William Lyon Mackenzie

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

This work is limited to One Hundred and
Twenty Sets for the United Kingdom,
Signed and Numbered.

Number

60

THE MAKERS OF CAN ABA

WILLIAM LYON
MACKENZIE

BY

CHARLES LINDSEY

h

EDITED WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONS

BY

G. G. S. LINDSEY

• * • •

*" * .

, j » * » ' * *

>»••»..«•»•<* •

LONDON : T. C. & E. C. JACK

TORONTO : MORANG & CO., LIMITED

1908

v.

* 4.

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

Mr. Charles Lindsey, the author of The Life
and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie, which
is republished in this volume in a considerably-
condensed form, with some additional matter sup-
plied by the editor, died in Toronto, April 12th,
1908, at an advanced age. Sketches of his career
as a veteran journalist and publicist, which appeared
in the Toronto newspapers, contain references to
this biography which bear out his own modest
statement of the impartiality of the narrative.
"The task of doing justice to the leader of a
defeated movement, while the ashes of the con-
flagration were still hot, was not," said the Globe,
"an easy one for a biographer who had no per-
sonal sympathy with the resort to physical force,
but Mr. Lindsey accomplished it with such con-
summate skill that The Life and Times of William
Lyon Mackenzie is still one of the most readable
of Canadian biographies, and one of the most in-
structive of Canadian historical biographies." The
Mail and Empire spoke of the book as "authori-
tative," and as " dealing with the origin of issues
that continued to vex politics and journalism
long after the Family Compact was disposed
of." The World said, " The work is an exceed-
ingly interesting and valuable contribution to the
history of Canada, covering as it does a period

ix

270967

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of critical transition in our national life. The
author and the subject of his biography differed
widely in their political views, but their personal
and private relations were necessarily intimate. The
biographer has truly said that Mackenzie 'never
concealed his hand ' from him. One of the highest
compliments paid the work was by an eminent
critic and historical authority, who praised its im-
partiality, and said that it was impossible from its
perusal to detect the politics of its author." Sir
Francis Hincks, in his Reminiscences of his Public
Life, said he had " no reason to doubt the general
accuracy of the account, given in Lindsey's Life
and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie, of the
circumstances preceding the actual outbreak, and
he adopted the account as strictly reliable. The
Mackenzie Life still holds its place as an autho-
ritative narrative of the events which it describes ;
it has never been supplanted by any other narrative
historical or otherwise." The News spoke of the
book as having " reserve and balance and absolutely
nothing of the angry controversial temper. It is
history written, perhaps, too close to the events
with which it deals, and therefore all the more
remarkable for its revelation of the true historical
spirit."

The additional matter, supplied in the present
volume, consists of a review, historical and politi-
cal, of what may be called the Mackenzie period,
and of Mackenzie's place in Canadian history as
x

PUBLISHERS' NOTE

a constitutional Reformer and public man. Some
prominence is given in this connection to the com-
mentaries of Lord Durham in his splendid Report
on the affairs of Canada, and to the testimony of
public opinion since the publication of the Lind-
sey biography. These constitute, to say the least,
an important contribution to the later literature
on the subject. The work has been done by Mr. G.
G. S. Lindsey, K.C., with care and judgment, and
with the advantage of access to a large body of
original material. Mr. Lindsey is a son of the
author, and a grandson of William Lyon Mac-
kenzie.

XI

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION

Avery general impression prevails throughout
Canada that the late William Lyon Mac-
kenzie had, for some years, been engaged in writing
his autobiography, and that, at the time of his
death, the work was nearly completed. An exam-
ination of his papers showed that such was not the
case. He had indeed projected such a work, and
arranged much of the material necessary for its
construction, but on examining his papers, I soon
discovered that, except detached and scattered
memoranda, he had written nothing. Of autobio-
graphy, not previously written when some momen-
tary exigency seemed to demand it, or fancy
spurred him to put down some striking passage in
his life, there was none. Beyond this, everything
had to be done by his biographer, if his life was
to be written ; and such was the public curiosity
to learn the connected story of his eventful life,
that I was pressed, on all hands, to undertake the
work. At great inconvenience, and under a pres-
sure of other exacting literary engagements, I
consented.

