,
+so far as he was concerned, was quietly permitted to drop out of sight. The document,
+however, acted as an additional stimulus to the public excitement, and it continued
+to be quoted against Sir Francis from time to time so long as he remained in the
+colony.</p>
+
+<p>While these events were occurring the Provincial Legislature still remained in
+session. A Committee having been appointed by the Assembly to consider the
+correspondence between the Lieutenant-Governor and the ex-Councillors, it proceeded
+to deal with the question in the usual manner. The report was presented to the
+Assembly on the 18th of April. In the course of the debate which ensued, several
+eloquent speeches were made on the Tory side. The most effective Tory arguments were
+founded upon the assumption that the concession of Responsible Government would be a
+mere preliminary to separation from the mother country. The speech made by Mr.
+Hagerman on this occasion was one of the most brilliant efforts of his life. Mere
+verbal eloquence, however, exhausted itself in vain. The report was adopted by a vote
+of thirty-two to twenty-one. It was even more directly condemnatory of the
+Lieutenant-Governor than the rejoinder above referred to had been. It expressed the
+Committee's belief that the appointment of the three ex-Councillors had been a
+deceitful man&oelig;uvre to gain credit with the country for Liberal feelings and
+intentions where none really existed. The question of Executive responsibility was
+gone into at considerable length, and the conduct of the ex-Councillors was approved
+of in every particular. There is no need to analyze the entire report, which was long
+and exhaustive. It distinctly recommended the withholding of the annual supplies. The
+Assembly, by adopting the report, and by committing itself to this extreme measure,
+proved that, in the language of Lord Glenelg's instructions,<a
+name="FNanchor_232_232" id="FNanchor_232_232"></a><a href="#Footnote_232_232"
+class="fnanchor">[232]</a> it regarded the present in the light of "an emergency."
+The supplies, however, were not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318"
+id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> entirely withheld. Money was granted for the
+construction of roads, for schools, for the improvement of navigation, and other
+useful purposes; but all these grants were nullified by the Lieutenant-Governor, who
+signified his disapprobation of the Assembly's conduct by refusing his assent to the
+money-bills of the session. He afterwards stated as one of his reasons for this
+refusal that he had good grounds for believing a portion of the money would have been
+spent by the Assembly in sending an agent to England<a name="FNanchor_233_233"
+id="FNanchor_233_233"></a><a href="#Footnote_233_233" class="fnanchor">[233]</a>&mdash;which was probably the fact.</p>
+
+<p>The Assembly, feeling that some reason should be assigned for their action in the
+matter of the supplies, which were now withheld for the first time in the history of
+Upper Canada, passed an Address to the King, in which the Lieutenant-Governor's
+conduct was painted in no neutral tints. He was directly charged with being despotic,
+tyrannical, unjust and deceitful. His conduct was declared to have been "derogatory
+to the honour" of his Majesty, and "demoralizing to the community." A memorial to the
+House of Commons was also adopted, in which his public acts were referred to as
+having been arbitrary and vindictive, and wherein he was charged with mis-statements,
+misrepresentations, and "deviations from candour and truth." This bitterly-worded
+memorial was formally signed by Mr. Bidwell as Speaker of the House&mdash;a
+circumstance which was long remembered against him by the person implicated.</p>
+<p>It must have been gall and wormwood to Sir Francis to be compelled to forward
+these documents to the Colonial Office. It was the first time that clear and
+undisguised charges of so humiliating a nature had been officially laid against a
+colonial Lieutenant-Governor, and one must needs confess that nothing short of the
+most unassailable evidence could have justified the employment of such terms in a
+communication between two representative bodies respecting a trusted servant of the
+Crown, more especially in the case of one occupying so lofty a position. Something is
+due to the proprieties, and to accuse a man of deviations from candour and truth is
+of course merely a slightly periphrastic method of charging him with falsehood. The
+Assembly, however, had become convinced, not without reason, that Sir Francis's word
+was not to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> trusted. Other persons who had been brought into more or less
+intimate relations with him had been driven to the same conclusion.<a
+name="FNanchor_234_234" id="FNanchor_234_234"></a><a href="#Footnote_234_234"
+class="fnanchor">[234]</a> The fact is that when his feelings were much stirred he
+knew not how to speak the language of truth and soberness. He talked so much and so
+thoughtlessly that he very frequently gave utterance to the thing which was not. Some
+excuse might perhaps be made for one who, in the heat or haste of verbal controversy,
+gives currency to erroneous statements. But Sir Francis's mis-statements were not
+confined to verbal controversy. He had been distinctly convicted of "a deviation from
+candour and truth" in a deliberate official communication. The Assembly had requested
+that they might be furnished with copies of any bond or agreement between him and his
+Councillors respecting the administration of the Government in the event of his
+Excellency's death or removal. To this request Sir Francis had replied, explicitly
+denying the existence of any document of such a nature. Yet upon the examination of
+certain of the Councillors it had been proved that an agreement on the subject had
+actually been made, and that it had been reduced to writing by his Excellency's own
+hand. The devices to which he had had recourse in his attempts to prove that he had
+merely been guilty of tergiversation instead of downright lying, were such as
+positively to aggravate the original offence, and to fully justify the Assembly in
+refusing to attach any weight to his unsupported statement upon any subject.<a
+name="FNanchor_235_235" id="FNanchor_235_235"></a><a href="#Footnote_235_235"
+class="fnanchor">[235]</a> As the weeks passed by, the quarrel between him and the
+Assembly waxed positively ferocious. On the 20th of April he prorogued Parliament,
+making a speech on the occasion which must have occupied a full hour or more in
+delivery, and wherein he reviewed, in his own inimitable fashion, and from his own
+point of view, the various events by which his Administration had up to this time
+been characterized. Any attempt to analyze it here is altogether out of the question.
+It should be read in its entirety in the official Journal of the session.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span>During
+the weeks following the prorogation the public excitement continued to increase,
+until it had reached a height without precedent in the history of the Province. The
+Reformers felt that they had been wofully deceived in the Lieutenant-Governor, and
+many of them placed no bounds to their censure. Some of the Reform newspapers hinted
+pretty strongly that no people could be expected to remain permanently loyal when
+they were deprived of their rights year after year, and when all their petitions were
+set at naught. The political atmosphere was charged with electricity. The outlook was
+lurid and ominous. Some of the loyalists began to dread an actual uprising of the
+people. Such an uprising, they thought, would be a legitimate sequel to so
+extraordinary a proceeding as the stoppage of the supplies. To not a few well-meaning
+but old-fashioned people the mere act of refusing to vote the supplies was in itself
+a species of treason. To more practical people this act presented itself in a
+different aspect. It seemed to them indicative of a niggard and ruinous parsimony.
+They gazed with ill-concealed envy at the marvellous prosperity of the neighbouring
+State of New York. Any one crossing the Canadian frontier in that direction at once
+became aware that he had passed from a land of comparative stagnation to a land of
+activity and progress. This contrast had been largely brought about by the
+construction of great public works, and a lavish policy on the part of the State
+Legislature. There seemed no reason to doubt that the adoption of a similar policy
+would bring about similar results in Upper Canada, where large and costly public
+works were urgently needed for the proper development of the resources of the colony.
+But, instead of liberal grants of money for such purposes, the Assembly had cut down
+the supplies to meet the barest works of necessity. The colony could never hope to
+hold up its head by the side of its enterprising neighbour while such a cheese-paring
+system prevailed.</p>
+
+<p>The Lieutenant-Governor's advisers were shrewd enough to make the most of this
+unpromising state of affairs. The cheese-paring policy went for something, but it was
+almost lost sight of in the much more effective imputation of disloyalty to the
+Empire. Nothing was so certain to turn the scale of public opinion in favour of his
+Excellency as an apparently well-founded stigma of disloyalty cast upon his
+opponents. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> official party accordingly set themselves deliberately to work to
+disseminate the belief that the bulk of the Opposition were ripe for treason, and
+that, under the guise of agitation for Reform, they concealed a design of effecting
+the separation of the colony from Great Britain. It is not improbable that many of
+those who industriously circulated the report did so in good faith, for the language
+of some of the Reformers, used in moments of irritation, was of a nature to lead to
+such a conclusion. No sooner did this report gain credence than there was a very
+perceptible turning of the scale of popular opinion. Many who had grumbled loudly at
+Sir Francis's conduct now declared themselves as being on his side. They favoured the
+doctrine of a responsible Executive, but devotion to the mother country was as the
+breath of their nostrils. Whatever tended to relax the tie which bound the colony to
+the Empire was a thing to be utterly opposed and stamped out. The domination of the
+Compact was bad, but even at its worst it was better than separation. So argued many
+persons who had always been conspicuous for the moderation of their political views.
+The official party of course turned such sentiments as these to the utmost account.
+The cry of disloyalty was heard on every side. The state of the Lower Province, which
+was rapidly gliding into insurrection, was triumphantly pointed to as evidence of
+what was to be looked for if democratic ideas were allowed to make headway. Twice
+within the last four years had the Lower Canadian Assembly resorted to the extreme
+measure of refusing to grant supplies to the Government. By so doing they had
+embroiled themselves with the Imperial Ministry, and drawn down upon themselves the
+indignation of persons of moderate views. It was no secret that the Upper Canadian
+Reformers generally were in sympathy with the projects of Reform entertained by the
+Lower Canadian agitators; and it suited the Tories to assume that the sympathy
+extended not only to legitimate projects of Reform, but to less openly-avowed schemes
+of rebellion. Just before the prorogation Mr. Bidwell had laid before the Assembly a
+letter written by Louis Joseph Papineau, Speaker of the Lower Canada Assembly,
+wherein the great agitator had given utterance to sentiments which, read in the light
+of subsequent events, cannot be construed otherwise than as treasonable. Several
+members of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> Reform party had publicly spoken enthusiastically of M. Papineau, and
+had even gone so far as to express approbation of his most indiscreet and
+objectionable language. This circumstance was now urged to show that the objects of
+the anti-Executive party in both Provinces were identical. There was no attempt to
+discriminate between constitutional Reformers of the Baldwin stamp and advanced
+Radicals like Mackenzie. All were included in one sweeping verdict as "disloyal"
+persons, against whom it was necessary for right-minded citizens to organize in
+self-defence.</p>
+
+<p>Early in May these sentiments began to find expression in outward acts. A number
+of Tory gentlemen of Toronto formed themselves into what they called the British
+Constitutional Society, with the fundamental principle and object of perpetuating the
+connection between Upper Canada and the United Kingdom. A society bearing the same
+name had been formed upon the breaking out of the War of 1812, and this of 1836
+professed to be a reorganization of the former one. In reality, however, it was to
+all intents and purposes a new society, started for the specific purpose of opposing
+the cry for Responsible Government, and of gaining support for Sir Francis Head.
+During the previous year, Colonel Fitzgibbon had, under Sir John Colborne's auspices,
+formed a drill corps for such young men of Toronto as desired military instruction. A
+handful of well-connected young men had availed themselves of the opportunity. The
+Colonel now devoted himself with redoubled ardour to preparations for the
+insurrection which he declared would burst forth before the next winter. He got
+together a rifle corps to the number of seventy, and drilled them twice a week with
+tireless enthusiasm, declaring that when the hour of trial should come, he and "his
+boys" would be found in their places, however the rest of the community might see fit
+to demean themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding these preparations, and the prevailing sentiments which inspired
+them, it is doubtful whether the idea of rebellion had up to this time taken definite
+possession of the mind of a single human being in Upper Canada. There seems abundant
+reason for believing that the time for wise concession was not past, and that a
+prudent and discreet Administrator might have restored tranquillity to the land
+without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323]</a></span>
+going an iota beyond the scope of Lord Glenelg's instructions. But Sir Francis Head
+acted in no such spirit. He set his mind firmly against concession, feeling
+convinced, as he said, that the more he yielded the more would be demanded of him. In
+this respect he&mdash;no doubt unconsciously&mdash;emulated the example of James the
+Second, who was of opinion that his father owed the loss of his head to his
+concessions to the House of Commons. That this opinion was altogether erroneous does
+not admit of argument. Sir Francis was equally wrong, and equally stubborn in
+maintaining his opinion. His conduct was the last straw heaped upon the back of the
+much-enduring camel, and the outbreak which followed must in large measure be
+attributed to his misgovernment.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_210_210" id="Footnote_210_210"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_210_210"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> See the letter, in
+Head's <i>Narrative</i>, chap. iii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_211_211" id="Footnote_211_211"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_211_211"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> This proceeding was
+not relished by the Assembly. Sir John Colborne had already delivered one Speech
+from the Throne at the opening of the session, and this delivery of a second one
+was resented as a breach of privilege. After much time had been wasted in
+discussion, a precedent for the Lieutenant-Governor's action was found under date
+of December, 1765, and this matter was allowed to drop.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_212_212" id="Footnote_212_212"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_212_212"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> In the third
+chapter of his <i>Narrative</i> Sir Francis attempts to excuse himself for this
+senseless act. The reader who thinks it worth while to consult the rhetorical
+plea there attempted to be set up will recall Pembroke's dictum, in <i>King
+John</i>, that</p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left: 5em;">"&mdash;&mdash;oftentimes excusing of a fault</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse."</span></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_213_213" id="Footnote_213_213"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_213_213"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> This is the
+despatch referred to <i>ante</i>, p. 246, which had been treated with such
+contempt by the Law Officers of the Crown, and which had been returned by the
+Provincial Legislative Council to the Lieutenant-Governor.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_214_214" id="Footnote_214_214"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_214_214"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> See the 8vo edition
+of the Report, p. xxxix.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_215_215" id="Footnote_215_215"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_215_215"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> See the rejoinder
+of certain citizens of Toronto to the reply of the Lieutenant-Governor to their
+address, dated 25th March, 1836.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_216_216" id="Footnote_216_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_216"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_217_217" id="Footnote_217_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_217"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_218_218" id="Footnote_218_218"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_218_218"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> <i>Life of
+Mackenzie</i>, vol i., pp. 345, 346.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_219_219" id="Footnote_219_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_219"><span class="label">[219]</span></a> <i>Narrative</i>, chap. iii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_220_220" id="Footnote_220_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_220"><span class="label">[220]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_221_221" id="Footnote_221_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_221_221"><span class="label">[221]</span></a> <i>Narrative</i>, chap. iii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_222_222" id="Footnote_222_222"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_222_222"><span class="label">[222]</span></a> See Head's despatch
+to Lord Glenelg, dated February 22nd, 1836, in <i>Narrative</i>, chap. iv.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_223_223" id="Footnote_223_223"></a><a href="#FNanchor_223_223"><span class="label">[223]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_224_224" id="Footnote_224_224"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_224_224"><span class="label">[224]</span></a> See the extra
+number of the <i>Gazette</i> issued on that date. A very full account of the
+negotiations and conferences which led to this result will be found in a letter
+written by Robert Baldwin to Peter Perry, dated "Front Street, 16th March, 1836,"
+and published in the papers of the time. See <i>post</i>, p. 312.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_225_225" id="Footnote_225_225"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_225_225"><span class="label">[225]</span></a> See the
+representations of the Councillors to the Lieutenant-Governor, dated Friday, 4th March, 1836.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_226_226" id="Footnote_226_226"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_226_226"><span class="label">[226]</span></a> See <i>Report of
+the Select Committee to which was referred the Answer of His Excellency the
+Lieutenant-Governor to an Address of the House of Assembly, relative to a
+Responsible Executive Council</i>, p. 6. Toronto, 1836.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_227_227" id="Footnote_227_227"></a><a href="#FNanchor_227_227"><span class="label">[227]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i>, p. 7.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_228_228" id="Footnote_228_228"></a><a href="#FNanchor_228_228"><span class="label">[228]</span></a> <i>Narrative</i>, chap. v.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_229_229" id="Footnote_229_229"></a><a href="#FNanchor_229_229"><span class="label">[229]</span></a> <i>Narrative</i>, chapters iv., v.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_230_230" id="Footnote_230_230"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_230_230"><span class="label">[230]</span></a> Kaye's <i>Life and
+Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe</i>, vol. ii., p. 339. Revised edition, 1858.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_231_231" id="Footnote_231_231"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_231_231"><span class="label">[231]</span></a> It is fair to say
+that some of these were due to the efforts of the Radicals in the Assembly, who
+had sent out blank petitions to local friends, with instructions to obtain
+signatures and fill in the name of the constituency.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_232_232" id="Footnote_232_232"></a><a href="#FNanchor_232_232"><span class="label">[232]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, pp. 303, 304.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_233_233" id="Footnote_233_233"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_233_233"><span class="label">[233]</span></a> See his despatch to
+Lord Glenelg, dated April 28th, 1836, in <i>Narrative</i>, chap. v.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_234_234" id="Footnote_234_234"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_234_234"><span class="label">[234]</span></a> Sir Francis himself
+has gravely recorded that certain militia officers publicly declared him to be
+"the d&mdash;&mdash;dest liar and d&mdash;&mdash;dest rascal in the Province."
+See despatch of 6th February, 1837, in <i>Narrative</i>, chap. ix.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_235_235" id="Footnote_235_235"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_235_235"><span class="label">[235]</span></a> The evidence will
+be found in appendix to Journal of 1836, 2nd Session, Twelfth Parliament, vol.
+iii., No. 106, pp. 57, 58.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxvi.jpg" width="300" height="73" alt="chapxvi" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[Pg 324]</a></span></p>
+<h4>THE TRIUMPHS OF A TRIED REFORMER.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letterw.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letterw" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">W</span>hile the public excitement continued unabated, the Lieutenant-Governor resolved
+upon a step which was little calculated to allay it. This step was the dissolution of
+the existing Parliament. He and his advisers, sworn and unsworn, believed that the
+time was opportune for a general election. If the numerical majority of the
+Opposition in the Assembly were reversed, the Government could afford to laugh at
+what they called "low-bred democracy." Such a reversal, it was thought, might now be
+effected. The disloyalty cry might safely be trusted to do its work, not only by
+clearing the Assembly of the chief members of the Opposition, but by giving the
+Government party an easy working majority. In order, however, that his Excellency
+might seem to be following public opinion in this matter instead of guiding it, the
+official party caused petitions to be sent in from various quarters, praying that a
+dissolution and a general election might take place. This not only served the
+intended purpose of misleading the public as to the designs of the Executive, but
+also afforded Sir Francis an opportunity of pouring out oceans of words in the form
+of replies. The concluding sentence of his reply to an address from certain electors
+of the Home District is eminently characteristic of the man. Portions of the
+already-mentioned letter from Papineau to Bidwell had seemed to point to a possible
+invasion of the Province by inhabitants of the United States. This idea was eagerly
+seized upon by Sir Francis, as indicative of concerted action between the
+hypothetical invaders and the Upper Canadian Radicals. "In the name of every regiment
+of militia in Upper Canada," said he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span>&mdash;"<i>Let them come if they dare!</i>"<a
+name="FNanchor_236_236" id="FNanchor_236_236"></a><a href="#Footnote_236_236"
+class="fnanchor">[236]</a> Nothing but actual perusal of his despatches will afford
+any accurate idea of his blatant self-confidence at this time. It is quite evident
+that he regarded the above-quoted reply as a master-stroke of vigorous diplomacy. He
+drew special attention to it in a communication to Lord Glenelg, in the course of
+which he made use of language which must have almost stunned the conventional and
+decorous Colonial Secretary. "I am aware," he wrote, "that the answer may be cavilled
+at in Downing Street, for I know it is not exactly according to Hoyle. <i>Mais, man
+seigneur, croyez-vous done qu'on fasse des revolutions avec de l'eau de rose?</i>"<a
+name="FNanchor_237_237" id="FNanchor_237_237"></a><a href="#Footnote_237_237"
+class="fnanchor">[237]</a> The tone of his despatches is from first to last
+extraordinary. It would seem as if they ought to have told their own miserable tale
+of superficiality and unfitness to the Colonial Secretary. In announcing the
+probability of an early dissolution of the Provincial Parliament, Sir Francis
+requests his Lordship to send him no orders on the subject, but to allow him to work
+the matter in his own way.<a name="FNanchor_238_238" id="FNanchor_238_238"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_238_238" class="fnanchor">[238]</a> The Opposition are constantly
+referred to in such phrases as "the republicans in the House of Assembly," and "the
+revolutionists of Upper Canada."<a name="FNanchor_239_239" id="FNanchor_239_239"></a><a href="#Footnote_239_239" class="fnanchor">[239]</a> His
+Lordship is warned that if the demands of the Opposition be complied with in the
+matter of Executive responsibility, "democracy, in the worst possible form, will
+prevail in our colonies."<a name="FNanchor_240_240" id="FNanchor_240_240"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_240_240" class="fnanchor">[240]</a> "In South America," he remarks,
+"truth and justice carried me through difficulties even greater than those I have now
+to contend with, and I have the firmest reliance they will again be triumphant."<a
+name="FNanchor_241_241" id="FNanchor_241_241"></a><a href="#Footnote_241_241"
+class="fnanchor">[241]</a> In another despatch<a name="FNanchor_242_242"
+id="FNanchor_242_242"></a><a href="#Footnote_242_242" class="fnanchor">[242]</a> his
+Lordship is notified that Robert Baldwin, who is referred to as an agent of "the
+revolutionary party," is about to start for London. "It is stated," writes Sir
+Francis, "that he goes there for the recovery of his health, but it is acknowledged
+by his party that he will be prepared to answer any questions which the Government
+may feel disposed to put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> to him." This intimation is followed by the expression of a
+confidence that his Lordship will discountenance "the system of sending agents from
+the British North American colonies, and their being received by the Government." A
+hope is expressed that should Mr. Baldwin directly or indirectly communicate with the
+Colonial Office during his stay in England, he may be effectually sat upon, and that
+he may receive "that style of answer," a copy of which may be transmitted to Sir
+Francis, and published in the Canadian papers, as a means of deterring further
+"left-handed attacks upon the constitution." It may be added that the expression of
+confidence above referred to was justified by the result, as Mr. Baldwin, during his
+stay in England, was not admitted to an interview with Lord Glenelg, though a written
+statement of his views was received by his Lordship, and submitted to the
+Cabinet.</p>
+
+<p>The Reformers, moderate and radical, were brought closer together by the agitated
+state of the public mind, and by the efforts of the official party to destroy their
+influence. Several weeks before the dissolution actually took place it became known
+that such a step was imminent, and quiet preparations were made for the general
+election which was to follow. The formation of the Canadian Alliance Society by the
+Radicals, towards the close of 1834, has already been referred to.<a
+name="FNanchor_243_243" id="FNanchor_243_243"></a><a href="#Footnote_243_243"
+class="fnanchor">[243]</a> Neither the platform of this society nor the mode of
+conducting it was such as to commend it to Reformers generally, and it was now deemed
+advisable to organize a new association on a broader basis, with a special eye to
+co&ouml;peration with Reformers who resided in the rural districts. This was
+accordingly done under the auspices of some of the leading Reformers of Toronto. In
+contradistinction to the British Constitutional Society mentioned towards the close
+of the last chapter, the new association was called the Constitutional Reform
+Society. Dr. Baldwin accepted the Presidency, and Francis Hincks, who was then
+engaged in commercial life in Toronto, was appointed Secretary. Steps were taken to
+counteract the misrepresentations of the official party, and generally for the
+efficient maintenance of the impending election campaign. The Reformers seem to have greatly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span>
+underestimated the efforts of their opponents. As the event proved, they were also
+hopelessly astray in gauging the public opinion of the Province, for they looked
+forward to the approaching contest with the utmost confidence in the result. The new
+society, it was thought, would accomplish wonders in the way of thorough
+organization, and it was confidently believed that the existing Reform majority in
+the Assembly would be fully maintained, if not increased. The efforts of the official
+party to spread a belief prejudicial to the patriotism of the Reformers were laughed
+to scorn. So also was the attempt of the Lieutenant-Governor to imbue the inhabitants
+with a belief in the probability of a foreign invasion. Upon the promulgation of the
+challenge to the imaginary invader, a number of the Toronto Reformers, with Mr.
+Hincks at their head, amused themselves by perpetrating a practical joke. Having
+taken counsel together, they formed themselves into a deputation, and called upon his
+Excellency in a state of well-assumed perturbation. In a formal address they
+expressed much solicitude on the subject of the contemplated invasion. They professed
+to re-echo his unbounded confidence in the Provincial militia, but begged to be
+informed of the quarter whence the attack was anticipated. "We do not doubt," said
+they, in their Address, "the readiness with which would be answered upon any
+emergency your appeal to the militia, which appeal we are satisfied would not have
+been made without adequate cause. In a matter so seriously affecting the peace and
+tranquillity of the country, and the security of its commerce, we beg to learn from
+your Excellency from what quarter the invasion is alleged to be threatened." To this
+not unreasonable demand the Lieutenant-Governor was unable to make any definite
+reply. The absurdity of his challenge was for the first time fully brought home to
+him. According to the testimony of eye-witnesses, he "did not sit, but stood with
+that personal oscillation which you witness in a man so situated as not well to know
+what to say or what to do."<a name="FNanchor_244_244" id="FNanchor_244_244"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_244_244" class="fnanchor">[244]</a> When at last his reply came, it
+proved to be the briefest and most sensible of all his replies. "Gentlemen," said he,
+"I have no further observations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> to make to you on this subject." The deputation,
+struggling with suppressed laughter, withdrew.</p>
+
+<p>The Provincial Parliament was dissolved on the 28th of May, and as it was thought
+desirable to strike while the iron was hot, the elections were hurried on with
+unseemly haste. They began on the 20th of June, and all the returns were in during
+the first week in July. The issue was an exciting, but not a doubtful one, for the
+official party entered upon the contest with loaded dice and a determination to win.
+Numerous attempts have been made to explain and excuse their conduct during this
+eventful epoch; but it is impossible to blink the fact that the result was a foregone
+conclusion from the very moment of the issue of the writs. The whole weight of the
+Government was put forward to ensure the return of Tory candidates, and this was done
+in the most direct and shameless manner. The Lieutenant-Governor openly made himself
+a party to the contest. His replies to the various addresses which he had himself
+promoted were one and all set to the same tune.<a name="FNanchor_245_245"
+id="FNanchor_245_245"></a><a href="#Footnote_245_245" class="fnanchor">[245]</a> The
+issue was presented in such a light that no inconsiderable part of the population
+were led to believe that the maintenance of British connection depended upon the
+result of the contest. Owing to the representations of Government emissaries, backed
+by the Tory press, and reinforced by the inflammatory speeches and addresses of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, it was widely believed that should the Reformers succeed there
+would be a speedy uprooting of cherished institutions, followed by separation from
+the mother country and ultimate annexation to the United States. The indiscreet
+language of Mackenzie and some other Radicals had been such as to lend colour to
+misrepresentations of this nature, and the spirit thereby aroused was decisive of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span> result.
+Not only professed Tories, but most of the moderate-minded of the population, rallied
+to the side of the Lieutenant-Governor, to uphold British connection, and to oppose
+the encroachment of republican and revolutionary ideas. Loyalty was rampant, and
+patriotic fervour was aroused to a height which it had not reached in Upper Canada
+since the War of 1812. "Down with democracy!" "Down with republicanism!" "Hurrah for
+Sir Francis Head and British connection!" Such were the legends inscribed on the
+dead-walls in the principal towns of the Province.<a name="FNanchor_246_246" id="FNanchor_246_246"></a><a href="#Footnote_246_246" class="fnanchor">[246]</a> Tory
+votes were manufactured by wholesale, and Tory funds were squandered with reckless
+profusion. For the first time in the history of Upper Canada, Government agents were
+sent down to the polling-places armed with patents for land, to be distributed among
+the electors. It is open to doubt whether some of these were not conferred upon
+persons who had no title to them.<a name="FNanchor_247_247" id="FNanchor_247_247"></a><a href="#Footnote_247_247" class="fnanchor">[247]</a>
+Reform votes were rejected by partisan returning-officers upon the most frivolous
+pretexts. Gangs of ruffians were stationed at the polls to intimidate those who
+ventured near to record their votes in favour of anti-Government candidates. In at
+least one instance, the Lieutenant-Governor presented himself in person at the
+polling-place while the contest was at its height, and remained there for some time
+on horseback, in close proximity to the spot where votes were recorded.<a name="FNanchor_248_248" id="FNanchor_248_248"></a><a href="#Footnote_248_248"
+class="fnanchor">[248]</a> As for the Reformers, they were soon aroused from their
+dreams of confidence. But their rude awakening, early as it was, came all too late.
+They perceived that the seed had been well sown, and that the crop would have to be
+reaped. They found themselves looked upon with suspicion and dislike among their
+neighbours and others from whom they had been accustomed to receive confidence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> and respect.
+They needed all the courage of their opinions to support them against the obloquy
+which official slander had aroused. The courageous among them faced the polls in the
+spirit of a forlorn hope. The more timid quietly remained at home and refrained from
+voting, rather than subject themselves to certain insult and probable physical
+violence.</p>
+
+<p>It may perhaps be urged, in reply to some of the foregoing allegations, that a
+Committee of the Assembly subsequently inquired into the various matters complained
+of, and that their report acquitted the Governor of all culpability. But anyone who
+is familiar with the proceedings of election committees in those days, and even in
+times much more recent, will not need to be informed how much&mdash;or how
+little&mdash;weight should be attached to a verdict from such a source. In the case
+under consideration, the proceedings were conducted with exceptional disregard to
+propriety, and the verdict of acquittal cannot be considered as of any value
+whatever. Only one member of the Committee heard the whole of the evidence upon which
+the report was based. Three of the members declared that the report was adopted
+without their knowledge or consent. Of the other five members who prepared the
+document, one attended only two meetings out of fourteen; while another attended
+four, and another five. A fourth member attended twelve meetings, and one only of the
+five attended all the fourteen. The inquiry was from first to last conducted in a
+spirit of partisanship, and the report, in the language of Dr. Rolph, was "the
+offspring of untempered zeal, insufficient evidence, hasty conclusions, and executive
+devotion."<a name="FNanchor_249_249" id="FNanchor_249_249"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_249_249" class="fnanchor">[249]</a> As a general rule, it is a
+difficult matter to convict a Government of actual, direct interference with the
+freedom of election. But in the case of the general election of 1836, there is
+unfortunately no room for doubt. That patents were issued in great numbers by the
+Commissioner of Crown Lands, and despatched by the hands of trusted agents of the
+Government to the polling-places, to be used by the voters, is as well established as
+is the fact of the election itself. Nay, the fact is admitted by Sir Francis Head in
+the supplemental chapter to his "Narrative," as well as by the Committee appointed by
+the Assembly to investigate the matter, and the attempts to explain it away are of
+the weakest kind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> The number of patents issued was so great as to require a special
+staff of extra clerks to get them ready by the time they were wanted. In some cases
+the patents covered only a quarter of an acre of wild, uncultivated land, upon which
+no buildings had been erected. Many of them were issued between the date of the
+dissolution of Parliament and the close of the election a month later,<a
+name="FNanchor_250_250" id="FNanchor_250_250"></a><a href="#Footnote_250_250"
+class="fnanchor">[250]</a> and in some instances they were issued after the actual
+opening of the poll. They were distributed openly at the places where the elections
+were held, to persons who had not applied for them, and who, at least in some
+instances, received them without paying the usual fees, merely that they might
+thereby be enabled to vote. Whether the issue of the patents affected the result of
+the election in any single instance is altogether beside the question. It would be
+absurd to pretend, in the face of such tactics as these, that there was any real
+freedom of choice offered to the people in the matter of Parliamentary
+representation. Freedom of election was paralyzed. Reform voters were literally
+overwhelmed, and their franchise rendered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> of no avail. All this was done with the cognizance
+and assent of the Lieutenant-Governor, who thereby wilfully violated the instructions
+which he had received from the Home Office.<a name="FNanchor_251_251"
+id="FNanchor_251_251"></a><a href="#Footnote_251_251" class="fnanchor">[251]</a></p>
+
+<p>The result of an election contest conducted on these lines was such as to fully
+realize the expectations of Sir Francis and his advisers. Not only were all the old
+Tory members returned&mdash;and this, in several cases, without any
+opposition&mdash;but a number of new adherents of that side found seats. Hagerman was
+returned for Kingston by acclamation, McLean was returned for Stormont, George S.
+Jarvis for the Town of Cornwall, Jonas Jones and Ogle B. Gowan for Leeds, A. N.
+MacNab for Wentworth, W. B. Robinson for Simcoe, Mahlon Burwell for the Town of
+London, Henry Sherwood for Brockville, and William Henry Draper for Toronto. The
+last-named gentleman, known to later times as Chief Justice Draper, now entered
+public life for the first time. He was a very decided acquisition to the ranks of
+Upper Canadian Toryism, and was destined to exert a wide and far-reaching influence
+upon successive representatives of the Crown in this colony. But the triumphs of the
+official party were not confined to mere numerical successes. They wrested some
+important constituencies from the hands of their opponents. The Reformers were not
+only left in an insignificant minority, but nearly all their ablest members were
+defeated in what had long been regarded as safe Reform constituencies. Bidwell and
+Perry suffered defeat in Lennox and Addington; Lount underwent a similar fate in
+Simcoe; and Mackenzie was signally worsted in the Second Riding of York by a man of
+no political standing. Gibson, Morrison and Mackintosh gained their respective
+elections in the other three Ridings of York, but none of them possessed much
+Parliamentary ability, or was to be depended upon in any great emergency. The one
+significant gain to the Reform party arose out of the election of Dr. Rolph. The
+Doctor, after having allowed himself to be talked into accepting a seat in the
+Executive Council whose<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> resignation had been the beginning of the contest between the
+Reformers and the Lieutenant-Governor, had not felt himself at liberty to reject the
+overtures of his friends. He had been put in nomination for the County of Norfolk,
+and his candidature had been successful. He was a host in himself, and his return was
+the one streak of bright light which appeared in the Reform horizon at the close of
+the campaign.</p>
+
+<p>Perhaps the most unsatisfactory feature about the whole unsatisfactory business,
+from the Reform point of view, was that the ignominous discomfiture of the Reformers
+had been brought about by defections from their own ranks. Moderate-minded Reformers
+had come to think, with the Conservatives, that even Family Compact domination was
+preferable to the ascendency of such men as Mackenzie. The publication of the baneful
+domination letter, followed, as it had been, by Tory misrepresentation, had led
+thousands of persons to believe that the Radicals secretly favoured the separation of
+the colony from Great Britain. The Wesleyan Methodists, a numerous body, were doubly
+impelled to oppose Mackenzie and all who favoured his cause. The quarrel between
+Mackenzie and the Rev. Egerton Ryerson has already been referred to.<a name="FNanchor_252_252" id="FNanchor_252_252"></a><a href="#Footnote_252_252"
+class="fnanchor">[252]</a> Mr. Ryerson was in those days one of the most prominent
+figures in Upper Canadian Methodism, and in conjunction with his brothers, exerted a
+predominant influence among the members of that body. At the time of the general
+election of 1836 he was absent from the Province on a mission to England, whither he
+had gone to obtain a charter for the Upper Canada Academy, and to solicit
+subscriptions for the establishment and maintenance of that institution, which
+subsequently developed into the University of Victoria College. But the reverend
+gentleman's arm was far-reaching, and stretched across the broad expanse of the
+Atlantic. In common with a large and respectable portion of the Upper Canadian
+population, he cherished a feeling of personal contempt for Mackenzie, whose
+character he thoroughly despised, and whose projects he regarded as prejudicial to
+the welfare of the colony. The publication of the baneful domination letter had
+convinced him that rebellion and separation were among the cherished schemes of the
+Radicals. To all such schemes he was prepared to oppose his firmest resistance, for his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> loyalty
+was of the perfervid order, and his dislike of Mackenzie probably imparted additional
+zeal to his opposition. As has been seen, Mackenzie, with the aid of Hume, Roebuck
+and other British statesmen, had succeeded in creating in the minds of the English
+public considerable sympathy for Canadian Reform. To counteract this influence Mr.
+Ryerson, under the signature of "A Canadian," contributed a series of letters to the
+London <i>Times</i>. They were vigorously written, and attracted much attention, not
+only in England but in Canada, where they were republished in the columns of the Tory
+newspapers, and where they were circulated in pamphlet form as a campaign document.
+Mr. Ryerson also wrote to leading members of the Methodist body in Canada, urging
+them to cast all their influence for Government candidates, and against the
+revolutionary policy of the Radicals. His appeals served their purpose, and the great
+bulk of the Wesleyan Methodists of Upper Canada, who had theretofore supported Reform
+members, went over to the side of the Government. In many
+constituencies&mdash;notably so in Lennox and Addington&mdash;they held the balance
+of power, and their secession from the Reform cause decided the fortunes of the
+candidates.<a name="FNanchor_253_253" id="FNanchor_253_253"></a><a href="#Footnote_253_253" class="fnanchor">[253]</a> A few remained unaffected by Mr.
+Ryerson's lucubrations, and some even went so far as to denounce his conduct and
+reply to his arguments, but these were too few in number to affect the general
+result. Some of the successful candidates were compelled to pledge themselves in
+advance to the Methodists and other Nonconformists to take immediate steps for the
+settlement of the Clergy Reserves question, but the pledges were neglected or
+forgotten during the turbulent epoch which ensued.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span>It will
+thus be seen that, as is clearly pointed out in the Report of Lord Durham,<a name="FNanchor_254_254" id="FNanchor_254_254"></a><a href="#Footnote_254_254"
+class="fnanchor">[254]</a> the contest which had been commenced on the question of a
+responsible Executive Council had afterwards been adroitly turned by the official
+party, and had been decided on very different grounds. The question of a responsible
+Executive, as well as the question of the Clergy Reserves, had for the time sunk out
+of public notice. All other matters had given way to a resolve to return candidates
+who would "rally round the throne." The triumph of the Government went far beyond
+what several members of it had ventured to anticipate. On the 8th of July, Sir
+Francis was able to report to Lord Glenelg that "the Constitutionists"&mdash;by which
+name he designated the official party and all who supported them&mdash;had a majority
+of twenty-five,<a name="FNanchor_255_255" id="FNanchor_255_255"></a><a href="#Footnote_255_255" class="fnanchor">[255]</a> whereas in the preceding Assembly
+they had been in a minority of eleven. In the same despatch he availed himself of the
+opportunity to malign Mr. Bidwell, whom he characterized as the "twin or Siamese
+companion of Mr. Speaker Papineau." He descanted upon the powerful reaction which had
+been brought about, and exultingly informed his Lordship that of the four candidates
+who had contested the constituency of Lennox and Addington Mr. Bidwell had polled the
+fewest votes.</p>
+
+<p>The Colonial Minister must have been sore puzzled to know what to make of this
+gushing and galloping Lieutenant-Governor, who was so evidently devoid of the
+peculiar qualifications supposed to be requisite for one in his station, and who
+framed his official despatches upon the model of a sensation novel. Here was a man
+who had been selected for an elevated and honourable post because be had been
+supposed to be an adept in the science of politics, but who, as it now turned out,
+was utterly unacquainted with the principles and practice of Government; who was
+ignorant of the proprieties and amenities of official intercourse; who, in what were
+intended for grave official despatches, indulged in extracts from French vaudevilles,
+and referred to certain methods of procedure as not being <i>according to Hoyle</i>!
+By all known theory and precedent,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> the accession to office of such a man ought to have
+been attended by immediate and ignominous failure. Yet, so far as could be judged, he
+had by no means failed. Nay, he actually appeared to have scored a marvellous
+success, and to have brought about what men of greater ability and wider experience
+had been utterly unable to accomplish. Such a success was an inscrutable mystery to
+the official mind, and Lord Glenelg, after the first few weeks, appears to have
+abandoned all attempts to penetrate it. The entire demeanour of this unconventional
+Lieutenant-Governor was incomprehensible. He had expressed his total dissent from the
+policy of the Commissioners of Inquiry in Lower Canada, who had reported in favour of
+a responsible Executive.<a name="FNanchor_256_256" id="FNanchor_256_256"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_256_256" class="fnanchor">[256]</a> He had even gone so far as to
+tender his resignation in consequence of his inability to concur in the liberal
+measures of Reform advocated by the Commissioners.<a name="FNanchor_257_257" id="FNanchor_257_257"></a><a href="#Footnote_257_257" class="fnanchor">[257]</a> But
+the Home Government had by no means been disposed to accept his resignation just at
+that time. They had no available person to put in his place, and it had been thought
+desirable that he should be permitted to try his hand a little longer. And now this
+news as to the result of the elections seemed to fully justify their determination to
+retain him in office. If he had really inaugurated a new and improved order of things
+in Upper Canada, it was only fair that he should enjoy the prestige of his
+success.</p>
+
+<p>But the ill effects of Sir Francis's superficial and disastrous policy were
+already beginning to be apparent to those whose eyes were keen enough to look below
+the surface of things. The Reformers felt that they had been out-man&oelig;uvred. That
+they could have borne, for they had often been compelled to bear a similar infliction
+in past times. But they considered that they had been cheated out of their rights by
+one whose especial duty it was to watch over and preserve those rights inviolate.
+They had endured much at the hands of a Gore, a Maitland and a Colborne. But Gore,
+Maitland and Colborne had not presented themselves before them in the garb of tried
+Reformers. They had been the Tory emissaries of Tory superiors beyond sea, whose
+instructions they had generally carried out. All this had been changed; but the change, so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span>
+far as Upper Canada was concerned, had been for the worse. The Reformers of the
+Province felt that the man who had been placed at the helm of State&mdash;the man who
+had been sent over by an ostensibly Liberal Government to redress the accumulated
+wrongs of the past&mdash;was in some respects far more dangerous than any of his
+predecessors had been. Carlyle had not then delivered his celebrated discourse on
+fools, but the idea that a fool may sometimes be far more dread-inspiring than a wise
+man is sufficiently obvious, and had presented itself in vivid shape before the minds
+of a good many of the Reformers of Upper Canada. They had by this time come to know
+something of Sir Francis Head. They had brought themselves to regard him as not only
+a fool, but a fool devoid of right feeling or principle; a fool who would stop at no
+injustice or iniquity the perpetration whereof would conduce, in however small a
+degree, to his own glorification. He evidently regarded his personal interference in
+the elections as a thing upon which he ought to plume himself. Such a state of things
+was not to be borne. It was clear that life, for Canadian Reformers, would very soon
+be not worth living. They despaired of the future, which, to their depressed vision,
+seemed to be overhung by a sky of unrelieved blackness. Their despair was accompanied
+by a smarting sense of defeat and injustice proportionate to the circumstances. Such
+feelings were not confined to defeated candidates and their immediate friends, but
+were participated in by Reformers generally. Some of them began to weigh the
+advantages and disadvantages of removal from the Province. Others, after the first
+effervescence of disappointment had expended itself, determined to endure in patience
+and to hope for the best. A comparatively small number, yielding to the influence of
+mingled despair and exasperation, began to contemplate armed resistance to authority
+as among the possibilities of the near future. Constitutional resistance, they
+thought, had had a fair trial. Might it not be worth while to try a more drastic
+remedy?</p>
+
+<p>Conspicuous among the personages who were strongly influenced by such thoughts as
+those last indicated was William Lyon Mackenzie, who, as previously mentioned, had
+lost his election in the Second Riding of York. It might have been supposed that if
+any constituency in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> Province was beyond the reach of Tory influence, the Second Riding
+was entitled to that distinction. It was notoriously the most Radical constituency in
+the colony. It had stood loyally by Mackenzie all through the troubled epoch of the
+successive expulsions. Yet it had now thrown him overboard on behalf of a political
+nobody. The explanation is to be found in the fact that the Riding had been the scene
+of some of the moat scandalous abuses committed during the campaign. The Tories had
+resolved that Mackenzie should be defeated at any cost, and had resorted to the most
+reprehensible means to secure that end. To elect a professed Tory would have been an
+impossibility, so the person fixed upon to oppose him was one whom the author of
+"Middlemarch" might have had in her eye when she described Sir James Chettam as "a
+man of acquiescent temper, miscellaneous opinions and uncertain vote."<a name="FNanchor_258_258" id="FNanchor_258_258"></a><a href="#Footnote_258_258"
+class="fnanchor">[258]</a> His name was Edward William Thomson, and he professed to
+be a moderate Reformer. His moderation was acceptable to a considerable proportion of
+the electors, many of whom were tired of Mackenzie. The official party, however, did
+not choose to rely upon legitimate means for defeating the Radical candidate. Money
+was spent freely, and brawny bullies were hired for purposes of intimidation. Good
+votes were rejected on one side, and bad ones accepted on the other. Patents were
+sent down to the polling place, certain recipients whereof voted for Thomson. Sheriff
+Jarvis attended, and by his language and demeanour did what he could to discourage
+Mackenzie's supporters. Not a stone was left unturned to effect the desired object.
+Such means as Mackenzie had at his command were altogether insufficient to counteract
+the devices employed against him. He was beaten, and by a majority of a hundred
+votes.</p>
+
+<p>This result took Mackenzie completely by surprise. It came upon him in the form of
+a revelation. He had not permitted himself to entertain any doubt of his success, and
+the conviction that he had lost<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> his popularity cut him to his inmost soul. He
+retired to the house of one of his supporters in the neighbourhood, where he
+completely broke down, and wept with a bitterness which evoked the active sympathy of
+those present. But this mood did not last. It was succeeded by a sullenness and
+stolidity such as had never before been observed in him. He knew that he had been
+beaten unfairly, and resolved to petition against the election. Meanwhile his rage
+against the party which had been concerned in his defeat was ungovernable, and must
+have vent. He resolved that he must again have control of a newspaper. He accordingly
+established <i>The Constitution</i>, a weekly paper, the first number of which made
+its appearance in Toronto on the sixtieth anniversary of the Declaration of
+Independence of the United States&mdash;namely, the 4th of July, 1836. Its tone was
+such as might have been anticipated from the mood of its editor. It was more
+outspoken than the <i>Advocate</i> had ever been under his management, and might from
+the first have been styled a revolutionary organ. In its columns every phase of
+discontent found utterance, and some of its editorial articles were marked by a
+spirit of bitterness and implacability such as had not commonly been supposed to
+belong to Mackenzie's nature. Means would doubtless have been taken for its
+suppression, had not the Government felt that they had achieved a signal triumph, and
+that they could afford to ignore its attacks.</p>
+
+<p>Many others of the Radicals felt little less rancour towards the Government party
+than did Mackenzie. Indeed, the conduct of the party in power had been such as to
+make temporary Radicals of not a few persons who had theretofore been known as
+moderate Reformers. It may be said indeed that nearly all the moderates had either
+made common cause with the Government party for fear of the Radicals, or had
+coalesced with the Radicals from a sense of official tyranny and injustice. Public
+meetings were held, at which the Lieutenant-Governor and his myrmidons were subjected
+to the most vehement denunciations. At a meeting of the Constitutional Reform Society
+Dr. Baldwin, George Ridout, James E. Small and others referred to his Excellency's
+conduct in terms which public audiences had never before heard from their lips. An
+official address issued by the Society on the subject of the resignation of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> the Executive
+Councillors also contained some severe but well-merited strictures. The
+Lieutenant-Governor marked his condemnation of the language employed by promptly
+dismissing the three gentlemen above named from certain offices which they held.<a
+name="FNanchor_259_259" id="FNanchor_259_259"></a><a href="#Footnote_259_259"
+class="fnanchor">[259]</a> As will hereafter be seen, this proceeding eventually led
+to serious complications between the Home Office and Sir Francis. Meantime, the
+latter was permitted to have his own way, but not without stubborn attempts at
+resistance on the part of some of his opponents. A number of the most pronounced
+Radicals resolved to make a strong representation of election and other abuses to the
+British House of Commons, and to that end sent Dr. Charles Duncombe to England. Dr.
+Duncombe had been re-elected for Oxford, but had had to contend against similar
+influences to those which had been employed in other constituencies, and was thus
+able to speak of the partisan conduct of the Lieutenant-Governor's emissaries from
+personal observation. He prepared a statement of the case against Sir Francis, which
+was laid before the House of Commons by Mr. Hume. The Colonial Secretary despatched a
+copy of it to Sir Francis for explanations. It is unlikely that Dr. Duncombe's
+mission would have been a successful one under any circumstances, but he made the
+mistake of protesting too much. The greater part of the indictment could easily have
+been substantiated before any impartial tribunal, but it also contained charges
+which, whether true or not, the prosecutor was unable to prove. As mentioned on a
+former page<a name="FNanchor_260_260" id="FNanchor_260_260"></a><a href="#Footnote_260_260" class="fnanchor">[260]</a>, the matter was referred to a
+Committee of the Provincial Assembly, by whom the Lieutenant-Governor was completely
+exonerated. A further reference to the matter will be made in connection with the
+proceedings of the following session.</p>
+
+<p>The Lieutenant-Governor was meanwhile engaged in a voluminous correspondence with
+the Colonial Secretary. The subjects dealt with therein were many and various.
+Perhaps the most important of all was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span> the Lower Canadian Commission of Inquiry. The
+Commissioners had made a report in which they had recommended the concession of
+Responsible Government, and other much-needed Reforms. As previously mentioned, Sir
+Francis had no sympathy with these views, and distinctly repudiated the policy thus
+recommended. The idea of a responsible Executive was utterly repugnant to him. He
+erelong perceived that the Imperial Government would sooner or later yield to the
+imperative demand made on behalf of the different British North American colonies,
+but he determined to fight against it as long as opposition was possible, and his
+despatches teem with what he doubtless regarded as arguments on the negative side. He
+predicted the most serious results if the policy of the Commissioners was adopted.
+The language of the Ninety-two resolutions of the Lower Canada Assembly he pronounced
+to be not only insulting to the British Government, but traitorous. He proposed
+various measures for establishing the power of the Crown in the Canadas on a firm
+basis. Among these were the repeal of the Act surrendering the revenue, the
+annexation of the District of Gasp&eacute; to the Province of New Brunswick, and the
+annexation of Montreal to Upper Canada. It may safely be assumed that these ideas
+were not his own, and nobody who has read "Canada and the Canada Bill,"<a name="FNanchor_261_261" id="FNanchor_261_261"></a><a href="#Footnote_261_261"
+class="fnanchor">[261]</a> published several years later, will entertain much doubt
+as to the individual from whom he derived his inspiration.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_236_236" id="Footnote_236_236"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_236_236"><span class="label">[236]</span></a> Sir Francis
+afterwards denied that this challenge was addressed to the Americans. See his
+despatch to Lord Glenelg dated 6th November, 1836, embodied in his
+<i>Narrative</i>, chap, vi. But it is quite evident that the denial, as well as
+the construction there sought to be put upon his language, was an after-thought.
+If, as he there asserts, "the Americans had no more to do with the subject than
+the Chinese," there was no appropriate significance whatever in his doughty
+defiance.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_237_237" id="Footnote_237_237"></a><a href="#FNanchor_237_237"><span class="label">[237]</span></a> See despatch of May 28th.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_238_238" id="Footnote_238_238"></a><a href="#FNanchor_238_238"><span class="label">[238]</span></a> See despatch of 21st April.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_239_239" id="Footnote_239_239"></a><a href="#FNanchor_239_239"><span class="label">[239]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_240_240" id="Footnote_240_240"></a><a href="#FNanchor_240_240"><span class="label">[240]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_241_241" id="Footnote_241_241"></a><a href="#FNanchor_241_241"><span class="label">[241]</span></a> Despatch of May 28th.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_242_242" id="Footnote_242_242"></a><a href="#FNanchor_242_242"><span class="label">[242]</span></a> Of April 28th.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_243_243" id="Footnote_243_243"></a><a href="#FNanchor_243_243"><span class="label">[243]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 281.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_244_244" id="Footnote_244_244"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_244_244"><span class="label">[244]</span></a> See Dr. Rolph's
+<i>Speech to the House in Committee on the Report of the Select Committee on the
+Petition of Dr. Charles Duncombe to the British House of Commons</i>, delivered
+on Monday, January 30th, 1837.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_245_245" id="Footnote_245_245"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_245_245"><span class="label">[245]</span></a> It was afterwards
+urged by Sir Francis that his replies to addresses were made before, and not
+during the election. The plea will not bear a moment's examination. The mischief
+was done by the inflammatory and menacing tone of the replies, and the mere
+question of the time of their delivery in of no importance whatever. An English
+writer thus effectually disposes of this attempted defence: "Surely he [Sir F. B.
+Head] must have some glimmering perception that this is not a question of time,
+and that, if promises or threats are addressed to the electoral body with regard
+to their exercise of the electoral franchise, it is a matter of no importance
+whether this is done before or at the time of the election. Illogical as he has
+proved himself, we cannot suppose him to be so utterly destitute of the reasoning
+faculty as a sincerity in this defence would imply; and we must therefore believe
+that he knows the charge to be well founded, and has recourse to this shuffling
+evasion in pure despair."&mdash;See <i>London and Westminster Review</i>, vol.
+xxxii., No. 2, article vi.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_246_246" id="Footnote_246_246"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_246_246"><span class="label">[246]</span></a> During the contest
+people on the hustings actually demanded of the candidates: "Do you vote for the
+House of Assembly or for Sir Francis Head?"&mdash;a question which, as Sir
+Francis himself remarks, amounted in plain terms to this: "Are you for a
+republican government, or are you not?"&mdash;See <i>Memorandum on the Present
+Political State of the Canadas</i>, in <i>Narrative</i>, chap. vi.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_247_247" id="Footnote_247_247"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_247_247"><span class="label">[247]</span></a> Lord Durham,
+reasoning from such evidence as he had before him, proceeds upon the assumption
+that no patents were issued except to persons entitled to the land. But, as his
+Lordship admits, the granting of patents at all under such circumstances was an
+act of official favouritism which no Lieutenant-Governor with a proper sense of
+his duty would have permitted. See <i>Report</i>, U.C. folio edition, p. 51.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_248_248" id="Footnote_248_248"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_248_248"><span class="label">[248]</span></a> This was at
+Streetsville, while the contest for the Second Riding of York was in progress
+between William Lyon Mackenzie and Edward William Thomson.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_249_249" id="Footnote_249_249"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_249_249"><span class="label">[249]</span></a> See his speech in
+the Assembly on January 30th, 1837.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_250_250" id="Footnote_250_250"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_250_250"><span class="label">[250]</span></a> From official
+returns it appears that 1,478 patents passed the Great Seal between the 20th of
+April (the date of the prorogation) and the close of the contest in June. Of this
+number 1,245 were issued in pursuance of Orders in Council made prior to Sir
+Francis Head's arrival in the Province. Between his arrival and the close of the
+election 233 were issued, whereof only 150 were issued under Order in Council on
+his authority. But that the entire 1,478 were passed under Sir Francis's
+r&eacute;gime within a very brief period; that a special staff of clerks was
+employed for the purpose; that for the first time in the history of the Province
+these patents were distributed at the polling-booths by Government agents who
+were strong adherents of the official party, and who were moreover dependent upon
+the Government for their situations&mdash;these are circumstances which admit of
+but one brief explanation. The only one of these agents whom the Committee of
+Inquiry ventured to summon before them was Mr. Welsley Richey, of Barrie, who, on
+his examination, deposed that he mentioned to the Lieutenant-Governor that the
+persons who wanted their deeds were entitled to them, and that <i>he thought they
+would vote for Constitutional candidates</i>; that Sir F. B. Head strictly
+commanded witness not in any manner to interfere as Government agent, or to use
+any influence which his situation gave him at the election; that out of a number
+not exceeding 130 patents which persons residing in the County of Simcoe were
+entitled to, and which were in witness's possession for them, only about thirty
+were called for, and only part of that thirty voted. This is mere petty evasion.
+As pointed out in the text, the extent to which such tactics as these affected
+the result is not the chief question to be decided. The mere fact that they were
+employed is sufficient to settle the question of culpability. Richey was directed
+not to interfere with the elections as <i>Government agent</i>. How was it
+possible for an official known to be connected with the Government to divest
+himself of the influence inseparable from such a connection, more especially when
+his strong political bias was well known, and when he presented himself at the
+poll as a distributor of deeds among the voters? The mere fact of a conference on
+such a subject between the head of the Government and a subordinate is in itself
+a suspicious circumstance.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_251_251" id="Footnote_251_251"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_251_251"><span class="label">[251]</span></a> In Lord Goderich's
+despatch to Sir John Colborne, dated 8th November, 1832, referred to <i>ante</i>,
+p. 246, the following language is employed: "His Majesty expects and requires of
+you neither to practise, nor to allow on the part of those who are officially
+subordinate to you, any interference with the rights of his subjects to the free
+and unbiased choice of their representatives;" and, as previously mentioned, Lord
+Glenelg had expressly instructed Sir Francis Head to adopt that despatch as a
+rule for the guidance of his conduct. See <i>ante</i>, p. 301.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_252_252" id="Footnote_252_252"></a><a href="#FNanchor_252_252"><span class="label">[252]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 272.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_253_253" id="Footnote_253_253"></a><a href="#FNanchor_253_253"><span class="label">[253]</span></a> Sir Francis Hincks,
+who, as previously mentioned in the text, then resided in Toronto, and was
+identified with the Reform party, has, in his <i>Reminiscences</i>, recorded his
+views on this subject, and as they are founded upon personal experience and
+recollection they are worth quoting. "Bearing in mind," he writes, "that there
+are exceptions to all general rules, I think that I am not wrong in my belief
+that the members of the Church of England and the Presbyterians generally voted
+for the Tory candidates, while the Roman Catholics and the Baptists,
+Congregationalists, etc., voted as uniformly for the Reformers. The Wesleyan
+Methodists held the balance of power in a great many constituencies, and I
+believe that it has been generally acknowledged that the elections in 1836 were
+carried against the Reformers by their votes." Again: "I believe that I am
+correct in asserting that Sir Francis Head carried the elections in 1836 against
+the Reformers mainly through the influence of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, who,
+though absent from Canada at the time, had, by his published impressions, induced
+those who confided in him to abandon the Reform cause."&mdash;<i>Reminiscences</i>, etc., pp. 17, 18.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_254_254" id="Footnote_254_254"></a><a href="#FNanchor_254_254"><span class="label">[254]</span></a> U.C. folio edition, p, 49.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_255_255" id="Footnote_255_255"></a><a href="#FNanchor_255_255"><span class="label">[255]</span></a> The House contained
+in all only sixty-two members, so that a majority of twenty-five constituted what
+might be called absolute control. The actual majority was twenty-six, as there
+were but eighteen Reform representatives as against forty-four supporters of the
+Government.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_256_256" id="Footnote_256_256"></a><a href="#FNanchor_256_256"><span class="label">[256]</span></a> See his despatch of 1st June.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_257_257" id="Footnote_257_257"></a><a href="#FNanchor_257_257"><span class="label">[257]</span></a> <i>Ib.</i></p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_258_258" id="Footnote_258_258"></a><a href="#FNanchor_258_258"><span class="label">[258]</span></a> This language aptly
+characterizes Mr. Thomson, for afterwards, in the Assembly, it was impossible to
+predict how he would vote on any conceivable question. His "Reform" principles
+must have been very "moderate," for he frequently supported the measures of the
+Compact. His votes seem to have been dictated by chance or caprice, rather than
+political conviction of any kind.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_259_259" id="Footnote_259_259"></a><a href="#FNanchor_259_259"><span class="label">[259]</span></a> Dr. Baldwin was
+Judge of the Surrogate Court of the Home District. His dismissal was probably due
+quite as much to the fact that he was President of the Society as to his remarks
+about the Lieutenant-Governor, or to the official address. Mr. Ridout was Judge
+of the Niagara District Court, Justice of the Peace, and Colonel of the Second
+Regiment of East York Militia. He was dismissed from all three offices, although
+he was not a member of the Reform Society. Mr. Small was Commissioner of the
+Court of Requests in Toronto, and also Lieutenant-Colonel of the First East York
+Militia.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_260_260" id="Footnote_260_260"></a><a href="#FNanchor_260_260"><span class="label">[260]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 330.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_261_261" id="Footnote_261_261"></a><a href="#FNanchor_261_261"><span class="label">[261]</span></a> Written by Chief
+Justice Robinson, in opposition to the project for uniting the two Provinces of
+Upper and Lower Canada.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxvii.jpg" width="300" height="70" alt="chapxvii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span></p>
+<h4>REACTION.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/lettert.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="lettert" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">T</span>he closing weeks of the summer and a part of the early autumn were spent by the
+Lieutenant-Governor in an informal tour through some of the most interesting and
+picturesque districts of the Province. A great part of the tour, which occupied in
+all about two months, was performed on horseback, and with only two attendants. A
+pleasantly-written account of some of the experiences encountered during this
+invigorating holiday may be found in "The Emigrant," a light, sketchy, and most
+readable little volume put forth by Sir Francis ten years afterwards. Soon after his
+return to the Seat of Government his self-complacency received a check in the form of
+a despatch from the Colonial Office, enclosing copies of instructions which had been
+sent to Sir Archibald Campbell, Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. It appeared
+that the strenuous exertions of the Reformers of that Province had been crowned with
+success. Sir Archibald had been directed to surrender to the Assembly the casual and
+territorial revenues of the Crown, and to concede a responsible Executive. This was
+not all. Sir Francis was himself distinctly informed that what had been conceded in
+one British North American Province could not be withheld from the rest. Scarcely had
+this piece of intelligence been chewed and digested ere he received another despatch
+which added to his discomfiture by confirming the previous one, and by seating the
+obnoxious doctrine at his very door. He was instructed that the Executive Councils in
+the various North American colonies were thenceforward to be composed of individuals
+possessing the confidence of the people. This, though not altogether unexpected, was
+almost past bearing. He saw the house of cards which he had constructed with such
+pains about to crumble before him. If<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> this course were persisted in, all his efforts to
+pack a House of Assembly would erelong prove to have been made in vain; for no
+Assembly would permanently uphold a clique of Councillors in whose appointment they
+themselves had had no voice, and in whose principles they had no confidence. Sir
+Archibald Campbell and he were entirely of one mind as to the vexed question at
+issue, and they were both firmly determined to resist such a policy to the last
+ditch. Of Sir Archibald's proceedings it is unnecessary for this work to present any
+detailed account. It will be sufficient to say that he preferred to resign his office
+rather than obey the instructions he had received, and that he carried out this
+resolve during the following year, when he was succeeded by Sir John Harvey. Sir
+Francis Head meanwhile contented himself as best he could with vehement protests
+addressed to the Home Office. "The more seriously I contemplate the political
+tranquillity of this Province," he wrote,<a name="FNanchor_262_262" id="FNanchor_262_262"></a><a href="#Footnote_262_262" class="fnanchor">[262]</a> "the
+more steadfastly am I confirmed in my opinion that cool, stern, decisive,
+un-conciliating measures form the most popular description of government that can be
+exercised towards the free and high-minded inhabitants of the Canadas." The style of
+his despatches did not improve with time. It was wordy, bombastic and slangy. The
+despatches themselves were largely made up of inflated, impertinent phraseology, and
+quotations from the light literature of the period. Lord Glenelg, however, had become
+accustomed to the unconventional methods of his prot&eacute;g&eacute;, and was by no
+means disposed to judge him with severity. On the 8th of September he wrote to him to
+the effect that his "foresight, energy and moral courage" had been approved of by the
+King. "It is peculiarly gratifying to me," wrote his Lordship, "to be the channel of
+conveying to you this high and honourable testimony of His Majesty's favourable
+acceptance of your services." From all which it is sufficiently apparent that the
+real state of Upper Canadian affairs was not much more clearly understood by the
+Colonial Office than by Sir Francis Head.</p>
+
+<p>The new Parliament was assembled on the 8th of November. Archibald McLean, of
+Stormont, was elected Speaker by a majority of fifteen, the vote standing thirty-six
+to twenty-one. This vote did not by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> any means indicate the full strength of the
+Government, which was simply irresistible. The power of the Compact was not only
+completely restored, but increased. Never had its ascendency been so great. It was
+absolute, overwhelming; and any opposition to it was a bootless kicking against the
+pricks. In the Speech from the Throne his Excellency congratulated the Houses on the
+loyal feeling pervading the Province, and on the stillness and serenity of the public
+mind. He drew attention to "the conspicuous tranquillity of the country," and briefly
+referred to the legislation contemplated by the Government, which, as thus indicated,
+was of an exceedingly practical character. The Speech concluded with a declaration of
+his Excellency's intention "to maintain the happy constitution of this Province
+inviolate." If the Speech, as a whole, contained a faithful reflex of the official
+mind, it indicated that the Government greatly misjudged the state of opinion in the
+country. True, there was little conspicuous agitation, for the Reform party had
+sustained so signal a defeat that they for the time felt powerless. But they were
+feverishly sensible of the crushing blow that had been dealt them, and reeled from it
+in a spirit which was far removed from "serenity." Scores of them despaired of the
+future, sold out their belongings, and removed to the United States. During the
+months of September and October there had been a considerable emigration of farmers
+from the western part of the Province to Michigan. Such was the "tranquillity" upon
+which Sir Francis plumed himself, and upon which he continued to dilate at recurring
+intervals until he was roused from his slumbers by the intelligence that "the rebels"
+were at Montgomery's.</p>
+
+<p>The Legislature at once proceeded to pass a Bill to provide for the support of the
+Civil Government for the current year, a circumstance of which the
+Lieutenant-Governor hastened to apprise Lord Glenelg. Various matters of importance
+occupied the attention of Parliament during the session. Among other questions which
+came up for discussion was the long-standing grievance of the Clergy Reserves. On
+Thursday, the 8th of December, a Bill was introduced into the Assembly by Hiram
+Norton, member for Grenville, having for its object the disposal of the Reserves for
+purposes of general education. It passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span> the second reading on the 13th of the same month,
+whereupon the House, in Committee of the Whole, after several days consideration and
+discussion, reported a resolution in favour of appropriating the Clergy Reserves
+lands and the proceeds arising from the sales thereof to the religious and moral
+instruction of the people. This gave rise to a motion of amendment by Dr. Rolph,
+"That it is expedient to provide for the sale of the Clergy Reserves, and the
+application of the proceeds to the purposes of general education, as one of the most
+legitimate ways of giving free scope to the progress of religious truth in the
+community." In support of this amendment the Doctor made what was unquestionably the
+most noteworthy speech of his life&mdash;a speech which a well-known writer<a name="FNanchor_263_263" id="FNanchor_263_263"></a><a href="#Footnote_263_263"
+class="fnanchor">[263]</a> has pronounced to be without a parallel in the annals of
+Canadian Parliamentary debate. Its copiousness and felicity of illustration, its
+fluent and harmonious elegance of diction, could not have failed to stamp it as a
+great effort if it had been delivered before any audience in the world. No higher
+praise can be awarded to it than to record the simple fact that it added to the
+Doctor's already high reputation as an orator, and that it evoked the admiration of
+many persons who could not subscribe to the doctrines and arguments it contained. But
+no oratory and no arguments would have availed with that House. The amendment was
+lost, and on Friday, the 16th, the original resolution<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> was carried by a vote of
+thirty-five to twenty-one. The matter was then referred to the Upper House for its
+concurrence. As the measure fell through during the session, and ultimately came to
+nothing, it seems unnecessary to follow its fortunes any farther.</p>
+
+<div class="sidenote">1837.</div>
+<p>Dr. Rolph made another powerful speech during the session; a speech which would of
+itself have entitled him to a high place as a Parliamentary orator, and which was
+inferior in vigour only to the one on the Clergy Reserves. It arose out of Dr.
+Duncombe's charges against the Lieutenant-Governor. Having received from the Colonial
+Secretary a copy of the complaint which had been submitted to the House of Commons,
+his Excellency, who was of course able to rely implicitly upon the Assembly as then
+constituted, handed it over to that body to be dealt with. The result fully justified
+his confidence. A partisan Committee was appointed, by whom the question was
+approached in a spirit very far removed from judicial fairness. How the inquiry was
+conducted has already been recorded.<a name="FNanchor_264_264" id="FNanchor_264_264"></a><a href="#Footnote_264_264" class="fnanchor">[264]</a> Dr.
+Duncombe had made certain charges, some of which were easily susceptible of positive
+proof, while others were from their nature of a kind which admitted of nothing
+stronger than indirect evidence. With regard to one or two damnatory charges, he
+implicitly believed them to be true, but he failed to secure any substantial proof
+whatever. He presented himself once before the Committee, only to find, as he had
+expected, that he must not look to obtain a fair or patient hearing. Under these
+circumstances he felt that nothing was to be gained by any further attempt to
+establish the truth of his allegations, and permitted the case to go by default. The
+Committee accordingly proceeded to take evidence on their own responsibility. The
+verdict arrived at was such as might easily have been foreseen. Every charge and
+insinuation made against his Excellency was declared to be "wholly and utterly
+destitute of truth." Not only was his conduct vindicated in this comprehensive
+manner, but he was referred to as one to whom the Province owed a large debt of
+gratitude. In due course the report came before the Assembly on a motion for its
+adoption. The proceeding had from the first been of the nature of a practical
+impeachment of the Lieutenant-Governor, a matter which was really beyond the
+jurisdiction<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> of any Canadian tribunal. It afforded to Dr. Rolph an opportunity for
+addressing the House at considerable length, and in a speech which, as remarked by
+Mr. Mackenzie's biographer, "will ever be memorable in Canadian history."<a
+name="FNanchor_265_265" id="FNanchor_265_265"></a><a href="#Footnote_265_265"
+class="fnanchor">[265]</a> It was delivered on the 30th of January, 1837. It dealt in
+most trenchant fashion with the various abuses which had been practised during the
+elections. The serio-comic tone which pervaded a great part of it evoked roars of
+laughter, while its more earnest passages aroused the most conflicting feelings in
+the minds of the auditors. True oratory is never altogether fruitless, and it would
+seem as if this powerful speech must have given the spur to feelings which, sooner or
+later, were bound to produce specific results. So far, however, as any immediate
+effects upon the action of the House were concerned, it might as well have remained
+unuttered. The report was adopted by a vote of more than two-thirds of the members
+present, and the Lieutenant-Governor stood officially exonerated from blame.</p>
+
+<p>Among other matters presented for the consideration of the Assembly was a petition
+from Mr. Mackenzie. Ever since the election, he had publicly announced his
+determination to petition against the return in the Second Riding of York. He was
+prevented by illness from filing his memorial within the prescribed period, and an
+extension of time was obtained on his behalf. He got together a great mass of
+evidence, some portions of which the Government would certainly have found it hard to
+answer to the public satisfaction. He was jubilant, and openly boasted that he would
+expose such a mass of corruption as would make the country stare aghast. He was
+however so intent on collecting evidence and on discounting his contemplated triumph
+over his enemies that he failed to enter into the necessary recognizance until the
+allotted period for doing so had elapsed. The statute governing the case required
+that the petitioner should enter into recognizance within fourteen days from the
+presentation of the petition. In this case the petition was presented on the 20th of
+December, 1836, so that the fourteen days expired on the 3rd of January, 1837. "If at
+the expiration of the said fourteen days"&mdash;so ran the statute&mdash;"such
+recognizance shall not have been entered into, the Speaker shall report the same to
+the House, and the order for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> taking such petition into consideration shall
+thereupon be discharged; unless, upon matter specially stated and verified to the
+satisfaction of the House, the House shall see cause to enlarge the time for entering
+into such recognizance." Accordingly, on the opening of the House on Wednesday, the
+4th of January, Mr. Speaker McLean announced that the time limited for W. L.
+Mackenzie, the petitioning candidate for the representation of the Second Riding of
+York, to proceed upon his petition, had expired. Mr. Boulton, one of the members for
+Durham, then moved that the further consideration of the petition be discharged. Dr.
+Morrison sought to obtain additional time for the furnishing of the statutory
+recognizance, but the House was under no obligation to grant any indulgence, and
+after a long debate declined to do so. Mr. Boulton's motion was carried; whereupon
+Dr. Morrison moved that Mr. Mackenzie have leave to present a new petition. The House
+negatived this motion, and Mr. Thomson was confirmed in his seat. The matter was
+again brought before the notice of the House a few days afterwards by Dr. Morrison,
+who moved that Mr. Mackenzie be allowed further time to enter into the requisite
+security. The motion was made in order to give Dr. Rolph&mdash;who had not been
+present during the former discussion&mdash;an opportunity of speaking on the subject.
+The member for Norfolk delivered himself of a vigorous and subtle argument, in the
+course of which he reviewed the English practice, as well as the practice which had
+generally prevailed in similar cases in Upper Canada. The fourteen days, he argued,
+should be computed from the time when the petition was read to the House, not from
+the date when it was handed in. The presentation referred to in the statute, he
+alleged, was not complete until the reading of the petition, which could not take
+place until it had lain on the table two days. Still further, the petitioner's delay
+had been in part due to the Clerk of the House, who had led Mr. Mackenzie to believe
+that the fourteen days would not begin to run against him until two days after the
+delivery of the petition. The argument throughout was plausible and powerful, but it
+shared the fate of many other powerful appeals in those days. The motion was lost.
+There seems to have been a strong determination on the part of the Government to
+burke the investigation. This was suggestive of a fear of the result, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> was so regarded
+by many wholly disinterested persons. Some of the charges were of the gravest nature,
+and, if the Government had felt that their skirts were clean, it is incomprehensible
+that they should not have availed themselves of such an opportunity of establishing
+the fact by official record. There seems but too good reason to believe that, if the
+inquiry had been proceeded with, Mackenzie would have made good his boast, and that a
+disgraceful exposure of Executive corruption would have been made.</p>
+
+<p>One of the significant measures of the session was an Act to prevent the
+dissolution of the Provincial Parliament upon the demise of the Crown. The desire of
+the Executive for such an enactment arose in this manner. During the brief election
+campaign of the preceding summer the most tempting promises had been made to the
+electors on behalf of the Government. This had been done with the full knowledge and
+consent&mdash;nay, probably at the instigation&mdash;of the members of the Government
+themselves. The fulfilment of some of the promises would have been feasible enough.
+Others had been as absurdly impossible of fulfilment as were Jack Cade's pledges that
+seven halfpenny loaves should be sold for a penny, and that the three-hooped pot
+should have ten hoops. The Government now realized that their performances were far
+from being commensurate with the promises so lavishly made. In the event of a new
+election taking place within the next few months it would be easy for the Reformers
+to make out a strong case, and it would be hard for the Government party to reply
+thereto with effect. It seemed not improbable that a new election might erelong
+become necessary, for King William the Fourth was more than three score and ten years
+old, and was known to be in a state of health which rendered it unlikely that he
+would live much longer. Now, his death, in the ordinary course of things, would bring
+about a dissolution and a general election, and this was the contingency against
+which it was thought desirable to guard. A measure was accordingly passed whereby it
+was enacted "That the Parliament of this Province shall not in any case be deemed to
+be determined or dissolved by the death or demise of His Majesty, his heirs or
+successors; nor shall any session of the Parliament of this Province be deemed to be
+determined, or the proceedings therein pending in any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> manner abated, interrupted or
+affected by the demise of His Majesty, his heirs or successors; but notwithstanding
+such death or demise the Parliament of this Province shall continue, and, if sitting,
+shall proceed to act until dissolved or prorogued in the usual manner, or until the
+legal expiration of the term of such Parliament." The Reformers fought this Bill inch
+by inch on its way through the Assembly, but in vain. Upon its coming up for its
+third reading, Norton, of Grenville, moved its recommittal, and, upon the defeat of
+his motion, he made a final effort by moving "That the Act shall not go into
+operation before the expiration of the present Parliament." This, too, was defeated,
+and the Bill was finally passed by a vote of twenty-six to eighteen. The measure is
+suggestive of the English Act passed by the Long Parliament during the reign of
+Charles the First, which enacted that Parliament should not be dissolved by the King
+without its own consent.</p>
+
+<p>There was a good deal of extravagant legislation during the session. Large sums
+were voted for the construction and improvement of Provincial highways, for surveys
+of the Ottawa River and the territory contiguous thereto, for the improvement of the
+navigation of the Trent and Grand Rivers, for the completion of the Welland Canal,
+and for the construction of various other canals, harbours, and lighthouses.
+Provision was also made for loans to several railway and other companies. Most,
+perhaps of all these, were enterprises deserving of aid and encouragement, but the
+aggregate sum of the moneys voted was nearly four millions of dollars, being
+considerably more than the condition of the Province and the circumstances of the
+people justified. This exceeding liberality was probably to some extent due to a wish
+to respond to the popular demand for the expenditure of money on public improvements.
+It was during this session that an Act was passed providing for the establishment of
+a Provincial Court of Chancery. Mr. Jameson was soon after appointed Vice Chancellor,
+the Chancellorship being vested in the Crown.</p>
+
+<p>The session terminated on Saturday, the 4th of March, and its termination was
+attended by a scene of "most admired disorder" in the Assembly. The project of
+uniting the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada had occupied a certain amount of
+attention on the part of both Houses, and had been on the order of the day throughout
+the greater part of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span> session. When the final day of deliberation arrived, the Legislative
+Council sent down to the Lower House an Address embodying certain resolutions against
+the proposed union. The Address was accompanied by a request that the Assembly would
+concur therein, after which it was to be despatched to the King. It reached the hands
+of the Clerk of the Lower House about noon, and was at once submitted in the form of
+a motion of concurrence. This was not relished by the Reformers, who were strongly
+disposed in favour of an equitable union of the two Provinces, a step which, as they
+believed, would go far to adjust the balance of parties. A considerable number of the
+members had already left for their homes, and Dr. Rolph took advantage of this
+circumstance as a plea for postponing the further consideration of the matter until
+the next session. He moved an amendment to that effect, and said a few words in
+support of his motion. Dr. Morrison and Thomas Parke<a name="FNanchor_266_266" id="FNanchor_266_266"></a><a href="#Footnote_266_266" class="fnanchor">[266]</a> took
+up the argument, and spoke for some minutes. They were subjected to frequent
+interruptions from the supporters of the Government, who were evidently anxious to
+prevent discussion. Dr. Rolph then rose to speak to the question of order, upon which
+the interruptions were renewed. Frequent appeals were made to the Speaker, who soon
+found himself involved in an animated discussion with Dr. Rolph. Nearly all the
+prominent members of the House erelong became participants, and the situation became
+critical. Hard words were freely bandied about, amid the greatest confusion and
+disorder. An eye-witness compares the scene to a wasp's nest disturbed.<a name="FNanchor_267_267" id="FNanchor_267_267"></a><a href="#Footnote_267_267"
+class="fnanchor">[267]</a> The Speaker finally put a stop to the ebullitions of
+temper, and brought the scene to a close by announcing that the time had arrived for
+waiting on the Lieutenant-Governor with certain addresses. There was no opportunity
+of renewing the discussion, and at half-past three o'clock Black Rod summoned the
+House to the bar of the Legislative Council. In proroguing Parliament the
+Lieutenant-Governor referred in complacent terms to the legislation of the session,
+and applauded the harmony which had prevailed between the two branches of the
+Legislature.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span>By this
+time it began to be apparent to discerning persons that Sir Francis's success as an
+Administrator had been rather apparent than real. All through the election campaign,
+as well as for some time before and after, the Tory party had sounded his praises
+with stentorian lungs. He had to a large extent been accepted by the country at their
+valuation. But sufficient time had now elapsed to enable the people to judge for
+themselves, and it was shrewdly suspected that the current estimate of him had been
+too high. He had triumphed at the elections, and had managed to pack the Assembly
+with an overwhelming majority of members pledged to support his policy; but he now
+began to discover that he had raised a spirit which he could not control. Neither the
+majority in the Assembly nor the members of the Legislative Council were prepared to
+slavishly accept his dictation, or to follow him blindfold whithersoever he might
+choose to lead them. Some of the official utterances of these bodies during the
+session had been as strongly assertive of their own dignity and independence as the
+deliverances of the former Assembly had ever been. Even the Executive Council had
+begun to exhibit an impatience of being indirectly dictated to by unsworn advisers
+who were permitted by the Lieutenant-Governor to usurp the functions peculiarly
+belonging to themselves. His Excellency's popularity was evidently waning throughout
+the land. There was a decided reaction against him, and thousands of Reformers who
+had voted for Government candidates at the election were now animated by a strong
+sentiment of opposition. The Lieutenant-Governor was also at issue with the Colonial
+Office on several matters of importance. To the recommendations of the Lower Canada
+Commissioners, as previously mentioned, he had strenuously opposed himself. He had
+failed to carry out the direction of Lord Glenelg to restore Mr. Ridout to the
+offices from which that gentleman had been dismissed. He now displayed further
+insubordination by neglecting to obey several minor injunctions received from
+headquarters, by which course of procedure he involved himself in much disputatious
+correspondence. His anxieties were increased by a commercial crisis which set in
+about this time in the United States. There had been an era of seeming prosperity but
+real inflation in that favoured land, of which the present crisis was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> legitimate
+consequence. Specie payments were suspended, and business was all but paralyzed. This
+disheartening state of things was speedily reflected in Canada, which was ill
+qualified to bear such an infliction. The banks and the mercantile community
+generally became alarmed. In the Lower Province the banks suspended specie payments,
+and our own were much disposed to follow the example. The directors of some of our
+leading financial institutions applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for advice and
+direction. As all these matters, however, belong rather to the mercantile history of
+the country than to the story of the Rebellion, there is no need to go into them with
+minuteness. Suffice it to say that Sir Francis Head deemed it proper in this
+emergency to convene an extra session of the Legislature, which met accordingly on
+Monday, the 19th of June. As Mr. McLean had accepted a seat on the bench since the
+close of the preceding session, it was necessary that a new Speaker should be
+elected, and A. N. MacNab was chosen as his successor.<a name="FNanchor_268_268" id="FNanchor_268_268"></a><a href="#Footnote_268_268" class="fnanchor">[268]</a> The
+session lasted only three weeks, and terminated on Tuesday, the 11th of July. It was
+purely a session of emergency, and the legislation was confined to relieving the
+banks from certain penalties which the crisis had threatened to impose upon them.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_262_262" id="Footnote_262_262"></a><a href="#FNanchor_262_262"><span class="label">[262]</span></a> See despatch of
+30th December, 1836, in <i>Narrative</i>, chap. vii.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_263_263" id="Footnote_263_263"></a><a href="#FNanchor_263_263"><span class="label">[263]</span></a> Mr. Charles
+Lindsey, in his pamphlet on "<i>The Clergy Reserves: their History and Present
+Position</i>;" appendix, p. i. He adds: "The clear, pointed, classical diction of
+the speaker; the learning and historical research he displayed; the beauty and
+appositeness of his illustrations; the breadth and depth and immovable basis of
+his arguments; the clearness, the syllogistic accuracy and force of his logic,
+and the impressive eloquence of his delivery produced an effect upon those who
+heard the speech never to be forgotten. Its publication in the newspapers of the
+day aroused the people. It convinced them (for, strange as it may seem now, there
+were many who needed to be convinced) of the unscriptural, immoral and unjust
+character of a State religion; while it confirmed them in their determination to
+rest not until they had exterminated the curse from Canadian soil.... This noble
+effort of an able, learned, bold and patriotic defender of the cause of the
+people against their corrupt, unscrupulous and then powerful enemies, ought to be
+printed in letters of gold, and preserved for the instruction and warning of all
+future generations of Canadian freemen." This was written in 1851, when the
+Clergy Reserves question yet remained unsettled, and while it still continued to
+agitate the public mind almost to the exclusion of other matters. Now that the
+subject has ceased to be a practical one, the encomiums so lavishly bestowed upon
+Dr. Rolph's famous speech will perhaps seem a little over-strained; but it was
+most unquestionably a great oratorical and intellectual effort, such as had never
+before been heard within the walls of the Provincial Legislature. Even at this
+distance of time, when all interest in the subject has died out, the speech
+cannot be read without arousing a feeling of admiration for the orator.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_264_264" id="Footnote_264_264"></a><a href="#FNanchor_264_264"><span class="label">[264]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 330.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_265_265" id="Footnote_265_265"></a><a href="#FNanchor_265_265"><span class="label">[265]</span></a> Lindsey's <i>Life
+of Mackenzie</i>, vol. i., p. 392.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_266_266" id="Footnote_266_266"></a><a href="#FNanchor_266_266"><span class="label">[266]</span></a> Member for Middlesex.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_267_267" id="Footnote_267_267"></a><a href="#FNanchor_267_267"><span class="label">[267]</span></a> See the report in
+the number of <i>The Correspondent and Advocate</i> for Wednesday, March 15th.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_268_268" id="Footnote_268_268"></a><a href="#FNanchor_268_268"><span class="label">[268]</span></a> Forty-two members
+were present at the vote on the Speakership, all of whom voted for Mr. McNab with
+the exception of David Gibson, of the First Riding of York, who recorded his
+solitary vote in the negative.</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+<br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/chapxviii.jpg" width="300" height="70" alt="chapxviii" title="" />
+</div>
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p>
+<h4>THE FORGING OF THE PIKES.</h4>
+<span class="totoc"><a href="#toc">Top</a></span>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 50px;">
+<img src="images/letteri.jpg" width="50" height="95" alt="letteri" title="" />
+</div><p class="main"><span style="display:none;">I</span>t will be remembered that, during the summer of 1836, Dr. Baldwin, George Ridout
+and J. E. Small had been dismissed by Sir Francis Head from certain offices held by
+them at the pleasure of the Crown. Mr. Ridout had appealed to Lord Glenelg, to whom
+the Lieutenant-Governor had soon afterwards found himself called upon to defend his
+conduct. The only reason which had at first been assigned by his Excellency for Mr.
+Ridout's dismissal was that the latter was presumed to be a member of the
+Constitutional Reform Society. This society, just before the election, had issued and
+circulated a printed address wherein his Excellency was charged with a disregard of
+constitutional Government, and of candour and truth in his statements. Mr. Ridout had
+undoubtedly attended and spoken at some of the meetings of the society, but he was
+not a member of it, and had no difficulty in establishing the fact to the
+satisfaction of the Colonial Secretary, who, after mature consideration, conveyed to
+Sir Francis His Majesty's commands that Mr. Ridout should be reinstated in the
+various offices from which he had been removed. With this command, as mentioned
+towards the close of the last chapter, Sir Francis did not see fit to comply. Finding
+himself beaten upon the case as it stood, he proceeded to amend the record by
+alleging other matters against the accused. In this course he met with little
+encouragement from his Lordship, who patiently combated his untenable positions, and
+repeated the injunction that Mr. Ridout should be reinstated. While the matter was in
+abeyance, another difference of opinion arose between Lord Glenelg and Sir Francis.
+During the spring of 1837, Mr. Jameson having been appointed Vice Chancellor, and
+Archibald McLean and Jonas Jonas having been appointed Judges of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> the Court of
+King's Bench, it became necessary for Sir Francis to submit these appointments to his
+Lordship, together with those of Mr. Hagerman and Mr. Draper respectively to the
+offices of Attorney-General and Solicitor-General. His Excellency seems to have felt
+that it was necessary to assign some reason for passing over Mr. Bidwell, whose legal
+acquirements were certainly superior to those of any other member of the Upper Canada
+bar since John Rolph had abandoned the long robe. "That gentleman's legal
+acquirements," wrote Sir Francis,<a name="FNanchor_269_269" id="FNanchor_269_269"></a><a href="#Footnote_269_269" class="fnanchor">[269]</a>
+"are, I consider, superior to at least one of the individuals whom I have elevated.
+His moral character is irreproachable. But, anxious as I am to give to talent its
+due, yet I cannot but feel that the welfare and honour of this Province depend on His
+Majesty never promoting a disloyal man." His Excellency then went on to represent Mr.
+Bidwell as having been desirous of effecting the separation of the colony from the
+parent state, and of exchanging the British constitution for "the low, grovelling
+principles of democracy." There was no allegation that any such desire had ever been
+personally expressed or manifested by Mr. Bidwell, but it was inferred <i>from the
+conduct of his associates</i>. This was somewhat more than the Colonial Secretary
+could quietly pass over. He pointed out<a name="FNanchor_270_270" id="FNanchor_270_270"></a><a href="#Footnote_270_270" class="fnanchor">[270]</a> to
+the Lieutenant-Governor that the disloyalty imputed to Mr. Bidwell's associates had
+not been charged against himself, or attempted to be proved by any act of his; that
+he had withdrawn himself from political strife; and that as his professional
+abilities and high moral character were respected by his political opponents, the
+political stand formerly taken by him ought not to operate against his advancement.
+It was further urged by his Lordship that the elevation of such a man to the bench
+would convince the Upper Canadian public of the impartiality of the Executive in such
+matters. Finally, his Excellency was informed that should another vacancy occur among
+the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, it was the wish of His Majesty's Government
+that the situation should be offered to Mr. Bidwell.</p>
+
+<p>Upon receipt of the missive containing this intimation the Tried Reformer was
+almost beside himself. He had none of that magnanimity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span> which impels a man to admit that he
+is in the wrong when he has been clearly proved to be so. Nor could he boast of that
+skill of graceful concession which enables its possessor to recede without discredit
+from an untenable position. He replied to his Lordship<a name="FNanchor_271_271"
+id="FNanchor_271_271"></a><a href="#Footnote_271_271" class="fnanchor">[271]</a> in
+the following blunt and explicit terms: "After very deliberate consideration, I have
+determined to take upon myself the serious responsibility of positively refusing to
+place Mr. Bidwell on the bench, or to restore Mr. George Ridout to the Judgeship from
+which I have removed him." He went on to deprecate the necessity for this "overt act
+of hostility," but added that disobedience on the part of a Lieutenant-Governor does
+not necessarily imply disaffection to the Minister. He hinted that he was quite
+prepared for an immediate dismissal. A great part of the despatch was taken up with
+libels upon Mr. Bidwell and his father. In order that there might be no
+misunderstanding on the matter, he emphatically repeated his refusal to elevate the
+former. "So long as I remain Lieutenant-Governor of this Province," he wrote, "I will
+<i>never</i> raise Mr. Bidwell to the bench; and I think it proper to confess to your
+Lordship that I have at this moment two appointments to make of King's Counsel,
+neither of which can I conscientiously bestow upon that gentleman." He declined to
+argue the question as to Mr. Ridout any further, and again refused in the most
+explicit terms to reinstate him in office. This language left the Colonial Secretary
+no other discretion than to "accept Sir Francis's resignation," but before this
+determination was officially conveyed to him the peace of the Province was disturbed
+by the outbreak of the rebellion.</p>
+
+<p>During the whole summer of this year Mackenzie was doing his utmost to add to the
+prevalent feeling of discontent against the Government. A superlative bitterness had
+possessed him ever since the elections, and the fate of his petition had inflamed his
+resentment almost to madness. He felt that he had been cheated out of his seat, and
+that nothing was to be hoped for on behalf of either himself or his fellow-workers so
+long as the existing Government remained in power. To subvert that Government
+thenceforth became the dominant passion of his life. He was ready to adopt any means,
+lawful or unlawful, to secure that end. The tone of the <i>Consti<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span>tution</i> was
+not to be mistaken. The mind of the editor had evidently run a long course since he
+had first begun to concern himself with public affairs. In one of the early numbers
+of the <i>Advocate</i><a name="FNanchor_272_272" id="FNanchor_272_272"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_272_272" class="fnanchor">[272]</a> he had boasted that disloyalty
+could never enter his breast. "Even the name I bear," he had written, "has in all
+ages proved talismanic, an insurmountable barrier." What a change had come over him
+since giving utterance to those words. He now boasted of his "rebel blood," which he
+declared would always be uppermost. "I am proud," he wrote, "of my descent from a
+rebel race."<a name="FNanchor_273_273" id="FNanchor_273_273"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_273_273" class="fnanchor">[273]</a> And, as if this were not
+sufficiently specific, he added: "If the people felt as I feel, there is never a
+Grant or Glenelg who crossed the Tay and Tweed to exchange high-born Highland poverty
+for substantial Lowland wealth, who would dare to insult Upper Canada with the
+official presence, as its ruler, of such an equivocal character as this Mr.
+What-do-they-call-him&mdash;Francis Bond Head." Ever and anon the Tory press retorted
+on him in a spirit by no means calculated to soften the asperity of his heart. The
+most contemptuous epithets were freely bestowed upon him, and he was from time to
+time taunted with his humble origin. It seems almost unnecessary to say that those
+who indulged in such taunts as these had very little wherewith to reproach Mackenzie
+on the score of birth and breeding. There must surely be some foul taint in the blood
+of any man who can stoop to such methods of humiliating a beaten enemy. Still, such
+insults, coming, as they did, in the wake of serious material injury, added fuel to
+the flame which burned within Mackenzie's heart like a consuming fire. All the worst
+part of his nature was up in arms. There were times when he wrote and spoke like one
+who has lost all self-control. But he was in such deadly earnest that he carried
+conviction to many a wavering mind. In the Home District, where his paper chiefly
+circulated, there were scores of people who had seen enough of irresponsible
+Government to be ready to receive his preachments with favour. His efforts were not
+restricted to writing virulent articles. He openly went among the people, and
+disseminated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> his doctrines by word of mouth. He spoke better than he wrote; and it
+was only natural that he should exercise a strong influence over the rural
+communities wherein the Radical element was in the ascendant. His influence became
+specially conspicuous at this time throughout the Second Riding of York, which he had
+represented in Parliament, and which, as previously mentioned, had been the scene of
+much high-handed corruption during the last election contest. The voters of that
+constituency awoke to the fact that they had been beguiled by the Tories, and that
+their representative, Mr. Thomson, was not likely to be of much service in the role
+of a Reformer. They eagerly listened to Mackenzie's tabulation of grievances, and
+cheered him to the echo when he hinted that the time had arrived for the Spirit of
+Freedom to assert herself.</p>
+
+<p>Among those who warmly sympathized with Mackenzie was Samuel Lount, of Holland
+Landing, who, it will be remembered, had sat in the last Parliament for Simcoe, and
+who had been beaten, as he believed, by corrupt methods, at the last election. He had
+contemplated a petition to the Assembly, but had been discouraged by the conviction
+that it would be impossible to obtain an impartial inquiry. He now made common cause
+with Mackenzie in promoting the establishment of a series of "Union meetings," as
+they were called, in the various townships of North York and Simcoe. These meetings
+were convened at irregular intervals for the ostensible purpose of political
+organization. At first they seem to have been conducted with a good deal of
+craftiness, for as a general thing nothing was said which could in strictness be
+regarded as treasonable. But there can be little doubt that the intention of the
+original promoter of these assemblages was the spread of revolutionary ideas, with a
+view to an ultimate resort to arms, and in a short time the mask of political
+organization was completely thrown off. Those who had once put their hands to the
+plough did not care to draw back, and, before they were aware of what they were
+doing, they found themselves committed to projects of which at the outset they had
+not so much as dreamed.</p>
+
+<p>Lount's example was followed by most of the leading Radicals among the farming
+community where he was best known. The Lloyds, Gorhams, Doans, Fletchers and others
+had long been active advocates of Radical principles, and had marked with
+ever-growing hostility the tactics of Sir<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359"
+id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> Francis Head. They saw right persistently violated
+by might. They saw the respectful complaints and petitions of the people disregarded
+and set at naught. They saw the Government in the hands of persons who were not only
+devoid of sympathy with progressive ideas, but who seemed to have no regard for the
+principles of plain right and wrong. They found themselves of no account in the
+commonwealth. Their cherished principles were held up to public scorn, and their
+chosen candidates for Parliament were beaten by fraudulent means. They were utterly
+without weight in public affairs. After a long and hard fight with the Family
+Compact, they saw that clique more strongly entrenched in power than ever before. The
+Tried Reformer who, in response to their long and loud appeals, had been sent over to
+administer the Government, had stooped to a barefaced violence and tyranny in excess
+of anything which could be truly charged against the Tory Sir John Colborne. All the
+old abuses were maintained in full vigour. The incubus of the Clergy Reserves was not
+removed. Appointments to office were still made from one political body only. The
+Legislative Council still had the power to paralyze the efforts of the Assembly. The
+Assembly itself was at present as retrograde as the Upper House, and it had been
+formed by a corrupt and venal race of officials against whom there was no remedy. The
+Act to prevent the dissolution of Parliament would probably have the effect of
+maintaining the existing Assembly for years. To all these evils was now superadded
+great commercial depression. And there seemed to be no prospect of brighter times.
+The future seemed overcast and hopeless. Is it any wonder if those who were compelled
+to contemplate the picture from this dark point of view were forced to the conclusion
+that a change of any kind must surely be for the better?</p>
+
+<p>It is impossible to say at what precise date the idea of armed resistance to
+authority was adopted among the rural Reformers, but I can find no distinct trace of
+it until the 30th of June, when, at a secret meeting held at Lloydtown, a resolution
+was passed to the effect that constitutional resistance to oppression having been for
+many years tried in vain, it behooved every Reformer to arm himself in defence of his
+rights and those of his fellow-countrymen. Within a fortnight afterwards resolutions
+of a similar character were passed by small gatherings in other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> parts of the
+Home District. As yet, however, the idea of actual rebellion does not seem to have
+taken definite shape in the minds of the supporters of Mackenzie and Lount. At most,
+there appears to have been a sort of understanding that recourse to arms was
+justifiable, and might some day become expedient; but even this view of the case did
+not meet with universal acquiescence, and the advocates of insurrection sometimes
+found themselves confronted by hostile majorities, even among assemblies of the most
+trusted Radicals.</p>
+
+<p>But meanwhile Reformers in the cities and towns were beginning to bestir
+themselves. Toronto was the headquarters of the Reform party of Upper Canada, and it
+was natural that the adherents of that party throughout the Province generally should
+contemplate their proceedings with interest. As yet the idea of an armed rising
+against the Government had not been seriously hinted at among the Reformers of the
+capital. Profound sympathy, however, was felt and expressed among them for the Lower
+Canadians, who made no secret of their determination to rebel in case certain
+resolutions adopted by the British Parliament, at the instance of the Ministry, were
+acted upon. These resolutions had been adopted in consequence of the Lower Canadian
+Assembly's persistent refusal to grant supplies. They authorized the seizure of
+certain funds in the hands of the Provincial Receiver-General, and the application of
+them to the general purposes of the Provincial government. Papineau and his adherents
+had been maddened by this proceeding, and were actively engaged in preparations for
+an outbreak. The Upper Canadian Reformers warmly sympathized with their neighbours,
+and passed resolutions condemnatory of the obnoxious resolutions. On the 5th of July,
+Mackenzie, in the <i>Constitution</i>, reviewed the state of affairs in the Lower
+Province with exceeding boldness. He discussed the probability of an outbreak there,
+and the chances of success, very clearly indicating his own opinion in the
+affirmative as to both contingencies. Other Reform papers expressed strong opinions
+in favour of Papineau's side of the quarrel, but, with the exception of the
+<i>Constitution</i>, none of them ventured to predict and hope for the success of the
+rebel arms. The fact is, that a comparatively small number of Upper Canadian
+Reformers were either ripe for or desirous of rebellion. They were aroused to hot
+anger, and were prepared to advo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span>cate the most radical measures of agitation. Their
+hostility, however, was not chiefly directed against Great Britain, but against Sir
+Francis Head and those by whom he was surrounded. It was felt that the Home Office
+had failed in its duty, but the more intelligent were ready to make allowances for
+the ignorance respecting Canadian affairs of a Minister three thousand miles away.
+Such were the sentiments of Robert Baldwin and hundreds of other persons the
+sincerity of whose Reform principles were equally free from doubt. Dr. Baldwin felt
+and expressed less moderation than his son, though he was not the man to venture upon
+what he could not have regarded otherwise than as a hare-brained scheme of rebellion,
+more especially when his chief allies would be composed of the Mackenzie element of
+Radicals. Rolph and Bidwell were precisely of the same opinion as Dr. Baldwin. They
+were sick and weary of all that they saw around them. They would have cordially
+welcomed a bloodless revolution. As for Bidwell, he would gladly have seen the
+Province quietly absorbed by the United States, for Family Compact domination would
+then have been at an end, and there would have been a chance for a man to be rated
+according to his merits. One situated as he was could not be expected to be devotedly
+loyal to a Government which did its utmost to keep him down, and which raised a
+lawyer like Jonas Jones to the bench over his head. Like his father before him, he
+was a republican in principle, and would doubtless have been willing enough to see a
+republican form of Government established in Upper Canada; but he had never permitted
+his predilections to interfere with his duties as a citizen and legislator. Moreover,
+he was before all things a Christian and a man of peace. It is not by such as he that
+revolutions are planned or accomplished. If questioned on the subject, he would
+doubtless have admitted that rebellion, under certain circumstances, may be
+justifiable, but it is hardly possible to conceive of any circumstances under which
+he could have been induced to take part in such a movement. Assuredly, nothing short
+of an almost absolute certainty of success would have impelled him to such a course.
+The inherent probabilities of success in the case of the Upper Canadian rebellion
+were from the first very few and remote. There was a brief interval during which,
+owing to the stupidity and supineness of the Government, success might<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> have been
+achieved, but whether it would have been temporary or permanent must ever remain an
+open question. In any case, the contingency was one upon which no prudent man would
+have allowed himself to count beforehand. As a matter of fact Mr. Bidwell had no more
+to do with the rebellion than had Robert Baldwin.<a name="FNanchor_274_274"
+id="FNanchor_274_274"></a><a href="#Footnote_274_274" class="fnanchor">[274]</a> Dr.
+Rolph, Dr. Morrison, David Gibson, James Hervey Price, Francis Hincks, John Doel,
+James and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[Pg 363]</a></span>
+William Lesslie, John Mackintosh,<a name="FNanchor_275_275"
+id="FNanchor_275_275"></a><a href="#Footnote_275_275" class="fnanchor">[275]</a> and
+many other leading Reformers were full of vehemence and indignation, ready to go any
+reasonable length to bring about a state of things more satisfactory to their party;
+but up to the close of summer I cannot learn that any serious thought of rebellion
+had taken possession of the minds of any prominent Toronto Reformer with the
+exception of Mackenzie himself. Even up in North York and Simcoe, where the feeling
+of discontent was strongest, and where there was much talk about rebellion against
+the Government, no one seems to have realized or believed that there would be any
+actual outbreak.</p>
+
+<p>There could be no doubt, however, that the Reformers in both town and country were
+more thoroughly in earnest than they had ever been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[Pg 364]</a></span> before. Energetic measures were in
+favour among them, and the number of advocates of passive endurance was very small.
+There were regular communications between them and the opponents of the Government in
+Lower Canada. They held frequent meetings, at which schemes of agitation were
+discussed, and where every member was encouraged to speak his mind without fear or
+favour. A very frequent place of meeting in Toronto was Elliott's tavern, on the
+north-west corner of Yonge and Queen Streets. A place for holding more secret and
+confidential caucuses was the brewery of John Doel, situated at the rear of his house
+on the north-west corner of Adelaide and Bay Streets.<a name="FNanchor_276_276"
+id="FNanchor_276_276"></a><a href="#Footnote_276_276" class="fnanchor">[276]</a>
+Towards the end of July a number of leading Radicals assembled at Elliott's for the
+purpose of discussing the draft of a written Declaration, which was intended to
+embody the platform of the local members of the party. It reads very much like a
+cautious parody on the Declaration of Independence of the United States, upon which
+it was evidently modelled. It set forth the principal grievances of which the Reform
+party complained; declared that the time had arrived for the assertion of rights and
+the redress of wrongs; and expressed the warmest admiration of Papineau and his
+compatriots for their opposition to the British Government. It further expressed the
+opinion that the Reformers of Upper Canada were bound to make common cause with their
+fellow-citizens in the Lower Province; and to render their co&ouml;peration more
+effectual it recommended that public meetings should be held and political
+associations organized throughout the country. Finally, it recommended that a
+convention of delegates should be held at Toronto to consider the political
+situation, "with authority to its members to appoint commissioners to meet others to
+be named on behalf of Lower Canada and any of the other colonies, armed with suitable
+powers as a congress to seek an effectual remedy for the grievances of the
+colonists." Mr. Lindsey,<a name="FNanchor_277_277" id="FNanchor_277_277"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_277_277" class="fnanchor">[277]</a> doubtless upon the authority of
+Mackenzie, represents this Declaration as having been the joint work of Dr. Rolph and
+Dr. W. J. O'Grady, somewhile editor of <i>The Correspondent and Advocate</i>. I can
+find no confirmatory evidence of this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[Pg 365]</a></span> statement, and some of Dr. Rolph's letters would
+seem, at least by implication, to contradict the assertion that he had any hand in
+its preparation. The question of authorship, however, is not important. The document
+was discussed at considerable length. Dr. Morrison, who was present, fully approved
+of its contents, but objected to sign it, as he would thereby place himself in a
+dubious position as a member of Parliament. This argument was not acquiesced in by
+James Lesslie, and the Doctor finally appended his signature. His example was
+followed by all the other members present except James Lesslie, who withheld his name
+until the document should be signed by Dr. Rolph, who was absent from the meeting.<a
+name="FNanchor_278_278" id="FNanchor_278_278"></a><a href="#Footnote_278_278"
+class="fnanchor">[278]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the afternoon of Friday, the 28th of the same month, the Declaration was
+submitted to and discussed for the second time by a number of Reformers assembled at
+Elliott's. There was to be a large meeting the same evening at Doel's brewery, at
+which it was thought desirable that the platform should be adopted. Some discussion
+arose as to several clauses, however, and one or two immaterial alterations were
+made, after which it was thought best to postpone the final adoption of the
+Declaration in its entirety until a subsequent meeting. The meeting held during the
+evening at Doel's was very numerously attended. About three hundred persons were
+present,<a name="FNanchor_279_279" id="FNanchor_279_279"></a><a href="#Footnote_279_279" class="fnanchor">[279]</a> and a good deal of important
+discussion took place. A motion expressive of sympathy and admiration for Papineau
+and his compatriots was proposed by Mackenzie, and passed without a dissentient
+voice, and it was resolved that "the Reformers of Upper Canada" should make common
+cause with those of the Lower Province. The persons present at this meeting of course
+had no authority to speak on behalf of the Reformers of Upper Canada as a whole, but
+they fairly enough represented the Radical wing of the party, which was quite large
+enough to be formidable. The meeting further resolved that a convention of delegates
+should be assembled at an early period in Toronto, "to take into consideration
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[Pg 366]</a></span> state
+of the Province, the causes of the present pecuniary and other difficulties, and the
+means whereby they may be effectually removed;" and that persons be appointed by the
+said convention to proceed to Lower Canada, "there to meet the delegates of any
+congress of these Provinces which may be appointed to sit and deliberate on matters
+of mutual interest to the colonies during the present year." The Declaration was not
+submitted, as final judgment had not been passed upon it by those who had it in
+charge. After a long and busy session, the assemblage adjourned to meet in the same
+place on the evening of Monday, the 31st.</p>
+
+<p>It was matter of much regret among the Radical leaders that Dr. Rolph had not up
+to this time taken any active part in their deliberations. He was known to be in
+sympathy with the project of a movement in concert with the Lower Canadians for the
+purpose of impressing the Imperial Government with the necessity of changing their
+colonial policy. He had become the trusted counsellor of all the leading Radicals,
+who looked up to him as the one man in the Province who was capable of directing any
+large or wise measure of Reform. But he had not identified himself with them by
+actual co&ouml;peration in their projects, and had attended none of their secret
+meetings, although he was kept fully informed of all that occurred thereat. The
+Radicals, recognizing how much would be gained by securing the presence among them of
+Rolph and Bidwell, resolved to press both those gentlemen into service. At the
+adjourned meeting on the evening of the 31st, the movement made considerable
+progress. The Declaration was formally adopted clause by clause. According to a
+contemporary newspaper report,<a name="FNanchor_280_280" id="FNanchor_280_280"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_280_280" class="fnanchor">[280]</a> it "called forth from the meeting
+the most unequivocal marks of approbation." As already mentioned, one of its clauses
+recommended the holding of a convention at Toronto. A resolution was accordingly
+unanimously adopted appointing Rolph, Bidwell, Dr. Morrison, James Lesslie and others
+as delegates to the proposed convention. This, it was confidently believed, would
+have the effect of identifying Rolph and Bidwell with the Radical cause, for it was
+not thought that either of them would refuse to attend as delegates. Other
+resolutions were adopted with a view to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[Pg 367]</a></span> placing the party in a state of efficient
+organization throughout the Province. The persons who had previously appended their
+names to the Declaration<a name="FNanchor_281_281" id="FNanchor_281_281"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_281_281" class="fnanchor">[281]</a> were appointed "a permanent
+Committee of Vigilance, for this city and liberties, and to carry into immediate and
+practical effect the resolutions of this meeting for the effectual organization of
+the Reformers of Upper Canada." John Elliott, a Toronto scrivener, who was also
+Assistant Clerk of the City Council, was requested to continue to act as
+Secretary-in-Ordinary, and Mackenzie to act as "Agent and Corresponding Secretary."
+Both of these requests were assented to. A resolution, doubtless adopted in emulation
+of similar resolutions at meetings held under Papineau's auspices in Lower Canada,
+pledged the members to abstain as far as possible "from the consumption of articles
+coming from beyond sea, or paying duties." A sort of rider to this was moved by
+Mackenzie, and adopted by the meeting: "That the right of obtaining articles of
+luxury or necessity in the cheapest market is inherent in the people, who only
+consent to the imposition of duties for the creation of revenues with the express
+understanding that the revenues so raised from them shall be devoted to the necessary
+expenses of Government, and appointed by the people's representatives; and therefore,
+when the contract is broken by an Executive or any foreign authority, the people are
+released from their engagement, and are no longer under any moral obligation to
+contribute to or aid in the collection of such revenues." On Wednesday, the 2nd of
+August, the Declaration was published in full, together with the names of the
+committee, in <i>The Correspondent and Advocate</i>, and in Mackenzie's
+<i>Constitution</i>. Each of these papers also published a report of the proceedings
+at the meeting.</p>
+
+<p>The part assigned to Mackenzie&mdash;that of "Agent and Corresponding
+Secretary"&mdash;was an important one, and involved him in the necessity of giving up
+all his time and energies to the cause. In so far as his abilities enabled him to do
+so, he was to virtually play the same part in Upper Canada that had long been enacted
+by Papineau in the Lower<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[Pg
+368]</a></span> Province. He was to be a supreme itinerant organizer, and was to go
+about the country stirring up opposition to the Government. This would involve the
+arranging and holding of public meetings and secret caucuses, the selection of local
+correspondents, the supervision of local reports, and various other duties not
+definitely specified, much being necessarily left to his own discretion. He had been
+engaged in precisely similar tasks for some weeks previously, but henceforth he was
+able to carry out his designs as the accredited emissary of the Reformers of Toronto,
+a fact which of course gave him additional importance in the eyes of the Reformers
+generally. His appointment was due to his own man&oelig;uvres, but it must be confessed
+that he was in many respects well qualified for the post.</p>
+
+<p>He addressed himself to his tasks with redoubled assiduity. The Province was
+mapped out into four districts, each of which was again subdivided into minor
+divisions. Local branch societies were formed or remodelled in all neighbourhoods
+where Reformers were numerous. Each of these was directed to report regularly to a
+central society, and all the latter were to report to the Corresponding Secretary, by
+whom the reports were classified, digested, and laid before the central committee in
+Toronto. Mackenzie at once proceeded to hold a fresh series of meetings, beginning
+with the townships in which he was best known, and thence flitting hither and thither
+as was deemed advisable. In this way, in the course of the late summer and autumn he
+went over the whole of the Home District, and over a great part of the adjoining
+country. His soul was in the work he was doing, and he put into it all the energy
+which he could command. He did not succeed in arousing such a feeling in the west as
+Papineau did in the east. He had not Papineau's marvellous Gallic eloquence, nor were
+the farmers of Upper Canada composed of such inflammable material as the
+<i>habitans</i> of the Lower Province. But Mackenzie, when thoroughly aroused, as he
+now was, had considerable power to move the masses, and he exerted himself to this
+end as he had never done before. The manifold wrongs he had endured had exasperated
+his nature almost beyond endurance, and he could lash himself into a storm of
+indignation at a moment's notice. He succeeded in awakening enthusiasm in persons who
+had formerly been remarkable for stolidity.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[Pg 369]</a></span> He presented few new subjects for the consideration
+of his auditors, but he presented old subjects in a light which was suggestive of new
+ideas. He declaimed against the iniquities of the Executive, the supineness of the
+Imperial Government, and the culpable indifference of the British Parliament. The
+Declaration, in fact, was the test upon which his harangues were founded, but he
+presented its respective clauses in ever-recurring novelty of aspect. The document
+was itself submitted to the various meetings for approval, accompanied by Mackenzie's
+fiery commentary. As a general thing the Radical element was largely in the ascendant
+at the gatherings, and he had no trouble about carrying his resolutions, frequently
+by very large majorities. He adapted his oratory to his audience. Where he knew that
+he would encounter little or no opposition he was much more outspoken than where the
+feeling was less favourable to him. Wherever he felt that he could carry his audience
+with him, he boldly advocated separation from the mother-country, and the
+establishment of elective institutions under an independent Government; though he
+took care to deprecate any appeal to physical force,<a name="FNanchor_282_282"
+id="FNanchor_282_282"></a><a href="#Footnote_282_282" class="fnanchor">[282]</a> and
+generally advocated a money payment to the British Government as the price of a full
+release and quittance of all Imperial claims upon the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[Pg 370]</a></span> colony. He employed all the
+paraphernalia which he thought likely to impress the people, and banners bearing
+revolutionary inscriptions were freely displayed from the platform in neighbourhoods
+where such a course was deemed safe. Lount, Gibson, Nelson Gorham and others
+occasionally reinforced him by their presence and their oratory. These gentlemen were
+all gifted with more than ordinary powers of expression. The subject-matter was one
+which they all had deeply at heart, and upon which they could speak with
+never-failing freshness and vigour. The audiences were sometimes moved to rapturous
+demonstrations of applause. Even in communities where the popular sentiment was less
+enthusiastic the recommendations embodied in the Declaration were generally assented
+to, and local vigilance committees were formed. Delegates to the proposed Toronto
+convention were appointed, but the date of holding it was for the time left open.