Full of the fiery energy of the Celtic race, im-
petuous and daring, standing in the front rank
of party combatants in times and in a country
where hard knocks were given and taken, it was
the fate of Mackenzie to have many relentless

• • •

xin

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

enemies. If I had undertaken to refute all the
calumnies of which he was the subject, and to
correct all the false statements made to his injury,
this biography would have taken a controversial
form, which must have rendered it less acceptable
to a large class of readers. The plan I have followed
has been to tell the story of his life as I find it,
without much reference to what friends or enemies,
biased one way or the other, may have said under
the excitement of events that have now passed
into the great ocean of history. There were some
few cases in which it was necessary to clear up
disputed questions over which men still continue
to differ.

The striking want of moral courage in many
who were engaged with Mackenzie in the un-
fortunate and ill-advised insurrection in Upper
Canada, in 1837, led them to attempt to throw
the odium of an enterprise that had failed, in its
direct object, entirely upon him. Men, of whose
complicity in that affair the clearest evidence
exists, cravenly deny all knowledge of it. Mac-
kenzie never shrank from his share of the respon-
sibility.

Much of the liberty Canada has enjoyed since
1840, and more of the wonderful progress she
has made, are due to the changes which the in-
surrection was the chief agent in producing. Unless
those changes had been made — unless a responsible
government, especially, had been established —
xiv

PREFACE

Canada would, ere now, either have been lost to
the British Crown, or, ruled by the sword, would
have been stunted in her growth, her population
poor, discontented, and ready to seek the protec-
tion of another power. The amelioration which
the political institutions of Canada have undergone
would probably have come in time, if there had
been no insurrection, but it would not have come
so soon ; and there is no reason to suppose that
the province would yet have reached its present
stage of advancement.

Being several thousands of miles distant when
the insurrection and the frontier troubles took
place, and having never been in Canada till several
years after, I lie under the disadvantage of not
having any personal recollection of what occurred
in those stirring times. But considering the stores
of materials and the sources of information at my
command, perhaps this is no great loss ; certainly it
will be more than compensated by the impartiality
with which an unconcerned spectator can pass in
review the events of that troubled period.

In the private documents in my possession, con-
taining the secret history of the frontier move-
ments, I found much that had never seen the
light, including projects of invasion and insurrec-
tion of which the public has never had more than
the vaguest notions. The use I have made of
these documents will, I presume, not be regarded
as unwarranted.

xv

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

I first saw Mackenzie in 1849, when he came
from New York to Canada on a visit. Our differ-
ences of opinion on the politics of Canada during
the last ten years have been notorious. Still I
knew his real views perhaps better than any one
else. In private he never concealed his hand from
me, during the whole of that time. By the hour,
when no third person was present, he would
speak with great earnestness and animation of
the claims of justice, the odiousness of oppression,
and the foulness of corruption. The offer of office
under the government was more than once ob-
liquely— once, I think, directly — made to him after
his return to Canada, and it always threw him
into a fit of passion. He received it as an attempt
to destroy his independence, or to shackle his
freedom of action. A thousand times I have heard
him protest that he would rather die of starvation
than descend to any meanness, or be guilty of any
act that would deprive him of that title to an
unpurchasable patriot, which he deemed the best
heritage he could bequeath to his children.

Charles Lindsey.

Toronto, 1862.