+About seventy of these delegates were appointed in the Home District alone. The
+necessity for making common cause with the Lower Canadian Opposition in their efforts
+to establish civil and religious liberty was vehemently pressed by the speakers, and
+commonly recognized by the audiences. Any reference on the part of the speakers to
+what "our brethren in Lower Canada" were doing for the cause of liberty was almost
+certain to evoke applause. A trusted emissary&mdash;Jesse Lloyd of
+Lloydtown&mdash;acted as a medium of communication between the Radical leaders in the
+two Provinces, and passed to and fro from time to time with despatches and
+intelligence between Papineau and Mackenzie. By this and other means the Lower
+Canadian leaders were from first to last kept promptly informed of the progress of
+the movement in the Upper Province.</p>
+
+<p>Sometimes&mdash;not often&mdash;Mackenzie met with considerable opposition. The
+idea of separation from Great Britain was a stumbling-block to a few even of the
+ultra-Radicals, and had to be handled with extreme delicacy. Others were chary of any
+concerted action with the Lower Canadians on account of the latter's religious faith.
+In several instances, moreover, the meetings were actually broken up by the Tories,
+in whose ears the language used by Mackenzie and his coadjutors was neither more nor
+less than treason. In other instances, though the opposition was not effective enough
+to actually break up the meetings, it was found impos<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[Pg 371]</a></span>sible to carry any resolutions
+founded upon the Declaration. In two cases the meetings were broken up in confusion
+by local bodies of Orangemen, and a number of persons sustained more or less physical
+violence. Such incidents as these, however, were the exception, and not the rule. Out
+of all the meetings&mdash;considerably more than a hundred in number<a
+name="FNanchor_283_283" id="FNanchor_283_283"></a><a href="#Footnote_283_283"
+class="fnanchor">[283]</a>&mdash;held between the adoption of the Declaration and the
+actual outbreak of rebellion, seventy-five per cent seem to have passed off without
+serious disturbance or interference. Most of those who disapproved of the meetings
+staid away from them, and regarded those who promoted them with settled hostility,
+frequently accompanied by contempt. Of those who attended and supported the
+resolutions, a very small number had any suspicion that matters were shaping
+themselves, or were being shaped by Mackenzie, towards rebellion.</p>
+
+<p>As for Mackenzie himself, he seems to have been intent on mischief during the
+whole summer of this eventful year. He however recognized the necessity of moving
+slowly, for no one knew better than he that a very small percentage of the Reformers
+of the Province could be brought to sanction such a project as rebellion under his
+auspices. What they might have been disposed to do if rebellion had been mooted by
+Robert Baldwin, Bidwell, Rolph, and other eminent Reformers, it would now be idle to
+inquire. It would be as profitless as to discuss what would have been the fate of the
+Revolution of 1688 if James the Second had died while he was Duke of York. The mental
+constitution of Baldwin and Bidwell were such that it would have been an
+impossibility for them to take part in a rebellion, and the general belief with
+respect to Rolph was that his doing so was equally out of the question. All this was
+well known to Mackenzie. He also well knew that the Reform press would have promptly
+denounced him had his designs been known. If he had encountered such denunciation his
+bubble would have burst there and then. But the Reform press knew nothing of his
+designs. He was believed to be agitating for constitutional Reform. It was of course
+known that he was carrying his agitation to an unprecedented length,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[Pg 372]</a></span> but it was
+supposed that he was doing so for the purpose of intimidating the Government, and
+thereby coercing them into concessions; and the Reform press throughout the land was
+fully prepared to support him in such a course. He accordingly acted with much
+greater caution than he had been wont to display in the management of either public
+or private affairs. He perceived that the machinery of vigilance committees, branch
+societies, public meetings and what not, which had been so successfully set in motion
+under the auspices of the Reformers, might be turned to account for insurrectionary
+purposes. To a few of his friends in the country, over whom he possessed almost
+unbounded influence, and who, as he knew, felt almost as bitterly towards the
+Government as he himself did, he imparted a project involving a resort to arms. Among
+them were Samuel Lount, Jesse Lloyd, Silas Fletcher, Nelson Gorham and Peter
+Matthews. The communication was doubtless made to the several persons at different
+times, but all of those mentioned seem to have been made acquainted with the project
+before the beginning of autumn. They all yielded a ready enough acquiescence, but no
+thought of bloodshed was in their minds. It was intended to get together a great body
+of Reformers from all over the country, and then to advance upon the capital in the
+form of a monster demonstration. This idea seems to have originated with Lount. It
+was at first objected to by Mackenzie as unlikely to prove efficacious. He urged that
+demonstrations had been made in his favour several years before, and that none of
+them had had any effect in moderating the policy of the Government, or in inducing
+the Assembly to permit him to sit therein. He especially instanced the occasion upon
+which a great crowd of the York electors had accompanied him to the House of
+Assembly, and had filled the galleries and lobbies while Parliament was sitting.<a
+name="FNanchor_284_284" id="FNanchor_284_284"></a><a href="#Footnote_284_284"
+class="fnanchor">[284]</a> All this, he pointed out, had been labour in vain, and if
+such a scene were to be re-enacted it must, in order to produce any satisfactory
+effect, be on a very large scale indeed. His argument was unanswerable. It was clear
+that any appeal to the Government's sense of right would be made in vain, and that
+they could only be influenced through their fears. If anything was to be effected by
+means of a demon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[Pg
+373]</a></span>stration, the number of persons taking part in it must be sufficiently
+numerous to overawe, and if necessary to coerce, the Government.</p>
+
+<p>Some weeks appear to have elapsed before any scheme was definitely fixed upon and
+approved by all the nine or ten persons concerned, who thus took upon themselves the
+responsibility of directing the future course of our colonial polity. The
+understanding arrived at was that the time of holding the proposed convention in
+Toronto would also be the appropriate time for making the proposed demonstration. The
+convention would afford a reasonable pretext for the assembling of great numbers of
+Reformers at the capital. It will be remembered that no definite time had been fixed
+upon for the holding of the convention. It was now settled that it should be held
+early in the spring of the year 1838. When the gathering should be complete, it was
+proposed to wait upon the Government, as the barons waited on King John at Runnymede,
+and wring from them their assent to a constitution founded upon the propositions
+embodied in the Declaration. It was agreed that if this assent should be obtained,
+Sir Francis Head was, at any rate temporarily, to be left undisturbed in his position
+of Lieutenant-Governor, but that the Executive Council should be altogether
+remodelled, and that Rolph, Bidwell and Mackenzie should have seats therein. The
+Government was to be carried on upon the principle of Executive responsibility to the
+Assembly. This re-adjustment was to be followed by a general election, after which
+the future of the colony would be in the hands of the Assembly.</p>
+
+<p>But how if the Government would not be coerced? What was to be done if they
+refused to be dictated to? In that case there was only one course open. The
+Lieutenant-Governor and his Council were to be seized with <i>as</i> little violence
+as possible. A Provisional Government was to be formed with Dr. Rolph at its head,
+provided that that gentleman could be induced to accept the position. It was not
+believed that the carrying out of this project would necessarily involve any
+sacrifice of life, for the force at the disposal of the Provisional Government would
+be such as to render any opposition futile. Moreover, the bulk of the population of
+the capital were known to be favourable to Reform principles, and it was believed
+that they would readily take part in the movement if they saw an assured prospect of
+success.</p>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[Pg 374]</a></span>The
+conspirators were sanguine as to obtaining Rolph's co&ouml;peration, for, unlike
+Bidwell, he had not repudiated the position of a member of the convention, which had
+been thrust upon him by the meeting at Doel's brewery in July. Bidwell, immediately
+upon becoming acquainted with what had been done, had notified the secretary that he
+had withdrawn from political life, and that he could have nothing to do with the
+proposed convention. Rolph also had at first felt disposed to decline the
+appointment, but he had taken time to consider, and had talked the matter over with
+Dr. Baldwin, who had strongly counselled him to accept. I can find no documentary
+evidence of either acceptance or rejection on his part, but he seems to have been
+favourable to the holding of the convention, which he doubtless regarded as a
+possible means of consolidating the Reform party, and of rendering its opposition to
+the Government more effective. It was agreed that for the present nothing should be
+said to him about the contemplated subversion of the Government by force. The boldest
+features of the scheme were intended to be kept secret from nearly everyone until the
+time for action should be near at hand, but no oath of secrecy was imposed, and, in
+spite of all resolutions, more or less accurate hints of what was in contemplation
+were conveyed to hundreds of Radicals throughout the Home District and elsewhere.</p>
+
+<p>As the autumn advanced, the conspirators proceeded to prepare their adherents for
+the impressive display of the ensuing spring. It was evident that even a very
+numerously-attended demonstration would not impress the Government unless those
+taking part in it carried about with them a suggestion of strength. In order to be
+strong they must have arms, and they must furthermore know how to use them should the
+necessity arise. A system of secret training and drill was accordingly organized
+throughout the townships. People met after nightfall in the corners of quiet fields,
+in the shadow of the woods, and in other sequestered places, and there received such
+instruction in military drill and movements as was possible under the circumstances.
+Old muskets, pistols and cutlasses were furbished up after long disuse, and pressed
+into service once more. Small quantities of rifles and ammunition were
+surreptitiously obtained from the United States. Disaffected blacksmiths in the rural
+districts devoted themselves to the manufacture of rude<span class='pagenum'><a
+name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[Pg 375]</a></span> pike-heads, which, after being
+fitted to hickory handles of five or six feet in length, formed no contemptible
+weapons for either attack or defence. Lount's blacksmith shop at Holland Landing was
+for some weeks largely given up to this manufacture. As there was no attempt at
+interference with these proceedings, the disaffected became bolder, and began to
+assemble at regular periods to engage in rifle practice, pigeon-matches, and the
+slaughter of turkeys. As intimated in a previous note,<a name="FNanchor_285_285" id="FNanchor_285_285"></a><a href="#Footnote_285_285" class="fnanchor">[285]</a> Mr.
+Bidwell was applied to for a legal opinion as to the lawfulness of such gatherings.
+He advised with great caution, specifying how far he conceived this sort of thing
+might be carried with impunity. Gatherings for the slaughter of birds and for trials
+of skill with the rifle he conceived to be clearly within the law.</p>
+
+<p>Before the middle of October the movement had extended in all directions. The four
+districts into which the Province had been mapped out were called respectively the
+Toronto Division, the Midland Division, the Western Division and the Eastern
+Division. The first-named consisted of the counties of York, Simcoe, Durham, Halton,
+Wentworth, Haldimand and Lincoln. The second included the counties of Northumberland,
+Hastings, Prince Edward, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. The Western Division
+consisted of Oxford, Norfolk, Middlesex, Huron, Kent and Essex; and the Eastern
+included all that portion of the Province to the east and north-east of the Midland.
+Preparations for the demonstration were more or less active everywhere, and there
+were nights when the whole country side might be said to be in arms. In some portions
+of the Western Division, which was under the direction of Dr. Charles Duncombe, the
+feeling against the Government was as intense as in any part of the Home District,
+and the preparations there were carried on with special activity. Dr. Duncombe and a
+few leading personages among the Radicals were entrusted with the full plan of the
+conspiracy, so far as it had been matured; but in no part of the Province were the
+rank and file taken into anything like full confidence. Most of those who engaged in
+drill, and in the manufacture of pike-heads and handles, supposed that they were
+merely getting ready for a formidable procession which was to intimidate the
+Government by reason of its numerical strength.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[Pg 376]</a></span> The enquiry may not unnaturally be
+made: What were the Government about all this time? Were they in total ignorance of
+what was going on all around them? Not at all. They were kept regularly informed of
+the banners, speech-makings, drillings, pigeon-matches and what not; and&mdash;at
+least in some instances&mdash;they contrived to obtain pretty accurate reports of the
+proceedings at Mackenzie's meetings. But they committed the grave error of
+undervaluing their opponents. They would not believe it possible that Mackenzie could
+ever again be dangerous. He had been so completely worsted in his hand-to-hand fight
+with Toryism that it was not to be credited that he would ever again be able to
+secure a following large enough to be worth seriously considering. True, he
+threatened all manner of dire calamities, but he had for so many years been
+accustomed to indulge in loud-mouthed threats that he had lost all power to create
+alarm. He was like the shepherd's boy who had cried "wolf" so often that nobody paid
+heed to him. The official party spoke of him as an upstart mannikin who had enjoyed
+his little day of notoriety, but whose power for either good or ill was past and
+gone. Sometimes, when he published anything of special ferocity in his paper, the
+attention of the Lieutenant-Governor would be drawn to it by his supporters, who
+would urge that a prosecution should be instituted. But Sir Francis's wiser
+counsellors knew better than to adopt any such foolish course. They knew that State
+prosecutions had done more to alienate popular sympathy and to weaken the power of
+the Government in times past than any other cause whatever. The editor of the
+<i>Constitution</i>, they believed, had steadily lost his influence&mdash;an
+influence which he could never hope to regain unless some imprudent act of his
+enemies should once more create for him a specious sympathy and notoriety. Nothing,
+it was felt, would be so certain to give him a fictitious importance as to prosecute
+him for treason, at least until he should proceed to such lengths as to render a
+prosecution imperative. Sir Francis Head, Chief Justice Robinson, Attorney-General
+Hagerman, Judge Jones, and the whole race of officialdom refused to believe in the
+possibility of an actual rebellion. They all declared that there were not fifty men
+in the Province who would consent to take arms against the Government. Plenty of low
+Radicals, it was said, were ready enough to boast and bluster, but their courage was only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[Pg 377]</a></span>
+skin-deep. As for Mackenzie, he was admitted to be an exception, so far as the mere
+disposition to rebel was concerned, but he had lost any influence he had ever
+possessed, and counted for nothing. It was tolerably certain that he would sooner or
+later overstep the limits at which it would be possible to leave him alone. Then,
+when he should have placed himself in such a position that no loyal subject could
+defend him, would be the time to make an effectual disposition of him. By all means,
+then, give him an abundance of rope. This was the spirit in which the little man and
+his proceedings were regarded by the authorities, and he availed himself of the
+freedom of speech and action to the fullest conceivable extent. "First," says Sir
+Francis,<a name="FNanchor_286_286" id="FNanchor_286_286"></a><a href="#Footnote_286_286" class="fnanchor">[286]</a> "he wrote, and then be printed,
+and then he rode, and then he spoke, stamped, foamed, wiped his seditious little
+mouth, and then spoke again; and thus, like a squirrel in a cage, he continued with
+astounding assiduity the centre of a revolutionary career." Attorney-General Hagerman
+was instructed to report to his Excellency as soon as Mackenzie had proceeded so far
+in the direction of treason that his conviction would be certain, and meanwhile he
+was permitted to invoke the Spirit of Freedom, both in prose and poetry, to his
+heart's content.</p>
+
+<p>In the Lower Province matters had so shaped themselves as to favour Mackenzie's
+designs. Sir John Colborne was kept tolerably well informed as to the proceedings of
+Papineau and the other fomenters of revolt, and he had become aware that he would
+very soon be compelled to have recourse to the strong hand. He felt perfectly secure,
+but at the same time determined to neglect no precaution which might conduce to a
+swift and decisive victory. He mustered all the forces at his command, and satisfied
+himself, from personal supervision, as to their efficiency. There were a few troops
+stationed in Toronto. Sir John shared Sir Francis Head's confidence in the loyalty of
+the Upper Canadians, and acquiesced in the opinion that an Upper Canadian rebellion
+was altogether out of the question. As he believed that there was no likelihood of
+the troops being needed there, he deemed it prudent to strengthen his position by
+removing them to Kingston, where they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[Pg 378]</a></span> would be more readily available in case of his
+requiring their services to crush the rebellion in Lower Canada. When this removal
+had been effected, Toronto was left wholly unguarded by military. By command of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, several thousand stand of arms which had recently been sent from
+Kingston, together with a quantity of ammunition, were committed to the custody of
+the municipal authorities and deposited in the City Hall. Two constables were placed
+in charge, and this was absolutely the only precaution taken against the seizure of
+both arms and ammunition by any determined body of men who might think proper to
+possess themselves thereof.</p>
+
+<p>Mackenzie believed that the propitious time had arrived, and that the resolve to
+postpone until the following spring any active measures against the Government should
+be rescinded. He received an additional impetus from certain messages which reached
+him through Jesse Lloyd, on Monday, the 9th of October, from the leaders of the
+movement in Lower Canada. These messages apprised him that the French Canadians were
+about to make what they called a "brave stroke for liberty" without further delay.
+They entreated him to co&ouml;perate with them by simultaneously raising the standard
+of revolt in the Upper Province. Lloyd himself favoured the idea, and counselled its
+adoption.</p>
+
+<p>Such a momentous step, however, could not very well be taken without the
+concurrence of others. Mackenzie, who at the time of receiving the messages was out
+on Yonge Street, some miles from Toronto, hastened into town, and summoned a small
+secret caucus to meet at Doel's brewery. I am unable to fix the exact date of holding
+this caucus, but it must have been on the evening of either Monday the 9th or Tuesday
+the 10th of October.<a name="FNanchor_287_287" id="FNanchor_287_287"></a><a href="#Footnote_287_287" class="fnanchor">[287]</a> Eleven persons were present. They
+were, 1. Mackenzie himself; 2. John Doel, the owner of the brewery; 3. Dr. Morrison;
+4. John Mackintosh, who sat in the Assembly for the Fourth Riding of York; 5. John
+Elliott, who, as already mentioned, acted as Secretary-in-Ordinary to the Reform
+Union meetings in Toronto; 6. Timothy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[Pg 379]</a></span> Parson, who kept a straw bonnet and fancy warehouse
+on King Street; 7. Robert Mackay, a grocer and wine merchant; 8. William Lesslie, one
+of the firm of Lesslie &amp; Sons, booksellers, stationers and druggists, at number
+110-&frac12; King Street; 9. John Armstrong, a manufacturer of edged tools, having a
+place of business at number 33 Yonge Street; 10. Thomas Armstrong, a carpenter,
+residing at number 11 Lot (now Queen) Street; 11. John Mills, hatter, 191 King
+Street. Dr. Rolph and J. H. Price had been asked to attend, but they did not see fit
+to do so. No one except Mackenzie appears to have had any idea of the real object for
+which the meeting had been summoned. The other ten merely repaired to the appointed
+place to hear whatever communication the Agent and Corresponding Secretary might have
+to make to them. Upon being called upon to state the purpose for which he had called
+them together, Mackenzie proceeded to unfold his project. He had no sooner entered
+upon it than he encountered murmurs and expressions of dissent. He stated that he
+could count upon the active co&ouml;peration of at least fifteen hundred men in the
+Home District alone, of whom, however, not more than a third were supplied with arms.
+Beyond the limits of the Home District he could count upon from two to three
+thousand, but of these not one-fifth were properly armed. All these, he declared,
+might be implicitly depended upon to support any project which might then and there
+be determined upon. He proposed to send out trusty messengers in all directions to
+summon these "good men and true" to repair at once to Toronto. But there was no need,
+he said, to wait for the arrival of these supporters. He had taken pains to ascertain
+the exact condition of the city, and it was absolutely defenceless, owing to the
+sending away of the troops. Why should not the decisive blow be struck at once? Why
+not instantly send for Dutcher's<a name="FNanchor_288_288" id="FNanchor_288_288"></a><a href="#Footnote_288_288" class="fnanchor">[288]</a>
+foundry-men and Armstrong's axe-makers, all of whom were true to the good cause? With
+these men at their backs, they might proceed straightway to Government House and
+seize Sir Francis, who had just come in from his daily ride on horseback, and who was
+guarded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[Pg 380]</a></span> by
+only one sentinel. His capture having been effected, they might proceed to the City
+Hall and seize the arms and ammunition. The next thing would be to proclaim a
+Provisional Government, and give Sir Francis the alternative of conceding what the
+Radicals demanded or taking the consequences of refusal. There was absolutely
+nothing, Mackenzie averred, to interfere with the carrying out of this programme.
+Four-fifths of the citizens would join them when they saw that success had attended
+their efforts, and of the other fifth at least half would remain neutral, while the
+small residue of the population would be too insignificant in point of numbers to
+render it possible for them to offer any serious opposition.</p>
+
+<p>Such was the astounding scheme propounded by Mackenzie. His small audience could
+hardly credit the evidence of their senses. When he had proceeded thus far, Dr.
+Morrison could restrain himself no longer, but burst forth with an impetuosity and
+indignation which had but seldom been observed in him. He asked if it was possible
+that Mackenzie could be serious in unfolding so foolhardy a design. "This," said he,
+"is treason; and if you think to entrap me into any such mad scheme, you will find I
+am not your man!" He declared that if another word were said on the subject he would
+forthwith leave the room. The others present also repudiated the proposal with more
+or less of vehemence, but they all regarded it as a mad freak of Mackenzie's, and
+hardly worth grave consideration. Mackenzie found that nothing was to be done, and a
+few minutes later the little conclave broke up.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day Mackenzie called upon Dr. Rolph, who had meanwhile heard from
+Dr. Morrison of the proposal of the previous evening. Dr. Rolph questioned Mackenzie
+strictly respecting the accuracy of his details as to the number of men who could be
+depended upon as adherents in the event of a revolution. Mackenzie repeated his
+assertion that about four thousand could easily be got together, every one of whom
+was ripe and ready for taking up arms. He produced certain documentary evidence which
+went to confirm the truth of his statements, and vehemently declared that a
+successful revolution was not only feasible, but inevitable. He proposed not to wait
+for the proposed convention, but to speedily assemble all the men who could be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[Pg 381]</a></span> got together at
+some point within a few miles of the city. This he proposed to effect as secretly as
+possible. The men could then advance upon the city and proceed in a body to the City
+Hall, where they could possess themselves of arms and ammunition. They would then be
+masters of the situation, and could set up a Provisional Government on such terms as
+might be agreed upon. Dr. Rolph was so far impressed by the documentary and other
+evidence placed before him that he consented to give the matter his consideration,
+and to discuss it with some of his friends.</p>
+
+<p>After turning the subject over in his mind, Dr. Rolph appears to have arrived at
+the conclusion that the subversion of the Government was perfectly feasible. The
+capital of the Province was defenceless. The Lieutenant-Governor had not only sent
+away the troops, but had persistently refused to take any steps for the organization
+of the militia. If several thousands of the people were really disposed to assert
+themselves, there was nothing to prevent them from carrying out the programme
+outlined by Mackenzie. They could capture Toronto and seize the members of the
+Government before any measures could be taken to successfully oppose them. This
+having been quietly effected without bloodshed, it seemed probable enough that the
+population at large would not refuse their support. The Reformers of the Province
+constituted a large majority of the inhabitants, and there was not a Reformer in
+Upper Canada but was heartily weary of Sir Francis Head and his clique. Only a small
+minority would have consented to enter upon the risks and dangers of a rebellion; but
+there is a great difference between a rebellion to be encountered and one which has
+been successfully accomplished. Thousands of persons who would strenuously refuse to
+have any connection with the former would readily acquiesce in the latter. If the
+Government were once subverted and in the hands of the Reformers, and if the entire
+Reform element were in sympathy with the change, the rebellion would so far be a
+success, for at this time there were comparatively few persons in the Province who
+cared sufficiently for the Family Compact to risk life or limb for the purpose of
+restoring them to power. But there was another important question to be considered:
+What would the Imperial Government have to say about it? If the might and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[Pg 382]</a></span> majesty of
+Britain were to be enlisted against the project, no Upper Canadian rebellion could
+hope for permanent success, unless in the very unlikely event of national
+interference on the part of the United States. But was it not probable that the
+Imperial Government would be strongly impressed by this uprising of a long-enduring
+and much-wronged people, and that a sense of justice would compel them to adopt a new
+policy with respect to the Canadas? Should this conjecture prove to be correct, all
+that was sought to be effected by rebellion would have been accomplished. In any
+case, the condition of the Reformers could hardly be altered for the worse. The
+leaders of the movement would be driven to take refuge in the States, but some of
+them had already begun to regard such an emigration as desirable, for there seemed to
+be no future for them under Family Compact rule.</p>
+
+<p>With such thoughts as these passing through his mind, Dr. Rolph had several
+conferences with Dr. Morrison, with whom Mackenzie also had some conversation after
+the caucus at the brewery. Dr. Morrison was disposed to attach great weight to any
+suggestion emanating from his professional colleague, and when he had been placed in
+possession of the latter's views he was able to contemplate a rising of the people
+with much greater complacency than before. The idea gradually took form and shape in
+his mind. At Mackenzie's urgent request he gave him a letter introducing Jesse Lloyd
+to Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, of Montreal, who was editor of a Radical newspaper, and
+known to be favourable to insurrection. Lloyd was about to start from his home in the
+township of King on one of his expeditions to the Lower Province, to confer with the
+leaders of the insurrectionary movements there. This was sometime during the third
+week in October.</p>
+
+<p>Dr. Morrison, having thus put his hand to the plough, regarded himself as in a
+measure pledged to support the cause of the people, if they were really bent on
+subverting the Government. One day about a fortnight later he received an urgent
+message from Dr. Rolph to call at the latter's house on Lot (Queen) Street. Upon
+repairing thither he found Rolph and Mackenzie in conference with Lloyd, who
+<i>had</i> just returned from the Lower Province with a letter to Mackenzie from
+Thomas Storrow Brown, one of the directors of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[Pg 383]</a></span> insurrectionary movement there. The
+letter seemed, on the surface, to be a mere business communication, but its
+phraseology had a secret meaning understood by Mackenzie, who expounded it to the
+others. Lloyd supplemented the letter by certain verbal communications. It appeared
+that the Lower Canadians were prepared to act, but they wished the Upper Canadian
+Radicals to make the first move, so as to divert attention from their proceedings.
+This would involve grave consequences, and could not be resolved upon all in a
+moment. After some consideration, it was agreed that Rolph, Morrison and Mackenzie
+should meet at Morrison's house on Newgate (Adelaide) Street that same evening to
+take serious counsel together. The meeting was held as agreed upon. Rolph and
+Morrison pointed out to Mackenzie the momentous consequences which would flow from
+acting on the suggestion from Lower Canada. They expressed some doubt as to whether
+the people were really sufficiently desirous of a change to risk their liberties and
+lives in a rebellion, and they pointed out the disastrous consequences of failure.
+Mackenzie, however, who possessed much better opportunities for judging as to the
+bent of popular opinion among the Radicals, would hardly listen to such
+remonstrances. For the hundredth time he pointed out the defenceless state of the
+capital. Within the last few days the troops which had been removed from Toronto to
+Kingston had been withdrawn from the Province altogether by Sir John Colborne, in
+order that they might be used against the rebels in Lower Canada. The whole of the
+Upper Province was therefore without means of defence. Mackenzie pledged his word
+that the whole Radical element were anxious to rise in the good cause. He asserted
+that he had received lists signed by thousands of persons, each one of whom had
+pledged himself to rise in revolt at any moment when summoned. Rebellion, he
+declared, must come, as the spirit of insurrection had been thoroughly aroused; and
+he upbraided his interlocutors for their lukewarmness in the cause of the people.
+After several hours of discussion and deliberation it was agreed that Mackenzie
+should proceed through the country and distinctly submit the question to the
+different political unions. If they really felt ready and anxious to put down the
+existing Government by force of arms, as Mackenzie declared, they should have their
+way. A plan was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[Pg 384]</a></span> discussed for seizing the arms in the City Hall, for taking into
+custody the chief Government officials, and for establishing a Provisional Government
+with Dr. Rolph at its head. All this, it was believed, could be easily effected
+without firing a shot, and without the sacrifice of a single life. It was also
+distinctly understood that private property was to be respected, and that all money
+in the banks was to be regarded as private property, except such as actually belonged
+to the Government. It was however expressly stipulated that nobody was to be finally
+committed to any definite course of procedure until Mackenzie's return from his rural
+tour with the sanction of the various political unions. No authority whatever was
+meanwhile given to Mackenzie, either expressly or by implication, to stir the people
+up to rebellion. He was simply authorized to ascertain their views. At his own urgent
+request permission was given him to use the names of Rolph and Morrison, but only so
+far as to state that if the people were really desirous of effecting a revolution,
+they might depend upon receiving the countenance of those two gentlemen. On this
+distinct understanding Mackenzie left Dr. Morrison's house, and started the same
+night or early on the following morning for the north.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3>
+<div class="footnote">
+<p><a name="Footnote_269_269" id="Footnote_269_269"></a><a href="#FNanchor_269_269"><span class="label">[269]</span></a> See his Despatch to
+Lord Glenelg, dated 5th April, 1837, in Narrative, chap. ix.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_270_270" id="Footnote_270_270"></a><a href="#FNanchor_270_270"><span class="label">[270]</span></a> See his Despatch dated July 14th, 1837.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_271_271" id="Footnote_271_271"></a><a href="#FNanchor_271_271"><span class="label">[271]</span></a> On the 10th of September.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_272_272" id="Footnote_272_272"></a><a href="#FNanchor_272_272"><span class="label">[272]</span></a> See the number for June 10th, 1824.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_273_273" id="Footnote_273_273"></a><a href="#FNanchor_273_273"><span class="label">[273]</span></a> This boast seems to
+have been made in the columns of <i>The Constitution</i>, but I have been unable
+to find it there. I make the quotation on the authority of Mr. Lindsey's <i>Life
+of Mackenzie</i>, vol. i., p. 395, note.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_274_274" id="Footnote_274_274"></a><a href="#FNanchor_274_274"><span class="label">[274]</span></a> Mr. MacMullen,
+writing, doubtless, from honest conviction, endeavours to convey the impression
+that Bidwell was more deeply implicated in the rebellion than he chose to
+acknowledge. See his <i>History of Canada</i>, p. 446, note. But no substantial
+proof has ever been offered in support of such a belief, whereas the proof on the
+other side is unanswerable. There is, first of all, the character of the man. His
+moral courage was great, and he could stand up for a cherished principle with
+much firmness and vigour. But he fought with weapons which were not carnal, and
+would have suffered almost any wrong that could have been inflicted upon him
+rather than resort to physical violence. Then, there is the fact that he always
+denied all knowledge of the rising. No man who knew Marshall Spring Bidwell would
+have hesitated to accept his bare word as against any but the most direct
+evidence to the contrary, and in this case there can hardly be said to be any
+countervailing evidence whatever. Again, there is the fact that he declined to
+act as a delegate to the proposed Reform convention, as subsequently mentioned in
+the text. But there is no need to resort to circumstantial or conjectural
+evidence. We have the testimony of Mackenzie himself, who, after his return to
+Canada, was ready enough to betray the secrets of his somewhile coadjutors, and
+who would have been only too glad if he could have pointed to Bidwell as one of
+the number. In his <i>Flag of Truce</i>, published in 1853, he says; "The
+question is often asked me&mdash;What part Mr. Bidwell took in 1837"&mdash;and
+his answer is explicit enough: "None that I know." It is quite certain that
+Bidwell could not have been concerned in the movement without Mackenzie's
+knowledge. The only circumstances which might be adduced as indicating a
+knowledge of the intended rising on the part of Mr. Bidwell are two in number,
+and neither of them will bear a moment's examination. First, it is true that he
+was consulted by the Radicals as to the lawfulness of their assembling for drill
+exercise and other purposes. He advised that, under certain restrictions, such
+assemblies were within the law, and that there could be nothing culpable in
+rifle-matches involving mere trials of skill. But when his advice was sought
+there was no intention, even on Mackenzie's part, to rise at any definite period,
+and Mr. Bidwell may very well have believed that the projects would end as most
+of Mackenzie's enterprises had ended&mdash;in talk. The other circumstance
+calling for explanation is his allowing himself to be frightened into leaving the
+country. This will be duly considered in its proper place. Suffice it for the
+present to say that, taking everything into account, the mere fact of his
+expatriation affords no evidence either one way or the other; whereas the
+attendant circumstances afford strong presumptive evidence of his innocence.</p>
+<p>In examining the papers of the late David Gibson within the last few weeks
+<i>I</i> have come upon what may not unfairly be regarded as conclusive evidence
+that Bidwell was in no manner privy to the rising. Gibson, after his escape to
+the State of New York, was desirous of obtaining employment as a land surveyor,
+and, at Dr. Rolph's suggestion, he wrote to Bidwell for a certificate as to his
+character, and for advice as to the best means of obtaining employment. Bidwell
+was then in the City of New York, casting about in his mind to what he should
+direct his attention as a means of livelihood. His reply and the certificate
+enclosed therein&mdash;both in his own handwriting&mdash;are now lying before me.
+The latter is as follows:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>"I was acquainted with David Gibson, Esquire, until the recent disturbance
+in Upper Canada, and know that by his integrity, good sense and amiable
+character, he had acquired the confidence and esteem of his neighbours and
+acquaintances. His services as a land surveyor were highly valued. Since the
+trouble commenced in Upper Canada I have not been in communication with him,
+but I have no doubt that the utmost reliance may be placed on his industry,
+ability and fidelity in all his engagements. I have seen his name mentioned
+with respect for his humanity in one of the most violent newspapers published
+in Upper Canada. He has my warmest wishes for his success and happiness.</p>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 22em;" class="smcap">"Marshall S. Bidwell."</span></p>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>The following is the text of the letter accompanying the certificate:&mdash;</p>
+
+<blockquote>
+<span class="smcap">My Dear Sir</span>:<br />
+
+<p>I received to-day your letter, and have sent you a certificate. I am unable
+to refer you to any place or situation for employment. I am myself unsettled,
+and <i>do</i> not know what I shall do or where I shall settle.</p>
+<p>I lament the recent proceedings in Upper Canada, and cannot to this day
+reflect upon them but with amazement. How men of good sense like you and others
+could be involved in so absurd and hopeless a project fills me with continual
+surprise. However, I would not upbraid you, though I shall perhaps be ruined in
+consequence of these movements. On the contrary, I wish you well, and have the
+same kind feelings towards you as I was wont to have. I trust you may find some
+situation where you may be happy.</p>
+
+<span style="margin-left: 22em;">Yours truly,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 24em;" class="smcap">Marshall S.
+Bidwell.</span><br />
+David Gibson, Esq.,<br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">6th March.</span>
+</blockquote>
+
+<p>After the publication of this letter&mdash;written, it will be remembered, to
+one of the chief participators in the rebellion&mdash;it will hardly be pretended
+that Bidwell was concerned in the enterprise. It is a characteristic epistle,
+breathing Christian kindness and good will, and, independently of its bearing
+upon the question at issue, is well worthy of publication as illustrative of
+Bidwell's individuality.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_275_275" id="Footnote_275_275"></a><a href="#FNanchor_275_275"><span class="label">[275]</span></a> For the sake of
+consistency I adopt a uniform spelling of this gentleman's name, which however is
+spelt indifferently "Mackintosh" and "McIntosh," in the Journals of Assembly, in
+various official documents, in the newspapers and advertisements of the time, and
+even in private correspondence. Walton's Toronto Directory for 1837 gives it as
+"McIntosh," which seems to have been the form commonly adopted by members of the family.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_276_276" id="Footnote_276_276"></a><a href="#FNanchor_276_276"><span class="label">[276]</span></a> A part of this
+building, used as a planing-mill, is still in existence on Bay Street, a short
+distance north of Adelaide Street.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_277_277" id="Footnote_277_277"></a><a href="#FNanchor_277_277"><span class="label">[277]</span></a> <i>Life of
+Mackenzie</i>., vol. ii., p. 17.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_278_278" id="Footnote_278_278"></a><a href="#FNanchor_278_278"><span class="label">[278]</span></a> According to Mr.
+Lindsey, James Lesslie induced his brother William, who had signed the
+Declaration, to erase his signature. <i>See Life of Mackenzie</i>, vol. ii., p. 18.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_279_279" id="Footnote_279_279"></a><a href="#FNanchor_279_279"><span class="label">[279]</span></a> See the evidence of
+John Elliott, on the trial of Dr. Morrison for high treason, at Toronto, in the following April.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_280_280" id="Footnote_280_280"></a><a href="#FNanchor_280_280"><span class="label">[280]</span></a> <i>Correspondent
+and Advocate</i> for Wednesday, August 2nd.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_281_281" id="Footnote_281_281"></a><a href="#FNanchor_281_281"><span class="label">[281]</span></a> These were nineteen
+in number, and consisted of Dr. Morrison, John Elliott, David Gibson, John
+Mackintosh, Dr. O'Grady, E. B. Gilbert, John Montgomery, Dr. John Edward Tims, J.
+H. Price, John Doel, M. Reynolds, Edward Wright, Robert McKay, Thomas Elliott,
+James Armstrong, James Hunter, John Armstrong, William Ketchum and W. L. Mackenzie.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_282_282" id="Footnote_282_282"></a><a href="#FNanchor_282_282"><span class="label">[282]</span></a> At a meeting held
+in the township of Caledon, however, during the second week in August, a very
+outspoken resolution was discussed. After setting out with some general
+principles as to the duties of kings, governors and subjects, it ran as
+follows:&mdash;"If the redress of our wrongs can be otherwise obtained, the
+people of Upper Canada have not a just cause to use force. But the highest
+obligation of a citizen being to preserve the community, and every other
+political duty being derived from, and subordinate to it, every citizen is bound
+to defend his country against its enemies, both foreign and domestic. When a
+government is engaged in systematically oppressing a people, and destroying their
+securities against future oppression, it commits the same species of wrong to
+them which warrants an appeal to force against a foreign enemy. The history of
+England and of this continent is not wanting in examples by which the rulers and
+the ruled may see that, although the people have been often willing to endure bad
+government with patience, there are legal and constitutional limits to that
+endurance. The glorious revolutions obstinately persisting in withholding from
+their subjects adequate security for good government, although obviously
+necessary for the permanence of that blessing, that they are placing themselves
+in a state of hostility against the governed; and that to prolong a state of
+irresponsibility and insecurity, such as existed in England during the reign of
+James II., and as now exists in Lower Canada, is a dangerous act of aggression
+against a people. A magistrate who degenerates into a systematic oppressor, and
+shuts the gates of justice on the public, thereby restores them to their original
+right of defending themselves, for he withholds the protection of the law, and so
+forfeits his claim to enforce their obedience by the authority of law."&mdash;For
+the text of this resolution I am indebted to Mr. Lindsey. See his <i>Life of
+Mackenzie</i>, vol. ii., p. 27, note.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_283_283" id="Footnote_283_283"></a><a href="#FNanchor_283_283"><span class="label">[283]</span></a> Mr. Lindsey places
+the number at two hundred. See <i>Life of Mackenzie</i>, vol. ii., p. 32. I have
+not been able to find any trace of more than 117. Mackenzie seems to have been
+present at fully half of these.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_284_284" id="Footnote_284_284"></a><a href="#FNanchor_284_284"><span class="label">[284]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 256.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_285_285" id="Footnote_285_285"></a><a href="#FNanchor_285_285"><span class="label">[285]</span></a> <i>Ante</i>, p. 362.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_286_286" id="Footnote_286_286"></a><a href="#FNanchor_286_286"><span class="label">[286]</span></a> <i>The Emigrant</i>, p. 157.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_287_287" id="Footnote_287_287"></a><a href="#FNanchor_287_287"><span class="label">[287]</span></a> John Elliott, in
+his testimony on Dr. Morrison's trial, places the date in October; and I have
+evidence in my possession that Mackenzie received the intimation mentioned in the
+text on the second Monday in October. The second Monday fell on the 9th. There
+would be no delay in summoning the caucus, which would therefore be held on the
+evening of either Monday or Tuesday.</p>
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_288_288" id="Footnote_288_288"></a><a href="#FNanchor_288_288"><span class="label">[288]</span></a> William A. Dutcher
+had a foundry on Yonge Street, where a good many hands were employed, most of
+whom were readers of the <i>Constitution</i>, and supporters of the Radical
+cause. The Armstrong whose axe-makers it was proposed to press into service was
+John Armstrong, who was himself present at the meeting.</p>
+</div></div>
+<br />
+
+<h3><a name="NOTE_TO_CHAPTER_X" id="NOTE_TO_CHAPTER_X"></a>NOTE TO CHAPTER X.</h3>
+<p>My authorities for the foregoing chapter are too numerous for citation. In
+addition to printed works and official records, they consist of manuscript letters,
+statements, affidavits and other documents which have never seen the light, and the
+most important of which will be given, in whole or in part, in the second volume.</p>
+
+<h5>END OF VOL. I.</h5>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 300px;">
+<img src="images/endchap2.jpg" width="300" height="56" alt="endchap2" title="" />
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion,
+Volume 1, by John Charles Dent
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+  </body>
+</html>
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion,
+Volume 1, by John Charles Dent
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion, Volume 1
+
+Author: John Charles Dent
+
+Release Date: July 24, 2007 [EBook #22131]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UPPER CANADA REBELLION ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe, Marcia Brooks and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images
+generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian
+Libraries)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY OF THE
+UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION.
+
+[Illustration: Yours truly, John Rolph]
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY
+
+OF THE
+
+=UPPER CANADIAN
+REBELLION=
+
+JOHN CHARLES DENT
+
+AUTHOR OF "THE LAST FORTY YEARS" &C.
+
+VOL. I.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+TORONTO.
+
+PUBLISHED BY C. BLACKETT ROBINSON
+
+1865
+
+_New York_
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY
+
+OF THE
+
+UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION;
+
+LARGELY DERIVED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES AND DOCUMENTS.
+
+BY JOHN CHARLES DENT,
+
+_Author of "The Last Forty Years," etc._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+    "Well, God be thanked for these rebels."--_I Henry IV._, Act iii,
+    sc. 3.
+
+    "Truth is not always to be withheld because its expression may wound
+    the feelings of public men, whose official acts have subjected them
+    to public censure. If it were, history and biography would cease to
+    be guiding stars, and, above all, would offer no wholesome restraint
+    to the cruel, or corrupt, or incompetent exercise of
+    authority."--_Tupper's Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir
+    Isaac Brock._
+
+    "We rebelled neither against Her Majesty's person nor her
+    Government, but against Colonial _mis_-government.... We
+    remonstrated; we were derided.... We were goaded on to madness, and
+    were compelled to show that we had the spirit of resistance to repel
+    injuries, or to be deemed a captive, degraded and recreant people.
+    We took up arms, not to attack others, but to defend
+    ourselves."--_Letter to Lord Durham from Dr. Wolfred Nelson and
+    others, confined at Montreal, June 18th, 1838._
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+=Toronto:=
+
+C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, 5 JORDAN STREET.
+
+1885.
+
+
+
+
+_Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1885,
+by_ C. BLACKETT ROBINSON, _in the office of the Minister of
+Agriculture._
+
+
+
+
+I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO MY ESTEEMED FRIEND,
+
+GEORGE STEWART, JUN'R.
+
+OF QUEBEC:
+
+WHOSE RESEARCHES IN A KINDRED DIRECTION WILL ENABLE HIM TO
+
+DO FULL JUSTICE TO WHATEVER IS MERITORIOUS IN IT; WHILE
+
+HIS GENEROUS APPRECIATION OF THE EFFORTS OF HIS
+
+LITERARY BRETHREN WILL RENDER HIM
+
+INDULGENT TO ITS DEFECTS.
+
+JOHN CHARLES DENT.
+
+Toronto, 1885.
+
+
+[Transcriber's Note: Obvious printer errors, including punctuation, have
+been corrected. All other inconsistencies have been left as they were in
+the original.]
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+                                          PAGE.
+CHAPTER I.
+THE BANISHED BRITON                          9
+
+CHAPTER II.
+A BILL OF PARTICULARS                       46
+
+CHAPTER III.
+THE FAMILY COMPACT                          71
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+FATHERS OF REFORM                           96
+
+CHAPTER V.
+A "FREE AND UNFETTERED" PRESS              122
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+THE CASE OF CAPTAIN MATTHEWS               144
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+THE NIAGARA FALLS OUTRAGE                  151
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+THE "AMOVAL" OF MR. JUSTICE WILLIS         162
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+THE CASE OF FRANCIS COLLINS                195
+
+CHAPTER X.
+LIGHTS--OLD AND NEW                        213
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE                    231
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+DISENFRANCHISEMENT                         253
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+MR. HUME'S "BANEFUL DOMINATION" LETTER     264
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+"SEE, THE CONQUERING HERO COMES!"          282
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+"A TRIED REFORMER"                         296
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+THE TRIUMPHS OF A TRIED REFORMER           324
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+REACTION                                   342
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+THE FORGING OF THE PIKES                   354
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+John Rolph                        Frontispiece
+
+David Gibson                               284
+
+
+
+
+THE STORY
+
+OF
+
+THE UPPER CANADIAN REBELLION.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE BANISHED BRITON.
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1819]
+
+In the afternoon of a warm and sultry day, towards the close of one of
+the warmest and most sultry summers which Upper Canada has ever known,
+an extraordinary trial took place at the court-house in the old town of
+Niagara. The time was more than threescore years ago, when York was a
+place of insignificant proportions; when Hamilton could barely be said
+to have an existence; and when the sites of most of the other towns of
+the Province whose names are now familiar to us still formed part of the
+hunting-grounds of the native Indian. The little town on the frontier
+was relatively a place of much greater importance than it is at present;
+though its fortunes, even at that early period, were decidedly on the
+wane, and such glory as it could ever boast of possessing, as the
+Provincial capital, had departed from it long before. To speak with
+absolute precision, the date was Friday, the 20th of August, 1819: so
+long ago that, as far as I have been able to learn, there are only two
+persons now living who were present on the occasion. The court-room,
+which was the largest in the Province, was packed to the doors, and
+though every window was thrown open for purposes of ventilation, the
+atmosphere was almost stifling. Even a stranger, had any such been
+present, could not have failed to perceive that the trial was one in
+which a keen interest was felt by the spectators, many of whom were
+restless and irritable, insomuch that they found it impossible to keep
+perfectly still, and from time to time shifted uneasily in their places.
+Whispers, "not loud, but deep," occasionally reverberated from the back
+benches to the quadrangular space in front assigned to gentlemen of the
+long robe, and ascended thence to the august presence upon the judgment
+seat. Ever and anon the stentorian voice of the crier proclaimed
+silence, in a tone which plainly signified that endurance had well-nigh
+reached its limits, and that he would really be compelled to proceed to
+extremities if his mandate were any longer disobeyed.
+
+The court-room was of the old conventional pattern. At the upper end was
+the large elevated desk, or throne, extending nearly half way across the
+chamber, with spacious cushioned chairs, and other suitable
+accommodation for the presiding judge and his associates. To right and
+left were the enclosed jury boxes, with seats raised considerably above
+the level of the floor, but not so high as those provided for the
+justices. Directly opposite the throne of justice, and about six yards
+distant therefrom, was the prisoners' dock, into which five or six
+persons might have been thrust, at a pinch. The intervening space
+enclosed by this quadrangle--throne, prisoners' dock, and jury
+boxes--was mainly appropriated to the use of barristers and attorneys,
+and their clients. A large portion of the space so appropriated was
+occupied by a table, around which were distributed a few chairs, every
+one of which was occupied; and at the end directly below the judicial
+throne was a small enclosure provided for the clerk of the court, set
+apart by a low railing, and containing a desk of diminutive size.
+Between the clerk's desk and the left-hand jury box was the witness
+stall, raised to a level with the highest seats provided for the jurors.
+A seat for the sheriff was placed a short distance to the right of the
+throne of justice, and on a slightly lower level.
+
+All these arrangements occupied perhaps one-third of the entire
+court-room. The rest of the space, extending from the rear of the
+prisoners' dock to the lower end of the chamber, was occupied by seats
+rising tier behind tier, with a passage down the middle. Between each
+of the ends of these seats and the walls of the chamber were passages of
+about three feet in width, leading to the doors, for purposes of
+"ingress, egress and regress." Such was the plan of the conventional
+Upper Canadian court-room in the olden time; and such, with a few
+inconsiderable modifications, many of them remain down to the present
+day.
+
+The sole occupant of the judgment seat, on this sultry afternoon, was a
+gentleman of somewhat diminutive size, but withal of handsome and
+imposing appearance. Though he had reached advanced middle life, he
+presented none of the signs of age, and evidently retained all his
+vigour unimpaired. His eyes were bright and keen, and his small but firm
+and clearly cut features were lighted up with the consciousness of
+mental power. No one, looking upon that countenance, could doubt that
+its owner had all his faculties under strict and thorough control, or
+that his faculties were considerably above those of average humanity.
+The face was not one for a child to fall in love with, for it was a
+perfect index to the character, and was firm and strong rather than
+amiable or kind. Evidently a man who, should the occasion for doing so
+arise, would deal out the utmost rigour of the law, if not with
+indifference, at least without a qualm. He was the Honourable William
+Dummer Powell, and he occupied the high office of Chief Justice of the
+Province. In conjunction with the Reverend Doctor Strachan, Rector of
+York, he had for several years practically directed the administration
+of affairs in Upper Canada. Francis Gore and Sir Peregrine Maitland
+might successively posture as figure-heads under the title of
+Lieutenant-Governors, but the real depositaries of power were the Rector
+and the Chief Justice. Ominous combination! which falsified the aphorism
+of a great writer--now, unhappily, lost to us--about the inevitable
+incompatibility of law and gospel. Both of them had seats in the
+Executive Council, and, under the then-existing state of things, were
+official but irresponsible advisers of the Crown's representative. More
+than one would-be innovator of those days had been made to feel the
+weight of their hands, without in the least knowing, or even suspecting,
+whence the blow proceeded. They were the head and front of the junto of
+oligarchs who formed the Vehmgericht known as the Family Compact, and
+for all practical purposes their judgment in matters relating to the
+dispensing of patronage and the disposal of Crown property was final and
+conclusive.
+
+The counsel for the prosecution was a handsome young man of
+twenty-eight, who for some years past had been steadily fitting himself
+for the important part he was destined to play--that of Mr. Powell's
+judicial[1] and political successor in the colony. The time was only ten
+years distant when he, in his turn, was to become Chief Justice of Upper
+Canada. The time was still less remote when he was to succeed Chief
+Justice Powell as Dr. Strachan's most active colleague--as the chief lay
+spokesman of his party, and the chief lay adviser of successive
+Lieutenant-Governors. His name was John Beverley Robinson, and his
+destiny was doubtless sufficiently clear before him on this 20th of
+August, 1819. He had strong claims upon his party, for he was the son of
+a United Empire Loyalist, and during the late war with the United States
+had proved that he was no degenerate scion of the stock whence he had
+sprung. He had been present at the surrender of Detroit, and had borne
+himself gallantly at the battle of Queenston Heights. Nor had his party
+shown any disposition to ignore his claims. On the contrary, they had
+pushed him forward with a rapidity which would have turned any head with
+a natural tendency to giddiness. He had been appointed Attorney-General
+of the Province before he had been called to the bar, and when he was
+only twenty-one years of age--a special Act of Parliament being
+subsequently passed to confirm the proceeding. In 1815 he had been
+appointed Solicitor-General, chiefly in order that he might draw the
+salary incidental to that office during a two years' visit to England.
+Soon after his return he had again been appointed Attorney-General, and
+had early signalized his re-accession to office by his manner of
+prosecuting certain criminals from the Red River country, who had been
+placed on trial at York. Those proceedings do not fall within the
+purview of this work, but it may be said with reference to the young
+Attorney-General's connection with them that he had proved himself an
+exceedingly narrow partisan and a docile pupil of Dr. Strachan. He now
+presented himself to take a leading part in one of the most shameless
+and iniquitous prosecutions that ever disgraced a court of justice. His
+personal appearance was decidedly prepossessing. His figure, clad in
+well-fitting garments of the fashionable cut of the period, was light,
+agile and compact, and his face, rather inclining to narrowness, was
+surmounted by a high and smoothly-finished brow, beneath which looked
+out a pair of steel-grey eyes, the usual expression of which was eager
+and firm, but on the whole not unkindly. His mouth was finely formed,
+and when he was in a pleasant humour--as indeed he not infrequently
+was--his smile was sweet and ingratiating. In intellectual capacity he
+was considerably in advance of most of his professional brethren of that
+day, and he had cultivated his natural abilities by constant
+watchfulness and study. His features, one and all, were well and sharply
+defined, and he was probably the handsomest man at the Provincial bar.
+
+Several other members of the legal profession, all of them more or less
+widely known in the forensic, judicial or political annals of the
+Province, were present. Conspicuous among them was the brilliant but
+unscrupulous Christoper Alexander Hagerman, who had already taken high
+rank at the bar, and was destined to be one of the most active and
+intolerant directors of the oligarchical policy. Archibald McLean, tall
+and lithe of limb, had then been more than four years at the bar, and he
+had already given evidence of the high abilities which were to gain for
+him an honoured seat upon the judicial bench. He had been retained to
+defend two prisoners at the Niagara assizes, and his presence in the
+court-room was due to this fact. Another figure at the barristers' table
+was Samuel Peters Jarvis, his hands yet red with the blood of young John
+Ridout, ruthlessly shed by him in a duel two years before, and never to
+be effaced from the tablets of his memory. There, too, sat Henry John
+Boulton, a young man of much pretension but mediocre intellect, who had
+been appointed acting Solicitor-General during the previous year, and
+who united in his own person all the bigotry and narrow selfishness of
+the faction to which he belonged. He, also, had been concerned in the
+shedding of young Ridout's blood, having acted as second to the
+surviving principal in that affair. With this exception his past life
+had been uneventful, but his future was fated to be marked by
+considerable variety of incident, and by actions which even the most
+favourable judgment cannot regard with unmixed complacency.
+
+The twelve jurymen sat in their places, in the jury-box to the left of
+the judge. The witnesses summoned on behalf of the Crown were the
+Honourable William Dickson and the Honourable William Claus, both of
+whom were members of the Legislative Council of Upper Canada. The former
+gentleman was an enterprising Scotchman who had settled in Niagara while
+it was yet known as Newark, where he had first kept a general store, and
+afterwards practised law and speculation with great pecuniary success.
+Like the Jarvis above mentioned, he was disfigured by a red right hand,
+having shot his man in a duel fought in the autumn of 1808 behind the
+United States fort on the opposite bank of the river. It is fair to Mr.
+Dickson, however, to say that he was the challenged party, and that the
+duel was in a measure forced upon him by the barbarous usages of society
+in those (happily) far-off days. The other witness, Mr. Claus, was at
+the head of the Indian department at Niagara, the abuses in the
+administration whereof were notorious. It was well understood throughout
+the district that Dickson and Claus between them had contrived to make a
+tolerably good thing out of the Indians, and that they had been
+concerned in some decidedly shady transactions. If it be true that
+Heaven helps those who help themselves, certainly both those gentlemen
+were entitled to look for divine assistance. They possessed and
+exercised a wide influence throughout the settlements in the Niagara
+peninsula, as well as at the Provincial capital, and were commonly
+regarded as being on the high road to great wealth. Two years before the
+date of the trial forming the subject of the present chapter, Dickson
+had purchased the whole of the splendid township of Dumfries, comprising
+94,305 acres, at a trifle over a dollar an acre; and he had already
+begun to realize upon his investment. Claus and he occupied seats at the
+barristers' table, in close proximity to the Attorney-General. The
+spectators included pretty nearly every prominent resident of the town
+of Niagara and its immediate neighbourhood.
+
+But the most conspicuous figure in that crowded court-room yet remains
+to be considered. It has been mentioned that the prisoners' dock was
+large enough to hold five or six persons. On this occasion it held but
+a single, solitary prisoner. A man large and bony, who, when in his
+ordinary state of health, must have weighed not less than fifteen stone.
+Just at present he was very far from being in ordinary health, for
+during the preceding twelvemonth he had undergone sufficient worry and
+suffering to destroy the life of any man of average vitality. After
+having successfully defended himself through two criminal trials, he had
+been cast into prison, where he had languished for more than seven
+months. During his long confinement he had been subjected to a course of
+treatment which would have been highly culpable if meted out to a
+convicted criminal, and which was marked by a malignant cruelty hardly
+to be comprehended when the nature of the offence charged against him is
+considered. His own account of the matter is a plain and simple
+narration of facts, the truth whereof rests upon the clearest and most
+indisputable evidence. "After two months' close confinement," he writes,
+"in one of the cells of the jail, my health had begun to suffer, and, on
+complaint of this, the liberty of walking through the passages and
+sitting at the door was granted. This liberty prevented my getting worse
+the four succeeding months, although I never enjoyed a day's health, but
+by the power of medicine. At the end of this period I was again locked
+up in the cell, cut off from all conversation with my friends, but
+through a hole in the door, while the jailor or under-sheriff watched
+what was said, and for some time both my attorney and magistrates of my
+acquaintance were denied admission to me. The quarter sessions were held
+soon after this severe and unconstitutional treatment commenced, and on
+these occasions it was the custom and duty of the grand jury to
+perambulate the jail, and see that all was right with the prisoners. I
+prepared a memorial for their consideration, but on this occasion was
+not visited. I complained to a magistrate through the door, who promised
+to mention my case to the chairman of the sessions, but the chairman
+happened to be brother of one of those who had signed my commitment, and
+the court broke up without my obtaining the smallest relief.
+Exasperation of mind, now joined to the heat of the weather, which was
+excessive, rapidly wasted my health and impaired my faculties. I felt my
+memory sensibly affected, and could not connect my ideas through any
+length of reasoning, but by writing, which many days I was wholly
+unfitted for by the violence of continual headache."
+
+There is a pathos about this plain, unvarnished story that appeals to
+every heart. That a man, no matter what his crimes, should have his
+nervous system thus cruelly undermined; that his physical and mental
+faculties should be slowly but surely filched from him in this
+deliberate fashion, is an idea not to be borne with composure by anyone
+whose breast is susceptible to human impulses. But Robert Gourlay was no
+great criminal. He had engaged in no plot to blow up King, Lords and
+Commons. He had been guilty of no treason or felony. He had threatened
+no man's life, and taken no man's purse upon the highway. He was by no
+means the stuff of which great criminals are made. He was not even a
+vicious or immoral man. He was an affectionate husband, a fond and
+indulgent father. His story, from beginning to end, even when subjected
+to the fiercest light that can be thrown upon it, discloses nothing
+cruel or revengeful, nothing vile or outrageously wicked, nothing
+grovelling or base, nothing sordid or mean. On the other hand, it
+discloses a man of many noble and generous impulses; a man with a great
+heart in his bosom which could warmly sympathize with the wrongs of his
+fellow-creatures; a man in whom was no selfishness or greed; a man of
+decided principles and stainless morals; who was incapable of dishonesty
+or cruelty; who had a high sense of human responsibility; who feared his
+God and honoured his King. When we compare his virtuous and honourable,
+albeit turbulent and much misguided life, with that of any one of his
+immediate persecutors, the contrast is mournfully suggestive of Mr.
+Lowell's antithesis about
+
+    "Truth forever on the scaffold; wrong forever on the throne."
+
+To what, then, was his long and bitter persecution to be attributed? Why
+had he been deprived of his liberty; thrust into a dark and unwholesome
+dungeon; refused the benefit of the Habeas Corpus Act; denied his
+enlargement upon bail or main-prize; branded as a malefactor of the most
+dangerous kind; badgered and tortured to the ruin of his health and his
+reason? Merely this: he had imbibed, in advance, the spirit of Mr.
+Arthur Clennam, and had "wanted to know."[2] He had displayed a
+persistent determination to let in the light of day upon the iniquities
+and rascalities of public officials. He had denounced the system of
+patronage and favouritism in the disposal of the Crown Lands. He had
+inveighed against some of the human bloodsuckers of that day, in
+language which certainly was not gracious or parliamentary, but which as
+certainly was both forcible and true. He had even ventured to speak in
+contumelious terms of the reverend Rector of York himself, whom he had
+stigmatized as "a lying little fool of a renegade Presbyterian." Nay, he
+had advised the sending of commissioners to England to entreat Imperial
+attention to colonial grievances. He had been the one man in Upper
+Canada possessed of sufficient courage to do and to dare: to lift the
+thin and flimsy veil which only half concealed the corruption whereby a
+score of greedy vampires were rapidly enriching themselves at the public
+cost. He had dared to hold up to general inspection the baneful effects
+of an irresponsible Executive, and of a dominating clique whose one hope
+lay in preserving the existing order of things undisturbed. It was for
+this that the Inquisition had wreaked its vengeance upon him; for this
+that the vials of Executive wrath had been poured upon his head; for
+this that his body had been subjugated and his nerves lacerated by more
+than seven months' close imprisonment; for this that he had been "ruined
+in his fortune and overwhelmed in his mind." And all these things took
+place in "this Canada of ours," in the year of grace eighteen hundred
+and nineteen--barely sixty-six years ago--while the Duke of Richmond was
+Governor-General, and his handsome scapegrace of a son-in-law nominally
+administered the government of the Upper Province.
+
+With a view to a clearer understanding of the circumstances which led to
+this most villainous of Canadian State prosecutions, it will be well to
+glance at some details of the prisoner's past life.[3]
+
+Robert Gourlay was the son of a gentleman of considerable fortune--a
+retired Writer to the Signet--and was born in the parish of Ceres,
+Fifeshire, Scotland, in 1778. He received an education suitable to his
+social position, and while at the University of St. Andrews was the
+fellow-student and personal friend of young Thomas Chalmers, who
+afterwards became one of the most eloquent pulpit orators of modern
+times.[4] Robert was the eldest son of his parents, and, being heir to
+the paternal estates, he grew up to manhood with the expectation of one
+day succeeding to wealth and station in society. He was put to no
+profession, and after leaving college, devoted himself to no settled
+pursuit. He was on visiting terms with the resident gentry of his native
+shire, and took some interest in local military matters. In 1806 he
+offered to take charge of an expedition for the invasion of Paris, being
+probably impelled thereto by the mad attempt of Lord Camelford several
+years before. He was full of energy and robust health, bountiful and
+generous to the poor of the parish, a practical philanthropist,
+possessed of great intelligence and a genuine love for his kind; but
+withal somewhat flighty and erratic, of impetuous temper, deficient in
+tact and discretion, and given to revery and theorizing. He was, in
+short, a bundle of contradictions, some of his idiosyncrasies being
+doubtless inherited from his father, who was a generous and high-minded
+but unpractical man. The sire would seem to have been conscious of his
+son's weaknesses. "Robert," he was wont to say, "will hurt himself, but
+do good to others." The son studied deeply the economical side of the
+pauper question, and his researches in this direction brought him into
+intimate relations with that eminent writer Mr. Arthur Young,[5] at
+whose suggestion he was appointed to conduct an inquiry into the
+condition of the poor in England. By virtue of this appointment he
+travelled, chiefly on foot, through the most important agricultural
+districts of the island, after which he was pronounced by competent
+authorities to be the best-informed man in the kingdom respecting the
+poor of Great Britain. As I have said elsewhere: "He was consulted by
+members of Parliament, political economists, parish overseers, and even
+by members of the Cabinet, as to the best means for reforming the poor
+laws, and was always ready to spend himself and his substance for the
+public good."[6]
+
+Having married and settled down on one of his father's estates, he took
+upon himself various offices of public usefulness and philanthropy. His
+enterprise and public spirit caused him to be much looked up to by the
+yeomanry of Fifeshire, and he soon came to be recognized as the special
+champion of the smaller tenantry at agricultural meetings. At one of
+these meetings he conceived himself to have been discourteously treated
+by his neighbour, the Earl of Kellie. The discourtesy does not seem to
+have been of a serious nature, but Mr. Gourlay became irritated to a
+degree altogether disproportionate to the offence. He wrote and
+published a pamphlet, in which Lord Kellie was handled with much
+severity. It was circulated by the author throughout Fifeshire, and
+widely read; and from this time forward he was much given to taking the
+public into his confidence respecting his personal grievances. His
+attack on Lord Kellie, however, weakened his popularity, and in 1809,
+partly owing to this cause, and partly to his being in temporary
+ill-health, he accepted a proposal from the Duke of Somerset to become
+the tenant of a farm belonging to his Grace, and situated in the parish
+of Wily, in Wiltshire. For a time all went well with him in his new
+abode. His farm was a model for the emulation of all the landholders in
+the parish, and his products gained prize after prize at successive
+agricultural exhibitions. But Mr. Gourlay was nothing if not critical,
+and certain of his surroundings afforded legitimate grounds for
+fault-finding. There were many and serious defects in the system of
+administering the poor-laws of Great Britain in those days, and the
+administration in the parish of Wily was attended by some specially
+objectionable features. These erelong became painfully apparent to the
+keen eyes of Mr. Gourlay, who began to agitate for a reform. He went
+into the matter with characteristic earnestness, and, by dint of
+constant speechifying and weekly letters addressed to the local
+newspapers, he soon began to produce an impression. His appetite for
+agitation grew by what it fed upon, insomuch that he became a confirmed
+grievance-monger and hunter-up of abuses. The magnates of the county
+began to look coldly upon him, and even, in some instances, to array
+themselves in open opposition to him. This only tended still further to
+arouse the native pugnacity of his disposition, and his attacks upon
+local abuses and those who upheld them became more and more violent.
+Now, in all this there can be no doubt that Mr. Gourlay was from first
+to last chiefly actuated by genuine philanthropy. He certainly had no
+selfish or pecuniary purpose to serve; and indeed it is hard to conceive
+of a man less influenced by mercenary motives. His life was passed in a
+perpetual war against veritable and undoubted evils; but unfortunately
+his hotheadedness and want of tact prevented him from doing justice to
+himself and his views. He lacked the calm intellect and patient temper
+necessary to the successful fighting of life's stern battle, and had the
+unhappy faculty of generally putting himself in the wrong, even when
+there could be no doubt that he had originally been in the right. Some
+of his letters to the newspapers were remarkable for nothing but their
+indiscretion, violence and bad taste, and he came to be looked upon by
+the landlords of Wiltshire as a visionary and dangerous man. His own
+landlord, the Duke of Somerset, was of this way of thinking, and after
+some remonstrances at second-hand which proved unavailing, his Grace
+resolved that this "pestilent Scotchman" must be got rid of. A bill in
+Chancery was filed against him on some pretext or other, with the view
+of putting an end to his tenancy. Years of irritating and ruinous
+litigation followed, the ultimate result of which was a decision in Mr.
+Gourlay's favour. But it was the old story of _Jarndyce_ v. _Jarndyce_.
+The protracted litigation had eaten up the substance of the successful
+litigant, and upon the promulgation of the decree the Wiltshire Radical
+was a ruined man. This would have been a matter of secondary importance
+to the heir of a wealthy Fifeshire laird, but unhappily his father had
+also come to the end of his resources. Injudicious speculation and the
+mismanagement of an agent, combined with the necessity of placing a
+large quantity of real estate in the market at an inauspicious time,
+were the causes which led to the bankruptcy of the elder Gourlay, who
+was stripped of his great possessions and left with a bare subsistence.
+The son's prospects of inheriting a fortune were thus at an end, and at
+thirty-seven years of age he found himself almost wholly without means,
+and with a family of five children and a wife in delicate health
+dependent upon him for support. The howl of the wolf began to be audible
+to him; distant, as yet, but still gradually drawing nearer. To his
+mind, a change of the base of his operations was clearly indicated.
+
+Five years before this time he had acquired a block of land in the
+Township of Dereham, in the County of Oxford, Upper Canada, where his
+wife also owned some property. He now began to cast his eyes anxiously
+towards the setting sun, with a view to the rehabilitation of his broken
+fortunes. After weighing the matter carefully, he resolved to cross the
+Atlantic and pay a visit to Canada, in order to ascertain whether it
+would be prudent to remove his family thither. He seems to have been
+very deliberate about making up his mind, as he did not set sail from
+Liverpool until the month of April, 1817, and did not reach Canada until
+early in June. The country delighted him, more especially the Upper
+Province; but one with so keen an eye for abuses had not far to look
+throughout our fair land in those days for subjects of criticism. Having
+made himself acquainted with some of the most glaring iniquities of the
+ruling faction, and with the various causes which tended to retard the
+progress of the colony, he began to liberate his mind by written and
+spoken utterances such as had not theretofore been heard in the
+Province. The effect of these appeals to popular sentiment was soon
+apparent. People who had long smarted silently under injustice did not
+hesitate to make known their discontent. The disturber of the public
+tranquillity continued to speak and write, and he made his presence felt
+more and more from month to month. Having resolved to engage in business
+as a land agent, and to set on foot a huge scheme of immigration to
+Canada from Great Britain, he went diligently to work to gather specific
+and definite information, and to attack one abuse after another. He
+travelled about the country hither and thither, addressed public
+meetings, and wrote letters to all the papers that would publish his
+animadversions. He was in deadly earnest, and put all the energy of his
+impassioned nature into his appeals. In commenting upon the
+delinquencies of public officials he did not mince matters, though I
+search in vain throughout his voluminous writings for any evidence that
+he was ever guilty of a misstatement, or even an exaggeration. He
+regaled his readers and hearers with indubitable facts--facts which, for
+the most part, were easily susceptible of proof, and which were
+eminently calculated to arouse public indignation against the harpies
+who reaped where they had sowed not, and who gathered where they had not
+strawed.
+
+These proceedings, as may readily be believed, rendered him
+inexpressibly obnoxious to the Executive, and to the horde of myrmidons
+who held office at their sufferance. But the cup of his transgressions
+was not yet full. His next proceeding filled it to overflowing. He
+addressed a series of thirty-one printed questions to prominent persons
+in different parts of the Province, asking for topographical and other
+information. The thirty-first question was so framed that, if truthfully
+replied to, it was certain to elicit facts which would form the
+groundwork of damnifying strictures on the principal abuses of the time.
+"What, in your opinion," asked Mr. Gourlay, "retards the improvement of
+your township in particular, or the Province in general?" Throughout the
+Home District the influence of the Compact was sufficient to prevent any
+replies from being returned to these queries. Elsewhere that influence
+was partial only, and many answers were received from other districts.
+The all but invariable reply to the thirty-first question attributed the
+slow development of the country to the Crown and Clergy Reserves. Mr.
+Gourlay did not attempt to conceal his intention of publishing the
+results of his investigations, and of circulating them all over Great
+Britain and Ireland. Having succeeded in arousing a good deal of popular
+enthusiasm, he proceeded to strike what he intended to be another
+damaging blow. Owing to his exertions, a convention was held at York,
+whereat he advocated a petition to the Imperial Parliament, praying for
+an investigation into the public affairs of Upper Canada. He also
+suggested the sending of deputies to England in support of the petition,
+and it is not improbable that such a course would eventually have been
+followed, but the petitioners were as yet not fully organized, and
+before any of their plans could be brought to maturity their champion's
+career of agitation received a sudden and, for the time, an effectual
+check.
+
+The oligarchs had taken alarm. If this man were permitted to go on as he
+had begun, there would soon be an end of the existing order of things,
+which they had so tremendous an interest in preserving. At any cost, and
+by whatever means, he must be suppressed. There must be a general and
+determined advance against him all along the line.
+
+The prime organizer of this most unrighteous crusade is believed to have
+been the Reverend Dr. John Strachan, Rector of York, member of the
+Executive Council, supreme director of the lay and ecclesiastical policy
+of the Church of England in Upper Canada, champion of the Clergy
+Reserves, and what not. It may seem a thankless task to write in strong
+depreciation of a man who, in his day and generation, was looked up to
+with reverence by a large and influential portion of the community, and
+whose memory is still warmly cherished by not a few. But truth is truth,
+and the simple fact of the matter is that Dr. Strachan did more to
+stifle freedom and retard progress in Upper Canada than any other man
+whose name figures in our history. His baneful influence made itself
+felt, directly or indirectly, in every one of the public offices.
+Wherever liberty of thought and expression, whether as affecting things
+spiritual or temporal, ventured to lift its head, there, bludgeon in
+hand, stood the great Protestant Pope, ready and eager to strike. It may
+perhaps be conceded that he acted according to his earnest convictions.
+So, doubtless, did Philip of Spain and Tomas de Torquemada. It is not
+going too far to say that Dr. Strachan was utterly incapable of seeing
+more than one side of any question involving the interests of himself
+and his church. When his cause was a just one, who so fond as he of
+appealing to the majesty of the law. When he wished to pervert the law
+to his own purposes, who so apt at enjoining a disregard therefor.[7]
+There is abundant reason for believing that he was the original
+instigator of the Gourlay prosecutions. They were at all events carried
+on by his satellites, and fostered by his fullest concurrence and
+approval. Their object was to drive Mr. Gourlay out of the country, and
+to this end it would appear that the Compact were prepared to go
+whatever lengths the necessities of the case might require. A criminal
+prosecution for libel was set on foot against the doomed victim of
+Executive malevolence, who was arrested and thrown into jail at
+Kingston, where he lay for some days. The trial took place on the 15th
+of August, 1818, when Mr. Attorney-General Robinson put forth the utmost
+power of his eloquence to secure a conviction. In vain. The prisoner
+conducted his own defence, and so clearly exposed the flimsiness of the
+indictment that the prosecution utterly failed. A second arrest on a
+similar charge resulted in another acquittal at Brockville. It was by
+this time manifest that no jury could be found subservient enough to
+become blind instruments of oppression. The alleged libel consisted of
+two paragraphs in a petition to the Prince Regent, drafted by Mr.
+Gourlay, approved of, printed and published by sixteen residents of
+Niagara District, six of whom were magistrates. These paragraphs
+contained a vivid but faithful picture of the abuses existing in the
+Crown Lands Department, and it would probably have been difficult to
+find a jury anywhere in Upper Canada, some members whereof had not had
+personal experience of those abuses. Having failed in two attempts to
+convict him of libel, Mr. Gourlay's foes hit on another and more
+effectual method of accomplishing his destruction.
+
+By a Provincial statute known as the Alien Act, passed in 1804,
+authority was given to certain officials to issue a warrant for the
+arrest of any person not having been an inhabitant of the Province for
+the preceding six months, who had not taken the oath of allegiance, and
+who had given reason for suspicion that he was "about to endeavour to
+alienate the minds of His Majesty's subjects of this Province from his
+person or government, or in anywise with a seditious intent to disturb
+the tranquillity thereof." In case the person so arrested failed to
+prove his innocence, he might be notified to depart this Province within
+a specified time, and if he failed so to depart he was liable to be
+imprisoned until he could be formally tried at the general jail
+delivery. If found guilty, upon trial, he was to be adjudged by the
+court to quit the Province, and if he still proved contumacious he was
+to be deemed guilty of felony, and to suffer death as a felon, without
+benefit of clergy. This statute, be it observed, was not passed at
+Westminster during the supremacy of the Plantagenets or the Tudors, but
+at York, Upper Canada, during the forty-fourth year of the reign of
+George the Third. More than one eminent authority has pronounced it an
+unconstitutional measure. There was, however, some show of justification
+for it at the time of its enactment, for the Province was then overrun
+by disloyal immigrants from Ireland and by republican immigrants from
+across the borders, many of whom tried to stir up discontent among the
+people, and were notoriously in favour of annexation to the United
+States.[8] It was against such persons that the Act had been levelled,
+and there had never been any question of attempting to apply it to
+anyone else. Now, however, it was pressed into requisition in order to
+compass the ruin of as loyal a subject as could have been found
+throughout the wide expanse of the British Empire; who had resided in
+Upper Canada for a continuous period of nearly eighteen months; who was
+no more an alien than the King upon the throne; and whose only real
+offence was that he would not stand calmly by while rapacious and
+dishonest placemen carried on their nefarious practices without protest.
+
+Among the various dignitaries authorized to put the law in motion, by
+the issue of a warrant under the Act, were the members of the
+Legislative and Executive Councils. William Dickson and William Claus,
+as has been seen, were members of the former body; and as such they had
+power over the liberty of anyone whose loyalty they thought fit to call
+in question. Dickson was a connection by marriage of Mr. Gourlay, and
+for some months after that gentleman's arrival in this Province had gone
+heart and hand with him in his schemes of reform. For Mr. Dickson then
+had a grievance of his own, arising out of the partial interdict of
+immigration from the United States which had been adopted after the War
+of 1812-15. He was the owner of an immense quantity of uncultivated
+land in the Province, including the township of Dumfries already
+mentioned, which he was desirous of selling to incoming settlers. The
+shutting out of United States immigrants tended to retard the progress
+of settlement and the sale of his property. His anger against the
+Administration had been hot and bitter, and he had even gone so far as
+to state publicly that he would rather live under the American than
+under the British Government. But he had managed to induce the Assembly
+to pass certain resolutions, recognizing the right of subjects of the
+United States to settle in Upper Canada. The restrictions being relaxed,
+his only cause of hostility to the Administration vanished, and he
+ceased to clamour against it. His sympathy with Mr. Gourlay's projects
+vanished into thin air. Those projects contemplated enquiry and reform.
+Dickson, having accomplished his own ends, desired no further reform;
+and as for enquiry, he had excellent reasons for burking it, as it would
+probably lead to the disclosure of certain reprehensible transactions on
+the part of himself and Claus, the Indian agent. He therefore presented
+a sudden change of front, and, so far from continuing to act with Mr.
+Gourlay, he became that unfortunate man's bitterest foe.
+
+How far Dickson's enmity was stimulated by cooeperation with the leaders
+of the Compact party at York will probably never be known. That there
+was something more than a merely tacit understanding that Mr. Gourlay
+was to be got rid of is beyond question. But before any arrest could be
+effected under the Act of 1804 it was necessary that perjured testimony
+should be forthcoming. It was easily provided. On the 18th of December,
+1818, a secret consultation took place between Dickson and one Isaac
+Swayze, at the former's private abode. Swayze was a resident of the
+Niagara District, and the representative of the Fourth Riding of Lincoln
+in the Legislative Assembly, but was nevertheless a man of indifferent
+character, and so illiterate as to be barely able to write his name.
+During the Revolutionary War he had been a spy and "horse-provider" to
+the loyalist troops. More recently he had been chiefly known as one of
+the most bigoted and unprincipled of the Compact's minor satellites; a
+hanger-on who was ever ready to undertake any disreputable work which
+the Executive might have for him to do. He was a smooth-tongued
+hypocrite, who made extravagant professions of zeal for religion when he
+was in the society of religious people, but afterwards laughed at their
+credulity for believing him. "When electioneering," said he, "I pray
+with the Methodists." At other times he gained votes by threatening to
+bring down upon the electors the vengeance of the Executive, who, he
+averred, were specially desirous of having his services in the Assembly.
+Corruption can always find apt tools to do its bidding.
+
+   "Where'er down Tiber garbage floats, the greedy pike ye see;
+   And wheresoe'er such lord is found, such client still will be."
+
+Isaac Swayze was a veritable modern counterpart of the client Marcus,
+and when he gained votes by holding his patrons _in terrorem_ over the
+heads of the electors, he was merely echoing his ancient prototype:--
+
+   "I wait on Appius Claudius, I waited on his sire;
+   Let him who works the client wrong beware the patron's ire."
+
+His employers knew their man, and that he would not stick at a trifle to
+keep their favour. On the day after his secret interview with Dickson he
+proved his subordination to authority by committing wilful and
+deliberate perjury. He swore that Mr. Gourlay was an evil-minded and
+seditious person, who was endeavouring to raise a rebellion against the
+government of Upper Canada; that he, deponent, verily believed that said
+Gourlay had not been an inhabitant of the Province for six months, and
+had not taken the oath of allegiance.[9]
+
+On the strength of this sworn statement, Mr. Gourlay was arrested under
+the Alien Act of 1804, and carried before Dickson and Claus, both of
+whom were specially and personally interested in putting him to silence.
+The examination and hearing before them, which took place on the 21st of
+December, was a transparent mockery of justice. Dickson, Claus and
+Swayze, in common with nearly every one in Upper Canada, well knew that
+their victim had been resident in the Province for nearly three times
+the period specified in the Act. Dickson had been in constant and
+familiar intercourse with him for sixteen months. Claus had known him
+nearly as long. Swayze had conversed with him at York more than a year
+before, and had been acquainted with his proceedings from month to
+month--almost from week to week--during the entire interval. The charge
+of being an evil-minded and seditious person was too absurd to be
+seriously entertained for a moment by any one who knew Mr. Gourlay as
+intimately as Dickson had done for more than eight years.[10] As for his
+not having taken the oath of allegiance, it had never been required of
+him, and he was both able and willing to take it with a clear and honest
+conscience. But as matter of fact no one suspected his loyalty, and the
+charge against him was the veriest pretext that malice could invent.
+When he appeared before his judges, however, Messieurs Dickson and Claus
+professed to be dissatisfied with his defence, and alleged that his
+"words, actions, conduct and behaviour" had been such as to promote
+disaffection. They accordingly adjudged that he should leave the
+Province within ten days. A written order, signed by them, enjoining his
+departure, was delivered to him. "To have obeyed this order," writes Mr.
+Gourlay,[11] "would have proved ruinous to the business for which, at
+great expense, and with much trouble, I had qualified myself. It would
+have been a tacit acknowledgment of guilt, whereof I was unconscious. It
+would have been a surrender of the noblest British right; it would have
+been holding light my natural allegiance; it would have been a
+declaration that the Bill of Rights was a Bill of Wrongs. I resolved to
+endure any hardship rather than to submit voluntarily."
+
+He paid a heavy penalty for his disobedience. On the 4th of January,
+1819--the third day after the expiration of the period allowed him for
+departure--Dickson and Claus issued an order of commitment, under which
+he was arrested and lodged in Niagara jail, there to remain until the
+next sitting of the Court of Oyer and Terminer. His pugnacity was by
+this time fully aroused, and he determined to fight his ground inch by
+inch. After some delay, he caused himself to be taken before Chief
+Justice Powell, at York, under a writ of _habeas corpus_, for the
+purpose of being either discharged from custody or admitted to bail. The
+argument was heard on the 8th of February, when several persons of
+wealth and good social position presented themselves, and offered to
+become responsible to any amount for his appearance whenever called upon
+to stand his trial. The attorney who argued the cause on behalf of the
+prisoner presented three affidavits, made respectively by the Honourable
+Robert Hamilton, Peter Hamilton, and the prisoner himself, who, in order
+to render his position doubly unassailable, had meanwhile taken the oath
+of allegiance. In the first affidavit it was deposed that Mr. Gourlay
+had been domiciliated at Queenston for more than nine months, and that
+the deponent verily believed him to be a natural-born subject of Great
+Britain. By the second it appeared that deponent had known Mr. Gourlay
+in Britain, where he was respected, esteemed, and taken to be a British
+subject; "and that he is so"--thus ran the affidavit--"this deponent
+verily believes is notoriously true in this district." The prisoner's
+own affidavit set forth that he was a British subject; that he had taken
+the oath of allegiance, and that he had been an inhabitant of Upper
+Canada for more than a year prior to the date of the warrant first
+issued against him. There could hardly have been a clearer case. But the
+prisoner's enlargement at this time would have been a triumph for him,
+and would have made him a popular idol, which would not have comported
+with the policy of the Unholy Inquisition at the capital. He was
+remanded to jail, the Chief Justice indorsing judgment on the writ to
+the effect that the warrant of commitment appeared to be regular, and
+that the Act under which it was issued made no provision for bail or
+main-prize.
+
+When Mr. Gourlay was first placed in durance at Niagara he was possessed
+of robust health, a vigorous frame, a seemingly unconquerable will, and
+a perfervid enthusiasm for the cause of truth and justice. But his
+sufferings during the ensuing six months were of a nature well
+calculated to sap the health of the most robust, to rack the frame of an
+athlete, to tame the wildest enthusiasm, and to subjugate the strongest
+will. When we read of what the gentle and erudite John Fisher or the
+eloquent and upright Sir John Eliot underwent in the Tower for
+conscience sake, the heart's blood within us is stirred with righteous
+indignation. But we are calmed by the reflection that these things took
+place centuries ago, and in a far-distant country. In the case of Robert
+Gourlay we can lay no such flattering unction to our souls. His slow
+crucifixion was accomplished in our own land, and at a time well
+remembered by many persons now living among us. Some idea of what he
+passed through may be derived from his own words already quoted. Further
+light on the subject may be obtained from noting his demeanour when
+placed on trial, as the reader will presently have an opportunity of
+doing.
+
+For some months after his incarceration his fine state of health and
+exuberant animal spirits kept him from utterly breaking down. His whole
+nature was up in arms at the wrongs he had sustained, and his pugnacity
+asserted itself as far as his circumstances would admit of. He obtained
+the opinions of eminent English lawyers as to the legal aspect of his
+case. The unanimous opinion of counsel was that his imprisonment was
+wholly unjustifiable. Sir Arthur Piggott was clear that Chief Justice
+Powell should have discharged the prisoner when brought before him under
+the writ of _habeas corpus_, and that Dickson and Claus were liable to
+actions for false imprisonment. This opinion was acted upon, and
+proceedings were instituted against the two last-named personages. But
+the contest was too unequal. Each of the defendants obtained an order
+for security for costs, which security the plaintiff, being in
+confinement, and subject to various disabilities, was unable to furnish.
+The actions accordingly lapsed, and Dickson and Claus thus escaped all
+civil liability for their most reprehensible deeds.
+
+The thread of the narrative may now be resumed pretty nearly where it
+was dropped a few pages back. It was, as has been said, the 20th of
+August--nearly a year subsequent to the Kingston trial[12]--when the
+prisoner was finally placed in the dock to undergo the semblance,
+without the reality, of a judicial investigation into his conduct. He
+was himself firmly persuaded that the jury empanelled in his case was a
+packed one. We have no means of knowing all the circumstances whereby he
+was led to this conclusion, but the idea is not in itself inherently
+improbable. In those days, and for long after, no man tried in Upper
+Canada for anything savouring of radicalism in politics could hope to
+receive fair play. In Gourlay's case there were one or two suspicious
+features which, to say the least, require explanation. The custom
+ordinarily adopted by the sheriff, in selecting jurymen, was to draw
+them in rotation from the various townships in the district. "In my
+case," says Mr. Gourlay, "it was said that he had varied his course; and
+not this only, but, instead of drawing from a square space of country,
+he chose a line of nearly twenty miles, along which it was well known
+that there were the greatest number of people prejudiced and influenced
+against me."[13] Mr. Gourlay further declares that it was observed by
+people in court that in the glass containing the folded transcripts from
+the jury-list some of the folded papers were distinctly set apart, so as
+to admit of their being drawn, apparently with fairness, in the ordinary
+manner. These papers so set apart from the rest, as Mr. Gourlay informs
+his readers, were "caught hold of" as the twelve which should decide his
+fate. The names of the jurors, which, so far as I am aware, have not
+hitherto appeared in print, are worthy of preservation. They were
+William Pew, John Grier, William Servos, James B. Jones, Ralfe M. Long,
+David Bastedo, John C. Ball, John Milton, James Lundy, William Powers,
+Peter M. Ball and John Holmes.
+
+The personal appearance of the prisoner had undergone a woful change
+during his confinement. Had his own wife seen him at that moment it is
+doubtful whether she would have recognized her lord. Could it be
+possible that that frail, tottering, wasted form, and that blanched,
+sunken-eyed, imbecile-looking countenance were all that were left of the
+once formidable Robert Gourlay? The sight was one which might have moved
+his bitterest enemy to tears. His clothing, a world too wide for so
+shrunken a tenant, hung sloppy and slovenly about him, and it was
+remarked by a spectator that he had aged fully ten years during the six
+months that had elapsed since his journey to York in the previous
+February. His limbs seemed too weak to support him where he stood, and
+as he leaned with his hands upon the rail in front of him his fingers
+twitched nervously, while his whole frame visibly trembled. The saddest
+change of all had been wrought in his once fine eyes. They were of light
+grey, and their ordinary expression had been more sharp and piercing
+than is commonly found in eyes of that colour. They had been clear and
+keen, and expressive of an active, vigorous brain behind them. At
+present they were wandering, weak and watery, altogether lacking in
+lustre or expression. They told their sad tale with piteous brevity. The
+brain was active and vigorous no longer, or, if still active, was so to
+no definite purpose. The spark of reason was for the time quenched
+within him. His oratory and his writings were no longer to be dreaded.
+The man whose large presence had once carried about with it unmistakable
+evidences of physical and mental power had been reduced to a physical
+and mental wreck. No man in that closely-packed court-room was now more
+harmless than he. The Compact had indeed set an indelible mark upon
+him--a mark which he was to carry to his grave, for during the
+forty-four years of life that remained to him he was never again the
+Robert Gourlay of old, and was subject to periodical seasons of mental
+aberration.
+
+And yet, as he stood there trembling and distraught, with that sea of
+faces turned upon him, he was not altogether without some glimmering of
+reason. He was at least passively conscious, like one in a troubled
+dream, of what was going on around him. He realized, in a misty, dazed
+sort of fashion that he was on his trial; but, cudgel his memory how he
+would, he could not recall the nature of his alleged offence. The fact
+is that, though no stimulant had passed his lips, he was in a state that
+can only be characterized as one of intoxication. We know, on undoubted
+authority, that very emotional persons are sometimes intoxicated by a
+plate of soup, and that invalids have become tipsy upon eating their
+first beefsteak after convalescence. Mr. Gourlay was endowed with an
+enthusiastic, exuberant nature, which required to be kept in subjection
+by abundant exercise. Up to the time of his imprisonment he had led an
+active out-of-door life, whereby the demon of nervousness within him had
+been kept at bay. But long-continued confinement in a close cell,
+deprivation of fresh air and suitable exercise, had hindered his
+exuberance from finding vent. His mind had been thrown back upon
+itself. He had not been permitted to confer with his friends, except
+under such restrictions as made converse intolerable. He had been kept
+in such a state of nervous tension that he had had no appetite, and had
+eaten scarcely any food. His sleep had been broken by mental discomfort,
+and he had sometimes lain the whole night through without a minute's
+unconsciousness. What wonder that his flesh had sunk away from his
+bones, and that his frame had lost its elasticity! For some hours every
+day he had lain prostrate on the bed in his cell, in a state of
+feebleness pitiful to behold, unable to speak or move, and hardly able
+to breathe. "One morning," he writes, "while gasping for breath, I
+besought the gaoler to let me have more air, by throwing up the window.
+'You are no gentleman,' said he; 'you gave that letter[14] out of the
+window, and I will come presently to nail it down.' Happily a friend
+soon after called upon me, and through his interference the window was
+put up. The brutal gaoler had never before been uncivil to me ... but
+there is a spirit throughout animal nature, brute and human, to oppress
+in proportion as opportunity is safe, and the object defenceless. The
+wounded stag, and the close prisoner of a Provincial Government,
+experience similar treatment."[15]
+
+The summer heat, as before mentioned, had been excessive. No rain had
+fallen for weeks until just before the opening of the assizes, when
+there had been three days of damp, cool weather. During these three days
+the prisoner's strength had rallied wonderfully, and he had been able to
+prepare a written defence, as well as a written protest against the
+legality of his trial, in case of a hostile verdict. But the exertion
+had been too much for him in his enfeebled condition, and, as though to
+add to his miseries, the heat had become more intolerable than before.
+He had not known how utterly his nerves were shattered until his case
+had been called for trial, and he had been placed in the prisoners'
+dock. Hot and stifling as was the air of the court-room, it was balm
+itself when compared with the vitiated element which he had long been
+forced to breathe. The stimulus was too great, and he was no longer
+master of himself. To quote his own words, he became rampant with the
+fresh air, and was reduced to imbecility at the very moment when he
+specially needed strength, patience and recollection. Such was his
+condition when Mr. Attorney-General rose from his seat and proceeded to
+lay bare the prisoner's unspeakable enormities. It had been determined
+that no attempt should be made to convict him of sedition, and that the
+only charge to be pressed against him should be his refusal to leave the
+Province. The indictment, however, was read and commented upon,
+doubtless for the purpose of influencing the minds of the audience. It
+charged, with wearisome iteration and reiteration, that he, the said
+Robert Gourlay, being a seditious and ill-disposed person, and
+contriving and maliciously intending the peace and tranquillity of our
+lord the King within the Province of Upper Canada to disquiet and
+disturb, and to excite discontent and sedition among his Majesty's liege
+subjects of this Province--and so forth, and so forth, to the end of the
+tedious and tautological chapter. The patriotic and disinterested
+conduct of Dickson and Claus, in performing the imperative but
+unpleasant duty of committing their personal friend to jail, lest he
+should undermine the loyalty of the people, was commented upon with
+periphrastic eloquence. When the official inquiry was put to the
+prisoner: "How say you, Robert Gourlay, are you guilty or not guilty?"
+he instinctively replied "Not guilty." Then came the next query: "Are
+you ready for your trial?" Ready for his trial, indeed! when his
+helpless condition was apparent to everybody who could catch a glimpse
+of his tottering frame and his vacant, expressionless face. The
+unmeaning sound which issued from his lips was taken for an affirmative,
+and the farce of an impartial investigation proceeded with.
+
+During the whole of these proceedings the prisoner stood like one amazed
+and confounded; as one who gropes blindly in the dark for what he cannot
+find. From the various hints scattered here and there throughout his
+numerous writings, we are able to form some idea of what he underwent
+during that trying ordeal. His imagination had been rendered more lively
+by weakness and prostration of body, and he was so stimulated by the
+change of air from his cell to the court-room that his sensations were
+chiefly those of a vague and unreasoning delight--delight at the
+prospect of freedom; delight at the prospect of once more enjoying the
+luxury of heaven's sunlight unimpeded by the bars of a prison cell; of
+running rampant through the land, and feeling upon his sunken cheeks the
+deliciously invigorating air of the open fields. His high spirit had
+been effectually tamed by that rigid, excruciating torture of close
+confinement during the dog days, with no other companion than despair.
+By this time personal liberty and fresh air seemed to him the only
+things greatly to be desired. He was cognizant of a sensation of
+thankfulness that his trial had come on at last, even though it should
+result in his banishment. He rejoiced that he should even thus be set at
+liberty from his horrible situation.[16] He longed to feel the tide of
+human life ebbing and flowing around him, and to feel that he himself
+was not a mere drone in the hive. During the progress of the trial,
+though he was oblivious of most that was going on in the court-room,
+memory and fancy were keenly alert, and he rapidly lived over again many
+episodes of his past life. The dead and gone years rose up before him
+like the scenes of a rapidly-shifting panorama, even as the past is said
+to arise before the mental vision of those lying on beds of pain, just
+before the great mystery of the grave is unfolded to their view.
+Subjects and scenes long forgotten or seldom remembered presented
+themselves. There was the little Fifeshire school, with its umbrageous
+playground, where he had been a merry laughing lad, and where Dominie
+Angus had given him his first taste of ferule and Fotherup. There was
+the patched portrait of Cardinal Beaton, in St. Mary's College, at which
+he and his friend John Dean had been wont to gaze with rapt admiration
+in the old days left so far behind. There was that odd adventure among
+the Mendip Hills, during his professional peregrination through
+Somersetshire more than a dozen years before, and upon which he could
+not remember that he had bestowed a single thought since his arrival in
+Canada. There, too, was the drunken type-setter from Bristol, who had
+taught him the technical marks to be used in making corrections for the
+press, and whom he had neither seen nor thought of since the publication
+of his pamphlet in which be had portrayed the sufferings of Bet Bennam
+and Mary Bacon. Who shall say what other scenes, sad or mirthful,
+presented themselves among his "thick-coming fancies"? Possibly he
+recalled the high hopes of his boyhood, when he thirsted to better the
+condition of the poor, and was almost persuaded that he had been sent
+into the world expressly to guard their interests against the exactions
+of grasping landlords. Visions, too, may have arisen before him of his
+beautiful Wiltshire farm, where the modest daisies peeped above the
+grass, and the joyous lark sang from the meadow; where he had once been
+so happy in the companionship of his fond wife and little ones, who at
+this moment waited in longing expectation for tidings from the absent
+husband and father. Perchance also he called to mind, at that crisis,
+his little dead daughter, who had blossomed and faded among the green
+glades of Wily, and over whose grave the parson of the parish had
+refused to read the services of the Church.[17] The poor babe had died
+unchristened, and under such circumstances the rubric forbade the
+solemnization of funeral rites.
+
+From all such musings he was recalled by the voice of Chief Justice
+Powell, demanding if he had aught to say ere the sentence of the court
+should be pronounced upon him. The sentence of the court! For the best
+part of two hours he had been wool-gathering, and the words beat upon
+his brain without arousing any just appreciation of their significance.
+He now once more awoke to the fact that he was on his trial, but he
+could not grasp the potentialities of his situation, nor could he for
+the life of him recall the precise nature of the offence with which he
+had been charged. He did, however, realize that the jury had returned a
+verdict to the effect that he had been guilty of refusing to leave the
+Province, pursuant to the order served upon him. By a desperate effort
+he managed to rally his senses sufficiently to remember that he had been
+accused of being a seditious person, though whether the accusation had
+been made yesterday, or the day before, or half a century ago, he was
+wholly unaware. Turning towards the jury-box, he enquired of the nearest
+occupant whether he had been found guilty of sedition. Suddenly it
+flashed across him that he had prepared a defence, together with a
+written protest against the anticipated verdict. But by no mental
+exertion of which he was capable could he remember what he had done
+with the defence, nor could he call to mind the word "protest," although
+at that moment he had the written one in his pocket. After a moment's
+struggle to remember what he wished to say, he found himself hopelessly
+befogged, and abandoned the attempt. Then, to the amazement of all who
+heard him, he burst out into a loud, strident peal of unmeaning,
+maniacal laughter--laughter which had no spice of merriment in it, and
+which was a mere spontaneous effort of nature to relieve the strain upon
+the shattered nerves. Bench, bar, jury and spectators stared aghast. Such
+laughter sounded not only incongruous, but sinister, ominous. It was
+suggestive of the expiring wail of a lost soul. It was more eloquent
+than any mere words could have been, and spoke with most miraculous
+organ. Over more than one heart there crept a sort of premonition that a
+dread reckoning must sometime arrive for that day's work: that Eternal
+Justice would sooner or later exact a fit penalty for the cruel
+perversion of right which was then and there being consummated. It would
+be interesting to know what, at that particular moment, were the
+innermost sensations of William Dickson and William Claus, both of whom
+sat within a few feet of their victim, and both of whom had repeatedly
+received offices of kindness at his hands.
+
+Strange to say, the miserable man's memory was merely suspended, and he
+afterwards recalled with much clearness the thoughts and reflections
+which passed through his mind during that delirium of more than two
+hours. He even remembered the senseless bray of laughter which, to the
+sympathetic mind, is not the least impressive feature of that iniquitous
+trial. His overwrought nerves being temporarily relieved by the
+cachinnation, he regained for a few minutes some measure of composure
+and sanity. With the return of reason came a returning sense of
+injustice and oppression. He made a brief but ineffectual attempt to
+argue the matter with the Chief Justice, who informed him that the facts
+had been dealt with by the jury, and that he could be permitted to speak
+only on questions of law. The sentence of the Court was then pronounced.
+It was to the effect that the prisoner must quit the Province within
+twenty-four hours. He was reminded of the risk he would run in the event
+of his presuming to disobey, or to return to Upper Canada after his
+departure therefrom. He would be liable, according to the words of the
+Act of 1804, to suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy. The
+Chief Justice finally proceeded to read him a severe lecture upon his
+past course since his arrival in Canada, and furthermore to give him
+some excellent advice. He informed him that in this country the law is
+supreme; that no man can be permitted to run counter to it with
+impunity; that those who administer the law should be no respecters of
+persons; that justice is even-handed, and metes out impartially to the
+poor man and the rich. He advised him to turn his great abilities to
+practical account, whereby he would no doubt win happiness and
+distinction. "Perhaps," says George Eliot, "some of the most terrible
+irony of the human lot is to hear a deep truth uttered by lips that have
+no right to it." Poor Gourlay was conscious of some feeling of this sort
+when he heard such truths proclaimed from such lips. To his
+morbidly-sensitive nature, such irony seemed an aggravation of all he
+had endured. To think that, after such experiences as had fallen to his
+share, a Family Compact judge should gravely inform him that in Upper
+Canada the administrators of the law should be no respecters of persons!
+that justice is even-handed! To think that such an one should presume to
+advise him to become practical, with a view to wealth and happiness! It
+was like the adulterous woman who, on eloping with her paramour, wrote
+to her husband enjoining him to be virtuous if he would be happy. The
+incongruity struck the prisoner so forcibly that for a moment he was on
+the verge of another explosion of sardonic laughter. Before leaving the
+dock he made one last attempt to draw attention to the treatment he had
+sustained while in prison. By way of heightening the effect of his
+narration, he informed the Court that his letters had been suppressed by
+the sheriff:[18] that while his enemies had been allowed to fill the
+newspapers with lying diatribes against him, and to prejudice the public
+mind in view of his impending trial, his own letters to the Niagara
+_Spectator_ had been rigidly withheld from the light of day, and this
+by official interference. Chief Justice Powell put the cap-sheaf upon
+the pinnacle of absurdity by informing him that if he chose he might
+prosecute the sheriff. Prosecute the sheriff! when he had just been
+sentenced by the Chief Justice himself to leave the Province within
+twenty-four hours, and when he was liable to the last penalty of the law
+in case of his return to prosecute!
+
+The trial was ended, and--blissful thought!--for the ensuing twenty-four
+hours he was free to come and go whithersoever he would. He was taken in
+charge by his friends the Hamiltons, and spent the night in their house
+at Queenston. Next day--Saturday, the 21st of August--he obeyed the
+mandate of the law, and shook from his feet the parched dust of Upper
+Canadian soil. His mental condition was far from satisfactory, but he
+would brook no interference with his actions, even from his best
+friends. The feeling uppermost in his bosom was a delicious sense of
+being at large, with no one to shut the cell door upon him, or otherwise
+to control his actions. He felt like one recalled to life. The unhappy
+man was well aware that his brain was weak, but he also knew that he was
+not what is ordinarily understood as insane. Like Baldassarre, he
+carried within him that piteous stamp of sanity, the clear consciousness
+of shattered faculties. His feebleness was as patent to himself as to
+others. He knew that he was the mere wreck of what he had once been, and
+he knew further that his mental and bodily ruin was due to the triumph
+of tyranny and injustice. Still, he was, for the moment, happy. There
+was sunshine in his heart, and gladness in his eye. Having crossed the
+Niagara river, he knew that he was beyond the material grasp of those
+whose baneful shadow was nevertheless destined to darken the rest of his
+life. "I thanked God," he writes, several years afterwards, "as I set my
+first foot on the American shore, that I trod on a land of freedom. The
+flow of animal spirits carried me along for more than two miles in
+triumphant disgust. It carried me beyond my strength, till, staggering
+by the side of the road, I sunk down, almost lifeless, among the bushes,
+and awoke from my dream to a state of sensibility and horror past all
+power of description. If at my trial, and so long after it, I was
+callous to feeling; if I was blind to objects around me, and regardless
+of consequences, the scenes I had passed through were now too visible:
+my senses were too keen; my feelings too acute. Before, all was frozen
+and rigid; now, extreme relaxation resigned me to the torture of a
+distracted mind, feeble, doubting, and irresolute. In fact, my nervous
+system had undergone a most violent change; and, to this hour, the
+effects are permanent: to this hour, with every effort and every
+appliance, my natural tone of health and vigour cannot be regained."[19]
+
+One of the bitterest reflections which forced itself upon him was that
+he, a man of unimpeachable loyalty, had been banished--"flung out like a
+spoilt jelly,"[20] under a statute which had been passed to guard
+against the machinations of aliens and traitors. "Banishment" was to him
+a word replete with repulsive and disgraceful associations. He liked it
+no better than did the sweet rose of the Capulets.
+
+   "Banished: that one word--_banished_.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+   There is no end, no limit, measure, bound,
+   In that word's death."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+On the 27th of August, precisely a week after the trial above described,
+a high and mighty English nobleman who was for the time domiciled in
+Canada underwent a more terrible experience than ever fell to the lot of
+Robert Gourlay. He was travelling at the time through a part of the
+county of Carleton, and while wandering through the woods, attended by
+several companions, he found himself exceedingly unwell. His spirits
+were depressed, and he was dominated by what seemed an unaccountable
+dread of water. His valet had noticed that for a day or two previously
+he had shrunk from performing his customary ablutions, and had cleaned
+his hands and face by the application of a damp towel. On approaching
+within a few yards of a forest stream he was seized by violent spasms.
+By a desperate resolution he forced himself to take his seat in a canoe
+which had been provided, but the little craft had not proceeded many
+yards ere he was seized by a fresh paroxysm, and in a frenzied tone
+ordered the boatman to land him on the nearest bank. The order was
+promptly obeyed, and he had no sooner escaped from the boat than he ran
+frantically into the depths of the wood. He was pursued and overtaken by
+his companions, who found him foaming at the mouth and raving mad. They
+secured him until the paroxysm had spent itself, when they conveyed him
+to a neighbouring shanty. The sufferer, at his own request, was soon
+after removed to an adjoining barn, where he said he should be more
+comfortable than in the shanty, as it was _further from the water_.
+Throughout the rest of the day and ensuing night he was subject to
+repeated returns of the paroxysms, during which he suffered untold
+agonies. It was evident to himself and those about him that he was
+afflicted by the most terrible of all maladies to which humanity is
+subject--hydrophobia. He had been bitten by a tame fox a few weeks
+before, and the deadly rabies had ever since been rankling in his
+system. He realized that he must die, and the instincts of his race--he
+was a remote by-blow of royalty--taught him to make an ending in a
+manner becoming a gentleman. Towards evening he consented to be taken
+back to the shanty, where a bed had been prepared for him. Except while
+the paroxysms were upon him, he was perfectly calm and collected, and
+gave his last sad directions to a friend who stood by his side. About
+eight o'clock on the morning of the 28th the death-agony came upon him,
+and his excruciating tortures were at an end.
+
+Thus passed away Charles Gordon Lennox, Fourth Duke of Richmond, Earl of
+March and Baron Settrington in the peerage of England; Duke of Lennox,
+Earl of Darnley and Baron Methuen in the peerage of Scotland; Duc
+d'Aubigny in France, Governor-General of Canada, lord of Halnaker,
+Goodwood and West Hampnett. There was, as has been above hinted, a bar
+sinister in his escutcheon, for he was descended from King Charles the
+Second and the fair and frail Frenchwoman Louise Renee de Querouaille,
+who was commonly known among Englishmen of her day as Madam Carwell.
+This lady, who was probably the least bad of the unlicensed prostitutes
+of Charles's seraglio at Whitehall, was for her many virtues created
+Duchess of Portsmouth. Her descendants, like those of Nell Gwynn and the
+rest of that frail sisterhood, are reckoned among the great ones of the
+earth. The Duke whose melancholy fate has just been chronicled was the
+father of Lady Sarah, spouse of Sir Peregrine Maitland,
+Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Was there any connection between these two tragical events: the trial of
+Robert Gourlay and the death of the Duke of Richmond? Mr. Gourlay
+evidently leaned to the belief that there was.[21] The Duke and his
+son-in-law had passed through Niagara during the hot weather of July,
+while the victim of Family Compact villainy was gradually having his
+health and reason tortured out of him in the jail at that place. He was
+of opinion that the two distinguished visitors should have exercised
+their prerogative by setting him at liberty. This, of course, was an
+altogether unreasonable belief. His Grace was not at all likely to
+interfere in the matter, and as for Sir Peregrine, he was completely in
+the hands of Mr. Gourlay's enemies. The belief, however, is worth
+recording, as exhibiting the extent to which Mr. Gourlay's persecution
+continued to prey upon his mind, even after the lapse of years, and when
+he was in as good health as he ever regained.
+
+It was deemed advisable that Mr. Gourlay's case should be a perpetual
+warning to any and every person who might thereafter dare to tread in
+his venturesome footsteps. Accordingly, as has been seen, he had to
+drink the cup of mortification to the very dregs. And, by way of
+deterring public writers from aiding and abetting any such pestilent
+innovators for the future, it was determined that a notable example
+should be made of the editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, who had dared
+to side with the oppressed against the oppressor, and had published some
+of Mr. Gourlay's attacks upon the abuses of the time. His name was
+Bartemus Ferguson, and he had on several occasions manifested his
+sympathy with projects of reform. The discipline inflicted upon him was
+swift and severe. He was seized while in bed, in the middle of the
+night, a hundred and fifty miles from home, conveyed to jail at Niagara,
+and thence to York, where he was detained in prison for some days out of
+the reach of friends to bail him. He was tried for sedition at the
+Niagara assizes a day or two before Mr. Gourlay. In order that public
+journalists of the present day may note in what comparatively pleasant
+places their lines have fallen, I transcribe the sentence of the court,
+which was as follows:--"Therefore it is considered by the said court
+here that the said Bartemus Ferguson do pay a fine to our said lord the
+King of fifty pounds of lawful money of Upper Canada: That he, the said
+Bartemus Ferguson, be imprisoned in the common jail of the District of
+Niagara for the space of eighteen calendar months, to be computed from
+the eighth day of November, in the sixtieth year of the reign of our
+said lord the King: that in the course of the first month of the said
+eighteen months he do stand in the public pillory one hour, between the
+hours of ten o'clock in the forenoon and two o'clock in the afternoon:
+and that at the expiration of the said imprisonment he do give security
+for his good behaviour for the term of seven years: he the said Bartemus
+Ferguson in the sum of five hundred pounds, and two sureties in the sum
+of two hundred and fifty pounds each; and further, that he, the said
+Bartemus Ferguson, do remain imprisoned in the said jail until the
+aforesaid fine be paid and security given."
+
+The composition for which the editor was thus held to so stern an
+account was a letter written by Mr. Gourlay, and signed by his name,
+published in the _Spectator_ during the editor's absence from home, and
+without his knowledge. It animadverted pretty sharply on the
+Administration of the day. In the jingling and jangling phraseology of
+the indictment, it was calculated to "detract, scandalize, and vilify
+His Grace Charles Duke of Richmond, Lennox and Aubigny, Captain-General
+and Governor in and over the Provinces of Lower and Upper Canada, Nova
+Scotia and New Brunswick and their dependencies; and to scandalize and
+vilify Sir Peregrine Maitland, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable
+Military Order of the Bath, His Majesty's Lieutenant-Governor of this
+Province of Upper Canada." Certain public officials, not specifically
+alluded to by name, were referred to as fools and sycophants. But the
+letter did not contain a syllable which was not literally true, and was
+mildness itself when compared with letters and articles which are
+constantly published with impunity in newspapers of all shades of
+political opinion in these present times. It appears that, upon the
+humble and unequivocal submission of the culprit, some of the most
+severe penalties imposed by the court were remitted, and that he was
+erelong allowed to resume his business;[22] but all enthusiasm for the
+public good had meanwhile been crushed out of him, and he became one
+more added to the list of subservient tools which the Executive always
+managed to have at their control. Such were the glories of a free press
+in enlightened Upper Canada sixty-six years ago. Such were the "good old
+times" which our grandfathers are never weary of belauding to the echo.
+How bright are the hues of retrospection! But for us of the present
+generation, let us be thankful to the Giver of all Good that such brave
+old times are long past, and that they can never return. Let them go;
+but surely it is too much to expect us to pronounce a benison upon their
+dead and departed dry bones.
+
+Even before the commencement of proceedings against Mr. Gourlay under
+the Alien Act, his conduct had furnished a pretext to those in authority
+for striking a heavy blow against freedom of speech and action. The
+holding of conventions, whereat meddlesome persons of the Gourlay stamp
+might air their grievances and agitate for investigations into public
+abuses, was a thing not to be tolerated in Upper Canada. Upon the
+assembling of the Legislature at York, in October, 1818, the
+Lieutenant-Governor, in his opening Speech, hinted at a law to prevent
+the holding of such meetings; and in the course of the ensuing session a
+Bill to effect that object was introduced into the Assembly by Mr. Jonas
+Jones, member for Grenville. The Bill was supported by twelve out of the
+thirteen members present, and was speedily passed into law; but, as will
+hereafter be seen, it was not destined to a long life.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After a brief delay in the State of New York, Mr. Gourlay repaired to
+Boston, and thence took ship for Liverpool. On a subsequent page we
+shall catch one more brief glimpse of him, but with that exception the
+present work has no further concern with his chequered existence. He
+will be referred to from time to time, but only incidentally, and for
+purposes of illustration. Those who may feel sufficient interest in him
+to follow his fortunes and misfortunes to the bitter end, will find some
+account of them in the authority quoted below.[23]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Not, however, his _immediate_ judicial successor. Mr.--afterwards
+Sir William--Campbell became Chief Justice in 1825, and Mr. Robinson's
+succession did not take place until four years later.
+
+[2] "Upon my soul, you mustn't come into the place saying you want to
+know, you know! You have no right to come this sort of move!"--_Little
+Dorrit._
+
+[3] For a much more comprehensive account of Mr. Gourlay's life than the
+one here given, the reader is referred to a sketch by the author of this
+work in _The Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. III., pp. 240-256.
+
+[4] More than half a century later the venerable Doctor thus wrote to
+his old school-fellow: "... I received your interesting letter ... with
+no slight emotion of kindness and respect, having ever regarded you as
+one of the ablest of my fellow-students at St. Andrews; and who, if
+human life had not been the lottery it is, would have earned by his
+talents, and merited by his friendly disposition, a place of high and
+honourable distinction in society."
+
+[5] The following observations, written concerning Mr. Young by Mr.
+Gourlay many years afterwards, contain, so far as they go, a singularly
+accurate portraiture of the Banished Briton himself:--"He was an
+enthusiast, and of course honest: he was well educated, and a gentleman.
+In all his voluminous writings a mean sentiment is not to be found. His
+habit of making free with people's names, and taking liberties with
+their writings, arose from an uncontrollable ardour in the cause of
+improvement.... His inclination to accumulate crude and undigested
+information, sufficiently evinced in some of his tours, had their full
+scope: he then lost himself, and bewildered others, in the confusion of
+detail. I question if he ever had the power of correct abstract
+reasoning. His imagination was too busy for it: his eye was too
+ravenous, devouring all within its reach."--_General Introduction to
+Statistical Account of Upper Canada_; p. xcvii.
+
+[6] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. III., p. 241.
+
+[7] _Ex. gr._:--"The law! the law!" impatiently exclaimed the Reverend
+Doctor, in his most strident vernacular, when the question of Barnabas
+Bidwell's expulsion from the Assembly was under discussion in his
+hearing--"Never mind the law; toorn him oot, toorn him oot."
+
+[8] "The local situation of Upper Canada exposes it to the inroad of
+aliens of all nations, who, having no tie of allegiance or affection to
+Britain, may thence be suspected of evil designs; and for that reason
+terrors may be held out to keep them at a distance; but for British
+subjects to be suspected and made liable to penalties on mere suspicion,
+is contrary at once to nature and the spirit of our constitution. It is
+more especially absurd when we consider that the law was expressly made
+for _their_ protection."--_General Introduction to Statistical Account
+of Upper Canada,_ p. lxviii.
+
+[9] Seven or eight years after this time Swayze narrowly escaped
+prosecution for the murder of Captain William Morgan, who is presumed to
+have been slain for his threatened disclosure of the Masonic Ritual.
+Swayze openly boasted that he had been concerned in the abduction of
+Morgan, and in the execution of Masonic vengeance upon him. He professed
+to be able to indicate the precise spot where the body was buried--which
+spot, he declared, was not far from the bottom of his garden. Upon
+investigation these vainglorious boastings proved to be utterly without
+any foundation in fact.
+
+[10] Dickson had originally made Gourlay's acquaintance in 1810, when he
+visited and spent a week with him at his farm in Wiltshire. See
+Gourlay's _Statistical Account of Upper Canada,_ Vol. 2, p. 494.
+
+[11] _General Introduction to Statistical Account of Upper Canada_, p.
+ix.
+
+[12] In these times there was but one jail delivery per annum in Upper
+Canada.
+
+[13] _Statistical Account_, Vol. II., p. 342. In a note to p. xv. of the
+_General Introduction_, Mr. Gourlay says further: "The jury in this case
+was notoriously packed. To guard against the effects of this as much as
+possible, I had, in the expectation of trial for libel, obtained lists
+of inimical jurymen, and had people willing to appear in court to swear
+that many of them had prejudged me openly, in the rancour of party
+dispute. These lists were handed to me through the door, before and
+during the assizes; but all caution and care forsook me in the time of
+need."
+
+[14] Referring to a letter written to attract sympathy to the case of
+the editor of the Niagara _Spectator_, who had been imprisoned and
+shamefully abused for publishing several of Mr. Gourlay's criticisms.
+Some account of the persecution to which this gentleman was subjected
+will be found on a future page.
+
+[15] _Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, pp. 393, 394.
+
+[16] _General Introduction_, p. xv.
+
+[17] _General Introduction_, pp. ccviii., ccix., and note.
+
+[18] The sheriff was Thomas Merritt, father of the gentleman who
+afterwards became the Hon. William Hamilton Merritt, to whose
+enterprise, more than to that of any other man, we owe the Welland
+Canal. It is right to add that most of the subordinate duties of the
+office of sheriff were discharged by an underling, and that Thomas
+Merritt may have been personally free from blame in respect of Mr.
+Gourlay. Assuming him to have been blamable, his son, the Hon. W. H.
+Merritt, in after days, did his utmost to atone for it by espousing Mr.
+Gourlay's cause in the Canadian Assembly, as will be seen by reference
+to the Parliamentary debates of 1856, 1857 and 1858.
+
+[19] _Statistical Account_, Vol. II., pp. 400, 401.
+
+[20] Ib., p. 401.
+
+[21] Mr. Gourlay was in error as to the date of the Duke's death. He
+represents him as "writhing in agony at the self same hour," and as
+dying on the same day when he, Mr. Gourlay, crossed over into the United
+States.--_Statistical Account_, vol. 2, p. 401. He was astray by exactly
+a week. By reference to the precept of the court, I find that Mr.
+Gourlay's trial took place on the day specified in the text--Friday, the
+20th of August. He left the Province on the following day--Saturday, the
+21st. The Duke's death took place on Saturday, the 28th.
+
+It may perhaps be as well for me to refer here to a story which seems to
+have obtained some currency, to the effect that the Duke of Richmond's
+death was due, not to hydrophobia, but to delirium tremens. There is not
+the shadow of truth in the story. The evidence as to the Duke's having
+been bitten at Sorel by a tame fox; as to his showing the healed wound
+on his thumb several weeks afterwards; as to his dread of water during
+the day before his death, and as to all the circumstances attending that
+tragical event, is as clear as evidence can very well be. Moreover, his
+habits were by no means such as to lead to _mania a potu_. He was a _bon
+vivant_, but, so far as I have been able to ascertain, he did not drink
+to excess, and was always master of such brains as he possessed. His end
+was one which his family might honestly mourn, and there was little in
+his life, nothing in his death, of which they had any cause to feel
+ashamed.
+
+[22] "Major-General" D. McLeod, in his "History of the Canadian
+Insurrection," p. 75, incorrectly states that Ferguson "died in jail
+from extremely cruel usage."
+
+[23] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. III., pp. 240-256.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+A BILL OF PARTICULARS.
+
+
+The course of bitter persecution sustained by Mr. Gourlay was really the
+first remote germ of the Upper Canadian Rebellion. In making this
+statement I would not be understood as asserting that Gourlay was the
+first person to set himself up in opposition to authority in the
+Province, or even that he was the first victim of Executive tyranny.
+There had been more or less of dissatisfaction at the selfish and
+one-sided policy of the Administration ever since shortly after the
+departure of Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe in 1796. Between that date and
+Mr. Gourlay's arrival in the Province several personages of some local
+note had paid heavy penalties for daring to have opinions of their own.
+Mr. Wyatt, the Surveyor-General, had been dismissed from office because
+he had presumed to point out certain official irregularities, and
+because he would not betray the trust reposed in him. Joseph Willcocks
+had been goaded into treason by a long course of persecution. Judge
+Thorpe had been driven from the country quite as effectually as Mr.
+Gourlay, for no other reason than that he had persisted in holding up
+official corruption to the public gaze. But none of these manifestations
+of "the oppressor's wrath, the proud man's contumely," had taken so deep
+a hold upon the public mind as did the case of Mr. Gourlay. The injuries
+inflicted upon him had been so cruel, the perversion of justice so vile,
+that the public conscience received a shock from which it did not
+recover during the existing generation. For the first time in Upper
+Canada's history signs of an organized Opposition began to appear upon
+the floor of the Assembly. Thenceforward the antagonism between the two
+parties grew in intensity from year to year. In process of time the
+Opposition frequently became the controlling power in the House. At a
+later stage of its development it divided into two parts. One of these
+constituted the moderate Reform Party of the Province. The other was
+made up of the advanced Radical element, whence emanated the Rebellion
+which forms the especial subject of the present work. All of which will
+hereafter be narrated with greater amplitude of detail.
+
+It has been intimated that traces of dissatisfaction began to be
+apparent soon after Governor Simcoe's time. Upon his demission of
+authority the direction of affairs devolved upon the Honourable Peter
+Russell, as senior member of the Executive Council; and that gentleman
+had not been long in authority before murmurs began to be heard about
+the partial and defective administration of the important department of
+Crown Lands. There were comparatively few men in the country possessed
+of sufficient education and business experience to admit of their being
+entrusted with the charge of public affairs; and where all the offices
+were necessarily in the hands of a small number of persons, it was a
+foregone conclusion that irregularities should creep in, and that
+cliquishness and favouritism should prevail to a greater or less extent.
+When Lieutenant-Governor Hunter arrived, in 1799, he found that certain
+objectionable practices had become common, and that the foundation had
+been laid of serious public evils. Greed and favouritism had obtained a
+strong foothold, and scarcely any branch of the public service was
+efficiently managed. The sin of covetousness was not confined to
+subordinate officials, but included among its votaries some of the
+highest dignitaries of the Province. It would seem that President
+Russell himself had an itching palm, and that his individual interests
+were carefully watched over during his temporary administration of
+affairs. Everybody has heard how he made grants of public lands from
+himself to himself,[24] thereby violating one of the most cherished
+maxims of English jurisprudence. Lieutenant-Governor Hunter, in a letter
+written to a friend in England soon after his arrival at York, refers to
+P. R.--by whom Mr. Russell is clearly indicated--as "an avaricious one."
+In a subsequent part of the same epistle he adds: "So far as depended
+upon him [Mr. Russell] he would grant land to the de'il and all his
+family as good Loyalists, if they would only pay the fees." During
+Governor Hunter's own term of office, though there is no evidence of
+corruption or double-dealing on his own part, abuses continued to exist,
+and dishonesty too often stared honesty out of countenance. During the
+_regime_ of his successor, Commodore Grant, these abuses grew steadily,
+both in number and in bulk; and during Francis Gore's long though
+interrupted administration, they reached a height which called aloud for
+redress.
+
+And here it is desirable to enquire into the specific nature of the
+manifold evils which enriched a few at the expense of the many; which
+endowed a venal and corrupt clique with a practical monopoly of
+political and social power; which sowed the deadly seed of factious
+strife, and stemmed the tide of Upper Canadian prosperity.
+
+Theoretically speaking, the constitution granted to Upper Canada by the
+Act of 1791 was not unfairly represented by Lieutenant-Governor Simcoe
+as being "the very image and transcript of that of Great Britain."[25]
+We had a Legislative Council, the members whereof were appointed by the
+Crown for life. This body bore some resemblance to the British House of
+Lords. Next, we had a Legislative Assembly, the members whereof were
+periodically elected by the people--or rather by such of the people as
+possessed a sufficient property qualification to entitle them to
+exercise the franchise; and this property qualification was placed so
+low as almost to constitute universal suffrage.[26] The Assembly
+corresponded to the British House of Commons; and these two
+bodies--Council and Assembly--with the Lieutenant-Governor, constituted
+the Provincial Parliament. The last-named functionary of course
+corresponded to the Sovereign of Great Britain. He was appointed by the
+Crown, to whom he was solely responsible. He was in no constitutional
+sense responsible to either branch of the Legislature, or to both
+branches combined, or to any other cis-Atlantic authority whatsoever.
+
+With such substitutes for King, Lords and Commons, Upper Canada might
+therefore be said to possess a pretty close copy of the British
+constitution. But when carried into practice the resemblance failed in a
+matter of the very highest import. The absence of ministerial
+responsibility was an all-comprehending divergence. When a British
+ministry fails to command the confidence of the electorate, as
+represented by the House of Commons, resignation must follow. In other
+words, the Government of the day derives its power from the people, to
+whom it is responsible for the manner in which it discharges the trust
+reposed in it; and the moment it fails to command public confidence it
+must give way to those who possess such confidence. The test of
+confidence is the vote in the House of Commons. This has been a
+recognized principle of English Parliamentary Government for nearly two
+hundred years; in fact, ever since the settlement of the constitution
+after the Revolution of 1688. With us in Upper Canada there was none of
+this ministerial responsibility. We had a ministry, but not a
+responsible ministry. It was manifestly impossible that each member of
+the Legislative Council and Assembly should be consulted as to every
+minute detail of the administration. Such a system would be cumbrous,
+and altogether impracticable. The actual task of carrying on the
+Government was therefore, as in England, entrusted to a small body of
+men who, from the nature of their functions, were known as the Executive
+Council. The members of this body were appointed by the Crown--that is
+to say, by the Lieutenant-Governor--at will. It was not necessary that
+they should have seats in either branch of the Legislature, to neither
+of which were they in any sense responsible. They were not required to
+possess any property or other qualification. In a word, the Crown's
+representative was at liberty to select them without any restriction,
+and no one in the Province would have had any constitutional right to
+call him to account if he had seen fit to enrol his own valet as an
+Executive Councillor. As matter of fact they were commonly selected from
+the judiciary and other salaried officials, and from the members of the
+Legislative Council. Their number was indeterminate, but was seldom less
+than four or more than six, in addition to the Lieutenant-Governor
+himself. Their functions consisted of giving advice to the
+Lieutenant-Governor on all matters of governmental policy, whenever he
+might deem it expedient to consult them. With respect to mere matters of
+detail, such as appointments to office, he was not supposed to be under
+the necessity of advising with them, nor, according to an opinion long
+and ostentatiously proclaimed, was he in these early days under the
+smallest obligation to follow their advice after it had been given.
+This, however, was merely the prescriptive view, and it derived no
+sanction from the Constitutional Act itself, which incidentally refers
+to the Executive Council as being appointed "within such Province, for
+the affairs thereof." On the other hand, the Executive Councillors
+themselves were not legally or constitutionally responsible to the Upper
+Canadian people, either individually or collectively, for any line of
+policy they might inculcate, or for any advice they might give. There
+were no means whereby they could be called to account by the people,
+even should they corruptly and openly abuse the trust reposed in them.
+
+It is not difficult to foresee the result of so anomalous a state of
+things, though in this Province, owing to sparsity of population and
+other local causes, the result did not immediately become apparent.
+Simcoe was a strong-minded, as well as a conscientious man. He had a
+policy of his own for the government of the country, both at large and
+in detail, and during his _regime_ he carried out that policy as to him
+seemed best. He from time to time went through the form of consulting
+with his Executive Council, but, so far from receiving any impulse from
+them, he invariably carried all before him at the Council Board, and was
+the be-all and end-all of the Administration. He was, in short, a
+beneficent despot, of high and disinterested views, who accomplished
+much good for Upper Canada, and would doubtless have accomplished more
+but for his too early removal. The moment his all-pervading influence
+was gone, however, the mischief, as has already been seen, began to
+work. President Russell granted public lands to Peter Russell, and
+rapidly laid up a store of wealth. Where the head of the public service
+was thus disposed to help himself, we may be sure that subordinate
+officials were not slow to follow his example. Subsequent
+Lieutenant-Governors were for the most part military men, with little
+knowledge of the country's needs, and with a disposition to make their
+voluntary exile as easy and agreeable--and withal as profitable--as
+might be.[27] They naturally turned for counsel and assistance to their
+Executive Councillors, who thus became the dispensers of patronage and
+the supreme power in the State. The Crown's representative was a mere
+tool in their hands. Their domination was complete. "A body of holders
+of office thus constituted," says Lord Durham,[28] "without reference to
+the people or their representatives, must in fact, from the very nature
+of colonial government, acquire the entire direction of the affairs of
+the Province. A Governor, arriving in a colony in which he almost
+invariably has had no previous acquaintance with the state of parties or
+the character of individuals, is compelled to throw himself almost
+entirely upon those whom he finds placed in the position of his official
+advisers. His first acts must necessarily be performed, and his first
+appointments made, at their suggestion. And as these first acts and
+appointments give a character to his policy, he is generally brought
+thereby into immediate collision with the other parties in the country,
+and thrown into more complete dependence upon the official party and its
+friends."
+
+It has been the fashion with most writers on our early history to
+represent the Executive Council as an arbitrary creation of the early
+Lieutenant-Governors: as an arrangement sanctioned by the Imperial
+authorities, but not authorized by the Provincial constitution. Such
+writers cannot have read the debates which took place in the House of
+Commons while the Constitutional Act of 1791 was under discussion there.
+Nay, they cannot have read the Act itself with much care. Nothing is
+more certain than that the framers of that statute contemplated the
+creation of an Executive Council. By reference to the seventh,
+thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth clauses it will be seen that the
+Executive Council is definitely mentioned by name, and that the
+appointment of such a body is assumed, and treated as a matter of
+course. But that the Council should occupy the same relative position as
+in Great Britain, and that it should be amenable to public opinion as
+expressed by the vote of the House of Assembly, does not appear to have
+been clearly understood. Indeed, with the exception of a few master
+minds, such as Pitt, Fox, and Burke, but little interest seems to have
+been taken by British legislators in this important colonial experiment.
+Parliamentary Government, though it had been long established in
+England, had not then been reduced to a science. Even such clear-sighted
+statesmen as Pitt and Fox were blind to facts which at the present day
+force themselves upon the attention of every student of constitutional
+history. What wonder, then, that there should have been defects in the
+measure of 1791? What wonder that even eminent statesmen should have
+attempted to square the circle in politics by introducing such an
+incongruity as representative institutions without Executive
+responsibility? Power was given to the popular branch of the Legislature
+to pass measures for the public good. But, no matter how overwhelming
+might be the majorities whereby such measures were passed, there was no
+obligation on the other branches of the Legislature to accept or act
+upon them. In the words of one of our own writers: "the Legislative
+Councils, nominated by the Crown, held the Legislative Assemblies by the
+throat, kept them prostrate, and paralyzed them."[29] As for the members
+of the Executive Council, they were to all intents and purposes
+independent of public opinion, and could override a unanimous vote of
+the Assembly without incurring any responsibility whatever. By reference
+to the correspondence between successive colonial Governors and the Home
+Office, it appears to have been tacitly recognized by the magnates on
+both sides of the Atlantic that it was unnecessary for a colonial
+Executive to defer to a Parliamentary majority. The right of appointment
+to office was considered to be the exclusive prerogative of the
+representative of the Sovereign, and it was regarded as a badge of
+colonial dependence that the people should have no voice in such
+matters.
+
+It seems to have been assumed that certain Imperial interests were
+involved in this great question, and that to give way to the popular
+demand would be to render the colonies free from Imperial control. What
+those particular interests were which required to be protected by so
+jealous and anomalous a doctrine does not appear to be anywhere
+specified with precision. But nothing is more certain than that
+confusion and chaos must be the inevitable outcome of any attempt to
+reduce to practice such opposite principles as are involved in
+Representative Government and Executive irresponsibility. Such an
+attempt in England would very soon produce revolution. Such an attempt
+in France did actually produce revolution in 1830, when Charles the
+Tenth was deposed for his persistent endeavours to maintain an unpopular
+ministry in power. No country in the world would long continue to
+tolerate a Parliamentary system which was free and representative in
+theory, but tyrannous and despotic in practice. Upper Canada was indeed
+long-suffering, but a time arrived when it became evident that there was
+a limit to her powers of endurance.
+
+As the years rolled by, and the country steadily advanced in wealth and
+population, abuses grew apace.[30] The Executive became rapacious and
+tyrannical. Commanding, as they did, the entire administrative and
+official influence of the Province, they ordered all things according to
+their own pleasure. They could count upon the support of every member of
+the Legislative Council. Indeed, through their pliant tool, the
+Lieutenant-Governor for the time being, they controlled the membership
+of the latter body, and took care that no man was appointed a
+Legislative Councillor unless he was either one of themselves or wholly
+subject to their influence. The Assembly soon found that it was
+deliberately and systematically deprived of the privileges which of
+right belonged to it, and that it was little better than a nullity. It
+might meet and go through the form of passing such measures as it saw
+fit, but if the measures so passed were not acceptable to the
+Legislative and Executive Councils they were contumeliously vetoed when
+they reached the Upper House. This brought the two deliberative branches
+of the Legislature into direct and perpetual conflict. The Assembly,
+however, in early years, was always largely made up of such men as Isaac
+Swayze--subservient creatures of the Administration, who opposed their
+influence to that of the tribunes of the people, and prevented any
+collision between the two Houses from assuming a very serious
+constitutional aspect. It was not till the third decade of the century
+that the conflict assumed such a character as to threaten the
+foundations of the constitution itself; and it was not till the fourth
+decade that any actual attempt was made to subvert those foundations.
+
+The Province was about fifteen years old before the inhabitants of Upper
+Canada generally began to realize what an intolerable burden they had to
+bear in this irresponsible Executive. Before that time some of the
+better educated and more intelligent among them recognized its existence
+as an evil with which they or their descendants would at some future
+time be called upon to deal. But such persons were comparatively few in
+number, and as the burden did not lie with special heaviness upon their
+own backs, they did not feel called upon to involve themselves in what
+might prove a ruinous quarrel with persons who would not tamely submit
+to interference. As for the inhabitants generally, they were too busily
+occupied in clearing their lands, in hewing out homes for themselves and
+their families in the vast wilderness, and in reducing the soil to a
+state fit for cultivation, to give themselves much concern about public
+affairs. There was no newspaper press to stimulate them to enquiry. The
+only sheet published in the Province which by any license of language
+could be called a regular newspaper was _The Upper Canada Gazette_,
+which was the official mouthpiece of the Administration. _The Canada
+Constellation_, which was a quaint long folio, published at the old
+capital, Niagara, had but a brief existence, and expired during the
+very early years of the century. The _Upper Canada Guardian_, to be
+hereafter referred to, did not come into being till 1807. Editorial
+articles, except of the briefest and crudest sort, were a still later
+development. The bucolic mind had no intellectual stimulant whatever
+except such as was to be obtained from contact with other bucolic minds
+through the medium of conversation. It was no wonder, then, that for the
+first fifteen years after the creation of Upper Canada, the Provincial
+Government should have been permitted to do very much as it chose,
+without being subjected to any formidable criticism on the part of the
+community.
+
+The Legislative Council, as has been said, was composed of members
+nominated by the Sovereign's representative. By the sixth section of the
+Constitutional Act provision had been made for the creation of a
+hereditary nobility, with the hereditary right of being summoned to the
+Legislative Council. Happily this authority was not exercised;
+otherwise, as Gourlay has remarked, "we should have seen, perhaps, the
+Duke of Ontario leading in a cart of hay, my Lord Erie pitching, and Sir
+Peter Superior making the rick; or perhaps his Grace might now have been
+figuring as a pettifogging lawyer, his Lordship as a pedlar, and Sir
+Knight, as a poor parson, starving on five thousand acres of Clergy
+Reserves."[31] We were spared the spectacle of such absurdities, and
+life members of the Legislative Council were the nearest approach to a
+nobility vouchsafed to us. Some of the first appointees were men of
+intelligence and probity, but few of those subsequently created could
+with any show of truthfulness be so characterized. They were for the
+most part dependants of the Government, with no fitness, educational or
+otherwise, for the discharge of grave legislative functions, and with no
+motive but to do the bidding of those who had clothed them with the
+dignity of office. All things considered, this condition of things was
+to be looked for; but the inevitable result followed. The few upright
+members either died off in the course of time, and were succeeded by
+sycophantic placemen, or, finding themselves outnumbered, ceased to
+attend the sittings of the branch of the Legislature to which they
+belonged. In one way and another, those who really wished to preserve
+the public interests were weeded out, and nothing was left but a rump
+devoted to the Executive will. Instead of answering the purpose for
+which it was originally intended, the Legislative Council became a mere
+instrument in the hands of the oligarchy for stemming back the tide of
+public opinion. Instead of forming a seasonable and wholesome check upon
+extravagance and inconsiderate legislation in the Lower House, it
+contributed to the impoverishment of the Provincial revenue by assisting
+to keep the control of public affairs in the hands of selfish and
+unprincipled men. Instead of preserving the "happy balance of our
+glorious Constitution"--a phrase constantly placed in the mouths of
+Lieutenant-Governors, and embodied in their addresses to our Canadian
+simulacrum of the House of Lords--it tended to keep the balance all on
+one side, and that side was the one most prejudicial to the public good.
+It became a mere stop-gap interposed by the Government between itself
+and the Assembly. The Assembly passed measure after measure with careful
+deliberation, only to find that their time had been thrown away, for
+upon reaching the Upper House these measures were ignominously thrust
+aside. One who had himself been a member of the Assembly, and who had
+had personal experience of the evils whereof he wrote, has left the
+following description of the manner in which Bills from the Lower
+Chamber were treated in the Upper: "Sitting for a short time each day,
+the Bills of the Assembly are despatched under the table with unexampled
+celerity. Deputations, conveying up popular measures, no sooner have
+their backs turned than the process of strangulation commences. Bills
+that have undergone discussion for days in the other House, and that
+have been amended and perfected with the greatest care, no sooner arrive
+in their august presence than their fate is sealed."[32] He adds: "Of
+those who attend to their duties, two-thirds are dependent on the
+Government for either salaries or pensions. It is not harsh to say that
+they become the willing tools of the hand that feeds them, instead of
+looking to the interests of those from whom they indirectly derive their
+support. Such gratitude may be very amiable, but it is no qualification
+for an independent legislator."[33] These lines were written as late as
+the year 1837, and their author informs us that within the preceding
+eight years the Council had rejected no fewer than three hundred and
+twenty-five Bills passed by the Assembly, being an average of more than
+forty for each session[34]--a statement which is fully confirmed by
+reference to the official journals of the respective Houses.
+
+Such a method of procedure, leading to inevitable conflicts between the
+two Houses, caused the public business to be impeded and the public
+interests to be very inefficiently conserved. The whole administrative
+system of the Province was disorganized. The contest was very unequal,
+for the Government could frequently command a majority of votes in the
+Assembly. The minority in that House smarted under a sense of tyranny
+and injustice, and felt that they were of no weight in the body politic.
+That sense of dignity which is imparted by a consciousness of
+contributing to the formation of public policy and opinion was wanting.
+Not only were the benefits arising from a proper organization of labour
+altogether lost, but the antagonism between the two factors in political
+life was so great that they to a large extent neutralized each other.
+The Upper House had no weight with the people; the Lower House had no
+weight with the Crown.
+
+One of the greatest drawbacks to the country's prosperity was the method
+of granting public lands. It had been the policy of Governor Simcoe to
+encourage immigration from the United States, as well as from Great
+Britain and continental Europe. He had offered great inducements, in the
+shape of free grants of wild lands, to persons settling in Upper Canada,
+and his offer had produced the expected results in the shape of a full
+tide of immigrants. He had, however, exercised a rigid personal
+supervision over these grants, and had done his utmost to prevent the
+abuse of his bountiful regulations. His successors were less scrupulous,
+and being, as has been seen, under the control of greedy and selfish
+persons, they permitted the public lands to be used as means of
+enriching and corrupting the favourites of the Administration. The
+land-granting department was honeycombed by jobbery and corruption.
+Grants of five thousand acres were made to each member of the Executive
+Council, and of twelve hundred acres to each of their children. Similar
+grants were made to certain favoured members of the Legislative Council
+and their children.[35] Numerous other personages who could command
+sufficient influence at Court obtained grants of twelve hundred acres
+each. The extent of an ordinary grant was two hundred acres. From the
+creation of the Province down to 1804 these donations were unattended by
+any cost whatever to the grantees beyond trifling fees to the officials
+for their trouble in passing the entries through the office books. The
+privilege of obtaining landed estates for nothing was abused to such an
+extent, however, that the Home Office interfered, and in the year last
+named a scale of fees proportionate to the extent of the grant was
+introduced; but U. E. Loyalists, officers, soldiers, Executive
+Councillors and their children were exempt even from this trifling
+burden. In 1818 the performance of certain settlement duties was imposed
+upon all persons receiving grants, without any exemptions, and in after
+years several other scales of fees were introduced from time to time.
+The public lands were committed to the care of an official called the
+Surveyor-General, and it was not until 1827 that a Commissioner of Crown
+Lands was appointed. During the first thirty-five years of the
+Province's history grants of land were entirely subject to the
+discretion of the Governor-in-Council, not merely as to the quantity and
+situation of the land itself, but also as to whether the applicant
+should receive any grant at all.[36] Under such a system it was
+inevitable that the grossest partiality should prevail, and it was but
+seldom that any one succeeded in obtaining a grant until those in
+authority had satisfied themselves that he was to be relied upon to
+uphold any policy which they might see fit to dictate. Official
+dignitaries granted lands to their servants and other dependants, and,
+as soon as certain requisite forms had been complied with, these lands
+were transferred to themselves or their children. In other cases persons
+were actually hired by the month to draw land and perform the settlement
+duties, after which the land was conveyed to their employers. Having the
+run of the official books, these cormorants contrived in one way and
+another to acquire for themselves and their creatures all the best lands
+in the Province, either wholly for nothing or at a price which was
+merely nominal. "The keys of office," says a writer already quoted from,
+"were held by themselves or friends, and no admittance to their secrets
+was allowed except to the initiated, whose favourable out-of-door
+statements could be relied on. Never since the Norman invasion of
+England was there such a wholesale partition of plunder."[37] Many
+persons owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, entire
+townships.[38] Others owned thousands of acres which they had never
+seen. As the taxes imposed on unsettled lands were trifling, these
+immense tracts were no appreciable expense to their owners, who could
+hold them from year to year, until the progress of settlement rendered
+them of immense value. Such progress was inevitable, for though these
+huge reservations tended to keep back the country, settlers obtained
+grants of adjoining lands, and their labours could not fail to increase
+the value of all contiguous territory. The Home District, including the
+most valuable portion of Upper Canada, was especially afflicted by these
+wholesale reservations, but every part of the Province was more or leas
+crippled by them.
+
+The ruling faction and their favourites, not satisfied with the enormous
+direct and indirect grants of lands which they managed in one way and
+another to obtain, availed themselves of every opportunity to buy up
+land which had been granted to persons who had expended their little all
+on their properties, and had thereby become impoverished. Among these
+latter were many half-pay officers and others of good birth but limited
+means, who had sought homes for themselves in the Canadian wilderness.
+Not a few had been compelled to sell their commissions in order to
+obtain the wherewithal to settle themselves and their families on the
+lands granted to them. Finding themselves cut off from society, and
+ill-suited to face the privations of pioneer life, they became
+discouraged, and sold their lands for whatever meagre price they could
+get. The land-jobbers were ever on the alert to buy up these tracts at a
+few shillings an acre, not with any intention of settling upon or
+improving them, but solely for the purpose of holding them for an
+increased value. The grants to the children of U. E. Loyalists were the
+constant subjects of bargain and sale, and wrought great evil to the
+Province without producing any corresponding benefit to the recipients.
+Very few of the lots so granted were ever occupied by the grantees, most
+of whom were young persons of both sexes who resided with their parents,
+and had no inclination to set up for themselves in the wilderness. These
+grants were frequently sold at ridiculously low prices. From two to five
+pounds was an ordinary price for a lot of two hundred acres. Mr. John
+Radenhurst, who was Chief Clerk in the office of the Surveyor-General
+for many years, is entitled to speak on this subject with authority. In
+his evidence taken before Lord Durham's Commissioner, in 1838, he states
+that the general price paid by speculators for the two-hundred-acre lots
+granted to sons and daughters of U. E. Loyalists was "from a gallon of
+rum up to perhaps six pounds." In answer to another question, he states
+that while millions of acres were granted in this way, the settlement of
+the Province was not advanced, nor the advantage of the grantee secured
+in the manner that may be supposed to have been contemplated by
+Government. He mentions the Honourable Robert Hamilton, a member of the
+Legislative Council, and the two Chief Justices, Elmsley and Powell, as
+among the largest purchasers of these lands. Mr. Hamilton's acquisitions
+amounted to about a hundred thousand acres.[39] Elmsley and Powell, in
+addition to the five thousand acres which each of them had obtained for
+nothing as members of the Executive Council, managed to acquire
+quantities of land which, had they been brought together in one spot,
+would have made a township of average size. Thus was monopoly
+perpetuated and increased from year to year, and thus were large tracts
+of the Provincial territory maintained in a state of primitive
+wilderness.
+
+Intimations of the gigantic abuses existing in the land-granting system
+of Upper Canada were more than once sent across the Atlantic to the
+Colonial Secretary, who instructed the Lieutenant-Governor to impose
+certain regulations with a view to preventing the continuous repetition
+of injustice. The Colonial Office, however, was more than three thousand
+miles away, and means were easily found for evading any restrictions
+imposed at such a distance. Some idea of the extent which the evil had
+attained in the year 1818 may be derived from the two passages in that
+very petition to the Prince Regent for which Mr. Gourlay was indicted at
+Kingston and Brockville, as related in the preceding chapter. "The lands
+of the Crown in Upper Canada," proceeds the petition, "are of immense
+extent, not only stretching far and wide into the wilderness, but
+scattered over the Province, and intermixed with private property
+already cultivated. The disposal of this land is left to ministers at
+home, who are palpably ignorant of existing circumstances, and to a
+council of men resident in the Province, who, it is believed, have long
+converted the trust reposed in them to purposes of selfishness. The
+scandalous abuses in this department came some years ago to such a pitch
+of monstrous magnitude that the Home ministers wisely imposed
+restrictions upon the Land Council of Upper Canada. These, however, have
+by no means removed the evil; and a system of patronage and favouritism,
+in the disposal of the Crown Lands, still exists; altogether destructive
+of moral rectitude and virtuous feeling in the management of public
+affairs. Corruption, indeed, has reached such a height in this Province
+that it is thought no other part of the British Empire witnesses the
+like, and it is vain to look for improvement until a radical change is
+effected. It matters not what characters fill situations of public trust
+at present--all sink beneath the dignity of men--become vitiated and
+weak, as soon as they are placed within the vortex of destruction.
+Confusion on confusion has grown out of this unhappy system; and the
+very lands of the Crown, the giving away of which has created such
+mischief and iniquity, have ultimately come to little value from abuse.
+The poor subjects of His Majesty, driven from home by distress, to whom
+portions of land are granted, can now find in the grant no benefit; and
+Loyalists of the United Empire--the descendants of those who sacrificed
+their all in America in behalf of British rule--men whose names were
+ordered on record for their virtuous adherence to your Royal Father--the
+descendants of these men find now no favour in their destined rewards;
+nay, these rewards, when granted, have in many cases been rendered worse
+than nothing, for the legal rights in the enjoyment of them have been
+held at nought; their land has been rendered unsaleable, and, in some
+cases, only a source of distraction and care. Under this system of
+internal management, and weakened from other evil influences, Upper
+Canada now pines in comparative decay; discontent and poverty are
+experienced in a land supremely blessed with the gifts of nature; dread
+of arbitrary power wars, here, against the free exercise of reason and
+manly sentiment; laws have been set aside; legislators have come into
+derision; and contempt from the mother-country seems fast gathering
+strength to disunite the people of Canada from their friends at home."
+Notwithstanding these long, involved, awkwardly-constructed sentences,
+there is no more accurate picture to be found anywhere of the effect of
+the pernicious administration of affairs in the Public Lands Office at
+York in 1818. Twenty years later Lord Durham found it not much
+improved.[40]
+
+Another hydra-headed monster which ate into the very vitals of the
+commonwealth was the provision for the clergy, known as the Clergy
+Reserves. This was perhaps the greatest of all the curses imposed upon
+Upper Canada by the Constitutional Act, for its ill effects were both
+direct and incidental. It not only tended to stop the march of progress,
+but it created a degree of sectarian animosity and hatred little
+calculated to inspire respect for Christianity in the breasts of the
+secular portion of the community, and it disturbed the public
+tranquillity for nearly two generations.
+
+By the thirty-sixth section of the Act of 1791, power was given to
+reserve out of all future grants of land in Upper and Lower Canada, as
+well as in respect of all past grants, an allotment for the support of
+"a Protestant Clergy." It was provided that this allotment should be
+"equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted." By the
+thirty-seventh section, the rents, profits and emoluments arising from
+the lands so appropriated were to be applicable solely to the
+maintenance and support of a Protestant Clergy. By subsequent sections
+provision was made for the erection and endowment by the
+Lieutenant-Governor, under instructions from the Crown, of parsonages or
+rectories, one or more in every township or parish, according to the
+establishment of the Church of England, and for the presentation of
+incumbents, subject to the bishop's right of institution. By section
+forty-two it was enacted that no Provincial statute varying or repealing
+these provisions should receive the royal assent until thirty days after
+it had been laid before both Houses of Parliament in Great Britain.
+These famous enactments were destined to produce more discord and
+heartburning than all the other clauses of the Constitutional Act
+combined. They were destined to make the Church of England more
+cordially detested in this Province by persons without the pale of her
+communion than she has ever been in any other part of the world. They
+were destined to set one Legislative faction against another in such
+fierce array that the public business frequently had to be suspended.
+They were destined to divide the Provincial population into two hostile
+camps, each filled with envy, malice and all uncharitableness towards
+the other. They were destined to be the key-note of general elections,
+and to shape the policy of successive Administrations. They were
+destined to be the chief factor in bringing about a Rebellion which for
+a time seriously disturbed the industries of the Province; which filled
+the Provincial jails with suffering prisoners; which consigned a number
+of persons to a premature and ignominous death; which brought sorrow
+and ruin to many a once happy fireside; which bequeathed a legacy of
+hatred to the children of those who took part in it; and which seriously
+disturbed the international amity between Great Britain and the United
+States.
+
+It may be doubted whether all the ill effects of these appropriations
+were foreseen by their promoters in the early years of our history. It
+was at all events some time before those effects began to be apparent to
+the people generally. In making the appropriations, care was taken that
+the reserved lands should be intermixed with grants to actual settlers,
+whereby they were spread over a large area; the manifest intention being
+to increase their value by their proximity to cultivated farms, and at
+the same time to create a tenantry in the settled townships, with a view
+to the creation of parishes and the endowment of rectories. In several
+portions of the Province, however, it was impossible to follow this
+plan. Much of the Niagara peninsula had been granted to Butler's Rangers
+before the passing of the Constitutional Act. In like manner, certain
+townships along the north bank of the St. Lawrence, as well as several
+portions of the Western District, had been granted to other United
+Empire Loyalists. In none of these cases had any reservations been made,
+and the lands had already become vested in the grantees. The
+appropriators accordingly set apart large tracts of aggregated
+reservations in contiguous townships which were yet unsettled. The
+prejudicial results soon began to appear. Huge tracts of reserves
+interposed themselves between one settler and another, enhancing the
+difficulties of communication and transportation, and hindering or
+altogether preventing that cooeperation of labour which is essential to
+the prosperity of pioneer settlements. The inhabitants, instead of being
+drawn together, were isolated from one another, and combination for
+municipal or other public purposes was rendered all but impracticable.
+They were kept remote from a market for the sale of their produce, cut
+off from the privileges of public worship and public education for their
+children; deprived, in a word, of the blessings of civilization.
+Settlement was seriously obstructed, and the industrious immigrant was
+to a great extent paralyzed by his surroundings.
+
+The evils arising out of these Clergy Reserves were intensified by the
+unfair and illegal manner in which the appropriations were made. It has
+been seen that by the Act of 1791 the land reserved for the clergy was
+to be equal to one-seventh of all grants made by the Crown. One-seventh
+of all grants would obviously be one-eighth of the whole. Yet, instead
+of acting on this self-evident proposition, it was the practice of those
+to whom the duty of reservation was entrusted to set apart for the
+clergy one-seventh of _all_ the land, which was equal to a sixth of the
+land granted. The surplus thus unjustly appropriated on behalf of the
+clergy had in 1838 footed up to a total of three hundred thousand acres.
+The excess was confined to about two-thirds of the surveyed townships,
+from which circumstance, as well as from the obvious construction of the
+statute, it is to be inferred that the excessive reservations were made
+deliberately, and not from mere oversight or inadvertence.[41]
+
+As the Province increased in population, and as land advanced in value,
+the grievance became more and more manifest. The growl of discontent
+began to be heard, and the people began to combine against the
+intolerable evil. This, at first, was chiefly due to the purely secular
+reasons above indicated. By degrees, however, the sectarian element was
+developed, and the growl of discontent became a roar of opposition. A
+dominant church was not acceptable to the Dissenters[42] who composed
+the bulk of the population; yet it was contended by those in
+authority--all of whom were Episcopalians--that the Clergy Reserves were
+the exclusive domain of the Church of England. It must be conceded that
+there was some ground for this contention, and that the question was not
+quite free from doubt. The Act authorizing the setting apart of the
+Reserves had appropriated them for the maintenance and support of "a
+Protestant Clergy." The word "clergy" was not commonly applied in those
+days to dissenting ministers of religion. It had never been used in any
+English statute to designate any ministers except those of the Church of
+Rome and the Church of England. The Church of Rome being excluded by the
+term "Protestant," it was contended that the provision had been for the
+exclusive benefit of the Church of England, more especially as the
+creation and endowment of parsonages and rectories--which are
+institutions peculiar to the Church of England--had been expressly
+provided for by the same Act. Such was the plea put forward on behalf of
+the Church of England. Dissenters took a different view. They argued
+that the term "Protestant Clergy" had been used in the Act in mere
+contradistinction to the clergy of the Church of Rome. They further
+urged that the limited construction sought to be put upon the term by
+the Anglicans was plainly negatived by the thirty-ninth section of the
+Act, wherein the words "incumbent or minister of the Church of England"
+were expressly employed. Such terms, it was said, would not have been
+used by the framers of the Act if they had regarded them as synonymous
+with "Protestant Clergy," as used in other clauses. "The manifest
+intention of the Act," said the Dissenters, "was to provide for a
+_Protestant_--as distinguished from a _Roman Catholic_--clergy. The
+provision for the establishment of parsonages and rectories is a mere
+matter of detail, which cannot be allowed to override the larger
+intention so plainly evidenced by other sections." The Presbyterian
+body took higher ground than their non-Anglican brethren. The Church of
+Scotland had been expressly recognized as a Protestant Church by the Act
+of Union of England and Scotland in 1707. It was therefore contended
+that the ministers of that church were entitled to be considered as
+"Protestant Clergy;" and this contention was sustained by the English
+law officers of the Crown in 1819. The opinion expressed by those
+learned officials was acted upon, and the Presbyterians of Upper Canada
+put forward claims to a share of the Reserves. Their claims were
+allowed; whereupon other Protestant denominations followed their
+example, and demanded, as "Protestant Clergy," to participate in the
+provision made for them. The private and public quarrels which ensued
+between leaders of the different sects kept the country in a state of
+chronic disturbance; while the greed displayed by professed ministers of
+religion furnished a striking practical commentary upon the doctrines
+taught by the Founder of all Christian faiths. Opinions were obtained
+from eminent lawyers as to the respective rights of the various sects,
+and as to the true meaning of the Constitutional Act. The most opposite
+conclusions were arrived at by different lawyers, and it became manifest
+that no apportionment satisfactory to all the claimants could be made by
+any tribunal. The Church of England meanwhile contrived to secure the
+great bulk of the spoils. According to a return to the House of Assembly
+of lands set apart as glebes in Upper Canada during the forty-six years
+from 1787 to 1833, it appears that 22,345 acres were so set apart for
+the Clergy of the Church of England, 1160 acres for Ministers of the
+Kirk of Scotland, 400 for Roman Catholics, and "none for any other
+denomination of Christians."[43]
+
+But there was a broader and stronger argument than any of these purely
+technical contentions: an argument founded on experience and practical
+utility. No matter what had been the intent of the original framers of
+the Constitutional Act, the fact had become patent to all Dissenters,
+and even to many liberal-minded lay members of the Anglican Church, that
+the Clergy Reserves were a curse to the Province--a mill-stone about her
+neck, which dragged her down in spite of all exertions to raise her to
+the surface. Not long after this fact had become generally recognized,
+an agitation arose in favour of the total abolition of State aid to
+religious bodies. The plan advocated by Reformers was the sale of the
+Reserves, and the application of the proceeds to public education and
+municipal improvements. The agitation was kept up until long after the
+period covered by this work, and the object sought to be attained by it
+was not fully accomplished until the year 1854. Meanwhile, however, it
+was the most important question before the country, and it occupied the
+attention of the Legislature during a large part of almost every
+session. Here was where the conflict between the two Houses was felt
+with most pernicious effect. The advocates of abolition and
+secularization clearly had the country with them, and the Assembly
+passed Bill after Bill to effect those objects. Their efforts were
+utterly nullified by the Upper House, which would not listen to any such
+proposals, and which threw out as many Bills relating to this important
+subject as the Assembly thought proper to send up for its consideration.
+Such were the merits of the long and fiercely-contested question of the
+Clergy Reserves.
+
+Another serious obstacle to Upper Canadian prosperity was the continual
+interference of the Colonial Office in our domestic concerns. Bills
+passed by the Provincial Legislature for the regulation of our own
+internal affairs were disallowed with vexatious frequency, and
+sometimes, apparently, from mere caprice. Sometimes the irresponsible
+Executive, unwilling that their obedient servants in the Upper House
+should incur popular odium by opposing the will of the Assembly,
+permitted Bills to pass both Houses, and then, through their tool the
+Lieutenant-Governor, had these identical measures disallowed. Advice,
+the compliance with which could not fail to be prejudicial to the
+interests of the colony, was also sent across the Atlantic through the
+Lieutenant-Governor, to whom it came back by return post in the shape of
+Imperial instructions to be acted upon. The Colonial Minister, whoever
+he might for the time happen to be, knew little and cared little about
+the British North American colonies, and did not generally concern
+himself with despatches to colonial Governors any further than to sign
+his name to them. He was thus the unconscious means of furthering
+Executive tyranny, and to some extent of alienating the loyalty of the
+colonists.
+
+Among other drawbacks, sufficiently serious in themselves and in their
+ulterior consequences, but of minor importance when compared with the
+all-permeating grievances already referred to, may be mentioned the
+quartering of military men upon the colony in the capacity of
+Lieutenant-Governors; the unequal representation of the people in the
+Assembly; the exorbitant salaries of certain public officials; the union
+of judicial and legislative functions in the same persons; the
+appointment of judges, sheriffs, magistrates, and other officials during
+the pleasure of the Executive, and not during good behaviour.
+
+The evils attendant upon placing the local administration of the
+colonies in the hands of military officers, who were inexperienced in
+constitutional government, and unfitted by training for such duties as
+were demanded of them, have already been glanced at.[44] Such persons
+naturally enough found themselves altogether out of their proper element
+upon their arrival in the colony, and looked to the Executive
+Councillors for advice and instruction. That they should follow the
+instruction received, and that they should surrender themselves to the
+judgment of those enemies of the public weal, followed almost as a
+matter of course. In this way the strength of the oligarchy was
+consolidated and enlarged, and its members rendered more and more
+independent of public opinion. All that can be urged on behalf of the
+Home Ministry, by way of excuse for committing the direction of our
+affairs to such persons, is that the position of Lieutenant-Governor of
+Upper Canada was not a sufficient inducement to make it sought after by
+really capable men. The office, in at least one instance to be hereafter
+recorded, went a-begging.
+
+Unequal representation was a fruitful source of discontent, though Upper
+Canada was no worse off in that respect than the mother-country prior to
+the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832. For years before the Rebellion,
+the little district towns of Niagara, Brockville and Cornwall each
+enjoyed the privilege of sending a representative to the Assembly. All
+three of them were notoriously rotten boroughs--as rotten as Gatton,
+Grampound or Old Sarum--and always returned Tory members prepared to do
+the bidding of the Executive. By such means was the Assembly corrupted,
+and the elective franchise turned into an instrument of oppression. Some
+of the salaries of public officials were altogether out of proportion
+to the state of the revenue, and to the nature and extent of the duties
+performed. Certain highly-paid offices were the merest sinecures, and
+had been created for no other purpose than to provide for serviceable
+tools of the Administration. The practice of permitting judges to sit
+and vote in the Legislature needs no comment. Whatever justification
+there might have been for such a union of functions in the first infancy
+of the Province, when educated men were few in the land, there was
+certainly none in the days when Chief Justice Robinson was Speaker of
+the Legislative Council. The effect of making the tenure of office of
+judges and other dignitaries dependent on the will of the Executive was
+such as has attended upon such a system in all countries where it has
+been in vogue. The officials were selected almost entirely from one
+political party, and had always an eye upon the nod of their
+taskmasters, who had the power to make or unmake them. Whenever it was
+desirable, in the supposed interests of the Executive, that the
+authority of the courts should be strained to the perversion of
+judgment, the dispensing of even-handed justice was altogether a
+secondary consideration. Mr. Gourlay's case, to say nothing of that of
+Bartemus Ferguson, affords a sufficient illustration of the extent to
+which the traditions of the Star Chamber were revived in Upper Canadian
+practice, when it was thought desirable to crush a champion of popular
+liberty and equal rights.
+
+Such were a few of the burdens which the people of Upper Canada were
+compelled to bear in the by-gone epoch when tyranny reigned supreme
+throughout the Province: when
+
+                       "the law's delay,
+   The insolence of office, and the spurns
+   That patient merit of the unworthy takes,"
+
+were the all too frequent portion of such of the inhabitants as dared to
+call in question the righteousness of existing ordinances. There was a
+further intolerable grievance which was closely bound up with, and
+which, so to speak, grew out of or sustained all the rest: which
+comprehended within itself all the evils affecting the body politic, and
+which left traces of its existence that have survived down to the
+present time. This was the Family Compact--a phrase which is in
+everybody's mouth, but the significance whereof, I venture to think, is
+in general but imperfectly understood. The subject deserves a chapter to
+itself.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[24] Being somewhat doubtful as to the truth of this oft-repeated story,
+I have taken the trouble to consult the records in the Crown Lands
+Office, where I find that Mr. Russell on several occasions made grants
+of land to himself. Among other such grants I may mention lot number
+twenty-two, in the third concession of the township of York, which was
+made on the 16th of July, 1797. See Liber A., folio 382, Provincial
+Registry Office. He also granted various tracts of land to his sister,
+Miss Elizabeth Russell, the first of which bears date the 15th of
+December, 1796. See Liber B., folio 334. So that the President appears
+to have begun to "do good unto himself" and his family before he had
+been three months in office as Administrator of the Government. Further
+investigation would doubtless prove that he kept up the practice until
+the arrival of Governor Hunter.
+
+[25] See his speech at the close of the first session of the First
+Parliament of Upper Canada, on the 15th of October, 1792.
+
+[26] The property qualification for a voter was, in counties, the
+possession of lands or tenements of the yearly value of forty shillings
+sterling or upwards, over and above all rents and charges; and in towns
+or townships, the possession of a dwelling house and lot of the yearly
+value of five pounds sterling or upwards, or the having been a resident
+for twelve months, and the having paid a year's rent at the rate of ten
+pounds sterling or upwards. See the twentieth section of the
+Constitutional Act.
+
+[27] The latter part of this clause has no application to Brock, who was
+made of manlier stuff. Brock, however, was not Lieutenant-Governor, but
+merely Provisional Administrator of the Province.
+
+[28] _Report on the Affairs of British North America_, English folio
+edition, p. 29.
+
+[29] _The Constitutional History of Canada_, by Samuel James Watson,
+Vol. I., p. 128.
+
+[30] The abuses specified in the present chapter were not confined to
+Upper Canada. They existed, with certain local variations, throughout
+all the British North American colonies, and produced similar results in
+each; viz., ever-recurring conflicts between the Executive and the
+popular branch of the Legislature, followed by more or less alienation
+of loyalty to the mother country on the part of the more radical element
+in the community. In the Maritime Provinces the alienation was not
+sufficiently widespread to manifest itself in actual rebellion, though
+the conflict between the oligarchy and the popular tribunes sometimes
+produced a very disturbed state of feeling. In Lower Canada, where the
+element of race-hatred was added to all other sources of disturbance,
+the conflict attained an intensity far beyond what was reached in any of
+the other colonies, and left traces behind it which are not even yet
+wholly obliterated.
+
+[31] _Statistical Account_, Vol. II., p. 296.
+
+[32] _Canadiana_, by W. B. Wells, p. 103.
+
+[33] Ib.
+
+[34] Ib., p. 104.
+
+[35] These grants of five thousand acres to members of the Executive
+Council were in direct violation of the instructions framed by the Home
+Government for the regulation of land-granting in Upper Canada. They
+continued to be made down to 1807, when they were stopped by a
+peremptory order to that effect from the Colonial Secretary. There is
+one instance on record of a reserve being applied for and made on behalf
+of the child of a member of the Legislative Council, though the child
+was not three days old. See the evidence of John Radenhurst, Chief Clerk
+in the office of the Surveyor-General, in Appendix B. to Lord Durham's
+_Report on the Affairs of British North America_.
+
+[36] Most of these facts with reference to the granting of public lands
+may be obtained from the archives of the Crown Lands Office in Toronto,
+and from the newspapers and official reports of the period. They may
+also be found, together with a vast accumulation of other important
+facts bearing on the same subject, in Charles Buller's Report on Public
+Lands and Emigration, forming Appendix B. to Lord Durham's _Report on
+the Affairs of British North America_.
+
+[37] _Canadiana_, p. 130.
+
+[38] In 1796 or thereabouts the Executive offered to grant entire
+townships to persons who would undertake to settle them with a certain
+number of colonists within a specified time. The number of colonists
+required was made proportionate to the extent of territory to be
+settled. This offer was taken advantage of by ten different individuals.
+The grants were not actually made, but the respective townships were
+allocated in the official books to the various persons concerned. Upon
+the faith of the pledge of the Executive, several of the ten assignees
+proceeded to carry out the conditions imposed. Among them was Mr.
+William Berczy, who, having obtained an assignment of the township of
+Markham, went to great expense in bringing over a number of German
+families, whom he settled according to the conditions of the
+contemplated grant. After he had spent a sum of money variously stated
+at from twenty to thirty thousand pounds sterling, the Executive coolly
+announced that they had determined to abandon the township system, and
+that they did not even intend to carry out the grants to those who had
+complied with the conditions. The compensation offered for this
+unparalleled breach of faith was a grant of twelve hundred acres to each
+assignee. Nine of the individuals concerned assented to those terms, but
+Mr. Berczy refused to accept any such inadequate recompense, and he
+remained for the rest of his life a ruined man. He shook the dust of
+Upper Canada from his feet, and took up his abode in Montreal, whence he
+subsequently repaired to New York, where he died in the year 1813.
+
+[39] See Appendix B. to Lord Durham's _Report_, folio edition, p. 99.
+Mr. Charles Rankin, Deputy-Surveyor in the Western District, in his
+evidence before the Commission (_ib._ pp. 120, 121), says:--"The system
+of making large grants to individuals who had no intention of settling
+them has tended to retard the prosperity of the colony by separating the
+actual settlers, and rendering it so much more difficult, and in some
+cases impossible, for them to make the necessary roads. It has also made
+the markets more distant and more precarious. To such an extent have
+these difficulties been experienced as to occasion the abandonment of
+settlements which had been formed. I may mention, as an instance of
+this, the township of Rama, where after a trial of three years, the
+settlers were compelled to abandon their improvements. It should be
+noticed that the settlers in this instance were not of a class fitted to
+encounter the privations of the wilderness, being half-pay officers. In
+the township of St. Vincent almost all the most valuable settlers have
+left their farms from the same cause, the townships of Nottawasaga and
+Collingwood, the whole of the land in which had been granted, and which
+are almost entirely unsettled (Collingwood, I believe, has only one
+settler), intervening between them and the settled township, and
+rendering communication impossible. There have been numerous instances
+in which, though the settlement has not been altogether abandoned, the
+most valuable settlers, after unavailing struggles of several years with
+the difficulties which I have described, have left their farms." This
+witness further states his belief that nine-tenths of the lands in the
+Western District were still--in 1838--in a state of wilderness.
+
+[40] See his _Report, passim_; also see the portion of Appendix B.
+relating to Upper Canada.
+
+[41] See the Special Report of Mr. R. Davies Hanson, Assistant
+Commissioner of Crown Lands and Emigration, forming the commencement of
+Appendix A. to Lord Durham's _Report on the Affairs of British North
+America_.
+
+[42] I use this word for want of a better, though it is not strictly
+accurate as applied to Upper Canada, where there were no clearly
+prescribed standards of religious faith from which non-supporters of
+Episcopacy could be said to dissent. The word "Nonconformist" is
+objectionable for a similar reason.
+
+[43] See _Seventh Grievance Committee's Report_, p. 164.
+
+[44] _Ante_, p. 51.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE FAMILY COMPACT.
+
+
+What was the nature and origin of this powerful organization--this
+informally-constituted league, the name whereof has been familiar to the
+ears of Upper Canadians during the whole, or nearly the whole, of the
+present century; which is referred to in nearly all books dealing with
+the political and social life of this Province before the Union of 1841;
+which for forty years regulated the public policy of the colony, and
+ruled with an iron hand over the liberties of the inhabitants?
+
+Immediately after the ratification of the Treaty of Paris, in 1763,
+whereby Canada was ceded by France to Great Britain, it became necessary
+for the British Government to appoint a considerable number of officials
+to fill the public offices in the country so ceded. It did not suit the
+policy of the conquerors to leave much power in the hands of the
+conquered. The introduction of the English language and laws was
+moreover a practical disqualification for most of the native inhabitants
+of the colony, and the new officials were nearly all sent over from
+England. Some of the principal personages among them were men of probity
+and brains. Others, though possessed of a full share of brains, had but
+a younger brother's portion of the other commodity. The underlings,
+generally speaking, had but a slender allowance of either. They were for
+the most part appointed on the recommendation of various supporters of
+the Government of the day, who were thus able to provide for a number of
+their needy relatives and dependants--a matter of vastly greater
+importance in their eyes than the proper administration of the affairs
+of a distant and newly-acquired colony. The Conquest thus proved a boon
+to many servile hangers-on of public men in Great Britain, and scores of
+the waifs and strays of British aristocracy began to turn their eyes
+towards Canada as a possible resource in the last emergency. It was said
+to be a cold and comfortless land, but it was surely preferable to the
+Fleet Prison or the Marshalsea, with the alternative of starvation or
+enlistment in the army. Many of these pimps and panders to the whims or
+the passions of those in high station found their way to Quebec and
+Montreal, and were provided for at the public expense by being installed
+in places of greater or less emolument.[45]
+
+When Upper Canada was set apart as a separate Province, in 1791, the
+field of operations was considerably extended. Indeed, the Upper
+Province soon came to be regarded with special favour by intending
+aspirants to office, as it was in all respects an English colony;
+whereas Lower Canada, in spite of all attempts to Anglicize it, remained
+much more French than English. Lower Canada, indeed, remained in some
+respects more French than any other part of the world, not even
+excepting France itself, for in that country the Great Revolution had
+swept away many effete institutions which were still retained in all
+their decrepitude among the Frenchmen of the New World. Now, the French
+Canadians, though most of the avenues to power and office were closed to
+them, composed a vast majority of the population. They did not take
+kindly to the British colonists, and declined to fraternize with them.
+The latter could bear this isolation, as they were comforted by the
+spoils of office, but their lives were rendered much less agreeable than
+they would have been in a colony where no such disturbing elements were
+known. Upper Canada was precisely such a colony. No part of Britain was
+more British in sentiment. In no part of the world would an expatriated
+Englishman find himself more entirely in harmony with his environment,
+from a purely patriotic point of view. What wonder, then, that Upper
+Canada was regarded by place-hunting emigrants from England with
+wistful eyes? What wonder that an appointment to a public office in
+Upper Canada should have been regarded by such persons as a thing
+greatly to be coveted? Such aspirants were regarded with but little
+favour by Governor Simcoe. His great object was to launch the Province
+successfully on its career, and to lay the foundations of good
+government. He brought with him his own staff, selected by himself with
+a single eye to their fitness for the positions which they were
+respectively intended to fill. During his day there was little or no
+favouritism in public appointments, and but little, if anything, to find
+fault with in the conduct of the administration. His demission of office
+was almost immediately followed by a relaxation of discipline, and by a
+looseness in the management of the public business. As the years passed
+by, the Province became the resort of numerous office-seekers from
+beyond sea--half-pay officers and scions of good English, Scotch and
+Irish families, who sought to better their fortunes by expatriation. As
+they were, generally speaking, men of some education, and of manners
+more polished than were ordinarily found among the colonists, they
+naturally assimilated, and were drawn towards each other. They likewise
+coalesced, to some extent, with a few United Empire Loyalist families of
+exclusive pretensions, in whose veins the blood was supposed to possess
+an exceptionally cerulean tint. Several persons who had rapidly gained
+wealth by trade and speculation, and who had thereby acquired influence
+in the community, were also admitted. In an inconceivably short space of
+time this union of several influential cliques was followed by important
+results. They acquired a strength and influence which, in the then
+primitive state of the colony, carried all before them. They wormed
+themselves into all the more important offices, directed the Councils of
+the Sovereign's representative, and, in a word, became the power behind
+the Throne. In the early years of their domination they organized their
+forces with much tact and judgment, and did not develop their plans
+until they had been carefully matured. They may be said to have
+practically absorbed the Executive and Legislative Councils, as those
+bodies were entirely made up of persons either selected from among them
+or entirely subservient to their influence. No man, whatever his
+abilities, could hope to succeed in any profession or calling in Upper
+Canada if he dared to declare himself in opposition to them. A few made
+the attempt, and failed most signally.
+
+Such was the Family Compact. "For a long time," says Lord Durham,[46]
+writing in 1838, "this body of men, receiving at times accessions to its
+members, possessed almost all the highest public offices, by means of
+which, and of its influence in the Executive Council, it wielded all the
+powers of Government; it maintained influence in the Legislature by
+means of its predominance in the Legislative Council; and it disposed of
+the large number of petty posts which are in the patronage of the
+Government all over the Province. Successive Governors, as they came in
+their turn, are said to have either submitted quietly to its influence,
+or, after a short and unavailing struggle, to have yielded to this
+well-organized party the conduct of affairs. The bench, the magistracy,
+the high offices of the Episcopal Church, and a great part of the legal
+profession, are filled by the adherents of this party: by grant or
+purchase they have acquired nearly the whole of the waste lands of the
+Province; they are all-powerful in the chartered banks, and, till
+lately, shared among themselves almost exclusively all offices of trust
+and profit."
+
+The influences which produced the Family Compact were not confined to
+Upper Canada. In the Lower Province, as well as in Nova Scotia and New
+Brunswick, similar causes led to similar results, and the term "Family
+Compact" has at one time or another been a familiar one in all the
+British North American colonies. But in none of them did the
+organization attain to such a plenitude of power as in this Province,
+and in none of them did it wield the sceptre of authority with so
+thorough an indifference to the principles of right and wrong. Its name
+is a rather indefinite, but not inapt characterization. Lord Durham
+refers to the term "Family Compact," as being not much more appropriate
+than party designations usually are; "inasmuch as," he writes, "there
+is, in truth, very little of family connexion among the persons thus
+united.[47]" "Much" is a saving clause, but if his Lordship had thought
+it worth his while to enquire minutely into the relations subsisting
+between the members of this body, he would have found that there had
+been a good many intermarriages between them, and that the pecuniary
+interests which bound them together had been welded by the most powerful
+of social bonds.[48] The designation "Family Compact," however, did not
+owe its origin to any combination of North American colonists, but was
+borrowed from the diplomatic history of Europe. By the treaty signed at
+Paris on the 15th of August, 1761, by representatives on behalf of
+France and Spain, the contracting parties agreed to guarantee each
+other's territories, to provide mutual succours by sea and land, and to
+consider the enemy of either as the enemy of both. This treaty, being
+contracted between the two branches of the House of Bourbon, is known to
+history as the Family Compact Treaty, and the name was adopted in the
+Canadas, as well as in the Maritime Provinces, to designate the
+combination which enjoyed a monopoly of power and place in the
+community, and among the members whereof there seemed to be a perfect,
+if unexpressed, understanding, that they were to make common cause
+against any and all persons who might attempt to diminish or destroy
+their influence.
+
+The members of the Family Compact, with very few exceptions, were
+members of the Church of England, which, owing to the before-mentioned
+provisions in the Constitutional Act, they regarded as the State Church
+of Upper Canada, established by law, and entitled to the special
+veneration of the inhabitants. They accounted all persons as members of
+the Church of England who were not actual members of some other
+religious body, and in enumerating the people for statistical purposes
+they sometimes even went so far as to include the infant children of
+Dissenters as Episcopalians. They sought to defend the alleged
+establishment of a State Church in Canada by arguments which it is
+astonishing to think that men of education and intelligence should ever
+have stooped to employ. "There should be in every Christian country an
+established religion," said Dr. Strachan, in his evidence before the
+Select Committee on Grievances, in 1835, "otherwise it is not a
+Christian but an infidel country."[49] According to their theory, one of
+the principal ends of the Government of Upper Canada was the propagation
+of religious truth as set forth in the doctrines of the Church of
+England. True, the arguments on the subject were not so well understood
+then as now. Mr. Gladstone's little volume on "The State in its
+Relations with the Church," and Macaulay's answer thereto in the
+_Edinburgh Review_, had not then been published. But some of the most
+conclusive arguments adduced by Macaulay were as old as the world
+itself; and even Mr. Gladstone, in all his youthful exuberance, did not
+venture to take so preposterous a stand as was assumed by the upholders
+of a State Church in this Province. Their bigotry and intolerance were
+utterly out of keeping with the times in which they lived, and were
+better suited to the days of Archbishop Laud or Sir Robert Filmer. Of
+that heaven-born charity which suffereth long, and is kind; which
+vaunteth not itself, and is not puffed up; which seeketh not her own,
+and is not easily provoked; which thinketh no evil; which rejoiceth not
+in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; which beareth all things,
+believeth all things, endureth all things--of the spirit which impels to
+such a state of mind as this, we find few traces in the lives and
+writings of the upholders of State-Churchism in Upper Canada in those
+days. We find, on the contrary, much unkindness, much vaunting of
+themselves, much selfish conceit, much seeking, not only of their own,
+but of that which of right belonged to their neighbours. The champions
+of ecclesiastical monopoly were easily provoked to anger, and to
+thinking and speaking all manner of evil of those who differed from them
+as to the distribution of the Clergy Reserves. Roman Catholicism they
+contemplated with a certain amount of toleration, as the Roman Catholic
+hierarchy yielded the Government an unwavering support in return for the
+freedom and privileges which they enjoyed. But their toleration was not
+broad enough to cover any other form of religious belief. Dissent, in
+all its multiform phases, they looked upon with mingled abhorrence and
+contempt--as a thing to be shunned and tabooed by all right-minded
+persons. Dissenting ministers of religion were regarded as "low
+fellows," whom it was no sin to persecute, and, if possible, drive out
+of the country. Comparatively few of the latter were permitted to
+solemnize matrimony during the first forty years of the Province's
+history. By the statute 38 George III., chapter 4, passed in 1798, the
+privilege of doing so was accorded to ministers of "The Church of
+Scotland, or Lutherans or Calvinists;" but it was hedged about with
+cumbrous restrictions which must have been felt as humiliating and
+unnecessary. No person was to be regarded as a minister under the Act
+until he had appeared before the Justices of the Peace in Quarter
+Sessions, and had produced satisfactory credentials of his ordination.
+He was also compelled to take the oath of allegiance. Even after
+complying with all formalities, his functions were restricted to cases
+where one or both of the parties to be joined together belonged to his
+own religious society. Ministers of other denominations, including those
+of the Methodist body, which was the most numerous religious community
+in the Province, were not allowed the privilege of solemnizing marriage
+rites till the year 1831. The ignominous disqualification was removed
+by the statute 11 George IV., chapter 36, which was passed in 1830, but
+which did not receive the royal assent until the following year. A
+similar measure had repeatedly been passed by the Assembly in former
+sessions, but had as often been rejected by the Upper House. Before the
+law was finally and equitably settled as above mentioned, several
+ministers of religion had been tried and banished from the Province for
+having ventured to solemnize matrimony without legal authority. It is
+said that in one case where a minister was tried on a charge of this
+kind, the accused protested against his sentence, alleging that the
+Chief Justice, who presided at the trial, had himself sanctioned the
+performance of the ceremony. The Chief Justice, being called upon to
+descend from the judgment seat and give evidence as to this fact,
+declined to do so; but he afterwards procured a pardon for the
+prisoner.[50]
+
+The Compact always contained within its ranks a few persons of more than
+average ability. Some of them doubtless believed that the course pursued
+by their organization was for the advantage of the colony, though,
+reasoning by the light of present knowledge, it is difficult to
+comprehend how men of even moderate perspicacity and judgment could have
+brought themselves to such a conclusion. It was, however, inevitable
+that persons of such narrow and contracted views--persons to whom self
+and pelf were the mainsprings of life--should degenerate, mentally as
+well as morally. The persons composing the second generation were, with
+very few exceptions, striking illustrations of the doctrine of the
+descent of man. Their sires had been men of energy and force of
+character. They themselves were--to borrow a phrase from the acting
+drama--the mere walking gentlemen of the colony. The sires had
+originated a bold and determined policy, and had from first to last
+pursued it with consistent vigour. The sons had neither brains to
+conceive nor discretion to carry out the conceptions of others. The
+sires had been persons whom it had been possible for the commonalty to
+respect. The sons were persons whom it was impossible not to despise.
+Surely a more superlatively commonplace and contemptible race of human
+beings has seldom been seen on the earth than four-fifths of the second
+generation of this bastard aristocracy of Upper Canada. It bore no
+resemblance to any other aristocracy whereof history has preserved any
+record. The old Roman commonalty, while they groaned beneath the iron
+heel of tyranny, were one and all conscious of a secret pride in their
+imperial oppressors. For the Roman aristocracy was an aristocracy of
+nature. The Roman patricians made foreign rulers to crouch and tremble
+at the name of Rome. Their triumphs were the triumphs of the nation.
+Caius of Corioli, Furius Camillus, Titus Capitolinus, were names the
+mere utterance of which stirred the Roman blood like the blast of a
+trumpet. For many a long year after one haughty dictator had slept his
+last sleep beneath the walls of Praeneste, and after another had taken
+his final plunge beneath the yellow Tiber or from the Tarpeian rock,
+their exploits furnished themes for tale and song around the Roman
+camp-fires. These puissant representatives of the dominant class had
+shown little sympathy for the plebeians, upon whom they had looked down
+from a lofty height, and towards whom they had ever borne themselves
+with haughtiness and disdain. But their pride was a something to be
+tolerated by Romans of every degree, for they had achieved much glory
+for the Roman name. In the words of one who has interpreted the
+sentiment of those times with rare felicity, Rome could bear the pride
+of him of whom herself was proud. The old French noblesse, again, were
+not devoid of redeeming qualities. Their galling yoke would not have
+been borne from reign to reign, and through century after century, even
+by such seeming reconcilables as constituted the bulk of the French
+populace during the ante-Revolutionary period, if they had all been like
+the wicked St. Evremonde of Mr. Dickens's tragic story. As a class, they
+had a subtle French grace about them which rendered their most grievous
+exactions less hard to bear than were the exactions of their eastern
+neighbours. They were an unmistakable _haute noblesse_, ever polished
+and dignified. Some of them, like Philippe Egalite, had the cunning,
+when the time of trial arrived, to bend to the popular storm, and even
+to affect a zeal for citizenship. Comparatively few of them were at once
+_blase_ and brainless. It may be doubted if a single one of them
+combined--as did many of the rank and file of the second generation of
+the Family Compact of Upper Canada--the pretensions of an aristocrat
+with the sentiments of a boor and the intellectual development of a
+child. Yet further. The feeling of veneration with which the English
+commonalty have for centuries regarded the House of Lords is easy enough
+to understand. That feeling seems to be rapidly passing away, if,
+indeed, it has not already departed. But it would not have endured from
+the time of the Plantagenets to the time of Queen Victoria if it had not
+had some substantial foundation to rest upon. The House of Lords has
+always contained a number of men of high integrity and ability. Take it
+for all and all, it is probably the most just-minded and intellectual
+aristocratic assembly the world has ever seen. This may not be very high
+praise, but it may at least be taken for what it is worth. Its
+individual members are seldom brought sufficiently near to the lower
+order of the commonalty to enable the latter to detect their weaknesses.
+Their wealth, prestige and social position give them a vast influence,
+while at the same time their legislative powers are held in check by the
+direct representatives of the people. Most of these conditions were
+directly reversed in Upper Canada, where the members of the dominant
+faction were brought into the closest relations with the people
+generally, insomuch that their many deficiencies could not be concealed.
+Such wealth as they had they were too often known to have obtained at
+the expense of the rest of the community. The Lower House formed no
+efficacious check upon them, for they either managed to return a
+sufficient number of their tools to control the vote in that body, or
+else they rendered the Assembly's operations of no avail by means of
+their influence in the Legislative Council. They had none of the
+graceful suavity of the Lower Canadian seigneurs. Nor could they boast
+of the superiority derived from a liberal education. Many of them--even
+including some of those who held high public offices--were so illiterate
+that they were unable to write a simple business letter without
+committing errors of orthography of which any one but Artemus Ward or
+Jeames de la Pluche might well feel ashamed.
+
+Nearly all the leading spirits of this strangely-assorted oligarchy were
+either wealthy or on the direct road to wealth. Being comfortably
+provided for at the public cost, in the form of fat offices or wild
+lands, or both, they assumed a swelling port, and aped, as best they
+knew how, the manners and customs of the upper classes in Great Britain.
+They built their dwellings in imitation of old-fashioned English
+manor-houses, with a variety of wings and gables, and with broad
+entrance halls which in an emergency might have served the purpose of
+presence-chambers. They dined long and late, and with much old-world
+pomp and ceremonial. They drove out in coaches emblazoned with heraldic
+bearings, and attended by broad-calved flunkeys in family livery.
+Certain social observances of the early Georgian era, long since effete
+and worn out in England, flourished in the social life of Little York
+down to a period within the memory of many persons who are still living.
+The aristocratic clique which preserved these customs was in the highest
+degree rigid and exclusive. No outsider was admitted into the charmed
+circle unless he came duly ticketed and accredited. The attempt to
+transplant the usages of an old and advanced state of society into the
+primitive streets and lanes of such places as York, Kingston, and
+Woodstock was for a time more successful than might be supposed. Such of
+the families as had been to the manner born carried off these
+observances with considerable grace. They had brought their traditions
+with them across the Atlantic, and though such traditions were not well
+suited to the genius of a young and sparsely-settled colony, they were
+at least maintained with some regard to the sources whence they had been
+derived. With the pretenders who formed a portion of the clique, and who
+had been admitted into it for special political reasons, the attempt to
+copy the habits of their social superiors was, generally speaking, less
+satisfactory. There was, in truth, an inner social circle which these
+latter were never invited to join. They, however, enjoyed all the
+political and pecuniary advantages arising from their connection, and
+were not easily distinguishable by outsiders from the very head and
+front of the organization.
+
+So far as to the wealthy members of the ruling faction. But there were a
+good many of them who not only were not wealthy, but who were in
+positively indigent circumstances. These, for the most part, were
+members of old country families who had sent them to Canada with the
+sole object of getting rid of them. Others were half-pay officers who
+had spent their whole fortunes in settling on land, after which they had
+found themselves unable to make a livelihood, and had then sold their
+property for as much--or as little--as they could manage to get. These
+latter, after having disposed of their lands, generally repaired to the
+towns, and most of them sooner or later found their way to the
+Provincial capital. There they became obedient slaves of those in
+authority, and picked up a precarious livelihood by making themselves
+useful in various ways. The Executive could always find a certain amount
+of work for such persons, though, if the truth must be told, the supply
+was often greater than the demand. The code of social ethics in vogue
+among this class was such as might have been expected from persons who
+had been reared to regard themselves as the objects of a special
+dispensation of fortune. They looked upon manual labour as degrading.
+Any person, no matter what his abilities, who earned a livelihood by the
+sweat of his brow, or even by honest trade, was considered as no fit
+company for the brood of parasites who hung on to the heels of the
+Compact, and who nevertheless did not hesitate to perform tasks from
+which the average costermonger would have shrunk in disgust. Their
+employers occasionally admitted them to their tables, and even to some
+degree of social intimacy. More frequently they presented them with
+their cast-off clothing, with new gowns for their wives at Christmas,
+or--when things were at a remarkably low ebb--with a hundredweight of
+flour or half a barrel of mess pork. Yet the recipients of these favours
+piqued themselves upon their good birth and high connexions, and would
+have felt themselves insulted if anyone had ventured to hint that they
+should visit, upon terms of equality, with the grocer or the butcher in
+the next street.
+
+The reader now has before him a sufficient array of facts to enable him
+to form a pretty accurate conception of the state of social life in
+Upper Canada during ante-Rebellion times. It was a matter of course that
+such a monopoly of power as was possessed and exercised by the ruling
+faction should excite envy and opposition on the part of those who did
+not revel in its smiles or share in its plunder. Loud murmurings began
+to make themselves heard against the delay and partiality in the
+land-granting department, and against the corrupt manner in which the
+public affairs of the Province generally were carried on. Before the
+close of Governor Hunter's _regime_ these murmurings had become loud
+enough to occasion no little disquiet to some of the officials who had
+most reason to dread enquiry and investigation. The abuses were greater
+in some branches of the service than in others, but peculation prevailed
+to a greater or less extent almost everywhere. The Indian department was
+notorious for the corruption of its officials. A sum of sixty thousand
+pounds sterling was annually granted by the Imperial Government for
+distribution among the various tribes, and for the payment of agents and
+interpreters. The distribution among the Indians chiefly took the form
+of commodities which had a particular fascination for the mind of the
+noble savage--such commodities, for instance, as muskets, powder,
+bullets, knives, tomahawks, hatchets, blankets, spangles, pocket
+mirrors, and--last, but by no means least--fire-water. The opportunities
+which this grant afforded for peculation and plunder were too tempting
+to be resisted. The agents and their subordinates, from highest to
+lowest, owed their positions to their servility and usefulness to those
+in authority. So long as they proved serviceable and obedient to their
+masters, there was not much likelihood of their being called to serious
+account for any iniquities they might commit towards Mohawk or Seneca,
+Oneida or Mississauga. By way of consequence, the Indians were robbed and
+the Government was robbed; and the robbers, feeling secure of protection
+from their superiors, plied their nefarious traffic with impunity.[51]
+There were equally culpable but less notorious abuses of power in other
+branches of the service. Probably not one in ten of these ever came to
+light, but from time to time there were awkward revelations which could
+not be suppressed. All these things combined to beget a widespread lack
+of confidence in the official clique. The want of confidence, not
+without good reason, extended even to the administrators of the law. The
+judges, as already mentioned, held office at the will of the Executive,
+and, at least in some instances, were shamelessly servile and corrupt.
+This led to their dicta being disregarded by sturdy juries who cared
+less for the letter of the law than for its spirit. Mr. John Mills
+Jackson, in his "View of the Political Situation of the Province of
+Upper Canada," published in 1809, speaks of an instance where the people
+became tumultuous, and broke the public stocks in the presence of the
+Chief Justice.[52] The public distrust of the administrators of the law
+does not seem to have been confined to the judges of the Superior
+Courts. It extended to the rural magistrates, some of whom turned their
+offices to commodity in a manner which would have excited the admiration
+of Falstaff himself. "The shop-keepers," writes Mr. Jackson, "are
+Justices of Peace. They have the means of extortion, and the power of
+enforcing payments. They are first the criminals, then the judges; and
+the court of appeal seems to be so constructed as to prevent an honest
+verdict from passing into effect. The practice of the court is unjust,
+oppressive, and influenced. Favourite attorneys were made deputy clerks
+of the peace, so that process might be entered and writs obtained most
+partially. The crown lawyer is allowed nearly seven pounds sterling for
+every criminal prosecution! an inducement to listen to trifling
+complaints, and prefer frivolous indictments, when, if power was
+gratified and independence harassed, it was a sufficient excuse for an
+inflated contingent account." The author of this scathing philippic
+against petty oppression proceeds to recount a case wherein an action
+was brought against a magistrate who had exerted his authority in an
+illegal and oppressive manner. A verdict was obtained against him for a
+hundred pounds. An application was made to the Court of King's Bench to
+set the verdict aside, which was rejected; whereupon the clerk of the
+court in which the judgment had been obtained was ordered by the Crown
+lawyer not to issue execution. The clerk knew better than to disobey an
+order from such a source, and the plaintiff accordingly took nothing by
+his verdict. The unrighteous magistrate escaped the penalty of his
+misdeeds, and furnished a sort of standing precedent for magisterial
+iniquity. Other equally flagrant perversions of justice are recorded by
+the same authority. An illegal and unjustifiable extent issued, at the
+suit of the Crown, against one of the civil officers. It lasted for
+years; yet the officer dared not resist oppression by applying for
+justice. "When [the extent] was as imperiously taken off as it was
+arbitrarily laid on," writes Mr. Jackson, "the sheriff dared not apply
+for fees expended in holding possession under the writ, or the printer
+sue for the money voted him by the House of Assembly for printing their
+journals. The surveyors could not obtain the money they had actually
+expended in the public service, nor the people find redress for extorted
+fees. Therefore, when there was neither substance nor shadow of law or
+justice, but the will of power was the rule of decision, the public mind
+was agitated in the extreme, and universal gloom pervaded the Province."
+
+The discontent produced by official tyranny was however almost impotent
+as against the wrong-doers, who were so strongly entrenched in their
+places that it seemed as though nothing could shake them. Many of them,
+conscious of their misconduct, doubtless felt secret misgivings whenever
+any specially significant outburst of popular dissatisfaction occurred.
+But for many years they were able to present a united and brazen front,
+and to crush anyone who dared to so much as wag a finger against them.
+It was intimated on a former page that Robert Gourlay was not the first
+victim of Executive tyranny. The first conspicuous victim of whom any
+record has been preserved was Mr. Robert Thorpe, an English barrister of
+much learning and acumen, who in 1805 was appointed a puisne judge of
+the Court of King's Bench for Upper Canada. Previous to his arrival in
+this country Mr. Thorpe had never been remarkable for any specially
+liberal opinions, but he was a man of enlightened mind, and actuated by
+an honest desire to do his duty. He was not long in perceiving that the
+administration of justice in this Province was little better than a
+hollow mockery. He resolved to do what one man could to restore public
+confidence in the judicial bench, and his court erelong became a popular
+forum for honest litigants, for it was evident to all that he held the
+scales of justice with an even hand, and was not to be either cajoled or
+bullied into perverting the law. Before he had been a twelvemonth in the
+country he was known far and wide as an upright judge, and as a sort of
+champion of popular rights. Grand juries took him into their confidence,
+and tabulated their grievances before him. These were laid by him
+before the authorities at York, upon his return from circuit; a
+proceeding which was quite sufficient to bring down upon his head
+the opposition of the faction which flourished by reason of those very
+grievances. The whole of the Family Compact influence arrayed itself
+against him in deadly enmity. Francis Gore arrived in the capacity of
+Lieutenant-Governor in the summer of 1806. He was informed by his
+Councillors that Judge Thorpe was a dangerous and revolutionary
+personage. It was certain that the past year had been signalized by a
+decided propensity on the part of the people to assert themselves
+against the intolerable exactions of their oppressors, and that a spirit
+of opposition was on the increase throughout the land. Governor Gore and
+his Councillors reversed the inductive process, and attributed the
+popular discontent to the influence of the new judge. This seeming
+conviction on their parts was strengthened by certain remarks of Judge
+Thorpe himself, made in reply to an address from the Grand Jury of the
+London District. "The art of governing," said he, "is a difficult
+science. Knowledge is not instinctive, and the days of inspiration have
+passed away. Therefore, when there was neither talent, education,
+information, nor even manners in the Administration, little could be
+expected, and nothing was produced." The reference here is manifestly to
+the _regime_ of Governor Hunter and Commodore Grant; and the intimation
+is that better things are to be hoped for under the recently-arrived
+Governor. "But," continued the judge, "there is an ultimate point of
+depression, as well as of exaltation, from whence all human affairs
+naturally advance or recede. Therefore, proportionate to your
+depression, we may expect your progress in prosperity will advance with
+accelerated velocity." He also in the course of his address, inveighed
+against the Alien Act of 1804. When he reached York, at the close of the
+circuit, he laid before the new Lieutenant-Governor the various
+recapitulations of grievances which had been entrusted to him. They were
+received by Mr. Gore and his Councillors with a very ill grace. The
+complaints from the London District were stated with great vigour and
+lucidity, and as they had got into print they could not be suppressed or
+wholly ignored. An attempt was made to show that the chapter of
+grievances had been presented by the jurors, not because there was
+really anything of importance to complain of, but because Judge Thorpe
+himself had instigated them to such a course. As this charge was openly
+made, Mr. Thorpe in his capacity of a Justice of the King's Bench,
+caused a proceeding of the nature of _scandalum magnatum_ to be
+instituted. His brother judges, however, some of whom were members of
+the Executive Council, and all of whom were subject to strong influences
+from that quarter, ruled that the proceeding could not be maintained,
+and it accordingly fell through. An attempt was also made, first to
+intimidate, and afterwards to corrupt the Grand Jury. A letter was sent
+to them from the office of the Lieutenant-Governor, requesting them to
+state the grounds of their complaints more specifically. The recipients
+responded by preparing and forwarding a stronger case than before. A
+recantation was then drawn up by a skilful hand, and presented to each
+individual member of the Jury, a reward being at the same time offered
+as an inducement to sign it. The jurymen, however, were not prepared to
+barter away their liberties in this manner, and the attempt wholly
+failed. While the Executive were deliberating as to how they could most
+effectually strike Judge Thorpe, a vacancy occurred in the
+representation of one of the constituencies in the Home District. In
+those times, as has already been seen, a judgeship was no
+disqualification for political life, and a deputation waited on Mr.
+Thorpe with a numerously signed address, requesting him to become their
+representative. He replied that he would not become a partisan, but that
+if he were returned to Parliament he would not hesitate to do his duty.
+No sooner did it become known that "the Radical Judge," as he was
+called, was a candidate for the Assembly than the leading spirits of the
+Compact aroused themselves to defeat him. This was natural enough. That
+they should employ against him every means which their ingenuity could
+devise--among others, bribery, vilification and deliberate slander--that
+also was natural, when the time and persons are considered. "Every
+engine within the reach of authority," writes Mr. Jackson, "was used for
+the purpose of defeating the wishes of the people on this occasion. All
+interests were required to yield in favour of the candidate most likely
+to succeed as against Mr. Thorpe. Any person in employment, in
+expectation of, or entitled to land, was gratified, promised, or
+threatened; magistrates were made and unmade, as best suited the
+purposes of electioneering; grants were given; fees excused, or promised
+to be paid by those high in authority. Even domestics were bribed with
+places, land, and money, to vilify and accuse, by direct falsehoods, the
+most upright, serviceable and esteemed persons in the Province." For
+once public opinion proved too strong for Family Compact influence.
+Judge Thorpe was returned, and great things were hoped for from his
+career in Parliament. But the triumph of freedom was short-lived. The
+Compact was too strong to be opposed by the multitude with impunity.
+Lieutenant-Governor Gore was subservient to its wishes, and besides he
+had by this time come to hate the popular judge on his own account, and
+his mind was fully made up to solicit from the Colonial Secretary Judge
+Thorpe's recall. One of his private letters, written from Kingston,
+during a journey from York to Montreal, several months after the Judge's
+election to the Assembly, announces this resolution in unmistakable
+terms. "The object of Mr. T.'s [Thorpe's] emissions," he writes,
+"appears to be to persuade the people to turn every gentleman out of the
+House of Assembly. However, keep your temper with the rascals, I beseech
+you. I shall represent everything at St. James'." He was as good as his
+word, and in October, 1807, the announcement was made in the _Gazette_
+that the Lieutenant-Governor had been instructed to suspend Mr. Thorpe
+from his judgeship, which we may be quite sure was done without
+unnecessary loss of time.
+
+Thus did might continue to triumph over right. There was not the
+slightest imputation of any sort against the Judge's character. His
+professional attainments were high; his personal character without a
+stain. His continued presence in Canada would have been a blessing to
+all but the race of tyrants who trampled on popular liberty. Yet he was
+removed because he respected himself and his office too highly to
+pervert judgment, and because he bade fair to abridge the rule of
+corruption. Upon his return to England the Colonial Office urged nothing
+whatever against him, and merely suggested, by way of justification for
+his recall, that his stay in Upper Canada would have led to perpetual
+disturbance of the public tranquillity. He instituted proceedings in one
+of the English courts against Mr. Gore, who was convicted of libel, but
+who escaped much more easily than he deserved with a fine of trifling
+amount. By way of recompense for his recall from Upper Canada, Judge
+Thorpe was appointed Chief Justice of Sierra Leone. There he remained
+for two years, by which time his constitution had become so much broken
+by the climate that he was compelled to return home. At the request of a
+number of the inhabitants he carried with him to England a petition
+complaining of certain abuses of power there. For this he was discarded
+by the Ministry of the day. His appointment as Chief Justice was
+cancelled, and another judge was sent out to West Africa in his stead.
+The rest of his life was passed in obscurity and neglect, and when he
+died his family were left without any provision for their future. Such
+was the untoward fate of an honourable and high-minded man, whose only
+fault was that he was too pure for the times in which he lived, and for
+the people among whom his lot was cast.
+
+Another early victim, whose life record seems to contradict the adage
+that honesty is the best policy, was Surveyor-General Wyatt. There is no
+need to go minutely into the particulars of his case. He was universally
+recognized as a competent and honest official, insomuch that it was
+currently said of him that he was too good for the masters whom he
+served. But he ventured to interfere on behalf of one of the
+subordinates in his office, who had been refused a stipend to which Mr.
+Wyatt considered him entitled. Then, he presumed to oppose the Council
+in respect of an irregular purchase of a large tract of land from the
+Mississauga Indians. Finally, he went so far as to profess a high degree
+of respect for the manly and independent conduct of Judge Thorpe. The
+secret conclave speedily pronounced his doom. No one ventured to allege
+any fault against him, yet he was deprived of his situation by the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and a pliable tool was installed in his office.
+
+Joseph Willcocks had a more bitter experience still. He was an Irishman,
+of liberal education, and of much energy of character, whose influence
+in official circles was wide enough to obtain for him the post of
+Sheriff of the Home District. For several years no occasion for any
+difference of opinion arose between him and his superiors. He was known
+as a competent officer, who discharged his duties with great
+consideration for the impecunious and unfortunate. But his frequent
+official peregrinations through the Home District enabled him to see
+with his own eyes the disastrous effects of the Clergy Reserves, of the
+land-granting system, and of Family Compact domination generally; and on
+several occasions he had sufficient courage to express his opinions
+thereupon. Attempts were made to silence him, first by remonstrances,
+and afterwards by threats, but all to no purpose. When Judge Thorpe
+began to figure as a sort of popular tribune, Willcocks declared himself
+as being also on the side of the people. When the Judge became a
+candidate for Parliament, the Sheriff, who had a vote in the
+constituency, recorded it in his favour. For this he shared the fate of
+the Surveyor-General, and was promptly dismissed from office by the
+Lieutenant-Governor. But he came of a fighting stock, and was not to be
+suppressed by the mere circumstance of being deprived of an official
+income. He started a newspaper called _The Upper Canada Guardian, or
+Freeman's Journal_. In this sheet, which was edited by Mr. Willcocks
+himself, various desirable measures of reform were advocated, and the
+dominant faction were from time to time referred to in opprobrious, but
+certainly not untruthful or unmerited language. The paper obtained a
+considerable circulation, and soon made its editor an object of bitter
+hatred on the part of the authorities. The vilest abuse was poured out
+upon him, and he was subjected to a course of persecution well-nigh as
+grievous as subsequently fell to the lot of Robert Gourlay. Governor
+Gore himself, in a letter still extant, written in 1807, refers to him
+as "that execrable monster who would deluge the Province with blood."
+The execrable monster's influence, however, continued to grow, and upon
+Judge Thorpe's retirement from Upper Canada, he was returned to the
+Assembly in his stead, for the West Riding of the County of York, the
+First Riding of the County of Lincoln, and the County of Haldimand. As
+he was a ready and powerful speaker, as well as a vigorous writer, it
+was felt that he would soon become intolerable if his career were not
+effectively checked. He was accordingly tried before the Assembly on a
+frivolous charge of having, in a private conversation held at the house
+of a Mr. Glennan, in York, spoken disrespectfully of some of the
+members. The proceedings were the veriest travesty of the forms of
+justice. The accused was found guilty, and committed to the common jail
+of the Home District, there to remain during the sitting of
+Parliament.[53] This indignity he was compelled to suffer, being
+confined for many weeks in a small close cell, which he was not
+permitted to leave for a single moment. He was further wrought upon by
+informations for libel, as well as by secret inquisitions into his
+private affairs. After his enlargement he continued to publish his
+paper, but he was so tortured by the incessant persecutions to which he
+was subjected that he could accomplish little or nothing in the way of
+reform. From some of his votes in the Assembly it would appear that he
+made tacit overtures towards reconciliation with his enemies,[54] but he
+had offended too deeply to be forgiven, and their rancour was not to be
+appeased. Eventually he was compelled to relinquish the publication of
+the _Guardian_ for want of funds to carry it on. Notwithstanding all
+that he had endured, his loyalty remained unshaken, and when the War of
+1812[55] broke out he responded to the call for volunteers by
+shouldering his musket and doing his devoirs like a man at the battle of
+Queenston Heights. Even this obtained for him neither complaisance nor
+immunity from abuse. He found himself ruined in fortune, opposed and
+hated by those in authority, without any prospect before him but
+starvation. It is not singular that a man subjected to such conditions
+should become disheartened. In a moment of exasperation he deserted the
+ranks where he had been held as of so little account. Accompanied by a
+small body of Canadian volunteers, he repaired to the camp of the enemy,
+where he offered his services, and obtained a colonel's commission. He
+served under Major-General Brown at the siege of Fort Erie, where he was
+slain while planting a guard.
+
+Such are three of the most notable examples of ministerial tyranny in
+comparatively early times. As before mentioned, they attracted less
+widespread attention than did Mr. Gourlay's case some years later,
+because, though they were signal instances of the abuse of power, they
+were not marked by such refinement in cruelty, and because they appealed
+to the political sympathies of comparatively few. In the time of Judge
+Thorpe, Wyatt and Willcocks, the dominating class not only held a
+monopoly of power, but they and their adherents were numerically in the
+ascendant. At the time of Gourlay's persecution the population was much
+more evenly divided. The oligarchy still had control of all the avenues
+to power, but there was a large and steadily-increasing class in the
+community who recognized the fact that many changes were necessary
+before Upper Canada could become a prosperous and well-governed colony,
+and a satisfactory place of abode for the average British immigrant.
+
+In closing this hasty review of the nature and effects of Family Compact
+domination in Upper Canada, I would not be understood as pronouncing a
+sweeping condemnation upon all the individual members of that body. John
+Beverley Robinson, for instance, though he lent himself to many
+high-handed acts of oppression, was a man of undoubted ability, and of a
+character which inspired respect. His descendants are to-day among the
+most respected and influential members of society in our Provincial
+capital. Several others were men of high personal character, and of
+abilities above the average. They acted in accordance with time and
+circumstance, and must be supposed to have done so conscientiously. But
+such persons as these composed but a very slender proportion of the
+Compact's entire membership. The rank and file were of a totally
+different complexion. The characteristics of the more poverty-stricken
+among them have already been hinted at; but, independently of these,
+there were many who were well-to-do, and who held their heads high in
+the air, who were nevertheless very ill qualified to win admiration for
+the caste to which they belonged. To state the simple truth, most of
+them were very ordinary commonplace personages, respectable, sapless,
+idealess--what Dr. Johnson would have characterized as exceedingly
+barren rascals. Some were of obscure origin, and would have been hard
+put to it if required to trace their ancestry beyond a single
+generation. Of these latter, a few, as has already been seen, had
+amassed wealth by trade or speculation, and had made their way into the
+exclusive circle by a fortunate combination of circumstances.
+
+Among the Compact, then, the number of persons of good birth and
+descent, possessed of sufficient qualifications to justify their
+aristocratic predilections, and of sufficient capacity to enable them to
+direct the colonial policy, was small. And it must by no means be
+supposed that all the good blood in the Province was confined to the
+Compact. There were many persons among the pioneers of Upper Canada of
+gentle nurture and breeding, who nevertheless scorned to pose in the
+character of aristocrats in a land where such assumptions were
+altogether out of place, and who manfully accommodated themselves to
+their primitive surroundings. As has been well remarked by Mr.
+MacMullen,[56] "While they learned to wield the axe and swing the cradle
+with the energy and skill of the roughest backwoodsman, they retained
+their polished manners, their literary tastes, their love for the
+beautiful and the elegant; and thus exercised the most beneficial
+influence upon their rustic neighbours. In the absence of schools, of
+churches, of most of the refining influences of civilized society, this
+class of the early settlers of Upper Canada were foremost in usefulness.
+Their superior education, their well-bred manners, their more refined
+habits, raised them in the estimation of the rural population, who soon
+tacitly admitted a superiority which would never have been conceded [had
+it been] more directly asserted." Most, though not all, of these
+gentlemen were Tories, and, with hardly an exception, preserved their
+loyalty through all chances and changes. During the War of 1812-15, and
+again during the agitation arising out of the Rebellion, they proved
+true to their Tory instincts, and rallied to the side of the Government
+with ready fervour. Their social proclivities were equally removed from
+the rude boorishness of the ordinary settler as from the pretence and
+ceremonial of the clique of self-constituted aristocrats. They generally
+preserved a modicum of state in the regulation of their household
+affairs, though they kept aloof from the Compact and its practices, and
+devoted themselves to various branches of industry--among others, to the
+education of youth; to the practice of the learned professions; to the
+opening and cultivating of new avenues of commerce; and to reducing the
+pathless forests to arable and smiling fields.
+
+One other fact it is essential to bear in mind, in estimating the
+effects of the Compact's _regime_. In seizing upon all the official and
+other spoils within their reach, and in trampling upon the liberties of
+the people, the magnates of Upper Canada were merely treading in the
+footsteps of the Tite Barnacles of Great Britain. The period was one of
+transition, all over the civilized world. Popular rights were but
+imperfectly understood, and the idea that good government is best served
+by the extension of justice and equal rights to all classes was only
+beginning to dawn upon the minds of public men, even in old and
+long-established communities. That Canada was not in advance of the
+times is not to be wondered at; but the ordeal through which she was
+compelled to pass on the way to full and assured liberty forms an epoch
+highly necessary to be understood and frequently remembered by all who
+appreciate the blessings which are the birthright of every Canadian of
+the present day. A knowledge of the principles and practices of the
+Family Compact in the olden days constitutes the most effectual
+guarantee that such days can never return, and that neither our children
+nor our children's children will ever be compelled to fight over again
+the battle which was so long and so patiently waged by their ancestors.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[45] It may perhaps be thought by some readers that the closing
+sentences of this paragraph are pitched in too high a key. Those who
+entertain that opinion will receive light on the subject by a careful
+perusal of various official reports issued just prior to the passing of
+the Quebec Act in 1774, and more especially of _A Cry from Quebec_,
+published at Montreal in 1809.
+
+[46] _Report on the Affairs of British North America_, English folio
+edition, p. 53.
+
+[47] _Ib._
+
+[48] How far Lord Durham was justified in saying that there was "little
+of family connexion" among the members of the Compact will appear from
+the following "curious but accurate statement," prepared by Mr. W. L.
+Mackenzie for his _Sketches of Canada and the United States_, published
+in England in 1833. It will be found on pp. 405-409 of that work. "When
+I left Upper Canada last year," writes Mr. Mackenzie, "some of the
+offices, sinecures, and pensions of the Government were divided as
+follows:--No. 1. D'ARCY BOULTON, senior, a retired pensioner, L500
+sterling. 2. HENRY, son to No. 1, Attorney-General and Bank Solicitor,
+L2400. 3. D'ARCY, son to No. 1, Auditor-General, Master in Chancery,
+Police Justice, etc. Income unknown. 4. WILLIAM, son to No. 1, Church
+Missionary, King's College Professor, etc., L650. 5. GEORGE, son to No.
+1, Registrar of Northumberland, Member of Assembly for Durham, etc.
+Income unknown. 6. JOHN BEVERLEY ROBINSON, brother-in-law to No. 3,
+Chief Justice of Upper Canada, Member for life of the Legislative
+Council, Speaker of ditto, L2000. 7. PETER, brother to No. 6, Member of
+the Executive Council, Member for life of the Legislative Council, Crown
+Land Commissioner, Surveyor-General of Woods, Clergy Reserve
+Commissioner, etc. L1300. 8. WILLIAM, brother to Nos. 6 and 7,
+Postmaster of Newmarket, Member of Assembly for Simcoe, Government
+Contractor, Colonel of Militia, Justice of the Peace, etc. Income
+unknown. 9. JONAS JONES, brother-in-law to No. 2, Judge of the District
+Court in three districts containing eight counties, and filling a number
+of other offices. Income about L1000. 10. CHARLES, brother to No. 9,
+Member for life of Legislative Council, Justice of the Peace in twenty
+seven counties, etc. 11. ALPHEUS, brother to Nos. 9 and 10, Collector of
+Customs, Prescott, Postmaster at ditto, Agent for Government Bank at
+ditto, etc. Income L900. 12. LEVIUS P. SHERWOOD, brother-in-law to Nos.
+9, 10, 11, one of the Justices of the Court of King's Bench. Income
+L1000. 13. HENRY, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize, etc. 14. JOHN ELMSLEY,
+son-in-law to No. 12, Member of the Legislative Council for life, Bank
+Director, Justice of the Peace, etc. 15. CHARLES HEWARD, nephew to No.
+6, Clerk of the District Court, etc. Income L100. 16. JAMES B. MACAULAY,
+brother-in-law to Nos. 17 and 19, one of the Justices of the Court of
+King's Bench. Income L1000. 17. CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER HAGERMAN,
+brother-in-law to No. 16, Solicitor-General. L800. 18. JOHN MCGILL, a
+relation of Nos. 16 and 17, Legislative Councillor for life. Pensioner,
+L500. 19 and 20. W. ALLAN AND GEORGE CROOKSHANKS, connexions by marriage
+of 16 and 17, Legislative Councillors for life, the latter President of
+the Bank. L500. 21. HENRY JONES, cousin to Nos. 9, 10, etc., Postmaster
+of Brockville, Justice of the Peace, Member of Assembly for Brockville,
+Income unknown. 22. WILLIAM DUMMER POWELL, father of No. 24, Legislative
+Councillor for life, Justice of the Peace, Pensioner. Pension, L1000.
+23. SAMUEL PETERS JARVIS, son-in-law to No. 22, Clerk of the Crown in
+Chancery, Deputy-Secretary of the Province, Bank Director, etc. Income
+unknown. 24. GRANT, son to No. 22, Clerk of the Legislative Council,
+Police Justice, Judge Home District Court, Official Principal of Probate
+Court, Commissioner of Customs, etc. Income L675. 25. WILLIAM M.,
+brother to 23, High Sheriff Gore District. Income from L500 to L800. 26.
+WILLIAM B., cousin to Nos. 23 and 25, High Sheriff, Home District,
+Member of Assembly. Income L900. 27. ADIEL SHERWOOD, cousin to No. 12,
+High Sheriff of Johnstown, and Treasurer of that district. Income from
+L500 to L800. 28. GEORGE SHERWOOD, son to No. 12, Clerk of Assize. 29.
+JOHN STRACHAN, their family tutor and political schoolmaster, archdeacon
+and rector of York, Member of the Executive and Legislative Councils,
+President of the University, President of the Board of Education, and
+twenty other situations. Income, on an average of years, upwards of
+L1800. 30. THOMAS MERCER JONES, son-in-law to No. 29, associated with
+No. 19, as the Canada Company's Agents and Managers in Canada. This
+family connexion rules Upper Canada according to its own good pleasure,
+and has no efficient check from this country to guard the people against
+its acts of tyranny and oppression. It includes the whole of the judges
+of the supreme civil and criminal tribunal (Nos. 6, 12, and 16)--active
+Tory politicians. Judge Macaulay was a clerk in the office of No. 2, not
+long since. It includes half the Executive Council or provincial
+cabinet. It includes the Speaker and other eight Members of the
+Legislative Council. It includes the persons who have the control of the
+Canada Land Company's monopoly. It includes the President and Solicitor
+of the Bank, and about half the Bank Directors; together with
+shareholders, holding, to the best of my recollection, about 1800
+shares. And it included the crown lawyers until last March, when they
+carried their opposition to Viscount Goderich's measures of reform to
+such a height as personally to insult the government, and to declare
+their belief that he had not the royal authority for his despatches.
+They were then removed; but, with this exception, the chain remains
+unbroken. This family compact surround the Lieutenant-Governor, and
+mould him, like wax, to their will; they fill every office with their
+relatives, dependants, and partisans; by them justices of the peace and
+officers of the militia are made and unmade; they have increased the
+number of the Legislative Council by recommending, through the Governor,
+half a dozen of nobodies and a few placemen, pensioners, and individuals
+of well-known narrow and bigoted principle; the whole of the revenues of
+Upper Canada are in reality at their mercy;--they are Paymasters,
+Receivers, Auditors, King, Lords, and Commons!"
+
+[49] See his evidence annexed to the Committee's Report, p. 86.
+
+[50] Gourlay, commenting upon this episode, remarks: "Who pardoned all
+the poor sinners that for years had been getting bastards, and who
+legitimized these, was not determined when I bade farewell to Upper
+Canada."--_Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, p. 348.
+
+[51] Those who wish to gain an insight into some of the most revolting
+features of this traffic may consult _Claws and the Clauses_, a pamphlet
+published at Buffalo in 1818; also _Gourlay_, vol. 2, pp. 486, 487;
+together with Jackson's pamphlet referred to in the text.
+
+[52] This must have been Chief Justice Thomas Scott, after whom Scott
+Street, Toronto, was called. He was Chief Justice from August, 1806, to
+Michaelmas Term, 1816. He is referred to by Dr. Scadding in _Toronto of
+Old_, p. 51, as "a man of fine culture, spoken of affectionately by
+those who knew him." A picture of him in his decline is presented on
+page 130 of the same work.
+
+[53] For a full account of these infamous proceedings, the reader is
+referred to _The Upper Canada Guardian_ of February 6th and March 18th,
+1808, quoted by Gourlay in his _Statistical Account_, Vol. 2, pp.
+655-662.
+
+[54] See an extract from the minutes of the proceedings in the Assembly,
+10th March, 1810, quoted by Gourlay, Vol. 2, pp. 328, 329. See also
+Gourlay's remarks thereon, Vol. 2, pp. 334, 335.
+
+[55] There is reason to believe that the discontent begotten of the
+abuse of power in Canada was one of the inducements to this attempt on
+the part of the United States, the Government of which was led to
+believe that Canadians generally would welcome any relief from the yoke
+which the Compact had placed upon their necks.
+
+[56] _History of Canada_, p. 243.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+FATHERS OF REFORM.
+
+
+The history of Upper Canada, from the time of Mr. Gourlay's banishment,
+in 1819, down to the actual outbreak of rebellion, is largely made up of
+a succession of abuses on the part of the Executive, and of more or less
+passive endurance on the part of the great body of the people. As has
+been intimated, the Gourlay prosecutions and their attendant
+circumstances aroused much popular indignation, and led to the formation
+of an organized Opposition. During the session of 1820 the "Gagging
+Bill," as it was called, which had been introduced and carried through
+the Assembly under the auspices of Mr. Jonas Jones[57] two years before,
+was repealed,[58] and the holding of conventions was no longer
+prohibited by law. It is a fact worth mentioning that Attorney-General
+Robinson was the only member who recorded his vote against the repealing
+statute, whereas at the time of the enactment of the original repressive
+law in 1818 only one vote had been given against it. Such a change of
+opinion among the members of the Assembly within so brief a space of
+time is in itself significant of the progress of liberal views among the
+people generally.
+
+The vote on this repealing statute was somewhat of a surprise to the
+authorities. It was evident that Reform sentiment was growing, and that
+many persons who had never been classed as Reformers were weary of the
+long reign of tyranny. It was not the policy of the Compact, however, to
+yield anything to popular demands, and they held on their course with
+dogged pertinacity, as though animated by a fixed resolve that the
+public indignation which had been aroused by the Gourlay prosecutions
+should not be permitted to subside. Erelong a new opportunity for
+applying the thumb-screw presented itself, and it was taken advantage of
+to the fullest practicable extent. During the recess following the close
+of the first session of the Eighth Provincial Parliament, which was
+prorogued on the 14th of April, 1821, a vacancy occurred in the
+representation of the constituency of the United Counties of Lennox and
+Addington. The local Reformers took advantage of the opportunity thus
+afforded of bringing out a candidate who had rendered much service to
+Liberal principles in Upper Canada, and who was eminently fitted to
+impart strength to the Opposition in the Assembly. His name was Barnabas
+Bidwell, and he was known far and wide as one of the keenest intellects
+and as one of the best public speakers in the country. His past history
+had been unfortunate, and as it was soon to be made the subject of
+strict Parliamentary enquiry, a few leading facts in connection with it
+may as well be set down here.
+
+He was a native of Massachusetts, where he was born in the old colonial
+days before the Revolution. He came of a Whig family which espoused the
+colonial cause with ardour, but he was himself too young to take any
+part in the great struggle which gave birth to the United States. Having
+completed his education at Yale College, he studied law, and at an early
+age rose to eminence at the Massachusetts bar. He became
+Attorney-General of the State, and, though he had for his rivals some of
+the ablest men known to American history, he was regarded by his
+countrymen as one whose future was in his own hands. His manners were
+courtly and refined, and his scholastic attainments wide and various. He
+soon found his way to Congress, where his brilliant eloquence caused him
+to be listened to with attention and respect.
+
+Up to this time his career had been an uninterrupted success. But in
+achieving his political eminence he had been unfortunate enough to make
+for himself a good many bitter enemies. His political course seems to
+have been somewhat arbitrary and uncompromising, insomuch that his
+opponents regarded him with more rancorous feelings than are commonly
+entertained among public men where there are no personal grounds for
+enmity. Whether such personal grounds existed in the case of Barnabas
+Bidwell cannot now be readily ascertained. It is however certain that he
+was regarded by a host of clever and unscrupulous persons with a
+bitterness of enmity almost amounting to ferocity. He seems to have made
+no attempt to conciliate his foes, but treated them with a sort of
+haughty contempt. In the year 1810 the weight of their anger descended
+upon him like an avalanche. He was then, and he for some years
+previously had been, Treasurer of the County of Berkshire,
+Massachusetts. An accusation of a very serious nature was brought
+against him. He was charged with having applied the public funds to his
+own use, and with having falsified entries in his books in order to
+cover up his malversations. It is difficult to get at the exact truth in
+the matter. Mr. Bidwell's attention to public affairs had caused him to
+neglect his private and professional business, which consequently had
+not flourished. He was far from wealthy, and it is not improbable that
+he was sometimes financially embarrassed. Whether he succumbed to
+temptation, and dipped his hands into the treasury without leave, cannot
+now be certainly declared. His own version of the matter was that he was
+entirely free from blame, but that his enemies had deliberately woven a
+subtle web about him from which he was unable to extricate himself, as
+it would have been impossible for him, under the existing state of
+things, to obtain justice. At all events, he seems to have felt himself
+to be unable to face the situation. Learning that an indictment had been
+laid, and that a warrant had been issued for his apprehension, he fled
+from his native country, and took refuge in Upper Canada.
+
+Accompanied by his family, consisting of a son and daughter, he settled
+at the village of Bath, in the County of Addington, on the Bay of
+Quinte. He soon obtained employment as a school teacher, and encountered
+no difficulty in gaining a livelihood, though the humble role he was
+compelled to play comported ill with his past experience and present
+ambition. There is little doubt that he was an admirer of republican
+institutions, and that he so remained to the end of his life, though his
+admiration was thrown away in this country, and it was impossible for
+him to return to his own. He was a useful man in the little community
+where he resided, and his education and intelligence caused him to be
+looked up to by people of all classes. He did not intrude his political
+views further than to proclaim himself an advocate of Liberal ideas, and
+upon the breaking out of the War of 1812 he took the oath of allegiance
+to His Majesty. His ordinary pursuits were altogether insufficient for
+his enthusiastic nature, and after the lapse of several years he removed
+to Kingston, and took up his abode there. He found an outlet for his
+superabundant energy through the medium of frequent contributions to the
+press. Among the best known of his writings are a series of letters on
+practical agriculture and political economy, originally contributed to a
+Kingston newspaper, and subsequently republished in pamphlet form under
+the title of "The Prompter." The series of historical and topographical
+sketches forming the first half of the first volume of Gourlay's
+"Statistical Account of Upper Canada" are also from Mr. Bidwell's pen,
+and they are upon the whole the most valuable portion of the entire
+work. He espoused Mr. Gourlay's cause with great fervour, and by his
+written and spoken words did much to arouse public sympathy for that
+unfortunate man, as well as to awaken abhorrence for the cruelty and
+selfishness of his persecutors. From that time forward he began to take
+a more conspicuous part in politics than he had been accustomed to take
+since his arrival in Canada. From the hustings and elsewhere he
+thundered against the Compact domination with an eloquence which
+thrilled his audiences. He soon made himself felt as a power in the
+land, and as one from whom the ruling faction had good reason to
+apprehend more serious antagonism than they had ever had to encounter.