xvi

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I Page

THE PERIOD AND THE MAN . .1

CHAPTER II
EARLY YEARS .... 33

CHAPTER III
UPPER CANADA UNDER THE CONSTITUTIONAL ACT 47

CHAPTER IV
"THE COLONIAL ADVOCATE" . . 85

CHAPTER V
SILENCING THE PRESS ... 113

CHAPTER VI
ENTERS PARLIAMENT ... 145

CHAPTER VII
EXPULSIONS FROM THE ASSEMBLY . . 181

CHAPTER VIII
MACKENZIE'S MISSION TO ENGLAND . 217

xvii

CONTENTS

CHAPTER IX Page

MUNICIPAL AND LATER PARLIAMENTARY CAREER 255

CHAPTER X
SIR FRANCIS BOND HEADS ARBITRARY METHODS 291

CHAPTER XI
PRECURSORS OF CIVIL WAR . . 323

CHAPTER XII
A SPURT OF CIVIL WAR 357

CHAPTER XIII
FRONTIER WARFARE ... 411

♦ CHAPTER XIV

AFTER THE REBELLION ... 433

CHAPTER XV
THE TRIALS OF AN EXILE . . .451

CHAPTER XVI
LAST YEARS, ILLNESS AND DEATH . . 503

INDEX ..... 529

XV111

CHAPTER I

THE PERIOD AND THE MAN

THERE are many circumstances which give to
the life, character and career of William
Lyon Mackenzie a peculiar and almost pathetic
interest, and which render them well worthy of a
permanent record in the memoirs of the " Makers
of Canada." They not only represent the strong
mental and moral equipment of an individual — one
of a race which has been identified with consti-
tutional liberty and reform in all the oversea states
of the Empire — but they also represent an important
epoch in British colonial history. It was. an epoch
of political transition, and Mackenzie stands out
in it conspicuously, a commanding and picturesque
personality who did much to create, as well as to
inspire and promote, the movement which made
the transition one from an evil to a better state of
things. He was a representative man of the period
— a man of thought and resource who had a genius
for successful political agitation l — a man of action
who, as a distinguished publicist has said, "em-
bodied the sentiment of his time" in working
towards political ideals in the State. If it be true
that " the types of men living at particular periods

1 "The greatest agitator that ever Upper Canada has had within her
limits."— D. B. Read, Q.C., The Rebellion of 18S7 (1896), p. 122.

1

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

afford the best studies of history," Mackenzie can-
not be ignored by the historian.

The great interest which attaches to his life,
especially in his years of strength and vigour, is
derived from the fact that it extended over a period
of political and critical unrest with the spirit and
action of which he was completely identified. Mac-
kenzie in those years had to be reckoned with, at
every turn in the arena, by the men who governed ;
and he must be given a place by himself, but none
the less a distinguished place, amidst the conflicting
influences, and the strifes and antagonisms which,
culminating in a civil war, wrought a revolution in
the system of government in Canada, and thereafter
in British colonial government everywhere. That was
an issue which, it has been well said, " evolved out
of the discord of conflicting ideals, the foundations
of a permanent and worthy settlement of the
relations of the Crown to the colonies," and
" broadened, once for all, the lines of constructive
statesmanship in all that relates to the colonial
policy of England."1 There probably never was a
period in the history of this country when the two
political parties were more sharply divided, and
more clearly distinguished, upon a great public
question. It was a comparatively small forum for
such a debate ; the cause was worthy of a greater
tribunal than that to which the argument was

1 Stuart J. Reid, Life and Letters of Lord Durham (1906), Vol. ii,
p. 156.

2

GOLDWIN SMITHS SKETCH

addressed. But the final judgment in the matter
was momentous and far-reaching in its conse-
quences. The principles which were laid down by
the Reformers in that controversy, under the
leadership of Mackenzie and his coadjutors, were
those which were embodied by Lord Durham in
his famous Report, and were subsequently crystal-
lized into legislation by the parliament of Great
Britain. They are the principles upon which the
Australian commonwealth and the states of South
Africa, as well as Canada, are governed to-day, and
by which, in fact, in all the outlying dominions of
the Crown, imperial unity is reconciled, and may
continue to be reconciled, with complete self-
government.

Mackenzie has been described as "a reformer
ahead of his time," as " the stormy petrel " of the
ante-rebellion era in Upper Canada, and in other
terms, less equivocal and less deserved, by the
calumny which pursued him to his grave. Mr.
Goldwin Smith's portraiture of him is that of " a
wiry and peppery little Scotchman, hearty in his
love of public right, still more in his hatred of
public wrong-doers, clever, brave, and energetic,
but, as tribunes of the people are apt to be, far
from cool-headed, sure-footed in his conduct, tem-
perate in his language, or steadfast in his personal
connections."1

These references to Mackenzie's personal qualities

1 Canada and the Canadian Question (1891), p. Ill,

3

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

and character as a public man might easily be mul-
tiplied. He had at all times, even when political
feeling ran high in the constituencies, friends and
admirers amongst men of all parties. Speaking of
his election for Haldimand, the first open con-
stituency after his return from exile, when he de-
feated the late Hon. George Brown, the most
formidable opponent he could have encountered,
a prominent resident of that county stated, in a
published interview, that " Mackenzie had support
from Conservatives as well as Reformers ; in fact,
as I happen to know, he always had a great many
warm Conservative friends, who admired his pluck
as well as his independence and honesty."1 And re-
ferring to his election as first mayor of Toronto, a
Conservative historian has written that " the com-
bined suffrages of his party supporters and of the
moderate Tories placed him in the office of chief
magistrate of the city. It has never been doubted
that the choice then made was a good one. It is
but fair to the memory of Mr. Mackenzie to say
that, in all his political conduct and extravagances,
he was not actuated by personal resentment. He
was a determined advocate of reform, and in
his political course made himself many enemies,

1 The Star newspaper, Toronto, December 27th, 1900. The inter-
view was with Dr. Harrison, of Selkirk, Ontario, an ex-president of
the Provincial Medical Association, and described as "a veteran
Liberal, one of the old guard, who has been president of the Reform
Association of his county."