+
+Such was the man chosen by the Reform element in Lennox and Addington,
+during the summer of 1821, to represent its interests in the Provincial
+Assembly. The ensuing campaign was an exciting one, but at its close
+Barnabas Bidwell was the undoubted choice of a large majority of the
+electors. This was a heavy blow to the Executive party. The Reformers
+would now have a representative in the House who could not be cajoled or
+bullied. His eloquence, aggressiveness, intelligence and shrewdness
+could not fail to produce a decided impression on the House and on the
+country. Would it not be well if he could be got rid of, as Thorpe and
+Gourlay had been got rid of before him?
+
+During the progress of the election campaign, some of the main facts
+connected with Mr. Bidwell's migration from Massachusetts to Upper
+Canada had become known to his opponents. The pretext afforded by these
+disclosures was too good to be neglected. An emissary was despatched to
+Berkshire County, where there was no difficulty in ascertaining that he
+had been Treasurer of the municipality; that he had been indicted for
+misapplying public funds; that a warrant had thereupon been issued for
+his apprehension; and that he had then fled beyond the jurisdiction.
+Certified copies of the indictment and of several other important
+documents bearing on the matter were obtained by the agent, and by him
+brought over to Upper Canada. On the strength of the information and
+documents thus obtained a petition was filed against the election of Mr.
+Bidwell, upon the ground that he was an alien and a fugitive from
+justice, who had moreover taken an oath of allegiance to the Government
+of the United States. The accused notwithstanding appeared in his place
+in the Assembly upon the opening of the session, and when the matter of
+the petition came up for discussion he defended himself before the House
+with an eloquence and pathos which stirred every heart. He declared, in
+language and tones which left no doubt of his sincerity, that he was
+guiltless of the embezzlement with which he had been charged, and that
+the accusation had been solely due to the machinations of a powerful
+clique of enemies. He further urged that, whatever might be the facts as
+to the charge, he had never been tried or convicted, and that the
+Assembly had no right to assume his guilt in the absence of positive
+proof. He admitted having taken the oath of allegiance to the Government
+of the United States, but urged that such an oath was required of every
+man assuming a public office in all civilized countries; that it applied
+only to the period of his actual residence, and was no legitimate bar to
+his advancement in another country. Since his arrival in Canada he had
+taken an oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain. That his
+loyalty was not open to suspicion was sufficiently manifest from the
+mere fact of his having been returned to Parliament by a constituency
+the inhabitants whereof were largely composed of United Empire Loyalists
+and their immediate descendants. Such was the course of his argument,
+which from beginning to end was singularly lucid and clear. But all was
+unavailing. He was assailed by the Government party in language such as
+is rarely to be met with in the annals of Parliamentary debate in this
+country. Mr. Attorney-General Robinson went beyond any former effort of
+his life in the way of vituperation, and overleapt the bounds of the
+commonest decency. He proclaimed himself to be the son of a United
+Empire Loyalist who had fought and bled for his country, and as
+therefore being no fit company for runaway felons and pickpockets. His
+sympathy with himself was so great that the tears chased one another
+down his cheeks as he was speaking. All the amiability which commonly
+marked his intercourse with his fellowmen seemed to have utterly
+departed from him, and he towered above his seat in a perfect whirlwind
+of rage and fiery indignation. Mr. Bidwell's calm and temperate reply
+was in striking contrast to the levin bolts which had been hurled at
+him, and produced a marked effect upon his hearers. But the Compact
+commanded a majority in the Assembly,[59] which sustained a motion for
+his expulsion. And as it was well known that the electors of Lennox and
+Addington would again return him, and that he could not be permanently
+excluded by any ordinary means, it was determined to disqualify him by
+special legislation. An Act was accordingly passed intituled "An Act to
+render ineligible to a seat in the Commons House of Assembly of this
+Province certain descriptions of persons therein mentioned."[60] Among
+the persons declared ineligible were those who had held any of the
+principal public offices in a foreign country, which was of course an
+effectual disqualification for Barnabas Bidwell, who, as already
+mentioned, had been Attorney-General of Massachusetts. It was a
+veritable Act of Exclusion, aimed at a particular person, and it served
+its purpose by keeping the obnoxious individual perpetually out of
+public life.[61]
+
+In consequence of Mr. Bidwell's expulsion a new election for Lennox and
+Addington became necessary. The writ was issued, and, to the chagrin and
+disgust of the supporters of the Government, a new champion of popular
+rights appeared in the field in the person of Marshall Spring Bidwell,
+the only son of the recently-expelled member. The new candidate was a
+young man of twenty-three years of age. He was a native of
+Massachusetts, and had accompanied his parents to Canada at the time of
+their migration in 1810. At an early age he had given proofs of the
+possession of splendid abilities. His father, who was exceedingly proud
+of the bright boy, had cultivated his faculties to the utmost, and by
+the time that Marshall Spring Bidwell had attained his majority he was
+regarded by all who knew him as having a brilliant future before him. A
+year before his candidature he had been called to the Provincial bar. He
+now presented himself before the electors of Lennox and Addington in
+opposition to the Tory candidate, a gentleman named Clark. The combined
+modesty and assurance displayed by young Bidwell throughout the contest
+gained for him many warm friends, while at the same time his earnestness
+and flowing eloquence proved that he was a true son of his father. He
+conducted the campaign with signal ability, and laid the foundation of a
+lasting reputation in the constituency. At the close of the poll the
+returning-officer declared Mr. Clark to have been duly elected, but, as
+it was notorious that corrupt practices had been resorted to, a protest
+was entered by the friends of the Reform candidate, who himself appeared
+in person at the bar of the House to conduct the argument. The result of
+the enquiry was that the return was set aside and a new election
+ordered. Young Bidwell so distinguished himself by his argument before
+the House that the official party perceived that he was likely to be no
+less formidable as an opponent than his father would have been. When the
+new election was held he again presented himself as a candidate, but
+found that the returning-officer had received instructions to accept no
+votes for him, upon the ground that he was an alien. The Tory candidate,
+Mr. Ham, was accordingly returned; but another protest was filed, with a
+similar result. The election was once more set aside, and Lennox and
+Addington still remained without a Parliamentary representative. It had
+by this time become notorious that the whole power of the Executive was
+exerted to keep the Bidwells out of public life, and the conviction that
+such was the fact gave rise to a counter-movement on the part of the
+victims. The friends of Reform bestirred themselves to such purpose that
+during the session of 1823-24 an Act was passed[62] repealing the
+measure of two years before, and relaxing the conditions under which
+persons who had resided in or taken the oath of allegiance to a foreign
+state should be eligible for election to the Provincial Parliament. It
+was provided that a residence in the Province of seven years next before
+election should render such persons eligible for membership in the
+Assembly. This clause removed all existing disqualifications from young
+Mr. Bidwell; but his father still remained disqualified, for it was
+expressly re-enacted that no person who had been a member of the Senate
+or House of Representatives of the United States, or who had held office
+in any of the executive departments of "the United States of America, or
+any one of the said United States," should be capable of being elected
+to the Assembly. Under this clause the elder Bidwell was doubly
+disqualified, for he had not only been Attorney-General of
+Massachusetts, but had also sat in Congress. It was much, however, that
+the son was rendered eligible. A general election took place during the
+summer of 1824, at which he was returned for the constituency which he
+then contested for the third time. He continued to sit in Parliament
+for eleven successive years. He is properly regarded as one of the
+founders of the Reform party in Upper Canada, and by his eloquence, tact
+and discretion, no less than by the high respect in which his character
+was held, he did much to advance the progress of Reform principles.
+
+The general election of 1824 resulted in the return of a number of
+prominent Reformers who now for the first time came forward to take part
+in public affairs. It was evident that a spirit of Reform had been
+awakened, and that from this time forward every important public
+question was likely to have two sides to it.
+
+The most conspicuous of all the new members was Mr. John Rolph, who had
+been returned as one of the representatives for the County of Middlesex.
+As he played an important part in the event which forms the subject of
+this work, and as he was one of the ablest men who have ever taken part
+in public affairs in this country, it is desirable to give some fuller
+account of him than is to be found in the various books relating to the
+place and times in which he lived.
+
+John Rolph was unquestionably one of the most extraordinary
+personalities who have ever figured in the annals of Upper Canada. He
+possessed talents which, under favouring circumstances, would have made
+him a marked man in either professional or public life in any country.
+Chief among his qualifications may be mentioned a comprehensive, subtle
+intellect, high scholastic and professional attainments, a style of
+eloquence which was at once ornate and logical, a noble and handsome
+countenance, a voice of silvery sweetness and great power of modulation,
+and an address at once impressive, dignified and ingratiating. His
+keenness of perception and his faculty for detecting the weak point in
+an argument were almost abnormal, while his power of eloquent and subtle
+exposition had no rival among the Canadian public men of those times.
+His famous speech--to be hereafter more particularly referred
+to--delivered in the Assembly, in 1836, on the subject of the Clergy
+Reserves, was one of the most powerful indictments ever heard within the
+walls of a Canadian Parliament. His arraignment of Sir Francis Bond Head
+before the same body early in the following year was hardly less
+impressive. He was of a full habit of body, even in comparative youth,
+and though he was rather under than above the middle height, there was
+a dignity and even majesty in his presence that gave the world assurance
+of a strong man, while it at the same time effectually repelled unseemly
+familiarity. A pair of deep clear blue eyes, surmounted by rather heavy
+eyebrows, glanced out from beneath his smooth and expansive forehead. He
+had light brown hair, a well-moulded chin, a firmly-set nose, and a
+somewhat large and flexible mouth, capable of imparting to the
+countenance great variety of expression. Such, according to the
+universal testimony of those who knew him, and according to portraits
+painted from life and preserved in his family, was the John Rolph of
+fifty to sixty years ago.
+
+There was unquestionably a _per contra_. Though he was a man of many
+friends, and was the repository of many familiar confidences, there was
+probably no human being--not even the wife of his bosom--who ever
+possessed John Rolph's entire confidence. There was about him no such
+thing as self-abandonment. This was not because he was devoid of natural
+passions or affections, or even of warm friendship, for he was a kind,
+if not a tender husband and father, and there were many persons whom he
+held in very high esteem, and for whom he cheerfully made great
+sacrifices. But the quality of caution seems to have been
+preternaturally developed within his breast. No man was ever less open
+to the imputation of wearing his heart upon his sleeve. He had a
+temperament of great equableness, and doubtless felt much more deeply
+than was suspected, even by those who were constantly about him. To the
+outer world he was ever self-possessed, calm and dignified, of pleasant
+and amiable manners, and not deficient in good-fellowship, but seldom or
+never abandoning himself to frolicsomeness or fun. His smile had a
+winsome sweetness about it, but it was a very rare occurrence indeed for
+him to indulge in anything approaching to hearty laughter. His
+self-control was marvellous. He was never surprised or startled, never
+dismayed by unexpected intelligence, never taken off his guard. Yet he
+possessed great dramatic talent, and in his addresses to juries and
+public audiences could successfully simulate the most contradictory
+feelings and emotions. One who judged him simply from such exhibitions
+as these might well have set him down for an emotional and impetuous
+man, apt to be led away by the fleeting passions and weaknesses of the
+moment. Yet no one coming to such a conclusion would have had any
+conception of his real character and idiosyncrasies. He certainly never
+acted without motive, but his motives were sometimes dark and
+unfathomable to everyone but himself. Not one among his contemporaries
+was able to take his moral and intellectual measure with anything
+approaching to completeness; and throughout the entire length and
+breadth of Canadian biography there is no man of equal eminence
+respecting whose real individuality so little is known.
+
+Mr. Rolph's peculiarities were probably inherent, for the facts of his
+early life, so far as known, afford no clue to the reading of the
+riddle. He was the second son in a family consisting of eighteen
+children, and was born at Grovesend, in the market town of Thornbury,
+Gloucestershire, England, on the 4th of March, 1793. His father, Thomas
+Rolph, was a physician of some local repute, who seems to have been
+impelled to emigrate in consequence of the impossibility of making any
+suitable provision in England for so numerous a progeny. The ascertained
+facts with reference to John Rolph's early life in England are
+singularly meagre. He accompanied his parents to Canada some time prior
+to the War of 1812, for he served as a volunteer during the early part
+of that conflict, and was for some months a paymaster of militia. During
+the progress of the war he was taken prisoner by the enemy, and was
+detained in custody for a short time at Batavia, in the State of New
+York. An exchange of prisoners having been effected, he was set at
+liberty. After his liberation he returned to England, where he entered
+one of the colleges of the University of Cambridge; and, though he seems
+to have left there without taking a degree, he was recognized as a young
+man of very remarkable and precocious intellectual powers, likely to
+become conspicuous in after-life. He absorbed knowledge with marvellous
+facility, and never forgot anything he had learned. After leaving
+college he repaired to London, where he was entered as a student-at-law,
+and was in due time called to the bar of the Inner Temple. Like Bacon,
+he seems to have taken all knowledge to be his province, for, not
+satisfied with having acquired what, in so young a man, was accounted a
+wide knowledge of jurisprudence, he studied for some time under Sir
+Astley Cooper, and was enrolled as a member of the Royal College of
+Surgeons. He soon afterwards returned to Canada, and took up his abode
+on a lot of land in the Township of Charlotteville, about midway between
+the villages of Turkey Point and Vittoria, in what is now the County of
+Norfolk, but which then and for long afterwards formed part of the
+Talbot District. In Michaelmas Term of 1821 he was called to the bar of
+Upper Canada, and for some years thereafter he appears to have practised
+the two professions of law and medicine concurrently. His great
+acquirements and pleasant manners made him a favourite with all classes
+of the people, and caused him to be regarded as a genuine acquisition to
+the district in which he resided. He became the professional adviser and
+familiar friend of Colonel Thomas Talbot, founder of the Talbot
+Settlement, and was one of the originators of the Talbot Anniversary,
+established in 1817, and kept up for more than twenty years thereafter,
+in honour of the day of the Colonel's arrival at Port Talbot--the 21st
+of May, 1803. The Colonel was not, in the strict sense of the term, a
+politician, but he was a member of the Legislative Council, and
+naturally supported the official party; whereas Rolph, though a man of
+equable mind, and by no means constitutionally inclined towards
+Radicalism, had much better opportunities for mixing with the people
+than had Colonel Talbot, and his keen eye revealed to him many official
+abuses which did not commend themselves to his sense of justice. It is
+probable that differences of opinion on public questions led to their
+ultimate estrangement. At all events, Rolph espoused the side of the
+people, and declared himself a foe to the Family Compact policy, and
+from that time forward the intimacy between him and Colonel Talbot seems
+to have grown less and less. The Gourlay prosecutions aroused Rolph's
+hot indignation, which he did not hesitate to express with much freedom
+whithersoever he went. Being a brilliant and eloquent talker, strong in
+opinion and logical in argument, he made many converts to his views, the
+number of whom was not lessened by the course of treatment adopted
+towards the Bidwells. It seems to have been about this time that he took
+up his abode at Dundas, where he subsequently resided for many years.
+When the general elections of 1824 took place the Reformers of Middlesex
+brought out John Rolph and Captain John Matthews, both of whom were
+returned at the head of the poll.
+
+Rolph made his presence felt in the Assembly from the time of taking his
+seat there. He was then thirty-one years of age, and of a compact,
+well-built figure, inclining to portliness. His face was at once
+handsome and intellectual, and his presence carried with it a suggestion
+of undoubted power. He spoke comparatively seldom during his early
+Parliamentary sessions, but when he did speak it was always with effect.
+His diction was singularly luminous and expressive, and would have
+attracted attention in any public assembly in the world. There was a
+clear metallic ring in his voice which did full justice to the language
+employed, and there were few empty benches in the House when it was
+known that Rolph was to speak.
+
+His colleague from Middlesex, though a staunch Reformer, was a man of
+very different cast. Captain Matthews was a retired officer of the royal
+artillery, who had seen twenty-seven years' service. At a very early
+period of his residence in Upper Canada he had become disgusted with
+Family Compact rule, and had spoken his mind on the subject with much
+freedom. Being a resident of the County of Middlesex, and being held in
+much esteem there among the adherents of Liberal principles, he was
+induced to offer himself along with Dr. Rolph at the general election of
+1824 as one of the candidates for the county. His candidature was
+successful, and he became very popular in the House, though the texture
+of his mind was somewhat light and airy, and he was not well fitted,
+either by nature or by training, to deal with such grave constitutional
+questions as were continually forcing themselves upon public attention.
+
+Another prominent Reformer who now took his seat in Parliament for the
+first time was Peter Perry, who had been returned as young Marshall
+Bidwell's colleague in the representation of Lennox and Addington.
+Although thirty-four years have elapsed since his death, Mr. Perry is
+still well remembered by the older generation of our politicians. During
+the twelve years succeeding his entry into public life he was one of the
+most conspicuous Reformers in the Province. Though not possessed of a
+liberal education, and though his demeanour and address were marred by a
+sort of impetuous coarseness, he was master of a rude, vigorous
+eloquence which under certain conditions was far more effective than the
+most polished oratory would have been. He was certainly the ablest stump
+orator of his time in this country, and there was no man in the Reform
+ranks who could so effectively conduct a difficult election campaign.
+No man was more dreaded by his opponents, more especially by those who
+had to encounter him while a contest was pending. It may here be added
+that he continued to take an active part in politics down to a short
+time before his death in 1851, and that he rendered great services to
+the cause of Reform, but in the years following the Union of the
+Provinces he was overshadowed by Robert Baldwin, whose social position,
+spotless reputation and disinterestedness of purpose combined to place
+him on a pedestal beyond the reach of ordinary politicians. Peter Perry,
+however, while yielding a loyal support to Mr. Baldwin, continued to the
+end of his life to fight his political battles in his own way. The
+sincerity of his convictions was beyond any sort of question, and his
+shrewdness, experience and hard common sense caused his opinions to be
+regarded with respect, even by such men as Rolph, Baldwin and the
+Bidwells.
+
+Mr. Perry was a native Upper Canadian, having been born at Ernestown in
+1793, during the early part of Governor Simcoe's administration of
+affairs. He was the son of a U. E. Loyalist, and was brought up on a
+farm, at a time when public schools were few and far between in the
+rural districts. He grew to manhood without having acquired much in the
+way of education, but the quickness of his parts and the soundness of
+his judgment did much to atone for his want of regular school training.
+He began to take an active interest in public affairs at an early age,
+and before he was thirty he had acquired wide notoriety as a
+strongly-pronounced Reformer. Living in the same part of the country as
+the Bidwells, he took a warm interest in their candidature. As his
+political ideas coincided with theirs, and as his rough eloquence had
+already made him well known throughout the constituency, he espoused
+their side in the successive election contests, and at the general
+election of 1824 was himself returned to the Assembly as the colleague
+of the brilliant young lawyer.
+
+In addition to John Rolph, Marshall Spring Bidwell, Captain John
+Matthews and Peter Perry, a number of other advocates of Reform
+principles were returned at the general election of 1824. For the first
+time in Upper Canadian annals, it was manifest not only that the
+Reformers had a majority in point of numbers in the Assembly, but that
+they had a decided preponderance of ability. No adherent of the official
+party--not even the Attorney-General, John Beverley Robinson--was a
+match for Rolph or Bidwell, to say nothing of Perry, whose oratory was
+of an altogether different complexion, though scarcely less effective.
+Upon the meeting of the Houses the numerical strength of the respective
+parties was fairly tested by the vote on the Speakership. The Reformers
+nominated as their candidate John Willson, one of the members for
+Wentworth. Mr. Willson was an unpretending farmer, of strong political
+convictions, but of good sense and calm judgment, who had allied himself
+with the Reformers, and who might safely be depended upon to discharge
+the duties incidental to the Speakership with judicial impartiality. The
+vote stood twenty-one to nineteen, the majority of two being in Mr.
+Willson's favour. The Reformers felt that they had achieved a triumph,
+and were accordingly jubilant; but they soon found that the mere control
+of the Assembly signified very little in the absence of Executive
+responsibility. The Legislative Council interposed its dead weight, and
+vetoed one bill after another sent up by the Assembly.
+
+The Reform preponderance in the Assembly, however, and the bringing
+together of the leading supporters of Liberal principles, led to the
+establishment of an organized body of Reformers, which from that time
+forward made its existence felt throughout the constituencies, and
+presented an obstacle to the continued rule of the Compact. Conspicuous
+among the Fathers of Reform, in addition to John Rolph, Peter Perry,
+Captain Matthews and the two Bidwells, were Doctor William Warren
+Baldwin, his son Robert, and William Lyon Mackenzie. None of the three
+last-named gentlemen was at this time in Parliament, but they were
+nevertheless all able to render very valuable services to Reform
+principles--the first two by reason of their wealth and high social
+position, and the third from the fact that he was the publisher of a
+newspaper, and that he was a man of strong opinions and superabundant
+energy in giving expression to them.
+
+The elder Baldwin was a gentleman of high character and social position,
+resident at York. He had emigrated from Ireland to Canada towards the
+close of the last century, and, like Mr. Rolph, had for some time
+practised law and medicine concurrently. He achieved considerable
+success, both pecuniarily and otherwise, and, notwithstanding his
+political principles, which were of a decidedly advanced character, he
+was respected by the entire community of the little Provincial capital.
+The family to which he belonged were well known in Ireland for their
+adherence to advanced political doctrines, and he himself remained true
+to family traditions. At a time when it required no slight courage to
+espouse the Liberal side in York, Dr. Baldwin was always to be found in
+the ranks of Reform. He was wealthy, as, in addition to the property
+which he had personally accumulated, he had succeeded, by bequest, to
+the bulk of the large possessions of the Honourable Peter Russell--whose
+method of doing good unto himself has already been glanced at--and of
+that gentleman's maiden sister Elizabeth. Miss Russell resided in Dr.
+Baldwin's family during the last few years of her life, and survived
+until 1822. The Russells and the Baldwins were remotely connected by
+ties of relationship, and as neither the Administrator nor his sister
+ever married, there was nothing strange in the disposition made by them
+of their property.
+
+High as Dr. Baldwin stood in the Reform ranks, however, he was destined
+to be eclipsed by his more distinguished son. It is safe to say that no
+public man in Canada has ever gained so enviable a reputation as
+attaches to the name of Robert Baldwin. As was intimated two or three
+pages back, he stood upon a lofty pedestal, and was a very man _per se_.
+And this high position he attained, not by means of brilliant oratory,
+keenness of perception, or subtle comprehensiveness of judgment. No one
+has ever pretended to claim for him any special intellectual greatness
+of any kind. He was a plain man, of abilities not much above the
+average, who possessed strong convictions, and whose high principles,
+sterling honesty and disinterestedness of purpose were unimpeachable.
+Had he been a member of the British House of Commons during Sir Robert
+Walpole's regime, the proverbial dictum of that high priest of
+corruption would never have been uttered, for certainly no man would
+ever have dreamed of offering a bribe to Robert Baldwin. He has been in
+his grave for more than a quarter of a century; thirty-four years have
+elapsed since his withdrawal from public life; yet he is still referred
+to by adherents of both political parties in Canada as a statesman of
+unblemished integrity, whose character was without spot, and in whose
+bosom was no guile. He more than once occupied the foremost position in
+the public eye. During much of his career a fierce light beat upon him,
+yet failed to disclose anything whereof the most august character in
+history would have had any cause for feeling ashamed. As I have said
+elsewhere: "We can still point to him with the admiration due to a man
+who, during a time of the grossest political corruption, took a foremost
+part in our public affairs, and who yet preserved his integrity
+untarnished. We can point to him as the man who, if not the actual
+author of Responsible Government in Canada, yet spent the best years of
+his life in contending for it, and who contributed more than any other
+person to make that project an accomplished fact. We can point to him as
+one who, though a politician by predilection and by profession, never
+stooped to disreputable practices, either to win votes or to maintain
+himself in office. Robert Baldwin was a man who was not only incapable
+of falsehood or meanness to gain his ends, but who was to the last
+degree intolerant of such practices on the part of his warmest
+supporters. If intellectual greatness cannot be claimed for him, moral
+greatness was most indisputably his. Every action of his life was marked
+by sincerity and good faith, alike toward friend and foe. He was not
+only true to others, but was from first to last true to himself....
+Robert Baldwin was neither a bigot nor a fanatic, but he was in the best
+and truest sense of the word a Christian. He was strict in his
+observance of religious duties, and brought up his children to seek
+those things which make for righteousness, rather than the things of
+this world. His piety was an ever-present influence in his life, and was
+practically manifested in his daily walk and conversation. As we
+contemplate the fifty-four years which made up the measure of his
+earthly span, we cannot fail to be impressed by its uniform consistency,
+its thorough conscientiousness, its devotion to high and noble objects.
+It is a grand thing to acquire a famous name, but it is a much grander
+thing to live a pure and noble life; and in estimating the character of
+Robert Baldwin it should be remembered that he was not merely a
+statesman and a lawyer, but was, over and above all else, a man and a
+Christian."[63]
+
+The foregoing account, be it understood, applies to a later period. At
+the date of the general election in 1824 Robert Baldwin was still a
+young man, whose reputation, professional and political, was yet to be
+made. He had not even been called to the bar, and was still a student in
+his father's office. Notwithstanding his youth, however--he was only in
+his twenty-first year--he had given some thought to the political
+questions of the time, and had even begun to look forward to the
+possibility of an ultimate political career. His father, from whom he
+had learned many political lessons, had recently become very wealthy
+through the death of Miss Russell, as already mentioned. Much of his
+wealth consisted of landed property. Robert was the first-born child of
+his parents, and, as the law of primogeniture was then in force in Upper
+Canada,[64] it was to be anticipated that he would succeed to large
+possessions, and would be independent of any income arising from his own
+exertions. He bore an honoured name, and it was tolerably certain that,
+under such a combination of circumstances, he would sooner or later find
+his way to Parliament. He had already imbibed what were in those days
+considered as advanced Liberal views, and was in full accord with his
+father, who had to a large extent moulded his opinions. He was present
+at the meetings of the Reform members held during the first session
+following the elections of 1824, for the purpose of organization. It was
+then that a distinct Reform Party, with common objects and a specific
+policy, may be said to have been formed in this Province. There had been
+Upper Canadian Reformers from the very foundation of the Province, but
+no Reform Party can strictly be said to have had an existence prior to
+the latter part of the year 1824.
+
+No man was more conspicuous in contributing to the founding of the
+Reform Party than was William Lyon Mackenzie, whose personality yet
+remains to be considered. Owing in some measure to the force of
+circumstances, but chiefly to his own energy, impulsiveness and love of
+notoriety, Mr. Mackenzie's name and achievements have become more widely
+known than have those of many abler and wiser men. He was the only
+child of humble parents, and was born at Springfield, a suburb of
+Dundee, in Forfarshire, Scotland, on the 12th of March, 1795. When he
+was four weeks old his father died, leaving him and his mother wholly
+unprovided for, insomuch that they were dependent upon the bounty of
+relatives. To adopt his own language, poverty and adversity were his
+nurses, and want and misery were his familiar friends. "It is among the
+earliest of my recollections," wrote he in 1824, "that I lay in bed one
+morning during the grievous famine in Britain in 1800-1, while my poor
+mother took from our large kist the handsome plaid of the tartan of our
+clan, which in her early life her own hands had spun, and went and sold
+it for a trifle, to obtain for us a little coarse barley meal, whereof
+to make our scanty breakfast; and of another time during the same famine
+when she left me at home crying from hunger, and for (I think) eight
+shillings sold a handsome and hitherto carefully preserved priest-gray
+coat of my father's, to get us a little food." His mother, from whom he
+inherited his most salient peculiarities, was a woman of strongly-marked
+character. She was endowed by nature with a high temper, and with a
+tendency to act from impulse rather than from reason. To these qualities
+were added great energy and strength of will. She brought up her son in
+the straitest of theological creeds, which left a certain permanent
+mental impress upon him, though during the last quarter of a century of
+his life he wandered far afield from the religious teachings of his
+childhood. He seems to have been born with a genuine love for knowledge,
+for, notwithstanding the inauspicious surroundings of his youth, he
+contrived to acquire a better education than was commonly obtainable by
+lads in his rank of life in Scotland in those times. The education thus
+acquired was almost to the end of his days supplemented by reading and
+study. As soon as he was old enough to enter upon employment he became
+an assistant in a draper's shop, after which he filled various temporary
+situations which led to nothing. When only nineteen he opened a small
+store on his own account at Alyth, a village about twenty miles from
+Dundee. This he conducted for about three years, by which time it had
+become apparent that the business could not be successfully carried on,
+so he abandoned it and removed to England. There he spent more than two
+years, during some part of which he acted as clerk to a coal company.
+In the spring of 1820 he sailed for Canada, where he was destined to
+gain great notoriety, and to become an important factor in the moulding
+of public opinion.
+
+In a new country like Canada a young man of Mackenzie's energy was soon
+able to make his presence felt. After being employed for a short time on
+the survey of the Lachine Canal, he opened a store at York, whence he
+removed to Dundas, and entered on a more extensive mercantile business
+in partnership with Mr. John Lesslie, the style of the firm being
+"Mackenzie & Lesslie." His mercantile venture in Dundas was fairly
+successful. During his residence there he married Miss Isabel Baxter, a
+native of Dundee, after a brief courtship of three weeks. In the spring
+of 1823 the firm of Mackenzie & Lesslie was dissolved, and for a few
+months thereafter the senior partner carried on business by himself. In
+the autumn of the same year he removed to Queenston, where he embarked
+in business by opening a general store. The store had not been many
+months in operation before its proprietor abandoned commercial pursuits
+and embraced the life of a journalist. This change seems to have been
+the result of some deliberation, and it must be admitted that Mr.
+Mackenzie possessed considerable aptitude for the new field of labour
+which he had chosen. His writing, though very unequal, and sometimes
+exceedingly verbose and amateurish in point of style, was almost always
+direct and easy to understand. His observation was keen, and he had
+taken a warm interest in politics ever since his arrival in the country.
+Though many of his views were what would now be considered Toryish and
+out of date, they were then classed by the Compact and their adherents
+as ultra-Radical and revolutionary. He had formed the acquaintance of
+Rolph, Perry, the Bidwells, and other prominent Reformers, by all of
+whom the sincerity of his political professions were regarded as being
+beyond question. The first number of his newspaper, which was christened
+_The Colonial Advocate_, made its appearance on the 18th of May, 1824.
+It consisted of thirty-two pages, and, although its owner had neither
+received nor sought a single subscriber, he issued an edition of twelve
+hundred copies. Whether he embarked in newspaper life at this particular
+time with a view to influencing votes during the impending general
+election cannot now be known with certainty. Probably enough this may
+have been one of his motives, which were doubtless of a mixed nature.
+That he was sincere in his advocacy of Reform must in all fairness be
+conceded, though his itch for notoriety must always be considered in
+reviewing and estimating his actions. This tendency of his mind would
+readily lead him to select journalism as his vocation in life, more
+especially as he found that his opinions were regarded as having some
+value. As compared with his life in Britain, his career in Canada had
+been an undoubted success. He had acquired some property, and was in
+fair pecuniary circumstances. From the inner side of his counter he had
+been in the habit of holding forth to his customers on the political and
+other questions of the day, and had found that his arguments were
+accepted by a majority of the unlettered yeomen of Wentworth as being
+unanswerable. He was looked up to as a man of weight and influence in
+the community, and the consciousness of this was naturally gratifying to
+the whilom shop-boy of Dumfries. He felt incited to address larger
+audiences than any which had hitherto listened to him. The time seemed
+propitious for the establishment of a Reform newspaper. There was a
+general awakening in the direction of Reform, extending over the greater
+part of the Province. There could be no sort of doubt that public
+opinion was in a state of transition: that many people had begun to look
+forward to a time when Responsible Government would be conceded, and
+when the domination of the Compact would be no more. When that
+much-wished-for epoch should arrive, those who had been the means of
+bringing it about, or of hastening its advent, would stand high among
+the Reformers of Upper Canada. Who would be likely to stand higher than
+a clever and aspiring man who was at once editor and proprietor of the
+leading organ of Liberal opinion in the Province? Such a personage might
+command anything within the power of his party to grant. That he would
+soon be able to write his way into Parliament was a foregone conclusion;
+and a seat in Parliament appeared a very proud distinction in the eyes
+of one whose past surroundings had been so far removed from such a
+sphere.
+
+That these, or something like these, were among the chief motives
+whereby Mr. Mackenzie was actuated in establishing _The Colonial
+Advocate_ seems tolerably certain. Nor is there anything unusual or
+censurable in such an ambition. The labourer is worthy of his hire, and
+no labourer is better entitled to a full recompense than is the man who,
+through long and weary years, struggles to win success for a depressed
+and righteous cause. That he was not devoid of a spirit of sincere
+patriotism is evident, alike from his words and his deeds. He had
+amassed a few hundreds of pounds, and was in no dread of poverty, being
+sanguine and self-confident to an uncommon degree. He ardently longed to
+see this fair colony rescued from the thraldom under which it groaned.
+In a letter[65] written many years afterwards, when he was an outlaw and
+an exile, he gives his own version of the motives which impelled him to
+embark upon what he calls "the stormy sea of politics." "I had long," he
+writes, "seen the country in the hands of a few shrewd, crafty, covetous
+men, under whose management one of the most lovely and desirable
+sections of America remained a comparative desert. The most obvious
+public improvements were stayed; dissension was created among classes;
+citizens were banished and imprisoned in defiance of all law; the people
+had been long forbidden, under severe pains and penalties, from meeting
+anywhere to petition for justice; large estates were wrested from their
+owners in utter contempt of even the forms of the courts; the Church of
+England, the adherents of which were few, monopolized as much of the
+lands of the colony as all the religious houses and dignitaries of the
+Roman Catholic Church had had the control of in Scotland at the era of
+the Reformation; other sects were treated with contempt and scarcely
+tolerated; a sordid band of land-jobbers grasped the soil as their
+patrimony, and with a few leading officials, who divided the public
+revenue among themselves, formed the Family Compact, and were the avowed
+enemies of common schools, of civil and religious liberty, of all
+legislative or other checks to their own will. Other men had opposed,
+and been converted by them. At nine-and-twenty I might have united with
+them, but chose rather to join the oppressed, nor have I ever regretted
+that choice, or wavered from the object of my early pursuit."
+
+A man entertaining such views as these, more especially a man of energy
+and intelligence, with a newspaper at his back, could not fail to be
+acceptable to the little knot of politicians who formed the nucleus of
+the Reform Party of Upper Canada. Mr. Mackenzie was cordially welcomed
+into the ranks, and was soon recognized as a most useful and valuable
+acquisition thereto. He could make no pretence to the various learning,
+fine presence, subtle intellect or polished eloquence of Rolph, nor even
+to the high but less marked qualities of the Bidwells, but the time was
+at hand when he was to prove that he possessed the power to move
+audiences, by his voice as well as by his pen. In person he would have
+been pronounced by a casual passer-by to be rather insignificant, being
+exceedingly short in stature, and not well proportioned as to his
+figure, which was slight, wiry, and--owing to a restless habit and a
+highly-strung nervous system--seldom in repose. Still, no one who
+contemplated his features with attention would ever have dreamed of
+pronouncing him commonplace. His intellectual vigour and determination
+were attested by his large head, massive brow, keen, light-blue eyes and
+firmly-set mouth. His physical energy was placed equally beyond doubt by
+the nervous activity above mentioned. Until he was long past the prime
+of his manhood he was never still for many consecutive moments during
+his waking hours. When labouring under any unusual excitement his frame
+seemed to be set on steel springs. As his temper was easily aroused, it
+was no uncommon thing to see him in one of these phases of excitement.
+But though he was thus quickly moved to anger, it could not with justice
+be said that his temper was bad, for, so far from being implacable, he
+was readily appeased, and always quick to forget and forgive.
+Altogether, he had an active but ill-balanced organization. His
+sympathies were too quick and strong for his judgment, and he frequently
+acted from impulse and hot blood. From his cradle to his grave he was
+never fit to walk alone and without guidance through any great
+emergency.
+
+No two human beings could well be more unlike than were William Lyon
+Mackenzie and John Rolph. They were compelled to work together in a
+common cause for many years, but the two entities were thoroughly
+antagonistic, and there was never much personal liking between them. The
+structure of their bodies was not more dissimilar than was that of their
+minds. The one, slight, wiry, and ever in motion, seemed as though it
+might be blown hither and thither by any strong current. The other,
+solid almost to portliness, was suggestive of fixity--of
+self-dependence, and unsusceptibility to outside influences. The one was
+suggestive of being in a great measure the creature of circumstances;
+the other of being a law unto himself--one who would be more likely to
+influence circumstances than to be influenced by them. Mackenzie's
+nature, though it could not strictly be called a shallow one, at any
+rate lay near the surface, and its characters were not hard to decipher,
+even upon a brief acquaintance. There were depths in Rolph's nature
+which were never fathomed by those nearest and dearest to him--possibly
+not even by himself. Mackenzie seems to have long regarded Rolph with a
+sort of distant awe--as a Sphinx, close, oracular, inscrutable. Rolph
+evidently estimated Mackenzie correctly, as one whose politics were
+founded upon deeply-rooted convictions, and not upon mere opinions,
+although he would probably have found it difficult to subject those
+opinions to a rigid analysis; as one whose energy and journalistic
+resources might be turned to good account in the cause of Reform, but
+whose discretion was not always to be relied on. This estimate, indeed,
+was sufficiently obvious to any one who maintained frequent or familiar
+relations with Mackenzie, and was concurred in by most, if not all, of
+his friends. His earnestness and good faith, however, were manifest to
+all who knew him, and these were sufficient to cover much more culpable
+weaknesses than any which he had hitherto displayed.
+
+Having now become acquainted with some of the FATHERS of Reform, it is
+desirable to cast a momentary glance at the material which went to the
+composition of the Reform Party generally. That material was of the most
+heterogeneous character imaginable. It included a few U. E. Loyalists of
+advanced opinions, and their descendants; but the bone and sinew were
+made up of more recent immigrants from Great Britain and the United
+States. The organization of the party, such as it was, was of too recent
+a date at this time to admit of any absolute unanimity of opinion on all
+questions of public policy having been arrived at among so numerous a
+body. On one cardinal point, however, all were agreed: it was in the
+highest degree desirable that the Canadian constitution should be more
+closely assimilated to that of the mother-country, and that the
+Executive Council should be made responsible to the popular branch of
+the Legislature. True, there was a small element--almost entirely made
+up of immigrants from across the border--who held republican theories,
+but no class of the community clamoured more loudly for Responsible
+Government than did the advocates of republicanism, very few of whom
+regarded their opinions as coming within the domain of practical
+politics in Upper Canada. On the question of the Clergy Reserves there
+was less uniformity of sentiment. Many sincere Reformers disapproved of
+the voluntary principle, and believed in a State provision for the
+Clergy,[66] though very few of them went so far in that direction as to
+defend the exclusive pretensions of the Church of England. On this and
+other important public questions, however, the diversity of opinion
+henceforth became less and leas from year to year. In point of numbers
+the adherents of Reform principles constituted a majority of the
+inhabitants of the Province.
+
+The _Advocate_ was only six months old when its proprietor removed to
+York. If any good service was to be done to Reform by his means it was
+clear that the Provincial capital must be the seat of his operations.
+The removal took place in November, 1824, and in the following January
+the new Parliament met for the first time. Much of the interval was
+spent by the Reformers in preparations for organization. In all these
+proceedings Mr. Mackenzie took an active and prominent part. He also
+assumed, to a greater extent than he had previously done, the _role_ of
+a public censor, and, in the columns of his paper, opened a hot fire
+upon the official party and their myrmidons. His writing was "personal
+journalism," with a vengeance, for he usually expressed himself in the
+first person singular, and directed his animadversions against any one
+who, for the time being, happened to have attracted his notice. He wrote
+very erratically, and from the impulse of the moment; in one number
+lauding some particular personage in extravagant terms, and in
+subsequent numbers assailing the self-same individual in language which
+certainly reflected no credit upon the writer. Sometimes he even
+extended his attacks to the friends and relatives of those who had
+become obnoxious to him. In all this he merely followed the example of
+his opponents, from whom better things might have been expected, but he
+certainly lessened his influence, even among his friends and
+fellow-labourers, by his onslaughts upon particular individuals. There
+can be no manner of doubt, however, that he achieved his object of
+holding some of his opponents up to public ridicule, and that in at
+least one or two instances he was the means of affecting votes in the
+Assembly thereby. To what extent, if at all, his efforts in this
+direction contributed to the election of Mr. Willson, the Reform
+candidate for the Speakership in the Assembly, already referred to, is
+not easy to say. That his deliverances may have produced an effect upon
+one or two waverers, and thereby have brought about the desired
+result--the vote, it will be remembered, was a close one, standing
+twenty-one to nineteen[67]--is possible enough. It is at all events
+certain that the combined action of the Reform Party in and out of
+Parliament produced early and specific consequences. On a number of
+questions the Government found themselves confronted by a hostile
+majority considerably greater than they had encountered on the
+Speakership. But these seeming triumphs were of no immediate advantage
+to the Opposition. Let the majority against the Government be ever so
+great in the Assembly, the official policy remained the same. The Upper
+House rejected Bill after Bill which had been passed by the Lower, and
+the Executive clung to their places in undisturbed serenity.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[57] _Ante_, p. 44.
+
+[58] The repealing statute is 1 Geo. IV. chapter 4. The statute repealed
+is 59 Geo. III., sess. 1, chapter 2.
+
+[59] It was however a bare majority, the vote standing 17 to 16.
+
+[60] See Stat. 2 Geo. IV. chapter 4, passed 17th January, 1822.
+
+[61] Six years later Francis Collins, editor of _The Canadian Freeman_,
+lay in York jail for having charged Attorney-General Robinson with
+"native malignancy." During his incarceration he addressed several open
+letters to his prosecutor, in one of which may be found the following
+comments upon the episode referred to in the text:--
+
+"In the next place, a most respectable portion of the colony returned
+the venerable Mr. Bidwell, Sen., to Parliament, and upon this occasion I
+think you displayed more 'native malignancy' than I ever witnessed, in a
+political way, in the colony. A hired pimp was despatched to Boston to
+hunt up slanders, originating in political feuds there. Mr. Bidwell was
+put on his trial before a corrupt House, and when thus you saw your
+innocent victim within your reach, then it was you lifted up the
+flood-gates of your loyal wrath, and let your vengeance fall upon his
+devoted head. Then it was that the overflowings of your 'native
+malignancy' hurled the tears of loyalty down your pallid cheeks. Then it
+was that your natural flippancy gave rapid birth to the most gross,
+unqualified and unjustifiable abuse I ever heard heaped, not only upon a
+member of Parliament, but even upon the commonest member of society. 'Am
+I,' said you, 'the son of a U. E. Loyalist, who fought and bled for his
+country, to sit within these walls with disloyal runaway felons,
+pickpockets and murderers from the United States?'--(the loyal tears
+flowing.) Yes, Sir, you coaxed, you threatened, you argued, you wept,
+until you prevailed upon a corrupt and cringing House, as I have before
+remarked, to turn Mr. Bidwell out of his seat, unconstitutionally,
+illegally and unjustly; and the next day you were obliged to get one of
+your tools to bring in a Bill to cover this illegal proceeding, and
+prevent his re-election, thus forever depriving the country of the
+valuable services of a man better qualified for a legislator, in point
+of learning, talent and experience than yourself, or any other man,
+perhaps, in Upper Canada. Now, Sir, if you viewed it as a disgrace to
+sit in the same House with the father, although in every respect your
+superior, how will it suit you to bend your outrageously loyal neck to
+his son in the Speaker's chair, who, it is my opinion, is the most fit
+person in the new House to fill it, and who, I doubt not, will be
+elected?"
+
+The letter from which the foregoing extract is taken bears date December
+25th, and appears in the _Freeman_ of that date. The prediction in the
+concluding sentence was verified. Mr. M. S. Bidwell was elected Speaker
+at the opening of the session in January, 1829.
+
+[62] See 4 Geo. IV., sess. 2, chapter 3, passed 19th January, 1824.
+
+[63] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. I., pp. 17, 46.
+
+[64] It is to the exertions of Robert Baldwin himself that we owe the
+abolition of the doctrine of primogeniture as applied to real estate in
+Upper Canada. He it was who, while Attorney-General for the Western
+Province, introduced and carried through the measure of 1851.
+
+[65] Quoted by Mr. Lindsey, in his _Life and Times of William Lyon
+Mackenzie_, Vol. I., pp. 40, 41.
+
+[66] Among those who approved of such a provision no one was more
+outspoken than was Mr. Mackenzie himself. In the very first number of
+the _Advocate_ he clearly laid down his platform on this question. "In
+no part of the constitution of the Canadas," he writes, "is the wisdom
+of the British Legislature more apparent than in its setting apart a
+portion of the country, while yet it remained it wilderness, for the
+support of religion." He expressed himself in favour of a law whereby
+the ministers of every body of professing Christians, being British
+subjects, should receive equal benefits from the Reserves. On this, as
+on many other subjects, however, the editor of the _Advocate_
+subsequently saw fit to alter his opinions. The instability of his
+opinions, indeed, was one of his most dangerous characteristics, and
+this alone marked him out as unfit to be trusted with the guidance of
+others.
+
+[67] _Ante_, p. 110.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+A "FREE AND UNFETTERED" PRESS.
+
+
+Mr. Mackenzie's newspaper devoted much space to the advocacy of
+Responsible Government, which for many years constituted the main plank
+in the Liberal platform. He pointed out the injustice and absurdity of
+the existing state of things, where the people were beguiled with a
+mockery of representation in Parliament without having any voice in the
+nomination of the persons composing the Government of the day. There was
+no attempt on the part of the official body to distort the real facts of
+the case. They straightforwardly avowed their independence of public
+opinion, and sneered at arguments founded on the doctrine of ministerial
+responsibility. They proclaimed their immunity from all outdoor
+influence whatever, and smiled pleasantly when taunted across the floor
+of the Assembly with repeated violations of the constitution. Rolph,
+Bidwell, and other Reform members in the House were sufficiently masters
+of themselves to argue this and other questions on purely public
+grounds, and without gross violations of the laws of Parliamentary
+discipline. This, however, Mr. Mackenzie's impetuous temperament
+prevented him from doing, and as he was not in the House he felt at
+liberty to give full rein to his impetuosity. He made every important
+question a personal matter between himself and each individual supporter
+of the Government who contradicted him. Through the columns of his paper
+he poured out much bitter invective. What he said was for the most part
+undeniably true, but he had such an offensive way of expressing himself
+that the amenities of journalism were constantly violated. By this means
+he brought down upon his head the rancorous hatred of those whom he made
+the objects of attack.
+
+The feelings entertained towards him by the members of the Government,
+and by the Tory party generally, were largely personal and independent
+of politics. The conflict between them may be said to have begun before
+the removal from Queenston to York, and indeed almost before the ink was
+dry upon the first number of the _Advocate_. In that number Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor, was accused of indolence,
+and of being the cause why Upper Canada was less progressive than her
+enterprising republican neighbour. He was referred to as one who, after
+spending his earlier days in the din of war and the turmoil of camps,
+had gained enough renown in Europe to enable him to enjoy himself, like
+the country he governed, in inactivity; whose migrations were, by water,
+from York to Queenston and from Queenston to York, like the Vicar of
+Wakefield, from the brown bed to the blue, and from the blue bed to the
+brown. Such comparisons as these could not be expected to find much
+favour with Sir Peregrine, more especially as they notoriously contained
+more than a _soupcon_ of truth. The faction naturally sympathized with
+the Lieutenant-Governor, and only waited a suitable opportunity to give
+adequate expression to their abhorrence of Mackenzie and his doctrines.
+As for Sir Peregrine, he was ready enough to cooeperate with his
+supporters in any proceeding for the suppression of this free-spoken and
+most objectionable little Radical, who dared to wag his plebeian tongue
+against the son-in-law of a Duke. An occasion for the first overt act of
+hostility was afforded by certain rites connected with the erection of
+the monument on Queenston Heights to the memory of Major-General Sir
+Isaac Brock. The construction of the monument having been determined
+upon, and considerable sums of money having been granted by Parliament
+for the purpose, commissioners were appointed to superintend the work,
+which was duly proceeded with. The second funeral of the dead hero, and
+the removal of his remains from Fort George, had been fixed for the 18th
+of October (1824), being the twelfth anniversary of the battle; but in
+the interim some of the local magnates of the Niagara District resolved
+that the foundation-stone should be laid with masonic honours. The 1st
+of June was appointed for this ceremonial, and on that date a
+considerable number of persons assembled on the Heights to witness it.
+Mr. Mackenzie, who, it will be remembered, then resided at Queenston,
+seems to have taken an active part in the proceedings, and this with the
+full consent and approval of the committee of management. A glass
+vessel, hermetically sealed, and enclosing a number of coins and a copy
+of _The Upper Canada Gazette_, together with the recently-issued first
+number of _The Colonial Advocate_, was produced for the purpose of being
+placed within the hollow of the foundation-stone. The vessel and its
+contents, enveloped in an otter's skin, were placed by Mr. Mackenzie in
+the cavity, the spectators looking on in quiet approval. The stone was
+then touched with the trowel, the deposit was covered up, and the rite
+was complete. An account of the proceedings found its way into the
+newspapers, and Sir Peregrine Maitland learned, to his intense disgust,
+of the part which Mackenzie had been permitted to take in the ceremony.
+He sent for Colonel Thomas Clark, one of the commissioners appointed by
+Parliament to superintend the construction of the column, and, in a
+voice of undisguised passion, gave orders to that gentleman that the
+glass vessel should forthwith be disinterred, and the copy of the
+_Advocate_ removed therefrom. The mandate was of course obeyed. As the
+column had by this time reached a considerable height, the excavation
+was no slight task. Mr. Mackenzie himself, who personally attended at
+what he called the "premature resurrection," claimed and obtained
+possession of the number of the paper which had caused so much
+unnecessary labour and ill-temper.
+
+From this time forward there was almost incessant warfare between Mr.
+Mackenzie and the official party: warfare sometimes suppressed,
+sometimes altogether concealed for a brief season, but always ready to
+break out upon the slightest pretext--sometimes, indeed, without any
+apparent pretext at all.
+
+Soon after the _Advocate's_ removal to York, and not long before the
+opening of the Legislature, the Honourable D'Arcy Boulton, one of the
+puisne judges, laid himself open to attack by conduct of the most
+reprehensible kind. In a case tried before him, in which his son, the
+Solicitor-General, appeared on behalf of the Crown, the Judge displayed
+such gross partiality that one cannot read the report of the
+proceedings, even as chronicled by one of the organs of the Government,
+without mingled feelings of wonder and disgust. At the present day such
+conduct on the part of an occupant of the judicial bench would bring
+down upon his head the animadversions of the press of the whole country.
+Sixty years ago it passed without editorial remark from any of the
+journals of the time, with the single exception of the _Advocate_, which
+certainly used some very plain words in characterizing the Judge's
+behaviour. It appealed to the Legislature to address the Governor on the
+subject, with a request to dismiss from office the whole of the Boulton
+race, root and branch. "If a Government emanating from England," wrote
+Mr. Mackenzie, "can cherish such a corrupt, such a Star Chamber crew,
+then the days of the infamous Scroggs and Jeffries are returned upon us;
+and we may lament for ourselves, for our wives and for our children,
+that the British Constitution is, in Canada, a phantom to delude to
+destruction, instead of being the day-star of our dearest liberties."
+
+Such language as this, which was a mild specimen of the writer's
+trenchant style, was not, upon the whole, too strong for the occasion.
+In other instances he was roused to greater fury on less provocation,
+and used phrases unbefitting the columns of any paper which aspires to
+be a public instructor. But he was not alone in his scurrility. Some of
+the persons attacked in the _Advocate_ retorted upon the editor through
+the official press in language far less defensible than his own. He was
+denounced as an upstart and a demagogue, whose low origin placed him far
+beneath the notice of gentlemen. This language, be it understood, was
+used by at least one wealthy and influential personage whose own origin
+was such that Mr. Mackenzie's might have been pronounced aristocratic by
+comparison. To all such vapourings Mr. Mackenzie responded in the
+_Advocate_ in kind. He had a large vocabulary of Billingsgate at his
+command, and as his temper became thoroughly aroused he proved that he
+could fully hold his own in this sort of wordy warfare. He followed the
+example of his antagonists, invaded the sanctities of private life, and
+descended to outrageous personalities. The persons thus placed in the
+journalistic pillory were merely paid back in their own coin, but they
+had never been accustomed to yield to others the privileges they claimed
+for themselves, and could not understand how "this fellow" dared presume
+to retort the foulness hurled at him. His paper meanwhile enjoyed a
+fair circulation, and his enemies periodically saw themselves held up
+before the people of the Province in a light well calculated to bring
+down public execration upon them. They winced, and hated their aggressor
+with a hatred which knew no bounds.
+
+Before the close of the first session of the Ninth Parliament, in 1825,
+the struggle between the two political parties had assumed a distinct
+form. The Opposition contended for a responsible Executive; the
+Government repudiated the contention with sarcastic contempt. There were
+various other grounds of dispute, but this great question overshadowed
+and practically included all. It cannot truly be said that there was
+much perceptible progress in reform during the session; indeed material
+progress was impossible so long as the Government controlled the
+Legislative Council, and while the Executive Councillors held on to
+office in spite of the hostile votes of the Assembly. The way towards
+reform was however paved by the debates. Never before had the Government
+of Upper Canada been subjected to the incessant criticism of a watchful
+and vigorous phalanx of censors within the walls of Parliament. They
+were not wise enough to read the signs of the times, and would yield
+nothing to the demands of their opponents. They still believed in the
+efficacy of repression, and the next few years were marked by a series
+of high-handed persecutions which did more to speed the progress of
+reform than all the eloquence of Rolph and Bidwell could have effected
+in half a century.
+
+As for Mackenzie, he would doubtless have been dealt with as Gourlay had
+been, could such a course have been adopted towards him with safety.
+Isaac Swayzes in abundance might no doubt have been found to swear that
+the obnoxious personage had not been a resident of the Province for the
+preceding six months. Doubtless, also, phrases had been used in the
+_Advocate_ which, isolated from the context, might have been tortured
+into something like sedition. But the party in power were not so dull as
+to be unable to perceive that _that_ experiment must not be repeated.
+The Liberal schoolmaster had been actively at work within the last few
+years, and any attempt to re-enact that glaring iniquity would, to say
+the least, be attended with serious risk to the actors. The most
+feasible method of disposing of the noisy little firebrand presented
+itself in the shape of successive indictments for libel, to which his
+aggressive and unguarded mode of writing would be certain to expose him.
+It is of course impossible to obtain direct evidence of an express
+conspiracy on the part of the Government to destroy him by such means. A
+conspiracy of that nature would not be likely to take the shape of a
+written contract which might be produced against the contracting parties
+in the future. Nor would the parties to such a conspiracy be likely to
+leave any written traces of it behind them. Still, anyone who has the
+opportunity and inclination to go minutely into the question will be
+irresistibly driven to the conclusion that there was some sort of
+understanding among the chiefs of the official party that the
+publication of the _Advocate_ was to be stopped, and that its editor was
+to be either driven out of the country or reduced to silence.
+
+In the meantime Mr. Mackenzie himself had serious difficulties to
+contend with. The _Advocate_, notwithstanding its considerable
+circulation, did not yield any appreciable income. Subscribers were
+backward in their payments, and the cost of making collections reduced
+the profit to little or nothing. The postage to country subscribers had
+to be paid in advance by the publisher, which was in itself a
+considerable drain upon his resources. The issue of the paper was
+moreover necessarily attended by a good deal of expense. It did not
+appear regularly, and the intervals between successive numbers were
+sometimes of considerable duration. This irregularity was a serious
+drawback to its prosperity, and a source of much dissatisfaction to its
+patrons. Such a combination of discouragements could have but one
+result. By the beginning of June, 1826, Mr. Mackenzie had been reduced
+to serious pecuniary embarrassment, and had temporarily withdrawn
+himself from the jurisdiction, pending an arrangement with his
+creditors. It is in the highest degree improbable that another number of
+the paper would ever have been issued. It was moribund, if not already
+dead. But when matters had arrived at this pass, the violence of
+Mackenzie's enemies led them to commit an act of lawless ruffianism
+which gave the _Advocate_ a new lease of life. The act moreover aroused
+much popular indignation against the perpetrators, and a proportionate
+degree of sympathy for their victim, to whom it gave additional
+importance, while it at the same time materially improved his financial
+condition.
+
+During the spring of the year 1826 the _Advocate's_ criticisms upon
+certain members of the oligarchical faction were marked by exceptional
+acerbity. The persons attacked, however, sought in vain throughout the
+closely-packed columns for any material upon which a criminal
+prosecution might be founded; for Mr. Mackenzie, whether by prudence or
+good fortune, contrived for some weeks to say very acrid things without
+rendering himself liable to an indictment. Among the persons who were
+compelled to pass through the fire of his criticism was the Honourable
+James Buchanan Macaulay, a gentleman who in after years attained the
+honour of knighthood, and became Chief Justice of the Court of Common
+Pleas for Upper Canada. At the period under consideration he was a
+member of the Executive Council, and occupied a high position at the
+local bar. The language employed by the _Advocate_ with respect to him
+was comparatively mild, and did not even mention him by name. Moreover,
+the editor's remarks appear to have been entirely in accordance with
+facts. At any rate they were altogether insufficient to account for the
+state of ferocity into which Mr. Macaulay allowed himself to be lashed.
+He prepared and published a pamphlet, in which he gave vent to such
+scurrility as it seems incredible that any man of education, or even of
+decent social training, could ever have descended to write. Truly, no
+man is ever so effectually written down as when he himself holds the
+pen. Those readers who wish to be better acquainted with the depths to
+which an angry man can lower himself, and who have not access to Mr.
+Macaulay's pamphlet, can obtain some inkling of the truth by reference
+to Mr. Lindsey's "Life and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie."[68] As Mr.
+Lindsey very justly remarks:--"The cause of the quarrel was utterly
+contemptible, and Mr. Macaulay showed to great disadvantage in it." It
+seems probable enough that one main object of the publication of the
+pamphlet was to goad Mr. Mackenzie into a retort which would render him
+amenable to the law of libel. In one sense this plan--if such there
+were--succeeded. The _Advocate_ came out with a long reply which
+contained an abundance of scandalous matter, a great part of which, as
+the writer must have been well aware, had no shadow of foundation in
+truth. The matter related not only to persons occupying public
+situations, but to individuals altogether unconnected with public life,
+including respectable married women and persons who had long been dead.
+But most of the statements and insinuations, even those which were
+unsupported by a tittle of evidence--nay, even those which were
+notoriously groundless--related to and were interwoven with
+circumstances which, as the persons involved well knew, would not bear
+discussion. It would never do to permit such matters to become the
+subject of judicial investigation. Anything in the shape of an enquiry
+would inevitably lead to disclosures seriously affecting the honour of
+more than one member of the Compact. An indictment, therefore, was out
+of the question.
+
+It has often been asserted that the oligarchy are to be held accountable
+for the display of ruffianly violence which followed Mackenzie's retort
+to Macaulay's pamphlet. In one sense this is true, for it was in
+consequence of their long abuse of the supremacy which they enjoyed that
+feelings of hatred and enmity were begotten between one stratum of
+society and another; and it was this hatred which gave rise to violent
+measures. But if it is meant to be implied that the oligarchy, as a
+body, conceived the design, or that it was carried out under their
+auspices, the implication is too absurd to stand in need of serious
+rebuttal. To carry the argument no farther, the body was too numerous to
+admit of any general secret cooeperation between them for such a purpose.
+As simple matter of fact, all knowledge of the contemplated violence was
+confined to the breasts of those who took part in it. No one familiar
+with the circumstances, however, can doubt that it met with the fullest
+approval of the ruling faction after it had been effected, and that, so
+far as such a thing was possible, the wrong-doers were protected by them
+from the consequences of the outrage. To this charge they must perforce
+plead guilty; but there are degrees in guilt, and the endorsation, or
+even the approval of an act after it has been committed, is a different
+thing from the original conception and carrying out of it. The
+respective weight of culpability, in the case under consideration, is a
+matter which the reader may very well be left to estimate according to
+his own judgment.
+
+And now for the outrage itself.
+
+[Sidenote: 1826.]
+
+The office of the _Advocate_ was situated on the north-west corner of
+Frederick and Front[69] streets, in a building which had been the
+birthplace of Robert Baldwin, and in which the Cawthras subsequently
+carried on a large and very successful mercantile business.[70] Readers
+acquainted with the neighbourhood will not need to be informed that this
+site is in close proximity to the bay. Mr. Mackenzie, with his aged
+mother--who had long before followed him to Canada--and the rest of his
+family, resided in the building, which was therefore his home, as well
+as his place of business. At about half-past six o'clock in the
+afternoon of Thursday, the 8th of June, 1826, in broad daylight, and
+while the proprietor was absent in the United States,[71] a raid was
+made upon the printing establishment, which, in the course of a few
+minutes, was reduced to a state of confusion and chaos. The door was
+broken open, the press partly demolished, the imposing-stone overturned,
+and a quantity of type battered and thrown into the adjacent bay. The
+contents of some of the cases were "pied" and scattered around the
+floor. Frames, chases, galleys, composing-sticks and office furniture
+were thrown together in one confused heap. In a word, the entire office
+was turned topsy-turvy. Mr. Mackenzie's mother, who was then in her
+seventy-eighth year, stood and watched the proceedings in a state of
+great fear and agitation from a corner of the office.[72]
+
+The most remarkable feature about the whole of this extraordinary
+transaction was that there appeared to be no attempt at concealment. It
+was carried out as though it had been the most legitimate and ordinary
+business enterprise, to which no one could reasonably offer any sort of
+objection. The raiders did not think it necessary to wait for darkness,
+nor did they resort to any disguises. If they did not court publicity,
+they at least took no care to avoid it. They chose a time of day when
+the journeymen and apprentices connected with the establishment were
+almost certain to be absent, and when there would be no one to oppose
+their entrance; though, according to the printed admission of the prime
+mover and instigator of the affair, they were prepared, if necessary, to
+oppose force to force in order to effect their purpose. As there was
+nobody in the office, any such display of force was happily uncalled
+for. Having made their way inside, the work of destruction was proceeded
+with coolly and calmly, as though there was no necessity for
+extraordinary haste. When they had fully worked their will, they
+departed as quietly as they had arrived.
+
+The actual perpetrators of this unique act of ruffianism were nine in
+number. They were none of them ruffians by profession, and were not
+commonly rated as blackguards. They could not even plead the poor excuse
+that they were under the influence of strong drink. Most of them were
+young men, and nearly all of them were closely identified, either by
+interest or by close relationship, with prominent members of the
+oligarchy. They were, in short, with few exceptions, the flower of the
+aristocracy of the little capital. Chief among them was Samuel Peters
+Jarvis, barrister, the slayer of poor young John Ridout, mentioned on a
+former page.[73] He, at least, could not plead in extenuation of his
+share in the transaction that he had been carried away by the
+uncontrollable effervescence of youth, for he was at this time not far
+short of thirty-four years of age[74]. His acquittal on a more serious
+charge nearly nine years before might well have led him to believe that
+he could with impunity set the law at defiance. His identification with
+the ruling faction is easily traced, for he was a son of Mr. William
+Jarvis, who was for many years Secretary of the Province; and he was
+moreover son-in-law to ex-Chief Justice Powell.[75] He himself held a
+situation under Government at this time--being Clerk of the Crown in
+Chancery--and stood high in the favour of Sir Peregrine Maitland,
+towards whom he sometimes acted in the capacity of private secretary. He
+was the chief offender, for it was by him that the outrage was planned,
+and he was the directing spirit throughout, as well as the most noisy
+and impudent apologist for it afterwards. Another active participant in
+the raid was Captain John Lyons, a confidential clerk in the
+Lieutenant-Governor's office. A third was Henry Sherwood, student at law
+in the office of Attorney-General Robinson, and Clerk of Assize. He was
+a son of the Honourable Levius Petere Sherwood, one of the puisne
+judges, and was also connected with other leading members of the ruling
+faction. It is due to him to say that he eventually outgrew the follies
+of his youth, and became an able lawyer, a prominent politician, and a
+useful member of society. He alone, of all the participators in this
+shameful business, attained to anything like honourable distinction. A
+fourth member of the gang of kid-gloved housebreakers was Charles
+Heward, a son of Colonel Stephen Heward, who, in addition to being an
+active spirit among the Compact, was a magistrate, Clerk of the Peace in
+and for the Home District, and Auditor-General of Land Patents. The
+others were Charles Richardson, a student in the office of
+Attorney-General Robinson; James King, a student in Solicitor-General
+Boulton's office; Peter McDougall, a well-known shopkeeper in York in
+those times; and two sons of the Honourable James Baby,
+Inspector-General, and member of the Executive Council. These were all
+the active participants in the outrage. While it was in progress a
+number of other persons appeared upon the scene, but did not take any
+part therein otherwise than as spectators.
+
+It is of course not to be supposed that this incursion was attributable,
+either directly or indirectly, to the Government as a body, or that it
+had formed a subject of deliberation at the Council Board. The charge
+that it was attributable to the entire oligarchy has already been
+disposed of.[76] But it is at least fairly to be inferred that, after
+the thing had been done, the Government considered themselves as being
+under obligations to the misguided persons concerned in it. Several of
+the latter received appointments to positions of public trust and
+emolument, such as are usually conferred by Governments upon deserving
+supporters. Jarvis was successively appointed to various posts, the most
+important of which was that of Indian Commissioner, in which capacity he
+became a defaulter to the Government, and was involved in serious
+pecuniary and other difficulties. The avenging ghost of John Ridout
+pursued him, and his subsequent career was not one to be contemplated
+with admiration. Richardson, again, was appointed Clerk of the Peace for
+the Niagara District. Sir Peregrine Maitland could not pretend to
+overlook the dereliction of his confidential clerk, Captain Lyons, who
+was accordingly dismissed from that position. But this was not the end
+of the story. Many readers are doubtless familiar with Halifax's remark
+when Lawrence Hyde, Earl of Rochester, was removed from the post of
+First Lord of the Treasury and installed in that of Lord President. "I
+have seen people kicked downstairs," remarked the great Trimmer, "but my
+Lord Rochester is the first person that I ever saw kicked
+up-stairs."[77] In like manner the Lieutenant-Governor's clerk was soon
+afterwards kicked up-stairs, by being appointed Registrar of the Niagara
+District.
+
+It really seemed as though this wanton and most reprehensible invasion
+of private rights was regarded by those in authority as a high and
+meritorious action. It was certainly so regarded by "the best society"
+of York at the time. The young men, who ought to have been made to
+suffer social ostracism, were petted and caressed as heroes who had done
+some grand service to the State; and, as will presently be seen, they
+were not even permitted to suffer any considerable pecuniary loss by
+reason of their breach of the law. Finding that their conduct led to
+their being made the subjects of a sort of hero-worship, it is not
+surprising that they soon came to pique themselves upon what they had
+done, and, so far from feeling any consciousness of shame or regret, to
+openly court publicity for their proceedings. Jarvis was especially
+culpable in this respect, and was not ashamed to write letters to the
+papers on the subject, in one of which he avowed himself as the author
+and originator of the outrage. He admitted having led on his band of
+semi-official desperadoes, determined to "persevere, if resistance had
+been made." As to the morality or immorality of the act, he professed
+himself "easy on that head." Such language as this, coming, as it did,
+from one who had shed the blood of a fellow-creature upon very slight
+provocation; who had been tried for murder, and acquitted because the
+crime was sanctioned by the usages of society; and who, moreover, in the
+estimation of many people, richly deserved the hangman's noose--such
+language, under the circumstances, was not merely injudicious and
+unfeeling, but positively revolting. The only conceivable excuse that
+can be made for it arises from the fact that Jarvis was at the time
+irritated by a succession of attacks in the newspapers, in which his
+conduct, bad as it had been, was held up in even a more odious light
+than it deserved. The excuse may be taken for what it is worth. It is at
+least certain that had the transgressor been imbued with feelings of
+ordinary delicacy he would not have permitted himself to be goaded into
+using such expressions as are to be found in his "Statement of Facts,"
+published at York nearly two years after the type riot.[78] His
+callousness stirred the hot blood of Francis Collins, of _The Canadian
+Freeman_, to speak his mind editorially on the subject:--"We view it,"
+he wrote, "as the greatest misfortune that could happen to any man in
+this life to imbrue his hands in the blood of a fellow-man. But as this
+barbarous practice has, by long usage, become familiar to the mind of
+civilized society, we think it is a misfortune that might occur to an
+otherwise virtuous and well-disposed man, and therefore ought not
+(unless under aggravated circumstances) to be a reproach either to
+himself or to his children; provided that, during the remainder of his
+life he will show that caution which becomes his delicate situation, and
+prove by his subsequent benevolence that he regrets his misfortune. But
+if, after once having stained his hands with human blood, he will act
+the desperado, and become a leader in such outrages as may end in a
+repetition of his former act--then, we say, he is worthy of reproach,
+and ought to be viewed as the common enemy of mankind."[79]
+
+News of the aggression soon found its way to Mr. Mackenzie at
+Lewiston.[80] He at once returned to York, and lost no time in
+instituting proceedings against eight of the aggressors who had
+constituted themselves a vigilance committee at his expense. He brought
+a civil action for damages, and erelong these incipient "Regulators of
+Upper Canada" began to realize that they had acted with some
+precipitation and foolhardiness. It seemed probable that they would be
+mulcted in heavy damages; and even these would be no bar to a criminal
+prosecution. The aforementioned James Buchanan Macaulay was appointed to
+conduct their defence. The plaintiff's attorney was James Edward Small,
+a rising young lawyer who afterwards made some figure in political life,
+and who belonged to a well-known family in York. Overtures in the
+direction of a compromise were made on behalf of the raiders, who
+offered first two hundred pounds and afterwards three hundred by way of
+full compensation. The smaller amount would have been an abundant
+recompense for the actual loss,[81] but Mackenzie felt that public
+sympathy was with him, and he was desirous that the facts should go to a
+jury. The offer of the defendants was rejected, and the case came on for
+trial before Chief Justice Campbell and a special jury in the following
+October. Associated with the Chief Justice were the Honourable William
+Allan and Mr. Alexander McDonnell, as Justices of the Peace. The
+plaintiff's counsel were Marshall Spring Bidwell, J. E. Small, and
+Alexander Stewart, of Niagara. The defendants were represented by J. B.
+Macaulay and Christopher Alexander Hagerman. These names afford
+sufficient evidence that full justice was done to the case on both
+sides. Hagerman was a counsel of remarkable ability, and he fought very
+hard. His argument was a masterpiece of clever, specious reasoning, well
+calculated to produce an effect upon uneducated or half-educated
+jurymen. He took an enlightened stand, admitting the advantage to a
+community of a free and unfettered press. He then proceeded to argue
+away all the consequences of the admission, alleging that the career of
+the _Advocate_ had been one of license, and not of mere freedom. But the
+evidence of the outrage was clear and unassailable, and the defence did
+not venture to call any witnesses. It was proved on behalf of the
+plaintiff that three members of the ruling faction, two of whom were
+magistrates, had been in close proximity to the scene of the raid at the
+time when it took place; and there appears to be very little doubt that
+all three must have been eye-witnesses of the outrage. One of these was
+the Honourable William Allan, who, at the very moment when this evidence
+was given, sat on the bench to the right of the Chief Justice as an
+associate judge on the trial. Colonel Heward, whose son Charles was one
+of the delinquents, was the other magistrate compromised by the
+evidence. The third person alleged to have witnessed the transaction was
+Mr. Macaulay, leading counsel for the defence. The utter incongruity and
+unseemliness of the whole affair from first to last seems
+incomprehensible at the present day. All sense of the fitness of things
+seems to have been wanting.
+
+The trespass had been flagrant and bold, and the only question which the
+jury had to consider was the amount of damages. There were conflicting
+elements among the jurors, who were long in coming to a decision. After
+much deliberation they returned a verdict of L625, which sum, together
+with costs of suit, was soon afterwards paid over to the plaintiff's
+attorney.[82] But the rioters themselves were not suffered to sustain
+this loss. Prominent adherents of the official party did not hesitate to
+say that by the attack upon Mr. Mackenzie's press and type, and by the
+consequent stoppage of publication of his paper,[83] the perpetrators of
+the outrage had rendered an essential service to society, by abating an
+intolerable nuisance. Under such circumstances it was only just that
+society should bear harmless those who had thrown themselves into the
+breach and vindicated her rights. It was resolved that a subscription
+should be set on foot with this laudable object.
+
+Among the few high Tories resident at York in those days upon whose
+characters it is possible for one of modern ideas to look with sympathy,
+and even with a considerable degree of admiration, was Colonel James
+Fitz Gibbon. The Colonel was a gallant veteran who had fought the
+battles of his country on two continents, at Copenhagen and the Helder,
+at Fort Erie and the Beaver Dams. His military career was not yet quite
+at an end, for he was destined to play an important part in the
+putting-down of the Upper Canadian Rebellion; a circumstance which
+furnishes a sufficient justification for a somewhat more extended
+reference to him in this place than his mere connection with the press
+riot would have rendered necessary. He was an Irishman of humble origin,
+who had enlisted as a private soldier at the age of seventeen, and who,
+by sheer force of energy, bravery and aptitude for his profession, had
+fought his way to military rank and honour. After seeing much service on
+the continent, and passing through as many adventures as a knight-errant
+of old, he was transferred to British North America. His gallant
+services in this country are imperfectly recorded in various accounts of
+the War of 1812, and in Tupper's "Life of Brock." Every Canadian is, or
+ought to be, familiar with the circumstances attending the capture by
+him of a force of 450 infantry, fifty cavalry, and two guns, he himself
+being at the time in command of only forty-eight men. After the close of
+the war he was placed on half pay, and took up his abode at York. He
+attached himself to the Provincial militia, whence he derived his rank
+of Colonel. He likewise obtained a post in the Adjutant-General's
+office, and subsequently became Deputy Adjutant-General, which position
+he held at the period at which the narrative has arrived. He was also in
+the Commission of the Peace, and frequently sat in Quarter Sessions.
+His share in suppressing the revolt in 1837 will be narrated in its
+proper place. For the rest it may be added that he was always
+impecunious, for, apart from the fact that he was no financier, and
+never knew how to take care of money when he had any, the expenses of
+his outfit when promoted to the rank of Adjutant, in 1806, formed the
+nucleus of a debt which hampered him from youth to old age. His
+indigence often subjected him to straits which must have been hard to
+bear; but he was of a sanguine, joyous disposition, and poverty, though
+it might temporarily overcloud his happiness, had no power to break his
+indomitable spirit. During his long residence in Canada he was a
+persistent seeker after office, because he was almost always in
+pecuniary straits; but he fully earned all the emoluments he ever
+received from the Government, and if his income had been five times as
+large as it ever was he would probably have been neither more
+comfortable nor less impecunious. It seemed as though no experience
+could lead him to take thought for the morrow. His chief characteristics
+were such as are not uncommon among his fellow-countrymen. He was
+generous and open-hearted to a fault, ever ready to bestow his last
+shilling upon anybody who needed it, or who even made a plausible
+pretence of needing it. He was rash, impetuous and indiscreet, but the
+ranks of the British army held no braver or more loyal heart than his.
+In his simple and gentle soul there was no room for envy or guile. He
+seems, indeed, to have been in many respects a sort of Irish reflection
+of Colonel Newcome; and the parallel even extended to the outward
+circumstances attending the close of their respective lives. Colonel
+Newcome, when all his worldly possessions had gone from him, retired to
+Grey Friars--the Charterhouse--a retreat for "poor and decayed
+brethren," when the world seemed to afford no other asylum. There he
+passed the remainder of his days, and there he said "Adsum" when his
+name was called for the last time in this world. In like manner Colonel
+Fitz Gibbon, when all other resources failed him, was able, through the
+kindness of Lord Seaton, to obtain a place in an asylum of somewhat
+similar character. At Royal Windsor there is an institution which
+provides a retreat from the cares and storms of life for a limited
+number of depleted old military officers. The members are styled
+Military Knights of Windsor, and the abodes provided for them are
+situated "within the precincts." Hither, in 1850, when he had entered
+upon his seventieth year, the battered old hero of many fights retired
+to pass in quiet the evening of an active life. He survived for more
+than ten years, during which period he succeeded in obtaining for
+himself and his brother knights certain important privileges of which
+they had theretofore been deprived.
+
+Though he was not, in the proper sense of the word, a politician, both
+his interests and his superabundant loyalty impelled him to the side of
+those in power. No one in the Province had less respect for radicals of
+the Mackenzie stamp. It was sufficient for him to reflect that the
+official party reflected the might and majesty of the Crown of Great
+Britain. His whole nature, fostered by his military training, revolted
+at the idea of opposition to those in authority. He was moreover
+dependent upon the Government for his place in the Adjutant-General's
+office, and would naturally espouse the side of his patrons. The Compact
+had no more faithful adherent, and by no one were "low radicals" held in
+more profound abhorrence. He was roused to a high pitch of fervour by
+the trial of the press rioters, who, in his opinion, had acted in the
+most patriotic and praiseworthy spirit. When the verdict had been
+rendered, and when it had become manifest that the defendants must pay
+the penalty of their acts, the Colonel regarded them as martyrs. He
+promptly volunteered to canvass the town for subscriptions to a fund for
+discharging the liability, and thus saving "the boys," as he called
+them, from loss. He was as good as his word, and the requisite sum was
+soon forthcoming. Who the contributors to this fund were has never been
+fully revealed, and the secret is likely to be well kept, for the list
+was burned by Colonel Fitz Gibbon immediately after it had served its
+purpose, and there is probably no man now living who can throw any light
+upon the subject. Mr. Lindsey observes[84] that "it is believed the
+officials of the day were not backward in assisting to indemnify the
+defendants in the type-riot trial, for the adverse verdict of an
+impartial jury"--a belief which, under the circumstances, is certainly
+not an extravagant one. It was commonly rumoured that several heads of
+departments had contributed twenty pounds each to the fund, and Francis
+Collins gave currency to the rumour through the columns of his paper.
+The controversy to which this gave rise was the indirect means of
+furnishing almost the only evidence now obtainable as to the signatures
+to the subscription list. Collins asserted that Sir Peregrine Maitland's
+own name was understood to be at the head of the list, opposite to a
+large contribution. Colonel Fitz Gibbon was so indiscreet as to write a
+reply, in which he distinctly declared that the latter's assertion was
+wholly untrue, _so far as the Lieutenant-Governor was concerned_. From
+this letter, which was duly given to the public in the _Freeman_, it was
+not unfairly to be inferred that the assertion, so far as it related to
+the heads of departments, could not be truthfully denied. That some, at
+least, of the members of the official body contributed to the fund was
+matter of notoriety in York at the time, and, so far as I am aware, has
+never been denied. The Honourable James Baby, indeed, who was then or
+shortly afterwards the senior member of the Executive Council, and who,
+as before mentioned, was the father of two of the young men concerned in
+the raid, contributed his share with great reluctance. He was at this
+time advanced in life--he was in his sixty-fifth year--and he had ceased
+to carry much weight in the Great Council of the Province, having been
+to a large extent superseded by younger and more energetic men. His
+opinions were no longer deferred to as they had once been, and on one or
+two occasions he had, as he conceived, been treated with inadequate
+respect by some of his junior colleagues. He felt his position keenly,
+and there is reason for believing that he would have resigned his office
+of Inspector-General and his seat at the Council Board, had it not been
+that there were many demands upon his purse, and that he was largely
+dependent upon his official salary for the support of his family. On a
+subsequent page a notable instance will be given of the degradation to
+which his poverty compelled him to submit at the hands of the
+Lieutenant-Governor. Under the circumstances, however, he could not
+refuse to contribute to Colonel Fitz Gibbon's list; and it is recorded
+that when one of his sons called upon him for the amount which he had
+subscribed, he handed over the sum with justifiable petulance, saying:
+"There, go and make one great fool of yourself again."[85] Such of the
+rioters as were possessed of means contributed to the fund according to
+their respective ability, but the others were not allowed to bear more
+than a very small share of the loss.
+
+The only other documentary evidence to be had on the subject of the
+subscribers to the fund is to be found in the "Statement of Facts" of
+Samuel Peters Jarvis himself. "I have on my part to assure the public,"
+he writes, "that so far from being indemnified by the contributions
+which from various motives were made for our relief, the burthen fell
+heavily upon such of us as had the means of paying anything; and I
+affirm that the share of the verdict which I myself had to defray, from
+no very abundant means, was such that if Mr. Mackenzie had made as much
+clear profit by his press during the whole time he has employed it in
+the work of detraction, he would not have found it necessary to leave
+the concern, and abandon it to his creditors." To which statement it may
+be added that a gentleman now living in Toronto distinctly remembers
+hearing Mr. Jarvis say that his own contribution to the fund was
+precisely L109; that that of Peter McDougall was about the same; and
+that none of the rest of the rioters paid anything, except through their
+parents or relatives.
+
+The civil liability having been discharged, the public looked forward to
+a criminal prosecution, for it seemed outrageous that the perpetrators
+of such an offence against society should escape without any greater
+penalty than had thus far been exacted from them. Mr. Mackenzie himself
+seems to have been desirous of proceeding to extremities, although the
+amount which he had recovered was far more than compensation for any
+loss he had sustained, whether direct or incidental. But the brains of
+his professional advisers were cooler than his own, and saved him from
+the consequences of his want of judgment. Mr. Bidwell dissuaded him from
+taking any steps which might seem to be dictated by a feeling of
+revenge. It was represented to him that he was a decided gainer by the
+raid, not only in pocket but in popularity. The public sympathy had been
+with him from first to last. A policy of war to the knife on his part
+would certainly cool, and in some cases altogether alienate that
+sympathy. The jury's liberal verdict bad placed him "in funds," and he
+was thus in a position to resume the publication of the _Advocate_
+under favourable circumstances. The transaction had distinctly
+increased his prestige in the rural constituencies, and he might
+reasonably hope to be a successful candidate for Parliament when a
+suitable vacancy should occur. Such being the position of affairs, he
+was strongly advised to let well alone. Contrary to his habit, he proved
+amenable to advice, and refrained from a criminal prosecution.
+
+The issue fully justified the advice of Mr. Mackenzie's counsellors.
+Several of the newspapers in the Province commended his forbearance, and
+contrasted his conduct with that of his enemies. But, it was asked, what
+was the Attorney-General about? How was it that he, who never failed to
+stretch his authority to the utmost when a Reformer rendered himself
+amenable to the law--how was it that he permitted such an outrage as
+this to pass without notice? Surely it was his duty to officially
+proceed against the wrong-doers. But the Attorney-General was deaf to
+all such remonstrances, and did not concern himself with the matter
+further than to maintain the most cordial relations with the persons
+implicated. How far his conduct in this respect was consistent will
+hereafter appear. Colonel Fitz Gibbon was rewarded for his zeal in a bad
+cause by receiving the appointment of Clerk to the Legislative Assembly,
+and the additional income thus afforded him left him neither better off
+nor worse than before.
+
+The participators in perhaps the grossest outrage ever committed in the
+Provincial capital thus escaped, for the time, all due penalty for their
+misconduct. It may almost be said, indeed, that they escaped altogether,
+for though, as will hereafter be seen, seven of them were eventually
+brought to trial and convicted at the instance of another person, they
+received no adequate punishment, and were thus able to boast that
+gentlemen in their station of life in York were above the law.
+
+Rash deeds often produce unlooked-for consequences. So it was in the
+case under review. The attempt to suppress the _Advocate_ was the means
+of re-establishing it on a fairly satisfactory financial basis, and of
+extending its life for about seven years. The indignity to which the
+printing-office had been subjected, and the trial resulting therefrom,
+had furnished the best advertisements that could possibly have been
+desired. With a portion of the sum recovered from the hands of the
+spoilers Mr. Mackenzie was able to satisfy the most pressing of his
+creditors. With the balance he provided himself with new printing
+material, and the _Advocate_ soon made its appearance under more
+favourable auspices than ever. It continued to be marked by the same
+characteristics as during the first epoch of its existence. It was not
+conducted with more discretion, and there were as many gross
+personalities in its columns. It however contributed much to the spread
+of Reform doctrines, and during much of its life it rendered undoubted
+service to the party to which it yielded its support. Had the editor's
+judgment been commensurate with his energies, his journal would
+undoubtedly have been a great power for good. Even as it was, it
+probably acted to some extent as a check upon Executive aggression, and
+thus served a beneficial purpose in spite of its many weaknesses and
+shortcomings.
+
+As for Mr. Mackenzie, his persecutions were by no means at an end. They
+had, in fact, only begun. Of the many other shameful indignities to
+which he was subjected--indignities which finally drove him into
+rebellion, and involved him in overwhelming disaster--the narrative will
+hereafter take full account. It is at present desirable to advert to a
+number of other pregnant examples of abuse of power in which Mr.
+Mackenzie had no special concern.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[68] Vol. I., p. 89, et seq.
+
+[69] This portion of Front Street was then and for many years afterward
+known as Palace Street. It had been so named, in the early years of
+York's history, from the circumstance that it led down to the Parliament
+Buildings in the east end of the town, and because it was believed that
+the official residence or "palace" of the Lieutenant-Governor would be
+built there.
+
+[70] This historic landmark was burned down during the winter of 1854-5.
+
+[71] He had, as previously mentioned in the text, withdrawn from the
+Province with a view to a settlement with his creditors. He was at
+Lewiston, in the State of New York. In the beginning of the second part
+of his pamphlet, published at York in 1826, giving an account of the
+affair, he represents himself as having been at Queenston when he
+received news of the raid.
+
+[72] The statement to be found in various books--among others in Wells's
+_Canadiana_, p. 164, and Roger's _Rise of Canada from Barbarism to
+Civilization_, Vol. I., p. 405--that Mr. Mackenzie's mother was grossly
+maltreated by the rioters is wholly without foundation. The affair was
+disgraceful enough, in all conscience, and needs no fictitious
+embellishments.
+
+[73] _Ante_, p. 13.
+
+[74] According to a contemporary pamphlet giving an account of the duel,
+which took place in 1817, he was then twenty-five years of age. He would
+therefore be at least in his thirty-fourth year at the time of the press
+riot in 1826. By reference to the Barristers' Roll I find that he was
+called to the bar in Trinity Term, 55 Geo. III., 1815, at which time he
+must have been at least twenty-one years old, so that the statement in
+the text cannot be far from the fact. It is from him that Jarvis Street,
+Toronto, derives its name.
+
+[75] The Hon. W. D. Powell ceased to be Chief Justice during the
+previous year (1825), when he was succeeded by Mr. (afterwards Sir
+William) Campbell.
+
+[76] _Ante_, p. 129.
+
+[77] Macaulay's _History of England_, Vol. I., Chapter 2.
+
+[78] _Statement of Facts relating to the Trespass on the Printing Press
+in the Possession of Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie, in June, 1826.
+Addressed to the Public generally, and particularly to the Subscribers
+and Supporters of the Colonial Advocate._ York, 1828.
+
+[79] See the _Freeman_ for Thursday, Feb. 21st, 1828.
+
+[80] See note to p. 130 _ante_.
+
+[81] Mr. Mackenzie, when taken before the Grand Jury to give evidence in
+support of a criminal prosecution of the type rioters, admitted that his
+actual, as distinguished from his incidental loss by the riot, did not
+exceed L12 10_s._ sterling.
+
+[82] It was the policy of the official party to suppress, as far as was
+practicable, all reference in the public newspapers to the misdoings of
+themselves and their adherents. This was but natural. No one likes to
+see his transgressions preserved to future ages in all the pitiless
+coldness of type, which may rise up against his descendants long after
+he himself is forgotten. The following is a complete transcript of the
+contemporary report of the trial of these rioters, as published in _The
+U. E. Loyalist_, a sheet issued as a sort of supplement or rider to the
+official _Gazette_. It appears in the _Loyalist_ for October 21st, 1826:
+
+"_Court of King's Bench._--In the suit of MacKenzie _vs_ Jarvis,
+McDougall, and others, for Trespass, the Jury, after a consultation of
+twenty-four hours, returned into Court--Verdict for the Plaintiff L625."
+
+This is absolutely the only information obtainable from the contemporary
+number of the official organ on a subject which was _par excellence_ the
+topic of the time. It may be added that the organ contained no reference
+whatever to the type riot until many weeks after its occurrence.
+
+[83] Apparently they were not then aware that the publication had
+actually ceased before the riot took place.
+
+[84] _Life of Mackenzie_, Vol. I., p. 99.
+
+[85] See Dr. Scadding's _Toronto of Old_, p. 38. Mr. Baby's idiom was
+due to his French origin and training.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE CASE OF CAPTAIN MATTHEWS.
+
+
+Captain Matthews, who, it will be remembered, had been returned to the
+Assembly for the County of Middlesex, gave great umbrage to the official
+party by allying himself with the Opposition. His birth and social
+standing, it was said, unfitted him for such companionship. The Captain
+himself was apparently conscious of no incongruity, and bent all his
+energies to the advancement of the Reform cause. Upon his first arrival
+in the country he could not be said to have had any political
+convictions at all. He had been bred a Tory, and his military career had
+been such as might naturally have led him to seek his allies in the
+ranks of those in authority. But his own experience of the abuses in the
+Land Office had impelled him to consider the political situation of
+affairs in Upper Canada generally, and the upshot of his deliberations
+had been his alliance with the new movement in the direction of Reform.
+Being a man of much local influence, his example had won to his side a
+number of the Middlesex farmers, more especially in the Township of
+Lobo, in which he resided. During his first session in Parliament he
+attracted considerable attention to himself, for he spoke frequently and
+well, and generally with a humorous eloquence which made him a favourite
+with those who were not bitter partisans on the other side.
+
+It was to be expected that Captain Matthew's defection from the
+political faith of his ancestors would render him specially odious to
+the High Tories of Upper Canada. It was shameful, they thought, that an
+officer deriving an income from His Majesty's Government should
+entertain, much less give utterance to, such vile democratic opinions as
+were constantly heard from his lips. The Captain was indiscreet, and
+became more and more outspoken the oftener he was charged with
+radicalism; but on no occasion did he utter anything savouring of
+disloyalty, for the very sufficient reason that there was no disloyalty
+in his heart. It was apparent to the Compact that his influence was most
+pernicious to them; yet no feasible plan for getting rid of him
+presented itself. Would it not be possible, by a little extra exertion,
+to deprive him of his pension? Could this laudable object be
+accomplished, the obnoxious Captain, who was of an impetuous
+temperament, would probably be goaded into saying or doing something
+really culpable--something which would place weapons in the hands of his
+enemies whereby he might be effectually silenced. The plan was at any
+rate worth trying. A system of espionage was accordingly adopted towards
+him.[86] During the sitting of the Legislature, myrmidons of the
+Executive dogged his footsteps wherever he went, in order to obtain some
+grounds for a hostile accusation against him.
+
+The spies did not have long to wait, for any shallow pretext was
+sufficient to serve as a peg upon which to hang an imputation of
+disloyalty, and the doomed man himself was unsuspicious of any design
+against him. The pretext actually resorted to was so utterly
+contemptible that one feels almost ashamed to record the attendant
+circumstances.
+
+A company of theatrical performers from the United States visited York
+during the session which assembled in the autumn of 1825. The actors met
+with little encouragement, and became, in stage parlance, "stranded."
+Being reduced to extremity, they resolved upon giving a special
+performance for the delectation of the members of the Legislature, whose
+patronage was solicited for the occasion. Sixteen or eighteen of the
+members--among whom was Captain Matthews--complied with the
+solicitation, and the performance took place at the little York theatre
+on the night of December 31st. During the intervals between the acts the
+orchestra played the national airs, "God Save the King," "Rule
+Britannia," and "The British Grenadiers." Several persons in the
+audience--Captain Matthews among the number[87]--apparently out of
+compliment to the actors, all of whom were from across the lines, called
+out for "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia." The demand was complied
+with, at least in part. The orchestra were unable to play "Hail
+Columbia," but the audience were regaled with the lively strains of
+"Yankee Doodle." Captain Matthews joined in the applause which followed,
+and removed his hat, calling upon others to do the same. The weight of
+evidence would seem to favour the idea that he was not the first to
+raise his hat, or to request the removal of the hats of his
+fellow-members. At all events the request was generally complied with.
+And this was the gist of the story. Captain Matthews's share in the
+events of the evening was the having joined in the demand for the two
+objectionable airs, in the applause which ensued upon the rendering of
+one of them, and in the request for the uncovering of heads. These dire
+offences sealed the doom of a gallant officer who had served his king
+for more than a quarter of a century, and whose acquiescence in the call
+for the national airs of the republic was probably due, at least in
+part, to the effervescence of feeling begotten of a good dinner.
+
+It is difficult to trace, step by step, the progress of the measures
+adopted against him. Distorted and exaggerated accounts appeared in _The
+Kingston Chronicle_ and _The Quebec Mercury_. But it is hardly likely
+that any _ex officio_ notice would have been taken of the affair if the
+newspaper reports had not been backed by a specific charge. Captain
+Matthews appears to have been secretly accused to the military
+authorities. He soon afterwards received a letter from the military
+secretary to the Earl of Dalhousie, Commander of the Forces in Lower
+Canada, stating that that dignitary's attention had been attracted by a
+report in the public prints of a representation that Captain Matthews
+had, in a riotous and outrageous manner, in the theatre at York, called
+for the national airs and tunes of the United States, "urging the
+audience there assembled to take off their hats, as is usual in the
+British Dominions in honour of 'God Save the King.'" The letter went on
+to say that "finding the statement corroborated, upon inquiry," the
+Commander of the Forces called upon Captain Matthews to explain conduct
+which was pronounced to be "utterly disloyal and disgraceful." Even this
+was not all. By a subsequent letter, received from the Board of
+Ordnance, the Captain was directed to repair forthwith to Quebec, and
+there remain until he could, by the first vessel in the spring, proceed
+to England, there to give an account of his conduct. This order was
+stated to have been made in consequence of a communication from the
+authorities in Canada to Lord Bathurst, the Colonial Secretary, and by
+him transmitted to the Master-General and Board of Ordnance.
+
+Mr. Mackenzie asserts that the object of the authorities was to get the
+Captain out of the Province, and thus deprive the Opposition of his
+vote, "in order to give the local Government a preponderance in the
+Legislature against the people's rights."[88] This, however, can hardly
+be accepted as a full or true explanation, as the Captain's absence at
+the time would not have given such a preponderance to the Government on
+any test vote. The weakening of the Opposition may or may not have been
+one of the objects sought to be achieved by the Captain's accusers. If
+so, it signally failed. Captain Matthews, be it understood, was not in
+receipt of half-pay, but of a pension. He had served twenty-seven years,
+and, on his corps being totally disbanded, he had settled in Upper
+Canada with the approbation of the Government. Having since been elected
+a member of the Provincial Assembly, his first duty was to that body,
+and it was necessary that he should obtain its leave before proceeding
+to obey the order of the Master-General. Accordingly, on Thursday, the
+28th of December, 1826, he rose in his place and made a motion involving
+an application for leave of absence. He explained the circumstances,
+and, in the course of the debate which ensued, expressly stated that he
+asked for leave, not with any desire of its being granted, but merely in
+order that the House might do its duty. The Opposition stood faithfully
+by him in this emergency. The House felt that the honour of one of its
+members was concerned. It refused the application for leave, and, on
+motion of Mr. Rolph, set on foot an inquiry into the circumstances on
+its own behalf.
+
+The inquiry was searching and minute, and the witnesses were not
+examined in presence of each other. Much of the evidence was beyond
+measure ludicrous and absurd. The scene at the theatre was described by
+one witness after another in endless variety. The merits of "Yankee
+Doodle" and "Hail Columbia," philologically and aesthetically, were made
+the subjects of the gravest investigation. It appeared that with the
+exception of Mr. John Beikie, Clerk of the Executive Council, and a very
+few of the townspeople, the audience was entirely made up of members of
+the Legislature. There were no ladies present, and, as it was New Year's
+Eve, the audience generally felt a considerable freedom from restraint.
+Many of the members had partaken freely of the cup that
+cheers--assuredly not the cup indicated by Cowper--and were in the
+blissful condition of Tam O'Shanter upon a certain memorable occasion to
+which no more specific reference is necessary. In plain English, some of
+them were so drunk as to be unable to recall anything that occurred. All
+were full of mirth and jollity, and the scene enacted was of the most
+uproarious description. Three grave legislators "danced while 'Yankee
+Doodle' was played." Several others had reached the quarrelsome stage of
+inebriety, and, in the language of one of the witnesses, "showed fight."
+Mr. Philip Vankoughnet, one of the members for Stormont, was constrained
+to admit that he had stripped off his coat, and threatened to knock
+somebody down. Captain Matthews, among others, called for "Hail
+Columbia" and "Yankee Doodle," but the general opinion among the more
+sober of the party appeared to be that he had done so "in derision." It
+was a bibulous age, and sobriety was the exception rather than the
+rule. The whole affair was little better than a bar-room orgy, and
+could properly be regarded in no other light.
+
+When the Assembly's report made its appearance, early in 1827, Captain
+Matthews was fully exonerated, so far as that body was concerned, from
+everything savouring of disloyalty. "The circumstances of the
+transaction"--thus ran the report--"as they are related without the
+contradiction of a single witness, irresistibly bespeak the absence of
+that disloyalty with which it has been basely attempted to sully the
+character of a most honourable man." The report moreover read a sharp
+lesson to the promoters of the accusation against him. It declared that
+"If every effervescence of feeling upon every jovial or innocent
+occasion is, in these Provinces, to be magnified into crime by the
+testimony of secret informers--if there can longer exist a political
+inquisition which shall scan the motives of every faithful servant of
+the public--if the authorities in Canada shall humble the independence
+of the Legislature by scandalizing its members and causing them to be
+ordered to Quebec, and thence to England, to sustain a fate which, under
+such corroboration as Lord Dalhousie received, might cover them with
+ignominy, or bring them, however innocent, to the block--or if the
+members of our community shall be awed into political subserviency by
+fear of oppression, or lured by the corrupt hope of participating guilty
+favours, then, indeed, will the prospect before us four, and this fine
+Province become a distant appendage of a mighty empire, ruled by a few
+aspiring men with the scourge of power."[89]
+
+The Committee professed their inability to learn by whom the pernicious
+representations had been made to the newspapers, or to the authorities
+in Canada, or from what source Lord Dalhousie had obtained his
+"corroboration." They expressed their conviction that there was no
+ground for the charge preferred against Captain Matthews, the malignity
+and falsity of which they believed to have derived their origin and
+support from political hostility towards him.
+
+The United States press was loud in its expressions of contempt. "Behold
+how great a matter a little fire kindleth;" said _The New York
+Enquirer_--"truly, there is something very undignified in such
+vexatious stretches of authority"--referring, of course, to the attempt
+to drag Captain Matthews across the Atlantic on a charge depending on
+such ridiculous evidence. Attention was drawn to the fact that the
+national airs of Great Britain, "God Save the Queen," and "Rule
+Britannia," are often heard at theatres and elsewhere in the republic
+without any such momentous consequences, and without being received
+either with laughter, dancing or contempt. "The evidence," continued the
+_Enquirer_, "does not speak very strongly in favour of the amenity and
+decorum of the M. P.'s of Upper Canada. If calling for one of our
+national airs, in a time of profound peace, within a few miles of the
+frontiers, is regarded as an unpardonable crime by the British
+Government, who shall wonder or complain that the British people are
+full of prejudice against us." The Liberal press of the Maritime
+Provinces harped to the same tune. "Really," remarked _The Halifax
+Recorder_, "we think people must have their wits about them now-a-days,
+if such things as these are to be construed into disaffection."
+
+But though Captain Matthews had been cleared by the Legislature, he had
+still to run the gauntlet of the military inquisition. They could not
+compel his attendance during the existence of the Parliament then in
+being, but they possessed an effectual means of reducing him to ultimate
+submission. This power they exercised. His pension was stopped--a very
+serious matter to a man with a large family and many responsibilities.
+He continued to fight the battles of Reform with dogged courage and
+pertinacity as long as his means admitted of his doing so, but he was
+soon reduced to a condition of great pecuniary distress, and was
+compelled to succumb. Broken-hearted and worn out, he resigned his seat
+in the Assembly, and returned to England, where, after grievous delays,
+he succeeded in getting his pension restored. He never returned to
+Canada, and survived the restoration of his pension but a short time.
+Thus, through the malignity of a selfish and secret cabal, was Upper
+Canada deprived of the services of a zealous and useful citizen and
+legislator, whose residence among us, had it been continued, could not
+have failed to advance the cause of freedom and justice.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[86] That spies were employed by Sir Peregrine Maitland and his Council,
+and that certain Government officials were encouraged to act in that
+capacity, are facts which will be denied by no one who familiarizes
+himself with the local legislative, official and newspaper literature of
+the time. An apparently well-informed contributor to _Blackwood's
+Magazine_ for September, 1829, in an article headed "Colonial
+Discontent," comments on this retrograde system in the following
+terms:--"A system of espionage assumes that there is something which
+ought to be watched and to be prevented; and as the existence of such a
+system probably did exist in Upper Canada during the administration of
+Sir Peregrine Maitland, it may be said that so far his Government was
+led to act on false principles.... We do not suppose that there was
+anything like an organized system, but only that tales to the personal
+disadvantage of the Anti-Ministerial party were too readily listened to.
+No doubt the members of that party were as credulous in listening to
+tales to the prejudice of the adherents of Government, but then they had
+it not in their power, like them, to inflict punishment. It is
+unnecessary to explain in what manner a system of espionage begets
+heart-burnings. It is to the public what tattle and malicious gossip are
+to private society, with this essential difference, however, that the
+tale of the slanderer is in time forgotten or refuted, whereas the
+report of the spy is received in secret, placed in the confidential
+archives of office, and referred to as a testimonial of character, in
+which such set of testimonials can be applied with effect when the
+occasion arises."
+
+[87] Mr. Mackenzie, in his _Sketches of Canada and the United States_,
+p. 419, denies that Captain Matthews called for these airs, as stated in
+the text. But anyone who carefully examines into the Provincial events
+of those times will not be long in arriving at the conclusion that Mr.
+Mackenzie's unsupported testimony, more especially as to matters in any
+way coming within the scope of politics, is of very little value. The
+evidence as to the Captain's having called for "Yankee Doodle" is
+conclusive. That his doing so constituted a serious offence is another
+matter, as to which there will, at the present day, be very little
+difference of opinion.
+
+[88] _Sketches of Canada_, etc., p. 419.
+
+[89] See Journal of Assembly for 1826-7, Appendix P. See also Journal
+for 1828, p. 122.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE NIAGARA FALLS OUTRAGE.
+
+
+The case of William Forsyth--commonly known in the chronicles of the
+time as the Niagara Falls outrage--differed materially from that of
+Captain Matthews, not only in kind, but in degree. In the latter case
+there was no gross violation of the decencies of life, or of the outward
+forms of law. The mischief was effected by means of spies and secret
+information, and the damage inflicted was incidental rather than direct.
+The Forsyth case, on the contrary, was more in the manner of the type
+riot. It was a violent and utterly unjustifiable exercise of brute
+force. But in one important respect it was worse than the type riot.
+_That_ display of ruffianism had been accomplished without the open
+approbation of the authorities. The Niagara Falls outrage was committed
+not only with the full assent, but by the express command, of the
+Lieutenant-Governor himself. Not even the poor excuse that it was done
+in a moment of anger or irritation could be made for it. It was done
+deliberately, in cold blood, and was as deliberately repeated. It was a
+simple case of Might _versus_ Right.
+
+A few words of explanation are necessary by way of prologue.
+
+In the year 1786, before the setting apart of Upper Canada as a separate
+Province, and just after the commencement of the settlement of the
+Niagara Peninsula by Butler's Rangers, the territory contiguous to the
+west bank of the Niagara River was surveyed and laid out into lots by
+Augustus Jones, a surveyor whose name is familiar to all students of the
+early history of this Province. In pursuance of instructions received
+from the Government, Mr. Jones, in laying out these lots, made a
+reservation of a chain in width--sixty-six feet--along the top of the
+bank.
+
+The reservation was made partly with a view to the military defence of
+the Province, and partly for the purpose of preserving a convenient
+communication.[90] It was expressly specified in the Crown Patents to
+the owners of adjoining lands, and embodied in all subsequent deeds upon
+successive transfers. It may therefore be conceded that the Crown's
+title to the reserved land was indisputable.
+
+In the year 1827, and for some time previously, the principal inn on the
+Canadian side of the river at Niagara Falls was owned and kept by one
+William Forsyth. The man and his establishment were well known to
+travellers, and "Forsyth's" had a high reputation as one of the most
+comfortable houses of public entertainment in the country. During the
+heat of summer, many residents of York paid more or less frequent visits
+to the Falls, not more to enjoy the change of air and the majestic
+scenery, than to partake of "mine host" Forsyth's hospitality. The inn
+was in close proximity to the great cataract, and was known as the
+Niagara Falls Pavilion. It was built on ground that bordered upon and
+ran up to the Government's reservation, which alone intervened between
+it and the top of the bank.
+
+[Sidenote: 1827.]
+
+Mr. Forsyth drove a flourishing business, but, like some of his
+successors at the same spot, his greed grew with his increasing gains,
+and he was not content to grow rich by degrees. He determined to augment
+his income by the erection of a high post and rail fence, placed so as
+to shut out visitors from approaching near to the Falls, and rendering
+it necessary for them to pass through his house before the desired view
+could be obtained. It should be mentioned that Mr. Forsyth, in addition
+to the Pavilion and its immediate grounds, owned the adjoining lands for
+a considerable distance, including all the points from which the great
+spectacle was to be seen to advantage. By the erection of the fence,
+therefore, visitors would be debarred and shut off from all that was
+best worth seeing in the neighbourhood, until they had passed through
+his inn; and it was of course anticipated that most of those so passing
+through would spend more or less money on the premises. There was,
+however, one rather serious objection to the contemplated change. It
+would involve the enclosure of the Government reservation, a proceeding
+which was not likely to be permanently tolerated. Forsyth was probably
+ill advised by his attorney in the matter, for he seems to have been
+really of opinion that the Government's title to the land was at least
+open to question, and he had been permitted to occupy a portion of it
+without remonstrance for about six years. Sometime during the early
+spring of the above-mentioned year--in time to catch the expected influx
+of summer visitors--he carried out his design, and constructed the
+enclosure. His house was thus converted into a thoroughfare, which
+necessarily gave rise to a greatly increased number of visitors, and to
+much additional expenditure within its walls. But the public serenity
+soon began to show signs of disturbance. There was a rival innkeeper
+named Browne, who was not long in discovering that his own losses were
+in proportion to Forsyth's gains. He bestirred himself in the matter,
+and soon succeeded in arousing a good deal of indignation in the minds
+of visitors. No one was allowed to either enter or pass by his door
+without being importuned to sign a petition to the Government, praying
+for a removal of the objectionable fence. Other persons residing in the
+neighbourhood took umbrage at the innovation, and also made appeals to
+the Government on the subject. In this way several numerously-signed
+petitions were obtained and forwarded to headquarters.
+
+Such proceedings as these were in themselves reasonable and proper
+enough. Forsyth had acted in a selfish and unwarrantable manner, and it
+would have been nothing more than he had a right to expect if the
+Government had instituted immediate action against him. It would have
+been an injustice to the public if he had been permitted to enjoy his
+monopoly undisturbed. But neither the trespasser himself nor any of
+those who protested against his conduct was prepared for such
+high-handed measures as were actually resorted to; measures which
+effectually proved the unfitness of Sir Peregrine Maitland for his high
+office; which led to his being cordially hated throughout the length
+and breadth of Upper Canada; and which doubtless had something to do
+with his removal to another sphere of action.
+
+One day about the middle of May, when the enclosure had been erected
+about six weeks, and when the season's regular flow of tourists had
+fairly set in, the landlord of the Pavilion received a call from Captain
+George Phillpotts, of the Royal Engineers, who then held command in the
+District. The latter demanded why Forsyth had presumed to fence-in the
+Government reserve. Forsyth replied, denying that the reserve belonged
+to the Government, and asserting his own title thereto, whereupon he was
+informed that unless the enclosure was removed without delay, he,
+Captain Phillpotts, would himself undertake its removal. Forsyth
+professed to feel strong in his rights, and threatened to prosecute the
+Captain or any one else who might interfere with his property. Here the
+interview ended. Several days afterwards--on the 18th--the landlord was
+summoned to his door by a message that a gentleman there wished to see
+him. The gentleman proved to be Captain Phillpotts, who was accompanied
+by a sergeant and four other soldiers in fatigue jackets, without arms.
+Major Richard Leonard, Sheriff of the Niagara District, and Augustus
+Jones, who had made the original survey of the property forty-one years
+before, were also in attendance. The Sheriff, who had merely accompanied
+the party at the Captain's request, took no part in the subsequent
+proceedings, but contented himself with quietly looking on. Mr. Jones
+had been brought for a specific purpose, and, at the request of Captain
+Phillpotts, he then and there made a hasty re-survey of the reserve, the
+limits of which he indicated by pickets. Upon the completion of this
+task, the Captain demanded that Forsyth should immediately remove the
+enclosing fence, and upon his refusal to do so, the soldiers, under
+orders from their Captain, deliberately cut and threw down the fence,
+exposing the gardens, meadows and about sixty acres of growing crops to
+waste. A blacksmith's shop which had been erected on the reserve was
+demolished, and the building material thrown over the bank. The Captain
+avowed that he was acting under express orders from the
+Lieutenant-Governor, which proved to be the fact.
+
+Having accomplished his purpose, Captain Phillpotts and his soldiers
+departed, accompanied by the Sheriff and the surveyor. They were no
+sooner out of the way than Forsyth and his servants set themselves to
+work to repair damages, and before nightfall the enclosure was rebuilt;
+the premises, with the exception of the blacksmith's shop, being
+restored to the condition in which they had been before the assault upon
+them. But intelligence of the restoration was speedily conveyed to Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, who again despatched the same emissary, and the
+drama of demolition was re-enacted. The landlord of the Pavilion then
+gave up the contest, so far as any attempt at reconstruction was
+concerned, and proceeded to obtain redress by due course of law.
+
+Now, it may perhaps be admitted that Forsyth was rightly served, or at
+any rate that he deserved little or no sympathy. His enclosure of the
+Crown reserve had been without any strict colour of right, and had been
+due to pure greed and selfishness. But his blacksmith's shop had been
+constructed on the land as far back as 1821, when he had purchased the
+adjoining lot from William Dickson, and no one had ever questioned his
+right to maintain it there. He seems to have thought that he had as good
+a claim to the property as anybody. He had been informed, contrary to
+the fact, that the Government reserve extended only to the lower bank,
+and did not cover the land at the top. He might easily have discovered
+that his information was misleading, but he had not chosen to take so
+much trouble, and deserved to suffer the legal consequences of his
+neglect. He could undoubtedly have been dispossessed by means of an
+action of ejectment, with the costs of which he would justly have been
+saddled. But he had a right to expect that, after being allowed to
+remain so many years in undisturbed possession, he should only be
+dispossessed by civil process. It was not a case where an arbitrary
+removal was justifiable, such as may lawfully take place when it becomes
+necessary to abate a nuisance. But it was above all things intolerable
+that the military should have been employed for such a purpose. Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, in sending Captain Phillpotts on the expedition, had
+acted, not in his capacity of Lieutenant-Governor, but in that of
+Major-General Commanding the Forces in Upper Canada. This it was that
+wrought up the public pulse to such a pitch of excitement. This it was
+that created a dangerous antagonism between the people and the soldiery,
+and led to frequent quarrels and bickerings between them. The Committee
+subsequently appointed by the Assembly to investigate the subject echoed
+the popular sentiment when they reported that "a person long in
+possession of land, like the petitioner, ought to have been ejected by
+the law of the land, which is ample, when impartially administered, for
+securing the rights of property, but the interference of the military,
+by such acts of violence, for maintaining supposed or contested rights,
+is justly regarded with jealousy in all free countries, and ought to be
+seriously regarded in a colony where the most unprecedented outrages
+have been perpetrated without prosecution, and even followed by the
+patronage of the local Government upon the wrong-doers."[91] The
+presence of the civil power on the occasion, in the person of the
+Sheriff, had been even an aggravation of the offence, for the Sheriff
+had thus been made to lend his countenance to the proceeding. As for the
+Lieutenant-Governor's action in the matter, he himself was solely to
+blame, for his intentions were not made known to the Executive Council,
+or, so far as appears, to any member of that body. It was simply and
+solely a barefaced and most impudent abuse of authority, the
+responsibility for which rests upon no shoulders but his own.
+
+Forsyth had no success in his appeals to the law. He brought two actions
+of trespass, one of which was against Sheriff Leonard and Captain
+Phillpotts jointly, for removing the fence and blacksmith's shop; and
+the other of which was against Captain Phillpotts alone for removing the
+fence the second time. Sir Peregrine instructed Attorney-General
+Robinson to defend both these suits, and to vindicate the Crown's title
+to the reserved land.[92] To effect the latter object in the most formal
+and decisive manner, the Attorney-General filed an information for
+intrusion against Forsyth, upon which a verdict was rendered in favour
+of the Crown. The plaintiff altogether failed in his action against
+Phillpotts and the Sheriff, and the decision in that case rendered it
+useless for him to proceed with the action against Phillpotts alone.[93]
+
+[Sidenote: 1828.]
+
+While those suits were in progress, Forsyth, finding that public
+opinion, if not in his favour, was at least hostile to the
+Lieutenant-Governor, sent in a petition to the Assembly, setting forth
+the circumstances, and praying for redress. This was during the session
+of 1828. The Assembly entertained the petition, and appointed a
+Committee of Inquiry. The Committee proceeded to inquire accordingly.
+While their investigations were in progress they resolved to examine two
+of the Government officials, who, as there was reason to believe, could
+throw light upon Sir Peregrine's reasons for such arbitrary conduct as
+that of which he had been guilty. The officials whose evidence it was
+thought desirable to obtain were Colonels Coffin and Givins, both of
+whom were heads of departments. The former occupied the position of
+Adjutant-General of Militia for Upper Canada; the latter was
+Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Both of these gentlemen were summoned
+to attend before the Committee at a specified time. In this there was
+nothing strange or unusual. It was a matter of frequent occurrence for
+officials of the Government, high and low, to be summoned before
+Parliamentary committees while the Legislature was in session; and there
+was no question as to the right of such committees to require such
+attendance. In this instance, however, the persons summoned were not
+permitted to obey the behests of the Committee, and in the attendant
+circumstances there were pretty plain indications of crookedness and
+collusion between the Crown officers and Sir Peregrine Maitland. Each of
+the two officers concerned, immediately upon receiving his summons,
+caused the fact to be communicated to the Lieutenant-Governor, and each
+wrote a shuffling letter to the Chairman of the Committee. Later in the
+day the Lieutenant-Governor positively declined to permit the attendance
+of the persons summoned, assigning as a reason that he had not been made
+acquainted with the facts as to which it was desired to interrogate
+them. Now, when one considers all the facts and circumstances of the
+case, one is driven to the conclusion that Colonels Coffin and Givins
+were in possession of certain information which the Executive, or at any
+rate the Lieutenant-Governor, had a strong interest in keeping secret.
+Why else were they forbidden to attend? The reason assigned was
+certainly not a sufficient one. In the first place it was not founded
+upon fact. That the Committee had been appointed for the specific
+purpose of investigating the circumstances connected with the Niagara
+Falls outrage was matter of common notoriety. When the two Government
+officers were summoned to give evidence before that Committee there
+could be no doubt that the intention was to examine them touching their
+knowledge of the matter in hand.[94] Some years before this time, when
+the Compact were all-powerful in the Assembly, as well as in the Upper
+House, a custom had been introduced of notifying the Lieutenant-Governor
+whenever it was proposed to examine any of the Government officials as
+witnesses before a Parliamentary committee. It had been customary to
+specify, in the address of notification, the subject on which it was
+intended to take evidence. This, however, had been a mere matter of
+courtesy and conventionality, upon which nobody had any right to insist;
+and the practice had not been uniform or consistent, various instances
+having occurred where Crown officers had been summoned and examined as
+witnesses without any such notification having been given. Upon such a
+flimsy pretext, however, did Sir Peregrine Maitland base his refusal to
+permit the two witnesses to attend for examination in the Forsyth case.
+
+The Chairman of the Committee duly reported to the Assembly the
+non-attendance of the witnesses, and that body determined that its
+authority should not thus be defied and set at naught with impunity. The
+chief offender, the Lieutenant-Governor--or the Commander of the Forces,
+if he was to be considered as acting in that capacity--was of course
+beyond reach, but proceedings were forthwith instituted against the
+recalcitrant witnesses. Warrants were issued against them by the
+Speaker, in order that they might be brought up before the House, in
+custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms, to answer for their contempt. Acting
+under legal advice, they declined to submit to such authority unless
+compelled to do so by force; and they boldly threatened that in case of
+force being resorted to they would prosecute the Speaker. It is to be
+presumed that the warrants would in any case have been acted upon, but
+this impudent threat left the Assembly no alternative. If Government
+officers, paid out of the public purse, were to be allowed to defy that
+branch of the Legislature which alone represented the popular voice--if
+they were to be permitted to treat its mandates with contempt, and to
+threaten its representative with ulterior consequences in the event of
+those mandates being enforced--then, indeed, liberty and equal rights
+were at a low ebb in Upper Canada. The warrants were promptly executed,
+the house in which the two officials had ensconced themselves being
+forcibly entered for the purpose. Being brought to the bar of the House,
+and charged with their contempt, they sought to vindicate themselves by
+pleading the action of the Lieutenant-Governor in refusing to sanction
+their attendance. The House then adopted a resolution under which they
+were handed over to the custody of the Sheriff, and committed to the
+common jail of the Home District. They formally notified the
+Lieutenant-Governor, through his private secretary, of the calamity
+which had come upon them through obedience to his behests, and requested
+that the advice and assistance of the Crown officers--that is to say, of
+the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General--might be vouchsafed to them.
+They however remained in confinement only three days, for the
+Lieutenant-Governor, in accordance with an intimation previously given,
+prorogued the Legislature on the 25th of March--they had been committed
+on the 22nd--and the power of the Assembly to commit did not extend
+beyond the time when it was actually in session.
+
+Colonels Coffin and Givins carried out their threat, and sued the
+Speaker for damages for false imprisonment. The right of the Assembly to
+commit for contempt was however a matter too well established, and was
+confirmed by the Court of King's Bench in another cause then pending. So
+that the Adjutant-General of Militia and the Superintendent of Indian
+Affairs, in addition to their respective bills of costs, had their three
+days' imprisonment as a reward for their fealty to Sir Peregrine
+Maitland, and for their disloyalty to the Canadian people.
+
+Sir Peregrine appears to have felt a little dubious as to how his
+proceedings would be regarded at the Home Office. It was quite certain
+that the Colonial Secretary would hear of the affair, but that
+dignitary's approval was open to question. It would at all events be
+well that the official mind should receive its first impression on the
+subject from Sir Peregrine himself, who accordingly lost no time in
+sending over his own version of the transaction. His despatch, which
+bears internal evidence of having been written or revised by
+Attorney-General Robinson, is dated the 29th of March--the fourth day
+after the prorogation. Under the pretext of asking for advice as to how
+he should act in the future in case of any of the officials being
+summoned before Parliamentary committees without any notification having
+been made to himself, he recounts the story of the Niagara Falls
+outrage. His narrative, it is almost needless to say, is from first to
+last garbled and one-sided. Forsyth is referred to therein as "a person
+notoriously of indifferent character;" and the Assembly and its
+committees are maligned in language highly improper to be employed in a
+confidential communication from the Lieutenant-Governor of a colony to
+his superiors at home.[95] The Colonial Secretary, however, was shrewd
+enough to penetrate the veil of misrepresentation in which the despatch
+was enveloped, and to arrive at a pretty just appreciation of the merits
+of the case. He officially expressed his opinion that there had been
+adequate grounds for inquiry by the Assembly. "I cannot but consider,"
+he wrote, "that Sir Peregrine Maitland would have exercised a sounder
+discretion had he permitted the officers to appear before the Assembly;
+and I regret that he did not accomplish the object he had in view in
+preventing Forsyth's encroachments by means of the civil power, which is
+said to have been at hand, rather than by calling in military aid." This
+despatch, however, was written, not to Sir Peregrine Maitland himself,
+but to his successor, Sir John Colborne. The Forsyth case, coming, as
+it did, in the wake of other ill-advised proceedings on the part of Sir
+Peregrine, determined the Home Government to withdraw him from Upper
+Canada, where it was quite evident that his usefulness--if he had ever
+had any--was gone. He was transferred to Nova Scotia, whither it is not
+necessary that this narrative should follow him.
+
+With respect to Forsyth, it may he added that, being unable to obtain
+any recompense for the Phillpotts invasion, and being harassed by
+protracted litigation, he sold his property at Niagara Falls at a price
+considerably below its value, and removed from the spot. It cannot be
+said that he deserved much sympathy, for he had brought his losses on
+himself by his own selfishness. He took advantage of the situation to
+pose in the character of a martyr to Executive tyranny, and he succeeded
+in deceiving many of his contemporaries into the belief that he was a
+much injured man. The historical interest, however, centres not in him,
+but in the consequences arising out of the employment of soldiers to do
+the Sheriff's work in a time of profound peace, and without any
+initiatory civil process having been issued. The popular excitement
+consequent on the outrage encouraged Forsyth to petition the Assembly.
+The petition led to the appointment of the Committee of Inquiry, which
+in its turn led to the summoning of witnesses and the conflict between
+the Assembly and the Lieutenant-Governor. The conflict led to the
+latter's removal, and, from that point of view, is not to be regarded in
+the light of an unmixed evil.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[90] See the letter from Chief Justice Robinson to Lieutenant-Colonel
+Rowan, Secretary, etc., etc., dated at York, 31st December, 1832, and
+appended to the Report of the Committee of the House of Assembly on the
+Petition of William Forsyth, dated April 1st, 1835. In one part of this
+letter the Chief Justice says that the laying out of the lots took place
+"some time between the years 1785 and 1790, and while General Haldimand
+administered the Government of Canada." General Haldimand did not
+administer the Government of Canada during any part of the time thus
+specified--a fact of which Chief Justice Robinson ought to have been
+aware. In a subsequent part of the same letter he properly gives the
+date as 1786.
+
+[91] See the report, p. iv., appended to the _Seventh Report of the
+Grievance Committee_.
+
+[92] The defence of these two suits would seem to have been the means of
+considerably augmenting the Attorney-General's already ample income.
+From certain accounts sent down to the Assembly it appears that a sum of
+_L127 6s. 6-3/4d._ sterling were paid to him during the year 1834 for
+"expenses incurred by him in defending two suits with costs in reference
+to the military reserve near the Falls of Niagara."
+
+[93] There was a very general belief throughout the Niagara District at
+the time that Major Leonard, who was an obedient servant to the
+Executive, had manipulated the lists from which the jurors in those
+cases were selected. The truth or falsity of the belief cannot now be
+pronounced upon, the circumstances upon which it was founded being
+buried in oblivion.
+
+[94] "He [Sir Peregrine Maitland] must have inferred that the Committee
+proposed to examine these officers respecting the employment of a
+military force for the ejecting of Forsyth from the land."--See Despatch
+from the Colonial Secretary, Sir George Murray, to Major-General Sir
+John Colborne, dated 20th October, 1828, appended to the Report on
+Forsyth's petition.
+
+[95] See the despatch, appended to the Report on the Forsyth Case, at
+end of Grievance Committee's Report. The Colonial Secretary's despatch
+quoted in the text will be found appended to the same Report.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+THE "AMOVAL" OF MR. JUSTICE WILLIS.
+
+
+The Forsyth embroilment extended over a long period, and from time to
+time during several years it continued, at longer or shorter intervals,
+to thrust itself upon public attention. Meanwhile it was not the only
+instance of abuse of power on the part of the Executive to which the
+people of Upper Canada were constrained to submit. Several other notable
+contemporaneous examples shared with it in the unenviable work of
+widening the breach between the Government and the people, and in
+destroying popular confidence in the impartial administration of
+justice. It is a rather singular fact that of all the many high-handed
+measures resorted to during the existence of the Ninth Parliament, the
+one which aroused the greatest indignation was perhaps the least
+blameworthy of them all. It has been the fashion with writers who have
+dealt with this period of our history to represent the amoval of Justice
+Willis as being upon the whole the most glaring iniquity of the time.
+This view is not borne out by the facts. In the Willis affair Sir
+Peregrine Maitland had recourse to the espionage system, and certainly
+went to the utmost verge of his authority, but he cannot be said to have
+run violently in the teeth of precedent and good sense, as was done, for
+instance, in the Forsyth case. Nor can it be said that he acted with
+despotic rashness or precipitation. His decade of misrule in Upper
+Canada was characterized by many cruel, tyrannical and shameful deeds:
+deeds which stare out from the pages of the past with lurid
+distinctness. He has enough to answer for at the bar of history; and it
+is quite unnecessary to load the formidable indictment against him with
+surplusage or dubious matter. A careful and dispassionate examination of
+all the circumstances in the Willis case must convince the inquirer that
+the faults were not all on one side, and that the Judge himself is
+bound to at least share with Sir Peregrine the responsibility for the
+bitterness arising out of the "amoval."
+
+John Walpole Willis, whose name was destined to win considerable
+celebrity in the judicial annals of this Province; was a lawyer of good
+standing at the English Chancery bar. He came of a respectable county
+family, but had no hereditary expectations, and from his earliest youth
+had applied himself to study with a zeal begotten of the conviction that
+he would be compelled to depend upon his own exertions for a livelihood.
+He devoted himself with assiduity to studying the literature pertaining
+to the equity branch of the law. By the time he reached manhood he had
+acquired considerable erudition, and it was predicted of him that he
+would make a mark in his profession. He did his utmost to justify the
+prediction, for he had no sooner been called to the bar than he came
+before the world as an author. His first publication was a work bearing
+upon the law of Evidence. In 1820 he issued a work on Equity Pleading;
+and in 1827 appeared his treatise "On the Duties and responsibilities of
+Trustees." These works obtained a fair share of recognition, and
+doubtless tended to promote his professional success. He enjoyed the
+reputation of being an industrious and painstaking lawyer, and a
+brilliant and accomplished member of society.
+
+In 1823, when he had reached the age of thirty-one years, he was applied
+to for professional advice by the Earl of Strathmore. This event was
+destined to have important consequences. The advice led to important
+professional employment extending over several months, during which the
+clever lawyer was a frequent guest in the Earl's household, and on terms
+of intimate social intercourse with the family. In an unhappy hour for
+his future peace of mind he formed an attachment to Lady Mary Isabella
+Bowes Lyon Willis, one of his lordship's daughters. His attachment was
+reciprocated by the young lady, who was possessed of great personal
+attractions, and who might doubtless have looked forward to a more
+ambitious match; but her noble father had little to offer in the shape
+of dowry, and did not oppose her wishes. The marriage took place at
+Marylebone Church, in August, 1824. The bridegroom was then thirty-two
+years of age, and the bride had just completed her twenty-second year.
+This disparity was not sufficient to excite any remark, for Lady Mary
+was mature for her age, and the bridegroom had scarcely taken leave of
+his youth. For about three years after the marriage the pair resided
+with Mr. Willis's mother, at Hendon, a pleasant suburb lying to the
+north-west of London; he meanwhile continuing the practice of his
+profession in town. All these circumstances materially contributed to
+the shaping of the young barrister's future career.
+
+[Sidenote: 1827.]
+
+Mr. Willis enjoyed the social advantages which his union with a
+nobleman's daughter was certain to confer. These advantages were fully
+appreciated, but they involved certain inevitable consequences, the
+principal of which was a material increase in the domestic expenditure.
+As neither Lady Mary nor her husband was possessed of much property, and
+as the latter's income was almost entirely derived from his profession,
+he resolved to try for some public appointment whereby his pecuniary
+condition might be improved. Early in 1827 the project of establishing a
+Court of Equity in Upper Canada was for a short time under some sort of
+consideration at the Colonial Office. Through the influence of his
+father-in-law, Mr. Willis was mentioned as a most suitable man to
+undertake that important duty. His heart responded to the idea. He felt
+that he was well fitted for such a responsibility, and that a congenial
+sphere of usefulness would thus be presented to him. His vanity also
+seems to have been flattered by the prospect of being raised to the
+bench--even the colonial bench--at so early an age. Visions of social
+and intellectual supremacy among the magnates of Upper Canada doubtless
+presented themselves in alluring shapes before his mind. He had no
+difficulty in obtaining a promise that in the event of the contemplated
+appointment being made it should be offered to him. The project,
+however, was still in embryo, and--as the event proved--was not fully
+carried out until about ten years later. It was meanwhile desirable that
+a puisne judge of the Court of King's Bench for Upper Canada should be
+appointed without delay, and that position was offered to Mr. Willis. It
+was at the same time represented to him that his acceptance would in no
+wise interfere with the scheme of the establishment of a Court of
+Chancery, and that he would be none the less fitted, to carry out such a
+scheme from his having resided for some time in the Province, and from
+his having become to some extent familiar with local laws and
+institutions. After mature reflection he accepted the offer, and set
+out for Canada towards the end of the summer, accompanied by his wife,
+mother, sister and infant son.
+
+His marriage had not proved in all respects a felicitous one. Lady Mary
+was imbued with patrician ideas, and bore herself towards her husband's
+family with considerable hauteur. She was very particular in exacting
+certain observances in which she considered herself entitled. There were
+doubtless faults on both sides. Mrs. and Miss Willis took umbrage at the
+patronizing airs of Lady Mary, who, in her turn, complained that she was
+made a cipher in her own house. There were also petty jealousies on the
+part of Lady Mary, which led to disputes between herself and her
+husband. Altogether the domestic establishment at Hendon was not a
+harmonious one, but the means of the family were insufficient to admit
+of the keeping up of two separate households. The true remedy for such a
+state of things lay in the exercise of a spirit of mutual
+forbearance--an exercise to which Lady Mary, at least, seems to have
+been little accustomed. Under such ominous auspices was the Willis
+household transferred from Hendon to Upper Canada.
+
+The Willises reached the Upper Province on the 17th of September, and on
+the following day the new judge proceeded to Stamford Cottage, the
+summer residence of the Lieutenant-Governor, in the Niagara District.
+Having presented the royal warrant for his appointment, together with
+certain other documents, he was cordially received by Sir Peregrine. He
+dined and spent the evening at the Cottage. In the course of
+conversation he referred to the project of establishing a Court of
+Equity--which by this time was no secret--and was surprised to find that
+the theme was distasteful to his host, who, in a tone not to be
+misunderstood, remarked: "Sir, you have not got your Court of Equity
+yet." "The words," wrote Mr. Willis,[96] "made some impression at the
+time, and subsequent events tended to throw further light upon their
+meaning."
+
+Upon his arrival at York, on the 20th, Mr. Willis was welcomed with
+apparent cordiality by the judiciary, the bar, and society generally.
+The leaders of local fashion vied with each other in their attentions
+to the ladies of the family, more especially to Lady Mary, who was
+almost overwhelmed with civilities. The new judge was sworn in on the
+11th of October. He entered with avidity upon the duties of his office,
+and also made himself conspicuous in society, where he was from the
+first regarded in the light of a decided acquisition. He entered with
+keen zest into plans for party-giving and entertaining, and evidently
+derived heartfelt pleasure from receiving and dispensing courteous
+hospitalities. He attended several public meetings which had been called
+for charitable and other purposes, at all of which he spoke with what
+was considered a somewhat perfervid eloquence. In a word, he not only
+took the rank to which he was entitled by virtue of his office, but
+jumped at once into the position of a leader of society and social
+movements. His name was on everybody's lips. Persons to the manner born,
+who had been accustomed to fill the foremost places in the public eye,
+found themselves, for the time, almost superseded and ignored. Judge
+Willis duly appreciated the homage which was rendered to him, and
+exhibited himself to society in his brightest and most amiable colours.
+To a few great personages, however, it seemed as if the new-comer
+carried himself with wonderful _sang-froid_, and contemplated himself
+and his position with too much complacency. To them it appeared as if he
+regarded all the eager admiration which was lavished upon him as being
+nothing more than his transcendent qualifications entitled him to look
+for at the hands of the little world of York. He seemed, they thought,
+to accept it all as his just due. And the belief was not unreasonable on
+their part, for the Judge seems to have been in a measure carried off
+his feet by the attentions paid to him on every hand. His position was
+one calling for the exercise of calm judgment and discretion. It was not
+surprising that leading members of the bench and bar, who had long
+served the Government with zeal and acceptance, should entertain some
+jealousy at the appointment of an outsider to a place of high honour and
+emolument. Attorney-General Robinson, for instance, had filled his
+responsible office for many years, and the Crown had certainly no reason
+to complain that he had favoured liberty at the expense of prerogative.
+Hagerman and Boulton, too, had for years lent themselves to the purposes
+of the Executive. It was not singular that these persons should feel as
+though their own claims to preferment had been passed over in favour of
+Judge Willis, a stranger to Canada, her institutions and her polity. Nor
+was it wonderful that their deportment towards the stranger should, in
+spite of themselves, be influenced by the feeling. Judge Willie was not
+long in discovering that some sentiment of this sort was in the air, but
+he does not appear to have made sufficient allowance for it, and
+manifested a disposition to carry things with a high hand. He
+entertained a poor opinion of the Attorney-General's professional
+attainments, and did not sufficiently conceal this opinion. He was at
+first disposed to think highly of Judge Sherwood's abilities, but erelong
+came to the conclusion that he had greatly overestimated them,[97] and
+plainly showed, by his conduct, that he attached little weight to his
+brother judge's decisions. This course was the very opposite to what
+would have been adopted by a discreet and really able man. Such a man
+would have made due allowance for jealousies which, under the
+circumstances, were almost inevitable. Such a man would have adopted a
+policy of friendly conciliation. Such a man would have refrained from
+making himself specially conspicuous, at least until he had been some
+time settled in his new career, and had become accustomed to the novel
+atmosphere. Judge Willis's conduct was the very reverse of all this. In
+his intercourse with his brother judges--one of whom, it must be
+remembered, was Chief Justice--he adopted a tone of superiority, and
+even, to some extent, of dictation. He was of course not to be blamed
+for dissenting from their opinions--which he very frequently
+did--provided that he was honest in his dissent; but he acted very
+cavalierly on such occasions, and in pronouncing his own judgments
+seldom thought it necessary to make any reference to the decisions of
+his brethren on the bench. It was impossible for the latter to ignore
+the fact that he despised, or affected to despise their legal
+attainments; and their recognition of this necessarily gave rise to
+irritation and anger on their part. They felt his conduct to be all the
+more disrespectful to them in consequence of his admitted want of
+familiarity with Common Law, his own reading and practice having been
+almost exclusively confined to the Equity branch of the profession.
+
+In the very first judgment ever rendered by him, he gave utterance to
+sentiments which, to put the matter mildly, were very much out of place.
+The case was one brought by George Rolph, of Dundas, against T. G.
+Simons and others, for a gross outrage which had been perpetrated on the
+plaintiff, who was a brother of the Attorney-General's great political
+rival. The outrage had arisen out of private complications, and no
+political question arose in the course of the trial. In concluding his
+judgment Mr. Willis took occasion to remark that he had formed his
+opinion of the case on its intrinsic merits, unbiased by any political
+considerations. He added that he was totally devoid of party feelings,
+and that it would ever be his most earnest desire to render to every one
+impartial justice. It goes without saying that these are very proper
+sentiments on the part of an occupant of the judicial bench. Such
+principles were especially required in Upper Canada, where there had
+long been much judicial partiality and frequent miscarriages of justice
+by reason of political differences. But a judge should at least assume
+that his integrity is taken for granted, and should deem it beneath his
+dignity to attempt any vindication of his rectitude while an occupant of
+the bench. Moreover, there were no circumstances to call forth such
+expressions as were used by Judge Willis. No hint of any partiality had
+ever been heard against him. There had been no opportunity for any
+display of partiality by him, for he then took his seat on the bench for
+the first time. Saith the proverb: "He who makes unnecessary excuses
+accuses himself." In this case the Judge certainly indulged in wholly
+unnecessary self-vindication. And there were reasons why any such
+vindication by him was especially indelicate. The Radical newspapers had
+heralded his arrival as the dawn of a new era, when judicial corruption
+would cease in the land. It is pretty evident that he had been flattered
+by the eulogy, and that he now went out of his way to administer a
+covert reproof to his colleagues on the bench. His remarks were
+undoubtedly taken in that sense, and tacitly resented by them. It may
+have been that they were all the more ready to take the remarks as
+applying to themselves from their consciousness of past shortcomings;
+but it was not from a brother on the bench--one, too, who had been only
+a few weeks in the country--that they should have been subjected to
+reproof.
+
+To the feelings of his colleagues, however, Mr. Willis paid little
+consideration. His heart was specially set upon the establishment of a
+court of equitable jurisdiction, and to this end he bent much of his
+energy. He forced the matter upon the attention of the Attorney-General,
+who, he found, differed from him in respect of certain important
+details. He also prepared and submitted a scheme to the
+Lieutenant-Governor. He found great difficulty in inducing any member of
+the Government to discuss the matter with him. He was informed that an
+Act of the Provincial Legislature was considered necessary to the
+creation of such a court as the one contemplated by him. In this opinion
+he did not coincide, but by way of expediting matters he bestirred
+himself with a view to bringing about the necessary legislation. After a
+Bill, originally prepared by his own hand, had been introduced into the
+Assembly, he attended to hear the debates, and fraternized with Rolph,
+Bidwell, and other members of the Opposition--a circumstance which was
+afterwards very strongly urged against him at the Colonial Office. The
+Bill did not run smoothly, and was denuded of certain clauses which he
+deemed to be essential to the successful carrying out of the scheme. He
+vainly endeavoured to bring the Attorney-General round to his view of
+the matter. Mr. Robinson had too long been supreme in all legal affairs
+to submit to any dictation, more especially from one towards whom he
+bore no good will. Judge Willis found himself opposed and thwarted at
+every turn; and he erelong discovered that the Government were averse to
+the scheme, although the aversion was not directly avowed. He then
+recalled the Lieutenant-Governor's remark on the subject made to him
+some months before at Stamford Cottage. Certain dubious expressions
+which had from time to time fallen from the lips of the
+Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, the Judges, and other prominent
+officials also recurred to his mind. As for Attorney-General Robinson,
+"I at length discovered," wrote Judge Willis, "that any proposition that
+did not originate with himself was not generally attended with his
+approbation."[98]
+
+A despatch from the Colonial Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor was
+promulgated about this time, from which it appeared that the project of
+establishing a Court of equitable jurisdiction was in abeyance, or had,
+for the time, been abandoned. Judge Willis was greatly disappointed at
+this abandonment, which, in conversation, he openly ascribed to the
+influence of Sir James Scarlett, the English Attorney-General, with whom
+he had once had some unpleasantness while on circuit. But it also became
+known about the same time that Chief Justice Campbell was about to
+retire from the bench, and that his office would accordingly soon be
+vacant. Judge Willis lost no time in making application for the post.
+Neither did Attorney-General Robinson, whose application was backed by
+the entire influence of the Upper Canadian Executive. Here was a fresh
+ground of rivalry, whereby the unpleasant relations between these two
+officials were intensified. It soon became impossible for the new Judge
+and the Attorney General to come into contact without feelings and
+expressions indicative of personal hostility. The hollow friendship
+which had at first seemed to subsist between them was cast to the winds,
+and all social intercourse between them was at an end. Any proposition
+emanating from Judge Willis was systematically opposed by the
+Attorney-General. The Judge in his turn availed himself of several
+opportunities of showing how little weight he attached to the
+Attorney-General's opinions. Worse still, he brought upon himself the
+lasting indignation of the Lieutenant-Governor. It would perhaps be more
+correct to say that his wife brought this calamity upon him, for the
+origin of the trouble was a hot dispute between Lady Mary Willis and
+Lady Sarah Maitland on a question of rank and precedence. In this
+quarrel it is quite clear that Lady Mary was in the wrong, but the whole
+affair was utterly contemptible on both sides. The ladies dragged their
+respective liege-lords into the dispute, and each of the latter espoused
+the side of his helpmeet. Sir Peregrine necessarily got the better of
+his adversary, whom he never forgave. It is impossible to say how far
+this unseemly women's wrangle contributed to the humiliation which Judge
+Willis was subsequently compelled to endure, but it is pretty clear that
+from that time forward Sir Peregrine was bent upon getting his adversary
+removed from his position. Unhappily the Judge, by his want of
+discretion, made this resolution comparatively easy of accomplishment.
+He constituted himself a sort of general censor of judicial and official
+shortcomings, and from his seat on the bench gave utterance to petulant
+and unbecoming strictures on various transactions with which he had no
+need to concern himself.
+
+[Sidenote: 1828.]
+
+At the York Assizes held in April, 1828, Judge Willis came into such
+serious public collision with the Attorney-General that the affair was
+bruited abroad, and made considerable noise throughout the Province. On
+Thursday, the 10th of the month, Francis Collins, editor of the
+_Freeman_, was brought up on certain indictments for libel preferred
+against him by Attorney-General Robinson, under circumstances which will
+be detailed in a subsequent chapter. The bench was occupied by Mr.
+Justice Sherwood. The Clerk was just about to proceed to arraign the
+accused, when a postponement was asked for on the latter's behalf. The
+application was granted, and there the matter ended for the day. Next
+morning--Friday, the 11th--the bench was occupied by Justice Willis, who
+then for the first time in his life presided at an Assize. He had no
+sooner taken his seat than Collins rose at the bar. "May it please your
+Lordship," said he, "I have a motion or two to make in Court, if I, not
+being a lawyer, am in order in so doing."
+
+"Certainly," replied the Judge; "step forward, that the Court may hear
+you."
+
+Collins then stepped forward, and addressed the Court in a speech which
+had evidently been prepared for the occasion.[99] "My Lord," said he, "I
+am the humble conductor of a public press in this town. I come forward
+to accuse His Majesty's Attorney-General of vindictiveness and foul
+partiality in the discharge of his duty as prosecuting officer for the
+Crown. He has sent his nephews and apprentices as spies into my office
+in order to hunt up imaginary offences. He has preferred bills of
+indictment against me on supposition of libel, and I have been dragged
+from my business by a common constable, and obliged to give bail in this
+Court, while he, the Attorney-General, has allowed the most infamous
+crimes to pass in review before him, without taking any notice whatever
+of them." And so on, with much more to the same purport.
+
+The speaker was interrupted by the Attorney-General, who had been
+conferring with a member of the bar in an adjoining room, but who had
+been specially summoned into Court by his clerk, Henry Sherwood, who had
+informed him that Collins was making a long harangue to the Judge.
+Observing that the Judge showed no disposition to put a stop to the
+proceedings, Mr. Robinson requested to be informed what was the
+defendant's object in addressing the Court, and whether he had made any
+motion. "If Mr. Collins is allowed to proceed," replied Judge Willis, "I
+dare say his object will appear." Collins accordingly proceeded:--
+
+"My Lord, while I have been dragged into this Court, on the mere
+suspicion of libel, by His Majesty's Attorney-General, I hold in my hand
+the printed confession of His Majesty's Solicitor-General, Henry John
+Boulton Esquire, of a crime that the law of England calls murder,
+committed ten or eleven years ago.[100] Yet no indictment has been
+brought against him, and this confession is attested by James Fitz
+Gibbon Esquire, a magistrate of this District, and by the Sheriff of
+this Court. I hold also in my hand the printed history of an outrage of
+the grossest character, where a number of young official gentlemen in
+this town assembled together and committed a noonday burglary, by
+breaking into the private house of William Lyon Mackenzie, and
+destroying his property. This atrocious outrage, please your Lordship,
+was proved on the floor of this Court, in the presence of His Majesty's
+Attorney-General. The perpetrators were identified and sworn to, yet no
+indictment has ever been brought against them, while the
+Attorney-General is busying himself in sending spies and informers into
+my printing office to bring me up for imaginary offences."
+
+The Attorney-General could hardly be expected to sit quietly under such
+accusations as these, made in open Court, and listened to by the bench
+without any expression of disapprobation. He rose in some heat, and
+remarked that he hoped the Court would not allow the public business to
+be thus interrupted. "The defendant," said he, "is not upon his trial,
+nor has he ever been arraigned. He seems merely to be indulging himself
+in an attack upon me as Attorney-General--an attack which could not have
+any bearing upon his own case, even if it were now before a jury; but
+which at present is nothing but a most improper interruption of the
+business of the Court, by an harangue intended to prejudice the public
+mind before he shall be put upon his trial. As to the matters of which
+he has spoken, I am not to be called to account by him, or by any other
+defendant, for the discharge of my official duties with respect to other
+parties not now before the Court. I am at all times ready to account for
+my proceedings as Attorney-General to the Government for whom I act, and
+to whom I am responsible; but I trust that the Court will not suffer a
+person whom I merely know as defendant upon bills for libels of the most
+disgraceful kind, and whose arraignment upon these charges has been
+postponed, as an indulgence, at his own request--I trust that such a
+person will not be allowed to address the Court in this irregular
+manner, for the mere object of calumniating me, whose duty it is to
+conduct the prosecutions against him."
+
+A brief silence followed these words, after which Collins resumed, and
+was allowed to proceed without further interruption.
+
+"The object of my present motion, then, my Lord, is to compel the
+Attorney-General to do that duty which he has so long neglected when his
+own friends were concerned; and as I think his present proceedings
+against me are both partial and unjust, I shall press the criminal
+prosecution of his friends, Henry John Boulton Esquire, for murder, and
+Samuel P. Jarvis and others for riot. In the latter case, please your
+Lordship, the rioters were sued in a civil action, and damages to a
+considerable amount recovered from them; yet I feel it my duty to press
+the criminal prosecution, because James Fitz Gibbon Esquire, a
+magistrate of this District, begged the amount of the fine from door to
+door in this town, and the rioters have so far gone wholly unpunished.
+All I ask, please your Lordship, is justice and impartiality, and from
+your Lordship's character I doubt not I shall receive them at your
+hands."
+
+After a moment's consideration, during which silence reigned supreme in
+the Court-room, Judge Willis remarked:--"If the Attorney-General has
+acted as you say, he has very much neglected his duty. Go you before the
+Grand Jury, and if you meet with any obstruction or difficulty I will
+see that the Attorney-General affords you every facility."
+
+This was, beyond doubt, very unbecoming language to be used by a Judge
+under such circumstances. It must be understood that Judge Willis had
+not properly before him any facts upon which to base his opinion as to
+the Attorney-General's having neglected his duty. That that official had
+much to answer for; that his practice had been one-sided and
+inconsistent; that much of his life had been spent in endeavouring to
+smother public opinion and to maintain the supremacy of a selfish and
+corrupt caste--this must be conceded at the bar of history. But no such
+allegations were before Judge Willis in an official form, and he had no
+right to assume anything against the Attorney-General in the absence of
+the most irrefragable evidence. Instead of evidence, he had merely heard
+the _ex parte_ statements of an alleged libeller. This was the legal
+aspect of the matter, and it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that
+the Judge permitted himself to be influenced, by his personal dislike to
+Attorney-General Robinson.
+
+The Attorney-General sat for a moment as if thunderstruck. He had so
+long been accustomed to having his own way in Courts of Justice, and to
+seeing his opinions deferred to by the bench, that he could scarcely
+credit what was passing before his eyes. That a Judge should dare to
+censure him in this irregular way, before the bar and the public, was
+almost beyond belief. A contemporary account says that he turned to "a
+rich cream colour."[101] He was at all events labouring under suppressed
+rage as he deliberately arose to address the Court. He denied that he
+had neglected his duty in not preferring indictments against persons in
+cases where no formal complaint had been laid, and he utterly repudiated
+the idea that his office imposed upon him the _role_ of a thief-catcher.
+"It is not my business," said he, "to play the part of a detective, or
+to hunt about the country for evidence in support of voluntary
+prosecutions. I have now discharged the duties of a Crown officer for
+nearly thirteen years, and this is the first time that a failure in my
+duty has been imputed to me. I have always conceived it to be my duty to
+take official cognizance of offences against the State. As to other
+cases, I have been accustomed to proceed only upon informations and
+complaints placed in my hands by justices of the peace, and upon
+presentments of Grand Juries. In cases of injuries to individuals and
+their properties, such as assaults and riots, where a double remedy is
+afforded by action and indictment, I have not been accustomed to set the
+law in operation on my own motion."
+
+"That," interrupted Judge Willis, "merely proves that your practice has
+been uniformly wrong, and I take leave to remark that you have neglected
+your duty. Why are you placed here, as prosecuting officer? To prevent
+the violation of the public peace, or, when it has been violated, to
+punish the offenders, whoever they may be, or whatever may be your
+private feelings with respect to them. The moment a violation of the
+public peace was proved before you, as in the case mentioned by Mr.
+Collins, it was your duty to proceed against the offenders. Do you not
+consider that the Solicitor-General and yourself have the exclusive
+right to conduct all criminal prosecutions; or do you admit them to be
+open to the bar in general, as in England?"
+
+The Attorney-General's feelings were by this time worked up to a
+tremendous pitch of excitement. To think that a Judge--a junior Judge,
+who had been only a few months in the country--should presume to lecture
+him in this manner, and to instruct him in his duties as though he were
+a petty juryman! "My Lord," he burst forth, in a tone of hot anger, "I
+know my duty as well as any Judge on the bench. I have always acted in
+the way I have indicated, in which respect I have followed the practice
+of all my predecessors in this Province; and I shall continue to act in
+the same manner as long as I am prosecuting officer for the Crown."
+
+"Then, Sir," retorted Judge Willis, "if you know your duty you have
+wilfully neglected it; and as you say you will continue to act as you
+have done hitherto, I shall feel it to be my duty--holding, as I do,
+His Majesty's commission on this bench--to make a representation of
+your conduct to His Majesty's Government."
+
+This far from edifying scene was without precedent in the annals of
+Upper Canadian courts of justice, and was for some days the talk of the
+town, more especially among the members of the legal profession. The bar
+generally sided with the Attorney-General, and were loud in their
+aspersions upon Judge Willis. Some of the leading members, however,
+among whom were Rolph, Bidwell and the two Baldwins, took a different
+view, so far, at least, as the legal aspect of the dispute was
+concerned. As for public opinion generally, it was largely in favour of
+Judge Willis. On Monday, the 14th, before the public pulse had had time
+to cool, there was a scarcely less notable interchange of asperities
+between the same personages. The Attorney-General, in a criminal case in
+which he was officially concerned, took occasion to reiterate, in
+effect, the views to which he had given expression on the previous
+Thursday as to the duties of a Crown prosecutor. When he had finished
+his remarks Judge Willis expressed himself to the same effect as before.
+"The practice in this country," said the Judge, "as stated by the
+Attorney-General, does not agree with my notions as to the duty of that
+officer, and I have laid a statement of the question before His
+Majesty's Government here for the purpose of having it transmitted to
+England, where it will be decided how far the Attorney-General is right
+in expressing his sentiments as he has done." Mr. Robinson hereupon
+remarked that he was Attorney-General to His Majesty, and not to Judge
+Willis, and that he would act as he believed to be right, even though he
+should differ in opinion from his Lordship.
+
+JUSTICE WILLIS.--Mr. Attorney-General, I am one of His Majesty's Judges
+in this Province. As such, it is my place to state to the Crown officers
+what their duties are, and it is for them to perform those duties
+according to direction. If the interests of the Crown had not been
+concerned I would not have permitted any discussion on the question. But
+I am sure His Majesty's Government will protect me from insult in the
+exercise of my judicial functions, and in stating to any public officer
+what I conceive to be his duties.
+
+ATTORNEY-GENERAL ROBINSON.--And will also protect His Majesty's officers
+in the execution of their duty.
+
+JUSTICE WILLIS.--Mr. Attorney-General, I beg that you will not reply to
+the bench in that manner.
+
+The unseemliness of thus discussing, in open Court, how far the
+Attorney-General had proved to be an effective public servant, must be
+apparent to everybody. And it must be admitted that the discussion was
+provoked by Justice Willis, who had made something very like an attack
+upon the Attorney-General--an attack based upon the unsworn statements
+of an indicted libeller. He had moreover permitted Collins to go a most
+unwarrantable length in his onslaught upon the Crown prosecutor, more
+especially as no affidavits had been produced in support of the motion.
+A layman who comes before the Courts _inops consilii_ is allowed more
+latitude in the conduct of his case than is generally conceded to a
+counsel whose professional business it is to plead at the bar; but the
+latitude permitted in the case under consideration was beyond all
+legitimate bounds. The Judge's dislike to the Attorney-General seems to
+have predisposed him to believe that all Collins's allegations were
+true. In reality they were exaggerated presentations of notorious facts.
+That they were largely founded upon facts Judge Willis probably knew
+from common hearsay. But while sitting on the bench he had nothing to do
+with common hearsay. _A fortiori_, he was not justified, upon the mere
+assumption of a hypothetical case,[102] in admonishing the
+Attorney-General in the presence of his accuser, and in humiliating him
+in the presence of the bar of which he was the rightful head. An English
+judge would be considered as departing widely beyond the sphere of his
+duty if he were thus openly to arraign the conduct of the
+Attorney-General, especially in a matter clearly lying, as in the case
+under consideration, within that officer's discretion. English judges,
+on the contrary, are much more likely to interpose on behalf of the
+officers of the Crown, and to prevent their acts and motives from being
+called in question in open Court by persons against whom proceedings
+have been instituted by them. Judge Willis seems to have been wrong in
+his law, wrong in his etiquette, wrong in his temper, and wrong in his
+construction of judicial amenities.
+
+Henceforth the Judge's "amoval" was only a matter of time, for the
+entire influence of the Executive, direct and indirect, was arrayed
+against him. From the Lieutenant-Governor down to the most insignificant
+clerk in the departments there arose a howl of indignation against the
+man who had dared to set up his wife in opposition to Lady Sarah
+Maitland; who had dissented from the judgments of Chief Justice Campbell
+and Mr. Sherwood, and sneered at their legal acumen; who consorted with
+the leading members of the Opposition; who had even gone the
+inconceivable length of berating Attorney-General Robinson for
+neglecting his duty. Such a man was not to be tolerated. He must surely
+be a Radical, who had got himself sent over to this colony in order that
+he might stir up dissatisfaction among the people. To go over all the
+interminable squabbles which took place between Judge Willis, on the one
+hand, and the various judicial and official dignitaries on the other,
+would be alike wearisome and profitless. Judge Willis availed himself of
+every opportunity which presented itself for officially and publicly
+animadverting upon the conduct of those who were opposed to him. He
+added to his enormities by announcing, through the newspapers, that he
+was preparing for publication a work on Upper Canadian jurisprudence,
+and it appeared that the title-page was to bear the deprecatory motto
+_Meliora sperans_.[103] _Meliora sperans_, indeed! What manner of
+personage was this outsider, who arrogated to himself the responsibility
+of ameliorating the rigours of Upper Canadian laws?[104] It was not long
+before an opposition announcement appeared, being an exact counterpart
+of the other, except that the motto was _Deteriora timens_. The
+authorship of the latter, whether rightly or wrongly, was very generally
+attributed to Attorney-General Robinson. Judge Willis's announcement
+gave great offence to the official guardians of the law, from the
+highest to the lowest. The motto, which in reality had been adopted by
+him prior to his coming to Canada, was believed to have been specially
+assumed for the occasion, and was regarded as a covert sneer at existing
+institutions in the Province. As a consequence, it was taken as
+additional evidence of disrespect. Owing to the Judge's "amoval" the
+projected treatise was never issued, though several chapters of it had
+actually been written. A small portion of it was incorporated in a work
+published by the author in England twenty-two years afterwards.[105]
+
+In an elaborately-worded despatch to the Colonial Secretary, dated the
+6th of June, 1828, Sir Peregrine Maitland called the attention of that
+official to Judge Willis's announcement and the accompanying motto,
+which he declared to be, in his opinion, neither discreet nor delicate,
+as emanating from a Judge upon the bench, who had been but a few months
+in the Province. The laws of Upper Canada, in Sir Peregrine's
+estimation, were highly satisfactory, and needed nothing so much as to
+be let alone. "I have been ten years in this government," he wrote, "and
+as I have never received any representation against the laws, or the
+manner in which they have been administered, I must conclude that the
+people are content with both." Content with laws which prescribed
+capital punishment for the killing of a cow! Content with laws which had
+been conceived in an iron age, and under a state of society which was
+now happily passing away! Content with the laws! When a majority of the
+population, through their representatives in the Assembly, had for years
+been using their utmost endeavours to procure the repeal of the Sedition
+Act of 1804! When a Select Committee of the British House of Commons had
+directed the attention of Government to this mediaevally-conceived
+statute, and had expressly recommended its repeal! Content with the
+manner in which the laws had been administered, when the trial of Robert
+Gourlay was yet fresh in the public memory! When a score of almost
+equally vile but less conspicuous perversions of justice were matters of
+yesterday! When no obscure litigant could sue a member of the Family
+Compact with any assurance of obtaining his rights! When the Reform
+newspapers had for years been filled to overflowing with complaints
+about the imperfect administration of justice! When a very
+strongly-worded complaint of neglect in the administration of justice
+had only a few weeks before been made in open court to Judge Willis when
+he first took his seat in a Court of Assize! When a large proportion of
+the population had ceased to have any confidence in the integrity of the
+judiciary! When this want of confidence was shared by several leaders of
+the Provincial bar, who certainly had exceptional opportunities for
+forming a correct opinion on the subject! The time was not far distant
+when one of the most eminent and successful lawyers in the country was
+to abandon his profession, owing to this very want of confidence. Truly,
+a wonderful manifestation of content with the laws and the manner in
+which they were administered. Sir Peregrine thought and acted as other
+opponents of reform have acted from time immemorial. He refused to
+believe in the existence of discontent which he did not share. He
+refused to believe that he himself was not an object of adoration to the
+great body of the people, because the official lickspittles by whom he
+was surrounded vied with each other in flattering his imbecile vanity.
+Had he been left to his own devices he would have been like the doomed
+king who refused to believe that his people were hungry until thirty
+thousand starving _sans-culottes_ were thundering at his palace gates.
+
+It soon became generally known throughout the country that strained
+relations existed between Judge Willis and the whole race of officialdom
+at the capital. The new Judge was known to have given expression to a
+desire for a reform of the law; and it was commonly assumed that it was
+to his liberal ideas that he was indebted for the hostility with which
+he was regarded by the ruling faction. The Reform Party warmly espoused
+his cause, and their organs devoted much space to extolling his wisdom,
+moderation and other high qualities. Addresses to him were circulated
+throughout some of the rural constituencies, and there was a manifest
+disposition to cater for his favour and patronage. Had he been endowed
+with discretion and good judgment he might, without any dereliction from
+his judicial duty or integrity, have rendered incalculable service to
+the cause of freedom and good government. Doubtless the rendering of
+such service would sooner or later have involved him in complications
+with the official party, but if he had kept his head it is doubtful if
+they could have prevailed against him. Unfortunately he proved to be too
+weak for his position, and allowed himself to be completely
+out-manoeuvred. He ruined himself, without accomplishing anything for
+the cause which he wished to serve. The time was rapidly drawing near
+when, by means of a judicial decision, he was to shut the door forever
+upon any prospect of his advancement in this country, and when he was to
+be made the subject of official communications resulting in his
+permanent removal therefrom.
+
+As has already been mentioned, there had been frequent differences of
+opinion between Mr. Willis and his colleagues, almost from the beginning
+of the former's assumption of judicial functions. The acting justices of
+the Court of King's Bench were at that time three in number, and
+consisted of the Hon. William Campbell, Chief Justice, the Hon. Levius
+Peters Sherwood, senior puisne judge, and Mr. Justice Willis himself.
+During the first Term which ensued after Mr. Willis's arrival in this
+country--which was Michaelmas Term, 1827--he had occupied the bench
+along with the other two judges. In Hilary Term of 1828 the Court had
+been presided over by the same three judges, except that Chief Justice
+Campbell had occasionally been absent from his seat in consequence of
+infirm health. Immediately after the close of the last-named Term the
+Chief Justice, having obtained from the Lieutenant-Governor six months'
+leave of absence, departed for England, whence he did not return until
+after a long holiday. The Court of King's Bench was thus left with only
+the two puisne judges, who accordingly presided by themselves during the
+following Easter Term. They had by this time come to dislike each other
+most cordially, insomuch that it taxed their powers to the utmost to
+treat each other with becoming respect. Sometimes the effort was beyond
+their power, and they snapped and snarled at one another upon the bench
+like two querulous old women. They now differed in opinion upon almost
+every case which came before them, and it is impossible to doubt that
+their differences were in large measure due to their personal hostility.
+This was a serious matter, for, as no third judge was at hand to give
+the preponderance of authority to either side, there was a practical
+dead-lock in much of the business of the Court. Suitors were put to
+serious delay, inconvenience, and consequent expense. Counsel were
+profoundly disgusted, and of course took sides for and against. Judge
+Willis was so sensible of the deplorable consequences of such a state of
+things that, as soon as Term was over, he entered into a minute and
+searching investigation of the constitution and power of the Court of
+King's Bench as established in Upper Canada.[106] He was desirous of
+finding some way out of the difficulty, or at all events of knowing
+precisely upon what ground he stood. But a still more serious evil soon
+began to loom up before his mind, for the result of his investigations
+was a conviction that the Court could not legally sit in Term, unless
+the full court--_i.e._, the Chief Justice and the two puisne
+Justices--were present.
+
+This conviction was a momentous one, for, if sustained, it would nullify
+much that had been done in the Court ever since its establishment in
+1794. The frequent practice had been for two Judges, and sometimes even
+for only one, to sit during Term; and, as has been seen, Judge Willis
+himself had so far acquiesced in this practice as to sit during a part
+of the preceding Hilary Term, and during the whole of Easter Term, with
+Justice Sherwood as his only colleague. He had however assumed the
+prevailing practice to be justified by the constitution of the Court,
+and had not examined the matter on his own account until impelled to do
+so by the reasons already indicated. He now discovered, as he believed,
+that the practice was altogether unwarranted, and that all that had been
+done under it was liable to be upset. The first section of the
+Provincial Statute under which the Court had been created[107] enacted
+that "His Majesty's Chief Justice, together with two puisne justices,"
+should preside therein. All the subsequent sections except those
+relating to appeals had been repealed by a later Provincial Act,[108]
+and although power was given to the senior puisne Judge, in the absence
+of the Chief Justice, to _teste_ the process, and to _any_ of the Judges
+to sit at _Nisi Prius_, there was no authority to sit _in Banco_,
+unless the Court were full. Having arrived at a conclusion on the
+subject, Judge Willis at once communicated the fact to the Colonial
+Secretary, the communication being made by letter, forwarded through the
+Lieutenant-Governor, and left purposely unsealed in order that that
+dignitary might possess himself of the contents, to which his attention
+was specially called by a separate note. Sir Peregrine could not refuse
+to transmit the Judge's missive, but he took good care to malign him in
+an accompanying despatch. "It is with pain" he wrote, "I am compelled to
+observe that, having presided as a Judge for the first two terms after
+his arrival, without finding more occasion than all the respectable
+Judges who have preceded him to make the administration of justice
+subservient to popular excitement, Mr. Willis has been either unable or
+unwilling within the last few months to avoid making his proceedings,
+either in the Civil or Criminal Court, the prominent subject of
+political discussion, and the pretence of attacks _from the vilest
+quarters_, and of the grossest kind, upon those who were associated with
+him in the administration of justice, and of whom I shall speak only
+justly when I say that the measure of respect and esteem in which their
+public conduct has ever hitherto been held, and is now held, by their
+Government, and by every person except by Mr. Willis, and by a party
+with whom I have lamented to find him associate himself, and _who are
+not very respectable in any sense_, is not to be attained but by a long
+period of correct and honourable service." The italics are not Sir
+Peregrine's, but they are deserving of all the emphasis which
+distinguishing type can give them, as exemplifying the way in which the
+representative of Majesty in those days was not ashamed to secretly
+vilify persons who opposed his policy: persons who, whether contemplated
+from a moral or an intellectual point of view, were elevated so far
+above him that it is impossible to institute any comparison between
+them. Will it be believed that the gentlemen who were "not very
+respectable in any sense" were John Rolph, Marshall Spring Bidwell, Dr.
+William Warren Baldwin, and Robert Baldwin? Was it not an honour to be
+disreputable in such company? Some of these, at least, were men whom no
+pressure of outward circumstances could have induced to stab their
+bitterest foe in the dark, as this eminently respectable vice-regal
+assassin was in the frequent habit of doing in his despatches, and as
+he did when he wrote the mendacious words above quoted. Judge Willis
+doubtless associated with these men because he found them more to his
+taste than anyone else with whom he became acquainted in York. And his
+doing so was made much more of than the facts warranted. His
+acquaintance with the persons named was not of such a nature as to be
+called intimate. In his "Narrative," already quoted from, he has
+recorded that to the best of his recollection he never conversed with
+Dr. Baldwin, Mr. Rolph, Mr. Bidwell, "or any other person politically
+opposed to Mr. Robinson" a dozen times in the course of his life; and in
+a separate defence of his conduct written at Bath in December, 1828, he
+says: "From what I know of Dr. Baldwin and his family, I must always
+sincerely regret that I have not known more."[109]
+
+Having arrived at such a decision as to the constitution of the Court,
+and having apprised the Colonial Secretary thereof, he took the earliest
+feasible opportunity of making it known to the Provincial bar. At ten
+o'clock in the forenoon of the opening day of Trinity Term--which was
+Monday, the 16th of June--he repaired to the Court House at York. While
+robing himself in the Judge's chamber he was joined by his colleague,
+Justice Sherwood, and a few moments afterward they both proceeded to the
+Court room, attended by the Sheriff in the usual manner. The Court
+having been formally opened, Judge Willis arose and addressed the
+audience, standing all the while, after the manner of a counsel at the
+bar. In the course of his remarks, which occupied nearly an hour in
+delivery, he expressed himself in very positive terms as to the
+constitution of the Court. He declared it to be his decided opinion that
+the Court could not be legally held without the presence of the Chief
+Justice and two puisne Judges; that everything which had theretofore
+been done in the Court by two Judges only was null and void; that the
+Lieutenant-Governor had no authority to grant leave of absence to a
+Judge without the express approbation of the Executive Council; that he
+(Judge Willis) had made enquiry at the office of the Executive Council,
+and had found that leave had always been granted by the
+Lieutenant-Governor alone, in pursuance of which leave Chief Justice
+Campbell was now absent from the Province. The manner in which the leave
+of absence to the Chief Justice, as well as to many other persons
+holding situations under the Provincial Government, had been granted by
+the Lieutenant-Governor, was pronounced to be, in Judge Willis's
+opinion, not only irregular but illegal, whereby the incumbents had
+forfeited their several offices. During the preceding Term an order of
+the Court had been passed by Judge Sherwood and himself. That order he
+now rescinded, so far as his authority was concerned, and he expressed
+his regret that he had entered upon the discharge of his judicial
+functions without having previously acquainted himself with the state of
+the law. He added that he had felt it to be his imperative duty to
+declare his opinion as to the incapacity of the Court to legally proceed
+with the business before it; and that, holding that opinion, he had
+resolved to decline to sit any longer upon the bench, though he would
+remain at hand to attend to any functions which he could legally
+discharge.
+
+This extraordinary address, it may be presumed, was not altogether a
+surprise to Justice Sherwood, as Justice Willis had previously notified
+the Lieutenant-Governor of his intention to give currency to his views
+at the commencement of Term, and Sir Peregrine would be certain to
+discuss the matter with the Attorney-General, through which medium the
+facts would be tolerably sure to find their way to Justice Sherwood. The
+latter seemed to take the matter very coolly. He informed the bar that
+he would not take upon himself to pronounce an opinion on the subject of
+the constitution of the Court, as there was nothing before him which
+rendered it necessary for him to do so. He added that he would adhere to
+the practice which had uniformly prevailed, and that he would not
+hesitate to proceed with the ordinary business of the Court, adjourning
+it from day to day as occasion required. Judge Willis, still standing,
+then said: "You cannot adjourn a Court that does not exist. The Court is
+not legally constituted. Its functions cannot be exercised, and any
+proceedings you may take will be void." "I am aware," replied Mr.
+Sherwood, "that such is your opinion; but I have a right to mine and I
+shall pursue the course I have indicated. If that course,
+notwithstanding the practice which has hitherto prevailed, should prove
+to be wrong, I shall extremely regret it; but I feel it to be a matter
+of too much importance to the business of the country to take upon
+myself to vary from it, without the interference of a higher authority."
+Judge Willis then briefly repeated his protest, and retired from the
+bench. His colleague, after transacting some unimportant routine
+business, adjourned the Court until the following day. Throughout the
+rest of the Term he was the sole occupant of the Bench.
+
+Judge Willis's conduct on this occasion does not admit of much diversity
+of opinion. For one thing, as was subsequently decided by the Privy
+Council, he was wrong in his view of the law. This is of itself an
+important consideration. But even if his view had been a sound one,
+admitting of no doubt, he incurred a very serious responsibility in
+giving currency to it at such a time, and in such a manner. His conduct
+was certain to produce great excitement and disturbance in the public
+mind. It was certain to create an increased distrust of long-settled
+institutions, which it was highly essential for the well-being of
+society that the public should regard with confidence and respect.
+Besides, the rendering of the past and present proceedings of the Court
+liable to doubt and uncertainty could not fail to seriously affect the
+business interests of the country. If the practice of the Court had been
+wrong, and if many of its proceedings were invalid, the wisest course
+would have been to quietly take steps to bring about remedial
+legislation, whereby all defects might have been cured, without the
+serious risk of reviving old animosities and long-settled disputes. But
+such a course as Judge Willis saw fit to adopt was wholly uncalled for,
+no plea to the jurisdiction having been pleaded in any case before the
+Court. It was certain to produce ill, without any possibility of good.
+He moreover placed in the hands of the Executive a rod for his own
+back--an implement of which they speedily availed themselves to inflict
+grievous punishment.
+
+On the following day, which was Thursday, the 17th, Judge Willis
+formally notified the Lieutenant-Governor of the public delivery of his
+opinion, adding that he was nevertheless most desirous of discharging
+such duties as he could legally perform consistently with his view of
+the law. Judge Sherwood meanwhile continued to sit on the bench alone,
+and to transact such business as came before him. Some influential
+members of the bar found themselves in a quandary. After Judge Willis's
+decision, they entertained grave doubts as to the legality of the Court,
+and hesitated as to the advisability of taking any further proceedings
+in cases committed to them, until the vexed question should be settled.
+Judge Sherwood, though he had dissented from his colleague's view, and
+though he plainly testified by his persisting in sitting and holding
+Court that he still continued to dissent, had not given any formal
+judgment, nor had he even verbally stated any grounds for his opinion.
+With a view to obtaining light for their guidance in this perplexing
+emergency, Dr. Baldwin, his son Robert, and Mr. Simon Washburn, another
+prominent member of the bar, addressed a written application to the
+Court, in the person of Justice Sherwood, requesting to be favoured with
+his opinion on the matter. The application was made on Thursday, the
+17th, and replied to by Mr. Sherwood in writing next day. The
+phraseology of the reply made it quite clear that the Judge felt by no
+means strong in his position. "You are desirous," he wrote, "that I
+should express an opinion from the bench on the present state of this
+Court, but it appears to me any opinion of that sort would be
+extra-judicial. No one but His Majesty's Representative has any right to
+ask for the opinion of a Judge where no cause or regular motion,
+according to the practice of the Court, is pending before him." There
+was more to the same no-purport. It was clear that the applicants were
+not to receive much assistance from Justice Sherwood in resolving their
+doubts. The Judge's response was no sooner communicated from the bench
+than the two Baldwins and Mr Rolph then and there threw off their gowns
+and left the Court, declaring that they concurred in opinion with Judge
+Willis, and that they could not continue to transact business in a Court
+which they believed to illegally constituted.
+
+The emergency brought about by Judge Willis's decision, and by his
+consequent withdrawal from the bench, was one for which the Executive
+deemed it essential to provide without unnecessary delay. It was
+manifestly impossible that matters should remain _in statu quo_. The
+time for holding the annual circuits was approaching. Mr. Sherwood was
+the only Judge remaining on the bench, and a Court composed of a single
+Judge is not a satisfactory tribunal for all purposes of justice. The
+Council took the opinions of the law officers of the Crown as to the
+soundness of the Judge's views with respect to the constitutionality of
+the Court of King's Bench. Those opinions were in direct opposition to
+the conclusion at which Judge Willis had arrived. The Attorney-General's
+was a remarkably exhaustive and lucid exposition of the law bearing upon
+the question. It was also free from ambiguity, and left little room for
+doubt. These opinions were strengthened by that of Justice Sherwood,
+who, at the request of the Executive, also prepared an elaborate paper
+on the subject, in which he expressed precisely similar views to those
+enunciated by the Attorney-General. The question was then submitted to
+the Crown officers whether the Lieutenant-Governor could legally remove
+Judge Willis from office and appoint a successor. The answer prepared by
+the Attorney-General, and signed both by him and Solicitor-General
+Boulton, came with remarkable promptitude. "Upon the points submitted to
+us," it ran, "we are of opinion, 1st: That the power to remove an
+officer depends on the tenure of his office. In this, as in other
+colonies, the appointment of a judge is during pleasure; and we conceive
+that in law any person holding an office on such a tenure is removable
+at pleasure: that is, at the pleasure of the Lieutenant-Governor, acting
+in the name and on behalf of the King. The reasons for such removal are
+to be rendered to His Majesty by the Lieutenant-Governor, who is
+responsible for their sufficiency.... 2nd: We are of opinion that a
+removal of a Judge of the Court of King's Bench necessarily vacates the
+office, and that another person may be appointed to fill the vacancy,
+subject to be confirmed or disallowed by His Majesty."
+
+The Executive acted with great circumspection. Fortified as they were by
+these strongly-worded opinions, and assured as they felt of the legality
+of their contemplated proceedings, they did not permit themselves to be
+betrayed into indiscretion. On the 25th of the month they addressed a
+letter to Judge Willis, referring to his communication to the
+Lieutenant-Governor on the 17th, in which he had professed willingness
+to discharge such duties as he could legally perform. He was asked what
+explanation he had to offer, and what duties he was prepared to
+undertake. On the 26th he replied that he did not feel at liberty to
+pronounce an extra-judicial opinion, and that he could only define the
+precise nature of his duties when the matter should come judicially
+before him. The Executive thereupon pronounced his doom, and a writ was
+issued whereby he was removed from office until His Majesty's pleasure
+should be known. The Lieutenant-Governor, through his Secretary,
+notified him that the Council had felt it incumbent upon them to advise
+this step.[110] The "amoval" was now an accomplished fact. A vacancy was
+thus created on the bench, which was filled on the 2nd of July by the
+appointment of Christopher Alexander Hagerman to a puisne judgeship.
+
+The news of Judge Willis's "amoval" spread rapidly through the Province,
+and produced widespread excitement. The circumstance that his course had
+met with the approval of Rolph and the Baldwins led to the belief among
+non-professional people that he was sound on the legal question, and
+that he had been driven from the bench because he would not stoop to
+corruption. The case of Judge Thorpe was exhumed from the dust of twenty
+years, and the amoval of Judge Willis was believed to be a mere
+re-enactment of that forgotten iniquity. As for Judge Willis himself, he
+determined to proceed at once to England to present his side or his
+case, in the form of an appeal from the order of amotion, at the
+Colonial Office. Before his departure he received addresses of
+condolence from various parts of the Province. Numerously-signed
+petitions in his favour were transmitted to the king, and to the several
+other branches of the Imperial and Provincial Legislatures. A long
+requisition from a number of influential persons in the County of
+Lincoln entreated him to represent their constituency in the Assembly.
+People who were usually sensible appear to have lost their heads for a
+time during this exciting period. A large meeting of the Judge's
+sympathizers was held in Toronto, at which Dr. Baldwin and Mr. John
+Galt,[111] with their wives, were appointed a Committee to watch over
+the interests and insure the protection of Lady Mary and her family
+during the absence of her lord; and Robert Baldwin was added to the
+Committee as her Ladyship's solicitor.
+
+Judge Willis took his departure from York on the 11th of July. As he
+expected that he would very soon be able to procure from the Colonial
+Office a reversal of his "amoval," and that he would be reinstated in
+his judgeship, to the great discomfiture of the Lieutenant-Governor and
+his satellites, he did not think it necessary that his family should
+accompany him to England. The suitable disposal of the members of his
+household was an embarrassing problem for him. In good sooth, he was in
+a situation somewhat analogous to the man in the familiar old story, who
+came to the bank of a wide stream, having in his possession a fox, a
+goose, and a bag of corn. The application is easy. Mrs. Willis and Lady
+Mary could by no means be left to keep house together unless the head of
+the establishment was near at hand to keep the peace between them. The
+relations between Lady Mary and Miss Willis, though far from amicable,
+were somewhat less strained. Mr. Willis accordingly took with him his
+mother only, leaving his wife, child and sister behind him; though it is
+to be presumed that the above-mentioned Committee had a sinecure, so far
+as any special attendance upon or protection over Lady Mary was
+concerned.
+
+A series of acrimonious despatches from the Lieutenant-Governor preceded
+Mr. Willis across the Atlantic. For weeks--probably for months--before
+the delivery of his unfortunate decision, the espionage system had been
+put in full operation against him, and measures had been taken to watch
+his personal habits and pastimes. There had been a firm determination to
+effect his ruin,[112] and the strong suspicion that such was the case
+had done much to array a majority of the inhabitants on his side. "It is
+my duty to state to you in the most decided terms," wrote Sir Peregrine
+Maitland to the Colonial Secretary, on the 6th of July, "that his [Mr.
+Willis's] restitution to office, while it would be received by the most
+portion of the population as a triumph over the Government which Mr.
+Willis has ungratefully and wantonly insulted, would be most pernicious
+to the peace of this colony, and an act of the most aggravating
+injustice to those faithful servants of the Crown against whom he has,
+for unworthy purposes, dishonourably laboured to excite the prejudice
+and hatred of the ignorant and malicious." It is worth while to note
+that this extract contains a clear admission by the Lieutenant-Governor
+that his Government was regarded with disfavour by "the most portion of
+the population:" an admission directly at variance with many statements
+made by him in former despatches, as well as in speeches to the
+Provincial Parliament.
+
+Upon reaching England Mr. Willis put himself into immediate
+communication with the Colonial Office. He took up his quarters at the
+house of his brother, the Reverend W. D. Willis, at Bath. There he
+prepared an elaborate statement of his case, which was duly forwarded to
+the Colonial Secretary. After some delay he succeeded in obtaining
+copies of the several despatches of Sir Peregrine Maitland in which the
+charges against him were formulated with wearisome reiteration. These
+indictments against him, which, though signed by Sir Peregrine, were
+doubtless in reality prepared by Mr. Willis's arch-enemy,
+Attorney-General Robinson, were certainly of the most formidable
+character. They went over the whole course of the Judge's procedure,
+from the time of his arrival in the Province down to his departure
+therefrom. To the serious grounds of complaint which had unquestionably
+been given were added numerous delinquencies of the most petty and
+trifling nature. It was stigmatized as "a great indecency" that Judge
+Willis had been seen in a dress "but little according with his
+situation."[113] In view of the interests involved, and of the grave
+nature of the questions to be decided, it seems ludicrous that the
+appellant should have been called upon to reply to an accusation of this
+nature.[114] A perusal of these despatches, however, rendered necessary
+a supplementary statement and narrative, wherein every count in the
+indictment was either traversed, or, in legal parlance, confessed and
+avoided. But Mr. Willis soon found that he was not to gain so easy a
+triumph over his enemies as he had previously allowed himself to suppose
+would be the case. The question to be decided was a purely technical
+one, and after the matter had been for some time under consideration at
+the Colonial Office it was referred for decision to the Privy Council,
+where it was not disposed of for nearly a year. The conclusion finally
+arrived at was that Mr. Willis had been wrong in his view of the
+question in dispute, and that the Executive Council, in amoving him from
+office, had not acted in excess of their authority. Under such
+circumstances his return to Upper Canada was of course out of the
+question; but as his conduct was attributed to error of judgment rather
+than to any serious dereliction from duty, he received an appointment to
+a judgeship in the South American colony of Demerara.
+
+From all the circumstances, then, it is clear that Judge Willis, though
+he was in some sense a victim of Executive intolerance in Upper Canada,
+was himself largely to blame for his downfall, to which he contributed
+by his want of caution and calm good sense. But many of the
+circumstances detailed in the present chapter were unknown to the bulk
+of the Canadian people, by whom he was regarded as a martyr to his
+upright and liberal principles. His amoval produced a wider excitement
+than any event since Gourlay's time. It tended greatly to embitter
+public opinion, and was unquestionably a strong factor in producing the
+discontent which ultimately found expression in open rebellion. For this
+reason it has been thought desirable to go somewhat minutely into
+details which are in themselves fraught with instruction, and as to
+which the people of Canada, even at the present day, are very
+inadequately informed.
+
+[Sidenote: 1829.]
+
+Mr. Willis felt his defeat very keenly, more especially as he had
+confidently looked forward to a successful termination of his appeal. At
+his instigation the subject was brought before the attention of the
+House of Commons by Lord Milton, on Tuesday, the 11th day of May,
+1830.[115] Sir George's Murray's explanation, which involved a narrative
+of the circumstances in detail, proved satisfactory to the House, and
+the matter was allowed to drop. But the amoved Judge was fated to have
+greater reasons still for deploring that he had ever taken up his abode
+in Canada, as his residence there led to the rupture of his family ties
+and the total wreck of his domestic happiness. It will be remembered
+that Lady Mary and her child, together with Miss Willis, had remained at
+York. Upon learning the decision of the Privy Council in his case, Mr.
+Willis wrote to his wife and sister, requesting them to dispose of his
+house there, and to return home as speedily as possible. During the long
+interval which had elapsed since the ex-Judge's departure for England,
+the two ladies had been left to amuse themselves as best they could in
+the little capital. They occasionally went into society, and received a
+certain amount of attention from that portion of it which had been
+favourable to Judge Willis, as well as from some of the military
+officers stationed there. Among others whose acquaintance they formed
+was a certain Lieutenant Bernard, an officer of the 68th Light Infantry,
+whose regiment was then in Canada. He occasionally rode out with Miss
+Willis, who was an accomplished equestrienne, but he did not appear to
+be on specially intimate terms with Lady Mary. On the 16th of May, 1829,
+Lady Mary set out for England by way of Montreal, Miss Willis remaining
+behind for a week to make a final disposition of the house. On reaching
+Kingston, Lady Mary was met by Lieutenant Bernard, who accompanied her
+to Montreal, whence the pair several months afterwards fled together to
+England, Lady Mary leaving her child behind her in the care of one of
+her maids. Mr. Willis brought an action against Bernard, who had by that
+time succeeded to a Captaincy. The case was tried in the Court of Common
+Pleas at Westminster on Thursday, the 9th of February, 1832, when the
+plaintiff recovered L1000 by way of damages. A report of the proceedings
+will be found in _The Times_ of the following day.[116]
+
+[Sidenote: 1832.]
+
+It may be of interest to Canadian readers to learn that Mr. Willis was
+some years afterwards appointed to a seat on the bench of the Supreme
+Court of New South Wales. On the 8th of February, 1841, he was under a
+local statute appointed resident Judge for the District of Port Philip.
+While officiating in that capacity he came into conflict with Sir
+George Gipps, Governor of the Colony, and the Executive Council, by whom
+he was once more "amoved" from office. The order of amotion, which was
+made on the 17th of June, 1843, was however reversed by the Imperial
+Privy Council for irregularity. The Lords of the Judicial Committee,
+before whom the case was heard in June and July, 1846, reported that in
+their opinion the Governor-in-Council had power in law to amove Mr.
+Willis, and that the facts were sufficient to justify his amoval, but
+that an opportunity ought to have been afforded him of being previously
+heard. The requisite notice not having been given, the omission was held
+to vacate the order of amotion, and judgment was rendered
+accordingly.[117]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[96] See his "Narrative of Occurrences in Upper Canada," written from
+Bath to the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department, dated 5th
+December, 1828, and included in pp. 273-288 of the blue book on the
+subject issued by the Imperial Government in 1829.
+
+[97] There is a covert irony in the portion of Judge Willis's
+_Narrative_ which refers to this subject. "I wished to think," he
+writes, "and from the attention he seemed to pay to business I actually
+worked myself up into the belief, which I frequently expressed, that Mr.
+Justice Sherwood was a _hard-headed_ sensible man; but I became
+convinced that, though right in the former conjecture, yet so far as
+legal knowledge or abilities were concerned, I was mistaken in the
+latter part of my conclusion." The italics are Judge Willis's own.
+
+[98] See Judge Willis's _Narrative_, ubi supra.
+
+[99] So far as mere diction is concerned I have here chiefly followed
+Collins's own report of this episode, as published in the _Freeman_, but
+I have also before me the Attorney-General's account, as well as the
+more elaborate one of Judge Willis himself, and the three do not
+materially differ in this respect.
+
+[100] _Ante_, p. 13.
+
+[101] The _Freeman_, April 17th, 1828.
+
+[102] The case, as put by the Judge, was purely hypothetical. "_If_ the
+Attorney-General has acted so and so, he has neglected his duty." See
+_ante_, p. 174.
+
+[103] The announcement ran as follows:--"Preparing for publication.--A
+View of the Present System of Jurisprudence in Upper Canada; by an
+English Barrister, now one of His Majesty's Judges in this
+Province.--_Meliora sperans._"
+
+[104] It was time for some one to undertake the duty of ameliorating the
+criminal law of Upper Canada, which was that of England as it stood on
+the 17th of September, 1792, except in so far as it had been altered by
+subsequent legislation. At the Assizes for the Home District, held at
+York in the autumn of 1827, within a few weeks after Judge Willis's
+arrival in the Province, a boy was capitally convicted and sentenced to
+death for killing a cow.
+
+[105] _On the Government of the British Colonies._ London, 1850.
+
+[106] The investigation, according to Judge Willis's own testimony, was
+entered into partly in consequence of a suggestion which he received on
+the subject. See the text of his written opinion, embodied in pp. 66-74
+of the Imperial blue book issued in 1829, entitled "Papers relating to
+the Removal of the Honourable John Walpole Willis from the Office of One
+of His Majesty's Judges of the Court of King's Bench of Upper Canada."
+It seems probable that the suggestion emanated from Dr. Baldwin.
+
+[107] 34 Geo. III., c. 2. This statute was framed by the Hon. William
+Osgoode, first Chief Justice of Upper Canada, a gentleman of great
+learning, who had been sent out from England for the express purpose of
+organizing the Courts of the Province.
+
+[108] 2 Geo. IV., c. 1.
+
+[109] See pp. 249-267 of the Imperial Government's blue book on the
+subject, _ubi supra_.
+
+[110] The notification was dated the 26th of June, whereas the formal
+document issued by the Council was not signed until the 27th. Mr. Willis
+attached a good deal of weight to this irregularity, which however was
+of less importance than might at first sight be supposed. The Council
+had fully made up their minds on the 26th, and the notification was
+despatched accordingly, though the order of amotion was not actually
+ready for signature until the day following.
+
+[111] The well-known author, who was then in Canada as representative of
+the Canada Land Company.
+
+[112] "Cabot," in _Blackwood's Magazine_ for September, 1829.
+
+[113] See despatch marked "Separate," from Major-General Sir Peregrine
+Maitland to Mr. Secretary Huskisson, dated 6th July, 1828.
+
+[114] His reply will be matter of surprise to the staid and
+decorously-attired judges of the present day. "On all ordinary
+occasions," he wrote, "I usually wore a _black velvet coat and
+waistcoat_. The first time I saw the Chief Justice he had on a black
+kalimanco or camlet jacket, which I have seen him wear even on the
+bench. I have met the Lieutenant-Governor frequently walking through the
+streets with an olive-coloured square-cut velveteen jacket and
+waistcoat; and a few days before I left York I beheld Mr. Justice
+Sherwood in a grass-green cloth jacket with white metal buttons. I
+merely mention these 'extravagancies' to show that my dress was neither
+improper nor extraordinary."--See the _Narrative_, ubi supra.
+
+[115] See Hansard's _Parliamentary Debates_, N. S., Vol. xxiv., 551-555.
+
+[116] Some further particulars may be found in 8 Bingham, 376; also in 5
+C. & P., 342.
+
+[117] See the case of John Walpole Willis, Appellant, _versus_ Sir
+George Gipps, Knt., Respondent, 5 Moore's Reports of Privy Council
+Cases, 379. From an _obiter dictum_ of one of the judges in the case it
+would appear that the order of amotion from the bench of this Province
+was finally set aside on technical grounds, owing to the appellant's not
+having been heard in Canada. After diligent search, I have been unable
+to find any report of this decision, either in the official reports of
+the Privy Council or in any of the newspapers or periodicals of the
+time.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE CASE OF FRANCIS COLLINS.
+
+
+In the foregoing pages mention has several times been made of Francis
+Collins, editor, proprietor and publisher of _The Canadian Freeman_, a
+Radical weekly newspaper issued at York. Mr. Collins was an enthusiastic
+young Irish Roman Catholic, who had immigrated to Canada a short time
+before the excitement arising out of the Gourlay persecution reached its
+height, and when he himself was barely twenty years of age. He was a
+printer by trade, and for some time after his arrival worked as a
+compositor in the office of _The Upper Canada Gazette_, published at
+York by the King's Printer, Dr. Robert Charles Horne. Finding that he
+possessed much intelligence and a fair education, his employer deputed
+him to report the debates in the Assembly during the sessions of
+Parliament. In 1821 he reported certain proceedings which the Government
+were annoyed at seeing in print, more especially as the version given
+was not strictly accurate. For this offence Dr. Horne was summoned to
+the bar of the House, where he sought to evade responsibility by
+pleading that the debates had not been reported by himself, but by
+Francis Collins. The Doctor further offered a humble apology, and was
+glad to escape with a sharp reprimand, accompanied by a caution from the
+Speaker that he would thereafter be held responsible for the reports in
+the _Gazette_.[118]
+
+Within a short time after receiving this admonition Dr. Horne ceased to
+be King's Printer, whereby the post became vacant. As Collins was
+familiar with the nature of the work, and was naturally desirous of
+bettering his condition, he applied for the appointment. The office was
+at the disposal of the Lieutenant-Governor, and was held entirely at his
+pleasure. Collins was curtly checked for his presumption by a leading
+official, who informed him that the office would be conferred upon "no
+one but a gentleman." It would be interesting to know whence the
+official who was guilty of this wanton insult had derived his ideas of
+courtesy and good breeding. If his statement were to be credited, any
+application on his part for the post of King's Printer would most
+assuredly have been made in vain. The appointment was given to Mr.
+Charles Fothergill, who belonged to a good Yorkshire family, and was
+therefore fully entitled to rank as a gentleman.[119]
+
+Collins was excusably indignant at the gross insult which had been
+hurled at him. He considered himself as at least the social equal of any
+member of the Government, for he claimed descent from the old Irish
+kings, and on one or two occasions when more than ordinarily exhilarated
+he had even been known to refer to his ancestor, Brian Boru. Yet, for
+all this mendacious and vainglorious boasting, Collins was a man of
+unquestionable ability, and when fully aroused could write a paragraph
+well calculated to make the ears of his enemies to tingle. His
+nationality was clearly indicated by his personal appearance, his
+features being rough-hewn and unmistakably Celtic; while his red hair
+and beard, usually not very well cared for, gave him an aspect of
+uncouth wildness. Up to this time he had not taken any very conspicuous
+part in politics since his arrival in Canada; but henceforward the
+Executive had no more bitter or sleepless foe. He continued to report
+the proceedings in Parliament, and kept his eyes ever open for an
+opportunity to strike the Government with effect. In 1825 he succeeded
+in establishing the _Freeman_, which was thenceforth to some extent a
+rival of Mackenzie's _Advocate_. It was from the first conducted with
+great energy, and the editorials, which were often set up without being
+committed to paper, displayed exceptional vigour, but they were
+frequently disfigured by a coarseness and bad taste equal to anything of
+Mackenzie's production. For some time the better class of Liberals
+fought shy of the enterprise, but the editor steadily forced his way
+into general recognition.
+
+The _Freeman_ was permitted to continue its course unchecked for nearly
+three years. During that time it followed up the shortcomings of the
+Executive with ceaseless vigilance. To Sir Peregrine Maitland and
+Attorney-General Robinson it was a veritable thorn in the flesh. There
+was abundant occasion for criticism, and it was seldom, if ever, that
+Collins resorted to pure invention for the purpose of attacking the
+innumerable abuses of the time. There was always a sufficient substratum
+of truth in his accusations to render it inexpedient to prosecute him
+for libel. The punishment of what was false would have involved the
+public exposure of what was true. The official party realized the force
+of the laureate's dictum, not then propounded, that
+
+   "A lie that is all a lie may be met with and fought outright,
+   But a lie that is part of a truth is a harder matter to fight."
+
+[Sidenote: 1828.]
+
+They of course did not present the matter in this aspect to the world at
+large. On the contrary, their organs claimed for them a spirit of
+generous and Christian forbearance. But this could not go on for ever.
+Collins continued to pour in his chain-shot from week to week with
+never-failing pertinacity, and with seeming impunity from the law. The
+Executive in the first place tried to check his career by crippling him
+financially. The Assembly had for some years previously been accustomed
+to vote him an annual sum by way of remuneration for reporting their
+proceedings. The paying over of this sum, however, was a matter entirely
+within the control of the Lieutenant-Governor. As it was known that
+Collins was poor, and that his resources were sometimes taxed to the
+uttermost to enable him to bring out his paper, it was hoped that, by
+withholding payment for his services as reporter to the Assembly, he
+might be compelled to suspend publication. He was accordingly informed,
+when he applied for his money in the early spring of 1828, that the
+funds were not forthcoming. The sum in question was L118 10s., and was a
+matter of serious importance to him; but he well understood the object
+of the Executive, and spurred himself up to fresh effort. His paper
+appeared with the most provoking regularity, and its tone was, if
+possible, intensified by the withholding of the sum due to its editor.
+He told the story to the public, his account being garnished with
+profuse comments in his bitterest vein. The Executive found that they
+had miscalculated his resources, and that his press was conducted with
+renewed vigour. It was finally resolved that a dead-set should be made
+upon him, and that he should be overwhelmed by a shower of
+contemporaneous indictments. On Thursday, the 10th of April, 1828, as
+mentioned in the preceding chapter,[120] two bills of indictment for
+libel were found against him. One of these was for having, in his paper,
+charged the Lieutenant-Governor with partiality, injustice and fraud, in
+not paying over the money voted by the Assembly. The other was on the
+information of the Solicitor-General, Henry John Boulton, for
+animadversions on his conduct in connection with the duel, in 1817,
+between Samuel Peters Jarvis and John Ridout.[121] Upon the strength of
+these indictments Collins was forthwith arrested, and compelled to
+appear and give the required bail. On the following morning two other
+bills were found, upon which he also gave bail. It was at this time that
+he made his extraordinary attack upon the Attorney-General, before
+Justice Willis, as already narrated at length.[122] It will be
+remembered that he was instructed by the Judge to go before the Grand
+Jury and prefer his complaints. These instructions he followed without a
+moment's unnecessary delay. He appeared before the Grand Jury, and
+charged H. J. Boulton and J. E. Small with being accessary to murder in
+the killing of young Ridout. He next laid a charge of rioting against S.
+P. Jarvis and six other persons who had figured as defendants in the
+action brought by Mackenzie. The Grand Jury speedily returned a true
+bill against Boulton and Small. Both those gentlemen were then in Court
+with their gowns on. They were immediately put under arrest, and they so
+remained until late in the afternoon, when Judge Willis, upon the
+application of Mr. Macaulay, admitted them to bail. As Jarvis had been
+tried for the offence and acquitted, shortly after the duel in 1817, the
+Grand Jury now returned "No bill" as to him. On the following Monday a
+true bill was returned by the Grand Jury against the seven persons
+charged with riot. They were promptly arrested and held to bail.
+
+Collins, having no faith in Attorney-General Robinson's integrity, was
+very unwilling that the prosecution of these cases should be conducted
+by him. Boulton was not only the Attorney-General's colleague as a law
+officer of the Crown, but was his warm personal friend, as well as a
+connexion by marriage. Boulton, in fact, was a profound admirer and
+faint _umbra_ of the Attorney-General, in whose professional sunshine he
+basked, and at whose feet he may in an intellectual sense be said to
+have grovelled. Even the most Spartan of Crown prosecutors could hardly
+be expected to do his utmost to secure a conviction under such
+circumstances; and Attorney-General Robinson had nothing of the Spartan
+in his composition where the interests of his friends were concerned.
+Collins accordingly applied to Robert Baldwin to conduct the prosecution
+for murder. But the prosecution of criminal cases was not then open to
+the bar as a matter of course, and without the consent of the Crown. Mr.
+Baldwin applied to the Court for the necessary permission, which was
+granted with the Attorney-General's consent. The trial was proceeded
+with before Justice Willis at the opening of the Court on the morning of
+Monday, the 14th. The defendants, upon being arraigned, pleaded "Not
+guilty." The proceedings extended over two days, during which the same
+evidence was given that had been adduced at the trial in 1817. All the
+horrible details of the duel were revived for the edification of a
+crowded Court-room. Many of the spectators, as well as the Judge
+himself, were affected to tears. The custom of society was once more
+successfully pleaded in extenuation of a cruel and dastardly murder. As
+the chief offender had himself escaped scot-free, however, it would have
+seemed anomalous to punish the accessaries. The charge from the bench
+was eloquent and judicial, and the jury were absent from the box only
+ten minutes, when they returned into Court with a verdict of acquittal.
+
+The trial of the type-rioters next required consideration. Collins's
+counsel moved for leave to the prosecutor to conduct this case also by
+private counsel, but to this the Attorney-General firmly refused to
+consent. It was urged that one of the accused was his nephew, and that
+two others had been clerks in his office at the time of the outrage. No
+matter; he was determined to withstand any further interference with
+Crown prosecutions on the part of the bar. There was no telling, he
+remarked, where such interference would end. There had already been too
+much of it. He was about to proceed with the prosecution, when Mr. Rolph
+arose on behalf of Collins, and expressed a wish that, as the painful
+investigation of the murder case had been finished, the prosecutions for
+libel might be discontinued. Judge Willis warmly seconded the proposal,
+and further suggested that the prosecution of the type-rioters might
+also be dropped. The type-rioters, however, were ready and waiting for
+their trial, and, through their counsel, objected to any abandonment so
+far as they were concerned. It was urged on their part that they had
+never wished to avoid prosecution, but had rather courted it; that they
+would accept of no compromise of a proceeding which had been maliciously
+and vexatiously instituted, not by the person injured, but by one who,
+being brought into Court for libel, had been received as a sort of
+public prosecutor, and allowed to harass them by raking into old
+transactions which had long since been investigated and atoned for. They
+insisted upon the matter being there and then finally disposed of, so
+that it might no longer be in the power of any malicious person wholly
+unconnected with the case to prosecute them at his pleasure.
+
+The trial was then proceeded with. The persons charged were of course
+found guilty. Judge Willis was very lenient, and sentenced them to a
+nominal fine of five shillings each, expressly stating as a reason for
+this slight punishment that more than ample recompense had already been
+obtained in the civil action.[123]
+
+With respect to the indictments against Collins, the Judge's appeal to
+the Attorney-General was not altogether without efficacy,
+notwithstanding the ill blood between them. The fact is that the latter
+was glad enough of any excuse for abandoning the two prosecutions
+instituted by Boulton and Jarvis, feeling well assured that there was no
+likelihood of securing a conviction in either case. He could subserve
+his own and his friends' interests, and at the same time assume the
+appearance of deferring to the suggestion from the bench. The consent of
+the prosecutors having been obtained, he therefore announced in open
+Court that he would proceed no further upon those indictments. He added,
+however, that there were further indictments against Collins which had
+emanated from the Grand Jury, and that he could not with proper
+deference to them at once relinquish proceedings therein. "But I have no
+objections to state," said the Attorney-General, "that I will forbear
+any further action during the present Assizes, and that in proceeding or
+not hereafter, I shall be governed in a great measure by the sense which
+the defendant shall show of his duty and obligations as the conductor of
+a public newspaper." Bail was accordingly furnished by Collins on one of
+the presentments. The other was tacitly allowed to lapse; and there, for
+the time, the matter ended.
+
+The editor of the _Freeman_ certainly gave the Attorney-General no
+excuse for leaving him unmolested. In each successive issue of his paper
+he lashed the whole race of officials, to some of whom he applied the
+most opprobrious epithets. The Government organs pursued a similar
+course on their side, and characterized Collins and his friends in
+language too gross for quotation. The Attorney-General probably repented
+that he had not proceeded on at least one of the indictments during the
+late Assizes, and resolved that another opportunity should not pass
+unimproved. The autumn Assizes opened during the second week in October,
+when he attempted to press one of the old charges against Collins. The
+defendant appealed to Judge Sherwood, who occupied the bench,
+representing that his counsel was not in Court, and that he had never
+been arraigned. The Attorney-General replied that the absence of the
+defendant's counsel was not the fault of the Crown, and that he had been
+arraigned at the spring Assizes. The latter statement was denied by the
+defendant, and upon referring to the Clerk of Assize it appeared that
+there had been no arraignment. Next day the Attorney-General again
+attempted to force on the trial, but as it was clear that the defendant
+had not been arraigned the latter now claimed the right to traverse. As
+this right was indisputable it was conceded by the Court, the result
+being that the defendant was entitled to have the trial held over until
+the next sittings, which would not take place until the following
+spring. The Attorney-General, however, was entitled to demand that the
+defendant should find security, and promptly urged his demand. Collins
+knew that were he to find the required security it would embarrass him
+in the conduct of his paper, and stated that he would prefer to be tried
+at once rather than adopt such an alternative. He was accordingly tried,
+and, though the prosecution was pressed against him with all the vigour
+at the Attorney-General's command, he was acquitted by the jury.
+
+But the Attorney-General was not the man to allow his prey to escape him
+while any chance remained of securing a conviction. A fresh indictment
+was laid against him for a personal libel upon the Attorney-General
+himself. Collins, in reporting the trial which had just resulted in his
+acquittal, had accused the Attorney-General of "open palpable
+falsehood," and "native malignancy," and had referred to Judge Hagerman
+as "our old customer." This report had been published at full length in
+the _Freeman_, and it was the ground of the prosecution now instituted.
+The defendant laboured under the same compulsion with regard to security
+as before, and elected to stand his trial at once, which was precisely
+what the Attorney-General desired. The indictment, which may still be
+seen among the records at Osgoode Hall, was a truly formidable
+instrument, and set out the offence with great prolixity. The trial took
+place on Saturday, the 25th, before Mr. Justice Sherwood, who, in
+charging the jury, inveighed against the defendant with nearly as great
+vehemence as did the Crown prosecutor, stigmatizing him as "a wholesale
+retailer of calumny." He pronounced the _Freeman's_ report to be "a
+gross and scandalous libel."[124] It was plainly evident that Mr.
+Sherwood's mind was not equable, and that he was influenced by
+considerations not properly before him. The fact that his son Henry, and
+his brother-in-law, H. J. Boulton, had respectively been prosecuted for
+riot and murder at Collins's instigation was too clearly held in
+remembrance, insomuch that every point was strained to the utmost
+against the defendant. Judge Sherwood, however, was absent from the
+bench when the jury returned into Court with their verdict, his place
+being taken by Judge Hagerman, who had many times been subjected to the
+arrows of Collins's satire, and who was referred to with bantering
+contumely in the very report which formed the subject of the present
+prosecution. The jury, after deliberating about five hours, brought in a
+verdict of "Guilty of a libel on the Attorney-General." The Clerk
+recorded a general verdict of "Guilty," which was read to the jury. The
+defendant's counsel objected to the recording of the verdict in this
+form, inasmuch as the jury had found his client guilty of libel on the
+Attorney-General only. A brief argument on the subject ensued, whereupon
+the Judge charged the jury to the effect that such a verdict as they had
+found could not be received. He informed them that if they found the
+defendant guilty of any part of the alleged libel, they ought to return
+a general verdict of "Guilty;" but that they might, if they thought
+proper, suggest to the Court on what particular part of the publication
+their verdict was founded, in which case the Court would confine the
+punishment to that part only. The jury thereupon retired a second time,
+but soon returned with a general verdict of "Guilty." On being asked by
+the Judge whether they adhered to their former opinion as to the
+libellous part of the publication, they answered in the affirmative.
+
+The sentence of the Court was not pronounced until sufficient time had
+elapsed to admit of a conference on the subject between Justices
+Sherwood and Hagerman. That such a conference really took place is clear
+enough from a letter of Judge Sherwood himself, to be presently referred
+to. The sentence, when it came, created much surprise, not only in the
+bosom of the individual who was directly concerned, but among the public
+at large. It condemned the defendant to pay a fine of fifty pounds, to
+be imprisoned for twelve calendar months, to find securities for his
+good behaviour for three years after his liberation, himself in four
+hundred pounds and two sureties in one hundred pounds each, and to
+stand committed until all these conditions should be complied with.
+
+Certainly it was no wonder that the little world of upper Canada opened
+its eyes at such a Star Chamber sentence as this, pronounced in the year
+of Grace 1828. It seemed as if the whirligig of time had brought back
+the days of Bartemus Ferguson and _The Niagara Spectator_.[125] It was
+an open question with many persons, even among those who were upon the
+whole favourable to the measures of the Government, whether the
+prosecution should have been sustained at all or not. A charge of
+"native malignancy" was not likely to seriously affect the character or
+standing of Attorney-General Robinson, who was ready enough to apply
+much stronger epithets to his enemies. But, however that might be, there
+could be no sort of doubt that the punishment awarded was wholly
+disproportionate to the offence, more especially when the defendant's
+circumstances were considered. If persisted in, the sentence really
+involved the latter's perpetual imprisonment, for no two men of
+substance were likely to be found who would feel safe in guaranteeing
+the good behaviour of such a turbulent spirit as Francis Collins for so
+long a period as three years. Throughout the whole of this infamous
+persecution the Attorney-General showed to very little advantage. As
+previously mentioned, he had showered four indictments upon the
+defendant within the brief space of two days. Three of these he had
+withdrawn, and upon the fourth the defendant had been acquitted. He had
+then gone out of his way to lay a personal information upon a very
+insignificant pretext. Poor Collins was his enemy, and must not be
+allowed to characterize his conduct as "native malignancy," whereas the
+editors of newspapers under the patronage and pay of the Government were
+permitted to pursue a deliberate system of malicious vilification with
+impunity. The latter were allowed to publicly malign not only individual
+members of the Opposition, but to circulate the grossest libels upon the
+House of Assembly itself. With these offences the Attorney-General did
+not think fit to meddle. They were committed by his personal and
+political friends, and, unless common rumour seriously belied him, were
+not seldom committed at his own instigation. At any rate he maintained
+the most amicable relations with the libellers, and allowed no
+opportunity of serving their material interests to pass unimproved. Such
+inconsistency forced itself upon public attention. People who up to that
+time had supported the official party began to ask where this
+one-sidedness was to end. The Attorney-General had no right, it was
+said, to reward his friends for doing precisely the same things as those
+for which he punished and imprisoned his enemies. It was remembered
+against him how, when disputing with Judge Willis as to the nature of
+his official duties, he had with scorn repudiated the suggestion that he
+should proceed in the absence of instructions, even against notorious
+evil-doers. It was remembered that he had declined to take any official
+cognizance of so serious an offence against the public peace as the
+type-riot, which had been committed by his own friends and proteges. Yet
+he had here gone out of his way to prosecute to his ruin a poor wretch
+who, certainly not without great provocation, had merely accused him of
+falsehood and native malignancy. A man who accommodated his conduct to
+his inclinations in this way might perhaps be much beloved by his
+friends, but he certainly had no claim to be considered either good or
+great. The faction, from Dr. Strachan downwards, had for years been
+holding up John Beverley Robinson to the admiration of Upper Canadians.
+By many he had been accepted at their valuation. The Selkirk and Gourlay
+episodes, together with a score of others less noteworthy, had been
+slurred over. As the worst of these had occurred some years before, they
+had been partly forgotten by the existing generation. But the
+remorseless vindictiveness and cruelty displayed throughout the Collins
+prosecution were patent to everybody. They did much to lower the
+Attorney-General in popular estimation, and to destroy public confidence
+in the integrity of the Judges. They gave rise to an uneasy feeling of
+discontent, and doubtless had their share in bringing about the troubles
+of 1837-38.
+
+Collins went to jail, where, in spite of great exertions on his behalf,
+he was compelled to remain for many months. The fine was paid, like the
+damages in the type-riot case, by public subscription. Appeals from
+various quarters to the Lieutenant-Governor on the prisoner's behalf
+were made in vain. The incumbent of that office was no longer Sir
+Peregrine Maitland, whose torpid and nerveless administration had
+come to an end some weeks before,[126] when, as previously mentioned,
+he had taken his departure for Nova Scotia. His successor as
+Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was Major-General Sir John Colborne,
+a distinguished officer of the 52nd Regiment, who had done gallant
+service in the Peninsula, and had fought at Waterloo. He is described by
+Napier, the historian of the Peninsular War, as having developed "an
+extraordinary genius for war." After the return of peace he had had some
+experience in diplomacy, having for some time been placed in charge of
+the Government in the island of Guernsey. His appointment to the more
+onerous and responsible post of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was
+heralded as the precursor of better times. It was announced that he had
+come over charged with instructions to reverse the fatuous policy of his
+predecessor, and to conduct the administration in accordance with the
+well understood wishes of the people. It seems tolerably certain that
+some such general directions as these had actually been given, but great
+latitude was necessarily left to Sir John himself; and, as after events
+proved, he was ill fitted for the discharge of such duties as had been
+entrusted to him. He was destined to furnish, in his own person, a
+sufficient argument against the absurd system pursued by the Home
+Government of saddling the colonies with military rulers. That Sir John
+was an excellent soldier goes without saying. It is certain, too, that
+he was in the main actuated by upright and honourable motives. But he
+had been "a man of war from his youth," and his early training and long
+military career had made him stern and unbending. He had no sympathy
+with the aspirations of a people who were just beginning to grasp the
+principles of constitutional liberty, and who saw many things in the
+body politic which called aloud for reform.
+
+It did not take long for the people of Upper Canada to gauge the
+character of the new Governor, for he had not been a fortnight in the
+Province before he had practically allied himself with the Compact.
+Hardly had he assumed the functions of his office ere a petition,
+signed by a number of influential inhabitants of York and its
+neighbourhood, was presented to him by a Committee on behalf of Collins.
+The facts were set out in detail, and his Excellency was asked to
+exercise the royal clemency by releasing the prisoner from his
+melancholy situation. Sir John's reply was non-committal, but not wholly
+discouraging. It conceded the advantages resulting from a free and
+well-conducted press, but expressed reverence for trial by jury, and
+referred to the danger of interfering with the verdicts of juries or the
+opinions of Judges unless their illegality could be clearly
+demonstrated. It added, however, that if his Excellency; after inquiring
+into the case, should come to the conclusion that his interposition was
+called for, a communication to that effect would be made to the person
+chiefly concerned.
+
+In the face of this reply, it behooved the prisoner and his friends to
+wait a reasonable time before taking any further steps. Within the next
+few days a number of facts came to light which certainly went to show
+that there were at least good grounds for a new trial. It appeared that
+John Hayden, one of the jurymen, had been ignorant of the true meaning
+of the word "malignancy," and had sent out to the Court for Johnson's
+Dictionary, in order to arrive at a true definition. This indulgence was
+refused by the Court, and Hayden was constrained to accept the
+definition of another juror, whereby he was led to believe that the word
+in question has a much more serious significance than really attaches to
+it. By this means he had been induced to give his voice for the
+conviction of the defendant. Two other jurymen,[127] who were servile
+tools of the Attorney-General, had been actuated by undue prejudice,
+insomuch that they had expressed a strong pre-determination to convict
+the defendant. Then, the conduct of Mr. Hagerman, in sitting as a Judge
+in a case wherein he was personally concerned--it will be remembered
+that he had been derisively referred to in the report which formed the
+subject of the indictment--was an infringement of decency, to say
+nothing of its being a perversion of the letter and spirit of the law.
+He had also conferred with the Judge by whom the sentence was
+pronounced as to the measure of punishment to be awarded. But he had
+not only sat in judgment in his own cause: he had refused to record the
+finding of the jury, whom he had misled and coerced into bringing in a
+verdict contrary to what they really intended. Judge Sherwood's conduct
+had been little better. He had delivered a charge to the jury which
+practically left them no alternative but to convict, unless they
+altogether disregarded his counsels. John Carey, editor of the York
+_Observer_, who was present on the occasion, testified that the Judge's
+charge appeared to him to outrage law and common sense.[128] Then, the
+sentence itself was so grossly out of proportion to the offence as to
+shock all ideas of justice, and to form a standing menace against the
+liberty of the press in Upper Canada. Yet Judge Sherwood, in pronouncing
+it, had expressly stated that it should be light, in consequence of its
+being awarded for a first conviction. It would be curious to know what
+punishment he would have awarded if the defendant had been previously
+convicted on a similar charge.
+
+All these circumstances went far to prove that the defendant had met
+with considerably more or less than justice. And there were other facts
+which had an ugly look. The defendant, as already mentioned, was a Roman
+Catholic; yet, out of a large and respectable population professing the
+same religious faith, not one was to be found on the panel, although at
+the Quarter Sessions, held a few days later, the number of Roman
+Catholics summoned to serve on juries was exceptionally large. The
+Sheriff who empanelled the jury was a political enemy of the accused. So
+was each individual member of the Grand Jury who found the true bill
+against him. So were a large majority of the petty jury by whom he was
+tried. So was the Attorney-General who prosecuted him. So were the two
+Judges who presided at the trial. Taken in connection with the specific
+facts mentioned in the preceding paragraph, these matters gave rise to
+many unpleasant conjectures, and it was no wonder that the public voice
+exclaimed against the verdict as an unrighteous one. It was no wonder
+that public meetings were held in some of the rural districts to protest
+against what was almost universally pronounced to be a tyrannical abuse
+of the process of the Courts. It was no wonder that hisses and groans
+were sometimes heard from quiet nooks and corners when the
+Attorney-General passed along the streets of York. And it was no wonder
+that, coming, as it did, on the heels of other trials that differed with
+it only in degree, the case of Francis Collins caused many theretofore
+loyal subjects to ask themselves whether their loyalty demanded that
+they should forever continue to bend their necks to the yoke of the
+oppressor. What was Collins's case to-day might possibly be theirs or
+their sons' on the morrow.
+
+On the 26th of November Collins sent in to the Lieutenant-Governor a
+pathetically-worded petition, in which the desolate condition of his
+young and helpless family was alluded to in brief but moving terms. It
+set out that, in consequence of his imprisonment, the business whereby
+he had supported his family was all but ruined, as its success depended
+solely on his personal exertions. Finally, he prayed to be restored to
+his liberty. Accompanying the petition were affidavits setting forth the
+admitted ignorance of one of the jurymen, and the pre-determination of
+the other two to convict. But the prisoner knocked at the gates of Sir
+John Colborne's heart in vain. The Lieutenant-Governor was by this time
+as completely hand and glove with the official party as his predecessor
+had ever been. Dr. Strachan and John Beverley Robinson managed him with
+great skill, and, by dint of much seeming deference, had him under
+complete control. Without being in the least aware of it, he was clay in
+the hands of the potter, who moulded him at will. As well might poor
+Collins have appealed for mercy to a half-famished tiger of the jungle
+as to these two Provincial representatives of law and gospel. His
+memorial, dated "York Gaol, November 26th, 1829," was not replied to
+until more than three weeks had elapsed, and when the answer came its
+contents indicated perfect callousness to the prisoner's unhappy
+condition. He was curtly informed that the Lieutenant-Governor could not
+think it right to comply with the petition, but that on the expiration
+of the specified term of imprisonment, any application which he might
+desire to make would be taken into consideration.
+
+From this time forward the prisoner seems to have resigned himself to
+his fate, although his friends did not relax their exertions on his
+behalf. It seemed useless to apply for a new trial, as the application
+would have to be made to either Sherwood or Hagerman, from neither of
+whom could he hope to obtain justice. The _Freeman_ continued to make
+its appearance, although its publication was necessarily carried on
+under great disadvantages. The editor's spirit was by no means broken,
+and he sent forth from his place of confinement a succession of
+editorials as bitterly vigorous as any previous efforts of his pen. He
+also wrote a series of open letters addressed to the Attorney-General,
+in which that official's career, from his infancy onwards, was reviewed
+with caustic bitterness.[129] These letters were published in successive
+numbers of the _Freeman_, and must be presumed to have been a source of
+great annoyance to the gentleman to whom they were directed. Though many
+of the statements therein were perverse and wilful distortions of facts,
+there was a large element of truth, and it would not have been easy to
+expose the falsehood without admitting much that could not be denied.
+The Attorney-General contemplated another prosecution, but thought
+better of it--not, it is to be presumed, from any want of
+vindictiveness, but because he felt that there was a limit to the public
+endurance, and that that limit had pretty nearly been reached.
+
+[Sidenote: 1829.]
+
+In January, 1829, the Collins case was taken into consideration by the
+Assembly. A Committee was appointed, and a rigid inquiry instituted into
+some of the most interesting features. Attorney-General Robinson was
+examined at considerable length. Judges Sherwood and Hagerman were
+summoned before the Committee, but both of them declined to answer any
+questions. A good many important facts were elicited, upon the strength
+of which an Address to his Excellency was passed, recapitulating the
+circumstances, and praying for a remission of the sentence. The reply
+was of the same inexorable character as that previously made to
+Collins's own petition. "It is my anxious wish," was the response of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, "to render service to the Province, by concurring
+with the Legislature in everything that can promote its peace,
+prosperity and happiness; and I regret exceedingly that the House of
+Assembly should have made an application to me which the obligation I am
+under to support the laws, and my duty to society, forbid me, I think,
+to comply with." For the information of the House, his Excellency
+forwarded a copy of a letter addressed by Justice Sherwood to the
+Governor's Secretary, embodying certain reasons for the judgment of the
+Court in the case. The Judge, it will be remembered, refused to assign
+any such reasons when questioned on the subject by the Committee of the
+House of Assembly. As to his right to so refuse there can hardly be much
+difference of opinion, but he would have been more consistent if he had
+also refused when applied to by the Lieutenant-Governor. After admitting
+the right to publish fair and candid opinions on the Government and
+constitution, the Judge declared that if a publisher "steps aside from
+the high road of decency and peaceable deportment, and adopts a course
+of public calumny and open abuse against the officers of Government
+generally, or particularly against the principal law officer of the
+Crown, in the legal discharge of his duty in the King's Courts, as the
+defendant did," then it was the Judge's conviction that the publisher so
+offending should be "punished to that extent which, in human
+probability, would prevent a recurrence of the offence." And yet this
+same Judge, in pronouncing sentence, had expressly declared that the
+sentence should be a light one, as it was the defendant's first offence.
+The conclusion of the letter showed plainly enough that a conference had
+taken place between Justices Sherwood and Hagerman before the imposition
+of the penalty. It proved, indeed, that the sentence was to be
+considered as the joint sentence of the two Judges. "Taking all the
+circumstances of the case into consideration," it ran, "Mr. Justice
+Hagerman and myself deemed the sentence which we passed on the defendant
+both proper and necessary for the public good, and what the case itself
+required."
+
+Two or three further appeals were made to the Lieutenant-Governor on the
+prisoner's behalf, all of which proved ineffectual. The matter was
+really in the hands of the Attorney-General himself, who was inexorable,
+and would be satisfied with nothing short of the fullest expiation. The
+Assembly meanwhile did not relax its efforts to obtain a commutation of
+the sentence. On the 12th of March an address to the King was passed by
+that body, whereby His Majesty was entreated "to extend to Francis
+Collins the royal clemency, by remitting the residue of his punishment."
+Not much was hoped for from this proceeding, as it was felt that the
+whole influence of the Executive would be put forward against it. The
+prisoner himself made up his mind to accept the inevitable, and to serve
+out at least the full term of the sentence imposed. He continued to
+supply editorial articles for his paper, couched in a strain which
+seemed to indicate his superiority to circumstances. But his buoyant
+spirit was measurably tamed by his long imprisonment, and it was
+remarked that he was never again quite the same man as before. Contrary
+to his anticipations, the address of the Assembly finally proved
+effective, and he was permitted to walk forth from the jail a free man.
+His paper came forth from week to week, but its tone was evidently
+modified and subdued. Something of the old spirit occasionally flashed
+forth, but fitfully and transitorily only, like the flicker of a lamp
+before its extinction. It was clear that the editor had not forgotten
+the indignity and mental suffering he had undergone, and throughout the
+remaining years of his life he always dwelt more or less in the shadow
+of the cold and solitary cell. The records of the jurisprudence of
+civilized countries contain few modern instances of the exaction of so
+severe a penalty for so insignificant an offence.
+
+The narrative has no further concern with Francis Collins, except to
+record that he continued to edit and publish the _Freeman_ down to 1834,
+when he fell a victim to the cholera invasion by which the Provincial
+capital was ravaged during that year. He died on the 2nd of September,
+and the _Freeman_ thenceforth ceased to exist.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[118] The Attorney-General, John Beverley Robinson, was ever valiant on
+the stronger side. He tried to induce the Assembly to compel Dr. Horne
+to insert in the next issue of the _Gazette_ a paragraph in the
+following words: "From the incompetence or negligence of our reporter,
+the debates of the House of Assembly inserted in the last number of this
+paper were so imperfect and so untruly reported that no dependence can
+be placed in their accuracy." The Assembly, however, were satisfied with
+the humiliation to which the Doctor had been subjected, and would not
+compel him to further self-abasement.
+
+[119] Mr. Fothergill held the office barely three years, when he was
+dismissed for voting with the Opposition in the Assembly against the
+Government. It was an anomaly to permit the King's Printer to hold a
+seat in the Legislative Assembly, and the Government could hardly be
+expected to tolerate opposition from such a quarter. Mr. Fothergill was
+the first incumbent of the office to develop liberal opinions. He was
+sufficiently deep in the secrets of the Administration to make him a
+dangerous opponent if he had felt disposed to wage war to the knife. Of
+this fact the Administration seem to have taken a sort of oblique
+cognizance. He had overdrawn his account by L360, and in settling with
+him this sum was not taken into consideration. In other words, the
+Government made him a present of L360. His successor in the office of
+King's Printer was Mr. Robert Stanton.
+
+[120] _Ante_, p. 171.
+
+[121] _Ante_, p. 13.
+
+[122] _Ante_, pp. 171-174.
+
+[123] _Ante_, p. 136.
+
+[124] The charge, as reported by Collins, will be found in the Appendix
+to the _Journals of Assembly_ for 1829, pp. 27, 28.
+
+[125] _Ante_, p. 42 et seq.
+
+[126] Sir Peregrine was gazetted to be "Lieutenant-Governor of Nova
+Scotia and its dependencies" on the 14th of August, 1828. On the same
+date Sir John Colborne was gazetted as Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
+Canada, but he did not reach the seat of his Government until late in
+the autumn, and Sir Peregrine did not actually demit office until the
+arrival of his successor.
+
+[127] William Davenish and Andrew A. Thompson. The former stated that in
+the event of his being called as a juror he would "put it on to"
+Collins. See the _Freeman_ for Thursday December 25th, 1828.
+
+[128] See Appendix to _Journals of Assembly_ for 1829.
+
+[129] _Ante_, pp. 101, 102, note.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+LIGHTS--OLD AND NEW.
+
+
+In the preceding five chapters an attempt has been made to reduce to
+narrative form a great mass of heterogeneous material bearing upon the
+"Story" which it is the purpose of these volumes to relate. A
+considerable proportion of this material is to all practical intents
+inaccessible to the general reading public, being scattered here and
+there through old and long-forgotten newspapers, blue-books, pamphlets
+and unedited manuscripts. Yet some acquaintance with it is absolutely
+necessary to a clear comprehension of the deplorable state of things
+which existed in this Province during the regime of Sir Peregrine
+Maitland and his successor. No one who is ignorant of it is capable of
+expressing an intelligent opinion as to the merits or demerits of the
+Rebellion and those who took part therein. The principal facts and
+circumstances attendant upon some of the most flagrant exhibitions of
+Family Compact oppression which mark the fourth decade of Upper Canadian
+history have therefore been set forth in consecutive order, and with
+considerable minuteness. The picture thus afforded of Provincial-society
+and Government, though pregnant with instruction, is by no means an
+attractive one, and any person contemplating it for the first time may
+well be excused for questioning its perfect accuracy. The drawing, at
+times, seems to be too wavy in outline, and some of the details have the
+appearance of being painted in colours too glaring to be natural. But a
+strict examination of the properties will correct all such impressions.