W. J. RATTRAY'S SKETCH

but they were not personal, but political en-
emies. *

" Mackenzie died, as he had lived, a poor man,"
said one of the most brilliant writers on the Can-
adian press. " Throughout his second political
career, he was an ultra-Reformer, one might almost
say an irreconcilable. Although he had seen enough
of republicanism to dislike it, he remained a
Radical to the last. Had he been so disposed, he
might have taken office in the short-lived Brown-
Dorion administration ; but he loved the freedom
of his independent position, and would have
proved restive in official harness. Whatever his
faults of judgment and temper may have been,
he was, beyond question, an honest, warm-hearted
and generous man. That he should be a free
lance in politics was to be expected from his
antecedents and his temperament ; but there was
always a bonhomie about him which made even
those he opposed most strenuously his warmest

personal friends In looking back upon a

career so unfruitful on the surface, and so unprofit-
able to himself, the natural verdict will be that it
was a failure. Still, when it is considered that he
was the pioneer of reform, the first who formulated
distinctly the principle of responsible government,
among the first to advocate a confederation of the
provinces, and, above all others, the man who in-
fused political vitality into the electorate, we cannot

1 D. B. Read, Q.C., Rebellion of 1887 (1896), p. 209.

5

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

say that he lived in vain. Like other harbingers of a
freer time, he suffered that the community might
enjoy the fruits of his labour, the recompense for
his misfortunes. When responsible government was
at length established, he was chafing as an exile in
a foreign land. When he re-entered politics, the
battle had been won, and others had reaped the
reward. With all his faults, and he had many,
no man has figured upon the political stage in
Canada whose memory should be held in warmer
esteem than William Lyon Mackenzie."1

There is a measure of truth in all these de-
scriptions, and in others of a similar character which
might be recited. Reformers who are earnest and
sincere are seldom other than "ahead of their time,"
and one of the sacrifices which they have to make,
if they are true to their ideals, is the sacrifice of
" personal connections," and sometimes also of poli-
tical friendships. History is full of examples of this
species of independence and passion for an idea.
Lord Durham, whose services to Canada can never
be forgotten, and whose memory will ever be
revered by the Canadian people, was, as a com-
moner, his biographer tells us, " far in advance of
his times." The Whigs of that generation, his own

1 W. J. Rattray, The Scot in British North America (1881), Vol. ii,
pp. 482, 483. Mr. Rattray, who is mentioned elsewhere in these pages,
was a distinguished graduate of the University of Toronto, and a class-
mate of the late Chief Justice Thomas Moss, who used to speak of him
as the ablest man within the range of his acquaintance. He died Sep-
tember 26th, 1883.

6

A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIME

political allies, did not share his desire for "sweep-
ing reforms," and especially his early endeavours
to destroy the " rotten boroughs " of England.
" He was often regarded by them with petulant
impatience, and even as a thorn in their side, but
he never wavered in his allegiance to what he
regarded as the first conditions of progress, and he
stood, all through the reign of George IV, like an
incarnate conscience in the path of the official
leaders of his party. . . . They were convinced
that parliamentary reform had not yet come within
the range of practical politics."1 But all this did not
deter him from breaking away from his personal
and political alliances, and proposing a bill for the
reform of parliament eleven years before it was
carried, and before " the new era of government by
public opinion began "

To say that Mackenzie was "a reformer ahead of
his time," is only to say, as the fact was, that he
typified opinions in favour of a system of govern-
ment, lines of policy, and methods of administration,
which were in sharp and hostile contrast to those
which were stubbornly, and at times oppressively,
adhered to by his adversaries, and of which he
was the uncompromising and implacable foe. Mac-
kenzie's ideas of civil government and administra-
tion were entirely opposed to those of the military
and semi-military rulers who represented the Crown

1 Stuart J. Reid, Life and Letters of Lord Durham (1906), Vol. i,
pp. 144-6*

7

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

in Upper Canada, and to those who, firmly en-
trenched in their offices and privileges and having
the whole power and patronage of the executive at
their command, were set about those men, during
the most strenuous years of his career. But they
were ideas which, although since carried out to the
fullest extent, were all but dormant when he ap-
peared on the scene. Mackenzie inspired them with
life and vigour. His propaganda gave them a
powerful hold on the public mind, and a momentum
that was irresistible. It was his long, unselfish and
self-sacrificing struggle, amidst enormous difficulties
and against tremendous odds, which first aroused
the people to a true sense of their citizenship, and
to the real value of those free institutions which
were their just heritage. And it was he who,
though aided by other able men, unquestionably
bore the brunt of the battle for constitutional
reform.

In his course of action in regard to these things,
Mackenzie did not always wait to see whether the
principles which he espoused were practicable. He
had the courage to advocate an opinion long before
it was ripe for realization. What he believed to be
good for the commonwealth he did not hesitate to
say was good, and he supported it with all his
might as a journalist, on the platform, and in
parliament — brooking no opposition from friend or
foe — whether public opinion was prepared for it or
not. To this extent he was not what might be
8

NOT AN OPPORTUNIST

called a "practical man" — a charge which he some-
times had to meet — in politics. To this extent,
also, he was "ahead of his time" and inconstant
in his "personal connections." He was not of those
who would support or oppose any proposal or
measure on the principle of mere political ex-
pediency. He had in fact a scorn of expediency
and a hatred of half-measures in the presence of
justice. Neither did he oppose a measure at a
particular time because it was impracticable, and
support it only when it could be carried; but
whatever his attitude, he could give, and almost
invariably did give, practical reasons for his support
or opposition. In all questions, great or small,
involving honesty, purity and uprightness in public
life, economy in the public expenditure, prudence
and thrift in the preservation of the public domain,
and a full recognition of the constitutional rights of
the people, his voice and pen and action were never
uncertain. These things lay close to his heart, and
their opposites had his relentless hostility.

Mackenzie is also one of the "old Liberals"
against whom party in its madness was wont to
hurl relentlessly the taunt of disloyalty. How far
the taunt was really deserved, the readers of this
volume must be left to judge. Many of them may
remember that the chiefs of the insurrection, and
the great body of their friends and supporters, were
still living when the famous apothegm of Junius
was adopted as its motto by the leading Reform

9

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

journal of Canada. Mackenzie believed in the truth
which it enunciated and acted on it. It was one of
the articles of his creed that "the subject who is
truly loyal to the chief magistrate will neither
advise nor submit to arbitrary measures." He car-
ried the doctrine to extremes ; but, as was said by
the reviewer in dealing with the fact, one should
not " fail to see the group of events as it stands in
its historic surroundings, and to judge the acts and
actors with a fair and comprehensive reference to
the circumstances of the period."1 "Loyalty" in
those days, if we may judge by some occurrences,
was an equivocal and easily convertible virtue.
The despatch of a colonial minister to the lieu-
tenant-governor of Upper Canada, making some
concessions to the long-enduring people of the
province, and dismissing two law-officers of the
Family Compact for their tyrannical conduct —
treatment which was mildness itself compared to
the unremitting and, at times, brutal persecution
to which Mackenzie was subjected — was sufficient
to sap the " loyalty " of the Compact, and to call
forth threats of alienation from " the glorious Em-
pire of their sires," and of " casting about for a new
state of political existence."2

Mackenzie never went further than this sort of
"veiled treason" in his peaceable demands for

1 The Week, newspaper, November 19th, 1885.

a "The legislative council treated the despatch with open con-
tempt." Goldwin Smith, Canada and the Canadian Question (1891), p. 14.

10

3

NOT AN ANNEXATIONIST

colonial self-government. He never was an annex-
ationist as that term is now popularly understood ;
he had no desire for union with the United States.
Until hope of redress was crushed by absolute
despair, no public man of his time gave stronger
proofs of his attachment to the British Crown and
British institutions, or laboured more earnestly to
preserve imperial authority over the Canadian pro-
vinces. That, prior to the outbreak, he lost faith in
the remedial justice of the government as then
administered ; and that he aimed to deprive the
Crown and its colonial representatives and ministers
of the authority which they debased and abused,
and to hand it over, with proper restrictions, to the
representatives of the people, goes without saying.
That for this purpose he joined in a temporary
appeal for aid to some of the American people, is
equally true ; but there is no evidence worthy of
the name that annexation of the provinces to the
neighbouring states was his immediate or ultimate
goal. His last message to the emissaries of Sir
Francis Bond Head, while standing in armed
resistance to the oligarchy, was "independence
and a convention to arrange details." "Mr. Mac-
kenzie," said a Conservative writer, the author
of several historical works dealing with that early
period, "was not an admirer of the American
constitution. On the contrary, he preferred the
British constitution, and would have been satis-
fied with that constitution enforced in its entirety,