+Varying themes require varying methods of treatment. There are certain
+features of landscape which must not be drawn with absolute sharpness of
+outline, and there are subjects to which neutral tints altogether fail
+to do justice. Of such a character are more than one of the scenes here
+reproduced. Independently of the mere method of treatment, the
+historical evidence is so clear and explicit that it can be questioned
+by no one who takes the trouble to examine it. As to mere matters of
+fact, there will be little or no difference of opinion among those who
+consult and compare the various authorities cited in the notes.[130]
+
+The cases hitherto recorded are merely a few out of many, but they
+suffice to tell the story of Executive cruelty and selfishness during
+the period referred to more effectively than it could possibly be told
+without their aid. To set forth with equal fulness of detail the
+circumstances attendant upon the persecution of Jonah Brown, Robert
+Randal, Hugh Christopher Thompson, and a round score of minor victims,
+would be to extend this work to an interminable length. The materials
+for a work written on such a plan are abundant, as they include all the
+facts arising out of the stupendous iniquity sought to be perpetrated
+under the guise of the Alien Bill. The particulars connected with the
+attempt to force this infamous measure upon the people of Upper Canada
+cannot be inquired into in these pages. Sufficient to say that it was a
+most dishonest and unstatesmanlike attempt on the part of the Executive
+to get rid of political opponents by repudiating the well-understood
+obligations of their predecessors in office: an attempt to dispossess
+persons who, relying upon the faith of the Government of the day, had
+settled in the country and taken up lands, to which they had received
+titles, and upon which they and their parents had in many cases resided
+ever since Governor Simcoe's time. The attempt failed through the
+vigilance of the Opposition and the interference of the Imperial
+Government, but it proved the length to which the official party were
+prepared to go in order to maintain the existing order of things. It was
+of a piece with the rest of the Executive policy, which seemed to wax
+more and more exacting and one-sided with lapse of time. It was
+abundantly clear to many persons unconnected with the Reform party that
+there was no justice in the land for a Reformer, and that the oligarchy
+by whom the country was dominated cared nothing for its best interests.
+Constitutional liberty was systematically trampled under foot. The
+oft-quoted boast of the Founder of the Province about the Upper Canadian
+constitution being "the very image and transcript of that of Great
+Britain"[131] seemed the hollowest mockery when viewed in the light of
+events which had become a matter of frequent occurrence.
+
+It was not only to the thumbs of political opponents that the Executive
+screw was applied. When occasion arose it was applied with surprising
+energy and vigour to the thumbs of those who had long been obedient
+slaves of the Administration. Nothing more clearly shows the shameless
+exercise of power on the part of the faction: nothing more clearly
+proves the complete subordination of their tools, and the depths of
+degradation to which public men could be made to stoop: than an episode
+which occurred during the Parliamentary session of 1828. The persons
+chiefly involved were the Hon. James Baby, who was himself
+Inspector-General of Public Accounts and senior member of the Executive
+Council, and ex-Chief Justice Powell. It has already been explained that
+the first-named personage had for some time past ceased to carry any
+great weight at the Council Board, where he had been to a considerable
+extent superseded by his juniors.[132] His seniority was merely in point
+of time, and his influence on the policy of the Government was as
+insignificant as it possibly could be, consistently with the position
+which he held. He keenly felt his having been, so to speak, thrust into
+the background, and in several instances showed a disposition to assert
+himself by acting independently. A similar feeling, but milder in
+degree, animated the breast of the ex-Chief Justice, whose place as
+principal lay adviser of the Lieutenant-Governor had long since been
+taken by Attorney-General Robinson. During the session of 1823-4 he had
+seen fit to protest against a School Bill passed by the Assembly, under
+which Dr. Strachan was intended to and did actually derive a sinecure
+salary of three hundred pounds a year. His protest, at his own urgent
+request, was entered on the journal, where it seemed likely to remain a
+perpetual memento of his independence and of the servility of his
+colleagues. But this was by no means desired by the Lieutenant-Governor
+and the Attorney-General. Pressure was brought to bear upon the
+recalcitrant member, under the influence of which he was forced to
+succumb. He consented that the protest should be erased from the
+journal, and it was erased accordingly.[133] But a still more sickening
+humiliation was in store for him, as well as for the venerable Mr. Baby.
+
+During the session of 1828 several petitions were received by the
+Assembly praying for relief against a law passed in 1825, whereby
+certain taxes had been imposed on wild lands.[134] Among other
+grievances complained of was the manner in which the law had been
+passed. It was distinctly alleged in one of the petitions that the
+measure had been pushed through both Houses with too great rapidity, and
+that most culpable means had been employed in order to procure the
+assent of certain members to whom it was objectionable. The Assembly
+entertained the petitions, and appointed a Committee to inquire into the
+matter. A number of witnesses were examined, and some astounding facts
+elicited. The allegations as to undue influence were proved by the
+clearest evidence, and by witnesses who had generally been accustomed to
+act with the Government. One of these was our somewhile acquaintance,
+the Hon. William Dickson, who, as has previously been seen, was the
+owner of an immense tract of land,[135] and was consequently seriously
+affected by the law enacted in 1825. His evidence, as printed in the
+Appendix to the Journals of the Assembly,[136] stands as a perpetual
+indictment against Sir Peregrine Maitland and the venal clique by whom
+he was surrounded. It appears that from the time when the Bill relating
+to the taxation of wild lands was first introduced into the Upper House
+it was an unpopular measure, and that it was opposed by a majority of
+the members. Most of the latter were large landholders by virtue of
+their membership, and some of them had acquired additional blocks by
+purchase. The obnoxious Bill was opposed at every stage, and there
+seemed to be no possibility of its becoming law. Its defeat being
+regarded as inevitable, its opponents to some extent relaxed their
+efforts, and congratulated each other upon their apparent success. On
+the third reading, however, Mr. Dickson found, to his supreme
+astonishment and disgust, that some of the members upon whom he had
+relied for votes presented an entire change of front, and appeared in
+the _role_ of supporters of the measure. It was noticeable that all the
+converts, or perverts, held offices under the Government. The Hon. John
+Henry Dunn, Provincial Receiver-General, took a different course. He had
+been among the most determined opponents of the Bill, and had declared
+that it would never pass.[137] He had too much self-respect, after
+taking such a stand, to give the lie to all his protestations by voting
+for the measure, so he quietly staid at home on a pretence of
+sickness.[138] Referring to those who took a more determined stand, by
+voting contrary to their pledges, Mr. Dickson says: "This change, I am
+satisfied, arose from intimidation by the Local Government, who seemed
+determined to carry the measure at any sacrifice. It was most painfully
+manifest from their countenances and demeanour that the change was not
+from conviction, but from coercion. The business of the Legislative
+Council was suspended for two hours for a meeting of the Executive
+Council. And I do believe that at that Council the members of the
+Legislative Council holding offices were constrained at the peril of
+their situations to vote for the measures they had a week before
+decidedly opposed. Upon those members returning that day to their
+legislative duties there was a change of voting, and one of those who
+staid away on pretence of sickness was, to my knowledge, able to
+attend." The reference here is presumably to Mr. Dunn. Mr. Dickson's
+evidence then goes on to say that about ten minutes before the vote was
+taken, a message was delivered to the Hon. James Baby that Major Hillier
+wished to speak to him. Major Hillier was the Lieutenant-Governor's most
+confidential secretary, and was employed in numberless little
+transactions requiring the exercise of coolness and tact. In response to
+the message Mr. Baby left his place in the House, and did not return for
+some time. Upon his return from the interview to his accustomed seat he
+was evidently much confused and agitated. Being spoken to by Mr. Dickson
+he found it impossible to conceal his agitation, but told his
+interlocutor, to that gentleman's great astonishment, that he must vote
+for the Bill. When the time came he accordingly voted with the
+Government, and the Bill was carried by a small majority, Messieurs
+Dickson and Clark entering a determined protest against it. "After the
+passing of the Bill," continues Mr. Dickson, "the Hon. Mr. Baby, after
+leaving the House, put his hand upon his heart, and, with reference to
+his change of conduct on the measure, said something about his children,
+expressive of his regret at the necessity which drove him to the
+abandonment of the course he had pursued."
+
+Mr. Powell, who was then Speaker of the Legislative Council, was
+evidently subjected to similar influences. Like Mr. Baby, he had been
+strenuous in his opposition to the Bill, and had even gone so far as to
+speak harshly of some of those who promoted it. But he was speedily made
+to know his place, and the tenure by which he held it. During a portion
+of the two hours when the business of the Legislative Council was
+suspended he was in secret conference with Major Hillier and one or more
+members of the Executive Council.[139] When he took his seat upon the
+resumption of the business of the day, it was noticeable that he, as
+well as Baby, was labouring under undue embarrassment and agitation. It
+was beyond any reasonable doubt that they had been shamelessly coerced,
+and had been compelled to choose between voting as they were commanded
+or being dismissed from their respective offices. Upon being questioned
+by Mr. Dickson, Powell admitted that he had changed his opinion, and
+added, in seeming sincerity, that he had received new light on the
+matter within the last ten minutes. Such an exchange of an old lamp for
+a new one must surely have been the work of some malignant and monstrous
+genie at the Council Board.
+
+It should be mentioned that Dickson's evidence, so far as "extraordinary
+and undue influence by the Local Government" is concerned, is fully
+confirmed by the evidence of the Hon. Thomas Clark, who was also a
+member of the Upper House, and was present at the proceedings above
+described.
+
+There could not well be any more conclusive proof of the
+unconstitutional and corrupt manner in which the Government was carried
+on during Sir Peregrine Maitland's time than is afforded by the
+circumstances just narrated. They read like a chapter out of the
+political history of England during the last century. The methods
+employed by Walpole exhibit nothing baser or more repulsive than these.
+His aphorism about "every one of them" having his price might well have
+been echoed by Sir Peregrine, so far as the Legislative Council was
+concerned, with the addition that the price in Upper Canada was
+sometimes ridiculously low. The persons who were guilty of these gross
+violations of the constitution, to say nothing of the commonest
+principles of honesty, were incessantly prating of their devoted loyalty
+to the Crown. Yet it is plain enough that their fealty was always
+subservient to what they deemed to be their personal interests. This was
+as clearly apparent in 1837 as it had been in 1828. When, a few years
+later,[140] a crisis arose in which they were compelled to choose
+between those interests and their devotion to the Crown, it was once
+more abundantly manifest that theirs was the veriest lip-loyalty. The
+burning of the Parliament Buildings at Montreal was as direct an act of
+treason as was the affair at Montgomery's Farm.
+
+[Sidenote: 1829.]
+
+In 1828 there was a general election, in the course of which the
+Executive party made tremendous exertions to regain a predominating
+influence in the Assembly. They perceived plainly enough that a hostile
+majority in the Lower House must in the end prove fatal to them. They
+might temporarily set it at naught, through their control over the
+Legislative Council and the absence of ministerial responsibility, but
+they could not hope to keep up such a farce for all time. This knowledge
+impelled them to adopt every means which their ingenuity could devise to
+secure the return of candidates who might be relied upon to support
+their policy. Their success was by no means proportionate to their
+efforts. When the returns were all in it appeared that the Opposition
+had rather gained than lost by the contest. Two staunch members of the
+Compact were defeated in what had theretofore been regarded as safe Tory
+boroughs, and Attorney-General Robinson's majority in the Town of York
+was greatly diminished. All the most prominent Reformers were returned,
+and at the opening of the session on the 8th of January, 1829, Rolph,
+Bidwell, Perry, Matthews and Dr. Baldwin took their seats on the
+Opposition benches. To their number was now added William Lyon
+Mackenzie, who had been returned for the County of York. His election
+was a surprise to the Government party, and was pronounced by them to be
+an everlasting disgrace to the intelligent and populous constituency
+which had returned him. He repaid such compliments as these with others
+of a like character, and gave back as much as he received, if not with
+usury, at least with fair interest.
+
+Mr. Bidwell was elected to the Speaker's chair by the new Assembly, and
+on every test question the Government were left in a hopeless minority.
+The vote on the Address in Reply will afford some clue to the political
+complexion of the House. It referred to the Lieutenant-Governor's
+advisers as having deeply wounded the feelings and injured the best
+interests of the country; yet it was carried with only one dissentient
+vote--that of J. H. Samson, one of the members for Hastings. Reform was
+evidently in the ascendant throughout the Province; but, as during the
+preceding Parliament, the exertions of the majority in the Assembly
+could do little for Reform under the existing state of the constitution.
+The Lieutenant-Governor responded with curt ambiguity to the Assembly's
+Address, and cemented his alliance with the Compact by refusing to grant
+the prayer of the petition for the release of Collins. The Government
+submitted to one defeat after another with dogged sullenness, but with
+undiminished contempt for the idea that successive defeats imposed upon
+them any obligation to resign.
+
+The session of 1829 was a noisy and quarrelsome one. Hardly had
+Mackenzie taken his seat before he began that system of inquiry and
+agitation which he thenceforward pursued throughout the whole of his
+career as a member of Parliament. He instituted an investigation into
+the management of the Provincial Post Office, conducted an inquiry as to
+the privileges of members of the Assembly, and as to the behaviour of
+certain returning officers, and generally busied himself with important
+matters of detail. He displayed precisely the same characteristics as a
+legislator that he had displayed as the conductor of a newspaper--great
+energy and vigilance, accompanied by a critical and fault-finding
+spirit, and an almost entire absence of tact and discretion. He gave
+wanton and unnecessary offence to those who differed from him in
+opinion, not only on important political questions, but even on
+comparatively insignificant matters of every-day occurrence. His
+coadjutors found that, independently of the sincerity or insincerity of
+his intentions, his judgment was not to be trusted. He could be misled
+by any _ignis fatuus_ that displayed a bright light, and was led into
+many a Serbonian bog from which he was not extricated without serious
+difficulty. Some men have an unerring instinct which, even in the
+absence of calm judgment or mature reflection, commonly leads them in
+the right path. Mackenzie's first conceptions, on the contrary, were
+almost invariably erroneous; and he had a perverse habit of frequently
+clinging to an idea once formed, even when experience and deliberation
+had proved it to be unsound.[141] At other times his opinions were as
+changeable as the hue of the chameleon. In short, he was a creature of
+impulse, and too often acted upon the motto of "First fire--then
+inquire." This was perhaps a misfortune rather than a fault, and under
+ordinary circumstances would have merited lightness of touch on the part
+of the historian. But Mr. Mackenzie is identified with a movement which
+forms a conspicuous and dramatic passage in Upper Canadian chronicles,
+and in justice to others it becomes highly necessary to form a correct
+estimate of his personality. This is all the more essential from the
+fact that he himself at different times gave various and conflicting
+accounts of the episode with which his name is inseparably blended,
+which accounts have hitherto been the only sources of information drawn
+upon by so-called historians. All the references to the Upper Canadian
+Rebellion to be found in current histories are traceable, directly or
+indirectly, to Mackenzie himself, and all are built upon false
+hypotheses and perverted representations of events. To Mackenzie, more
+than to any other person, or to all other persons combined, are to be
+attributed all the worst consequences which flowed from that
+feebly-planned and ill-starred movement. All the facts point to the
+conclusion that if he had been content to play the patient and
+subordinate part properly belonging to him, the whole course of his
+subsequent life might have been shaped much more smoothly, and he might
+have been saved the most serious of the privations which he was
+compelled to undergo. Much sorrow and suffering would also have been
+spared to others. The injury that may be done in a primitive community
+by a man who combines good intentions and great energy with excessive
+obstinacy, misguided ambition, and perversity of judgment, is simply
+incalculable. The subsequent course of the narrative will be found to
+fully bear out these reflections, and to point a moral even where there
+is no intention to moralize.
+
+Beyond the perpetual friction which was kept up between the Executive
+body and the Opposition, the session of 1829 was barren of events of
+permanent political importance. The Executive was tolerably independent
+of the popular branch of the Legislature, for it retained the casual and
+territorial revenues, and could get along without an annual vote for
+supplies. No fewer than twenty-one Bills passed by the Assembly were
+rejected by the Legislative Council during the session. "The Province,"
+says Mr. MacMullen,[142] "presented the unconstitutional spectacle of a
+Government requiring no moneys from the Assembly, and a Legislative
+Council of a totally different political complexion from the popular
+branch of the Legislature. No restraint could now be imposed on the
+Executive by an annual vote of supplies. It was completely independent
+of the people." And it declared its independence in the most emphatic
+manner by inserting in one of the Lieutenant-Governor's messages a
+direct intimation that the Assembly would not be asked to trouble itself
+about ways and means.
+
+Certain episodes occurred during this session which are deserving of
+something more than passing reference, not only as indicative of the
+manners of those times, but because they concern personages whose
+achievements were fated to occupy much space in the annals of our
+country. The Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne, had not long been
+installed in office before he was exhibited in effigy in the streets of
+Hamilton. Certain Tories who were believed to have taken part in the
+exhibition openly asserted that the Hamilton Reformers were responsible
+for it. It was at the same time alleged that there was a plot on the
+part of the Reformers to release Francis Collins from York jail by force
+of arms. The two stories emanated from a common source, and as they were
+without any foundation in truth the Reform leaders in the Assembly
+deemed it proper to institute an inquiry into the matter. Upon motion of
+Mr. John Rolph a Committee of Investigation was appointed, with power to
+send for persons and papers. It was known that Allan Napier MacNab, who
+was then an impecunious young lawyer in Hamilton, could give certain
+important information about the affair, and he was summoned to appear
+before the Committee during the second week in February. He obeyed the
+summons, so far as presenting an appearance was concerned, but he
+refused to reply to certain questions put to him, and conducted himself
+with great insolence and want of discretion. Being again summoned before
+the Committee, to answer for his conduct, he read a written defence
+which had been prepared for him, and which rather aggravated his offence
+than otherwise. Accordingly, on motion of Dr. Baldwin, seconded by
+George Rolph, the future baronet was committed to York jail, under
+warrant of the Speaker, during the pleasure of the House. After
+remaining in custody about ten days, Mr. MacNab addressed a letter to
+the House which reads very much like a repetition of his former
+contempt, but which the Assembly seem to have construed very charitably,
+as on the 3rd of March a motion was carried for his discharge, and he
+was set at liberty.
+
+This brief term of imprisonment, which in all lasted less than a
+fortnight, was the turning point in the reckless young lawyer's career.
+Up to that time he had been nobody, and had had no apparent prospect of
+ever attaining to any importance. But from this time forward the
+official party regarded him in the light of a martyr who had suffered in
+the good cause. They feasted and lionized him, and did their utmost to
+advance his fortunes. At the elections which took place during the
+following year they returned him as one of the representatives of the
+County of Wentworth in the Assembly, where, though he lacked sufficient
+ballast to display anything like statesmanship, he made considerable
+noise, and erelong became a notable personage. He was voluble, and made
+many verbose speeches, the matter of which never rose above the veriest
+commonplace, but as it was always charged with emphatic High Toryism it
+was applauded to the echo by the official party. Eventually, as every
+Canadian knows, he obtained high distinction and eminence, and had
+abundant reason to bless the discipline which he had received at the
+hands of a Parliamentary Committee. But for that discipline he might
+have lived and died an obscure country lawyer. To that discipline he was
+indebted for all the honours which subsequently descended upon him. By
+its aid he successively became a member of the Upper Canadian
+Parliament, Speaker of the Assembly, Commander-in-Chief of the Upper
+Canadian land forces during the Rebellion, Knight, Queen's Counsel,
+member of the United Parliament of Canada, leader of the Tory Party in
+the Canadian Legislature, Premier, President of the Council and Minister
+of Agriculture, Baronet, honorary Colonel in the British Army,
+Aide-de-Camp to the Queen, Speaker of the Legislative Council. He also
+became father-in-law to a peer of the realm, and died Sir Allan MacNab
+of Dundurn. Certain passages of his life will form the subject of future
+consideration. Meanwhile it will be sufficient to remark that each
+successive link in the long chain of his triumphs may be distinctly
+traced to his supposed martyrdom at the hands of the Reform majority in
+the Upper Canadian Assembly in 1829.
+
+Another personage cited to appear before the Assembly's Committee on the
+same investigation was the Hon. H. J. Boulton, Solicitor-General. He
+displayed the same reticence as young MacNab, and refused to reply to
+certain questions put to him by the Chairman. He was soon taught that
+the high position which he occupied, backed, as it was, by the support
+of the party in power, could not shield him from the consequences of his
+refusal. Upon motion of Dr. Baldwin a resolution was adopted that the
+Solicitor-General had been guilty of a high contempt and breach of the
+privileges of the House. He was placed at the bar, where he showed more
+sense of propriety than had been shown by his predecessor. He had no
+desire to wear a crown of martyrdom, and did his utmost to purge himself
+of his contempt. He pleaded that he had intended no disrespect to the
+Committee, nor any breach of the privileges of the Assembly, and
+concluded by saying that he stood ready to answer, if the House so
+desired. The House acted magnanimously, not choosing to humiliate a
+beaten man any farther than was necessary for the due vindication of its
+own authority. John Rolph, seconded by Dr. Ambrose Blacklock, one of the
+members for Stormont, moved that the Solicitor-General be admonished by
+the Speaker, and discharged on payment of fees to the Sergeant-at-Arms.
+The motion was carried, and it only remained for the culprit to submit
+to the mild discipline which he had been adjudged to bear.
+
+But there was reason for believing that that discipline would be a
+trying ordeal for the Solicitor-General. The Speaker who was to
+pronounce the admonition was no commonplace piece of clay, trained to
+the set phrase of office, like the previous occupant had been. He was no
+less a personage than Marshall Spring Bidwell, who, with perhaps the
+single exception of John Rolph, was the most eloquent and powerful
+speaker in the Province. When moved to righteous anger, he was capable
+of administering a scorching reproof, and if a man is ever justified in
+taking his antagonist at a disadvantage, ample justification was to be
+found in the present instance. Mr. Bidwell had reason to hate the very
+name of Boulton, and might well be expected to avail himself of such an
+opportunity of darting the hot iron into his enemy's soul. There was a
+feud of long standing between the Bidwells and the Boultons. The
+Bidwells had sustained serious wrong and insult at the hands of the
+Boultons, and the Boultons hated the Bidwells with the hatred which
+small natures always feel towards higher natures which they have
+wronged. It was a Boulton who had been despatched to Massachusetts in
+1821, to hunt up evidence as to the alleged misconduct of the elder
+Bidwell.[143] It was this same Henry John Boulton who had joined with
+his friend the Attorney-General in abusing and maligning the elder
+Bidwell during the election campaign of 1821, and afterwards. It was he
+who had put forth all the little strength that was in him to assist his
+party in bringing about the expulsion of the elder Bidwell from the
+Assembly.[144] He had done his utmost, and successfully, to induce
+members of Parliament to vote for the statute which had forever closed
+the doors of the Upper Canadian Legislature to the ex-member of
+Congress.[145] He had opposed the return of the younger Bidwell to the
+Assembly, and more recently, though he was not then a member of the
+House, he had done what he could to keep him out of the Speaker's Chair
+by influencing members in favour of John Willson. He had lost no
+opportunity of making himself personally offensive to Mr. Bidwell, whose
+abilities he envied, and whose character he was utterly incapable of
+appreciating. It will thus be seen that all the attendant circumstances
+combined to make Mr. Bidwell hate and contemn his adversary. If he
+failed to do so the explanation was to be found in his own gentle
+nature, and not in the lessons of humiliation which the Boultons had
+endeavoured to impose upon him.
+
+It was a memorable scene when the Solicitor-General stood up, on the
+20th of February, to receive the admonition which he had been adjudged
+to endure. He was in a state of tremor, for he was conscious of the
+disadvantage of his position, and he dreaded the power of the Speaker's
+tongue. His friends also felt much solicitude on his account, for they
+knew how little consideration he deserved at the hands of the man who
+now had him in his power. For some moments a solemn silence reigned
+supreme. Then the Speaker's voice was heard; low at first, but steadily
+rising into clear and impressive tones which made every word sink deep
+into the hearts of the listeners. And the words themselves: how
+different from what the expectant personage at the bar had looked for!
+Nothing of malice or revenge there. Nothing but quiet dignity and
+forbearance. No mere spectator could have told whether the offender was
+a personal friend or an enemy of the Speaker. The voice was full of
+feeling, but utterly devoid of passion or malevolence. The power of
+Parliament was fully vindicated, yet the transgressor escaped without
+any unnecessary laceration of his pride. "By every member of the
+community," proceeded Mr. Bidwell, "a ready and cheerful respect should
+be shown towards the House of Assembly, who represent the people of the
+Province, whom the constitution has entrusted with important privileges
+for the benefit of their constituents, and who are amenable to them for
+all that they do. But it might in a peculiar degree have been expected
+of you, whose duty it is to enforce submission to the laws and respect
+for the institutions of the country." Here Mr. Boulton bowed his head as
+if in mute assent. He was then informed that the House could not permit
+this formal and gratuitous denial of its authority to pass unnoticed.
+"It is important," continued the Speaker, "that by its proceedings
+against you a warning should be given, before others are led by the
+influence of your sentiments and conduct to dispute an authority which
+the House is bound to vindicate and enforce. It is necessary that it
+should go thus far; but it gives me great satisfaction to observe that
+its duty does not compel, nor its inclination induce it, in your case,
+to go any farther than is requisite to attain this object; and, finding
+from your answer that you are now disposed to treat its privileges with
+just and becoming respect, and to defer your own private opinion to the
+judgment of that body whose constitutional right it is to decide upon
+its own privileges, it is willing to dismiss you with no other
+punishment than this admonition from its Speaker. This moderation is a
+proof that these privileges have been safely lodged by the constitution
+in its hands, and that they will never be used in a wanton or oppressive
+manner. It is by the order and in the name of the House that I thus
+admonish you, and direct that the Sergeant-at-Arms do now discharge you
+from custody." He was discharged accordingly, and left the house
+profoundly affected by the magnanimity of the man whom he had so
+grievously injured. One who seems to have watched him as he took his
+departure has recorded that the Boulton crest never hung so low as at
+that hour.[146] Nothing could have more clearly proved the greatness of
+soul of Mr. Bidwell than this episode; nothing could have more
+effectually illustrated his capacity to rise superior to all merely
+personal considerations when entrusted with the discharge of a public
+duty. The London _Times_ published a full report of his admonition,
+which it pronounced to be the best paper of the kind on record.
+
+During the following summer an event took place which removed
+Attorney-General Robinson from the atmosphere of the Assembly, and was
+the indirect means of introducing Robert Baldwin to public life. This
+was the appointment of Mr. Robinson to the place of Chief Justice of
+Upper Canada. The office had just become vacant through the retirement
+of Chief Justice Campbell, who had received the honour of knighthood
+during his absence in England. Mr. Robinson thus obtained the reward
+which he had long coveted, and which his devotion to successive
+Lieutenant-Governors had richly earned. There was some doubt as to the
+strict legality of his passing directly from the office of
+Attorney-General to that of Chief Justice. To remove the doubt he
+accepted the position of Registrar of the County of Kent, which he
+resigned after holding it a few days. His appointment to the Chief
+Justiceship was made on the 13th of July, but owing to the delay
+occasioned by his acceptance of the inferior office it was confirmed and
+re-dated on the 3rd of August following. He then took his seat on the
+bench, and was destined to remain there for more than thirty-three
+years. As Chief Justice he succeeded to the Presidency of the Executive
+Council, and at the opening of the session in the beginning of 1830 he
+was nominated Speaker of the Upper House. His removal from the Assembly
+therefore did not remove him from the political arena, and for years
+afterwards he continued, in conjunction with his friend and quondam
+tutor Dr. Strachan, to direct the policy of the Government as completely
+as he had done for some years previously. He was succeeded in the office
+of Attorney-General by Henry John Boulton. The temporary purpose for
+which Mr. Hagerman had been appointed to the bench, in place of Mr.
+Justice Willis, having been fully effected, that gentleman now
+threw off his official robes and succeeded his friend Boulton as
+Solicitor-General.
+
+Mr. Robinson's elevation to the bench left a vacancy in the
+representation of the Town of York. This vacancy young Robert Baldwin
+successfully aspired to fill. At the last general election, in
+conjunction with J. E. Small, he had unsuccessfully contested the County
+of York with W. L. Mackenzie and Jesse Ketchum. He was now opposed in
+the town by the same individual who had so lately been his coadjutor in
+the county. Mr. Small was defeated, but, at his instance, the return was
+declared void, the writ for the election having inadvertently been
+issued by the Lieutenant-Governor instead of by the Speaker of the
+Assembly, as in strictness it should have been. A new writ was issued,
+and Mr. Baldwin again contested the seat, his opponent now being the
+Sheriff of the County, William Botsford Jarvis. The Sheriff naturally
+enjoyed many advantages in such a contest, but he was defeated by a
+considerable majority, and on the opening of the session in the
+following January, Robert Baldwin, then in his twenty-sixth year, took
+his seat in Parliament for the first time. He however did not make any
+conspicuous figure during the session. He had already fully imbibed the
+idea that a responsible Executive was the great want of Upper Canadian
+polity, and took comparatively little interest in the subordinate
+questions of the day. He could see no good purpose to be served by
+recording successive majorities against the Government, so long as the
+members of that Government could retain their offices, together with the
+favour of the Lieutenant-Governor, in spite of any vote which the
+Assembly might see fit to record. He made no remarkable speeches, and
+seemed rather disposed to remain in the background. It so happened that
+he did not again have an opportunity of winning honours in the
+Legislature for many years, as, in consequence of the death of the king,
+a dissolution of Parliament took place before the time had arrived for
+the meeting of another session, and Robert Baldwin was one of the many
+Reform candidates who were beaten at the general elections which ensued.
+
+There are few facts worthy of record in connection with the session of
+1830. In the Speech from the Throne the Lieutenant-Governor was able to
+announce that the revenue at the disposal of the Crown had been found
+sufficient to meet the requirements of the civil list, and that there
+still remained a considerable surplus in the Provincial Treasury. The
+Assembly's Address in Reply once more drew his Excellency's attention to
+the want of confidence felt in the advisers by whom he was surrounded.
+"We still feel unabated solicitude about the administration of public
+justice," it ran, "and entertain a settled conviction that the
+continuance about your Excellency of those advisers who from the unhappy
+policy they pursued have long deservedly lost the confidence of the
+country, is highly inexpedient, and calculated seriously to weaken the
+expectations of the people from the impartial and disinterested justice
+of His Majesty's Government." The response to this intimation is
+probably the briefest official deliverance of the kind on record.
+Divested of the formal commencement, it contained exactly six short
+words: "I thank you for your Address." The number of Bills passed by the
+Assembly and rejected by the Upper House during the session was
+twenty-seven. In addition to these there were several Bills which
+originated in the Assembly, but were afterwards rejected by that House
+by reason of amendments made to them by the Legislative Council.[147]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[130] It has not been thought desirable to incumber the text with
+footnotes except where they seemed to be needed for purposes of
+elucidation; but in every matter of real importance, where the reader of
+average information and intelligence may reasonably be supposed to be in
+doubt as to the source of the narrative, care has been taken to indicate
+the authority.
+
+[131] _Ante_, p. 48.
+
+[132] _Ante_, p. 140.
+
+[133] See _Seventh Report of Grievance Committee_, p. xxxvii. The School
+Act referred to was 4 George IV. cap. 8, passed on the 19th of January,
+1824. John Henry Dunn, Receiver-General of the Province, seems also to
+have protested against the measure, and to have consented, under
+pressure, to the erasure of his protest. See the evidence of the Hon.
+William Dickson and the Hon. Thomas Clark, referred to in the ensuing
+paragraph of the text.
+
+[134] The royal assent to this Act was promulgated by a proclamation
+bearing date April 4th, 1825.
+
+[135] _Ante_, p. 14.
+
+[136] See _Report on Petitions against Wild Lands Assessment Law_, in
+Appendix to _Journals of Assembly_ for 1828, p. 107 _et seq._
+
+[137] See _The Split in the Legislative Council_, by F. C. [? Francis
+Collins], p. 7.
+
+[138] _Ib._, p. 8.
+
+[139] _The Split in the Legislative Council_, ubi supra, p. 10.
+
+[140] In 1849.
+
+[141] Such, as far as I have been able to learn, was the conviction of
+all Mackenzie's contemporaries, even of those most favourably disposed,
+including those who were thrown into the most intimate relations with
+him, and were bound to him by close ties. One of the foremost of these,
+in a conversation with me a short time since, remarked: "Mackenzie
+generally meant well, but he was unpractical and unmanageable. I knew
+him intimately from his boyhood, and I am compelled to say that whenever
+he was in the least excited he acted like a spoiled child. He underwent
+no change in this respect, and was the same in youth, manhood and old
+age. A more unfit person to be entrusted with the management of any
+great enterprise, or with the control of his fellow-creatures, I can
+hardly conceive." I have abundant written testimony to the same effect.
+
+[142] _History of Canada_, p. 370.
+
+[143] _Ante_, p. 100.
+
+[144] _Ante_, p. 101.
+
+[145] _Ib._
+
+[146] _The Hamilton Outrage_, by "Vindex," p. 9. York, 1829.
+
+[147] For the titles of these measures, see the _Seventh Report of
+Grievance Committee_, pp. 266, 267.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE.
+
+
+For several years before this time a quiet and almost imperceptible
+change had been taking place in Upper Canadian politics. On one side was
+the old High Tory or Family Compact party, who revelled in the spoils of
+office, and held the representative of Majesty in the hollow of their
+hands. The policy of this body was unchanged and unchangeable. The
+Reform party, though it had not been in existence more than six years,
+already began to show symptoms of want of cohesion. The men of moderate
+views, like the Rolphs, the Baldwins and the Bidwells, composed fully
+two-thirds of the entire number. The ultra-Radicals, composed for the
+most part of unlettered farmers and recently-arrived immigrants, began
+to show evidence of a desire to rally themselves under the banner of
+Mackenzie, who, through the combined influence of his paper and his
+election to Parliament, had of late come prominently before the public.
+A large and intelligent body of electors had however grown up within the
+last few years who, while they professed Conservative principles, were
+disgusted with the greedy, self-seeking Compact, whose practices they
+held in utter disdain. They held politicians of the Mackenzie stamp in
+still greater abhorrence, to which was added a large modicum of
+contempt. With the moderate Reformers, on the other hand, they had much
+in common. Many of them approved of the doctrine of Responsible
+Government, and almost all of them desired to see the end of Compact
+domination. At the last general election their votes had been very much
+divided. But they were now disposed to hold aloof from the Reformers in
+consequence of the latter's being nominally of the same party as the
+Mackenzie Radicals, who had only recently come into existence. The
+exercise of a little diplomacy and mutual forbearance at this time
+might, it is believed, have effected that union between these two
+classes of persons which was actually accomplished about a quarter of a
+century later. Such an union would have made the united party all
+powerful. It would have swept away the Compact, together with the
+long-standing abuses which had grown up under their rule, and the united
+party would quietly have assumed the reins of power with an overwhelming
+majority at its back. There would thus have been no _raison d'etre_ for
+the Radical element, which would necessarily have been absorbed, or
+would at least have ceased to be an important factor in political life.
+
+These things, however, were not to be. Neither of the parties primarily
+interested made any advances to the other, and each was left to pursue
+its own line of policy. As a consequence the moderate Conservatives
+henceforth voted as one man. They saw the Radical element assuming an
+importance which, as they believed, was fraught with far greater danger
+to the commonwealth than was likely to arise from the continued
+ascendency of the Compact. They gave the official party a qualified
+support, merely because they regarded them as the less of two evils, and
+their votes at the general election of 1830 resulted in the return of a
+considerable majority of candidates favourable to the official body.
+
+[Sidenote: 1831.]
+
+The Reformers could no longer hope to obtain justice, even in the
+Assembly, where they had exerted a predominating influence during the
+last two Parliaments. So long as they had had control of the Lower House
+they had possessed the shadow of power without the reality. Even the
+shadow had been better than nothing; but of this shadow they were
+henceforth to be deprived. They had not only sustained numerical defeat.
+Some of their most trusted leaders had been beaten at the polls, and
+were no longer able to raise their voices in Parliament. Robert
+Baldwin's defeat in York has already been mentioned.[148] His father had
+suffered a similar fate in Norfolk. In Middlesex John Rolph and Captain
+Matthews had been succeeded by Colonel Mahlon Burwell and another
+adherent of the Compact. Lennox and Addington had again returned Bidwell
+and Perry, but, owing to the changed complexion of the House, there was
+no possibility of the former's re-election to the Speaker's chair. Among
+other triumphs scored by the official party were the return of the
+Solicitor-General, Christopher A. Hagerman, for Kingston; of the
+Attorney-General, H. J. Boulton, for Niagara; of William B. Robinson
+(brother of the Chief Justice) for Simcoe, and of Allan N. MacNab for
+Wentworth. York still remained true to Mackenzie, and, as will presently
+be seen, his presence in a House composed mainly of political opponents
+was destined to lead to serious complications. Upon the assembling of
+the Legislature early in the following year, Archibald McLean, the
+official candidate for the Speakership, was elected by a majority of
+twelve votes. No adherent of the official party could have been more
+acceptable to the Reformers than Mr. McLean, who was a gentleman of high
+standing at the bar, and who personally enjoyed great popularity. He sat
+for the County of Stormont, which he had represented for many years,
+during all of which period he had maintained friendly personal relations
+with the members of the Opposition. Great confidence was felt in his
+personal integrity, and in his earnestness for the country's welfare. He
+had special claims to consideration, for he was a Canadian by birth, and
+had fought and bled in defence of his native land during the War of
+1812. Still, he represented political principles which the Reform
+members had been expressly returned to combat, and the mere fact of his
+election to the Speaker's Chair by a majority of twelve votes in a House
+which numbered fewer than fifty members was in itself a sufficient
+indication that those principles were for the time unmistakably in the
+ascendant in Upper Canada. The proceedings of the House during the
+session furnished an apt and conclusive commentary upon this fact.
+
+The session of 1831 was chiefly memorable for two things: the passing of
+the Everlasting Salary Bill, as it was called by those opposed to it;
+and the commencement of the agitation which had for its object the
+exclusion of Mr. Mackenzie from the Legislature.
+
+The Salary Bill was simply a measure granting to the Provincial
+Government a permanent Civil List, in return for the cession by the
+Crown of the control of the Imperial duties. It was introduced in
+accordance with a suggestion from the King, but the Provincial
+Executive concealed certain facts in connection with it, of which the
+Opposition did not become aware until some time afterwards.[149]
+
+By this Bill provision was made for the salaries of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, the three Judges of the Court of King's Bench, the
+Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, five Executive Councillors, and
+the Clerk of the Executive Council. Reformers were strenuously opposed
+to the measure, which they regarded as another blow at the
+constitutional rights of the Assembly. It of course had the effect of
+rendering the Executive more independent of the Assembly, and more
+indifferent to its opposition, than ever. Hagerman and Boulton, whose
+official salaries were thereby provided for, were conspicuous above all
+other persons in the House in defending this measure, and in browbeating
+those who ventured to raise their voices against it. The Reform members
+found Attorney-General Boulton an infliction specially hard to bear. His
+predecessor, Mr. Robinson, had been a sufficiently galling yoke, but his
+abilities had made him respected, and he had seldom attempted to play
+the bully. In cases where no important party interests were at stake he
+had generally been amenable to reason, and had not gone out of his way
+to needlessly exacerbate the feelings of those who disagreed with him.
+Now, a different order of things prevailed. Boulton was simply
+unendurable. His capacity was barely such as to enable him to discharge
+his official functions, and what he lacked in ability he made up for in
+bluster. He had an abominable temper, and a haughty, overbearing manner.
+He was always committing blunders which he refused to acknowledge, and
+he roared and bullied his way through one complication after another
+in a fashion which disgusted even those with whom he acted. During the
+discussion on the Salary Bill he shrieked and raved himself hoarse in
+denouncing what he called the "factious insolence" of the Opposition. Of
+his own factious insolence he seems to have been altogether oblivious.
+The Bill was passed, but he was not destined to a long enjoyment of the
+provision thereby made for the Attorney-General.
+
+The Mackenzie persecution was a matter of greater moment than the Salary
+Bill, and was fated to produce results altogether unexpected by those
+who set it on foot. The session was not many days old when Mr. Mackenzie
+once more began to make himself conspicuous in Opposition. He moved a
+resolution denying the authority of the Executive to prescribe the
+religious observances of the Assembly, and affirming the right of the
+latter body to appoint its own chaplain. He made a forcible but
+exasperating speech in support of his motion, which, by vote of the
+House, was not submitted. He then moved that the ministers of religion
+of various denominations resident in York should be requested to say
+prayers in the House during the session. This motion was equally
+unsuccessful. During the debate, the Assembly was favoured with a
+characteristic specimen of Attorney-General Boulton's oratory. He
+stigmatized the assumption that the House was entitled to appoint its
+own chaplain as of a piece with the assumption of an assassin that he
+has a right to shoot down a man in the street--the right of brute force.
+This nonsensical tirade he shrieked out by way of peroration to a speech
+intended as a defence of the right of the Government in the matter of
+the chaplaincy. It is strange that the House should have listened to
+such balderdash, not only with patience, but even with apparent
+submission. Solicitor-General Hagerman spoke in a similar strain, but
+with less of irascibility. He warned the House that the Government was
+too powerful for them; that the Lieutenant-Governor had strong feelings
+on this subject, and that if they persisted in opposing his wishes
+confusion would ensue, and an end would be put to their proceedings.
+
+But Mackenzie was not to be dismayed by the want of success of his
+exertions to popularize the religious ceremonial of the Assembly. He
+next moved for an inquiry into the state of the representation. Such an
+inquiry was urgently needed, for the House was full of postmasters,
+county registrars, inspectors of licenses, and other placemen who held
+office at the will of the Executive, and who therefore could not be
+expected to be honest exponents of public opinion in their respective
+constituencies. Mackenzie, in the course of a vigorous speech, presented
+such an array of facts that a committee of inquiry was appointed. This
+success he followed up by a motion for an inquiry into certain pensions,
+fees and salaries. Then he instituted a crusade against the management
+of the Bank of Upper Canada, of which institution Attorney-General
+Boulton was solicitor. Each of these motions afforded opportunities for
+inflammatory speeches, in the course of which the Government and its
+official favourites were handled with scant consideration. The
+Attorney-General was several times lashed into a state of almost insane
+fury, and on one occasion seemed to be on the point of rushing across
+the floor and making a personal onslaught upon Mr. Mackenzie. The
+"little mannikin from York," as he was called, always had the courage of
+his opinions, and rather courted such an attack than otherwise. That he
+had many and grave faults cannot be denied, but certainly cowardice was
+not among the number. No more certain means of intensifying his
+opposition could have been found than an attempt to put him down by the
+strong hand. He continued to make motion upon motion and speech upon
+speech, and before the session was half over he had managed to cause an
+amount of annoyance to the Government such as they had never before
+known. And all this time the party to which he belonged was in an
+insignificant minority in the Assembly. What then was to be anticipated
+when the chances and changes of time should once more place that party
+in the ascendant there?
+
+In former times it had been possible for the official party to rid
+themselves of a troublesome opponent upon any slight pretext. Why not
+now, when the Assembly was well-nigh as obedient as the Upper House, and
+when some of the ablest members of the Reform party had ceased to occupy
+themselves with public affairs? Certainly there had never been a time
+when suppression was more imperatively required, for did not this man
+Mackenzie spout something very much like democracy in their very faces?
+Had he not made several speeches in the House which had aroused a
+spirit of inquiry? If he were allowed to continue, was it not inevitable
+that some of his waspish stings must take serious effect?
+
+Prosecutions for libel had become unpopular. The case of Francis Collins
+had aroused such a clamour that it was not deemed wise to try further
+experiments in that direction. In April, 1828--about the same time when
+measures had been instituted against Collins--an indictment for libel
+had actually been laid against Mackenzie for a paragraph published in
+the _Advocate_, in which the Crown lawyers and other supporters of the
+Government had been referred to in contumelious terms, and wherein a
+hope had been expressed that the constituencies returning certain Tory
+members to Parliament would clear the Assembly of "the whole of that
+ominous nest of unclean birds."[150] But the Attorney-General, after
+keeping the prosecution impending over the defendant's head for many
+months, had seen fit to abandon it. The times, in fact, had ceased to be
+propitious for libel prosecutions, and some other way out of the
+difficulty had to be found. The device actually hit upon to get rid of
+Mackenzie's opposition in the Assembly was worthy of the minds which had
+plotted the ruin of Captain Matthews, Justice Willis and Francis
+Collins. Mackenzie, who had the contract for printing the journals of
+the House, and who generally had a number of copies of those journals on
+hand, had distributed a hundred and sixty-eight of them throughout some
+of the constituencies just prior to the last general election. This had
+been done at his own expense, and in the interest of the Reform
+candidates; for he believed that no more effective campaign document
+could be devised than a truthful record of the proceedings in the House.
+But as strict matter of Parliamentary law he had been guilty of a breach
+of privilege, no one having a right to publish reports of the
+proceedings of the Houses without authority. The existence of such a
+rule is perhaps salutary, as there are conceivable cases in which it
+would be inexpedient to allow such publication. But, as everybody knew,
+Parliament had long been accustomed to wink at perpetual violations of
+this rule. Newspapers all over the world had been permitted, and even
+encouraged, to transgress it. Some of the leading organs of public
+opinion in different parts of the world had built up their reputations
+mainly by the fulness and accuracy of their reports of Parliamentary
+proceedings. Nothing can be more certain than that there would have been
+no talk about enforcing the obsolete rule at this time but for the fact
+that it seemed to afford a pretext for punishing the man whom the
+Government party wished to destroy. The attempt to enforce it was not a
+success. The motion to that end was made by Allan MacNab, and was to the
+effect that Mackenzie had abused the trust reposed in him as the printer
+of the journals, by distributing portions of the same for political
+purposes, and among persons not entitled to copies thereof, thereby
+committing a breach of the privileges of the House. The junior member
+for Wentworth thundered with tremendous vehemence in support of his
+motion. To judge from his language, his soul had been stirred to its
+nethermost depths by this lamentable violation of Parliamentary
+privilege, which he characterized as a species of treason. Hagerman and
+Boulton followed in the same strain, the latter waxing almost pathetic
+in his expressions of devotion to the British constitution. But their
+exertions were ineffectual. The House, subservient though it was, was
+not to be coerced into supporting a motion which, if carried, would
+almost certainly be converted into a basis of attack on persons who were
+favourable to the Administration. A majority of the members foresaw that
+if Mackenzie were punished on such a pretext, his fellow-workers in the
+Assembly would not fail to institute measures against the publishers of
+various newspapers throughout the land who had been in the constant
+habit of reporting the proceedings in Parliament without leave. Only
+fifteen members voted for MacNab's motion, while twenty recorded their
+votes against it, and among the latter were several of the most
+redoubtable Tories in the House. The organizers of the attack perceived
+that they had made a false move, and withdrew their forces for a fresh
+assault in a different quarter.
+
+The opportunity for a fresh attack did not present itself until the
+following session. Meanwhile, Mackenzie occupied himself in turning his
+notoriety to account, and in developing his policy of agitation. He
+resolved upon getting up a series of petitions to the King and the
+Imperial Parliament, calling attention to the various grievances
+wherewith the inhabitants of the Province were burdened, and praying
+for redress. During the summer he carried out his project by organizing
+a series of public meetings in some of the most populous cities and
+towns of the Province, at each of which a petition was adopted and
+numerously signed. It is said that the aggregate number of signatures
+obtained exceeded 24,500. The agitator's success encouraged him to
+persevere in the course he had adopted, and when Parliament re-assembled
+in November he was ripe and ready for the fray that was sure to follow.
+The assault against him now took the shape of a charge of gross,
+scandalous and malicious libel, intended and calculated to bring the
+House and the Government of the Province into contempt, and to excite
+groundless suspicion and distrust in the minds of the inhabitants,
+thereby constituting a breach of privilege. The matter complained of was
+embodied in two articles published in the _Advocate_ subsequent to the
+opening of the session, and both publication and authorship were
+admitted by Mackenzie. One of the articles was a sharp criticism on the
+manner in which the House had treated a petition from certain
+inhabitants of Vaughan. The other was a well-merited tirade against the
+local Executive, which was unfavourably contrasted with that of the
+sister Province. Neither of them was grossly abusive, nor even unfair.
+They were indeed exceptionally favourable specimens of the Mackenzie
+style of journalism, and were incomparably milder than articles which
+may constantly be seen in the Canadian party journals of the present
+day.
+
+Being called upon for his defence, Mackenzie addressed the House with
+more than his wonted ability. He exposed the flimsiness of the charges
+against him, and the gross partiality of the proceedings. But the House
+was in search, not of justice, but of a victim, and neither the
+eloquence of a Demosthenes nor the reasoning powers of a Pascal would
+have availed aught with that hostile majority. Attorney-General Boulton,
+in the course of the discussion, delivered himself of a tempest of
+characteristic abuse against the accused, to whom he referred as a
+reptile. Solicitor-General Hagerman could always be depended upon as a
+good second in such emergencies, and followed up by referring to Mr.
+Mackenzie as a spaniel dog. The House seemed to accept these choice
+Parliamentary epithets with approval. They came from an official
+source, and it is so easy to be strong upon the stronger side. Little
+chance was there for the maimed and bleeding under dog in the fight
+among that crowd of venal and merciless sycophants, some of whom had
+libelled the late Assembly in terms thrice as gross as any that had been
+employed in the articles in question. The _tu quoque_ argument is not
+generally admissible in legal investigations, but surely it might have
+been permitted to have some weight with the judges--who were likewise
+the jurors--in this case. Neither that nor any argument appears to have
+been seriously considered. The usual forms were gone through, in order
+to preserve some appearance of conventional propriety, but a verdict of
+guilty was altogether certain and beyond peradventure from the moment
+when the indictment was laid. By a vote of twenty-seven to fifteen it
+was resolved that Mackenzie was guilty of the libel charged against him.
+By a vote of twenty-six to fourteen it was resolved that he was guilty
+of a high breach of the privileges of the House. And by a vote of
+twenty-four to fifteen, it was resolved that he be expelled therefrom.
+
+To characterize these proceedings as a series of shameful abuses of
+power is certainly not to exceed the bounds of moderation. The persons
+responsible for them must stand tainted at the bar of history for all
+time to come. It is far from desirable to perpetuate the bitterness of
+the past, but it is possible for oblivion to be too charitable. It is
+well that those who are accustomed to speak of "the rebels" of 1837 with
+contumely and indignation should bear in mind against whom and what it
+was that they rebelled. The expulsion of Mackenzie from the Assembly was
+not the greatest act of tyranny to which the people of Upper Canada were
+compelled to submit in the far-away days that are gone; but the nature
+of the abuse was such that it awoke widespread alarm, and gave rise to
+ominous forebodings. It indicated that constitutional opposition to the
+Government was no longer safe in the Assembly, as it had been during the
+two preceding Parliaments. It indicated that nothing approaching to a
+fair trial was to be had, even from the High Court of Parliament, for a
+politician who dared to criticize the official methods of transacting
+the public business. Growls of discontent were heard from all over the
+County of York, whose representative was treated with such ignominy.
+People were heard to express an opinion that Upper Canada was no longer
+a fit place of abode for free men and women.
+
+The public indignation found expression in several petitions, addressed
+to the Lieutenant-Governor by electors in York and elsewhere, in which
+his Excellency was asked to "dismiss a House tainted with the worst
+vices of judicial partiality." A deputation, consisting of more than
+nine hundred persons, called at Government House to present one of these
+manifestations of popular sentiment. His Excellency could not well
+refuse to receive a respectfully-worded petition, but his reply was so
+curt and unsatisfactory as to amount to positive insolence. "Gentlemen,"
+said he, "I have received the petition of the inhabitants." And with
+this wholly unnecessary item of information the deputation was compelled
+to withdraw. So utter a disregard for the expression of the opinion of a
+considerable body of the inhabitants was without precedent in the annals
+of the Province. That the prayer of the petition would be granted, or
+even that it would be taken into serious consideration, was hardly to be
+expected. Its very nature forbade any such expectation. But, considering
+the number of names appended to it, it certainly merited a serious
+response, in which light the actual rejoinder could not be regarded. The
+proceeding showed not merely indifference, but contempt; and
+thenceforward Sir John Colborne was as cordially hated by the Reformers
+of Upper Canada as ever Sir Peregrine Maitland had been.[151]
+
+The efforts of the faction to ruin and humiliate Mackenzie had the
+effect which such treatment always produces in communities where the
+inhabitants have been indoctrinated with ideas of fair play and equal
+rights. It made a popular hero of one who, if the truth must be told,
+had very little of the heroic in his composition. Had the Government
+been wise enough in their own interests to let him have his say in the
+Assembly, he would soon have found his proper level, and would have
+ceased to carry any weight there.[152] He would undoubtedly have raised
+a good deal of temporary excitement by unearthing abuses, and by
+vituperating persons whom he disliked. But he could never have seriously
+threatened the supremacy of the Compact, for the very sufficient reason
+that he could not command the sympathies or respect of the leading
+spirits of his own party. Rolph, the Bidwells and the Baldwins had by
+this time come to rate Mackenzie at about his true value. They
+recognized his talents, which were many and considerable. He had a clear
+head for accounts, and was full of suggestive ideas about matters of
+finance. Some of these ideas were unpractical, and even chimerical, but
+anyone capable of separating the wheat from the chaff could learn much
+from him, and could render his suggestions available. He was an
+excellent subordinate, useful on committees, and active in the
+management of details. He also had his uses as the conductor of a public
+press, though, owing to the erratic and ill-balanced mind of its editor,
+the _Advocate_ was in some respects a source of weakness rather than of
+strength. His influence was pretty much confined to the farmers and
+mechanics of that portion of the country where his paper was chiefly
+circulated; and even there his influence would never have been anything
+like so great as it actually became had it not been for the persecution
+to which he was subjected. Over and beyond, he could not be said to
+have any distinctive _locus standi_ in the Reform party. Of
+statesmanship, properly so called, he had nothing beyond the most misty
+conception. The structure of his mind prevented him from seeing a
+question in its various aspects, and in judging of future political
+events he was much more often wrong than right. That he was honestly
+desirous of advancing the cause which he had espoused there seemed no
+good reason to doubt, but it was evident to those who were brought into
+intimate relations with him that the fiery zeal which he displayed was
+made up at least as much of hatred of his foes as of any overpowering
+enthusiasm for Reform. Another quality which seriously interfered with
+his usefulness was his exceeding want of discretion. He seemed to be
+utterly incapable of keeping his own counsel, and a secret once told to
+him was a secret no longer. His rashness and impetuosity were
+proverbial, and were perpetually involving him in disputes, not only
+with enemies but with friends.
+
+[Sidenote: 1832.]
+
+It was surely a short-sighted policy which gave to a man so constituted
+a factitious importance, and which made him for some years the most
+notorious personage in Upper Canada. The treatment he had received
+aroused popular sympathy on his behalf, and preparations were made to
+return him again for the County of York by an increased majority. When
+the new election was held, on the 2nd of January in the following year,
+a long procession of sleighs escorted him to the polling-place, which
+was the Red Lion Tavern, on Yonge Street. Two thousand persons assembled
+to witness the triumph of "the people's friend." An Oppositionist was
+nominated, but as he received only one vote during the hour and a half
+which elapsed after the opening of the poll, he abandoned the contest,
+and Mackenzie's triumph was assured. The close of the poll was followed
+by the presentation of a gold medal by his constituents, as a token of
+their approbation. A number of sleighs were then formed in line and
+paraded down Yonge Street, and thence past Government House and down to
+the Parliament Buildings. The foremost sleigh was decorated with
+enthusiastic mottoes painted on calico, and cheers for the successful
+candidate rent the air as the procession passed along the principal
+thoroughfares. All this popular adulation was grateful to Mackenzie's
+soul. He was in his element. There is no need to linger over this part
+of the narrative. Parliament was still in session, and the Assembly were
+resolved that, no matter what the electors of York might think proper to
+do, Mackenzie should not sit in the House. A new pretext for his
+expulsion was found in an article of which he avowed himself to be the
+author, and which appeared in the _Advocate_ of the 5th of January. This
+article was a true and by no means intemperate recital of certain
+well-known facts as to certain measures which had been passed by the
+Assembly. It was notwithstanding adjudged, by a vote of twenty-seven to
+nineteen, to be a libel on the House, and a high breach of its
+privileges; and it was further resolved that Mr. Mackenzie be expelled
+the House, and declared unfit and unworthy to hold a seat therein during
+the existing Parliament. But his constituency stood loyally by him, and
+again re-elected him by an overwhelming majority within a few weeks
+after this second expulsion. His popularity reached a higher point than
+ever. Public meetings were held all over the Province to protest against
+the measures which had been adopted towards him, and petitions to the
+King and the Imperial Parliament were again circulated and signed by
+great numbers of the inhabitants. These meetings proved so successful
+that the Government party deemed it wise to take some steps of a similar
+character on their own behalf, with a view to checkmating the operations
+of the Reformers. Nothing is more easy than to obtain signatures to
+petitions, which are frequently signed without being read. Opposition
+meetings were held by supporters of the Government, at which excuses
+were attempted to be made for the expulsions of Mackenzie, and at which
+counter petitions to the King and Parliament of Great Britain were
+signed by many thousands of persons. One of the meetings was held at
+Hamilton on the 19th of March, and Mackenzie attended it by special
+invitation. That same night an attack was made upon him by certain
+myrmidons of the official party, who kicked and beat him severely. At
+another meeting held at York four days later the proceedings became so
+riotous that the Sheriff professed himself unable to preserve the peace.
+An attack was made upon the office of the _Advocate_, the windows of
+which were broken. The town remained in a very disturbed state
+throughout the ensuing night, and a large proportion of the inhabitants
+did not venture to seek repose. Mackenzie deemed it prudent to retire
+into the country for several weeks; and almost immediately after his
+return to town he set off on an important mission to England. It was
+considered that the most effectual method of impressing the
+subject-matter of the various Reform petitions upon those to whom they
+were addressed would he to send Mackenzie himself across the Atlantic to
+present them, and to urge the many much-needed colonial reforms upon the
+attention of members of the British House of Commons. It was believed
+that he could accomplish the various objects of his mission and return
+in time to take his seat in the Assembly at its opening towards the
+close of the year. He deputed the editing and publication of the
+_Advocate_ to other hands, and sailed from New York on the 1st of May.
+In due course he reached his destination, and put himself into
+communication with Hume, Roebuck, Cobbett, O'Connell, and other eminent
+persons of Liberal proclivities, including Lord Goderich, the Colonial
+Secretary.
+
+The reader hardly needs to be informed that this was a momentous period
+in the history of England. It was the epoch of Reform, and the nation
+was in a state of ferment. During the brief space while Mackenzie had
+been crossing the Atlantic great events had taken place. Earl Grey's
+ministry had resigned; Sir Robert Peel had refused to join the Duke of
+Wellington in an attempt to form a Government; and Earl Grey had resumed
+office, armed with the King's written authority to Lord Brougham and
+himself to create as many peers as might be necessary to ensure the
+passing of the Reform Bill. This authority it did not become necessary
+to exercise. The titled aristocracy bowed to the unconquerable will of a
+great and thoroughly-aroused people, and Mackenzie reached London in
+time to hear the third reading of the Great Bill in the House of Lords.
+He was soon afterwards received at the Colonial Office, not as the
+representative of any particular class of Canadian politicians, but as a
+person interested in Canadian affairs, and able to afford much valuable
+information concerning them.[153] He then found that the efforts of the
+official party in Upper Canada to render his mission inoperative had not
+been barren of results. Petitions had been received at the Colonial
+Office in which entire satisfaction was expressed with the existing laws
+and institutions of the Province; and the signatures thereto slightly
+exceeded in number those appended to the petitions of which he himself
+had been the bearer. He however devoted himself with characteristic
+energy to the presentation of his case, and prepared a memoir wherein
+all the most serious grievances of the Upper Canadian people were set
+forth in detail. In this document the writer adopted a discursive and
+rhetorical style which, as the Colonial Secretary justly remarked, were
+"singularly ill adapted to bring questions of so much intricacy and
+importance to a definite issue." The facts were nevertheless pretty
+comprehensively embodied, and were generally speaking of such a
+character as to tell their own story. The perusal of the memoir seems to
+have produced an impression upon the Colonial Secretary's mind. He wrote
+a long and elaborate despatch to Sir John Colborne, in which the weak
+points of Mackenzie's arguments were exposed with cutting severity, and
+wherein it was evident that very little weight had been attached to most
+of his representations; but at the same time certain concessions to
+popular opinion were plainly hinted at. When this despatch was submitted
+to the Legislative Council and Assembly of Upper Canada at the ensuing
+session it was treated with scant respect. The Upper House formally
+declared that it did not regard it as calling for serious attention, and
+returned it to the Lieutenant-Governor. The Assembly discussed the
+propriety of sending it back, but finally resolved not to do so. Both
+the Crown Law Officers made hot-headed speeches on the subject, and
+referred to the Colonial Secretary in the most contemptuous terms.
+
+Meanwhile, Mackenzie, who still remained in England, was in his absence
+expelled from the Assembly a third time. On this occasion there was no
+preliminary attempt to convict him of any fresh libel or breach of
+privilege. The Law Officers of the Crown simplified the proceedings by
+declaring that the House had a right to determine as to the eligibility
+of members, and a resolution to that effect was moved and carried. It
+was then resolved that the person returned for York was the same William
+Lyon Mackenzie who had been twice expelled the House and declared unfit
+to hold a seat therein; and that by reason thereof the said Mackenzie
+could not sit or vote in the House as a member thereof. He was then
+expelled for the third time, and a new writ was issued for the County of
+York. The inhabitants of that constituency felt so much aggrieved, and
+gave such loud-mouthed expression to their dissatisfaction, that no
+candidate hostile to Mackenzie dared to present himself at the ensuing
+election, and the choice of the people was returned by acclamation.
+
+[Sidenote: 1833.]
+
+The part taken by the Law Officers of the Crown in these repeated
+expulsions was not acceptable to the Colonial Office. Neither was the
+contemptuous manner in which they had seen fit to refer to the
+Secretary's despatch written after the perusal of Mackenzie's memoir. A
+missive on the former subject had been sent to Sir John Colborne some
+months before the commencement of the session of 1832-3, the contents of
+which seem to have been promptly communicated to Messieurs Boulton and
+Hagerman.[154] Notwithstanding that communication, those gentlemen had
+seen fit, soon after the opening of the session, to take a leading part
+in another expulsion, and to make contemptuous references to the conduct
+of the Colonial Secretary himself. The Attorney-General had expressed an
+opinion that the Secretary might have found something better to do than
+to sit down and answer "Mackenzie's rigmarole trash." Solicitor-General
+Hagerman had remarked that the Secretary had stultified himself by
+noticing statements which rested on no better authority than that of a
+person who had been twice expelled the Assembly, and who had been
+declared unfit to sit therein in consequence of his having "fabricated
+and reiterated libels of the grossest description." Lord Goderich
+signified his disapprobation of this conduct in the most emphatic manner
+by dismissing the two virulent critics from office. Their dismissal was
+effected by a despatch to Sir John Colborne dated March 6th, 1833. "By
+the accounts I have lately received of the proceedings of the
+Legislature of Upper Canada," wrote his Lordship, "I have learnt that
+the Attorney and Solicitor-General of that Province have, in their
+places in the Assembly, taken a part directly opposed to the avowed
+policy of His Majesty's Government. As members of the Provincial
+Parliament, Mr. Boulton and Mr. Hagerman are of course bound to act upon
+their own view of what is most for the interest of their constituents,
+and of the colony at large. But if, upon questions of great political
+importance, they unfortunately differ in opinion from His Majesty's
+Government, it is obvious that they cannot continue to hold confidential
+situations in His Majesty's service without either betraying their duty
+as members of the Legislature, or bringing the sincerity of the
+Government into question by their opposition to the policy which His
+Majesty has been advised to pursue." It was intimated that the Law
+Officers of the Crown could not be permitted to impede the Government
+policy, and that in order that those gentlemen might be at full liberty
+to follow their own judgment, they were to be relieved from their
+offices.[155]
+
+When this despatch reached York, towards the end of April, its contents
+were communicated to Attorney-General Boulton. Mr. Hagerman had started
+for England a short time before on a mission connected with the Clergy
+Reserves, and, as was said,[156] in order to obtain a permanent
+appointment to a judgeship. He learned of his dismissal immediately upon
+his arrival in London, and lost no time in putting himself in
+communication with the Colonial Minister. An important change had
+recently taken place at the Colonial Office. Lord Goderich had vacated
+the Secretaryship, and had become Lord Privy Seal, being at the same
+time created Earl of Ripon. He was succeeded as Colonial Secretary by
+Mr. Stanley, afterwards Earl of Derby, who had been Secretary for
+Ireland, but had aroused such hostility against himself among
+O'Connell's followers by his stand on the Irish question[157] that it
+had been deemed prudent to find another portfolio for him. He now
+admitted Mr. Hagerman to an audience, and was so won upon by that
+gentleman's specious representations that he restored him to his
+stewardship. Accordingly, although he had been only moderately
+successful in carrying out the specific objects of his mission, Mr.
+Hagerman returned to Upper Canada in triumph; and he was greeted, upon
+his arrival, with a tempest of acclamation from the Tory press.
+
+Mr. Boulton, upon receiving from the Lieutenant-Governor's secretary an
+intimation of his dismissal, raised a howl of indignation against Lord
+Goderich and the Imperial Government generally. It was notorious that he
+controlled the columns of _The Upper Canada Courier_, a newspaper
+published at York in the interests of the official party, and edited by
+Mr. George Gurnett. That paper, in its next issue, contained an article
+more scurrilous and abusive than had been either of those articles in
+the _Advocate_ on the pretext whereof Mackenzie had been expelled from
+the Assembly. It reeked with scurrility and disloyalty from beginning to
+end. It alleged that the well-affected people in the country were more
+than half alienated from the Home Government, and that they began to
+cast about in their mind's eye for some new state of political
+existence. There was more to the same purport. Some new state of
+political existence! This was a pretty strong suggestion of rebellion!
+And it emanated from the organ of a faction in whose mouths the word
+"loyalty" was ever present; whose "loyalty" had for years been vaunted
+from every hustings, and who, so long as the tide ran in their favour,
+had preached doctrines worthy of the middle ages about submission to the
+higher powers. How changed was the tone now that there seemed to be some
+prospect of their being placed upon the same footing, and judged by the
+same standard as their neighbours. If they did these things in the green
+tree, what would they do in the dry? What might have been expected from
+them if they had been subjected to such injustice and ignominy as the
+party to which they were opposed? Here was a faction professedly ready
+to throw off their allegiance because two of their number had been
+deprived of offices which they had notoriously prostituted and
+disgraced.[158] Here was a "well-affected" people "casting about" in
+their "mind's eye" for a new state of political existence, because two
+of the most corrupt, brazen and audacious officials in the colony were
+no longer to be allowed to pervert legislation under the mantle of
+Imperial countenance. And they were as little disposed to brook
+interference with their pecuniary interests by the Colonial Office.
+Early in the following year they gave utterance to rank treason in
+consequence of the threatened disallowance by the Imperial Government of
+certain Bank Charter Acts passed by the Provincial Parliament.[159] A
+pearl is proverbially uncomely in the snout of a swine; and truly the
+word "loyalty" was never more absurdly out of place than when pronounced
+by such lips.
+
+The ex-Attorney-General followed the ex-Solicitor-General to England,
+where he represented his case to the new Colonial Minister. After giving
+much attention to the matter, Mr. Stanley expressed himself as satisfied
+with the explanations which had been offered. The explanations seem to
+have chiefly consisted of solemn declarations on the part of Mr.
+Boulton that he had been insufficiently informed of the views of the
+Home Government, and that he had had no desire whatever to set up his
+own will in opposition to those views.[160] He doubtless professed his
+readiness to go any length in the way of sycophancy which might be
+required of him for the future. It was however impossible to restore him
+to the Attorney-Generalship, as a successor to that office had been
+appointed in the person of Mr. Robert Sympson Jameson,[161] an English
+barrister, who had actually sailed from Liverpool for Canada, and was
+already well on his way thither. Mr. Boulton was informed that he should
+have the first good appointment at the Secretary's disposal. His success
+was even greater than that of his recent colleague, for on the 17th of
+June he was notified that the King had been graciously pleased to accept
+of his further services, and that the Colonial Secretary had His
+Majesty's commands to offer him the appointment of Chief Justice of
+Newfoundland, which situation had recently become vacant.[162] This
+appointment was fully approved by the Earl of Ripon, under whose advice
+he had been dismissed from the Attorney-Generalship of Upper
+Canada,[163] but who had been induced to change his views after hearing
+Mr. Boulton's explanations.
+
+Mr. Boulton's triumph, however, was to be followed by a downfall more
+humiliating than that which he had so narrowly escaped. He repaired to
+Newfoundland in the autumn, and entered upon the performance of his
+duties. He had not been long in his new position before he had aroused a
+feeling of disgust and alarm on the part of a large proportion of the
+public and the profession. He began by being arbitrary, tyrannical and
+unjust. He proceeded from bad to worse, until it was found impossible to
+permit him to retain his position.[164] There is no need to follow the
+proceedings adopted against him. He was not finally got rid of until
+1838, when he returned to Upper Canada, and once more entered political
+life as member for Niagara. The Home Government turned a deaf ear to his
+perpetual applications for employment, and would have nothing more to do
+with him. Some years after the Union of the Provinces, finding that he
+had nothing to hope for from the Conservative party, who refused to
+elevate him to a judgeship, he abandoned them, and for some time acted
+with Mr. Baldwin. It seems almost cruel to record the fact that he
+supported Responsible Government and the Rebellion Losses Bill.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[148] _Ante_, p. 229.
+
+[149] "When, in the year 1831, His Majesty was graciously pleased to
+suggest a further provision for the Civil List, which the Colonial
+Ministry required to be made either for seven years or for the life of
+His Majesty, the terms of the proposition were not candidly submitted to
+the Assembly, and notwithstanding the strenuous exertions of those who
+desired to make no provision at variance with the spirit of our
+constitution, the Executive influence in the Assembly succeeded in
+carrying a measure for a permanent and extravagant supply, popularly
+called 'the Everlasting Salary Bill,' while the liberal and gracious
+terms proposed by His Majesty on the subject were concealed and known
+only to those who, feeling themselves to be above responsibility,
+consummated a measure which has spread universal dissatisfaction and
+distrust. If this undue and impolitic concealment was practised from any
+pretended apprehension that a just provision would not be made for His
+Majesty's Government by his faithful Commons, there is nothing in the
+country to justify it, and as it encroached upon the privileges of the
+Legislature there is no language of censure too strong against
+it."--_Seventh Report of Grievance Committee_, p. xlii.
+
+[150] See _The Colonial Advocate_ of April 3rd, 1828.
+
+[151] I can find no confirmation of the statement made by Mackenzie, and
+re-echoed by subsequent writers, about the excessive fears of the
+Government at this juncture, and the preparations made by them to resist
+an uprising of the people. There were no grounds for any such fears, nor
+for any anticipations of an uprising. The people were long-suffering,
+and were by no means ripe for revolt.
+
+[152] If any evidence were needed of this obvious truth, it is furnished
+by Mackenzie's career in the Canadian Parliament after his return from
+exile. He was there brought into contact with politicians of a
+succeeding generation, most of whom knew him by tradition only. His
+misfortunes, and the manifold sufferings he had been compelled to
+endure, impelled most of the contemporaries to regard him with a large
+measure of forbearance, and he was permitted to indulge a license of
+speech which would not have been tolerated in any other member. He
+adopted precisely the same _role_ as of yore, and delivered himself with
+great vehemence on matters which he did not understand. The inevitable
+result was that the Assembly soon ceased to attach any weight to his
+opinions. He had lived long enough to repudiate many of his old
+doctrines, and to eat many of his past words. His views on Tuesday were
+frequently the very opposite to what they had been on Monday, and
+neither were any indication of what they would be on Wednesday. Members
+ceased to attach any importance to his statements, or to think of them
+as calling for serious consideration. He came to be regarded as a sort
+of unlicensed jester who might be permitted to amuse the House by his
+antics when there was no pressing business on hand; but as to any real
+influence, he had no more than the junior messenger. It took him several
+years to find this out, and when it was brought thoroughly home to him
+he resigned his seat. Had the Family Compact politicians of fifty to
+sixty years ago been as wise in their generation as the members of the
+Assembly during the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Parliaments of United
+Canada, they would have ceased to defend the indefensible, and would
+have let Mackenzie alone. They might then have held the reins of power
+for ten--or possibly twenty--years longer; but the day of reckoning,
+when it came, would probably have been a darker one.
+
+[153] Lord Howick, writing on behalf of the Colonial Secretary, under
+date of June 23rd, 1832, in reply to Mackenzie's application for an
+interview, informed the applicant that although the Secretary was ready
+to hear any observations which he (Mackenzie) might have to offer upon
+the affairs of Upper Canada, as an individual interested in the welfare
+of that Province, and as a member of the Assembly, yet that the
+Secretary could not recognize him as being deputed to act for any other
+person, nor could he enter into any discussion with him on measures
+which His Majesty's Government might think it right to pursue. "The
+views and intentions of His Majesty's Government with respect to the
+affairs of the Province," wrote his Lordship, "can only be made known to
+the people of Upper Canada through the medium of the Governor or of the
+Legislature; it is to one or other of these authorities that any
+complaints which individuals may have occasion to make should properly
+be addressed; and if the course pursued by the Executive Government
+should be such as to give just ground for dissatisfaction, the
+inhabitants have, by their Representatives, the means of bringing their
+grievances under the immediate attention of His Majesty." The full text
+of the letter will be found on pp. 191, 192 of the _Seventh Report of
+Grievance Committee_.
+
+[154] Mr. Boulton denied, at least by implication, that any such
+communication had been made to him. See his letter dated April 30th,
+1833, and published in the _Courier_ of the following day. But it is
+certain that the contents of the missive had been made known to Mr.
+Hagerman, and it is hardly conceivable that he would have failed to
+communicate to his colleague matters of such vital importance to their
+welfare.
+
+[155] The full text of the despatch will be found on p. 295 of the
+_Seventh Report of Grievance Committee_.
+
+[156] "We have been very credibly informed that, on account of the
+extent of the settlements and consequent increase of court business, it
+was thought expedient by our wise ones that a fourth judge was
+necessary, and that he [Mr. Hagerman] had obtained (previous to his
+leaving here) a recommend from the other judges for himself to be
+appointed to the new created situation."--_Colonial Advocate_, Thursday,
+May 2nd, 1833.
+
+
+[157] It was at this time that Mr. Stanley, by his fiery speech against
+O'Connell, won for himself the sobriquet of "the Rupert of Debate."
+
+[158] Henry Sherwood, who had by this time attained to a prominent place
+in the ranks of the official party, was especially loud in his
+denunciations of the British Government for dismissing Boulton and
+Hagerman. According to a correspondent of the _Colonial Advocate_, he
+declared, in the course of an ordinary conversation, that if such
+proceedings were to continue, he, for his part, did not care how soon
+the British authority was superseded by a republican one.--See letter of
+"John Bull," on first page of the _Advocate_ of December 14th, 1833.
+
+[159] They were equally intolerant of opposition from their own
+adherents when their pecuniary interests were at stake. In December,
+1833, the Hon. John Elmsley, who had been called to the Executive
+Council three years before, was forced to resign his seat in that body
+because he could not act independently there. In his letter of
+resignation, which is dated "Holland House, York, December 3rd, 1833,"
+he says: "Since I have assumed the duties of that high office [_i.e._,
+the office of an Executive Councillor], I find that I cannot fearlessly
+express my real sentiments and opinions, if opposed to the Government
+for the time being, without incurring the risk of dismissal from that
+Honourable Board, which constitutes my inability to advance the public
+good. I have therefore deemed it expedient most respectfully, but
+reluctantly, to tender the resignation of my seat in the Executive
+Council."--See evidence of the Hon. Peter Robinson, in Appendix to
+_Seventh Report on Grievance_, p. 91. See also p. xxvii of the Report
+itself.
+
+[160] See _Case of the Honourable Henry John Boulton, Chief Justice of
+the Island of Newfoundland_, etc.--being a report of the Case before the
+Privy Council--p. 3.
+
+[161] This was the husband of the accomplished Anna Jameson, whose
+brilliant art criticisms are among the most readable things of their
+kind in the English language, and whose Canadian sketches have made her
+name well known in this country.
+
+[162] _Case of the Hon. H. J. Boulton_, etc., p. 3.
+
+[163] _Ib._, p. 4.
+
+[164] Full particulars of his misconduct may be found in the work
+already quoted from.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DISENFRANCHISEMENT.
+
+
+Mackenzie remained in England much longer than he had anticipated, and
+did not return to Canada until towards the end of August, 1833. He was
+absent in all nearly sixteen months, which was considerably longer than
+was necessary for the accomplishment of the objects of his mission. He
+doubtless enjoyed life in the metropolis, and was loth to relinquish
+it.[165] His mission had not been wholly fruitless, for his
+representations at the Colonial Office had led to the writing of Lord
+Goderich's despatch already referred to, by which the faction in Upper
+Canada were led to see that they would for the future be compelled to
+act with somewhat more of circumspection. Several much-needed
+suggestions were made in the despatch on subjects of practical
+importance--among others as to the remuneration of members of the
+Assembly representing Town constituencies; as to the extension of the
+franchise to persons who, by reason of their religious scruples, could
+not conscientiously take the prescribed oath; as to the repeal of the
+law disqualifying British subjects from voting at elections till the
+expiration of seven years after their return from a residence in a
+foreign country; and as to the interference of ecclesiastical
+Legislative Councillors in secular matters.[166] Mackenzie was also
+entitled to claim credit for obtaining important reforms in the
+management of the Provincial Post Office. He had brought the affairs of
+the Province conspicuously before the minds of several eminent public
+men, whose interest in Canada had thus been aroused, and who were
+thenceforth able to display some familiarity with Canadian questions as
+they came up for discussion in the House of Commons. During his stay in
+London he had published a duodecimo volume, extending to 504 pages,
+entitled "Sketches in Canada and the United States," in which a good
+many Provincial abuses had been specified. The information contained in
+this work had been thrown together in a higgledy-piggledy fashion, and
+it could not be said to have much real value, more especially as many of
+its statements were inaccurate, and must have been known to be so when
+they were written.[167] Still, it probably had some effect in seconding
+the author's efforts to attract attention to himself and the interests
+which he represented. He had moreover acquainted the Colonial Secretary
+with matters which could not possibly have been clearly explained
+otherwise than orally. It was tolerably certain that information
+furnished by him had led to the dismissal of Boulton and Hagerman, a
+proceeding which had wonderfully exhilarated his mind; and his
+depression had been correspondently deep upon learning that the one had
+been promoted and the other reinstated. He had hoped to see Mr. Rolph
+appointed to the Solicitor-Generalship, and, if his word is to be
+credited, he really seems to have had some grounds for believing that
+such an appointment would be made.[168] He afterwards declared that he
+had "good reasons for believing" that Mr. Rolph's appointment had
+actually been made out and transmitted to Canada, but that Sir John
+Colborne and Chief Justice Robinson had prevented it from taking
+effect.[169]
+
+As has already been seen,[170] Mackenzie, during his absence in England,
+had once more been elected to represent the County of York in the
+Assembly. Upon the first meeting of Parliament after his return he
+presented himself as a member. There was however a persistent
+determination that he should not be permitted to take his seat. The
+hostile majority in the House professed to believe that they had a right
+to exercise a discretion as to who should be permitted to sit therein.
+Mackenzie, they alleged, had libelled the House by libelling a majority
+of its members, and he had neither made nor attempted to make any
+reparation or apology. The Clerk, acting most probably on instructions,
+refused to administer the oath to him. A resolution was adopted that he
+should not be permitted to sit or vote as a member during the session,
+and a writ for a new election was ordered. Again did he return to his
+constituents, and again was he returned without opposition. The electors
+of York were by this time heartily tired of the farce, the perpetual
+re-enactment whereof had the effect of partly disfranchising them by
+leaving them with only one representative in the Assembly instead of
+two. They were nevertheless fully resolved not to yield their undoubted
+rights without some further assertion of them. The member of their
+choice was under no legal disability. They were advised that there was
+no constitutional justification for the action of the Assembly. They
+declared that they owed it to themselves and those who were to come
+after them not to submit tamely to injustice of such a nature. The
+election being over, a considerable body of them escorted him to the
+Houses of Parliament. But a short time had elapsed since the last
+expulsion, and the Legislature was still in session. The members of the
+Assembly stared in astonishment at the sudden and altogether
+unlooked-for incursion of strangers, who poured into the gallery and
+into the space below the bar, where they were permitted to intrude
+themselves, and where Mackenzie presented himself to take the oath.
+Those who could not find room inside remained without in the lobbies. In
+a few moments a lull occurred in the proceedings of the House, whereupon
+burly Peter Perry rose in his place and announced that he had a petition
+to present on behalf of the inhabitants of the County of York. The
+contents of the petition were not of a nature to render it acceptable to
+a majority of the members. It referred to Mackenzie's expulsion, and
+prayed that that indignity might not be repeated. There was a very
+general feeling among the supporters of the Government that the House
+ought not to receive such a petition, and several of them gave utterance
+to their opinions on the subject. Allan MacNab expressed himself to this
+effect with his customary emphasis, and was greeted with a storm of
+hisses from the York electors in the gallery. Ominous sounds! The House
+could not be expected to tamely brook such a manifestation, and an order
+was given to clear the gallery. While the order was being obeyed, the
+Sergeant-at-Arms approached Mackenzie where he stood below the bar, and
+directed him to leave. Mackenzie replied to the effect that he had a
+right to be there, and that he intended to remain. The door was then
+opened by the Sergeant-at-Arms, who proceeded to eject Mackenzie by
+force; but before he could carry out his purpose a rush was made from
+the adjacent lobby. The door was promptly closed and barricaded, but not
+until several of the invaders had effected an entrance. The excitement
+was intense, and for some minutes the proceedings of the House were
+suspended. When quiet had been in some measure restored, the Speaker
+directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to clear the space below the bar of
+strangers. That functionary again ordered Mackenzie to leave, and he
+received the same reply as before. This was communicated to the Speaker,
+who decided that, as Mackenzie had not taken the oath, he was not a
+member of the House, and was not entitled to remain. Mackenzie was
+there, ready and anxious to take the oath; but he was nevertheless
+removed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and the Assembly was once more purged
+of his presence. On the next day he was again formally expelled by a
+vote of the House[171]--an anomalous proceeding in view of the Speaker's
+decision that he was not a member! He had thus been thrice expelled from
+the House, and once excluded therefrom upon the ground that he was not a
+member.
+
+[Sidenote: 1834.]
+
+It was by this time clear that from a House so constituted Mackenzie
+could not expect to meet with fair play. Mr. Bidwell, Mr. Perry, and
+others of his friends had all along spoken manfully on his behalf
+whenever an opportunity of doing so had presented itself, but their
+arguments had simply been thrown away. His pugnacious spirit was however
+fully aroused, and he determined to exhaust every means before
+abandoning his endeavours to take the seat to which he was entitled. He
+applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for permission to take the oath
+prescribed for members of the Legislature before his Excellency, or
+before some one specially appointed for the purpose, under the
+twenty-ninth section of the Constitutional Act of 1791.[172] The
+question involved in this application was submitted to the
+Attorney-General, Mr. Jameson, who pronounced the opinion that Mackenzie
+was entitled to the privilege asked for. The matter was nevertheless
+allowed to remain in abeyance for some weeks, as the hostile members of
+Assembly had been worked up to a great pitch of excitement by the
+incursion of the rural population, and were in no humour to tolerate
+Mackenzie's presence. Meanwhile petitions to the Lieutenant-Governor
+were sent in from various parts of the County of York, as well as from
+other places. The language in some of these was of the most unmistakable
+kind, and it was evident that endurance had nearly reached its limits.
+On Monday, the 10th of February, Mackenzie, having taken the oath before
+the Clerk of the Executive Council, and having obtained a duly attested
+certificate of the ceremonial, ventured once more to present himself in
+the Chamber of the Assembly.
+
+The House was in Committee on the question of improving the navigation
+of the St. Lawrence when he entered. The gallery was crowded with
+spectators, most of whom were sympathizers with Mackenzie, and had
+assembled there to impart to him a sort of outside numerical support. He
+walked to the seat which he had once been accustomed to occupy, and
+quietly sat down in it. Ere many minutes the Sergeant-at-Arms[173]
+approached and requested him to withdraw. This he declined to do,
+alleging that he was a member legally elected, duly sworn, and charged
+with no offence or irregularity which could disqualify him from sitting
+and voting.[174] He produced the attested copy of the oath, and bade the
+Sergeant-at-Arms interfere at his peril. The following is Mackenzie's
+own account of what ensued; and, unlike most of his narratives, it is in
+all substantial respects confirmed by several eye-witnesses. "He [the
+Sergeant-at-Arms] said he must use force, and he did so in as gentle a
+manner as was consistent with the act. Although his proceedings were
+illegal, his whole conduct in carrying them into effect was marked by a
+discretion wisely adopted in the excited state of the minds of the dense
+audience by whom he was surrounded. I almost immediately returned to the
+seat I had occupied, and while on my way was seized hold of by Colonel
+Frazer, Collector of Customs at Brockville, and obliged to change my
+route. Before I had got well seated, one of the members, I think Mr.
+Boulton[175] moved that the Speaker take the chair. He did so, and I
+addressed him, stating the insult I had received while in the
+performance of my duty as a member. To this he made no reply, but said
+that the Sergeant-at-Arms must know his duty. He then left the chair;
+the Committee resumed, and I was a second time forced from my seat by
+violent means. After a little reflection I decided to resume my seat;
+was a third time forced from it by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and when the
+Speaker had returned I was placed at the bar, charged by the
+Sergeant-at-Arms with refusing to leave the House."[176] The
+Sergeant-at-Arms then reported to the Speaker that he had taken into
+custody William Lyon Mackenzie for disorderly conduct, and that he had
+him in charge at the bar; whereupon it was moved by Mr. Samson, and
+seconded by Mr. Vankoughnet, member for Stormont, that William Lyon
+Mackenzie, having been brought to the bar of the House by the
+Sergeant-at-Arms for disorderly conduct, be called upon to state what he
+might have to say in his defence. To this motion Mr. Perry moved an
+amendment to the effect that Mackenzie was under no legal
+disqualifications, and had a right to sit and vote in the House. Then
+followed a long debate which lasted nearly six hours,[177] and which
+left the question at issue pretty nearly where it had been. Mr. Perry's
+motion was lost by a vote of twenty-one to fifteen. A dense crowd
+occupied the gallery until far into the night, but good order was
+preserved, the only demonstration being a subdued hiss while Mr. William
+B. Robinson, member for Simcoe, and brother of the Chief Justice, was
+speaking. Much rancour was exhibited by some of the Tory speakers,
+several of whom approved their loyalty by inveighing loudly against the
+Lieutenant-Governor for permitting the Clerk of the Executive Council to
+administer the oath to Mackenzie. Allan MacNab declared his intention to
+vote for committing Mackenzie to the common jail. Casting his eyes up to
+the gallery, he scowled at the occupants, to whom he referred as a band
+of ruffians who had come there to intimidate the House. The
+Lieutenant-Governor, he said, had interfered very improperly, and in a
+manner no way creditable to himself. He had acted like the Vicar of
+Bray, and might yet find, like that individual, that by taking both
+sides of a question he might fall through between. Mr. Samson, member
+for Hastings, spoke to a similar purport, declaring himself to be in
+favour of sending Mackenzie to jail without a hearing, and referring to
+the Lieutenant-Governor in terms of strong censure. "His Excellency,"
+remarked Mr. Samson, "knew perfectly well that Mr. Mackenzie had been
+expelled by us, and for him to allow the oath to be administered under
+such circumstances was a most unwarrantable proceeding. He had no right
+whatever to interfere. I do say he acted a most improper part, and I do
+not know but this House ought to take it up." When Mackenzie attempted
+to speak at the bar, William Hamilton Merritt, member for Haldimand,
+rose in much anger, and exclaimed: "Drown his voice. He ought to be put
+out of the House, and two men stationed continually at the door to keep
+him out." Absalom Shade, of Galt, member for Halton, was of the same
+opinion. The speech of the member for Simcoe, which evoked the hiss from
+the gallery as already mentioned, was perhaps the most violent of all.
+He advocated that Mackenzie should be punished and consigned to jail
+without being allowed to utter "one single word" in defence of his
+outrageous proceedings. "Mackenzie," said he, "would never have dared to
+show himself in this House again if he had not had his Excellency's
+sanction for doing so in his pocket. His Excellency's conduct, I
+maintain, has been utterly unjustifiable. Indeed, I could not have
+believed it possible that his Excellency should have thought of taking
+such a step without consulting the Speaker of this House. He had no
+right whatever to do so, and now that he is told that we do not
+recognize such a right on the part of the Executive, I trust he will not
+persevere."[178] For milder language than this, many of the Reformers
+had been branded as "traitors," "disaffected," and "republicans," by the
+very person who now gave utterance to it. The beam in one's own eye is
+so much harder to perceive than the mote in the eye of one's brother.
+
+The plain fact of the matter is, that no sentiment of either loyalty or
+disloyalty had anything whatever to do with the treatment to which
+Mackenzie was subjected at the hands of the Compact and their
+supporters. It was simply this: Mackenzie was a thorn in their sides. He
+watched them closely, and exposed their conduct in language which was
+telling and vigorous, albeit often ill-considered and unbecoming. They
+felt that their supremacy was menaced, and largely by his
+instrumentality. His expulsions were due to a fixed determination to
+keep him out of Parliament, irrespective not only of what was
+constitutional or unconstitutional, but even of what was right or wrong.
+To carry out this determination they resorted to all the party devices
+which a majority in the Assembly placed at their disposal. "From first
+to last," as Mr. Lindsey remarks,[179] "the proceedings against Mr.
+Mackenzie were conceived in a party spirit, and carried by party votes.
+No worse description or condemnation of them could be given, seeing
+that they were in their nature judicial."
+
+The debate, as has been said, came to nothing. Mackenzie was not
+permitted to take his seat, and did not again attempt to do so during
+the session. No new writ was issued for the election of a member by the
+County of York. Mackenzie's supporters opposed the issue of a writ
+because such a proceeding would have assumed that the expulsion had been
+legal, and that there was a legal vacancy in the representation. Others,
+who were not friendly to Mackenzie, felt that a new election would only
+lead to fresh complications. York would undoubtedly return the expelled
+member, and he would again be refused a seat in the House. The session
+accordingly dragged on to its close without any writ having been issued:
+a matter of little practical importance, inasmuch as there was to be a
+general election in the course of a few months. It will thus be seen
+that the County of York underwent a partial disfranchisement for three
+years, during which three sessions were held. Before another session
+came round a new Parliament had come into being, and the political
+situation had undergone a complete metamorphosis.
+
+During the session of 1833-4, which witnessed the tumultuous scene just
+described, the Provincial Parliament made one important concession to
+public opinion by passing an Act to render the Judges of the Court of
+King's Bench independent of the Crown. It is right to state, however,
+that this was done in consequence of pressure from the Imperial
+Government,[180] and not from any wish to remove an abuse of long
+standing. The Act provided that "the Judges of His Majesty's Court of
+King's Bench for this Province shall hold their offices during their
+good behaviour, notwithstanding the commissions which have been
+heretofore granted to them, or either of them, may specify that the
+office is to be held during the pleasure of His Majesty; and that from
+and after the passing of this Act the commissions to the Judges of the
+said Court shall be made to them respectively to hold during their good
+behaviour, and that the commissions of Judges of the said Court for the
+time being shall be, continue, and remain in full force during their
+good behaviour, notwithstanding the demise of His Majesty, or of any of
+his heirs and successors." Thus were the Judiciary rendered independent
+of the humours of the Executive, whereby a long step was taken towards
+securing a pure administration of justice in the Superior Court of the
+Province. Had a similar policy been pursued with respect to other gross
+abuses, the effect upon the public mind would have been most
+pacificatory. Standing, as it did, alone, the Act exhibited a striking
+contrast to every other feature of the Executive policy, and it may be
+doubted whether a solitary inhabitant of the Province was conciliated
+thereby.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[165] Prior to his departure from Canada he travelled about here and
+there through the country to collect subscriptions towards the expenses
+of his journey. He met with but slender success. After his return he
+made further efforts in the same direction, and with similar results.
+Persons who professed much zeal for Reform were slow to put their hands
+in their pockets for such a purpose, and he succeeded in collecting only
+about L150. It should however be remembered that most Upper Canadian
+Reformers in those days were poor. Mackenzie's actual disbursements
+during his absence are stated by Mr. Lindsey to have been L676 (_Life of
+Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 287), but a considerable part of this sum was
+expended on a visit to Scotland. It is probable, too, that the amount
+stated includes the cost of publishing _Sketches in Canada and the
+United States_, which must have been considerable. It is fairly to be
+inferred from Mr. Lindsey's account that Mackenzie was himself compelled
+to pay the difference between L150, the amount collected from
+subscribers, and L676, the amount actually expended. "The people's
+agent," he informs us, "was left to bear the greater part of the
+expense." This, no doubt, was Mr. Lindsay's belief when his book was
+written; but nothing could be further from the fact. It would be much
+nearer the truth to say that Mackenzie enjoyed a sixteen months' holiday
+at the expense of his political friends, for all, or nearly all the
+money expended over and above the L150 was contributed by Dr. Morrison,
+Dr. Rolph, David Gibson, the Lesslies, Shepards, and others; and as no
+portion of the money so contributed was ever repaid, they, and not
+Mackenzie, were compelled to bear the loss. The implied slur upon the
+Reform party is therefore wholly undeserved.
+
+[166] His Lordship expressed himself with much clearness on this
+subject. "Whether," he wrote, "even under this restriction [_i.e._, the
+restriction of non-interference in secular affairs], their holding such
+seats is really desirable, is a question upon which I am fully prepared
+to listen with the utmost attention to any advice which I may receive
+from yourself, from the House of Assembly, or from any other competent
+authority. I have no solicitude for retaining either the Bishop
+[McDonnell] or the Archdeacon [Strachan] on the list of Councillors, but
+am, on the contrary, rather predisposed to the opinion that by resigning
+their seats they would best consult their own personal comfort and the
+success of their designs for the spiritual good of the people. But any
+such resignation must be voluntary, since the office is held for life;
+and were it otherwise, no consideration could induce me to advise His
+Majesty to degrade the Bishop or the Archdeacon from the stations they
+occupy, except upon the most conclusive proof of misconduct." One might
+not unreasonably construe these words into a pretty broad hint to Bishop
+McDonnell and Dr. Strachan that they ought to resign.
+
+[167] The London _Morning Herald_ of July 11th, 1833, correctly
+characterized it as "the oddest mixture of slander and truth, of
+knowledge and ignorance, of bold assertion and vacillating opinion."
+
+[168] "Mr. Rolph will, we have no doubt, have the offer of the
+Solicitorship, but whether he will accept it is a matter more doubtful;
+though we think he possibly may, provided he is to be associated in the
+administration with men of a liberal policy; otherwise we are of opinion
+he will decline. Such an appointment would certainly do credit to our
+country, and we hope he (Mr. Rolph) will accept the appointment if
+offered--that is, if he can consistently do so."--_Colonial Advocate_,
+Thursday, May 2nd, 1833. See also the _Advocate_ for October 3rd, 1833.
+
+[169] See _An Account of the Dismissal of the Attorney and
+Solicitor-General from Office, and of the Re-appointment of Mr.
+Hagerman_, written by Mackenzie for the General [Reform] Committee at
+York, and published in the _Advocate_ for Thursday, August 29th, 1833.
+
+[170] _Ante_, p. 247.
+
+[171] As the resolution recited the facts relating to the two former
+expulsions, as well as the grounds of the present one, it may not be
+amiss to transcribe it in full. It was voted upon on Tuesday, the 17th
+of December (1833). Its mover was William Morris, member for Lanark. It
+was in the following words: "That this House, on the thirteenth day of
+December, 1831, in consequence of a false and scandalous libel published
+against a majority of its members by William Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire,
+one of the members then representing the County of York, of which he
+avowed himself the author and publisher, was induced to expel him, the
+said William Lyon Mackenzie, from this House: That notwithstanding the
+gross and scandalous nature of the said libel, this House, in the hope
+that the said William Lyon Mackenzie would abstain from a continuance of
+the offensive conduct for which he had been expelled, permitted him to
+take his seat on the third day of January following, as a member for the
+County of York, after being re-elected: That in this hope, so important
+to the deliberate transaction of public business, so essential to the
+respectability of the Legislature and peace of the country, a few days'
+experience convinced this House there was so little reason to rely, that
+on the seventh day of the same month of January, it was by a large
+majority again deemed necessary to expel the said William Lyon
+Mackenzie, for a repetition and aggravated reiteration of the aforesaid
+false and scandalous libel; and in doing so, this House, in order to
+support the dignity which ought to belong to a Legislative body,
+considered it just and proper to declare the said William Lyon Mackenzie
+unfit and unworthy to hold a seat in this House during the continuance
+of the present Parliament: That as the said William Lyon Mackenzie has
+never made reparation to this House for the gross injuries which he has
+attempted to inflict on its character and proceedings, there is no
+reason to depart from the resolution of the said seventh day of January,
+1832." In amendment, Mr. MacNab, seconded by Mr. Robinson, moved that
+the following words be added to the original resolution: "And therefore
+he, the said William Lyon Mackenzie, again elected and returned to
+represent the County of York in this present Parliament, is hereby
+expelled." The amendment, as well as the original motion, was carried by
+a vote of 22 to 18.
+
+[172] This section provides for the taking of the oath before the
+Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person administering the Government,
+or "before some person or persons authorized by the said Governor or
+Lieutenant-Governor," etc.
+
+[173] The Sergeant-at-Arms was Allan MacNab, Sr., father of the junior
+member for Wentworth.
+
+[174] See the _Advocate_ of Thursday, February 13th, 1834.
+
+[175] Not H. J. Boulton, who had several months before departed for
+Newfoundland, but George Strange Boulton, one of the members for Durham.
+
+[176] See the _Advocate_ of February 13th, 1834.
+
+[177] Mackenzie, in the _Advocate_, says "full seven hours," but he did
+not reach the Assembly Chamber until nearly half-past three in the
+afternoon, and the House adjourned at 9.30 for want of a quorum. See the
+sessional journal. The three removals of Mackenzie from his seat must
+have occupied some minutes, and the entire debate could not possibly
+have extended over quite six hours. The matter is of no particular
+importance, but it shows how carefully all unsupported statements of
+Mackenzie ought to be scrutinized before being admitted as evidence.
+
+[178] "It is probable," says Mackenzie (_Colonial Advocate_, Feb. 13th),
+"that the provoking language of some of the members would have ended in
+a disturbance had I not warned the people through the press, personally
+at many of their dwelling houses, and in the House before I took my
+seat, to preserve perfect silence whatever the members said or did. They
+were very orderly, and it is creditable to them that they were so. If
+public opinion will not avenge our cause, violence and tumult will not
+help us." The irony of fate had decreed that this admirable sentiment
+should not find a permanent lodgement in the writer's breast.
+
+[179] _Life and Times of Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 311.
+
+[180] See Lord Goderich's despatch of 8th November, 1832.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MR. HUME'S "BANEFUL DOMINATION" LETTER.
+
+
+Mackenzie's repeated expulsions, unjust as they were, and humiliating as
+were some of the attendant circumstances, were not wholly without
+compensation. For one thing they caused him to be more talked about than
+any other man in Upper Canada. This, of itself, would have gone far
+towards reconciling him to the indignities which had been heaped upon
+him, for notoriety was very dear to his heart. But a more substantial
+reward, and one altogether unlooked for, was in store for him.
+
+Within a month after the scene in the Assembly described towards the
+close of the last chapter, the town of York ceased to exist, having
+exchanged its name for the old Indian appellation which it has ever
+since borne. An Act of incorporation had been obtained during the
+session, whereby it was enacted that York should be constituted a body
+corporate and politic by the name of the City of Toronto. The city was
+to be divided into wards, with two aldermen and two common councilmen
+for each ward, to be elected by the inhabitants; and with a mayor, to be
+elected by the aldermen and councilmen from among themselves. This Act,
+like the rest of the measures passed during the session, was assented to
+on the day of adjournment--the 6th of March, 1834. On the 15th of the
+same month an official proclamation appeared whereby Thursday, the 27th,
+was appointed for the first election of municipal representatives. A
+campaign of active canvassing was forthwith set on foot throughout the
+city. As has often happened in more recent times, the contest assumed a
+political complexion. The Act of incorporation had been procured by Tory
+influences, and had been carried through the Assembly under the auspices
+of Sheriff Jarvis, the local member. In his speeches on the subject in
+the House Mr. Jarvis had taken the reasonable and legitimate ground that
+the Provincial capital had attained dimensions which rendered a separate
+government necessary to the efficient management of its affairs. This
+view was participated in by Tory residents generally. The Reformers, on
+the other hand, had all along been opposed to incorporation. York, they
+argued, was the main fortress and stronghold of the official party, who
+would be almost certain to acquire a pernicious ascendency in municipal
+affairs, to the detriment of the rest of the community. The Province at
+large had already suffered enough from Compact domination, and it was
+far from desirable to afford an opportunity for its exercise in a more
+restricted field. Again, it was urged that the expense of a separate
+administration for the city would more than counterbalance any
+advantages to be derived therefrom. These views were put forward with
+much vehemence by reformers, both in Parliament and through the medium
+of the press. From all which it was evident that the impending elections
+would afford a pretty accurate test of the strength of the respective
+political parties in the city.
+
+Generally speaking, the Tory vote in the capital had been largely in
+excess of that polled by the Reformers. That it was not so in the spring
+of 1834 was due in no small degree to public indignation at the unfair
+treatment to which Mackenzie had been subjected. Persons who had never
+recorded a Reform vote before now came forward to support candidates who
+were known to be strong Reformers. It was not so much that these persons
+sympathized with Mackenzie, who was by many of them held in detestation
+and abhorrence; but they felt that gross injustice had been done,
+against which it behooved them to record their formal protest. The
+result was that the sanguine calculations of the Tories were altogether
+falsified, and that a majority of Reform candidates were returned to the
+first Council of the City of Toronto. Among the latter were Mackenzie
+himself, who was elected as one of the aldermen for St. David's Ward,
+and John Rolph, who was elected for the Ward of St. Patrick.
+
+A few words of explanation are necessary in this place with regard to
+Mr. Rolph. It will be remembered that he and the two Baldwins had
+divested themselves of their gowns during the progress of the Willis
+dispute, and had declined to transact any further business in a court
+which they believed to be illegally constituted.[181] They did not again
+present themselves before the court during Term until after the decision
+of the Privy Council had set their minds at rest on the subject. There
+was no longer anything to prevent them from resuming their practice. The
+Baldwins did so, and Rolph for a time followed their example, albeit in
+a half-hearted manner. He had long been profoundly disgusted with the
+partiality displayed by the judges, and by their complete subserviency
+to the wishes of the Executive, as expressed by their forensic
+mouthpiece, Attorney-General Robinson. On account, as he believed, of
+his political opinions, he had been forced to contend against the
+persistent hostility of the judiciary. His triumphs at the bar had been
+won by reason of his power over juries, and in spite of one-sided
+charges from the bench. Of the understanding and judicial integrity of
+Mr. Sherwood he had formed a very low estimate. Hagerman, who
+temporarily succeeded Judge Willis, was an abler man, but his political
+feelings were so strong that Rolph would not imperil the interests of
+his clients by appearing before him. Upon the accession of
+Attorney-General Robinson to the bench the state of affairs from Rolph's
+point of view was not much improved. Mr. Robinson and he had so long
+fought each other at the bar and on the floor of the Assembly that they
+had come to regard each other as personal enemies. Rolph, rightly or
+wrongly, came to the conclusion that he could no longer hope to obtain
+any measure of justice. The necessary consequence of such a conclusion
+was a resolve to abandon the practice of law, and to resume that of
+medicine, which latter, indeed, he had never wholly abandoned. This
+resolution was not fully carried out until more than two years after it
+had been formed, though he meanwhile accepted no new suits, and steadily
+prepared himself for the impending change. The decisive step does not
+appear to have been taken until 1832, when he transferred his legal
+practice to his brother George. Thenceforward John Rolph never again
+appeared in a Court of justice in the capacity of an advocate. It was a
+momentous decision, for he had a fine legal practice, and enjoyed the
+reputation of being the most eloquent man at the Upper Canadian bar. He
+had outlived the exuberance of youth, and was at this time nearly forty
+years old--an age at which few men would have had the courage to abandon
+a pursuit which had been followed with signal success for many years. He
+resumed the practice of medicine and surgery, and was thenceforward
+known as "Doctor" Rolph. For some years before this time he had resided
+at Dundas. He now removed to the capital, where he was well known, and
+where he continued to reside until the breaking out of the Rebellion
+towards the close of 1837. He soon won a distinguished place in the
+ranks of his new calling, and reached a preeminence therein as great as
+he had ever attained at the bar. There was no regularly-organized
+medical college in Upper Canada, and the facilities for acquiring a
+competent medical training were few. In response to urgent requests from
+a number of influential persons in Toronto he established a private
+medical class, and gave instruction to a limited number of students. His
+teaching was eminently successful, and he made himself greatly beloved
+by his students. He seemed to have the whole round of medical literature
+at his fingers' ends, and his marvellous knowledge and graphic power of
+expression kindled in the breasts of the young men a love of knowledge
+for its own sake.[182] By no one were his attainments held in higher
+respect than by the Lieutenant-Governor. Sir John urged him to found a
+permanent medical college, and promised that Government aid for such an
+enterprise should not be wanting. But Dr. Rolph had other views. He had
+for several years been out of public life, but with no idea of so
+remaining. He was resolved to re-enter Parliament at the first suitable
+opportunity, and did not allow his professional pursuits to absorb all
+his attention. Unlike Robert Baldwin, who to a great extent held himself
+aloof from politics at this time, Rolph took a leading part at Reform
+meetings and caucuses, and did his utmost to give practical shape to the
+Reform policy. Baldwin, notwithstanding his undoubted zeal for Liberal
+principles, was imbued with somewhat exclusive social ideas, and was
+not in active sympathy with the Reformers at this period. He regarded
+Mackenzie as very much of a demagogue, and as a person with whom he
+could not hold any very intimate relations. The sentiments entertained
+by Baldwin for Mackenzie seem to have been closely akin to those
+entertained by Sir John Falstaff for the troops with whom he declared
+that he would not march through Coventry. Mackenzie's noisy verbosity
+and self-assertion offended the patrician instincts of Mr. Baldwin, to
+whom, indeed, the little proletarian was altogether distasteful and
+repulsive. This feeling, however, seems to have been due to the
+antipathetic natures of the two men, rather than to any mere feeling of
+exclusiveness on the part of Mr. Baldwin. They had as little in common
+as two persons very well could have. Without entering any further into
+the question, it will be sufficient to say that the one had a judgment
+under strict discipline, while the judgment of the other was always
+subordinate to the circumstances or prejudices of the moment--a fatal
+defect in one who aspires to be a leader of men. Mr. Baldwin made no
+secret of his conviction that no substantial progress could be made by
+the Reform party so long as one like Mackenzie was permitted to have any
+commanding voice in its counsels, or at any rate to have any hand in the
+shaping or directing of its policy. Rolph took a broader view, and while
+he admitted the notoriously weak points in Mackenzie's character, did
+not feel disposed either to throw him overboard altogether or to deprive
+him of a share in the direction of party affairs. He naturally felt and
+spoke strongly on the subject of the expulsions. For Mackenzie
+personally he had never felt much liking, but he hated injustice, and
+did not hesitate to give the expelled member all the support, moral and
+otherwise, which he could command. He was wont to say that Mackenzie
+might yet do much good work for Reform, if he could only be kept in his
+proper place. Mackenzie, on his side, never wearied of sounding Rolph's
+praises, and he sometimes did so in extravagant terms. Wherever he went
+he proclaimed the Doctor as the one man in Upper Canada capable of
+leading the Reform party to triumph and permanent power. Bidwell and
+Perry were well enough in their way, but to neither of them would he pin
+his faith if Rolph questioned the wisdom of their counsels.
+
+Such was the state of affairs at the time of the election of the first
+Council of the City of Toronto. In that Council, as already mentioned,
+there was a preponderance of Reform members. According to the provisions
+of the Act of incorporation the aldermen and councilmen were to hold
+their first meeting on Thursday, the 3rd of April, when they were to
+proceed to the election of a mayor. As the Reform members were able to
+command the situation, they held a caucus on the evening of Monday, the
+31st of March, to concert a scheme of action, and to take steps to turn
+their numerical superiority in the Council to the best account. An
+understanding had already been arrived at as to the mayoralty. Dr. Rolph
+had been pitched upon by common consent to fill the chair of the chief
+magistrate. He was upon the whole better fitted to grace the position
+than any other man in the city, and the Reform members contemplated
+their candidate with pride. But at the caucus held on the evening of the
+31st matters took an altogether unexpected turn. Dr. Rolph did not
+attend, being kept away by professional duties. It was suggested by
+James Lesslie, one of the aldermen from St. David's Ward, that the
+Doctor was indifferent as to the mayoralty, and that he would be quite
+willing to waive any claims to the position which he might be supposed
+to have. It was further suggested that the interests of the Reformers
+would be best promoted by the elevation of the editor of the _Advocate_
+to the chief magistracy. Mackenzie, it was urged, had been treated with
+shameful indignity by the Assembly, and had been held up to contempt by
+the official party generally. He had been maligned at the Home Office as
+a personage whom the Secretary could not admit to his presence
+consistently with due respect to himself and his office. He had been
+represented as a snarling little upstart who, by the votes of the lowest
+and most rascally section of the Radicals, had been placed in a position
+unsuited to his character and belongings. It had been especially urged
+against him in England that the better class of Reformers held aloof
+from and thoroughly despised him. There could be no doubt that by such
+representations as these Mackenzie had been subjected to much unmerited
+obloquy and annoyance during his sojourn in the old country. The present
+conjuncture of affairs, it was said, afforded an excellent opportunity
+for atoning to him for what he had endured, and at the same time for
+scoring a double victory for Reform principles. His elevation to the
+chief magistracy of the capital city of Upper Canada would furnish the
+most conclusive answer that could possibly be made to the abuse and
+slander wherewith he had been assailed. The position was one of high
+honour and dignity. It would be impossible to represent the occupant of
+that position as the mere tool and mouthpiece of a low Radical clique,
+or as a person whom no gentleman could admit to a conference. There was
+much plausibility about these arguments, and they had the more weight
+inasmuch as Dr. Rolph was said to be personally indifferent about the
+matter. Dr. Rolph, moreover, needed no accession of dignity. He could
+certainly derive none from being elected to the mayoralty, and could
+very well afford to waive his claims. This view of the matter finally
+prevailed, and it was agreed, before the adjournment of the caucus,
+that, provided Dr. Rolph were a consenting party, Mackenzie should be
+the first mayor of Toronto.
+
+When the matter was submitted to Dr. Rolph he expressed some surprise at
+the action of the caucus. He appears to have felt convinced that no
+credit to the Reform cause was to be won by placing Mackenzie in a
+prominent position. He knew Mackenzie to be a man who could not stand
+prosperity, and whose want of mental ballast was such that he was not
+fit to be trusted with power. He was moreover very much disposed to
+suspect that the little man himself was at the bottom of the movement in
+his favour, which was probably the fact. Still, the Doctor was compelled
+to admit that there was much force in the arguments put forward, and he
+was by no means disposed to press his own claims. He therefore gave his
+assent; and from that moment the question was to be regarded as
+practically settled, although the matter was kept a profound secret
+among the persons most immediately concerned.
+
+The Conservative members of the Council also held a caucus before the
+day appointed for the election of a mayor. Their purpose was to organize
+their forces, and to present the best front which their numerical
+inferiority would admit of. They had assumed that Dr. Rolph would as a
+matter of course be the choice of the Reform members for the chief
+magistracy, and this assumption had been confirmed by common rumour, so
+that they entertained no doubt on the subject. The selection met with
+their full approval. In fact, unless a mayor was to be chosen from their
+own number--a thing out of the question with such a preponderance of
+Reform members--no man would have been so acceptable to them as Dr.
+Rolph. He was known to and respected by them all, and it was felt that
+he would fill the chair with credit to the city. They accordingly
+resolved to give him their support, and one of their number, Mr. Thomas
+Carfrae, Jr., wrote to him on the subject. But, Dr. Rolph had meanwhile
+given his assent to the project of Mackenzie's election, and was not in
+a position to accept support from any quarter. After careful
+consideration he had determined to resign his seat in the Council. He
+foresaw that Mackenzie would render himself unpopular, and deemed it
+probable that he would be guilty of indiscretions which no public
+representative of a political party could properly defend. The course of
+subsequent events was such as to fully justify this forecast. Dr. Rolph
+replied to Mr. Carfrae, thanking him for his offer of support, but
+announcing that he was about to resign his seat. He also wrote to his
+friend Dr. Morrison, one of the representatives of St. Andrew's Ward, to
+the same effect. The contents of these two letters did not become known
+until the meeting of the Council on the 3rd of April, otherwise steps
+would unquestionably have been taken to prevent Mackenzie's election;
+for the Reformers, with two or three exceptions, were not sufficiently
+anxious to elect him to oust Dr. Rolph for his sake; and as for the
+Conservatives, the idea of Mackenzie's elevation to the highest seat in
+the Council would at all times have been simply intolerable to them. At
+the appointed time all the aldermen and councilmen were in their places
+except Dr. Rolph. The chair was temporarily taken by John Doel, one of
+the representatives from St. Andrew's Ward. It was moved by Franklin
+Jackes, councilman from St. David's Ward, and seconded by James Lesslie,
+Mackenzie's colleague as aldermanic representative from the same ward,
+"that William Lyon Mackenzie, Esquire, be the mayor of this city." The
+motion took the Conservative members completely by surprise, and they
+did not attempt to conceal their dissatisfaction, and even disgust.