11

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

including responsibility to the elective House
and so to the people, instead of its responsi-
bility to the Crown, as it prevailed in Canada."1
"He was a constitutional Reformer; yet his pro-
gramme was certainly moderate enough. He was a
staunch friend to British connection, opposed to
the abortive Union Bill of 1818, and one of the
first to propose a British North American con-
federation."2

The question of loyalty involved in the rebellion
itself is no longer the debatable question it once
was. There is a great deal, as we shall see, in con-
nection with the circumstances leading up to that
event, to palliate and excuse it, if not to justify it
absolutely. And, judging by the later literature on
the subject, controversial though some of it may
be, this is the view which is now all but universally
entertained. In any case the responsibility for the
insurrection, deplorable as it was, should not be
made to rest on Reformers, who, after long years of
heroic but fruitless effort to effect a change in the
system of government by constitutional means,
were at last goaded by their rulers into asserting
the justness of their cause by physical force. The
history of political agitations which have culminated
in great political reforms, or in revolutions which
have compelled reforms, proves that, in nearly every

1D. B. Read, Q.C., The Rebellion of 1887 (1896), p. 162.

a W. J. Rattray, The Scot in British North America (1881), Vol. ii,
p. 455.

12

REBELLION OFTEN NECESSARY

instance, the dominant power or party against whom
the agitation has been directed has refused to be-
lieve in the popular demand until revolution either
actually came, or was no longer capable of being
resisted.

" History proves that the rights of constitutional
liberty, which British subjects enjoy to-day, have
only been obtained by agitation, and, in some
cases, by the exercise of force. Magna Charta,
the greatest bulwark of British liberty, was forced
by the barons from an unwilling monarch. Other
incidents in history show that grievances have only
been remedied when the oppressed, despairing of
obtaining success by lawful agitation in the face
of opposition by entrenched officialism, have been
compelled to fly to arms in defence of their rights.
Few will deny to-day, in the light of history, that
the cause of constitutional government in Canada
was materially advanced by the action of William
Lyon Mackenzie, and that results have justified
the rising of 1837." * "It was one of a series of
revulsions of popular feeling, recorded in British
history, which has extended and broadened in-
calculably the liberties of the British race and
nation."2 "It may be that Mackenzie was im-
petuous and turbulent, but the rebellion of 1837
was at best a pitiful expression of the discontent
which the greed and the oppression of the Family

1 The Globe, Toronto, December 11th, 1900.
a The Star, Toronto, April 14th, 1904.

13

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Compact had developed. Too much has been said
of the rash counsels and unhappy adventures
of Mackenzie, and too little of the crying
grievances which an insolent and autocratic ex-
ecutive would not redress, and of the privileges
they were resolved to maintain. It is in such fashion
that the decisive blow has been dealt to tyranny
and privilege all down the splendid centuries of
British history ; and if in the story of Liberalism in
all countries there are wild and sanguinary chapters,
it is because only in that way could popular govern-
ment be established and perpetuated."1

" Did the pages of history," said Lord Durham
in one of his great speeches on the Reform Bill,
" not teem with instances of the folly and useless-
ness of resistance to popular rights ? The Revolu-
tion of 1741, the French Revolution of 1789, the
separation of the North American colonies, might
all have been averted by timely and wise conces-
sion. Can any man with the slightest knowledge of
history attempt to persuade me that if Charles I,
after the Petition of Right, had kept his faith with
his people, he would not have saved his crown and
his life ? Again, with reference to the French Revo-
lution, I say that if Louis XVI had adopted the
advice given by his ministers, the people would
have been satisfied, the ancient institutions of the
country ameliorated, the altar, the throne, and the