+Several of them arose in succession, and spoke in favour of Dr. Rolph.
+Dr. Morrison then announced Dr. Rolph's decision, and read his letter by
+way of confirmation. Mr. Carfrae intimated that he had received from
+the Doctor a letter to the same purport. There was thus no room for
+further discussion. The pre-concerted programme was carried out.
+Mackenzie received ten votes in support of his candidature, which
+constituted a majority. He was declared duly elected, and took the chair
+of honour. During the afternoon of the same day he took the prescribed
+oath, and his authority was complete. He could boast that he was the
+first mayor of Toronto, and also the first mayor ever elected in Upper
+Canada.
+
+Scarcely had he been installed in office ere he began to furnish
+examples of that perverse and almost inconceivable want of judgment
+which attended upon him from the beginning of his life to its end.
+Knowing the light in which he was regarded by the Conservative members
+of the Council, it might have been supposed that he would be specially
+circumspect in his demeanour towards them, and careful not to give
+gratuitous offence. On the contrary, he conducted himself like a
+veritable Jack-in-Office, and disgusted not only the Conservatives but
+some of his own friends. He was constantly intruding his personal
+antagonisms upon the Council, and trying to induce the members to take
+sides. His indiscretion in the matter of the famous "baneful domination"
+letter is absolutely incomprehensible. The particulars can only be given
+very briefly in these pages.
+
+During the month of May, Mr. Mackenzie received from Joseph Hume, the
+Radical member for Middlesex in the British House of Commons, an
+extraordinary letter--a letter which, for violence of tone and
+intemperance of language, might almost have been written by the editor
+of the _Advocate_ himself. It referred to the Reverend Egerton Ryerson,
+a leading minister of the Methodist Church and editor of _The Christian
+Guardian_, in terms which it is astonishing to think that a gentleman in
+Mr. Hume's position should have permitted himself to employ. Now,
+Mackenzie had quarrelled with Mr. Ryerson not long before, and had
+devoted much space in the _Advocate_ to maligning him. He saw here an
+opportunity for a further attack, with which view he deliberately
+published "copious extracts"[183] from the letter in the issue of his
+paper dated the 22nd of May. The effect was electrical, for the
+references to Mr. Ryerson, bad as they were, were not the portions of
+the letter most calculated to excite astonishment in the public mind.
+The phrase which called forth prompt execration from all classes of the
+community was one in which the writer, referring to Mackenzie's last
+election to the Assembly and his expulsion therefrom, characterized
+those proceedings as events which must hasten the crisis that was fast
+approaching in the affairs of the Canadas, and which would "terminate in
+independence and freedom from the baneful domination of the mother
+country." These extraordinary words--extraordinary as proceeding from a
+British statesman to a colonist who was likewise a public
+character--were printed in the _Advocate_, like the rest of the letter,
+in large type. It was subsequently urged[184] on Mr. Hume's behalf that
+he had not meant to imply _separation_ from the mother country, but only
+an end to the false and pernicious system of governing the colony; and
+this explanation was admitted by him[185] to express what he had
+intended to signify. But if Mr. Hume could write so indiscreetly on such
+a subject, what is to be thought of the newspaper editor and the
+politician who had no better sense than to give such a production to the
+world of Upper Canada, more especially while he himself occupied the
+position of mayor of its most important city?
+
+No sooner was the number of the _Advocate_ containing this letter in the
+hands of the public than an outcry arose on every hand. The Tories saw
+their advantage, and made the most of it. Now, it was said, the real
+designs of Mackenzie and those who acted with him were no longer masked.
+What they wanted was not constitutional Reform, but separation from the
+Empire, and the establishment of a republic. And it was not only Tories
+who spoke and felt thus. Persons who cordially hated the domination of
+the Compact, and who had condemned the treatment of Mackenzie as
+unconstitutional, tyrannical and unjust, now felt that such a man
+deserved no sympathy. He was evidently a rebel at heart.[186] He had
+brought reproach not only on himself, but upon the party to which he
+belonged. Reform journals hastened to signify their repudiation of the
+sentiments of the objectionable letter. "We profess ourselves Radical
+Reformers," said the _Freeman_, "and willing to go any reasonable length
+in correcting abuses, because we know extensive grievances have existed
+both in the mother country and in these colonies.... but we cannot bring
+ourselves to support violent and unprincipled factions." "It has often
+been the misfortune," said _The British Whig_, of Kingston, "for those
+who have laboured to emancipate the people of this colony from Tory
+misrule to be accused of disaffection to the mother country, and of a
+design to effect the substitution of a republican mode of Government for
+their present monarchical form. That no accusation is more generally
+false we are thoroughly satisfied; and yet, owing to the indiscreetness
+of certain writers, the enemies of political change have had too many
+opportunities afforded them to ground their assertions on something like
+proof. Here is a letter published by a leading Reformer, without one
+single remark in detestation of the doctrine it promulgates.... Does Mr.
+Mackenzie sincerely believe that the independence of this Province
+would be beneficial to its inhabitants; or is he of opinion that the
+domination of the mother country is baneful? If he answer in the
+negative, as we think he will, why in the name of common sense did he
+afford his enemies so much occasion to brand him with disloyalty?" Said
+_The Free Press_, of Hamilton, "It is not the domination of the mother
+country that Reformers complain of; it is only the tyrannical conduct of
+a small and despicable faction in the colony. The domination of the
+mother country is as necessary to our present happiness and future
+greatness as the mother's breast is to the infant." "There can be but
+one opinion," said _The British American Journal_, of St. Catharines,
+"in the minds of honest men, relative to the sentiments contained in
+this letter. That they are seditious and revolutionary is painfully
+evident; besides the language in which it is couched, the brief
+reference to the important subjects treated of, and the peculiar manner
+of its appearance before the Canadian public, irresistibly force the
+conclusion upon our mind that it is the premature disclosure of a plan
+long premeditated to separate the Canadas from the empire of Great
+Britain, and either annex them to the confederated union of the States,
+or establish separate independent republic Governments; as far as the
+author or publisher of the letter is concerned, it is immaterial which."
+Mackenzie himself was characterized as a man who was doing his best to
+drive the people headlong and blindfold into rebellion. Such being the
+tone of the Liberal press, that of the Tory journals may readily be
+conceived. Some of them demanded that the Government should institute an
+immediate prosecution of Mackenzie. Indignation meetings were held all
+over the Province, at which loyal addresses to His Majesty were passed.
+The Methodist Conference and other bodies, secular as well as religious,
+hastened to pass resolutions condemnatory of Mr. Hume's sentiments, and
+to forward the same to the Lieutenant-Governor. The excitement in
+Toronto was tremendous. Before noon of the day on which the offensive
+letter appeared in print a public meeting had been called to protest
+against the disloyal sentiments embodied in it. It was numerously
+attended, and, though a good many Reformers were present, a vote of
+censure on Mackenzie was passed without a dissentient voice. The matter
+was brought up in the City Council, and, though the support of the
+Reform members enabled him to escape the official censure of that body,
+he was compelled to submit to a series of criticisms which must have
+been exceedingly galling to his feelings. By this one misguided act he
+had contrived to do enough harm to far more than counterbalance any good
+which had been effected through his mission to England; and there were
+many Reformers who, in spite of all his protestations, never again felt
+any confidence in him, politically or otherwise.
+
+In his capacity of mayor he was fairly assiduous in his attention to
+his duties. The city was subjected to a visitation of Asiatic cholera
+during the year, and he appears to have done his utmost to stay the
+progress of the pestilence, as well as to provide for the treatment of
+the stricken patients. He was nevertheless guilty of a number of
+indiscretions which rendered him odious to a large proportion of the
+population. His pettiness of spirit was incessantly asserting itself. No
+person in the community, however insignificant, was beneath his wrath
+when his sense of personal dignity was wounded. On one occasion a
+wretched woman of intemperate habits and loose character was brought
+before him in the Mayor's Court. She was loquacious and abusive, and
+Mackenzie, in a rage, ordered her to be placed in the public stocks.
+There were still a public pillory and stocks within the city, but, like
+those in Squire Hazeldean's parish, they had long been disused.
+Mackenzie had probably never heard of the maxim _Quieta non movere_. At
+any rate, the greater part of his life was spent in efforts in an
+opposite direction. His sentence was carried out, and the culprit was
+placed in the stocks. Had this been the act of a fossilized member of
+the Compact it would not have appeared very incongruous, but in
+Mackenzie it seemed ludicrously out of keeping with his professions. It
+aroused the popular indignation against him to a higher pitch than ever;
+but it had one good effect: it led to the removal and destruction of the
+barbarous relics of mediaevalism. To Mackenzie belongs the questionable
+credit of reviving their use when Tory magistrates had become ashamed to
+employ them any longer. He is entitled to the further distinction of
+being the last magistrate in Upper Canada to sanction their use; and
+that, too, in the case of a poor and defenceless woman, whose
+wretchedness ought to have removed her far from the possibility of his
+vengeance.
+
+A considerable part of the summer was spent by both the political
+parties in the Province in preparing for the general election contest
+which was to take place before the close of the year. It was held in
+October. Had it been held some months earlier, while the public sympathy
+with Mackenzie in consequence of his repeated expulsions was at its
+height, an overwhelming preponderance of Reform members would have been
+returned. The publication of Mr. Hume's letter in the interval had
+alienated many sympathies and lost many votes to the Reform cause.
+Still, there was a strong tendency throughout the greater part of the
+Province in the direction of Reform, and the Reformers made
+unprecedented exertions. They succeeded in winning to their side a large
+number of the Roman Catholic electorate, and they absorbed most of the
+recent arrivals from beyond sea. Bidwell and Perry were re-elected for
+Lennox and Addington. William Benjamin Wells, a young lawyer of
+twenty-five, who afterwards made some mark as a newspaper writer on the
+Reform side, and from whose "Canadiana" several extracts have already
+been made in these pages, was returned for the County of Grenville. He
+was an Upper Canadian by birth, of U. E. Loyalist stock, and the
+grandson of a volunteer who fought at the siege of Louisbourg. Oxford
+returned for one of its members Dr. Charles Duncombe, who was destined
+to take a conspicuous part in the insurrectionary events of two years
+later. He was a medical practitioner of great intelligence and wide
+influence, an eloquent and forcible speaker, and an ardent Reformer. He
+resided on the Burford Plains, near the present village of Bishopsgate,
+a few miles west of Brantford. The two members returned for the County
+of Simcoe represented very nearly the two extremes of political opinion.
+William Benjamin Robinson, a brother of the Chief Justice, was, as
+became one of his race, the incarnation of Family Compact Toryism. His
+colleague was Samuel Lount, whose name, owing to his untimely fate and
+the melancholy circumstances attending it, arouses a host of sad
+memories. It may safely be said that of all the victims of the rising of
+1837 none has been so sincerely and generally mourned. His execution is
+justly regarded in the light of a judicial murder and a stain upon our
+country's annals. As a peculiar interest has ever since attached to his
+name, and as but little is generally known with respect to him, it may
+be proper to record a few particulars. He was born on the banks of the
+Susquehanna River, in the State of Pennsylvania, on the 24th of
+September, 1791. His father, Gabriel Lount, was an Englishman, and a
+native of Bristol, who settled in the United States after the close of
+the Revolutionary War, and married an American lady of English descent.
+Gabriel Lount never lost his British proclivities during his residence
+in the republic, and in the spring of the year 1811, accompanied by his
+son and the rest of his family, he removed to Upper Canada. He settled
+in the township of Whitchurch, where he practised as a surveyor, and in
+the course of the nest few years laid out many official surveys for the
+Provincial Government. Samuel, prior to his removal to Canada, had
+learned the trade of a blacksmith, which he carried on for some years at
+Holland Landing. He had a farm in the same neighbourhood which he
+cultivated with much pecuniary success. Being a man of great industry
+and intelligence, he gradually amassed considerable property, and became
+what for those days might be regarded as wealthy. Better still, he
+acquired the respect and confidence of the people around him, for he was
+kind-hearted and generous, and spent much of his time in ministering to
+the necessities of those incoming settlers who were less advantageously
+situated than himself. To this day the neighbourhood abounds with
+traditions of his noble unselfishness, and there are old men and women
+who, after the lapse of half a century, cannot speak of Samuel Lount
+without a dimness of vision and a huskiness of the voice.[187] Though a
+zealous loyalist, he was an enthusiastic Reformer, and vehemently
+opposed to the domination of the faction whose selfishness went far to
+paralyze the life of the Province. He was an excellent speaker, and
+during election contests did much to awaken public opinion on the
+fruitful subject of Executive abuses. He now, in response to pressing
+solicitations, allowed himself to be nominated as a candidate for the
+representation of Simcoe in the Assembly, and, as has been seen, was
+returned for that constituency along with an ultra-Tory. In personal
+appearance he was considerably above the medium height, and of robust
+figure; of dark complexion, and with a pleasant, intelligent expression
+of countenance.
+
+[Illustration: I am your obt Servant
+David Gibson][TR: Handwritten.]
+
+
+The County of York, smarting under a sense of indignity and partial
+disfranchisement, rendered itself specially conspicuous in the contest.
+During the preceding year an Act[188] had been passed extending and
+readjusting the representation of the County, and dividing it for
+electoral purposes into four Ridings, designated respectively the First,
+Second, Third and Fourth. Each of these now returned a Radical Reformer.
+The First Riding returned David Gibson, a land surveyor who resided on
+Yonge Street, about eight miles north of the city, near the present
+village of Willowdale. He was of Scottish nationality, having been born
+in the parish of Glammis, Forfarshire, on the 9th of March, 1804. Within
+legitimate bounds there was no more pronounced Reformer in the Province
+than Mr. Gibson, whose house was a sort of rendezvous or place of
+meeting for party caucuses. He was an honourable and high-minded man,
+much esteemed by his neighbours, and in high favour with his party. The
+Second Riding chose Mackenzie. Many of the voters disapproved of some of
+his acts, but his paper was largely read among them, and it was felt
+that some recompense was due to him for the indignities which he had
+suffered. The Third Riding returned Dr. Thomas David Morrison, of
+Toronto, who has already been referred to in connection with the
+municipal affairs of the city. He was a physician enjoying a good
+practice; a man of good sense and wise counsels, and a prominent
+personage in the ranks of Reform. For the Fourth Riding was returned
+John Mackintosh, a resident of Toronto, and a connexion, by marriage, of
+Mackenzie. He was a steady Reformer, of no remarkable abilities, who a
+few months previously had been elected President of the Metropolitan
+District Reform Convention, and was known to be to a large extent under
+Mackenzie's control. Such were the four York representatives.
+
+At the close of the contest the Reformers of the Province had secured a
+certain majority, which led them to look eagerly forward to the meeting
+of Parliament, although, with the exception of Bidwell and Perry, their
+best and most trusted chiefs had no seats therein. Rolph and the
+Baldwins had positively refused to stand for any of the constituencies,
+although strongly urged to do so. They seem to have felt that the
+political pulse was not healthy, and that no credit was to be won,
+either for themselves or for the Reform cause, while the morbid symptoms
+continued. The worst symptom of all in their eyes was the ascendency of
+Mackenzie and his satellites among the rural and uneducated part of the
+community.[189] With this ascendency they were wholly out of accord, and
+they awaited the time when he should find his proper level in public
+opinion. Dr. Rolph had brought himself to acquiesce in this estimate of
+Mackenzie with great reluctance; and it is probable that his strong
+suspicions of double-dealing in the matter of the mayoralty election had
+something to do with his change of views.
+
+By this time Mackenzie had become tired of publishing the _Advocate_,
+which was not a commercial success. Early in November the last number
+published under his auspices made its appearance, and the editor was at
+liberty to devote his chief energies to his legislative duties.[190]
+During the second week in December he and a number of his political
+friends formed what they called the Canadian Alliance Society, for the
+promotion of Responsible Government, the abolition of the law of
+Primogeniture, the secularization of the Clergy Reserves, and other
+needful reforms, most of which have since been conceded. At the
+beginning of the new year (1835) Mackenzie again offered himself as a
+candidate for the representation of St. David's Ward in the City Council
+of Toronto, but he was defeated by Robert Baldwin Sullivan, a brilliant
+Toronto lawyer, and a kinsman of Robert Baldwin. The Council elected the
+successful candidate as mayor for the ensuing year.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[181] _Ante_, p. 187.
+
+[182] "To his instruction, and the love of knowledge which he never
+failed to inspire in those who came within the magic of his eloquence,
+many men who have since made their mark on the history of Canada owe
+their first start in intellectual progress. Notable among these is the
+present Chief Superintendent of Education, who has acknowledged that if
+he has achieved any distinction, it is mainly due to the love of
+knowledge with which he was inspired by the eloquence and example of Dr.
+Rolph." Such was the late Dr. Ryerson's own testimony, as published in
+the _Journal of Education_, upon Dr. Rolph's death in 1870.
+
+[183] The phrase is Mackenzie's own. See his remarks preceding the
+extracts in the _Advocate_ of May 22nd.
+
+[184] By Dr. Morrison in the Toronto City Council. See the report of the
+proceedings of that body at the meeting held on Monday, June 9th, 1834.
+On the subject generally, see the pamphlet published in Toronto in 1834
+entitled _The Celebrated Letter of Joseph Hume_, etc.
+
+[185] In a letter dated 14th July, 1834, and published in the _Advocate_
+of September 25th. Mr. Hume there states his meaning to have been "that
+the misrule of the Government in Canada, and the monopolizing selfish
+domination of such men as had lately (though but a small faction of the
+people) resisted all improvement and reform, would lose the countenance
+of the authorities in Downing Street, and leave the people in freedom to
+manage their own affairs."
+
+[186] The following extract is from a cleverly-written letter signed "O.
+P. Q.," which appeared in the _Courier_ of June 5th, 1834. It spoke the
+sentiments of nearly all the newspapers in the country, of whatsoever
+shade of politics: "But for that letter the people of this Province
+might long remain in ignorance of the real motives by which your conduct
+has been actuated. They might long regard you as a persecuted
+patriot.... But your imprudence or your vanity has been the means of
+completely unmasking and placing you before the people of this country
+in all the naked deformity of an acknowledged traitor. Henceforth you
+must be content to be regarded as the secret abettor of a heartless
+conspiracy.... Do not think, Sir, that these are the sentiments of a
+violent political opponent who approves of the measures adopted towards
+you by the House of Assembly.... These views, Sir, are the views of a
+man who has ever denounced the course your adversaries have pursued
+towards you as unwise, unjust and unconstitutional. They are the
+sentiments of a man who, if he had the power to punish the persons who
+first rose you from poverty, ignominy and ruin, to comparative affluence
+and popular notoriety, would have sent the destroyers of your press to
+less favoured regions. They are the sentiments of one who had up to the
+publication of the letter ... regarded you as a man attached to the
+institutions of your country.... It is an old adage, 'Give him rope
+enough,' etc. You have a moderate quantity, and if the avowal of such
+sentiments as you have lately promulgated do not afford you a few yards
+more, you may regard yourself as infinitely more fortunate than many
+better and bolder men."
+
+[187] "To the many poor settlers who came from Europe, and obtained
+grants of lands from the government, he was a friend and adviser, and in
+cases of necessity their wants were supplied from his purse or his
+granaries. Many is the time, said some of our fellow-prisoners, that we
+have seen him, after the toils of the day were over, leave his home to
+carry provisions for miles through the pathless forest, to the shanty of
+some poor and destitute settler, who with wife and family were rendered
+by want and sickness utterly destitute. Those acquainted with the
+history of new settlements need not be told how often those who have
+been accustomed to better days are obliged to embark in a new career of
+life, the duties of which they are totally ignorant and wholly unfitted
+for, nor how often sickness is engendered by their great bodily
+exertions, by neglect and deprivation. In a country like that in which
+Mr. Lount was settled, the inhabitants resided far apart, and consisted
+generally of old, worn, and superannuated British officers, who, at the
+close of the war, pitched their tents, for the last time, in the
+wilderness. The sums which they obtained from the sale of their
+half-pay, almost expended in the transportation of their little
+families, before arriving on the lands assigned them by
+government--unfitted, from their former pursuits, to bear the drudgery
+their new course of life required, it was frequently the case, that
+before they could raise anything from their lands, they became perfectly
+destitute of the necessaries of subsistence. Too proud to seek
+assistance, they would starve rather than communicate their situation;
+but in Lount, their generous neighbour, they found one quick to discover
+and prompt in affording relief, and he would minister to their wants
+with such delicacy that the most sensitive would experience a pleasure
+rather than the pang of wounded pride."--Theller's _Canada in 1837-38_,
+vol. i., pp. 233, 234. I transfer these remarks, not because I have any
+respect for Theller's personal testimony on any subject, but because in
+the present instance his language clearly expresses the general
+sentiment of the period with regard to Samuel Lount, and is confirmed by
+the remembrance of many persons still living in and near Holland
+Landing.
+
+[188] 3 Wm. IV., c. 15, passed 13th February, 1833.
+
+[189] In the preceding February Dr. Baldwin had thus written in reply to
+a notification to attend as a delegate at the District Convention: "This
+honour I beg leave to decline, and for this reason: that having
+heretofore served the country to the utmost of my humble abilities as
+their representative in Parliament, with the sincerest integrity of
+purpose in maintenance of popular rights, unspotted, I trust, by one
+single vote of a contrary tendency, I, together with many others of the
+staunchest friends of those rights, experienced such extreme fickleness
+of popular opinion that this conclusion has long been formed in my mind:
+that the great body of the people of this Province (without doubt there
+are many honourable exceptions), in no wise ignorant of their rights or
+the great value of them, are nevertheless shamefully indifferent into
+whose hands they commit their preservation and due exercise. Experience
+alone must teach the people. This experience is coming to them by
+painful lessons.... Under these circumstances I beg you will make my
+apology," etc. The letter appears in the _Advocate_ of March 13th, 1834,
+following one to a similar purport from Dr. Rolph.
+
+[190] It was continued for some time after by another hand, under the
+name of _The Correspondent and Advocate_.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SEE, THE CONQUERING HERO COMES!
+
+
+[Sidenote: 1835.]
+
+Parliament met on the 15th of January, 1835, when the Reform majority in
+the Assembly were able to once more elect Mr. Bidwell to the
+Speakership. The vote stood thirty-one to twenty-seven. Among the
+minority were five or six Conservative members who repudiated the name
+of Tory, and were opposed to the policy of the official party, to whom,
+as has been seen,[191] they merely yielded a qualified support as the
+less of two evils. Such being the state of affairs in the Assembly, the
+Compact party were of course precluded from making any further serious
+attempts to keep Mackenzie out of the House. The proceedings of previous
+sessions relative to the several expulsions were upon motion of
+Mackenzie himself expunged from the journals of the House. The baneful
+domination letter was made the subject of a long discussion, in the
+course of which Mackenzie received some exceedingly hard hits from
+Solicitor-General Hagerman; but as he had been manifestly in the wrong
+in giving publicity to that letter, and as he had been disciplined by
+members of his party to keep silence in the event of an attack on that
+score, he sat quietly through the Solicitor-General's onslaught.
+
+The most important proceedings of the session, and the only ones of
+which it is necessary to take cognizance in these pages, were those
+relating to the Seventh Report of the Grievance Committee, to which
+frequent reference has already been made. On Friday, the 23rd of
+January, Mackenzie moved for and obtained the appointment of a Special
+Committee on Grievances, with power to send for persons, papers and
+records, and with authority to report to the House from time to time by
+bill, address or otherwise. Mackenzie himself acted as Chairman of the
+Committee, the other members of which, as finally struck, were Dr.
+Morrison, David Gibson and Charles Waters, one of the members for
+Prescott. The famous Seventh Report, which did more to arouse the Home
+Government on the subject of Upper Canadian affairs than all previous
+efforts in that direction, was completed and presented to the Assembly
+on Friday, the 10th of April. It was a truly formidable indictment. It
+recapitulated the various grievances under which the Province laboured,
+and which called loudly for remedy. These have been already set forth in
+former chapters of the present work, and need not here be enlarged upon.
+The prevailing tone of the Report was temperate and calm, and there is
+little or nothing in it to which serious exception can be taken,
+although, as may easily be discerned from internal evidence, the
+compilers felt strongly the importance of a vivid presentation of their
+case. The Report proper occupies only fifteen folio pages of the
+appendix to the official journals of the session; but the evidence taken
+by the Committee, and the various letters, papers and documents which go
+to make up the mass of valuable information submitted to the Assembly,
+extend to voluminous dimensions. In addition to the copies printed for
+insertion in the appendix to the journal, two thousand copies of the
+complete work were issued separately in octavo form for distribution. It
+thus obtained a considerable circulation throughout the Province; and a
+copy was also sent to each member of the British House of Commons. The
+first copy that left the binder's hands was forwarded to the Colonial
+Secretary. All the most pressing grievances were dealt with in greater
+or less detail, but special prominence was given to the necessity for a
+responsible Government--a Government responsible to public opinion,
+which must cease to exist when it ceases to command popular confidence.
+The wished-for settlement of this important question would necessarily
+comprehend and include the removal of many of the most glaring abuses to
+which the people of the Province had long been subject and the Reform
+party were keenly alive to the importance of obtaining the concession.
+More than a third of the Report proper was devoted to dealing with the
+question in its various aspects, and it was shown that the Provincial
+Executive were not only impervious to public opinion, but were also
+ready enough to disregard the views of the Home Government itself when
+those views failed to coincide with their own plans for
+self-aggrandizement. Some of the evidence taken was of the most
+compromising character, while the refusal of leading members of the
+Compact to answer certain questions propounded to them did not tend to
+place matters in a more favourable light. Archdeacon Strachan's response
+to many of the questions put to him amounted to a practical contempt of
+the Committee. "I do not answer that question."--"I have no answer to
+give."--"I refer you to the Constitutional Act."--"I cannot answer that
+question, owing to its assumptions, which I do not admit." Such are a
+few of his replies. The whole of his examination is worth reading, as
+exemplifying how far an intelligent man will sometimes permit bigotry
+and intolerance to gain possession of his soul. Indeed, the evidence of
+all the witnesses may be read with profit by those who wish to gain a
+full insight into the state of the Province at that time, and to fully
+appreciate the necessity which existed for a change in the mode of
+conducting public affairs.
+
+The report, though presented to the Assembly as above intimated, does
+not appear to have been formally adopted during the session, but the
+passing of the order for the printing of it, together with two thousand
+extra copies, amounted to a practical adoption, and was probably so
+considered. The Committee could easily have secured its adoption, for
+the vote on the Speakership had not fully represented the strength of
+the Opposition, who on several questions were able to command a majority
+of from ten to eleven. But the fact was again brought vividly home to
+the Reform party that mere success at the polls had availed them little.
+Notwithstanding the numerical minority of the official party in the
+Assembly, they continued to exercise supreme power, and to strengthen
+themselves by the constant dispensing of patronage. They controlled the
+Legislative Council, and could thus control the legislative powers of
+the Assembly, independently of any question of the numerical strength or
+weakness of the Opposition in that House. The Legislative Council now
+assumed an attitude of determined antagonism to the popular voice, and
+would entertain no legislation of a liberal character. The vivid
+realization of these facts gave a keen edge to the remarks on
+Responsible Government in the Grievance Committee's Report. An Address
+setting forth these various discouragements was forwarded to His Majesty
+by the Assembly. The language was respectful but firm, and it was hinted
+that, if a remedy were not provided, resort would have to be had to the
+extreme measure of withholding the usual supplies. Earnest petitions to
+His Majesty were at the same time sent across the Atlantic from some of
+the rural districts, praying that the principles of the British
+constitution might be applied to Canadian affairs.
+
+The Address and petitions were accompanied by the fullest documentary
+and other evidence, and, in conjunction with the Grievance Committee's
+Report, they stirred the Home Government to action. The Colonial
+Secretaryship had changed hands more than once since Mr. Stanley's
+tenure of office. The incumbent at this time, and for several years
+afterwards, was Lord Glenelg. His Lordship gave much consideration to
+the Report, and laid it before the King in person. The Home Government
+had by this time fully realized that there was much well-grounded
+discontent in the Canadas, and that something must be done to allay it.
+It was clear that the Reformers were justified in at least some of their
+demands, and that reasonable concessions should be made to them. This
+conviction led to an ungracious correspondence between the Colonial
+Office and Sir John Colborne,[192] who, owing, as is to be presumed, to
+the advice of Chief Justice Robinson and Archdeacon Strachan, was very
+reluctant to make concessions as suggested. As this reluctance was made
+manifest in the course of the correspondence, the Colonial Secretary
+resolved upon His Excellency's recall. Sir John had been appointed by a
+Tory Government, the traditions of which had been pretty well swept away
+by the effect of the Reform Bill. His mode of conducting the Provincial
+Administration may perhaps be to some extent palliated by the
+circumstances attending his appointment. But a Whig Government had now
+been for some time in power, and an effete colonial policy could not be
+permitted to be maintained to the detriment of colonial loyalty. If Sir
+John Colborne was not amenable to Whig discipline he must make way for
+some one of a more plastic mind. He was meanwhile instructed to delay
+the assembling of the Legislature until the Home Government could fully
+consider the aspect of affairs, and take such steps for the redress of
+the Provincial grievances as might seem advisable.
+
+Having arrived at this conclusion, the Colonial Secretary began to look
+about him for a successor to Sir John Colborne. It was not easy to find
+one in all respects suitable, for the appointment was not a prize of
+such magnitude as to attract persons of really first-rate abilities.
+There seems good reason to believe that the place was offered to at
+least two fairly competent public servants, both of whom declined
+it.[193] In view of his subsequent conduct, it is fair to assume that
+Lord Glenelg was sincerely anxious to do his best for Upper Canada, and
+to confer the appointment upon the best man within his reach. How
+ignominously he failed to carry out his wishes in this particular is
+known to every student of Upper Canadian history; but what is not known,
+either to students of history or anyone else, is--What was the motive
+power which directed his choice? By what whimsical combination of
+circumstances it came about that the appointment was finally offered to,
+and accepted by, one of the most unlikely men in the three kingdoms, is
+one of those official riddles which appear to defy solution. The fact
+remains, that the post of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was
+conferred upon Sir Francis Bond Head, a Knight of the Royal Hanoverian
+Guelphic Order, a retired half-pay Major, an Assistant Poor-Law
+Commissioner for one of the Kentish districts, and the author of several
+entertaining but exceedingly superficial books of travel. To no one was
+the appointment a greater surprise than to Sir Francis himself. He must
+have felt the utter absurdity of the thing--that he had no claim to such
+a post, and was disqualified from filling it with credit. He neither
+knew nor cared anything about Canada. He was altogether ignorant of
+politics. He had never joined any political party; never attended a
+political discussion; never even voted at an election or taken any part
+in one.[194] So far as any knowledge of the British constitution was
+concerned, he had as little as any Englishman of decent education could
+possibly have. He had no claim upon the Government; was not acquainted
+with any member of it; and had never so much as seen Lord Glenelg in his
+life.[195] It is certainly not strange that he should have been, as he
+says,[196] "altogether at a loss to conceive" why this appointment
+should have been offered to him.
+
+From that day down to the present time the circumstance has puzzled
+wiser heads than his, and there have been various attempts to solve the
+mystery. A tradition is said to be current in the Colonial Office that
+the appointment was the result of a singular misapprehension of
+identity, and the late Mr. Roebuck assured Sir Francis Hincks that such
+was really the fact.[197] A "distinguished Imperial statesman" also
+assured Sir Francis that he had heard the same statement,[198] which was
+to the effect that the person for whom the appointment was really
+intended was the kinsman of Sir Francis, afterwards Sir Edmund Walker
+Head, Governor-General of Canada. It is said that at a meeting of the
+Cabinet, while the selection of a successor to Sir John Colborne was
+under consideration, one of the Ministers suggested that "young Head"
+would be a likely man for the position--the person meant being Edmund
+Walker Head, who was even then known as possessing wide political
+knowledge, in so far, at least, as such knowledge can be obtained from
+books. Edmund was moreover known to many public men in Great Britain as
+an able writer on political subjects, and was a protege of the Marquis
+of Lansdowne, who was at this time President of the Council, and, by
+consequence, a colleague of Lord Glenelg. Edmund, as well as Francis,
+was a Poor-Law Commissioner, though he occupied a more exalted position
+than his kinsman. Thus, it is argued, there was some show of excuse for
+confusing the one with the other. Lord Glenelg, so the story goes, took
+the suggestion of his colleague as applying to Sir Francis, and acted
+upon it; and before the error was discovered the appointment had been
+offered to and accepted by the wrong man.[199] How much truth there may
+be in this account of the matter it is not easy to say. Such a blunder
+would imply an amount of carelessness barely conceivable in the
+management of an important Department of the State. Sir Francis Hincks,
+however, who has enjoyed exceptional opportunities of discussing the
+story with leading English statesmen, is strongly disposed to believe
+it.[200] Whatever opinion may be formed as to its truth or falsity,
+certain it is that Sir Francis Bond Head received the appointment, and
+that his conduct in Upper Canada did more to alienate the minds of the
+colonists generally than anything which had been done by either Sir John
+Colborne or Sir Peregrine Maitland. There is this to be said on his
+behalf: that he came to Canada at a very critical time--at a time when
+diplomatic shrewdness and statesmanlike sagacity were imperatively
+demanded of one occupying the position of Lieutenant-Governor. Injustice
+had so long borne sway in the land that many of the inhabitants had
+ceased to hope for better times. Many despaired of the future, and a
+few, whose natural element was opposition, had little desire to be
+conciliated.[201] Even a born statesman would have found his task by no
+means a sinecure.
+
+To statesmanship no shadow of pretence could be made on behalf of Sir
+Francis Head. The texture of his mind was light and airy. He was
+inordinately vain and self-conscious; and, as has been seen, he was
+devoid of political knowledge and experience. The whole course of his
+previous life had been of a character to render him unfit for such
+greatness as was now thrust upon him. A considerable part of it had been
+spent in travel and adventure, and very little of it in study. He had
+left school at an early age, since which time he had encountered
+innumerable moving accidents by flood and field in various parts of the
+world. He had received a certain amount of training at the Military
+Academy at Woolwich, and had obtained a commission in the Royal
+Engineers in his nineteenth year. He had seen some active service in
+Spain towards the close of the Peninsular War; had been present at
+Quatre Bras and Waterloo, and had fought at Fleurus under the Prussian
+General Ziethan, where he had had his horse shot under him. After the
+restoration of peace he had for some time been engaged in making a
+trigonometrical survey of the island of Lampedoza, in the Mediterranean.
+Thence he had embarked in a Greek vessel for Tripoli; had been nearly
+wrecked through the skipper's intemperance, and had finally been put
+ashore at Malta. He had also been Byron-smitten, and had followed in the
+wake of the author of "Childe Harold" to the Levant; had contemplated
+"the Niobe of nations" among the ruins of Rome; had witnessed the dance
+of the dervishes amid the fallen temples of Athens; and had "felt his
+patriotism gain force upon the plain of Marathon."[202] He had twice
+visited South America as the agent of a company formed for the working
+of certain gold and silver mines, and known as the Rio de la Plata
+Mining Association. During one of these expeditions he had ridden on
+horseback from the port of Buenos Aires across the pampas to the silver
+mines of Upsallata, near the foot of the Andes, whence, without any
+companion whatever, he had galloped back to Buenos Aires--a distance of
+nearly a thousand miles--in the brief space of eight days. Then he had
+retraced his course across the pampas, and, collecting a party of miners
+at Mendoza, had conducted them over the Andes to Santiago, the capital
+of Chili. After "prospecting" the country in various directions, he had
+ridden back across the Andes and the pampas to Buenos Aires, having
+traversed six thousand miles on horseback in an inconceivably short
+time. His "Rough Notes" contains a graphic account of this expedition,
+and is very interesting reading. It won for him wide notoriety, and led
+to his being commonly referred to in the current literature of the time
+as "Galloping Head." His adventurous career had left an indelible stamp
+upon his character. He was rash, impetuous, inconsiderate and
+superficial, fond of producing dramatic effects, and ever with an eye to
+some _coup de theatre_. He had not been a Poor-Law Commissioner long
+enough to have become thoroughly settled down when a king's messenger
+arrived at his Kentish abode about midnight, with a missive offering him
+the appointment of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. He seems to have
+at first had sufficient good sense to decline the proffered honour; but
+he allowed himself to be talked into accepting it by Lord Glenelg and
+his under-secretary, Mr. Stephen. As I have said elsewhere: "The result
+of an appointment made under such circumstances was disaster to the
+Province, and something nearly approaching ignominy to himself. As a
+civil administrator in a disturbed and grievance-ridden colony, he was
+altogether out of his proper element, and furnished a signal instance of
+the round peg in the square hole. His administration extended over
+little more than two years, but during that period he contrived to
+embroil himself with his own Executive, with the Home Government from
+which he had received his appointment, and with pretty nearly every one
+who was desirous of promoting the cause of political liberty in Upper
+Canada. He also contrived to do an amount of mischief which left traces
+behind it for many years after he had ceased to have any control over
+Canadian affairs. And yet it would be most unjust to represent him as a
+deliberately bad or ill-intentioned man. He was simply a weak man out of
+his proper sphere."[203] That a man of such mental endowments should
+have been sent out to stem the tide of Upper Canadian discontent, and to
+conciliate noisy Radicals of the Mackenzie stamp, is in itself
+sufficient proof that a huge official blunder of some sort was
+committed. What was wanted was a statesman, and a man of Liberal
+political views. Had there been any, even the slightest inquiry, it
+would have been ascertained that Sir Francis hardly knew the meaning of
+the word statesman, and that he had no political views whatever. It is
+hardly going too far to say that on all current political subjects,
+whether pertaining to the colonies or the mother country, his mind was
+little more than a blank. Lord Glenelg had an elaborate paper of
+instructions prepared for the new Lieutenant-Governor, This was intended
+as the Imperial response to the strong representations which had been
+received from Upper Canada in the course of the year. Sir Francis was
+directed to communicate the substance of his instructions to both Houses
+of the Provincial Parliament. Having been schooled for a few days by Mr.
+Stephen, and having gone down to Brighton and been presented to the
+King, he set sail, with his suite, from Liverpool for Canada, by way of
+New York. While crossing the Atlantic he devoted some time to studying
+his instructions, together with the Seventh Report of the Grievance
+Committee, with which he had been provided at the Colonial office.[204]
+Upon arriving at New York he pushed on to his final destination. "There
+would be no end to this chapter," he writes, in the third chapter of his
+"Narrative," "were I to describe the simplicity of mind, ill-naturedly
+called ignorance, with which I approached the city of Toronto. With Mr.
+Mackenzie's heavy book of lamentations in my portmanteau, and with my
+remedial instructions in my writing case, I considered myself as a
+political physician, who, whether regularly educated or not, was about
+to effect a surprising cure; for, as I never doubted for a moment either
+the existence of the 553 pages of grievances, nor that I would
+mercilessly destroy them, root and branch, I felt perfectly confident
+that I should very soon be able proudly to report that the grievances of
+Upper Canada were defunct--in fact, that I had veni-ed, vidi-ed and
+vici-ed them." Infatuated man, to compare himself to Caesar, even in this
+half-jocular manner, at such a time, and to suppose that the bitter
+animosities which had been accumulating for the best part of a
+generation could be swept out of existence at the mere wave of the hand
+of such a weak substitute for "the mighty Julius" as he!
+
+[Sidenote: 1836.]
+
+He reached Toronto on the 23rd of January, 1836. Sir John Colborne was
+just ready to take his departure, to the great regret of the official
+party, and very much to the delight of the Reformers, who had been led
+to believe that the incoming Lieutenant-Governor was a thorough-going
+Liberal, sent over expressly to redress their grievances, and to hurl
+the Compact from the seat of power which they had so long usurped.
+Parliament had been assembled on the 14th of the month, and had ever
+since been expecting the arrival of the King's new representative. As
+for Sir John Colborne, he was in no good humour with the Imperial
+Government, although his rigid ideas as to discipline prevented him from
+giving utterance to his displeasure except to some of the members of the
+Executive, and even to them his views were imparted with great caution,
+and in the strictest secrecy.[205] In consequence of his unsatisfactory
+communications from the Colonial Office, he had for some time felt his
+position growing more and more uncomfortable, and had solicited his
+recall; but his deposition had been fully resolved upon before the
+receipt of his request by the Colonial Secretary. He had served out his
+full term of six years, and somewhat more, so that his removal did not
+imply any reflection upon him. His nature and training unfitted him to
+carry out the projects of Reform which it had been determined to set on
+foot, but, in his proper sphere, he was recognized as a valuable public
+servant, who had all his life done his duty according to the light which
+had been vouchsafed to him. The leading spirits of the ruling party in
+the Province contemplated his departure with gloomy forebodings. They
+also had been led to suppose that Sir Francis Head was a Reformer of
+wide experience, who was coming among them to introduce a new order of
+things. They resolved to put forth one great effort while the chance
+remained to them. They induced Sir John, before his departure, to
+perpetrate what may fitly be characterized as the most unstatesmanlike
+act of his life: an act which aroused a perfect transport of public
+indignation, and caused the name of the perpetrator to be execrated
+throughout the length and breadth of the Province.
+
+It will be remembered that[206] provision had been made by the
+Constitutional Act for the creation and endowment, out of the lands
+reserved for the support of a Protestant Clergy, of parsonages or
+rectories, according to the establishment of the Church of England. The
+discussion to which the Clergy Reserves had repeatedly given rise had
+prevented any advantage being taken of this authority. Nearly half a
+century had elapsed since the passing of the Constitutional Act, and as
+the power had been allowed to remain unexercised during all that time,
+there was good reason to believe that there would be no attempt to put
+it in operation, more especially in view of the strong feeling
+entertained with regard to the Reserves, and of the fact that the
+Provincial Parliament had been requested by the Imperial Government to
+legislate on the subject. Previous Colonial Secretaries, Lord Goderich
+among the number, had given what might fairly be construed as pledges on
+the part of the Imperial Government that no steps would be taken with
+respect to the disposal of any part of the Reserves, unless in accord
+with the views of a majority of the Upper Canadian people. Yet Sir John
+allowed himself to be persuaded into creating and endowing forty-four
+rectories[207] with more that 17,000 acres of land, giving an average of
+about 386 acres to each. These were put in possession of clergymen, who
+were thus enabled to acquire such a personal vested and possessory
+interest in the lands as, it was believed, would enable them to make
+good their titles thereto in a court of law.
+
+This most reprehensible "clerical land grab" was made on the 15th of
+January, eight days before the arrival of Sir John Colborne's successor,
+and while Sir Francis was actually _en route_ for Toronto. It was thus
+one of Sir John's last official acts. It is said that he was with
+difficulty brought to accede to the advice of his Council on the
+subject. He at all events seemed to feel that his creation of the
+rectories was an extraordinary act, and he took care to say nothing
+about the matter to the Imperial Government, who did not discover the
+facts until Sir Francis Head had been for some time in office. That the
+creation and endowment of the rectories were the means of greatly
+intensifying the general discontent throughout the Province, and that
+they were thus factors in bringing about the Rebellion, is beyond
+question; though to say, as has been said by Mackenzie and others, that
+they were the _prime_ factors, is to talk nonsense. The sequel of the
+story may as well be briefly outlined here. The Executive Council kept
+the matter secret as long as they could, but it was of such a nature
+that its early disclosure was inevitable. The transaction became public
+property in the course of the spring, soon after the close of the
+session of Parliament. No sooner did it become known than the public
+indignation began to manifest itself in lurid speeches and newspaper
+articles. Meetings were held to denounce Sir John Colborne and those who
+had prompted him to this high-handed iniquity. The Wesleyan Methodist
+Conference and the Synod of the Church of Scotland in Upper Canada, if
+agreeing on no other subject, were of one mind as to this, and
+officially pronounced upon it with a vehemence which commended itself to
+popular opinion. Petitions without number were sent over the sea. "The
+Imperial Government," says Mr. Lindsey,[208] "was besieged with
+petitions, praying for the annulment of the rectories. The temper of the
+public mind became imbued with that sullenness which a sense of injury
+begets, and which forebodes the approach of civil commotion. It was the
+idea of violated Imperial faith; of a broken compact between the
+Sovereign and his Canadian subjects, that constituted the sting of the
+injury. The people recurred to the promise of Lord Goderich that their
+wishes should be the Sovereign's guide in the matter, and regarded
+themselves as the victims of a deception which brought dishonour on the
+Crown and distrust on Imperial faith." The Home Government were in two
+minds about repudiating the transaction. The right of the
+Lieutenant-Governor to create and endow without the express assent of
+the King was not perfectly clear, and the Law Officers of the Crown were
+consulted on the question. Those gentlemen, on the case submitted for
+their consideration, pronounced the opinion that there had been an
+excess of authority, and that the creation and endowment were invalid.
+Dr. Strachan, upon becoming acquainted with this circumstance, prepared
+a report embodying certain facts and documents which had not been before
+the Law Officers, to whom the case was now submitted a second time. The
+additional data placed a different face upon the question, and the Law
+Officers arrived at a conclusion contrary to that which they had
+formerly expressed. The grantees were accordingly permitted to retain
+their property undisturbed, but the name of Sir John Colborne continued
+to be execrated in Upper Canada for his share in the transaction for
+many a year.[209]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[191] _Ante_, pp. 231, 232.
+
+[192] See _Report of a Select Committee of the House of Assembly on the
+Political State of the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada_, p. 25.
+Toronto, 1838.
+
+[193] See _Rough Notes on Head's Narrative_, by a Liberal, p. 17.
+London, 1840.
+
+[194] See his _Narrative_, Chapter III.
+
+[195] _Narrative_, Chapter II.
+
+[196] _Ib._
+
+[197] See _Reminiscences of his Public Life_, by Sir Francis Hincks,
+K.C.M.G., C.B. p. 14. Montreal, 1884.
+
+[198] _Ib._, p. 15.
+
+[199] See _The Canadian Portrait Gallery_, vol iv., p. 172.
+
+[200] _Reminiscences_, etc., pp. 14, 15.
+
+[201] The Colonial Office could not even plead, in extenuation of such a
+fatal blunder as the appointment of Sir F. B. Head, that it was unaware
+of the importance of the crisis in colonial affairs. In the beginning of
+the instructions prepared for Sir Francis, dated "Downing Street,
+December 15th, 1835," the following words may be found: "I have the
+honour herewith to transmit to you a Commission, under His Majesty's
+sign-manual, appointing you Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Upper
+Canada. You have been selected for this office at an era of more
+difficulty and importance than any which has hitherto occurred in the
+history of that part of His Majesty's dominions. The expression of
+confidence in your discretion and ability which the choice implies would
+only be weakened by any more formal assurance which I could convey to
+you." What a commentary upon such language was furnished by the mere
+fact of the appointment of such an one as Sir Francis Head!
+
+[202] See a brief account of Sir F. B. Head's life published in _The
+Courier of Upper Canada_ of June 11th, 1836, written by Alan Fairford
+(John Kent), and prefixed, with notes, to the collection of his
+Excellency's _Speeches, Messages and Replies_, published at Toronto
+during the same year.
+
+[203] _Canadian Portrait Gallery_, Vol. II., p. 169, where the sentences
+above quoted form part of a tolerably full sketch of the life of Sir F.
+B. Head.
+
+[204] He seems to have been provided with a duplicate copy by Joseph
+Hume. See that gentleman's letter to Mackenzie, dated 5th December,
+1835, and included in the third chapter of Head's _Narrative_.
+
+[205] See _Report of a Select Committee of the Assembly_, etc., 1838.
+See also _The Rectory Question_, p. 2. Toronto, 1836.
+
+[206] _Ante_, p. 63.
+
+[207] The intention was to create fifty-seven rectories, and patents for
+that number were actually made out, but thirteen of them were left
+unsigned by the Lieutenant-Governor, and the authorities refused to
+complete them or to admit their validity. See _The Rectories of Upper
+Canada, being a Return to an Address of the Honourable the House of
+Commons_, etc. Colonial Office, Downing Street, 1839. See also _The Last
+Forty Years_, vol. ii., p. 199: _Religious Endowments in Canada; a
+Chapter of Canadian History_, by Sir Francis Hincks, K.C.M.G., C.B.;
+London, 1869.
+
+[208] See _The Clergy Reserves, their History and Present Position_, by
+Charles Lindsey, pp. 30, 31. Toronto, 1851.
+
+[209] It has not been deemed necessary to go very fully into the Rectory
+question in these pages. Anyone desiring to do so will find very full
+details in the various authorities above cited.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+"A TRIED REFORMER."
+
+
+Sir Francis Head, upon reaching Toronto on Saturday, the 23rd of
+January, temporarily took up his quarters at a hotel, where apartments
+had been engaged for him. He was not a little surprised, as he rode
+along the streets, to see himself placarded in large letters on the
+walls as "Sir Francis Head, a Tried Reformer." What a farce the thing
+must have appeared in his eyes, knowing, as he did, that up to the date
+of receiving the king's messenger, he had never read a page of practical
+politics; that he had never recorded a political vote, and that he was
+at this present moment, to use his own frank expression, no more
+connected with human politics than the horses that were drawing him! How
+he must have marvelled at Fate for playing him such a trick! On the same
+day, at the urgent request of Sir John Colborne, he removed to
+Government House. On Monday, the 25th, he was sworn into office as
+Lieutenant-Governor; and on Tuesday Sir John and his family took their
+departure for Montreal. The Compact took care that their staunch friend
+should not leave the seat of his Government without some mark of what
+might pass for popular favour. A crowd of persons was got together to
+cheer as Sir John passed along the streets on his way eastward, and a
+stranger might have been excused for believing that the
+ex-Lieutenant-Governor was regarded by the populace with feelings of the
+warmest affection. He proceeded to Montreal, and had arranged to sail
+from New York for England, when he received a despatch appointing him
+Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Canada. He accordingly repaired to
+Quebec, the capital of the Lower Province, which was already in a state
+of ferment, and preparing for the outburst which ensued towards the
+close of the following year.
+
+Sir Francis being now formally installed in office, an era of Reform was
+commonly supposed to have begun. His manner and address were in the
+highest degree pleasing, and he at first produced a most favourable
+impression upon all who came within the immediate circle of his
+influence. The Reform press sang paeans in his praise. He held no sooner
+received his appointment than Joseph Hume had written to Mackenzie
+congratulating the Province on the circumstance, and stating that the
+conduct and principles of Sir Francis had been much approved of. "My
+anxiety is," wrote Mr. Hume, "that you and all the Reformers should
+receive Sir Francis in the best possible manner, and do everything
+consistent with principle to meet his views and wishes."[210] The fact
+was that Mr. Hume was in precisely the same condition as Lord Glenelg
+himself with respect to Sir Francis: that is to say, he knew nothing
+whatever about him. He seems to have very unwisely taken it for granted
+that the new Lieutenant-Governor was a good man for the position because
+he had been appointed under Whig auspices. His letter found its way into
+all the Reform newspapers in Upper Canada, and Sir Francis had no reason
+to complain of the treatment he received at their hands. He was welcomed
+as the "Tried Reformer" for whom they had so long prayed in vain. The
+Tories and Conservatives, on the other hand, naturally regarded him with
+considerable apprehension. They entertained no doubt that his advent
+boded their downfall; but they were too wise to betray any solicitude,
+and quietly waited the march of events. Parliament being in session, he
+received from both Houses congratulatory addresses upon his assumption
+of the Government. On the 27th he went down to the Council Chamber, and
+made a brief and rather meaningless speech to the Legislature.[211] "As
+regards myself," said he, "I have nothing either to promise or profess,
+but I trust I shall not call in vain upon you to give me that loyal,
+constitutional, unbiased and fearless assistance which your King
+expects, and which the rising interests of your country require." He had
+been directed by Lord Glenelg to communicate to the Provincial
+Legislature the substance of his instructions. He not only communicated
+the substance, but a verbatim copy of the letter itself, together with a
+copy of the appendix, to each of the Houses. By this injudicious
+proceeding he caused no little embarrassment to the Colonial Secretary,
+and proved his utter want of experience in diplomatic affairs.[212] Lord
+Glenelg, in common with the official world of Great Britain generally,
+felt and expressed strong disapprobation of this extraordinary conduct
+on the part of the Lieutenant-Governor, who ought to have been recalled
+for this act alone, and probably would have been but for the difficulty
+of finding a competent man to succeed him.
+
+A certain space must be devoted to an examination of these instructions.
+Speaking generally, it may be premised that they showed a disposition to
+conciliate the discontent of the colonists, but only after a partial and
+piecemeal fashion, such as might be exercised towards persons in a state
+of tutelage. It was evident that the Home Government regarded the
+colonists as persons who had not reached full political stature, who
+were not in all cases able to judge as to what was best for themselves,
+and who needed the constant supervision of calmer and loftier
+intelligences than their own. In reply to the allegation that the number
+of public offices in the colony was in excess of the people's needs, it
+was said that in Upper Canada, as in other new countries, the number of
+public employments was necessarily larger in proportion than in older
+and more densely-peopled states. "In the early stages of such a
+society," wrote Lord Glenelg, "many duties devolve upon the Government
+which, at a more advanced period, are undertaken by the better educated
+and wealthier classes, as an honourable occupation of their leisure
+time." He went on to say that His Majesty's Government were not
+solicitous to retain more patronage than was necessary for the people's
+welfare, but that the selection of public officers must be entrusted to
+the head of the local Government, and could not wisely be exercised in
+any form of popular election, or committed to any popular body. Such
+exercise or transfer, it was suggested, would be destructive of
+responsibility and discipline. This doctrine was laid down as a general
+rule of action, but any wish to urge it beyond its just and necessary
+limits was expressly disclaimed, and it was even suggested that there
+were cases in which the doctrine might be contravened. There was no
+attempt to go into details as to specific cases, but it was stated as a
+general principle that whatever patronage was necessary to maintain
+perfect subordination to the prerogatives of the Crown must be retained,
+and that whatever was unnecessary for that purpose should be abandoned.
+His Excellency was directed to review and consider the subject with
+diligence, and to report the result of his investigation. Should he
+meanwhile deem it wise to reduce the number of offices, either by
+abolition or consolidation, he was authorized to exercise his discretion
+in that respect, but any appointment made under such circumstances was
+to be merely provisional, and subject to cancellation by the Home
+Government. In the selection of persons for public offices his
+Excellency was to be guided exclusively by the comparison of the claims
+of the candidates by reason of past services or personal qualifications;
+and as a general rule no person was to be appointed to office who was
+not either a native of the Province or a settled inhabitant of it.
+Exceptions to this latter rule were admitted where a knowledge of some
+particular art or science was demanded, and where no Provincial
+candidate could be found possessing the necessary qualifications. His
+Excellency was also left free from restriction in the choice of those
+officers immediately attached to his own person. There were various
+other directions, not necessary to be specified, on the subjects of
+patronage and pensions, salaries and fees, and the Provincial Post
+Office. The Clergy Reserves question was dealt with in the most general
+manner, no definite course being suggested; and the instructions on this
+subject are absolutely devoid of historical or other value. With regard
+to the Land-Granting Department, it was assumed that some of the
+grievances had been remedied. Reference was made to a despatch of Lord
+Ripon's on the subject, and it was stated that any ambiguity therein was
+to be removed, while prompt obedience to the instructions embodied
+therein was inculcated. Upper Canada College, established by Sir John
+Colborne only five years before this time, had already become a ground
+of offence to many Reformers. The Assembly, in their Address to His
+Majesty, had declared that it was upheld at great public expense, with
+high salaries to its principal masters. They had expressed the opinion
+that the Province in general derived very little advantage from it, and
+that it might be dispensed with. On this subject Lord Glenelg remarked
+that there was no desire to retain any charge for the establishment more
+than sufficient to suitably provide for the effective performance of the
+teachers; but the advantages of such an institution, it was said, ought
+to be great, and if the Province derived no benefit from it the
+explanation was to be found in some error of management susceptible of
+remedy. His Lordship remarked that he should deeply lament the abolition
+of a college "of which the defects would appear so remediable, and of
+which it does not seem easy to exaggerate the benefits." As for King's
+College, which was another educational bone of contention between the
+two branches of the Provincial Legislature, it was intimated that His
+Majesty would cheerfully resume the consideration of the charter,
+provided the assent of both Houses to his doing so could be obtained,
+but that, as the subject had been committed to the local Legislature, he
+could not withdraw it from their cognizance at the instance of one
+branch only. The system of auditing the public accounts had been
+complained of as being insufficient for ensuring the proper application
+of the revenue. As a remedy, the establishment of a Board of Audit, the
+regulation of which should be secured by well-considered legislation,
+had been suggested. In this suggestion the Colonial Secretary expressed
+his concurrence, and he transmitted various documents explanatory of the
+system of auditing the public accounts of the Kingdom. The Assembly
+having expressed its belief that the Legislative Council would not
+assent to any efficient legislation on the subject, the
+Lieutenant-Governor was empowered, in case of that belief being
+realized, to constitute a provisional Board of Audit. To remedy another
+evil which had been complained of--the withholding of public accounts
+from the Assembly--it was proposed that a statute should be passed
+providing the time and manner of making periodical returns, and naming
+the officers who should render them to the Legislature. Then followed
+brief instructions to be observed by the Lieutenant-Governor in his
+intercourse with the Assembly. "You will always," wrote his Lordship,
+"receive the addresses of the Assembly with the most studious attention
+and courtesy. As far as may be consistent with your duty to the King,
+you will accede to their wishes cheerfully and frankly. Should that duty
+ever compel you to differ from their opinion, or to decline compliance
+with their desires, you will explain in the most direct, and of course
+in the most conciliatory terms, the ground of your conduct." His
+Excellency was instructed to adopt Lord Goderich's despatch to Sir John
+Colborne of the 8th of November, 1832,[213] as a rule for the guidance
+of his conduct. He was directed to select Justices of the Peace without
+reference to political considerations. In the Grievance Committee's
+Report, as well as in the Address from the Assembly to the King, great
+stress had been laid on the mode of appointing members of the
+Legislative Council. It had been represented that that body had utterly
+failed to answer the ends for which it had been created, and that the
+restoration of legislative harmony and good government required its
+reconstruction on the elective principle.[214] The inhabitants of the
+Lower Province felt still more strongly on this subject than did their
+fellow-colonists in Upper Canada, and had made urgent representations to
+His Majesty thereupon in ninety-two resolutions which had been adopted
+by the local Assembly during the session of 1834. "The greatest defect
+in the constitution of Canada," said they, "is the right of nomination,
+by the Crown, of the Legislative Councillors." These resolutions had led
+to the appointment by the Imperial Government of a commission of
+investigation into the affairs of Lower Canada, and as the principles
+bearing upon the question of an elective Legislative Council were the
+same in both Provinces, Lord Glenelg now contented himself with
+appending the instructions issued to the commissioners, and referring to
+the views therein contained as having received the deliberate sanction
+of the King. A similar device was adopted with respect to the demand for
+the control by the Assembly of the territorial and casual revenues of
+the Crown.
+
+The one great overshadowing question of Executive responsibility was
+dealt with by Lord Glenelg in a most perfunctory and unsatisfactory
+manner. It was apparent that he either wholly failed to grasp the real
+significance of the theme, or that he fenced with it for the mere
+purpose of beguiling the colonists with a counterfeit presentment.
+"Experience would seem to prove," he wrote, "that the administration of
+public affairs in Canada is by no means exempt from the control of a
+sufficient practical responsibility. To His Majesty and to Parliament
+the Governor of Upper Canada is at all times most fully responsible for
+his official acts. That this responsibility is not merely nominal, but
+that His Majesty feels the most lively interest in the welfare of his
+Canadian subjects, and is ever anxious to devote a patient and laborious
+attention to any representations which they may address to him, either
+through their representatives or as individuals, is proved not only by
+the whole tenor of the correspondence of my predecessors in this office,
+but by the despatch which I am now addressing to you. That the Imperial
+Parliament is not disposed to receive with inattention the
+representations of their Canadian fellow-subjects is attested by the
+labours of the committees which have been appointed by the House of
+Commons during the last few years to inquire into matters relating to
+those Provinces." It was declared to be the Lieutenant-Governor's duty
+to vindicate to the King and the Imperial Parliament every act of his
+administration. In the event of any complaint being preferred against
+him, his conduct was to receive the most favourable construction. The
+Assembly, it was said, were at all times able to invoke the
+interference of the King and Parliament. Every public officer was
+to depend on the King's pleasure--_i.e._, upon the pleasure of the
+Lieutenant-Governor--for the tenure of his office. Certain rules were
+then laid down, the observance of which, it was said, would produce a
+system of perfect responsibility. As these rules differed in no
+essential respect from those which had consistently been acted upon by
+Francis Gore, Sir Peregrine Maitland and Sir John Colborne, it was
+evident that the system of responsibility contemplated by Lord Glenelg
+was not identical with that desired by Upper Canadian Reformers. Lord
+Glenelg certainly made good his asseveration that the Upper Canadian
+Executive were "practically responsible." But to whom were they
+responsible? To the Upper Canadian people? Not at all. The
+responsibility was to the King and Parliament of Great Britain--that is
+to say, to Downing Street, several thousand miles away. Of what avail
+was such responsibility, guarded, as it was, by secret despatches, "like
+a system of espionage"?[215] Had this responsibility to Downing Street
+ever saved "a single martyr to Executive displeasure"?[216] Had it been
+of any avail for the protection of Robert Gourlay, Captain Matthews,
+Francis Collins or Robert Randal? Had it preserved from the dry pan and
+the slow fire any one of a score of individuals whose only offence
+against the State was that they would not willingly sacrifice their
+rights, and become the tools of venality and corruption? In not one
+solitary instance had it served any such purpose. Such responsibility
+was a mockery, "a broken reed, which it would be folly ever again to
+rest upon."[217] Of real, constitutional responsibility to the people
+there was not so much as a pretence. "All the powers of the Government,"
+says Mr. Lindsey, "were centralized in Downing Street, and all the
+colonial officers, from the highest to the lowest, were puppets in the
+hands of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. At the same time, the
+outward trappings of a constitutional system, intended to amuse the
+colonists, served no other end than to irritate and exasperate men who
+had penetration enough to detect the mockery, and whose self-respect
+made them abhor the sham."[218]
+
+In an early paragraph of these instructions, Lord Glenelg had objected,
+on behalf of His Majesty's Government, to any resort on the part of the
+Assembly to that ulterior measure--the stoppage of the supplies--to
+which allusion had been made in the Address of that body, and had
+referred to it as a proceeding to be justified only by an extreme
+emergency. He concluded with an expression of earnest hope that the
+representatives of the Upper Canadian people would receive with
+gratitude and cordiality this renewed proof of His Majesty's paternal
+solicitude for the welfare of his loyal subjects in the Province, and
+that, laying aside all groundless distrusts, they would cheerfully
+cooeperate with the King and the Lieutenant-Governor in advancing the
+prosperity of "that interesting and valuable portion of the British
+Empire."
+
+As already mentioned, the full text of the instructions was communicated
+by the new Lieutenant-Governor to the Upper Canadian Assembly. Apart
+from the fact that this proceeding was not warranted either by usage or
+express permission, it was short-sighted and unwise, for the
+instructions were not such as to be by any means satisfactory, either to
+the official party or the Opposition. The Opposition perceived that,
+under a cover of many fair words and specious phrases, there was very
+little substantial concession. To the official party it seemed that the
+spirit of concession was manifested much too strongly, and as the
+appointment of Sir Francis Head had been hailed by the Reformers as a
+triumph, anything in the nature of concession, filtered through such a
+medium, was naturally regarded with strong suspicion. As for Sir Francis
+himself, his mind seems to have been for some weeks in a chaotic state.
+He had not been installed in office many days before he had a succession
+of private interviews with several leading members of the Reform party.
+In the course of a conversation with Mr. Bidwell, who, it will be
+remembered, was Speaker of the Assembly, he for the first time became
+aware that the Report of the Grievance Committee was not recognized by
+the Reform party as being a complete exposition of the case as between
+the Home Government and themselves.[219] He soon after had an interview
+with Mackenzie, who, in conjunction with Dr. Morrison, was chiefly
+responsible for the existence of the Report. "I thought," writes Sir
+Francis,[220] "that of course he would be too happy to discuss with me
+the contents of his own book, but his mind seemed to nauseate its
+subjects even more than Mr. Bidwell's. Afraid to look me in the face, he
+sat, with his feet not reaching the ground, and with his countenance
+averted from me, at an angle of about seventy degrees; while, with the
+eccentricity, the volubility, and indeed the appearance of a madman, the
+tiny creature raved about grievances here and grievances there, which
+the Committee, he said, had not ventured to enumerate." This was a
+revelation to the Lieutenant-Governor, and set him thinking. He
+attempted to discuss the merits of the Report with various persons, but
+encountered what was to him an inexplicable reluctance to talk about it.
+All were ready to discuss the grievances themselves, but no leading
+Reformer was disposed to admit the Report into the discussion. The
+reason of this was doubtless because the Report had been chiefly
+fathered by Mackenzie, and they were unwilling to accept him as their
+mouthpiece. As for Mackenzie's own disinclination to enter into a
+discussion of the matter, it probably arose from a feeling that it would
+be unwise for him to tie himself down to a particular record, beyond
+which he would not be permitted to travel. Sir Francis, writing three
+years afterwards, declares that "the light of truth" at once burst upon
+his mind, and that he perceived that the Grievance Report was a mere
+pretext for Rebellion.[221] It is quite clear that he perceived nothing
+of the kind, and that "the light of truth" was a mere after-thought with
+him. It is impossible for one in his sober senses to see what does not
+exist, and at this time there was no purpose of rebellion in the heart
+of anyone with whom the Lieutenant-Governor came in contact--not even in
+the heart of Mackenzie himself, who might easily have been conciliated
+by wisdom and prudence. Had Sir Francis been half as clever and astute
+as he professed to believe himself to be--nay, had he even been fairly
+honest and truthful, and possessed of the most ordinary good
+sense--there would probably have been no such thing as an Upper Canadian
+Rebellion.
+
+He had not been a fortnight in the country when suggestions began to be
+made to him from various quarters as to the membership of the Executive
+Council. That body, for the nonce, consisted of only three persons,
+namely, Peter Robinson, Commissioner of Crown Lands; George Herchmer
+Markland, Inspector-General; and Joseph Wells, Bursar of King's
+College. The presence of all three of these persons was necessary to the
+formation of a quorum, and in case of the illness or unavoidable absence
+of any one of them the public business would have been interrupted and
+delayed. Mr. Robinson, moreover, was not only an Executive Councillor,
+but, as just mentioned, was also Commissioner of Crown Lands. In the
+former capacity the duty was imposed upon him of taking part in the
+auditing of his own accounts. This invidious necessity would no longer
+exist if additional members were appointed, as a quorum could easily be
+obtained without Mr. Robinson's presence being required at the Council
+Board. These facts were indisputable, and the argument to be deduced
+therefrom was unanswerable. Additional Councillors must be appointed.
+But from what class of the community should they be selected? Sir
+Francis, the "Tried Reformer," had begun to conceive a distaste for the
+Reformers of Upper Canada. There seemed to be a natural antagonism
+between him and them. The reason is not far to seek. Persons of the
+social grade of Mackenzie were inconceivably odious to this "diner-out
+of the first water;" while men like Bidwell and Baldwin made him
+painfully conscious of his own littleness and insufficiency for the task
+which he had undertaken. Yet he could not venture to call to his Council
+any of the remnant of the Tory Compact, and thereby utterly ignore the
+Liberal principles which were presumed to have dictated his appointment.
+The Tories, moreover, had seen fit to petition the King against his very
+first administrative act--the appointment of a Surveyor-General. As for
+the Conservatives, as distinct from the Tories, they had not yet
+formulated a distinct policy, and none of their leaders had come very
+conspicuously to the front.
+
+It seemed clear, then, that the choice must be made from the Reform
+ranks. After much deliberation and inquiry,[222] the Lieutenant-Governor
+came to the conclusion that approaches should be made to Robert Baldwin,
+a gentleman to whom he refers as "highly respected for his moral
+character, being moderate in his politics, and possessing the esteem and
+confidence of all parties."[223] His Excellency's resolve on this
+subject was approved of by the Speakers of the two Houses, as well as
+by the three members of the Council, to all of whom the project was
+submitted before any attempt was made to carry it out. When the proposal
+was made to Mr. Baldwin it was received by him with becoming respect,
+but with a coolness of demeanour which was far from flattering to the
+vanity of Sir Francis, who seems to have expected that the recipient
+would be well-nigh overwhelmed by the honour. The latter stated that he
+was very reluctant to again embark in public life, and he explained his
+views on the political situation with great frankness. There were
+several interviews, in the course of which Sir Francis did his utmost to
+induce Mr. Baldwin to accede to his wishes. Mr. Baldwin required time
+for consideration, an indulgence which was of course accorded. The
+Lieutenant-Governor being anxious to carry his point, sent for Mr.
+Baldwin's father, Dr. W. W. Baldwin, for the purpose of securing his
+influence in the negotiations. Father and son were both of one mind.
+There was little or nothing in common between the political sentiments
+of the three members of the existing Executive Council and the man whom
+it was proposed to add to their number. How, then, could it be expected
+that they would agree as to the policy of the Administration. If they
+did not agree, what would Mr. Baldwin's single voice avail against the
+other three? And, even admitting that this anomaly could be got rid of,
+it was deemed necessary that there should be some understanding on the
+subject of Executive responsibility before Mr. Baldwin could consent to
+accept a seat in the Council. He and his father, from whom his political
+ideas had been chiefly derived, had for years contended that Responsible
+Government already existed in Upper Canada by virtue of the
+Constitutional Act, and that when a Government failed to command a
+majority of votes in the Assembly it was legally bound to resign. It was
+of course notorious that this principle had never been recognized by the
+Provincial Administration, but Mr. Baldwin was of opinion that the
+constitution had been systematically violated in this particular. In
+talking over the matter with the Lieutenant-Governor he now discovered
+that the latter was entirely unacquainted with constitutional questions,
+and that he had no ideas on the subject whatever, beyond such as he had
+picked up within the past few days. Still, his Excellency's good temper,
+and his seeming anxiety to do his duty, won upon the sympathies of Mr.
+Baldwin, who naturally felt desirous to be of service to a man who had
+come to Canada in the guise of a tried Reformer, and who professed to be
+actuated by a sincere desire to govern the colony on Liberal principles.
+After several courteous refusals, and after much consideration and
+repeated consultations with his friends, Mr. Baldwin consented to accept
+office, provided that seats in the Council were at the same time offered
+to his father, and to Dr. Rolph and Mr. Bidwell. Dr. Baldwin was so
+unwilling to accept the cares of office that his name was dropped by
+common consent. To Dr. Rolph no objection was felt, but his Excellency
+had conceived an antagonism towards Mr. Bidwell, with whom he had had
+frequent interviews, and who had not scrupled to express himself with
+much freedom on the necessity for a regular system of Provincial Reform.
+After considerable discussion, it was agreed that John Henry Dunn, the
+Provincial Receiver-General, should be substituted for Mr. Bidwell. Mr.
+Dunn was not a member of any political party, nor had he any special
+aptitude for political life; but he was a man of high character and
+moderate views, and was held in much public estimation. On Saturday the
+20th of February the three new Councillors were sworn into office and
+gazetted, "until the King's pleasure be known."[224] The three old
+members retained their places.
+
+This manifestation of a resolve to carry on the Government of the
+Province by means of Councillors possessing the public confidence was
+hailed with great favour by the Reform party, and indeed by the
+Conservatives as well, for Messieurs Baldwin, Rolph and Dunn were
+persons for whom the highest respect was felt by all classes of the
+community, and were regarded as being altogether above suspicion. Even
+the members of the Compact were disposed to favour the arrangement, for,
+in consequence of rumours which had reached their ears, they had dreaded
+that the Lieutenant-Governor might possibly ally himself with the
+Radicals, who, if placed in power, would have done their utmost to exact
+a reckoning for past abuses. Upon the whole, then, Sir Francis had
+materially strengthened his position. But the strength was fictitious
+rather than real, and the baseless fabric which he had reared with such
+pains quickly tottered and fell. The three new Councillors were not long
+in discovering that their places were sinecures. His Excellency wanted
+none of their counsel, and had no intention of permitting them to have
+any real voice in the carrying-on of the Government. To one person only
+did he apply for advice in every emergency. That person was not a member
+of the Government, and was therefore an unsworn counsellor, under no
+semblance of responsibility to anybody. He was a power behind the
+throne, with all the privileges and none of the disabilities attaching
+to such a position. The gentleman elevated to this anomalous dignity was
+Chief Justice Robinson, Speaker of the Legislative Council, the
+master-spirit of the Family Compact, and the life-long champion of those
+very abuses which the "Tried Reformer" was currently supposed to have
+been sent out to remove. The Councillors, old as well as new, were
+treated as mere figure-heads. They were consulted about land matters and
+insignificant questions of detail, but the policy and measures of the
+Government seldom passed under their review, or were submitted to them
+for advice.[225] Some of these measures were such as they could not
+approve or sanction. His Excellency nominated two adherents of the old
+official party to vacant offices upon which they had no sort of claim.
+He refused the royal assent to the Felons' Counsel Bill, a measure
+"demanded by justice and humanity, and passed for more than ten years,
+almost unanimously, by repeated and different Houses of Assembly."[226]
+The Councillors were thus made to seem responsible for acts over which
+they had no control, and of which some of them, at least, highly
+disapproved. The Reform party were astonished to see such things done
+under the auspices of a Government of which Robert Baldwin and Dr. Rolph
+were members. They however acquitted both those gentleman of having
+advised such acts. It was believed by Reformers generally that the three
+new Councillors were not consulted, or else that the old members, with
+the umpirage of the Lieutenant-Governor, predominated.[227]
+
+This state of things could not be allowed to continue. The Executive
+Councillors consulted together, and determined upon a remonstrance with
+the Lieutenant-Governor. This remonstrance was formally prepared in
+writing, and sent in to his Excellency on Friday, the 4th of March. The
+three old members concurred in it, and it was signed by all the six in
+order of seniority. The mere fact of this concurrence affords strong
+evidence of the growth of the power of public opinion in the Province.
+In past times members of the Executive Council had been content to pose
+as figure-heads year after year, while John Beverley Robinson and one or
+two others manipulated and directed the whole course of public affairs.
+It is probable, however, that in the present instance the three senior
+Councillors may have been influenced by the arguments of Baldwin and
+Rolph, who felt very strongly on the question at issue.
+
+The Lieutenant-Governor's reply, every paragraph of which bears evidence
+of the Chief Justice's cunning hand, is dated on the following day, but
+was not actually communicated until the next regular Council day, which
+was Thursday, the 10th. It contained a firm but courteous expression of
+his Excellency's dissent from the opinions expressed by the Executive
+Councillors as to their privileges and duties. It was contended that the
+Lieutenant-Governor was the sole responsible minister, and the
+difference between the constitution of the mother-country and the colony
+was referred to as being highly advantageous to the latter. His
+Excellency, it was said, was only bound to consult his Council when he
+felt the need of their advice, and to do so on the innumerable subjects
+upon which he was daily compelled to decide would be "as utterly
+impossible as for any one but himself to decide upon what points his
+mind required or needed" advice. The position taken by the Councillors
+was declared to be unconstitutional, but his Excellency informed them
+that his estimation of their talents and integrity, as well as his
+personal regard for them, remained unshaken, and that he was not
+insensible to the difficulties to which he would be exposed should they
+deem it necessary to resign. He added, however, that should they be of
+opinion that their oaths required them to retire from office, he begged
+that they would not on his account hesitate to do so. As they were very
+strongly of that opinion, they waited on his Excellency on Saturday, the
+12th, and tendered their resignations, which were accepted. They had
+held office precisely three weeks.
+
+The clue to this puzzle is easily found. Sir Francis had conceived an
+utter distaste for the persons and political principles of the Reformers
+of Upper Canada. There was an inherent antagonism between the nature of
+this shallow, feather-brained sketcher by the wayside and the natures of
+men like Rolph, Bidwell and the Baldwins, whose quiet earnestness and
+fixity of purpose had been intensified by the long course of injustice
+to which they, in common with their party, had been subjected. The
+earnestness of these gentlemen presented itself to him in the light of
+importunity, if not of impertinence. He could hardly be expected to
+sympathize very strongly with their unconquerable zeal for principles
+which he did not understand: which he was perhaps incapable of
+understanding. Then, Sir Francis was an eminently social personage, and
+the social qualities of the leaders of Upper Canadian Reform were not of
+a high order. To them, small talk across the walnuts and the wine seemed
+utterly incongruous in view of the momentous public questions which were
+urgently pressing for a solution. In this particular they presented a
+marked contrast to the leading spirits of the Compact. The Robinsons,
+Hagermans and Sherwoods, one and all, could not only advise the
+Lieutenant-Governor on the affairs of the Province, but could be
+pleasant and entertaining companions. They were not very different from
+the county magistrates and other officials with whom he had been
+accustomed to confer in his capacity of a poor-law commissioner. They
+were moreover exceedingly diplomatic. They saw the importance of winning
+him to their side, and governed themselves accordingly. They lost no
+opportunity of making themselves agreeable to him. Instead of boring him
+with what, to his understanding, seemed abstruse speculations on
+executive responsibility and an elective Legislative Council, they
+scouted such doctrines as myths begotten in the moody brains of
+unpractical and discontented men. The wide knowledge, long experience
+and specious eloquence of the Chief Justice enabled him to present the
+Tory side of these arguments with much plausibility. Sir Francis soon
+became convinced that the issue was not merely between two sides of
+colonial politics, but between monarchy and republicanism, between
+loyalty and disloyalty, between Great Britain and the United States. As
+he afterwards declared, he believed that he was "sentenced to contend on
+the soil of America with Democracy,[228]" and that if he did not
+overpower it, he would himself be compelled to succumb. Having brought
+himself to this conclusion, he not unnaturally preferred the _role_ of
+the hammer to that of the anvil. It was surely better to strike than to
+be struck. Acting on this principle, he made a complete surrender of
+himself to the Family Compact, and from that time forward was in all
+essential respects guided by their counsels. His rashness and
+impetuosity sometimes led him to act on his own motion, and without
+waiting to take counsel from any quarter; but in all ordinary affairs of
+administration he was guided by Sir John Robinson quite as effectually
+as Sir John Colborne had ever been.
+
+No sooner was it announced that the Executive Councillors had all
+resigned office than the public pulse began to beat at an accelerated
+pace. The excitement was greatly intensified upon the publication of a
+letter written by Robert Baldwin to Peter Perry, in which, by the
+Lieutenant-Governor's special permission, all the attendant
+circumstances were set forth in detail. This letter, having been written
+for the express purpose of being read by Mr. Perry from his place in the
+Assembly, and of being afterwards published in the newspapers, is
+somewhat formal and official in its tone, but it presents the
+subject-matter in a clear light, and must be regarded as an important
+contribution to the history of Responsible Government in Upper Canada.
+It is the chief, indeed the only trustworthy original authority for the
+facts as to the precise dispute between Sir Francis and his Council, for
+the former's account[229] is more than usually incomplete and one-sided
+when dealing with this episode. The essential portions of Mr. Baldwin's
+presentation of the case have been embodied in the foregoing narrative.
+The Lieutenant-Governor lost no time in providing himself with a new
+Council. On the 14th of March, when the resignation was only two days
+old, an extraordinary issue of the _Gazette_ announced that Robert
+Baldwin Sullivan, John Elmsley, Augustus Baldwin and William Allan had
+been appointed members of the Executive Council of the Province. The
+reader has already made the acquaintance of all these gentlemen with the
+exception of Augustus Baldwin, who was a retired naval officer of high
+character, but of no particular politics; a brother of Dr. Baldwin, and
+by consequence an uncle of Robert Baldwin. All four of the new
+Councillors were persons of character and position, but they were not in
+sympathy with the Liberal sentiments of the period, and the people
+generally were not disposed to place any political confidence in them.
+Elmsley and Allan were consistent, old-fashioned Tories. Baldwin's
+leanings, so far as he had any, were in the same direction. Sullivan's
+youth and early life had been passed amid more or less Liberal
+influences, but of late he had shown a retrogressive tendency in
+political matters. This was largely due to personal rivalry between
+Mackenzie and himself in municipal affairs. As previously mentioned, he
+had defeated Mackenzie at the municipal elections for St. David's Ward,
+and had been elected mayor of Toronto in the beginning of 1835. The
+contest had been waged between them with unseemly rancour. Sullivan had
+denounced Mackenzie as a noisy upstart and demagogue; while Mackenzie
+had characterized Sullivan as an oily-tongued, unprincipled lawyer, who
+would lie the loudest for the client who had the longest purse. All
+Mackenzie's supporters during the contest had been Radicals, or at least
+persons of strong Reform proclivities. This had arrayed the whole Tory
+and Conservative vote on the side of Sullivan, who was thus in a measure
+brought under anti-Reform influences. His social tastes also inclined
+him in the same direction, so that he soon came to be classed as a
+Conservative. Reformers were disposed to look askance at him as a
+political renegade, and this disposition was increased upon his
+acceptance of office under Sir Francis Head at the present juncture. He
+alone, of all the new Councillors, was a man of exceptional ability. He
+was not inaccurately described, a few years later, as "an Irishman by
+birth, and a lawyer by profession; a man who, if he had united
+consistency of political conduct and weight of personal character with
+the great and original talents which he unquestionably possessed, might
+have taken a conspicuous part in the public affairs of any
+country."[230]
+
+These transactions--the resignation of the Councillors and the
+appointment of their successors--produced a tremendous effervescence of
+feeling among the Opposition in the Assembly, who had already conceived
+strong suspicions of the Lieutenant-Governor's motives. But the
+excitement was not confined to the Opposition. It was participated in by
+the Conservatives, and, even, for a time, by most of the ultra-Tories.
+On the 14th of March, the House, by a vote of fifty-three to two,
+adopted a resolution unequivocally assertive of the principles which the
+ex-Councillors had endeavoured to maintain. Ten days later an address to
+the Lieutenant-Governor, based on this resolution, was passed by a vote
+of thirty-two to nineteen. It expressed deep regret that his Excellency
+had consented to accept the resignation of his late Council. It declared
+the Assembly's entire want of confidence in the new appointments, and
+humbly requested that immediate steps might be taken to remove the new
+Councillors from office. Meanwhile, petitions on the all-engrossing
+subject poured into the Assembly from all over the Province.[231] Public
+meetings were called in Toronto, as well as in some other of the
+principal towns, at which resolutions were passed echoing the Assembly's
+address, imploring the Lieutenant-Governor to dismiss his present
+advisers, and to call to his Council gentlemen possessing public
+confidence.
+
+One of these gatherings tended in an especial manner to widen the
+irreparable breach between Sir Francis Head and the Reform party. On the
+25th of March a meeting was held in the City Hall, Toronto, at which an
+Address to his Excellency of exceptional significance was passed. It
+dealt at considerable length with the constitutional question at issue;
+referred to Responsible Government as having been introduced by the
+Constitutional Act; expressed surprise and sorrow at the resignation of
+the late Councillors, and an entire want of confidence in their
+successors. It deplored the apparent fact that his Excellency was acting
+under the influence of evil and unknown advisers. In conclusion, it
+claimed all the rights and privileges of the British constitution, and
+that the representative of the Crown should be advised by men known to
+and possessing the confidence of the people. When the deputation called
+at Government House to present this Address, they were treated with an
+off-hand abruptness and _brusquerie_ which gave them much offence. The
+reply of his Excellency was wordy and unsatisfying in tone; but its most
+objectionable feature was the air of assumed superiority by which it was
+pervaded. It referred to the meeting represented by the deputation as
+having been composed principally of "the industrious classes," but
+added, with a seeming loftiness of condescension, that the Address
+should be replied to with as much attention as if it had proceeded from
+either of the branches of the Legislature--"although," said his
+Excellency, "I shall express myself in plainer and more homely
+language." This was bad enough, but its effect was intensified by the
+demeanour of the Lieutenant-Governor and several military officers who
+were in attendance upon him. It seemed to the deputation that those
+gentlemen regarded them with supercilious impertinence; as a something
+which viceroyalty must be content, for the nonce, to endure, but as
+being altogether beyond the pale of their sympathies or interests.
+Nothing could have been in worse taste than such conduct as this, though
+it is possible enough that more sensitiveness was displayed than was
+called for by the actual circumstances. The deputation withdrew, cut to
+the quick by the indignities which they, rightly or wrongly, conceived
+themselves to have sustained. On the succeeding evening a meeting of
+themselves and some of their friends was held at the house of Dr.
+Morrison--who was now mayor of the city--at which a bitterly sarcastic
+rejoinder was prepared. It thanked his Excellency for replying to an
+Address from "the industrious classes" with as much attention as if it
+had proceeded from either branch of the Legislature, and acknowledged
+his condescension in expressing himself in plain and homely
+language--language presumed to be brought down to the level of the plain
+and homely understandings of his interlocutors, whose deplorable want of
+education was accounted for by the maladministration by former
+Governments of the endowments of King's College, and by the
+impossibility of obtaining a sale of the Clergy Reserves and the
+appropriation of the proceeds to educational purposes. "It is,"
+proceeded this cutting rejoinder, "because we have been thus maltreated,
+neglected and despised, in our education and interests, under the system
+of Government that has hitherto prevailed, that we are now driven to
+insist upon a change that cannot be for the worse." Reference was made
+to the desire to bring about a system of Responsible Government, and the
+utter futility of mere responsibility to Downing Street was pointed out
+with a pointed eloquence which proved that the signatories were in
+deadly earnest. The misgovernment of Dalhousie and Aylmer in Lower
+Canada, and of Gore, Maitland and Colborne in Upper Canada, was touched
+upon in a few brief, vitriolic sentences. It was shown that, though
+these gentlemen had been responsible to Downing Street, they had not
+only met with no punishment, but had actually been promoted to higher
+honours. "We do not mean," said they, "in our plain and homely
+statement, to be discourteous, by declaring our unalterable conviction
+that a nominal responsibility to Downing Street, which has failed of any
+good with the above gentlemen of high pretensions to honour, character
+and station, cannot have any magic operation in your Excellency's
+administration, which, should it end as it has unhappily begun, might
+make us drink the cup of national misgovernment to the very dregs,
+without (as experience proves) redress on our part, or retribution on
+yours." There was much more of the same sort. The document concluded by
+stating that if the Lieutenant-Governor would not govern upon sound
+constitutional principles he would violate the charter, virtually
+abrogate the law, and justly forfeit submission to his authority.
+
+This was beyond doubt the most vigorously-written protest that had ever
+been presented to an Upper Canadian Lieutenant-Governor. It was signed
+by Jesse Ketchum, James Hervey Price, James Lesslie, Andrew McGlashan,
+James Shannon, Robert McKay, M. McLellan, Timothy Parsons, William
+Lesslie, John Mills, E. T. Henderson, John Doel, John E. Tims, and
+William J. O'Grady. All these were ardent Radicals, and coadjutors of
+Mackenzie. Two of them--Jesse Ketchum and James Lesslie--delivered the
+rejoinder at Government House, without waiting for a reply. It was
+already in type, and during the next day was widely read and commented
+upon. The Lieutenant-Governor was not insensible to its cutting irony,
+but it did not admit of any sur-rejoinder, and after the first transient
+ebullition of his wrath, the matter, so far as he was concerned, was
+quietly permitted to drop out of sight. The document, however, acted as
+an additional stimulus to the public excitement, and it continued to be
+quoted against Sir Francis from time to time so long as he remained in
+the colony.
+
+While these events were occurring the Provincial Legislature still
+remained in session. A Committee having been appointed by the Assembly
+to consider the correspondence between the Lieutenant-Governor and the
+ex-Councillors, it proceeded to deal with the question in the usual
+manner. The report was presented to the Assembly on the 18th of April.
+In the course of the debate which ensued, several eloquent speeches were
+made on the Tory side. The most effective Tory arguments were founded
+upon the assumption that the concession of Responsible Government would
+be a mere preliminary to separation from the mother country. The speech
+made by Mr. Hagerman on this occasion was one of the most brilliant
+efforts of his life. Mere verbal eloquence, however, exhausted itself in
+vain. The report was adopted by a vote of thirty-two to twenty-one. It
+was even more directly condemnatory of the Lieutenant-Governor than the
+rejoinder above referred to had been. It expressed the Committee's
+belief that the appointment of the three ex-Councillors had been a
+deceitful manoeuvre to gain credit with the country for Liberal
+feelings and intentions where none really existed. The question of
+Executive responsibility was gone into at considerable length, and the
+conduct of the ex-Councillors was approved of in every particular. There
+is no need to analyze the entire report, which was long and exhaustive.
+It distinctly recommended the withholding of the annual supplies. The
+Assembly, by adopting the report, and by committing itself to this
+extreme measure, proved that, in the language of Lord Glenelg's
+instructions,[232] it regarded the present in the light of "an
+emergency." The supplies, however, were not entirely withheld. Money
+was granted for the construction of roads, for schools, for the
+improvement of navigation, and other useful purposes; but all these
+grants were nullified by the Lieutenant-Governor, who signified his
+disapprobation of the Assembly's conduct by refusing his assent to the
+money-bills of the session. He afterwards stated as one of his reasons
+for this refusal that he had good grounds for believing a portion of the
+money would have been spent by the Assembly in sending an agent to
+England[233]--which was probably the fact.
+
+The Assembly, feeling that some reason should be assigned for their
+action in the matter of the supplies, which were now withheld for the
+first time in the history of Upper Canada, passed an Address to the
+King, in which the Lieutenant-Governor's conduct was painted in no
+neutral tints. He was directly charged with being despotic, tyrannical,
+unjust and deceitful. His conduct was declared to have been "derogatory
+to the honour" of his Majesty, and "demoralizing to the community." A
+memorial to the House of Commons was also adopted, in which his public
+acts were referred to as having been arbitrary and vindictive, and
+wherein he was charged with mis-statements, misrepresentations, and
+"deviations from candour and truth." This bitterly-worded memorial was
+formally signed by Mr. Bidwell as Speaker of the House--a circumstance
+which was long remembered against him by the person implicated.
+
+It must have been gall and wormwood to Sir Francis to be compelled to
+forward these documents to the Colonial Office. It was the first time
+that clear and undisguised charges of so humiliating a nature had been
+officially laid against a colonial Lieutenant-Governor, and one must
+needs confess that nothing short of the most unassailable evidence could
+have justified the employment of such terms in a communication between
+two representative bodies respecting a trusted servant of the Crown,
+more especially in the case of one occupying so lofty a position.
+Something is due to the proprieties, and to accuse a man of deviations
+from candour and truth is of course merely a slightly periphrastic
+method of charging him with falsehood. The Assembly, however, had become
+convinced, not without reason, that Sir Francis's word was not to be
+trusted. Other persons who had been brought into more or less intimate
+relations with him had been driven to the same conclusion.[234] The fact
+is that when his feelings were much stirred he knew not how to speak the
+language of truth and soberness. He talked so much and so thoughtlessly
+that he very frequently gave utterance to the thing which was not. Some
+excuse might perhaps be made for one who, in the heat or haste of verbal
+controversy, gives currency to erroneous statements. But Sir Francis's
+mis-statements were not confined to verbal controversy. He had been
+distinctly convicted of "a deviation from candour and truth" in a
+deliberate official communication. The Assembly had requested that they
+might be furnished with copies of any bond or agreement between him and
+his Councillors respecting the administration of the Government in the
+event of his Excellency's death or removal. To this request Sir Francis
+had replied, explicitly denying the existence of any document of such a
+nature. Yet upon the examination of certain of the Councillors it had
+been proved that an agreement on the subject had actually been made, and
+that it had been reduced to writing by his Excellency's own hand. The
+devices to which he had had recourse in his attempts to prove that he
+had merely been guilty of tergiversation instead of downright lying,
+were such as positively to aggravate the original offence, and to fully
+justify the Assembly in refusing to attach any weight to his unsupported
+statement upon any subject.[235] As the weeks passed by, the quarrel
+between him and the Assembly waxed positively ferocious. On the 20th of
+April he prorogued Parliament, making a speech on the occasion which
+must have occupied a full hour or more in delivery, and wherein he
+reviewed, in his own inimitable fashion, and from his own point of view,
+the various events by which his Administration had up to this time been
+characterized. Any attempt to analyze it here is altogether out of the
+question. It should be read in its entirety in the official Journal of
+the session.
+
+During the weeks following the prorogation the public excitement
+continued to increase, until it had reached a height without precedent
+in the history of the Province. The Reformers felt that they had been
+wofully deceived in the Lieutenant-Governor, and many of them placed no
+bounds to their censure. Some of the Reform newspapers hinted pretty
+strongly that no people could be expected to remain permanently loyal
+when they were deprived of their rights year after year, and when all
+their petitions were set at naught. The political atmosphere was charged
+with electricity. The outlook was lurid and ominous. Some of the
+loyalists began to dread an actual uprising of the people. Such an
+uprising, they thought, would be a legitimate sequel to so extraordinary
+a proceeding as the stoppage of the supplies. To not a few well-meaning
+but old-fashioned people the mere act of refusing to vote the supplies
+was in itself a species of treason. To more practical people this act
+presented itself in a different aspect. It seemed to them indicative of
+a niggard and ruinous parsimony. They gazed with ill-concealed envy at
+the marvellous prosperity of the neighbouring State of New York. Any one
+crossing the Canadian frontier in that direction at once became aware
+that he had passed from a land of comparative stagnation to a land of
+activity and progress. This contrast had been largely brought about by
+the construction of great public works, and a lavish policy on the part
+of the State Legislature. There seemed no reason to doubt that the
+adoption of a similar policy would bring about similar results in Upper
+Canada, where large and costly public works were urgently needed for the
+proper development of the resources of the colony. But, instead of
+liberal grants of money for such purposes, the Assembly had cut down the
+supplies to meet the barest works of necessity. The colony could never
+hope to hold up its head by the side of its enterprising neighbour while
+such a cheese-paring system prevailed.
+
+The Lieutenant-Governor's advisers were shrewd enough to make the most
+of this unpromising state of affairs. The cheese-paring policy went for
+something, but it was almost lost sight of in the much more effective
+imputation of disloyalty to the Empire. Nothing was so certain to turn
+the scale of public opinion in favour of his Excellency as an apparently
+well-founded stigma of disloyalty cast upon his opponents. The official
+party accordingly set themselves deliberately to work to disseminate the
+belief that the bulk of the Opposition were ripe for treason, and that,
+under the guise of agitation for Reform, they concealed a design of
+effecting the separation of the colony from Great Britain. It is not
+improbable that many of those who industriously circulated the report
+did so in good faith, for the language of some of the Reformers, used in
+moments of irritation, was of a nature to lead to such a conclusion. No
+sooner did this report gain credence than there was a very perceptible
+turning of the scale of popular opinion. Many who had grumbled loudly at
+Sir Francis's conduct now declared themselves as being on his side. They
+favoured the doctrine of a responsible Executive, but devotion to the
+mother country was as the breath of their nostrils. Whatever tended to
+relax the tie which bound the colony to the Empire was a thing to be
+utterly opposed and stamped out. The domination of the Compact was bad,
+but even at its worst it was better than separation. So argued many
+persons who had always been conspicuous for the moderation of their
+political views. The official party of course turned such sentiments as
+these to the utmost account. The cry of disloyalty was heard on every
+side. The state of the Lower Province, which was rapidly gliding into
+insurrection, was triumphantly pointed to as evidence of what was to be
+looked for if democratic ideas were allowed to make headway. Twice
+within the last four years had the Lower Canadian Assembly resorted to
+the extreme measure of refusing to grant supplies to the Government. By
+so doing they had embroiled themselves with the Imperial Ministry, and
+drawn down upon themselves the indignation of persons of moderate views.
+It was no secret that the Upper Canadian Reformers generally were in
+sympathy with the projects of Reform entertained by the Lower Canadian
+agitators; and it suited the Tories to assume that the sympathy extended
+not only to legitimate projects of Reform, but to less openly-avowed
+schemes of rebellion. Just before the prorogation Mr. Bidwell had laid
+before the Assembly a letter written by Louis Joseph Papineau, Speaker
+of the Lower Canada Assembly, wherein the great agitator had given
+utterance to sentiments which, read in the light of subsequent events,
+cannot be construed otherwise than as treasonable. Several members of
+the Reform party had publicly spoken enthusiastically of M. Papineau,
+and had even gone so far as to express approbation of his most
+indiscreet and objectionable language. This circumstance was now urged
+to show that the objects of the anti-Executive party in both Provinces
+were identical. There was no attempt to discriminate between
+constitutional Reformers of the Baldwin stamp and advanced Radicals like
+Mackenzie. All were included in one sweeping verdict as "disloyal"
+persons, against whom it was necessary for right-minded citizens to
+organize in self-defence.
+
+Early in May these sentiments began to find expression in outward acts.
+A number of Tory gentlemen of Toronto formed themselves into what they
+called the British Constitutional Society, with the fundamental
+principle and object of perpetuating the connection between Upper Canada
+and the United Kingdom. A society bearing the same name had been formed
+upon the breaking out of the War of 1812, and this of 1836 professed to
+be a reorganization of the former one. In reality, however, it was to
+all intents and purposes a new society, started for the specific purpose
+of opposing the cry for Responsible Government, and of gaining support
+for Sir Francis Head. During the previous year, Colonel Fitzgibbon had,
+under Sir John Colborne's auspices, formed a drill corps for such young
+men of Toronto as desired military instruction. A handful of
+well-connected young men had availed themselves of the opportunity. The
+Colonel now devoted himself with redoubled ardour to preparations for
+the insurrection which he declared would burst forth before the next
+winter. He got together a rifle corps to the number of seventy, and
+drilled them twice a week with tireless enthusiasm, declaring that when
+the hour of trial should come, he and "his boys" would be found in their
+places, however the rest of the community might see fit to demean
+themselves.
+
+Notwithstanding these preparations, and the prevailing sentiments which
+inspired them, it is doubtful whether the idea of rebellion had up to
+this time taken definite possession of the mind of a single human being
+in Upper Canada. There seems abundant reason for believing that the time
+for wise concession was not past, and that a prudent and discreet
+Administrator might have restored tranquillity to the land without
+going an iota beyond the scope of Lord Glenelg's instructions. But Sir
+Francis Head acted in no such spirit. He set his mind firmly against
+concession, feeling convinced, as he said, that the more he yielded the
+more would be demanded of him. In this respect he--no doubt
+unconsciously--emulated the example of James the Second, who was of
+opinion that his father owed the loss of his head to his concessions to
+the House of Commons. That this opinion was altogether erroneous does
+not admit of argument. Sir Francis was equally wrong, and equally
+stubborn in maintaining his opinion. His conduct was the last straw
+heaped upon the back of the much-enduring camel, and the outbreak which
+followed must in large measure be attributed to his misgovernment.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[210] See the letter, in Head's _Narrative_, chap. iii.
+
+[211] This proceeding was not relished by the Assembly. Sir John
+Colborne had already delivered one Speech from the Throne at the opening
+of the session, and this delivery of a second one was resented as a
+breach of privilege. After much time had been wasted in discussion, a
+precedent for the Lieutenant-Governor's action was found under date of
+December, 1765, and this matter was allowed to drop.
+
+[212] In the third chapter of his _Narrative_ Sir Francis attempts to
+excuse himself for this senseless act. The reader who thinks it worth
+while to consult the rhetorical plea there attempted to be set up will
+recall Pembroke's dictum, in _King John_, that
+
+      "----oftentimes excusing of a fault
+Doth make the fault the worse by the excuse."
+
+[213] This is the despatch referred to _ante_, p. 246, which had been
+treated with such contempt by the Law Officers of the Crown, and which
+had been returned by the Provincial Legislative Council to the
+Lieutenant-Governor.
+
+[214] See the 8vo edition of the Report, p. xxxix.
+
+[215] See the rejoinder of certain citizens of Toronto to the reply of
+the Lieutenant-Governor to their address, dated 25th March, 1836.
+
+[216] _Ib._
+
+[217] _Ib._
+
+[218] _Life of Mackenzie_, vol i., pp. 345, 346.
+
+[219] _Narrative_, chap. iii.
+
+[220] _Ib._
+
+[221] _Narrative_, chap. iii.
+
+[222] See Head's despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated February 22nd, 1836, in
+_Narrative_, chap. iv.
+
+[223] _Ib._
+
+[224] See the extra number of the _Gazette_ issued on that date. A very
+full account of the negotiations and conferences which led to this
+result will be found in a letter written by Robert Baldwin to Peter
+Perry, dated "Front Street, 16th March, 1836," and published in the
+papers of the time. See _post_, p. 312.
+
+[225] See the representations of the Councillors to the
+Lieutenant-Governor, dated Friday, 4th March, 1836.
+
+[226] See _Report of the Select Committee to which was referred the
+Answer of His Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to an Address of the
+House of Assembly, relative to a Responsible Executive Council_, p. 6.
+Toronto, 1836.
+
+[227] _Ib._, p. 7.
+
+[228] _Narrative_, chap. v.
+
+[229] _Narrative_, chapters iv., v.
+
+[230] Kaye's _Life and Correspondence of Charles, Lord Metcalfe_, vol.
+ii., p. 339. Revised edition, 1858.
+
+[231] It is fair to say that some of these were due to the efforts of
+the Radicals in the Assembly, who had sent out blank petitions to local
+friends, with instructions to obtain signatures and fill in the name of
+the constituency.
+
+[232] _Ante_, pp. 303, 304.
+
+[233] See his despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated April 28th, 1836, in
+_Narrative_, chap. v.
+
+[234] Sir Francis himself has gravely recorded that certain militia
+officers publicly declared him to be "the d----dest liar and d----dest
+rascal in the Province." See despatch of 6th February, 1837, in
+_Narrative_, chap. ix.
+
+[235] The evidence will be found in appendix to Journal of 1836, 2nd
+Session, Twelfth Parliament, vol. iii., No. 106, pp. 57, 58.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE TRIUMPHS OF A TRIED REFORMER.
+
+
+While the public excitement continued unabated, the Lieutenant-Governor
+resolved upon a step which was little calculated to allay it. This step
+was the dissolution of the existing Parliament. He and his advisers,
+sworn and unsworn, believed that the time was opportune for a general
+election. If the numerical majority of the Opposition in the Assembly
+were reversed, the Government could afford to laugh at what they called
+"low-bred democracy." Such a reversal, it was thought, might now be
+effected. The disloyalty cry might safely be trusted to do its work, not
+only by clearing the Assembly of the chief members of the Opposition,
+but by giving the Government party an easy working majority. In order,
+however, that his Excellency might seem to be following public opinion
+in this matter instead of guiding it, the official party caused
+petitions to be sent in from various quarters, praying that a
+dissolution and a general election might take place. This not only
+served the intended purpose of misleading the public as to the designs
+of the Executive, but also afforded Sir Francis an opportunity of
+pouring out oceans of words in the form of replies. The concluding
+sentence of his reply to an address from certain electors of the Home
+District is eminently characteristic of the man. Portions of the
+already-mentioned letter from Papineau to Bidwell had seemed to point to
+a possible invasion of the Province by inhabitants of the United States.
+This idea was eagerly seized upon by Sir Francis, as indicative of
+concerted action between the hypothetical invaders and the Upper
+Canadian Radicals. "In the name of every regiment of militia in Upper
+Canada," said he--"_Let them come if they dare!_"[236] Nothing but
+actual perusal of his despatches will afford any accurate idea of his
+blatant self-confidence at this time. It is quite evident that he
+regarded the above-quoted reply as a master-stroke of vigorous
+diplomacy. He drew special attention to it in a communication to Lord
+Glenelg, in the course of which he made use of language which must have
+almost stunned the conventional and decorous Colonial Secretary. "I am
+aware," he wrote, "that the answer may be cavilled at in Downing Street,
+for I know it is not exactly according to Hoyle. _Mais, man seigneur,
+croyez-vous done qu'on fasse des revolutions avec de l'eau de
+rose?_"[237] The tone of his despatches is from first to last
+extraordinary. It would seem as if they ought to have told their own
+miserable tale of superficiality and unfitness to the Colonial
+Secretary. In announcing the probability of an early dissolution of the
+Provincial Parliament, Sir Francis requests his Lordship to send him no
+orders on the subject, but to allow him to work the matter in his own
+way.[238] The Opposition are constantly referred to in such phrases as
+"the republicans in the House of Assembly," and "the revolutionists of
+Upper Canada."[239] His Lordship is warned that if the demands of the
+Opposition be complied with in the matter of Executive responsibility,
+"democracy, in the worst possible form, will prevail in our
+colonies."[240] "In South America," he remarks, "truth and justice
+carried me through difficulties even greater than those I have now to
+contend with, and I have the firmest reliance they will again be
+triumphant."[241] In another despatch[242] his Lordship is notified that
+Robert Baldwin, who is referred to as an agent of "the revolutionary
+party," is about to start for London. "It is stated," writes Sir
+Francis, "that he goes there for the recovery of his health, but it is
+acknowledged by his party that he will be prepared to answer any
+questions which the Government may feel disposed to put to him." This
+intimation is followed by the expression of a confidence that his
+Lordship will discountenance "the system of sending agents from the
+British North American colonies, and their being received by the
+Government." A hope is expressed that should Mr. Baldwin directly or
+indirectly communicate with the Colonial Office during his stay in
+England, he may be effectually sat upon, and that he may receive "that
+style of answer," a copy of which may be transmitted to Sir Francis, and
+published in the Canadian papers, as a means of deterring further
+"left-handed attacks upon the constitution." It may be added that the
+expression of confidence above referred to was justified by the result,
+as Mr. Baldwin, during his stay in England, was not admitted to an
+interview with Lord Glenelg, though a written statement of his views was
+received by his Lordship, and submitted to the Cabinet.
+
+The Reformers, moderate and radical, were brought closer together by the
+agitated state of the public mind, and by the efforts of the official
+party to destroy their influence. Several weeks before the dissolution
+actually took place it became known that such a step was imminent, and
+quiet preparations were made for the general election which was to
+follow. The formation of the Canadian Alliance Society by the Radicals,
+towards the close of 1834, has already been referred to.[243] Neither
+the platform of this society nor the mode of conducting it was such as
+to commend it to Reformers generally, and it was now deemed advisable to
+organize a new association on a broader basis, with a special eye to
+cooeperation with Reformers who resided in the rural districts. This was
+accordingly done under the auspices of some of the leading Reformers of
+Toronto. In contradistinction to the British Constitutional Society
+mentioned towards the close of the last chapter, the new association was
+called the Constitutional Reform Society. Dr. Baldwin accepted the
+Presidency, and Francis Hincks, who was then engaged in commercial life
+in Toronto, was appointed Secretary. Steps were taken to counteract the
+misrepresentations of the official party, and generally for the
+efficient maintenance of the impending election campaign. The Reformers
+seem to have greatly underestimated the efforts of their opponents. As
+the event proved, they were also hopelessly astray in gauging the public
+opinion of the Province, for they looked forward to the approaching
+contest with the utmost confidence in the result. The new society, it
+was thought, would accomplish wonders in the way of thorough
+organization, and it was confidently believed that the existing Reform
+majority in the Assembly would be fully maintained, if not increased.
+The efforts of the official party to spread a belief prejudicial to the
+patriotism of the Reformers were laughed to scorn. So also was the
+attempt of the Lieutenant-Governor to imbue the inhabitants with a
+belief in the probability of a foreign invasion. Upon the promulgation
+of the challenge to the imaginary invader, a number of the Toronto
+Reformers, with Mr. Hincks at their head, amused themselves by
+perpetrating a practical joke. Having taken counsel together, they
+formed themselves into a deputation, and called upon his Excellency in a
+state of well-assumed perturbation. In a formal address they expressed
+much solicitude on the subject of the contemplated invasion. They
+professed to re-echo his unbounded confidence in the Provincial militia,
+but begged to be informed of the quarter whence the attack was
+anticipated. "We do not doubt," said they, in their Address, "the
+readiness with which would be answered upon any emergency your appeal to
+the militia, which appeal we are satisfied would not have been made
+without adequate cause. In a matter so seriously affecting the peace and
+tranquillity of the country, and the security of its commerce, we beg to
+learn from your Excellency from what quarter the invasion is alleged to
+be threatened." To this not unreasonable demand the Lieutenant-Governor
+was unable to make any definite reply. The absurdity of his challenge
+was for the first time fully brought home to him. According to the
+testimony of eye-witnesses, he "did not sit, but stood with that
+personal oscillation which you witness in a man so situated as not well
+to know what to say or what to do."[244] When at last his reply came,
+it proved to be the briefest and most sensible of all his replies.
+"Gentlemen," said he, "I have no further observations to make to you on
+this subject." The deputation, struggling with suppressed laughter,
+withdrew.
+
+The Provincial Parliament was dissolved on the 28th of May, and as it
+was thought desirable to strike while the iron was hot, the elections
+were hurried on with unseemly haste. They began on the 20th of June, and
+all the returns were in during the first week in July. The issue was an
+exciting, but not a doubtful one, for the official party entered upon
+the contest with loaded dice and a determination to win. Numerous
+attempts have been made to explain and excuse their conduct during this
+eventful epoch; but it is impossible to blink the fact that the result
+was a foregone conclusion from the very moment of the issue of the
+writs. The whole weight of the Government was put forward to ensure the
+return of Tory candidates, and this was done in the most direct and
+shameless manner. The Lieutenant-Governor openly made himself a party to
+the contest. His replies to the various addresses which he had himself
+promoted were one and all set to the same tune.[245] The issue was
+presented in such a light that no inconsiderable part of the population
+were led to believe that the maintenance of British connection depended
+upon the result of the contest. Owing to the representations of
+Government emissaries, backed by the Tory press, and reinforced by the
+inflammatory speeches and addresses of the Lieutenant-Governor, it was
+widely believed that should the Reformers succeed there would be a
+speedy uprooting of cherished institutions, followed by separation from
+the mother country and ultimate annexation to the United States. The
+indiscreet language of Mackenzie and some other Radicals had been such
+as to lend colour to misrepresentations of this nature, and the spirit
+thereby aroused was decisive of the result. Not only professed Tories,
+but most of the moderate-minded of the population, rallied to the side
+of the Lieutenant-Governor, to uphold British connection, and to oppose
+the encroachment of republican and revolutionary ideas. Loyalty was
+rampant, and patriotic fervour was aroused to a height which it had not
+reached in Upper Canada since the War of 1812. "Down with democracy!"
+"Down with republicanism!" "Hurrah for Sir Francis Head and British
+connection!" Such were the legends inscribed on the dead-walls in the
+principal towns of the Province.[246] Tory votes were manufactured by
+wholesale, and Tory funds were squandered with reckless profusion. For
+the first time in the history of Upper Canada, Government agents were
+sent down to the polling-places armed with patents for land, to be
+distributed among the electors. It is open to doubt whether some of
+these were not conferred upon persons who had no title to them.[247]
+Reform votes were rejected by partisan returning-officers upon the most
+frivolous pretexts. Gangs of ruffians were stationed at the polls to
+intimidate those who ventured near to record their votes in favour of
+anti-Government candidates. In at least one instance, the
+Lieutenant-Governor presented himself in person at the polling-place
+while the contest was at its height, and remained there for some time on
+horseback, in close proximity to the spot where votes were
+recorded.[248] As for the Reformers, they were soon aroused from their
+dreams of confidence. But their rude awakening, early as it was, came
+all too late. They perceived that the seed had been well sown, and that
+the crop would have to be reaped. They found themselves looked upon with
+suspicion and dislike among their neighbours and others from whom they
+had been accustomed to receive confidence and respect. They needed all
+the courage of their opinions to support them against the obloquy which
+official slander had aroused. The courageous among them faced the polls
+in the spirit of a forlorn hope. The more timid quietly remained at home
+and refrained from voting, rather than subject themselves to certain
+insult and probable physical violence.
+
+It may perhaps be urged, in reply to some of the foregoing allegations,
+that a Committee of the Assembly subsequently inquired into the various
+matters complained of, and that their report acquitted the Governor of
+all culpability. But anyone who is familiar with the proceedings of
+election committees in those days, and even in times much more recent,
+will not need to be informed how much--or how little--weight should be
+attached to a verdict from such a source. In the case under
+consideration, the proceedings were conducted with exceptional disregard
+to propriety, and the verdict of acquittal cannot be considered as of
+any value whatever. Only one member of the Committee heard the whole of
+the evidence upon which the report was based. Three of the members
+declared that the report was adopted without their knowledge or consent.
+Of the other five members who prepared the document, one attended only
+two meetings out of fourteen; while another attended four, and another
+five. A fourth member attended twelve meetings, and one only of the five
+attended all the fourteen. The inquiry was from first to last conducted
+in a spirit of partisanship, and the report, in the language of Dr.
+Rolph, was "the offspring of untempered zeal, insufficient evidence,
+hasty conclusions, and executive devotion."[249] As a general rule, it
+is a difficult matter to convict a Government of actual, direct
+interference with the freedom of election. But in the case of the
+general election of 1836, there is unfortunately no room for doubt. That
+patents were issued in great numbers by the Commissioner of Crown Lands,
+and despatched by the hands of trusted agents of the Government to the
+polling-places, to be used by the voters, is as well established as is
+the fact of the election itself. Nay, the fact is admitted by Sir
+Francis Head in the supplemental chapter to his "Narrative," as well as
+by the Committee appointed by the Assembly to investigate the matter,
+and the attempts to explain it away are of the weakest kind. The number
+of patents issued was so great as to require a special staff of extra
+clerks to get them ready by the time they were wanted. In some cases the
+patents covered only a quarter of an acre of wild, uncultivated land,
+upon which no buildings had been erected. Many of them were issued
+between the date of the dissolution of Parliament and the close of the
+election a month later,[250] and in some instances they were issued
+after the actual opening of the poll. They were distributed openly at
+the places where the elections were held, to persons who had not applied
+for them, and who, at least in some instances, received them without
+paying the usual fees, merely that they might thereby be enabled to
+vote. Whether the issue of the patents affected the result of the
+election in any single instance is altogether beside the question. It
+would be absurd to pretend, in the face of such tactics as these, that
+there was any real freedom of choice offered to the people in the matter
+of Parliamentary representation. Freedom of election was paralyzed.
+Reform voters were literally overwhelmed, and their franchise rendered
+of no avail. All this was done with the cognizance and assent of the
+Lieutenant-Governor, who thereby wilfully violated the instructions
+which he had received from the Home Office.[251]
+
+The result of an election contest conducted on these lines was such as
+to fully realize the expectations of Sir Francis and his advisers. Not
+only were all the old Tory members returned--and this, in several cases,
+without any opposition--but a number of new adherents of that side found
+seats. Hagerman was returned for Kingston by acclamation, McLean was
+returned for Stormont, George S. Jarvis for the Town of Cornwall, Jonas
+Jones and Ogle B. Gowan for Leeds, A. N. MacNab for Wentworth, W. B.
+Robinson for Simcoe, Mahlon Burwell for the Town of London, Henry
+Sherwood for Brockville, and William Henry Draper for Toronto. The
+last-named gentleman, known to later times as Chief Justice Draper, now
+entered public life for the first time. He was a very decided
+acquisition to the ranks of Upper Canadian Toryism, and was destined to
+exert a wide and far-reaching influence upon successive representatives
+of the Crown in this colony. But the triumphs of the official party were
+not confined to mere numerical successes. They wrested some important
+constituencies from the hands of their opponents. The Reformers were not
+only left in an insignificant minority, but nearly all their ablest
+members were defeated in what had long been regarded as safe Reform
+constituencies. Bidwell and Perry suffered defeat in Lennox and
+Addington; Lount underwent a similar fate in Simcoe; and Mackenzie was
+signally worsted in the Second Riding of York by a man of no political
+standing. Gibson, Morrison and Mackintosh gained their respective
+elections in the other three Ridings of York, but none of them possessed
+much Parliamentary ability, or was to be depended upon in any great
+emergency. The one significant gain to the Reform party arose out of the
+election of Dr. Rolph. The Doctor, after having allowed himself to be
+talked into accepting a seat in the Executive Council whose resignation
+had been the beginning of the contest between the Reformers and the
+Lieutenant-Governor, had not felt himself at liberty to reject the
+overtures of his friends. He had been put in nomination for the County
+of Norfolk, and his candidature had been successful. He was a host in
+himself, and his return was the one streak of bright light which
+appeared in the Reform horizon at the close of the campaign.
+
+Perhaps the most unsatisfactory feature about the whole unsatisfactory
+business, from the Reform point of view, was that the ignominous
+discomfiture of the Reformers had been brought about by defections from
+their own ranks. Moderate-minded Reformers had come to think, with the
+Conservatives, that even Family Compact domination was preferable to the
+ascendency of such men as Mackenzie. The publication of the baneful
+domination letter, followed, as it had been, by Tory misrepresentation,
+had led thousands of persons to believe that the Radicals secretly
+favoured the separation of the colony from Great Britain. The Wesleyan
+Methodists, a numerous body, were doubly impelled to oppose Mackenzie
+and all who favoured his cause. The quarrel between Mackenzie and the
+Rev. Egerton Ryerson has already been referred to.[252] Mr. Ryerson was
+in those days one of the most prominent figures in Upper Canadian
+Methodism, and in conjunction with his brothers, exerted a predominant
+influence among the members of that body. At the time of the general
+election of 1836 he was absent from the Province on a mission to
+England, whither he had gone to obtain a charter for the Upper Canada
+Academy, and to solicit subscriptions for the establishment and
+maintenance of that institution, which subsequently developed into the
+University of Victoria College. But the reverend gentleman's arm was
+far-reaching, and stretched across the broad expanse of the Atlantic. In
+common with a large and respectable portion of the Upper Canadian
+population, he cherished a feeling of personal contempt for Mackenzie,
+whose character he thoroughly despised, and whose projects he regarded
+as prejudicial to the welfare of the colony. The publication of the
+baneful domination letter had convinced him that rebellion and
+separation were among the cherished schemes of the Radicals. To all such
+schemes he was prepared to oppose his firmest resistance, for his
+loyalty was of the perfervid order, and his dislike of Mackenzie
+probably imparted additional zeal to his opposition. As has been seen,
+Mackenzie, with the aid of Hume, Roebuck and other British statesmen,
+had succeeded in creating in the minds of the English public
+considerable sympathy for Canadian Reform. To counteract this influence
+Mr. Ryerson, under the signature of "A Canadian," contributed a series
+of letters to the London _Times_. They were vigorously written, and
+attracted much attention, not only in England but in Canada, where they
+were republished in the columns of the Tory newspapers, and where they
+were circulated in pamphlet form as a campaign document. Mr. Ryerson
+also wrote to leading members of the Methodist body in Canada, urging
+them to cast all their influence for Government candidates, and against
+the revolutionary policy of the Radicals. His appeals served their
+purpose, and the great bulk of the Wesleyan Methodists of Upper Canada,
+who had theretofore supported Reform members, went over to the side of
+the Government. In many constituencies--notably so in Lennox and
+Addington--they held the balance of power, and their secession from the
+Reform cause decided the fortunes of the candidates.[253] A few remained
+unaffected by Mr. Ryerson's lucubrations, and some even went so far as
+to denounce his conduct and reply to his arguments, but these were too
+few in number to affect the general result. Some of the successful
+candidates were compelled to pledge themselves in advance to the
+Methodists and other Nonconformists to take immediate steps for the
+settlement of the Clergy Reserves question, but the pledges were
+neglected or forgotten during the turbulent epoch which ensued.
+
+It will thus be seen that, as is clearly pointed out in the Report of
+Lord Durham,[254] the contest which had been commenced on the question
+of a responsible Executive Council had afterwards been adroitly turned
+by the official party, and had been decided on very different grounds.
+The question of a responsible Executive, as well as the question of the
+Clergy Reserves, had for the time sunk out of public notice. All other
+matters had given way to a resolve to return candidates who would "rally
+round the throne." The triumph of the Government went far beyond what
+several members of it had ventured to anticipate. On the 8th of July,
+Sir Francis was able to report to Lord Glenelg that "the
+Constitutionists"--by which name he designated the official party and
+all who supported them--had a majority of twenty-five,[255] whereas in
+the preceding Assembly they had been in a minority of eleven. In the
+same despatch he availed himself of the opportunity to malign Mr.
+Bidwell, whom he characterized as the "twin or Siamese companion of Mr.
+Speaker Papineau." He descanted upon the powerful reaction which had
+been brought about, and exultingly informed his Lordship that of the
+four candidates who had contested the constituency of Lennox and
+Addington Mr. Bidwell had polled the fewest votes.
+
+The Colonial Minister must have been sore puzzled to know what to make
+of this gushing and galloping Lieutenant-Governor, who was so evidently
+devoid of the peculiar qualifications supposed to be requisite for one
+in his station, and who framed his official despatches upon the model of
+a sensation novel. Here was a man who had been selected for an elevated
+and honourable post because be had been supposed to be an adept in the
+science of politics, but who, as it now turned out, was utterly
+unacquainted with the principles and practice of Government; who was
+ignorant of the proprieties and amenities of official intercourse; who,
+in what were intended for grave official despatches, indulged in
+extracts from French vaudevilles, and referred to certain methods of
+procedure as not being _according to Hoyle_! By all known theory and
+precedent, the accession to office of such a man ought to have been
+attended by immediate and ignominous failure. Yet, so far as could be
+judged, he had by no means failed. Nay, he actually appeared to have
+scored a marvellous success, and to have brought about what men of
+greater ability and wider experience had been utterly unable to
+accomplish. Such a success was an inscrutable mystery to the official
+mind, and Lord Glenelg, after the first few weeks, appears to have
+abandoned all attempts to penetrate it. The entire demeanour of this
+unconventional Lieutenant-Governor was incomprehensible. He had
+expressed his total dissent from the policy of the Commissioners of
+Inquiry in Lower Canada, who had reported in favour of a responsible
+Executive.[256] He had even gone so far as to tender his resignation in
+consequence of his inability to concur in the liberal measures of Reform
+advocated by the Commissioners.[257] But the Home Government had by no
+means been disposed to accept his resignation just at that time. They
+had no available person to put in his place, and it had been thought
+desirable that he should be permitted to try his hand a little longer.
+And now this news as to the result of the elections seemed to fully
+justify their determination to retain him in office. If he had really
+inaugurated a new and improved order of things in Upper Canada, it was
+only fair that he should enjoy the prestige of his success.
+
+But the ill effects of Sir Francis's superficial and disastrous policy
+were already beginning to be apparent to those whose eyes were keen
+enough to look below the surface of things. The Reformers felt that they
+had been out-manoeuvred. That they could have borne, for they had
+often been compelled to bear a similar infliction in past times. But
+they considered that they had been cheated out of their rights by one
+whose especial duty it was to watch over and preserve those rights
+inviolate. They had endured much at the hands of a Gore, a Maitland and
+a Colborne. But Gore, Maitland and Colborne had not presented themselves
+before them in the garb of tried Reformers. They had been the Tory
+emissaries of Tory superiors beyond sea, whose instructions they had
+generally carried out. All this had been changed; but the change, so
+far as Upper Canada was concerned, had been for the worse. The Reformers
+of the Province felt that the man who had been placed at the helm of
+State--the man who had been sent over by an ostensibly Liberal
+Government to redress the accumulated wrongs of the past--was in some
+respects far more dangerous than any of his predecessors had been.
+Carlyle had not then delivered his celebrated discourse on fools, but
+the idea that a fool may sometimes be far more dread-inspiring than a
+wise man is sufficiently obvious, and had presented itself in vivid
+shape before the minds of a good many of the Reformers of Upper Canada.
+They had by this time come to know something of Sir Francis Head. They
+had brought themselves to regard him as not only a fool, but a fool
+devoid of right feeling or principle; a fool who would stop at no
+injustice or iniquity the perpetration whereof would conduce, in however
+small a degree, to his own glorification. He evidently regarded his
+personal interference in the elections as a thing upon which he ought to
+plume himself. Such a state of things was not to be borne. It was clear
+that life, for Canadian Reformers, would very soon be not worth living.
+They despaired of the future, which, to their depressed vision, seemed
+to be overhung by a sky of unrelieved blackness. Their despair was
+accompanied by a smarting sense of defeat and injustice proportionate to
+the circumstances. Such feelings were not confined to defeated
+candidates and their immediate friends, but were participated in by
+Reformers generally. Some of them began to weigh the advantages and
+disadvantages of removal from the Province. Others, after the first
+effervescence of disappointment had expended itself, determined to
+endure in patience and to hope for the best. A comparatively small
+number, yielding to the influence of mingled despair and exasperation,
+began to contemplate armed resistance to authority as among the
+possibilities of the near future. Constitutional resistance, they
+thought, had had a fair trial. Might it not be worth while to try a more
+drastic remedy?
+
+Conspicuous among the personages who were strongly influenced by such
+thoughts as those last indicated was William Lyon Mackenzie, who, as
+previously mentioned, had lost his election in the Second Riding of
+York. It might have been supposed that if any constituency in the
+Province was beyond the reach of Tory influence, the Second Riding was
+entitled to that distinction. It was notoriously the most Radical
+constituency in the colony. It had stood loyally by Mackenzie all
+through the troubled epoch of the successive expulsions. Yet it had now
+thrown him overboard on behalf of a political nobody. The explanation is
+to be found in the fact that the Riding had been the scene of some of
+the moat scandalous abuses committed during the campaign. The Tories had
+resolved that Mackenzie should be defeated at any cost, and had resorted
+to the most reprehensible means to secure that end. To elect a professed
+Tory would have been an impossibility, so the person fixed upon to
+oppose him was one whom the author of "Middlemarch" might have had in
+her eye when she described Sir James Chettam as "a man of acquiescent
+temper, miscellaneous opinions and uncertain vote."[258] His name was
+Edward William Thomson, and he professed to be a moderate Reformer. His
+moderation was acceptable to a considerable proportion of the electors,
+many of whom were tired of Mackenzie. The official party, however, did
+not choose to rely upon legitimate means for defeating the Radical
+candidate. Money was spent freely, and brawny bullies were hired for
+purposes of intimidation. Good votes were rejected on one side, and bad
+ones accepted on the other. Patents were sent down to the polling place,
+certain recipients whereof voted for Thomson. Sheriff Jarvis attended,
+and by his language and demeanour did what he could to discourage
+Mackenzie's supporters. Not a stone was left unturned to effect the
+desired object. Such means as Mackenzie had at his command were
+altogether insufficient to counteract the devices employed against him.
+He was beaten, and by a majority of a hundred votes.
+
+This result took Mackenzie completely by surprise. It came upon him in
+the form of a revelation. He had not permitted himself to entertain any
+doubt of his success, and the conviction that he had lost his
+popularity cut him to his inmost soul. He retired to the house of one of
+his supporters in the neighbourhood, where he completely broke down, and
+wept with a bitterness which evoked the active sympathy of those
+present. But this mood did not last. It was succeeded by a sullenness
+and stolidity such as had never before been observed in him. He knew
+that he had been beaten unfairly, and resolved to petition against the
+election. Meanwhile his rage against the party which had been concerned
+in his defeat was ungovernable, and must have vent. He resolved that he
+must again have control of a newspaper. He accordingly established _The
+Constitution_, a weekly paper, the first number of which made its
+appearance in Toronto on the sixtieth anniversary of the Declaration of
+Independence of the United States--namely, the 4th of July, 1836. Its
+tone was such as might have been anticipated from the mood of its
+editor. It was more outspoken than the _Advocate_ had ever been under
+his management, and might from the first have been styled a
+revolutionary organ. In its columns every phase of discontent found
+utterance, and some of its editorial articles were marked by a spirit of
+bitterness and implacability such as had not commonly been supposed to
+belong to Mackenzie's nature. Means would doubtless have been taken for
+its suppression, had not the Government felt that they had achieved a
+signal triumph, and that they could afford to ignore its attacks.
+
+Many others of the Radicals felt little less rancour towards the
+Government party than did Mackenzie. Indeed, the conduct of the party in
+power had been such as to make temporary Radicals of not a few persons
+who had theretofore been known as moderate Reformers. It may be said
+indeed that nearly all the moderates had either made common cause with
+the Government party for fear of the Radicals, or had coalesced with the
+Radicals from a sense of official tyranny and injustice. Public meetings
+were held, at which the Lieutenant-Governor and his myrmidons were
+subjected to the most vehement denunciations. At a meeting of the
+Constitutional Reform Society Dr. Baldwin, George Ridout, James E. Small
+and others referred to his Excellency's conduct in terms which public
+audiences had never before heard from their lips. An official address
+issued by the Society on the subject of the resignation of the
+Executive Councillors also contained some severe but well-merited
+strictures. The Lieutenant-Governor marked his condemnation of the
+language employed by promptly dismissing the three gentlemen above named
+from certain offices which they held.[259] As will hereafter be seen,
+this proceeding eventually led to serious complications between the Home
+Office and Sir Francis. Meantime, the latter was permitted to have his
+own way, but not without stubborn attempts at resistance on the part of
+some of his opponents. A number of the most pronounced Radicals resolved
+to make a strong representation of election and other abuses to the
+British House of Commons, and to that end sent Dr. Charles Duncombe to
+England. Dr. Duncombe had been re-elected for Oxford, but had had to
+contend against similar influences to those which had been employed in
+other constituencies, and was thus able to speak of the partisan conduct
+of the Lieutenant-Governor's emissaries from personal observation. He
+prepared a statement of the case against Sir Francis, which was laid
+before the House of Commons by Mr. Hume. The Colonial Secretary
+despatched a copy of it to Sir Francis for explanations. It is unlikely
+that Dr. Duncombe's mission would have been a successful one under any
+circumstances, but he made the mistake of protesting too much. The
+greater part of the indictment could easily have been substantiated
+before any impartial tribunal, but it also contained charges which,
+whether true or not, the prosecutor was unable to prove. As mentioned on
+a former page[260], the matter was referred to a Committee of the
+Provincial Assembly, by whom the Lieutenant-Governor was completely
+exonerated. A further reference to the matter will be made in connection
+with the proceedings of the following session.
+
+The Lieutenant-Governor was meanwhile engaged in a voluminous
+correspondence with the Colonial Secretary. The subjects dealt with
+therein were many and various. Perhaps the most important of all was
+the Lower Canadian Commission of Inquiry. The Commissioners had made a
+report in which they had recommended the concession of Responsible
+Government, and other much-needed Reforms. As previously mentioned, Sir
+Francis had no sympathy with these views, and distinctly repudiated the
+policy thus recommended. The idea of a responsible Executive was utterly
+repugnant to him. He erelong perceived that the Imperial Government
+would sooner or later yield to the imperative demand made on behalf of
+the different British North American colonies, but he determined to
+fight against it as long as opposition was possible, and his despatches
+teem with what he doubtless regarded as arguments on the negative side.
+He predicted the most serious results if the policy of the Commissioners
+was adopted. The language of the Ninety-two resolutions of the Lower
+Canada Assembly he pronounced to be not only insulting to the British
+Government, but traitorous. He proposed various measures for
+establishing the power of the Crown in the Canadas on a firm basis.
+Among these were the repeal of the Act surrendering the revenue, the
+annexation of the District of Gaspe to the Province of New Brunswick,
+and the annexation of Montreal to Upper Canada. It may safely be assumed
+that these ideas were not his own, and nobody who has read "Canada and
+the Canada Bill,"[261] published several years later, will entertain
+much doubt as to the individual from whom he derived his inspiration.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[236] Sir Francis afterwards denied that this challenge was addressed to
+the Americans. See his despatch to Lord Glenelg dated 6th November,
+1836, embodied in his _Narrative_, chap, vi. But it is quite evident
+that the denial, as well as the construction there sought to be put upon
+his language, was an after-thought. If, as he there asserts, "the
+Americans had no more to do with the subject than the Chinese," there
+was no appropriate significance whatever in his doughty defiance.
+
+[237] See despatch of May 28th.
+
+[238] See despatch of 21st April.
+
+[239] _Ib._
+
+[240] _Ib._
+
+[241] Despatch of May 28th.
+
+[242] Of April 28th.
+
+[243] _Ante_, p. 281.
+
+[244] See Dr. Rolph's _Speech to the House in Committee on the Report of
+the Select Committee on the Petition of Dr. Charles Duncombe to the
+British House of Commons_, delivered on Monday, January 30th, 1837.
+
+[245] It was afterwards urged by Sir Francis that his replies to
+addresses were made before, and not during the election. The plea will
+not bear a moment's examination. The mischief was done by the
+inflammatory and menacing tone of the replies, and the mere question of
+the time of their delivery in of no importance whatever. An English
+writer thus effectually disposes of this attempted defence: "Surely he
+[Sir F. B. Head] must have some glimmering perception that this is not a
+question of time, and that, if promises or threats are addressed to the
+electoral body with regard to their exercise of the electoral franchise,
+it is a matter of no importance whether this is done before or at the
+time of the election. Illogical as he has proved himself, we cannot
+suppose him to be so utterly destitute of the reasoning faculty as a
+sincerity in this defence would imply; and we must therefore believe
+that he knows the charge to be well founded, and has recourse to this
+shuffling evasion in pure despair."--See _London and Westminster
+Review_, vol. xxxii., No. 2, article vi.
+
+[246] During the contest people on the hustings actually demanded of the
+candidates: "Do you vote for the House of Assembly or for Sir Francis
+Head?"--a question which, as Sir Francis himself remarks, amounted in
+plain terms to this: "Are you for a republican government, or are you
+not?"--See _Memorandum on the Present Political State of the Canadas_,
+in _Narrative_, chap. vi.
+
+[247] Lord Durham, reasoning from such evidence as he had before him,
+proceeds upon the assumption that no patents were issued except to
+persons entitled to the land. But, as his Lordship admits, the granting
+of patents at all under such circumstances was an act of official
+favouritism which no Lieutenant-Governor with a proper sense of his duty
+would have permitted. See _Report_, U.C. folio edition, p. 51.
+
+[248] This was at Streetsville, while the contest for the Second Riding
+of York was in progress between William Lyon Mackenzie and Edward
+William Thomson.
+
+[249] See his speech in the Assembly on January 30th, 1837.
+
+[250] From official returns it appears that 1,478 patents passed the
+Great Seal between the 20th of April (the date of the prorogation) and
+the close of the contest in June. Of this number 1,245 were issued in
+pursuance of Orders in Council made prior to Sir Francis Head's arrival
+in the Province. Between his arrival and the close of the election 233
+were issued, whereof only 150 were issued under Order in Council on his
+authority. But that the entire 1,478 were passed under Sir Francis's
+regime within a very brief period; that a special staff of clerks was
+employed for the purpose; that for the first time in the history of the
+Province these patents were distributed at the polling-booths by
+Government agents who were strong adherents of the official party, and
+who were moreover dependent upon the Government for their
+situations--these are circumstances which admit of but one brief
+explanation. The only one of these agents whom the Committee of Inquiry
+ventured to summon before them was Mr. Welsley Richey, of Barrie, who,
+on his examination, deposed that he mentioned to the Lieutenant-Governor
+that the persons who wanted their deeds were entitled to them, and that
+_he thought they would vote for Constitutional candidates_; that Sir F.
+B. Head strictly commanded witness not in any manner to interfere as
+Government agent, or to use any influence which his situation gave him
+at the election; that out of a number not exceeding 130 patents which
+persons residing in the County of Simcoe were entitled to, and which
+were in witness's possession for them, only about thirty were called
+for, and only part of that thirty voted. This is mere petty evasion. As
+pointed out in the text, the extent to which such tactics as these
+affected the result is not the chief question to be decided. The mere
+fact that they were employed is sufficient to settle the question of
+culpability. Richey was directed not to interfere with the elections as
+_Government agent_. How was it possible for an official known to be
+connected with the Government to divest himself of the influence
+inseparable from such a connection, more especially when his strong
+political bias was well known, and when he presented himself at the poll
+as a distributor of deeds among the voters? The mere fact of a
+conference on such a subject between the head of the Government and a
+subordinate is in itself a suspicious circumstance.
+
+[251] In Lord Goderich's despatch to Sir John Colborne, dated 8th
+November, 1832, referred to _ante_, p. 246, the following language is
+employed: "His Majesty expects and requires of you neither to practise,
+nor to allow on the part of those who are officially subordinate to you,
+any interference with the rights of his subjects to the free and
+unbiased choice of their representatives;" and, as previously
+mentioned, Lord Glenelg had expressly instructed Sir Francis Head to
+adopt that despatch as a rule for the guidance of his conduct. See
+_ante_, p. 301.
+
+[252] _Ante_, p. 272.
+
+[253] Sir Francis Hincks, who, as previously mentioned in the text, then
+resided in Toronto, and was identified with the Reform party, has, in
+his _Reminiscences_, recorded his views on this subject, and as they are
+founded upon personal experience and recollection they are worth
+quoting. "Bearing in mind," he writes, "that there are exceptions to all
+general rules, I think that I am not wrong in my belief that the members
+of the Church of England and the Presbyterians generally voted for the
+Tory candidates, while the Roman Catholics and the Baptists,
+Congregationalists, etc., voted as uniformly for the Reformers. The
+Wesleyan Methodists held the balance of power in a great many
+constituencies, and I believe that it has been generally acknowledged
+that the elections in 1836 were carried against the Reformers by their
+votes." Again: "I believe that I am correct in asserting that Sir
+Francis Head carried the elections in 1836 against the Reformers mainly
+through the influence of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson, who, though
+absent from Canada at the time, had, by his published impressions,
+induced those who confided in him to abandon the Reform
+cause."--_Reminiscences_, etc., pp. 17, 18.
+
+[254] U.C. folio edition, p, 49.
+
+[255] The House contained in all only sixty-two members, so that a
+majority of twenty-five constituted what might be called absolute
+control. The actual majority was twenty-six, as there were but eighteen
+Reform representatives as against forty-four supporters of the
+Government.
+
+[256] See his despatch of 1st June.
+
+[257] _Ib._
+
+[258] This language aptly characterizes Mr. Thomson, for afterwards, in
+the Assembly, it was impossible to predict how he would vote on any
+conceivable question. His "Reform" principles must have been very
+"moderate," for he frequently supported the measures of the Compact. His
+votes seem to have been dictated by chance or caprice, rather than
+political conviction of any kind.
+
+[259] Dr. Baldwin was Judge of the Surrogate Court of the Home
+District. His dismissal was probably due quite as much to the fact
+that he was President of the Society as to his remarks about the
+Lieutenant-Governor, or to the official address. Mr. Ridout was Judge of
+the Niagara District Court, Justice of the Peace, and Colonel of the
+Second Regiment of East York Militia. He was dismissed from all three
+offices, although he was not a member of the Reform Society. Mr. Small
+was Commissioner of the Court of Requests in Toronto, and also
+Lieutenant-Colonel of the First East York Militia.
+
+[260] _Ante_, p. 330.
+
+[261] Written by Chief Justice Robinson, in opposition to the project
+for uniting the two Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+REACTION.
+
+
+The closing weeks of the summer and a part of the early autumn were
+spent by the Lieutenant-Governor in an informal tour through some of the
+most interesting and picturesque districts of the Province. A great part
+of the tour, which occupied in all about two months, was performed on
+horseback, and with only two attendants. A pleasantly-written account of
+some of the experiences encountered during this invigorating holiday may
+be found in "The Emigrant," a light, sketchy, and most readable little
+volume put forth by Sir Francis ten years afterwards. Soon after his
+return to the Seat of Government his self-complacency received a check
+in the form of a despatch from the Colonial Office, enclosing copies of
+instructions which had been sent to Sir Archibald Campbell,
+Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. It appeared that the strenuous
+exertions of the Reformers of that Province had been crowned with
+success. Sir Archibald had been directed to surrender to the Assembly
+the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown, and to concede a
+responsible Executive. This was not all. Sir Francis was himself
+distinctly informed that what had been conceded in one British North
+American Province could not be withheld from the rest. Scarcely had this
+piece of intelligence been chewed and digested ere he received another
+despatch which added to his discomfiture by confirming the previous one,
+and by seating the obnoxious doctrine at his very door. He was
+instructed that the Executive Councils in the various North American
+colonies were thenceforward to be composed of individuals possessing the
+confidence of the people. This, though not altogether unexpected, was
+almost past bearing. He saw the house of cards which he had constructed
+with such pains about to crumble before him. If this course were
+persisted in, all his efforts to pack a House of Assembly would erelong
+prove to have been made in vain; for no Assembly would permanently
+uphold a clique of Councillors in whose appointment they themselves had
+had no voice, and in whose principles they had no confidence. Sir
+Archibald Campbell and he were entirely of one mind as to the vexed
+question at issue, and they were both firmly determined to resist such a
+policy to the last ditch. Of Sir Archibald's proceedings it is
+unnecessary for this work to present any detailed account. It will be
+sufficient to say that he preferred to resign his office rather than
+obey the instructions he had received, and that he carried out this
+resolve during the following year, when he was succeeded by Sir John
+Harvey. Sir Francis Head meanwhile contented himself as best he could
+with vehement protests addressed to the Home Office. "The more seriously
+I contemplate the political tranquillity of this Province," he
+wrote,[262] "the more steadfastly am I confirmed in my opinion that cool,
+stern, decisive, un-conciliating measures form the most popular
+description of government that can be exercised towards the free and
+high-minded inhabitants of the Canadas." The style of his despatches did
+not improve with time. It was wordy, bombastic and slangy. The
+despatches themselves were largely made up of inflated, impertinent
+phraseology, and quotations from the light literature of the period.
+Lord Glenelg, however, had become accustomed to the unconventional
+methods of his protege, and was by no means disposed to judge him with
+severity. On the 8th of September he wrote to him to the effect that his
+"foresight, energy and moral courage" had been approved of by the King.
+"It is peculiarly gratifying to me," wrote his Lordship, "to be the
+channel of conveying to you this high and honourable testimony of His
+Majesty's favourable acceptance of your services." From all which it is
+sufficiently apparent that the real state of Upper Canadian affairs was
+not much more clearly understood by the Colonial Office than by Sir
+Francis Head.
+
+The new Parliament was assembled on the 8th of November. Archibald
+McLean, of Stormont, was elected Speaker by a majority of fifteen, the
+vote standing thirty-six to twenty-one. This vote did not by any means
+indicate the full strength of the Government, which was simply
+irresistible. The power of the Compact was not only completely restored,
+but increased. Never had its ascendency been so great. It was absolute,
+overwhelming; and any opposition to it was a bootless kicking against
+the pricks. In the Speech from the Throne his Excellency congratulated
+the Houses on the loyal feeling pervading the Province, and on the
+stillness and serenity of the public mind. He drew attention to "the
+conspicuous tranquillity of the country," and briefly referred to the
+legislation contemplated by the Government, which, as thus indicated,
+was of an exceedingly practical character. The Speech concluded with a
+declaration of his Excellency's intention "to maintain the happy
+constitution of this Province inviolate." If the Speech, as a whole,
+contained a faithful reflex of the official mind, it indicated that the
+Government greatly misjudged the state of opinion in the country. True,
+there was little conspicuous agitation, for the Reform party had
+sustained so signal a defeat that they for the time felt powerless. But
+they were feverishly sensible of the crushing blow that had been dealt
+them, and reeled from it in a spirit which was far removed from
+"serenity." Scores of them despaired of the future, sold out their
+belongings, and removed to the United States. During the months of
+September and October there had been a considerable emigration of
+farmers from the western part of the Province to Michigan. Such was the
+"tranquillity" upon which Sir Francis plumed himself, and upon which he
+continued to dilate at recurring intervals until he was roused from his
+slumbers by the intelligence that "the rebels" were at Montgomery's.
+
+The Legislature at once proceeded to pass a Bill to provide for the
+support of the Civil Government for the current year, a circumstance of
+which the Lieutenant-Governor hastened to apprise Lord Glenelg. Various
+matters of importance occupied the attention of Parliament during the
+session. Among other questions which came up for discussion was the
+long-standing grievance of the Clergy Reserves. On Thursday, the 8th of
+December, a Bill was introduced into the Assembly by Hiram Norton,
+member for Grenville, having for its object the disposal of the Reserves
+for purposes of general education. It passed the second reading on the
+13th of the same month, whereupon the House, in Committee of the Whole,
+after several days consideration and discussion, reported a resolution
+in favour of appropriating the Clergy Reserves lands and the proceeds
+arising from the sales thereof to the religious and moral instruction of
+the people. This gave rise to a motion of amendment by Dr. Rolph, "That
+it is expedient to provide for the sale of the Clergy Reserves, and the
+application of the proceeds to the purposes of general education, as one
+of the most legitimate ways of giving free scope to the progress of
+religious truth in the community." In support of this amendment the
+Doctor made what was unquestionably the most noteworthy speech of his
+life--a speech which a well-known writer[263] has pronounced to be
+without a parallel in the annals of Canadian Parliamentary debate. Its
+copiousness and felicity of illustration, its fluent and harmonious
+elegance of diction, could not have failed to stamp it as a great effort
+if it had been delivered before any audience in the world. No higher
+praise can be awarded to it than to record the simple fact that it added
+to the Doctor's already high reputation as an orator, and that it evoked
+the admiration of many persons who could not subscribe to the doctrines
+and arguments it contained. But no oratory and no arguments would have
+availed with that House. The amendment was lost, and on Friday, the
+16th, the original resolution was carried by a vote of thirty-five to
+twenty-one. The matter was then referred to the Upper House for its
+concurrence. As the measure fell through during the session, and
+ultimately came to nothing, it seems unnecessary to follow its fortunes
+any farther.
+
+[Sidenote: 1837.]
+
+Dr. Rolph made another powerful speech during the session; a speech
+which would of itself have entitled him to a high place as a
+Parliamentary orator, and which was inferior in vigour only to the one
+on the Clergy Reserves. It arose out of Dr. Duncombe's charges against
+the Lieutenant-Governor. Having received from the Colonial Secretary a
+copy of the complaint which had been submitted to the House of Commons,
+his Excellency, who was of course able to rely implicitly upon the
+Assembly as then constituted, handed it over to that body to be dealt
+with. The result fully justified his confidence. A partisan Committee
+was appointed, by whom the question was approached in a spirit very far
+removed from judicial fairness. How the inquiry was conducted has
+already been recorded.[264] Dr. Duncombe had made certain charges, some
+of which were easily susceptible of positive proof, while others were
+from their nature of a kind which admitted of nothing stronger than
+indirect evidence. With regard to one or two damnatory charges, he
+implicitly believed them to be true, but he failed to secure any
+substantial proof whatever. He presented himself once before the
+Committee, only to find, as he had expected, that he must not look to
+obtain a fair or patient hearing. Under these circumstances he felt that
+nothing was to be gained by any further attempt to establish the truth
+of his allegations, and permitted the case to go by default. The
+Committee accordingly proceeded to take evidence on their own
+responsibility. The verdict arrived at was such as might easily have
+been foreseen. Every charge and insinuation made against his Excellency
+was declared to be "wholly and utterly destitute of truth." Not only was
+his conduct vindicated in this comprehensive manner, but he was referred
+to as one to whom the Province owed a large debt of gratitude. In due
+course the report came before the Assembly on a motion for its adoption.
+The proceeding had from the first been of the nature of a practical
+impeachment of the Lieutenant-Governor, a matter which was really beyond
+the jurisdiction of any Canadian tribunal. It afforded to Dr. Rolph an
+opportunity for addressing the House at considerable length, and in a
+speech which, as remarked by Mr. Mackenzie's biographer, "will ever be
+memorable in Canadian history."[265] It was delivered on the 30th of
+January, 1837. It dealt in most trenchant fashion with the various
+abuses which had been practised during the elections. The serio-comic
+tone which pervaded a great part of it evoked roars of laughter, while
+its more earnest passages aroused the most conflicting feelings in the
+minds of the auditors. True oratory is never altogether fruitless, and
+it would seem as if this powerful speech must have given the spur to
+feelings which, sooner or later, were bound to produce specific results.
+So far, however, as any immediate effects upon the action of the House
+were concerned, it might as well have remained unuttered. The report was
+adopted by a vote of more than two-thirds of the members present, and
+the Lieutenant-Governor stood officially exonerated from blame.
+
+Among other matters presented for the consideration of the Assembly was
+a petition from Mr. Mackenzie. Ever since the election, he had publicly
+announced his determination to petition against the return in the Second
+Riding of York. He was prevented by illness from filing his memorial
+within the prescribed period, and an extension of time was obtained on
+his behalf. He got together a great mass of evidence, some portions of
+which the Government would certainly have found it hard to answer to the
+public satisfaction. He was jubilant, and openly boasted that he would
+expose such a mass of corruption as would make the country stare aghast.
+He was however so intent on collecting evidence and on discounting his
+contemplated triumph over his enemies that he failed to enter into the
+necessary recognizance until the allotted period for doing so had
+elapsed. The statute governing the case required that the petitioner
+should enter into recognizance within fourteen days from the
+presentation of the petition. In this case the petition was presented on
+the 20th of December, 1836, so that the fourteen days expired on the 3rd
+of January, 1837. "If at the expiration of the said fourteen days"--so
+ran the statute--"such recognizance shall not have been entered into,
+the Speaker shall report the same to the House, and the order for
+taking such petition into consideration shall thereupon be discharged;
+unless, upon matter specially stated and verified to the satisfaction of
+the House, the House shall see cause to enlarge the time for entering
+into such recognizance." Accordingly, on the opening of the House on
+Wednesday, the 4th of January, Mr. Speaker McLean announced that the
+time limited for W. L. Mackenzie, the petitioning candidate for the
+representation of the Second Riding of York, to proceed upon his
+petition, had expired. Mr. Boulton, one of the members for Durham, then
+moved that the further consideration of the petition be discharged. Dr.
+Morrison sought to obtain additional time for the furnishing of the
+statutory recognizance, but the House was under no obligation to grant
+any indulgence, and after a long debate declined to do so. Mr. Boulton's
+motion was carried; whereupon Dr. Morrison moved that Mr. Mackenzie have
+leave to present a new petition. The House negatived this motion, and
+Mr. Thomson was confirmed in his seat. The matter was again brought
+before the notice of the House a few days afterwards by Dr. Morrison,
+who moved that Mr. Mackenzie be allowed further time to enter into the
+requisite security. The motion was made in order to give Dr. Rolph--who
+had not been present during the former discussion--an opportunity of
+speaking on the subject. The member for Norfolk delivered himself of a
+vigorous and subtle argument, in the course of which he reviewed the
+English practice, as well as the practice which had generally prevailed
+in similar cases in Upper Canada. The fourteen days, he argued, should
+be computed from the time when the petition was read to the House, not
+from the date when it was handed in. The presentation referred to in the
+statute, he alleged, was not complete until the reading of the petition,
+which could not take place until it had lain on the table two days.
+Still further, the petitioner's delay had been in part due to the Clerk
+of the House, who had led Mr. Mackenzie to believe that the fourteen
+days would not begin to run against him until two days after the
+delivery of the petition. The argument throughout was plausible and
+powerful, but it shared the fate of many other powerful appeals in those
+days. The motion was lost. There seems to have been a strong
+determination on the part of the Government to burke the investigation.
+This was suggestive of a fear of the result, and was so regarded by
+many wholly disinterested persons. Some of the charges were of the
+gravest nature, and, if the Government had felt that their skirts were
+clean, it is incomprehensible that they should not have availed
+themselves of such an opportunity of establishing the fact by official
+record. There seems but too good reason to believe that, if the inquiry
+had been proceeded with, Mackenzie would have made good his boast, and
+that a disgraceful exposure of Executive corruption would have been
+made.
+
+One of the significant measures of the session was an Act to prevent the
+dissolution of the Provincial Parliament upon the demise of the Crown.
+The desire of the Executive for such an enactment arose in this manner.
+During the brief election campaign of the preceding summer the most
+tempting promises had been made to the electors on behalf of the
+Government. This had been done with the full knowledge and consent--nay,
+probably at the instigation--of the members of the Government
+themselves. The fulfilment of some of the promises would have been
+feasible enough. Others had been as absurdly impossible of fulfilment as
+were Jack Cade's pledges that seven halfpenny loaves should be sold for
+a penny, and that the three-hooped pot should have ten hoops. The
+Government now realized that their performances were far from being
+commensurate with the promises so lavishly made. In the event of a new
+election taking place within the next few months it would be easy for
+the Reformers to make out a strong case, and it would be hard for the
+Government party to reply thereto with effect. It seemed not improbable
+that a new election might erelong become necessary, for King William the
+Fourth was more than three score and ten years old, and was known to be
+in a state of health which rendered it unlikely that he would live much
+longer. Now, his death, in the ordinary course of things, would bring
+about a dissolution and a general election, and this was the contingency
+against which it was thought desirable to guard. A measure was
+accordingly passed whereby it was enacted "That the Parliament of this
+Province shall not in any case be deemed to be determined or dissolved
+by the death or demise of His Majesty, his heirs or successors; nor
+shall any session of the Parliament of this Province be deemed to be
+determined, or the proceedings therein pending in any manner abated,
+interrupted or affected by the demise of His Majesty, his heirs or
+successors; but notwithstanding such death or demise the Parliament of
+this Province shall continue, and, if sitting, shall proceed to act
+until dissolved or prorogued in the usual manner, or until the legal
+expiration of the term of such Parliament." The Reformers fought this
+Bill inch by inch on its way through the Assembly, but in vain. Upon its
+coming up for its third reading, Norton, of Grenville, moved its
+recommittal, and, upon the defeat of his motion, he made a final effort
+by moving "That the Act shall not go into operation before the
+expiration of the present Parliament." This, too, was defeated, and the
+Bill was finally passed by a vote of twenty-six to eighteen. The measure
+is suggestive of the English Act passed by the Long Parliament during
+the reign of Charles the First, which enacted that Parliament should not
+be dissolved by the King without its own consent.
+
+There was a good deal of extravagant legislation during the session.
+Large sums were voted for the construction and improvement of Provincial
+highways, for surveys of the Ottawa River and the territory contiguous
+thereto, for the improvement of the navigation of the Trent and Grand
+Rivers, for the completion of the Welland Canal, and for the
+construction of various other canals, harbours, and lighthouses.
+Provision was also made for loans to several railway and other
+companies. Most, perhaps of all these, were enterprises deserving of aid
+and encouragement, but the aggregate sum of the moneys voted was nearly
+four millions of dollars, being considerably more than the condition of
+the Province and the circumstances of the people justified. This
+exceeding liberality was probably to some extent due to a wish to
+respond to the popular demand for the expenditure of money on public
+improvements. It was during this session that an Act was passed
+providing for the establishment of a Provincial Court of Chancery. Mr.
+Jameson was soon after appointed Vice Chancellor, the Chancellorship
+being vested in the Crown.
+
+The session terminated on Saturday, the 4th of March, and its
+termination was attended by a scene of "most admired disorder" in the
+Assembly. The project of uniting the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
+had occupied a certain amount of attention on the part of both Houses,
+and had been on the order of the day throughout the greater part of the
+session. When the final day of deliberation arrived, the Legislative
+Council sent down to the Lower House an Address embodying certain
+resolutions against the proposed union. The Address was accompanied by a
+request that the Assembly would concur therein, after which it was to be
+despatched to the King. It reached the hands of the Clerk of the Lower
+House about noon, and was at once submitted in the form of a motion of
+concurrence. This was not relished by the Reformers, who were strongly
+disposed in favour of an equitable union of the two Provinces, a step
+which, as they believed, would go far to adjust the balance of parties.
+A considerable number of the members had already left for their homes,
+and Dr. Rolph took advantage of this circumstance as a plea for
+postponing the further consideration of the matter until the next
+session. He moved an amendment to that effect, and said a few words in
+support of his motion. Dr. Morrison and Thomas Parke[266] took up the
+argument, and spoke for some minutes. They were subjected to frequent
+interruptions from the supporters of the Government, who were evidently
+anxious to prevent discussion. Dr. Rolph then rose to speak to the
+question of order, upon which the interruptions were renewed. Frequent
+appeals were made to the Speaker, who soon found himself involved in an
+animated discussion with Dr. Rolph. Nearly all the prominent members of
+the House erelong became participants, and the situation became
+critical. Hard words were freely bandied about, amid the greatest
+confusion and disorder. An eye-witness compares the scene to a wasp's
+nest disturbed.[267] The Speaker finally put a stop to the ebullitions
+of temper, and brought the scene to a close by announcing that the time
+had arrived for waiting on the Lieutenant-Governor with certain
+addresses. There was no opportunity of renewing the discussion, and at
+half-past three o'clock Black Rod summoned the House to the bar of the
+Legislative Council. In proroguing Parliament the Lieutenant-Governor
+referred in complacent terms to the legislation of the session, and
+applauded the harmony which had prevailed between the two branches of
+the Legislature.
+
+By this time it began to be apparent to discerning persons that Sir
+Francis's success as an Administrator had been rather apparent than
+real. All through the election campaign, as well as for some time before
+and after, the Tory party had sounded his praises with stentorian lungs.
+He had to a large extent been accepted by the country at their
+valuation. But sufficient time had now elapsed to enable the people to
+judge for themselves, and it was shrewdly suspected that the current
+estimate of him had been too high. He had triumphed at the elections,
+and had managed to pack the Assembly with an overwhelming majority of
+members pledged to support his policy; but he now began to discover that
+he had raised a spirit which he could not control. Neither the majority
+in the Assembly nor the members of the Legislative Council were prepared
+to slavishly accept his dictation, or to follow him blindfold
+whithersoever he might choose to lead them. Some of the official
+utterances of these bodies during the session had been as strongly
+assertive of their own dignity and independence as the deliverances of
+the former Assembly had ever been. Even the Executive Council had begun
+to exhibit an impatience of being indirectly dictated to by unsworn
+advisers who were permitted by the Lieutenant-Governor to usurp the
+functions peculiarly belonging to themselves. His Excellency's
+popularity was evidently waning throughout the land. There was a decided
+reaction against him, and thousands of Reformers who had voted for
+Government candidates at the election were now animated by a strong
+sentiment of opposition. The Lieutenant-Governor was also at issue with
+the Colonial Office on several matters of importance. To the
+recommendations of the Lower Canada Commissioners, as previously
+mentioned, he had strenuously opposed himself. He had failed to carry
+out the direction of Lord Glenelg to restore Mr. Ridout to the offices
+from which that gentleman had been dismissed. He now displayed further
+insubordination by neglecting to obey several minor injunctions received
+from headquarters, by which course of procedure he involved himself in
+much disputatious correspondence. His anxieties were increased by a
+commercial crisis which set in about this time in the United States.
+There had been an era of seeming prosperity but real inflation in that
+favoured land, of which the present crisis was the legitimate
+consequence. Specie payments were suspended, and business was all but
+paralyzed. This disheartening state of things was speedily reflected in
+Canada, which was ill qualified to bear such an infliction. The banks
+and the mercantile community generally became alarmed. In the Lower
+Province the banks suspended specie payments, and our own were much
+disposed to follow the example. The directors of some of our leading
+financial institutions applied to the Lieutenant-Governor for advice and
+direction. As all these matters, however, belong rather to the
+mercantile history of the country than to the story of the Rebellion,
+there is no need to go into them with minuteness. Suffice it to say that
+Sir Francis Head deemed it proper in this emergency to convene an extra
+session of the Legislature, which met accordingly on Monday, the 19th of
+June. As Mr. McLean had accepted a seat on the bench since the close of
+the preceding session, it was necessary that a new Speaker should be
+elected, and A. N. MacNab was chosen as his successor.[268] The session
+lasted only three weeks, and terminated on Tuesday, the 11th of July. It
+was purely a session of emergency, and the legislation was confined to
+relieving the banks from certain penalties which the crisis had
+threatened to impose upon them.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[262] See despatch of 30th December, 1836, in _Narrative_, chap. vii.
+
+[263] Mr. Charles Lindsey, in his pamphlet on "_The Clergy Reserves:
+their History and Present Position_;" appendix, p. i. He adds: "The
+clear, pointed, classical diction of the speaker; the learning and
+historical research he displayed; the beauty and appositeness of his
+illustrations; the breadth and depth and immovable basis of his
+arguments; the clearness, the syllogistic accuracy and force of his
+logic, and the impressive eloquence of his delivery produced an effect
+upon those who heard the speech never to be forgotten. Its publication
+in the newspapers of the day aroused the people. It convinced them (for,
+strange as it may seem now, there were many who needed to be convinced)
+of the unscriptural, immoral and unjust character of a State religion;
+while it confirmed them in their determination to rest not until they
+had exterminated the curse from Canadian soil.... This noble effort of
+an able, learned, bold and patriotic defender of the cause of the people
+against their corrupt, unscrupulous and then powerful enemies, ought to
+be printed in letters of gold, and preserved for the instruction and
+warning of all future generations of Canadian freemen." This was written
+in 1851, when the Clergy Reserves question yet remained unsettled, and
+while it still continued to agitate the public mind almost to the
+exclusion of other matters. Now that the subject has ceased to be a
+practical one, the encomiums so lavishly bestowed upon Dr. Rolph's
+famous speech will perhaps seem a little over-strained; but it was most
+unquestionably a great oratorical and intellectual effort, such as had
+never before been heard within the walls of the Provincial Legislature.
+Even at this distance of time, when all interest in the subject has died
+out, the speech cannot be read without arousing a feeling of admiration
+for the orator.
+
+[264] _Ante_, p. 330.
+
+[265] Lindsey's _Life of Mackenzie_, vol. i., p. 392.
+
+[266] Member for Middlesex.
+
+[267] See the report in the number of _The Correspondent and Advocate_
+for Wednesday, March 15th.
+
+[268] Forty-two members were present at the vote on the Speakership, all
+of whom voted for Mr. McNab with the exception of David Gibson, of the
+First Riding of York, who recorded his solitary vote in the negative.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE FORGING OF THE PIKES.
+
+
+It will be remembered that, during the summer of 1836, Dr. Baldwin,
+George Ridout and J. E. Small had been dismissed by Sir Francis Head
+from certain offices held by them at the pleasure of the Crown. Mr.
+Ridout had appealed to Lord Glenelg, to whom the Lieutenant-Governor had
+soon afterwards found himself called upon to defend his conduct. The
+only reason which had at first been assigned by his Excellency for Mr.
+Ridout's dismissal was that the latter was presumed to be a member of
+the Constitutional Reform Society. This society, just before the
+election, had issued and circulated a printed address wherein his
+Excellency was charged with a disregard of constitutional Government,
+and of candour and truth in his statements. Mr. Ridout had undoubtedly
+attended and spoken at some of the meetings of the society, but he was
+not a member of it, and had no difficulty in establishing the fact to
+the satisfaction of the Colonial Secretary, who, after mature
+consideration, conveyed to Sir Francis His Majesty's commands that Mr.
+Ridout should be reinstated in the various offices from which he had
+been removed. With this command, as mentioned towards the close of the
+last chapter, Sir Francis did not see fit to comply. Finding himself
+beaten upon the case as it stood, he proceeded to amend the record by
+alleging other matters against the accused. In this course he met with
+little encouragement from his Lordship, who patiently combated his
+untenable positions, and repeated the injunction that Mr. Ridout should
+be reinstated. While the matter was in abeyance, another difference of
+opinion arose between Lord Glenelg and Sir Francis. During the spring of
+1837, Mr. Jameson having been appointed Vice Chancellor, and Archibald
+McLean and Jonas Jonas having been appointed Judges of the Court of
+King's Bench, it became necessary for Sir Francis to submit these
+appointments to his Lordship, together with those of Mr. Hagerman and
+Mr. Draper respectively to the offices of Attorney-General and
+Solicitor-General. His Excellency seems to have felt that it was
+necessary to assign some reason for passing over Mr. Bidwell, whose
+legal acquirements were certainly superior to those of any other member
+of the Upper Canada bar since John Rolph had abandoned the long robe.
+"That gentleman's legal acquirements," wrote Sir Francis,[269] "are, I
+consider, superior to at least one of the individuals whom I have
+elevated. His moral character is irreproachable. But, anxious as I am to
+give to talent its due, yet I cannot but feel that the welfare and
+honour of this Province depend on His Majesty never promoting a disloyal
+man." His Excellency then went on to represent Mr. Bidwell as having
+been desirous of effecting the separation of the colony from the parent
+state, and of exchanging the British constitution for "the low,
+grovelling principles of democracy." There was no allegation that any
+such desire had ever been personally expressed or manifested by Mr.
+Bidwell, but it was inferred _from the conduct of his associates_. This
+was somewhat more than the Colonial Secretary could quietly pass over.
+He pointed out[270] to the Lieutenant-Governor that the disloyalty
+imputed to Mr. Bidwell's associates had not been charged against
+himself, or attempted to be proved by any act of his; that he had
+withdrawn himself from political strife; and that as his professional
+abilities and high moral character were respected by his political
+opponents, the political stand formerly taken by him ought not to
+operate against his advancement. It was further urged by his Lordship
+that the elevation of such a man to the bench would convince the Upper
+Canadian public of the impartiality of the Executive in such matters.
+Finally, his Excellency was informed that should another vacancy occur
+among the Judges of the Court of King's Bench, it was the wish of His
+Majesty's Government that the situation should be offered to Mr.
+Bidwell.
+
+Upon receipt of the missive containing this intimation the Tried
+Reformer was almost beside himself. He had none of that magnanimity
+which impels a man to admit that he is in the wrong when he has been
+clearly proved to be so. Nor could he boast of that skill of graceful
+concession which enables its possessor to recede without discredit from
+an untenable position. He replied to his Lordship[271] in the following
+blunt and explicit terms: "After very deliberate consideration, I have
+determined to take upon myself the serious responsibility of positively
+refusing to place Mr. Bidwell on the bench, or to restore Mr. George
+Ridout to the Judgeship from which I have removed him." He went on to
+deprecate the necessity for this "overt act of hostility," but added
+that disobedience on the part of a Lieutenant-Governor does not
+necessarily imply disaffection to the Minister. He hinted that he was
+quite prepared for an immediate dismissal. A great part of the despatch
+was taken up with libels upon Mr. Bidwell and his father. In order that
+there might be no misunderstanding on the matter, he emphatically
+repeated his refusal to elevate the former. "So long as I remain
+Lieutenant-Governor of this Province," he wrote, "I will _never_ raise
+Mr. Bidwell to the bench; and I think it proper to confess to your
+Lordship that I have at this moment two appointments to make of King's
+Counsel, neither of which can I conscientiously bestow upon that
+gentleman." He declined to argue the question as to Mr. Ridout any
+further, and again refused in the most explicit terms to reinstate him
+in office. This language left the Colonial Secretary no other discretion
+than to "accept Sir Francis's resignation," but before this
+determination was officially conveyed to him the peace of the Province
+was disturbed by the outbreak of the rebellion.
+
+During the whole summer of this year Mackenzie was doing his utmost to
+add to the prevalent feeling of discontent against the Government. A
+superlative bitterness had possessed him ever since the elections, and
+the fate of his petition had inflamed his resentment almost to madness.
+He felt that he had been cheated out of his seat, and that nothing was
+to be hoped for on behalf of either himself or his fellow-workers so
+long as the existing Government remained in power. To subvert that
+Government thenceforth became the dominant passion of his life. He was
+ready to adopt any means, lawful or unlawful, to secure that end. The
+tone of the _Constitution_ was not to be mistaken. The mind of the
+editor had evidently run a long course since he had first begun to
+concern himself with public affairs. In one of the early numbers of the
+_Advocate_[272] he had boasted that disloyalty could never enter his
+breast. "Even the name I bear," he had written, "has in all ages proved
+talismanic, an insurmountable barrier." What a change had come over him
+since giving utterance to those words. He now boasted of his "rebel
+blood," which he declared would always be uppermost. "I am proud," he
+wrote, "of my descent from a rebel race."[273] And, as if this were not
+sufficiently specific, he added: "If the people felt as I feel, there is
+never a Grant or Glenelg who crossed the Tay and Tweed to exchange
+high-born Highland poverty for substantial Lowland wealth, who would
+dare to insult Upper Canada with the official presence, as its ruler, of
+such an equivocal character as this Mr. What-do-they-call-him--Francis
+Bond Head." Ever and anon the Tory press retorted on him in a spirit by
+no means calculated to soften the asperity of his heart. The most
+contemptuous epithets were freely bestowed upon him, and he was from
+time to time taunted with his humble origin. It seems almost unnecessary
+to say that those who indulged in such taunts as these had very little
+wherewith to reproach Mackenzie on the score of birth and breeding.
+There must surely be some foul taint in the blood of any man who can
+stoop to such methods of humiliating a beaten enemy. Still, such
+insults, coming, as they did, in the wake of serious material injury,
+added fuel to the flame which burned within Mackenzie's heart like a
+consuming fire. All the worst part of his nature was up in arms. There
+were times when he wrote and spoke like one who has lost all
+self-control. But he was in such deadly earnest that he carried
+conviction to many a wavering mind. In the Home District, where his
+paper chiefly circulated, there were scores of people who had seen
+enough of irresponsible Government to be ready to receive his
+preachments with favour. His efforts were not restricted to writing
+virulent articles. He openly went among the people, and disseminated
+his doctrines by word of mouth. He spoke better than he wrote; and it
+was only natural that he should exercise a strong influence over the
+rural communities wherein the Radical element was in the ascendant. His
+influence became specially conspicuous at this time throughout the
+Second Riding of York, which he had represented in Parliament, and
+which, as previously mentioned, had been the scene of much high-handed
+corruption during the last election contest. The voters of that
+constituency awoke to the fact that they had been beguiled by the
+Tories, and that their representative, Mr. Thomson, was not likely to be
+of much service in the role of a Reformer. They eagerly listened to
+Mackenzie's tabulation of grievances, and cheered him to the echo when
+he hinted that the time had arrived for the Spirit of Freedom to assert
+herself.
+
+Among those who warmly sympathized with Mackenzie was Samuel Lount, of
+Holland Landing, who, it will be remembered, had sat in the last
+Parliament for Simcoe, and who had been beaten, as he believed, by
+corrupt methods, at the last election. He had contemplated a petition to
+the Assembly, but had been discouraged by the conviction that it would
+be impossible to obtain an impartial inquiry. He now made common cause
+with Mackenzie in promoting the establishment of a series of "Union
+meetings," as they were called, in the various townships of North York
+and Simcoe. These meetings were convened at irregular intervals for the
+ostensible purpose of political organization. At first they seem to have
+been conducted with a good deal of craftiness, for as a general thing
+nothing was said which could in strictness be regarded as treasonable.
+But there can be little doubt that the intention of the original
+promoter of these assemblages was the spread of revolutionary ideas,
+with a view to an ultimate resort to arms, and in a short time the mask
+of political organization was completely thrown off. Those who had once
+put their hands to the plough did not care to draw back, and, before
+they were aware of what they were doing, they found themselves committed
+to projects of which at the outset they had not so much as dreamed.
+
+Lount's example was followed by most of the leading Radicals among the
+farming community where he was best known. The Lloyds, Gorhams, Doans,
+Fletchers and others had long been active advocates of Radical
+principles, and had marked with ever-growing hostility the tactics of
+Sir Francis Head. They saw right persistently violated by might. They
+saw the respectful complaints and petitions of the people disregarded
+and set at naught. They saw the Government in the hands of persons who
+were not only devoid of sympathy with progressive ideas, but who seemed
+to have no regard for the principles of plain right and wrong. They
+found themselves of no account in the commonwealth. Their cherished
+principles were held up to public scorn, and their chosen candidates for
+Parliament were beaten by fraudulent means. They were utterly without
+weight in public affairs. After a long and hard fight with the Family
+Compact, they saw that clique more strongly entrenched in power than
+ever before. The Tried Reformer who, in response to their long and loud
+appeals, had been sent over to administer the Government, had stooped to
+a barefaced violence and tyranny in excess of anything which could be
+truly charged against the Tory Sir John Colborne. All the old abuses
+were maintained in full vigour. The incubus of the Clergy Reserves was
+not removed. Appointments to office were still made from one political
+body only. The Legislative Council still had the power to paralyze the
+efforts of the Assembly. The Assembly itself was at present as
+retrograde as the Upper House, and it had been formed by a corrupt and
+venal race of officials against whom there was no remedy. The Act to
+prevent the dissolution of Parliament would probably have the effect of
+maintaining the existing Assembly for years. To all these evils was now
+superadded great commercial depression. And there seemed to be no
+prospect of brighter times. The future seemed overcast and hopeless. Is
+it any wonder if those who were compelled to contemplate the picture
+from this dark point of view were forced to the conclusion that a change
+of any kind must surely be for the better?
+
+It is impossible to say at what precise date the idea of armed
+resistance to authority was adopted among the rural Reformers, but I can
+find no distinct trace of it until the 30th of June, when, at a secret
+meeting held at Lloydtown, a resolution was passed to the effect that
+constitutional resistance to oppression having been for many years tried
+in vain, it behooved every Reformer to arm himself in defence of his
+rights and those of his fellow-countrymen. Within a fortnight afterwards
+resolutions of a similar character were passed by small gatherings in
+other parts of the Home District. As yet, however, the idea of actual
+rebellion does not seem to have taken definite shape in the minds of the
+supporters of Mackenzie and Lount. At most, there appears to have been a
+sort of understanding that recourse to arms was justifiable, and might
+some day become expedient; but even this view of the case did not meet
+with universal acquiescence, and the advocates of insurrection sometimes
+found themselves confronted by hostile majorities, even among assemblies
+of the most trusted Radicals.
+
+But meanwhile Reformers in the cities and towns were beginning to bestir
+themselves. Toronto was the headquarters of the Reform party of Upper
+Canada, and it was natural that the adherents of that party throughout
+the Province generally should contemplate their proceedings with
+interest. As yet the idea of an armed rising against the Government had
+not been seriously hinted at among the Reformers of the capital.
+Profound sympathy, however, was felt and expressed among them for the
+Lower Canadians, who made no secret of their determination to rebel in
+case certain resolutions adopted by the British Parliament, at the
+instance of the Ministry, were acted upon. These resolutions had been
+adopted in consequence of the Lower Canadian Assembly's persistent
+refusal to grant supplies. They authorized the seizure of certain funds
+in the hands of the Provincial Receiver-General, and the application of
+them to the general purposes of the Provincial government. Papineau and
+his adherents had been maddened by this proceeding, and were actively
+engaged in preparations for an outbreak. The Upper Canadian Reformers
+warmly sympathized with their neighbours, and passed resolutions
+condemnatory of the obnoxious resolutions. On the 5th of July,
+Mackenzie, in the _Constitution_, reviewed the state of affairs in the
+Lower Province with exceeding boldness. He discussed the probability of
+an outbreak there, and the chances of success, very clearly indicating
+his own opinion in the affirmative as to both contingencies. Other
+Reform papers expressed strong opinions in favour of Papineau's side of
+the quarrel, but, with the exception of the _Constitution_, none of them
+ventured to predict and hope for the success of the rebel arms. The fact
+is, that a comparatively small number of Upper Canadian Reformers were
+either ripe for or desirous of rebellion. They were aroused to hot
+anger, and were prepared to advocate the most radical measures of
+agitation. Their hostility, however, was not chiefly directed against
+Great Britain, but against Sir Francis Head and those by whom he was
+surrounded. It was felt that the Home Office had failed in its duty, but
+the more intelligent were ready to make allowances for the ignorance
+respecting Canadian affairs of a Minister three thousand miles away.
+Such were the sentiments of Robert Baldwin and hundreds of other persons
+the sincerity of whose Reform principles were equally free from doubt.
+Dr. Baldwin felt and expressed less moderation than his son, though he
+was not the man to venture upon what he could not have regarded
+otherwise than as a hare-brained scheme of rebellion, more especially
+when his chief allies would be composed of the Mackenzie element of
+Radicals. Rolph and Bidwell were precisely of the same opinion as Dr.
+Baldwin. They were sick and weary of all that they saw around them. They
+would have cordially welcomed a bloodless revolution. As for Bidwell, he
+would gladly have seen the Province quietly absorbed by the United
+States, for Family Compact domination would then have been at an end,
+and there would have been a chance for a man to be rated according to
+his merits. One situated as he was could not be expected to be devotedly
+loyal to a Government which did its utmost to keep him down, and which
+raised a lawyer like Jonas Jones to the bench over his head. Like his
+father before him, he was a republican in principle, and would doubtless
+have been willing enough to see a republican form of Government
+established in Upper Canada; but he had never permitted his
+predilections to interfere with his duties as a citizen and legislator.
+Moreover, he was before all things a Christian and a man of peace. It is
+not by such as he that revolutions are planned or accomplished. If
+questioned on the subject, he would doubtless have admitted that
+rebellion, under certain circumstances, may be justifiable, but it is
+hardly possible to conceive of any circumstances under which he could
+have been induced to take part in such a movement. Assuredly, nothing
+short of an almost absolute certainty of success would have impelled him
+to such a course. The inherent probabilities of success in the case of
+the Upper Canadian rebellion were from the first very few and remote.
+There was a brief interval during which, owing to the stupidity and
+supineness of the Government, success might have been achieved, but
+whether it would have been temporary or permanent must ever remain an
+open question. In any case, the contingency was one upon which no
+prudent man would have allowed himself to count beforehand. As a matter
+of fact Mr. Bidwell had no more to do with the rebellion than had Robert
+Baldwin.[274] Dr. Rolph, Dr. Morrison, David Gibson, James Hervey Price,
+Francis Hincks, John Doel, James and William Lesslie, John
+Mackintosh,[275] and many other leading Reformers were full of vehemence
+and indignation, ready to go any reasonable length to bring about a
+state of things more satisfactory to their party; but up to the close of
+summer I cannot learn that any serious thought of rebellion had taken
+possession of the minds of any prominent Toronto Reformer with the
+exception of Mackenzie himself. Even up in North York and Simcoe, where
+the feeling of discontent was strongest, and where there was much talk
+about rebellion against the Government, no one seems to have realized or
+believed that there would be any actual outbreak.
+
+There could be no doubt, however, that the Reformers in both town and
+country were more thoroughly in earnest than they had ever been before.
+Energetic measures were in favour among them, and the number of
+advocates of passive endurance was very small. There were regular
+communications between them and the opponents of the Government in Lower
+Canada. They held frequent meetings, at which schemes of agitation were
+discussed, and where every member was encouraged to speak his mind
+without fear or favour. A very frequent place of meeting in Toronto was
+Elliott's tavern, on the north-west corner of Yonge and Queen Streets. A
+place for holding more secret and confidential caucuses was the brewery
+of John Doel, situated at the rear of his house on the north-west corner
+of Adelaide and Bay Streets.[276] Towards the end of July a number of
+leading Radicals assembled at Elliott's for the purpose of discussing
+the draft of a written Declaration, which was intended to embody the
+platform of the local members of the party. It reads very much like a
+cautious parody on the Declaration of Independence of the United States,
+upon which it was evidently modelled. It set forth the principal
+grievances of which the Reform party complained; declared that the time
+had arrived for the assertion of rights and the redress of wrongs; and
+expressed the warmest admiration of Papineau and his compatriots for
+their opposition to the British Government. It further expressed the
+opinion that the Reformers of Upper Canada were bound to make common
+cause with their fellow-citizens in the Lower Province; and to render
+their cooeperation more effectual it recommended that public meetings
+should be held and political associations organized throughout the
+country. Finally, it recommended that a convention of delegates should
+be held at Toronto to consider the political situation, "with authority
+to its members to appoint commissioners to meet others to be named on
+behalf of Lower Canada and any of the other colonies, armed with
+suitable powers as a congress to seek an effectual remedy for the
+grievances of the colonists." Mr. Lindsey,[277] doubtless upon the
+authority of Mackenzie, represents this Declaration as having been the
+joint work of Dr. Rolph and Dr. W. J. O'Grady, somewhile editor of _The
+Correspondent and Advocate_. I can find no confirmatory evidence of
+this statement, and some of Dr. Rolph's letters would seem, at least by
+implication, to contradict the assertion that he had any hand in its
+preparation. The question of authorship, however, is not important. The
+document was discussed at considerable length. Dr. Morrison, who was
+present, fully approved of its contents, but objected to sign it, as he
+would thereby place himself in a dubious position as a member of
+Parliament. This argument was not acquiesced in by James Lesslie, and
+the Doctor finally appended his signature. His example was followed by
+all the other members present except James Lesslie, who withheld his
+name until the document should be signed by Dr. Rolph, who was absent
+from the meeting.[278]
+
+On the afternoon of Friday, the 28th of the same month, the Declaration
+was submitted to and discussed for the second time by a number of
+Reformers assembled at Elliott's. There was to be a large meeting the
+same evening at Doel's brewery, at which it was thought desirable that
+the platform should be adopted. Some discussion arose as to several
+clauses, however, and one or two immaterial alterations were made, after
+which it was thought best to postpone the final adoption of the
+Declaration in its entirety until a subsequent meeting. The meeting held
+during the evening at Doel's was very numerously attended. About three
+hundred persons were present,[279] and a good deal of important
+discussion took place. A motion expressive of sympathy and admiration
+for Papineau and his compatriots was proposed by Mackenzie, and passed
+without a dissentient voice, and it was resolved that "the Reformers of
+Upper Canada" should make common cause with those of the Lower Province.
+The persons present at this meeting of course had no authority to speak
+on behalf of the Reformers of Upper Canada as a whole, but they fairly
+enough represented the Radical wing of the party, which was quite large
+enough to be formidable. The meeting further resolved that a convention
+of delegates should be assembled at an early period in Toronto, "to take
+into consideration the state of the Province, the causes of the present
+pecuniary and other difficulties, and the means whereby they may be
+effectually removed;" and that persons be appointed by the said
+convention to proceed to Lower Canada, "there to meet the delegates of
+any congress of these Provinces which may be appointed to sit and
+deliberate on matters of mutual interest to the colonies during the
+present year." The Declaration was not submitted, as final judgment had
+not been passed upon it by those who had it in charge. After a long and
+busy session, the assemblage adjourned to meet in the same place on the
+evening of Monday, the 31st.
+
+It was matter of much regret among the Radical leaders that Dr. Rolph
+had not up to this time taken any active part in their deliberations. He
+was known to be in sympathy with the project of a movement in concert
+with the Lower Canadians for the purpose of impressing the Imperial
+Government with the necessity of changing their colonial policy. He had
+become the trusted counsellor of all the leading Radicals, who looked up
+to him as the one man in the Province who was capable of directing any
+large or wise measure of Reform. But he had not identified himself with
+them by actual cooeperation in their projects, and had attended none of
+their secret meetings, although he was kept fully informed of all that
+occurred thereat. The Radicals, recognizing how much would be gained by
+securing the presence among them of Rolph and Bidwell, resolved to press
+both those gentlemen into service. At the adjourned meeting on the
+evening of the 31st, the movement made considerable progress. The
+Declaration was formally adopted clause by clause. According to a
+contemporary newspaper report,[280] it "called forth from the meeting
+the most unequivocal marks of approbation." As already mentioned, one of
+its clauses recommended the holding of a convention at Toronto. A
+resolution was accordingly unanimously adopted appointing Rolph,
+Bidwell, Dr. Morrison, James Lesslie and others as delegates to the
+proposed convention. This, it was confidently believed, would have the
+effect of identifying Rolph and Bidwell with the Radical cause, for it
+was not thought that either of them would refuse to attend as delegates.
+Other resolutions were adopted with a view to placing the party in a
+state of efficient organization throughout the Province. The persons who
+had previously appended their names to the Declaration[281] were
+appointed "a permanent Committee of Vigilance, for this city and
+liberties, and to carry into immediate and practical effect the
+resolutions of this meeting for the effectual organization of the
+Reformers of Upper Canada." John Elliott, a Toronto scrivener, who was
+also Assistant Clerk of the City Council, was requested to continue to
+act as Secretary-in-Ordinary, and Mackenzie to act as "Agent and
+Corresponding Secretary." Both of these requests were assented to. A
+resolution, doubtless adopted in emulation of similar resolutions at
+meetings held under Papineau's auspices in Lower Canada, pledged the
+members to abstain as far as possible "from the consumption of articles
+coming from beyond sea, or paying duties." A sort of rider to this was
+moved by Mackenzie, and adopted by the meeting: "That the right of
+obtaining articles of luxury or necessity in the cheapest market is
+inherent in the people, who only consent to the imposition of duties for
+the creation of revenues with the express understanding that the
+revenues so raised from them shall be devoted to the necessary expenses
+of Government, and appointed by the people's representatives; and
+therefore, when the contract is broken by an Executive or any foreign
+authority, the people are released from their engagement, and are no
+longer under any moral obligation to contribute to or aid in the
+collection of such revenues." On Wednesday, the 2nd of August, the
+Declaration was published in full, together with the names of the
+committee, in _The Correspondent and Advocate_, and in Mackenzie's
+_Constitution_. Each of these papers also published a report of the
+proceedings at the meeting.
+
+The part assigned to Mackenzie--that of "Agent and Corresponding
+Secretary"--was an important one, and involved him in the necessity of
+giving up all his time and energies to the cause. In so far as his
+abilities enabled him to do so, he was to virtually play the same part
+in Upper Canada that had long been enacted by Papineau in the Lower
+Province. He was to be a supreme itinerant organizer, and was to go
+about the country stirring up opposition to the Government. This would
+involve the arranging and holding of public meetings and secret
+caucuses, the selection of local correspondents, the supervision of
+local reports, and various other duties not definitely specified, much
+being necessarily left to his own discretion. He had been engaged in
+precisely similar tasks for some weeks previously, but henceforth he was
+able to carry out his designs as the accredited emissary of the
+Reformers of Toronto, a fact which of course gave him additional
+importance in the eyes of the Reformers generally. His appointment was
+due to his own manoeuvres, but it must be confessed that he was in
+many respects well qualified for the post.
+
+He addressed himself to his tasks with redoubled assiduity. The Province
+was mapped out into four districts, each of which was again subdivided
+into minor divisions. Local branch societies were formed or remodelled
+in all neighbourhoods where Reformers were numerous. Each of these was
+directed to report regularly to a central society, and all the latter
+were to report to the Corresponding Secretary, by whom the reports were
+classified, digested, and laid before the central committee in Toronto.
+Mackenzie at once proceeded to hold a fresh series of meetings,
+beginning with the townships in which he was best known, and thence
+flitting hither and thither as was deemed advisable. In this way, in the
+course of the late summer and autumn he went over the whole of the Home
+District, and over a great part of the adjoining country. His soul was
+in the work he was doing, and he put into it all the energy which he
+could command. He did not succeed in arousing such a feeling in the west
+as Papineau did in the east. He had not Papineau's marvellous Gallic
+eloquence, nor were the farmers of Upper Canada composed of such
+inflammable material as the _habitans_ of the Lower Province. But
+Mackenzie, when thoroughly aroused, as he now was, had considerable
+power to move the masses, and he exerted himself to this end as he had
+never done before. The manifold wrongs he had endured had exasperated
+his nature almost beyond endurance, and he could lash himself into a
+storm of indignation at a moment's notice. He succeeded in awakening
+enthusiasm in persons who had formerly been remarkable for stolidity.
+He presented few new subjects for the consideration of his auditors, but
+he presented old subjects in a light which was suggestive of new ideas.
+He declaimed against the iniquities of the Executive, the supineness of
+the Imperial Government, and the culpable indifference of the British
+Parliament. The Declaration, in fact, was the test upon which his
+harangues were founded, but he presented its respective clauses in
+ever-recurring novelty of aspect. The document was itself submitted to
+the various meetings for approval, accompanied by Mackenzie's fiery
+commentary. As a general thing the Radical element was largely in the
+ascendant at the gatherings, and he had no trouble about carrying his
+resolutions, frequently by very large majorities. He adapted his oratory
+to his audience. Where he knew that he would encounter little or no
+opposition he was much more outspoken than where the feeling was less
+favourable to him. Wherever he felt that he could carry his audience
+with him, he boldly advocated separation from the mother-country, and
+the establishment of elective institutions under an independent
+Government; though he took care to deprecate any appeal to physical
+force,[282] and generally advocated a money payment to the British
+Government as the price of a full release and quittance of all Imperial
+claims upon the colony. He employed all the paraphernalia which he
+thought likely to impress the people, and banners bearing revolutionary
+inscriptions were freely displayed from the platform in neighbourhoods
+where such a course was deemed safe. Lount, Gibson, Nelson Gorham and
+others occasionally reinforced him by their presence and their oratory.
+These gentlemen were all gifted with more than ordinary powers of
+expression. The subject-matter was one which they all had deeply at
+heart, and upon which they could speak with never-failing freshness and
+vigour. The audiences were sometimes moved to rapturous demonstrations
+of applause. Even in communities where the popular sentiment was less
+enthusiastic the recommendations embodied in the Declaration were
+generally assented to, and local vigilance committees were formed.
+Delegates to the proposed Toronto convention were appointed, but the
+date of holding it was for the time left open. About seventy of these
+delegates were appointed in the Home District alone. The necessity for
+making common cause with the Lower Canadian Opposition in their efforts
+to establish civil and religious liberty was vehemently pressed by the
+speakers, and commonly recognized by the audiences. Any reference on the
+part of the speakers to what "our brethren in Lower Canada" were doing
+for the cause of liberty was almost certain to evoke applause. A trusted
+emissary--Jesse Lloyd of Lloydtown--acted as a medium of communication
+between the Radical leaders in the two Provinces, and passed to and fro
+from time to time with despatches and intelligence between Papineau and
+Mackenzie. By this and other means the Lower Canadian leaders were from
+first to last kept promptly informed of the progress of the movement in
+the Upper Province.
+
+Sometimes--not often--Mackenzie met with considerable opposition. The
+idea of separation from Great Britain was a stumbling-block to a few
+even of the ultra-Radicals, and had to be handled with extreme delicacy.
+Others were chary of any concerted action with the Lower Canadians on
+account of the latter's religious faith. In several instances, moreover,
+the meetings were actually broken up by the Tories, in whose ears the
+language used by Mackenzie and his coadjutors was neither more nor less
+than treason. In other instances, though the opposition was not
+effective enough to actually break up the meetings, it was found
+impossible to carry any resolutions founded upon the Declaration. In
+two cases the meetings were broken up in confusion by local bodies of
+Orangemen, and a number of persons sustained more or less physical
+violence. Such incidents as these, however, were the exception, and not
+the rule. Out of all the meetings--considerably more than a hundred in
+number[283]--held between the adoption of the Declaration and the actual
+outbreak of rebellion, seventy-five per cent seem to have passed off
+without serious disturbance or interference. Most of those who
+disapproved of the meetings staid away from them, and regarded those who
+promoted them with settled hostility, frequently accompanied by
+contempt. Of those who attended and supported the resolutions, a very
+small number had any suspicion that matters were shaping themselves, or
+were being shaped by Mackenzie, towards rebellion.
+
+As for Mackenzie himself, he seems to have been intent on mischief
+during the whole summer of this eventful year. He however recognized the
+necessity of moving slowly, for no one knew better than he that a very
+small percentage of the Reformers of the Province could be brought to
+sanction such a project as rebellion under his auspices. What they might
+have been disposed to do if rebellion had been mooted by Robert Baldwin,
+Bidwell, Rolph, and other eminent Reformers, it would now be idle to
+inquire. It would be as profitless as to discuss what would have been
+the fate of the Revolution of 1688 if James the Second had died while he
+was Duke of York. The mental constitution of Baldwin and Bidwell were
+such that it would have been an impossibility for them to take part in a
+rebellion, and the general belief with respect to Rolph was that his
+doing so was equally out of the question. All this was well known to
+Mackenzie. He also well knew that the Reform press would have promptly
+denounced him had his designs been known. If he had encountered such
+denunciation his bubble would have burst there and then. But the Reform
+press knew nothing of his designs. He was believed to be agitating for
+constitutional Reform. It was of course known that he was carrying his
+agitation to an unprecedented length, but it was supposed that he was
+doing so for the purpose of intimidating the Government, and thereby
+coercing them into concessions; and the Reform press throughout the land
+was fully prepared to support him in such a course. He accordingly acted
+with much greater caution than he had been wont to display in the
+management of either public or private affairs. He perceived that the
+machinery of vigilance committees, branch societies, public meetings and
+what not, which had been so successfully set in motion under the
+auspices of the Reformers, might be turned to account for
+insurrectionary purposes. To a few of his friends in the country, over
+whom he possessed almost unbounded influence, and who, as he knew, felt
+almost as bitterly towards the Government as he himself did, he imparted
+a project involving a resort to arms. Among them were Samuel Lount,
+Jesse Lloyd, Silas Fletcher, Nelson Gorham and Peter Matthews. The
+communication was doubtless made to the several persons at different
+times, but all of those mentioned seem to have been made acquainted with
+the project before the beginning of autumn. They all yielded a ready
+enough acquiescence, but no thought of bloodshed was in their minds. It
+was intended to get together a great body of Reformers from all over the
+country, and then to advance upon the capital in the form of a monster
+demonstration. This idea seems to have originated with Lount. It was at
+first objected to by Mackenzie as unlikely to prove efficacious. He
+urged that demonstrations had been made in his favour several years
+before, and that none of them had had any effect in moderating the
+policy of the Government, or in inducing the Assembly to permit him to
+sit therein. He especially instanced the occasion upon which a great
+crowd of the York electors had accompanied him to the House of Assembly,
+and had filled the galleries and lobbies while Parliament was
+sitting.[284] All this, he pointed out, had been labour in vain, and if
+such a scene were to be re-enacted it must, in order to produce any
+satisfactory effect, be on a very large scale indeed. His argument was
+unanswerable. It was clear that any appeal to the Government's sense of
+right would be made in vain, and that they could only be influenced
+through their fears. If anything was to be effected by means of a
+demonstration, the number of persons taking part in it must be
+sufficiently numerous to overawe, and if necessary to coerce, the
+Government.
+
+Some weeks appear to have elapsed before any scheme was definitely fixed
+upon and approved by all the nine or ten persons concerned, who thus
+took upon themselves the responsibility of directing the future course
+of our colonial polity. The understanding arrived at was that the time
+of holding the proposed convention in Toronto would also be the
+appropriate time for making the proposed demonstration. The convention
+would afford a reasonable pretext for the assembling of great numbers of
+Reformers at the capital. It will be remembered that no definite time
+had been fixed upon for the holding of the convention. It was now
+settled that it should be held early in the spring of the year 1838.
+When the gathering should be complete, it was proposed to wait upon the
+Government, as the barons waited on King John at Runnymede, and wring
+from them their assent to a constitution founded upon the propositions
+embodied in the Declaration. It was agreed that if this assent should be
+obtained, Sir Francis Head was, at any rate temporarily, to be left
+undisturbed in his position of Lieutenant-Governor, but that the
+Executive Council should be altogether remodelled, and that Rolph,
+Bidwell and Mackenzie should have seats therein. The Government was to
+be carried on upon the principle of Executive responsibility to the
+Assembly. This re-adjustment was to be followed by a general election,
+after which the future of the colony would be in the hands of the
+Assembly.
+
+But how if the Government would not be coerced? What was to be done if
+they refused to be dictated to? In that case there was only one course
+open. The Lieutenant-Governor and his Council were to be seized with
+_as_ little violence as possible. A Provisional Government was to be
+formed with Dr. Rolph at its head, provided that that gentleman could be
+induced to accept the position. It was not believed that the carrying
+out of this project would necessarily involve any sacrifice of life, for
+the force at the disposal of the Provisional Government would be such as
+to render any opposition futile. Moreover, the bulk of the population of
+the capital were known to be favourable to Reform principles, and it was
+believed that they would readily take part in the movement if they saw
+an assured prospect of success.
+
+The conspirators were sanguine as to obtaining Rolph's cooeperation, for,
+unlike Bidwell, he had not repudiated the position of a member of the
+convention, which had been thrust upon him by the meeting at Doel's
+brewery in July. Bidwell, immediately upon becoming acquainted with what
+had been done, had notified the secretary that he had withdrawn from
+political life, and that he could have nothing to do with the proposed
+convention. Rolph also had at first felt disposed to decline the
+appointment, but he had taken time to consider, and had talked the
+matter over with Dr. Baldwin, who had strongly counselled him to accept.
+I can find no documentary evidence of either acceptance or rejection on
+his part, but he seems to have been favourable to the holding of the
+convention, which he doubtless regarded as a possible means of
+consolidating the Reform party, and of rendering its opposition to the
+Government more effective. It was agreed that for the present nothing
+should be said to him about the contemplated subversion of the
+Government by force. The boldest features of the scheme were intended to
+be kept secret from nearly everyone until the time for action should be
+near at hand, but no oath of secrecy was imposed, and, in spite of all
+resolutions, more or less accurate hints of what was in contemplation
+were conveyed to hundreds of Radicals throughout the Home District and
+elsewhere.
+
+As the autumn advanced, the conspirators proceeded to prepare their
+adherents for the impressive display of the ensuing spring. It was
+evident that even a very numerously-attended demonstration would not
+impress the Government unless those taking part in it carried about with
+them a suggestion of strength. In order to be strong they must have
+arms, and they must furthermore know how to use them should the
+necessity arise. A system of secret training and drill was accordingly
+organized throughout the townships. People met after nightfall in the
+corners of quiet fields, in the shadow of the woods, and in other
+sequestered places, and there received such instruction in military
+drill and movements as was possible under the circumstances. Old
+muskets, pistols and cutlasses were furbished up after long disuse, and
+pressed into service once more. Small quantities of rifles and
+ammunition were surreptitiously obtained from the United States.
+Disaffected blacksmiths in the rural districts devoted themselves to the
+manufacture of rude pike-heads, which, after being fitted to hickory
+handles of five or six feet in length, formed no contemptible weapons
+for either attack or defence. Lount's blacksmith shop at Holland Landing
+was for some weeks largely given up to this manufacture. As there was no
+attempt at interference with these proceedings, the disaffected became
+bolder, and began to assemble at regular periods to engage in rifle
+practice, pigeon-matches, and the slaughter of turkeys. As intimated in
+a previous note,[285] Mr. Bidwell was applied to for a legal opinion as
+to the lawfulness of such gatherings. He advised with great caution,
+specifying how far he conceived this sort of thing might be carried with
+impunity. Gatherings for the slaughter of birds and for trials of skill
+with the rifle he conceived to be clearly within the law.
+
+Before the middle of October the movement had extended in all
+directions. The four districts into which the Province had been mapped
+out were called respectively the Toronto Division, the Midland Division,
+the Western Division and the Eastern Division. The first-named consisted
+of the counties of York, Simcoe, Durham, Halton, Wentworth, Haldimand
+and Lincoln. The second included the counties of Northumberland,
+Hastings, Prince Edward, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington. The Western
+Division consisted of Oxford, Norfolk, Middlesex, Huron, Kent and Essex;
+and the Eastern included all that portion of the Province to the east
+and north-east of the Midland. Preparations for the demonstration were
+more or less active everywhere, and there were nights when the whole
+country side might be said to be in arms. In some portions of the
+Western Division, which was under the direction of Dr. Charles Duncombe,
+the feeling against the Government was as intense as in any part of the
+Home District, and the preparations there were carried on with special
+activity. Dr. Duncombe and a few leading personages among the Radicals
+were entrusted with the full plan of the conspiracy, so far as it had
+been matured; but in no part of the Province were the rank and file
+taken into anything like full confidence. Most of those who engaged in
+drill, and in the manufacture of pike-heads and handles, supposed that
+they were merely getting ready for a formidable procession which was to
+intimidate the Government by reason of its numerical strength. The
+enquiry may not unnaturally be made: What were the Government about all
+this time? Were they in total ignorance of what was going on all around
+them? Not at all. They were kept regularly informed of the banners,
+speech-makings, drillings, pigeon-matches and what not; and--at least in
+some instances--they contrived to obtain pretty accurate reports of the
+proceedings at Mackenzie's meetings. But they committed the grave error
+of undervaluing their opponents. They would not believe it possible that
+Mackenzie could ever again be dangerous. He had been so completely
+worsted in his hand-to-hand fight with Toryism that it was not to be
+credited that he would ever again be able to secure a following large
+enough to be worth seriously considering. True, he threatened all manner
+of dire calamities, but he had for so many years been accustomed to
+indulge in loud-mouthed threats that he had lost all power to create
+alarm. He was like the shepherd's boy who had cried "wolf" so often that
+nobody paid heed to him. The official party spoke of him as an upstart
+mannikin who had enjoyed his little day of notoriety, but whose power
+for either good or ill was past and gone. Sometimes, when he published
+anything of special ferocity in his paper, the attention of the
+Lieutenant-Governor would be drawn to it by his supporters, who would
+urge that a prosecution should be instituted. But Sir Francis's wiser
+counsellors knew better than to adopt any such foolish course. They knew
+that State prosecutions had done more to alienate popular sympathy and
+to weaken the power of the Government in times past than any other cause
+whatever. The editor of the _Constitution_, they believed, had steadily
+lost his influence--an influence which he could never hope to regain
+unless some imprudent act of his enemies should once more create for him
+a specious sympathy and notoriety. Nothing, it was felt, would be so
+certain to give him a fictitious importance as to prosecute him for
+treason, at least until he should proceed to such lengths as to render a
+prosecution imperative. Sir Francis Head, Chief Justice Robinson,
+Attorney-General Hagerman, Judge Jones, and the whole race of
+officialdom refused to believe in the possibility of an actual
+rebellion. They all declared that there were not fifty men in the
+Province who would consent to take arms against the Government. Plenty
+of low Radicals, it was said, were ready enough to boast and bluster,
+but their courage was only skin-deep. As for Mackenzie, he was admitted
+to be an exception, so far as the mere disposition to rebel was
+concerned, but he had lost any influence he had ever possessed, and
+counted for nothing. It was tolerably certain that he would sooner or
+later overstep the limits at which it would be possible to leave him
+alone. Then, when he should have placed himself in such a position that
+no loyal subject could defend him, would be the time to make an
+effectual disposition of him. By all means, then, give him an abundance
+of rope. This was the spirit in which the little man and his proceedings
+were regarded by the authorities, and he availed himself of the freedom
+of speech and action to the fullest conceivable extent. "First," says
+Sir Francis,[286] "he wrote, and then be printed, and then he rode, and
+then he spoke, stamped, foamed, wiped his seditious little mouth, and
+then spoke again; and thus, like a squirrel in a cage, he continued with
+astounding assiduity the centre of a revolutionary career."
+Attorney-General Hagerman was instructed to report to his Excellency as
+soon as Mackenzie had proceeded so far in the direction of treason that
+his conviction would be certain, and meanwhile he was permitted to
+invoke the Spirit of Freedom, both in prose and poetry, to his heart's
+content.
+
+In the Lower Province matters had so shaped themselves as to favour
+Mackenzie's designs. Sir John Colborne was kept tolerably well informed
+as to the proceedings of Papineau and the other fomenters of revolt, and
+he had become aware that he would very soon be compelled to have
+recourse to the strong hand. He felt perfectly secure, but at the same
+time determined to neglect no precaution which might conduce to a swift
+and decisive victory. He mustered all the forces at his command, and
+satisfied himself, from personal supervision, as to their efficiency.
+There were a few troops stationed in Toronto. Sir John shared Sir
+Francis Head's confidence in the loyalty of the Upper Canadians, and
+acquiesced in the opinion that an Upper Canadian rebellion was
+altogether out of the question. As he believed that there was no
+likelihood of the troops being needed there, he deemed it prudent to
+strengthen his position by removing them to Kingston, where they would
+be more readily available in case of his requiring their services to
+crush the rebellion in Lower Canada. When this removal had been
+effected, Toronto was left wholly unguarded by military. By command of
+the Lieutenant-Governor, several thousand stand of arms which had
+recently been sent from Kingston, together with a quantity of
+ammunition, were committed to the custody of the municipal authorities
+and deposited in the City Hall. Two constables were placed in charge,
+and this was absolutely the only precaution taken against the seizure of
+both arms and ammunition by any determined body of men who might think
+proper to possess themselves thereof.
+
+Mackenzie believed that the propitious time had arrived, and that the
+resolve to postpone until the following spring any active measures
+against the Government should be rescinded. He received an additional
+impetus from certain messages which reached him through Jesse Lloyd, on
+Monday, the 9th of October, from the leaders of the movement in Lower
+Canada. These messages apprised him that the French Canadians were about
+to make what they called a "brave stroke for liberty" without further
+delay. They entreated him to cooeperate with them by simultaneously
+raising the standard of revolt in the Upper Province. Lloyd himself
+favoured the idea, and counselled its adoption.
+
+Such a momentous step, however, could not very well be taken without the
+concurrence of others. Mackenzie, who at the time of receiving the
+messages was out on Yonge Street, some miles from Toronto, hastened into
+town, and summoned a small secret caucus to meet at Doel's brewery. I am
+unable to fix the exact date of holding this caucus, but it must have
+been on the evening of either Monday the 9th or Tuesday the 10th of
+October.[287] Eleven persons were present. They were, 1. Mackenzie
+himself; 2. John Doel, the owner of the brewery; 3. Dr. Morrison; 4.
+John Mackintosh, who sat in the Assembly for the Fourth Riding
+of York; 5. John Elliott, who, as already mentioned, acted as
+Secretary-in-Ordinary to the Reform Union meetings in Toronto; 6.
+Timothy Parson, who kept a straw bonnet and fancy warehouse on King
+Street; 7. Robert Mackay, a grocer and wine merchant; 8. William
+Lesslie, one of the firm of Lesslie & Sons, booksellers, stationers and
+druggists, at number 110-1/2 King Street; 9. John Armstrong, a
+manufacturer of edged tools, having a place of business at number 33
+Yonge Street; 10. Thomas Armstrong, a carpenter, residing at number 11
+Lot (now Queen) Street; 11. John Mills, hatter, 191 King Street. Dr.
+Rolph and J. H. Price had been asked to attend, but they did not see fit
+to do so. No one except Mackenzie appears to have had any idea of the
+real object for which the meeting had been summoned. The other ten
+merely repaired to the appointed place to hear whatever communication
+the Agent and Corresponding Secretary might have to make to them. Upon
+being called upon to state the purpose for which he had called them
+together, Mackenzie proceeded to unfold his project. He had no sooner
+entered upon it than he encountered murmurs and expressions of dissent.
+He stated that he could count upon the active cooeperation of at least
+fifteen hundred men in the Home District alone, of whom, however, not
+more than a third were supplied with arms. Beyond the limits of the Home
+District he could count upon from two to three thousand, but of these
+not one-fifth were properly armed. All these, he declared, might be
+implicitly depended upon to support any project which might then and
+there be determined upon. He proposed to send out trusty messengers in
+all directions to summon these "good men and true" to repair at once to
+Toronto. But there was no need, he said, to wait for the arrival of
+these supporters. He had taken pains to ascertain the exact condition of
+the city, and it was absolutely defenceless, owing to the sending away
+of the troops. Why should not the decisive blow be struck at once? Why
+not instantly send for Dutcher's[288] foundry-men and Armstrong's
+axe-makers, all of whom were true to the good cause? With these men at
+their backs, they might proceed straightway to Government House and
+seize Sir Francis, who had just come in from his daily ride on
+horseback, and who was guarded by only one sentinel. His capture having
+been effected, they might proceed to the City Hall and seize the arms
+and ammunition. The next thing would be to proclaim a Provisional
+Government, and give Sir Francis the alternative of conceding what the
+Radicals demanded or taking the consequences of refusal. There was
+absolutely nothing, Mackenzie averred, to interfere with the carrying
+out of this programme. Four-fifths of the citizens would join them when
+they saw that success had attended their efforts, and of the other fifth
+at least half would remain neutral, while the small residue of the
+population would be too insignificant in point of numbers to render it
+possible for them to offer any serious opposition.
+
+Such was the astounding scheme propounded by Mackenzie. His small
+audience could hardly credit the evidence of their senses. When he had
+proceeded thus far, Dr. Morrison could restrain himself no longer, but
+burst forth with an impetuosity and indignation which had but seldom
+been observed in him. He asked if it was possible that Mackenzie could
+be serious in unfolding so foolhardy a design. "This," said he, "is
+treason; and if you think to entrap me into any such mad scheme, you
+will find I am not your man!" He declared that if another word were said
+on the subject he would forthwith leave the room. The others present
+also repudiated the proposal with more or less of vehemence, but they
+all regarded it as a mad freak of Mackenzie's, and hardly worth grave
+consideration. Mackenzie found that nothing was to be done, and a few
+minutes later the little conclave broke up.
+
+On the following day Mackenzie called upon Dr. Rolph, who had meanwhile
+heard from Dr. Morrison of the proposal of the previous evening. Dr.
+Rolph questioned Mackenzie strictly respecting the accuracy of his
+details as to the number of men who could be depended upon as adherents
+in the event of a revolution. Mackenzie repeated his assertion that
+about four thousand could easily be got together, every one of whom was
+ripe and ready for taking up arms. He produced certain documentary
+evidence which went to confirm the truth of his statements, and
+vehemently declared that a successful revolution was not only feasible,
+but inevitable. He proposed not to wait for the proposed convention, but
+to speedily assemble all the men who could be got together at some
+point within a few miles of the city. This he proposed to effect as
+secretly as possible. The men could then advance upon the city and
+proceed in a body to the City Hall, where they could possess themselves
+of arms and ammunition. They would then be masters of the situation, and
+could set up a Provisional Government on such terms as might be agreed
+upon. Dr. Rolph was so far impressed by the documentary and other
+evidence placed before him that he consented to give the matter his
+consideration, and to discuss it with some of his friends.
+
+After turning the subject over in his mind, Dr. Rolph appears to have
+arrived at the conclusion that the subversion of the Government was
+perfectly feasible. The capital of the Province was defenceless. The
+Lieutenant-Governor had not only sent away the troops, but had
+persistently refused to take any steps for the organization of the
+militia. If several thousands of the people were really disposed to
+assert themselves, there was nothing to prevent them from carrying out
+the programme outlined by Mackenzie. They could capture Toronto and
+seize the members of the Government before any measures could be taken
+to successfully oppose them. This having been quietly effected without
+bloodshed, it seemed probable enough that the population at large would
+not refuse their support. The Reformers of the Province constituted a
+large majority of the inhabitants, and there was not a Reformer in Upper
+Canada but was heartily weary of Sir Francis Head and his clique. Only a
+small minority would have consented to enter upon the risks and dangers
+of a rebellion; but there is a great difference between a rebellion to
+be encountered and one which has been successfully accomplished.
+Thousands of persons who would strenuously refuse to have any connection
+with the former would readily acquiesce in the latter. If the Government
+were once subverted and in the hands of the Reformers, and if the entire
+Reform element were in sympathy with the change, the rebellion would so
+far be a success, for at this time there were comparatively few persons
+in the Province who cared sufficiently for the Family Compact to risk
+life or limb for the purpose of restoring them to power. But there was
+another important question to be considered: What would the Imperial
+Government have to say about it? If the might and majesty of Britain
+were to be enlisted against the project, no Upper Canadian rebellion
+could hope for permanent success, unless in the very unlikely event of
+national interference on the part of the United States. But was it not
+probable that the Imperial Government would be strongly impressed by
+this uprising of a long-enduring and much-wronged people, and that a
+sense of justice would compel them to adopt a new policy with respect to
+the Canadas? Should this conjecture prove to be correct, all that was
+sought to be effected by rebellion would have been accomplished. In any
+case, the condition of the Reformers could hardly be altered for the
+worse. The leaders of the movement would be driven to take refuge in the
+States, but some of them had already begun to regard such an emigration
+as desirable, for there seemed to be no future for them under Family
+Compact rule.
+
+With such thoughts as these passing through his mind, Dr. Rolph had
+several conferences with Dr. Morrison, with whom Mackenzie also had some
+conversation after the caucus at the brewery. Dr. Morrison was disposed
+to attach great weight to any suggestion emanating from his professional
+colleague, and when he had been placed in possession of the latter's
+views he was able to contemplate a rising of the people with much
+greater complacency than before. The idea gradually took form and shape
+in his mind. At Mackenzie's urgent request he gave him a letter
+introducing Jesse Lloyd to Dr. E. B. O'Callaghan, of Montreal, who was
+editor of a Radical newspaper, and known to be favourable to
+insurrection. Lloyd was about to start from his home in the township of
+King on one of his expeditions to the Lower Province, to confer with the
+leaders of the insurrectionary movements there. This was sometime during
+the third week in October.
+
+Dr. Morrison, having thus put his hand to the plough, regarded himself
+as in a measure pledged to support the cause of the people, if they were
+really bent on subverting the Government. One day about a fortnight
+later he received an urgent message from Dr. Rolph to call at the
+latter's house on Lot (Queen) Street. Upon repairing thither he found
+Rolph and Mackenzie in conference with Lloyd, who _had_ just returned
+from the Lower Province with a letter to Mackenzie from Thomas Storrow
+Brown, one of the directors of the insurrectionary movement there. The
+letter seemed, on the surface, to be a mere business communication, but
+its phraseology had a secret meaning understood by Mackenzie, who
+expounded it to the others. Lloyd supplemented the letter by certain
+verbal communications. It appeared that the Lower Canadians were
+prepared to act, but they wished the Upper Canadian Radicals to make the
+first move, so as to divert attention from their proceedings. This would
+involve grave consequences, and could not be resolved upon all in a
+moment. After some consideration, it was agreed that Rolph, Morrison and
+Mackenzie should meet at Morrison's house on Newgate (Adelaide) Street
+that same evening to take serious counsel together. The meeting was held
+as agreed upon. Rolph and Morrison pointed out to Mackenzie the
+momentous consequences which would flow from acting on the suggestion
+from Lower Canada. They expressed some doubt as to whether the people
+were really sufficiently desirous of a change to risk their liberties
+and lives in a rebellion, and they pointed out the disastrous
+consequences of failure. Mackenzie, however, who possessed much better
+opportunities for judging as to the bent of popular opinion among the
+Radicals, would hardly listen to such remonstrances. For the hundredth
+time he pointed out the defenceless state of the capital. Within the
+last few days the troops which had been removed from Toronto to Kingston
+had been withdrawn from the Province altogether by Sir John Colborne, in
+order that they might be used against the rebels in Lower Canada. The
+whole of the Upper Province was therefore without means of defence.
+Mackenzie pledged his word that the whole Radical element were anxious
+to rise in the good cause. He asserted that he had received lists signed
+by thousands of persons, each one of whom had pledged himself to rise in
+revolt at any moment when summoned. Rebellion, he declared, must come,
+as the spirit of insurrection had been thoroughly aroused; and he
+upbraided his interlocutors for their lukewarmness in the cause of the
+people. After several hours of discussion and deliberation it was agreed
+that Mackenzie should proceed through the country and distinctly submit
+the question to the different political unions. If they really felt
+ready and anxious to put down the existing Government by force of arms,
+as Mackenzie declared, they should have their way. A plan was discussed
+for seizing the arms in the City Hall, for taking into custody the chief
+Government officials, and for establishing a Provisional Government with
+Dr. Rolph at its head. All this, it was believed, could be easily
+effected without firing a shot, and without the sacrifice of a single
+life. It was also distinctly understood that private property was to be
+respected, and that all money in the banks was to be regarded as private
+property, except such as actually belonged to the Government. It was
+however expressly stipulated that nobody was to be finally committed to
+any definite course of procedure until Mackenzie's return from his rural
+tour with the sanction of the various political unions. No authority
+whatever was meanwhile given to Mackenzie, either expressly or by
+implication, to stir the people up to rebellion. He was simply
+authorized to ascertain their views. At his own urgent request
+permission was given him to use the names of Rolph and Morrison, but
+only so far as to state that if the people were really desirous of
+effecting a revolution, they might depend upon receiving the countenance
+of those two gentlemen. On this distinct understanding Mackenzie left
+Dr. Morrison's house, and started the same night or early on the
+following morning for the north.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[269] See his Despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated 5th April, 1837, in
+Narrative, chap. ix.
+
+[270] See his Despatch dated July 14th, 1837.
+
+[271] On the 10th of September.
+
+[272] See the number for June 10th, 1824.
+
+[273] This boast seems to have been made in the columns of _The
+Constitution_, but I have been unable to find it there. I make the
+quotation on the authority of Mr. Lindsey's _Life of Mackenzie_, vol.
+i., p. 395, note.
+
+[274] Mr. MacMullen, writing, doubtless, from honest conviction,
+endeavours to convey the impression that Bidwell was more deeply
+implicated in the rebellion than he chose to acknowledge. See his
+_History of Canada_, p. 446, note. But no substantial proof has ever
+been offered in support of such a belief, whereas the proof on the other
+side is unanswerable. There is, first of all, the character of the man.
+His moral courage was great, and he could stand up for a cherished
+principle with much firmness and vigour. But he fought with weapons
+which were not carnal, and would have suffered almost any wrong that
+could have been inflicted upon him rather than resort to physical
+violence. Then, there is the fact that he always denied all knowledge of
+the rising. No man who knew Marshall Spring Bidwell would have hesitated
+to accept his bare word as against any but the most direct evidence to
+the contrary, and in this case there can hardly be said to be any
+countervailing evidence whatever. Again, there is the fact that he
+declined to act as a delegate to the proposed Reform convention, as
+subsequently mentioned in the text. But there is no need to resort to
+circumstantial or conjectural evidence. We have the testimony of
+Mackenzie himself, who, after his return to Canada, was ready enough to
+betray the secrets of his somewhile coadjutors, and who would have been
+only too glad if he could have pointed to Bidwell as one of the number.
+In his _Flag of Truce_, published in 1853, he says; "The question is
+often asked me--What part Mr. Bidwell took in 1837"--and his answer is
+explicit enough: "None that I know." It is quite certain that Bidwell
+could not have been concerned in the movement without Mackenzie's
+knowledge. The only circumstances which might be adduced as indicating a
+knowledge of the intended rising on the part of Mr. Bidwell are two in
+number, and neither of them will bear a moment's examination. First, it
+is true that he was consulted by the Radicals as to the lawfulness of
+their assembling for drill exercise and other purposes. He advised that,
+under certain restrictions, such assemblies were within the law, and
+that there could be nothing culpable in rifle-matches involving mere
+trials of skill. But when his advice was sought there was no intention,
+even on Mackenzie's part, to rise at any definite period, and Mr.
+Bidwell may very well have believed that the projects would end as most
+of Mackenzie's enterprises had ended--in talk. The other circumstance
+calling for explanation is his allowing himself to be frightened into
+leaving the country. This will be duly considered in its proper place.
+Suffice it for the present to say that, taking everything into account,
+the mere fact of his expatriation affords no evidence either one way or
+the other; whereas the attendant circumstances afford strong presumptive
+evidence of his innocence.
+
+In examining the papers of the late David Gibson within the last few
+weeks _I_ have come upon what may not unfairly be regarded as conclusive
+evidence that Bidwell was in no manner privy to the rising. Gibson,
+after his escape to the State of New York, was desirous of obtaining
+employment as a land surveyor, and, at Dr. Rolph's suggestion, he wrote
+to Bidwell for a certificate as to his character, and for advice as to
+the best means of obtaining employment. Bidwell was then in the City of
+New York, casting about in his mind to what he should direct his
+attention as a means of livelihood. His reply and the certificate
+enclosed therein--both in his own handwriting--are now lying before me.
+The latter is as follows:--
+
+"I was acquainted with David Gibson, Esquire, until the recent
+disturbance in Upper Canada, and know that by his integrity, good sense
+and amiable character, he had acquired the confidence and esteem of his
+neighbours and acquaintances. His services as a land surveyor were
+highly valued. Since the trouble commenced in Upper Canada I have not
+been in communication with him, but I have no doubt that the utmost
+reliance may be placed on his industry, ability and fidelity in all his
+engagements. I have seen his name mentioned with respect for his
+humanity in one of the most violent newspapers published in Upper
+Canada. He has my warmest wishes for his success and happiness.
+
+"MARSHALL S. BIDWELL."
+
+The following is the text of the letter accompanying the certificate:--
+
+    MY DEAR SIR:
+
+    I received to-day your letter, and have sent you a certificate. I am
+    unable to refer you to any place or situation for employment. I am
+    myself unsettled, and _do_ not know what I shall do or where I shall
+    settle.
+
+    I lament the recent proceedings in Upper Canada, and cannot to this
+    day reflect upon them but with amazement. How men of good sense like
+    you and others could be involved in so absurd and hopeless a project
+    fills me with continual surprise. However, I would not upbraid you,
+    though I shall perhaps be ruined in consequence of these movements.
+    On the contrary, I wish you well, and have the same kind feelings
+    towards you as I was wont to have. I trust you may find some
+    situation where you may be happy.
+
+    Yours truly, MARSHALL S. BIDWELL.
+
+    David Gibson, Esq., 6th March.
+
+After the publication of this letter--written, it will be remembered, to
+one of the chief participators in the rebellion--it will hardly be
+pretended that Bidwell was concerned in the enterprise. It is a
+characteristic epistle, breathing Christian kindness and good will, and,
+independently of its bearing upon the question at issue, is well worthy
+of publication as illustrative of Bidwell's individuality.
+
+[275] For the sake of consistency I adopt a uniform spelling of this
+gentleman's name, which however is spelt indifferently "Mackintosh" and
+"McIntosh," in the Journals of Assembly, in various official documents,
+in the newspapers and advertisements of the time, and even in private
+correspondence. Walton's Toronto Directory for 1837 gives it as
+"McIntosh," which seems to have been the form commonly adopted by
+members of the family.
+
+[276] A part of this building, used as a planing-mill, is still in
+existence on Bay Street, a short distance north of Adelaide Street.
+
+[277] _Life of Mackenzie_, vol. ii., p. 17.
+
+[278] According to Mr. Lindsey, James Lesslie induced his brother
+William, who had signed the Declaration, to erase his signature. _See
+Life of Mackenzie_, vol. ii., p. 18.
+
+[279] See the evidence of John Elliott, on the trial of Dr. Morrison for
+high treason, at Toronto, in the following April.
+
+[280] _Correspondent and Advocate_ for Wednesday, August 2nd.
+
+[281] These were nineteen in number, and consisted of Dr. Morrison, John
+Elliott, David Gibson, John Mackintosh, Dr. O'Grady, E. B. Gilbert, John
+Montgomery, Dr. John Edward Tims, J. H. Price, John Doel, M. Reynolds,
+Edward Wright, Robert McKay, Thomas Elliott, James Armstrong, James
+Hunter, John Armstrong, William Ketchum and W. L. Mackenzie.
+
+[282] At a meeting held in the township of Caledon, however, during the
+second week in August, a very outspoken resolution was discussed. After
+setting out with some general principles as to the duties of kings,
+governors and subjects, it ran as follows:--"If the redress of our
+wrongs can be otherwise obtained, the people of Upper Canada have not a
+just cause to use force. But the highest obligation of a citizen being
+to preserve the community, and every other political duty being derived
+from, and subordinate to it, every citizen is bound to defend his
+country against its enemies, both foreign and domestic. When a
+government is engaged in systematically oppressing a people, and
+destroying their securities against future oppression, it commits the
+same species of wrong to them which warrants an appeal to force against
+a foreign enemy. The history of England and of this continent is not
+wanting in examples by which the rulers and the ruled may see that,
+although the people have been often willing to endure bad government
+with patience, there are legal and constitutional limits to that
+endurance. The glorious revolutions obstinately persisting in
+withholding from their subjects adequate security for good government,
+although obviously necessary for the permanence of that blessing, that
+they are placing themselves in a state of hostility against the
+governed; and that to prolong a state of irresponsibility and
+insecurity, such as existed in England during the reign of James II.,
+and as now exists in Lower Canada, is a dangerous act of aggression
+against a people. A magistrate who degenerates into a systematic
+oppressor, and shuts the gates of justice on the public, thereby
+restores them to their original right of defending themselves, for he
+withholds the protection of the law, and so forfeits his claim to
+enforce their obedience by the authority of law."--For the text of this
+resolution I am indebted to Mr. Lindsey. See his _Life of Mackenzie_,
+vol. ii., p. 27, note.
+
+[283] Mr. Lindsey places the number at two hundred. See _Life of
+Mackenzie_, vol. ii., p. 32. I have not been able to find any trace of
+more than 117. Mackenzie seems to have been present at fully half of
+these.
+
+[284] _Ante_, p. 256.
+
+[285] _Ante_, p. 362.
+
+[286] _The Emigrant_, p. 157.
+
+[287] John Elliott, in his testimony on Dr. Morrison's trial, places the
+date in October; and I have evidence in my possession that Mackenzie
+received the intimation mentioned in the text on the second Monday in
+October. The second Monday fell on the 9th. There would be no delay in
+summoning the caucus, which would therefore be held on the evening of
+either Monday or Tuesday.
+
+[288] William A. Dutcher had a foundry on Yonge Street, where a good
+many hands were employed, most of whom were readers of the
+_Constitution_, and supporters of the Radical cause. The Armstrong whose
+axe-makers it was proposed to press into service was John Armstrong, who
+was himself present at the meeting.
+
+
+
+
+NOTE TO CHAPTER X.
+
+My authorities for the foregoing chapter are too numerous for citation.
+In addition to printed works and official records, they consist of
+manuscript letters, statements, affidavits and other documents which
+have never seen the light, and the most important of which will be
+given, in whole or in part, in the second volume.
+
+
+END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Story of the Upper Canada Rebellion,
+Volume 1, by John Charles Dent
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