1 J. S. Willison, Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party (1903),
Vol. i, p. 2.

14

LORD DURHAM'S VIEW

aristocracy preserved from the horrible fate which
afterwards befell them. Twice had Louis XVI op-
portunities— first, under Turgot's ministry, secondly,
under Necker's — of conciliating the country, and
averting that fatal catastrophe by limited conces-
sions. The nobility resisted and the Revolution fol-
lowed. I need only add my conviction that, if after
the repeal of the Stamp Act, England had not
destroyed all the benefit of that concession by the
Declaratory Act, and the re-imposition of the tea
duties, North America would at this hour have
been a portion of the British Empire. The course
of events has always been the same. First, un-
reasoning opposition to popular demands ; next,
bloody and protracted struggles ; finally, but in-
variably, unlimited and ignominious concessions."
Durham might also have referred to the other
French Revolution of 1 830, when Charles X was
deposed for his persistent endeavours to maintain
an unpopular ministry in power, or he might have
cited the revolt of Belgium against Holland, lead-
ing to its creation as an independent kingdom —
events, we are told, "which were hailed with out-
bursts of enthusiasm in England, and perceptibly
quickened the demand for reform."

In Great Britain itself, Catholic Emancipation
and the Parliamentary Reform of 1832 were only
conceded when the country was on the brink of
revolution. "Agitation had evidently obtained for
Ireland what loyalty and forbearance had never

15

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

procured ; and though the fear to which our states-
men had yielded might be what Lord Palmerston
asserted, * the provident mother of safety/ a con-
cession to it, however wise or timely, gave a very
redoubtable force to the menacing spirit by which
concession had been gained."1 Sir Robert Peel "was
proud of having made a great sacrifice for a great
cause [namely, Catholic Emancipation]. There can
be little doubt that he had prevented a civil war in
which many of the most eminent statesmen of
foreign countries would have considered that the
Irish Catholics were in the right."2 And, speaking of
the Reform Bill, the same writer says that " some
plan of Parliamentary Reform had of necessity to
be proposed. The true Conservative policy would
have been to propose a moderate plan before in-
creased disquietude suggested a violent one." " He
[Peel] was converted with respect to the Catholic
question, and was converted to Liberal views, but
when he professed this conversion, it was to save
the country from civil war. He was converted with
respect to the Corn Laws, and was converted to
Liberal convictions ; but when he professed this
conversion, it was to save the country from famine."3
Referring to the Duke of Wellington, Durham's
biographer says, that " perhaps his solitary claim to

1 Lord Dalling and Bulwer, Sir Robert Peel: An Historical Sketch
(1874), p. 73.

3 Ibid., p. 71.

8 Ibid., pp. 81, 142.

16

REFORMS AVERTING ANARCHY

political regard is that he eventually extorted a re-
luctant consent from the king for Catholic Emanci-
pation— a concession which lost all its grace because
it was the outcome of panic, and could no longer

be refused without peril It became law

only after a protracted and bitter struggle, which
brought Ireland to the brink of rebellion."1 And,
referring to the rejection by the Lords of the second
Reform Bill, he says, " Lord Grey at once moved
the adjournment of the House, and the country

stood on the brink of revolution The king

seemed to have forfeited his popularity as if by
magic, and the people, in their bitter disillusion-
ment, were prepared to go almost any lengths —
even to that of armed resistance — rather than sub-
mit to the contemptuous refusal of their just de-
mands. . . Riots occurred in many towns, and
whispers of a plot for seizing the wives and children
of the aristocracy led the authorities to order the
swords of the Scots Greys to be rough sharpened.
It will probably never be known how near the
country came at that moment to the brink of a
catastrophe which would have overturned both law

and order The Reform Act was a safety

valve at a moment when political excitement had
assumed a menacing aspect, and the nation seemed
on the verge of anarchy."2

1 Stuart J. Reid, Life and Letters of Lord Durham (1906), pp. 192,
193.

* Ibid., pp. 285, 289, 290, 296.

17

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

" The chiefest authors of revolutions have been,
not the chimerical and intemperate friends of
progress, but the blind obstructors of progress ;
those who, in defiance of nature, struggle to avert
the inevitable future, to recall the irrevocable past ;
who chafe to fury by damming of its course the
river which would otherwise flow calmly between
its banks, which has ever flowed, and which, do
what they will, must flow forever." !

It is not necessary to institute any comparison
with these great political and revolutionary move-
ments, in other countries, in order to excuse or justi-
fy the revolutionary movement for constitutional re-
form which lay at the root of every other reform in
government and administration in Canada. The evi-
dence is overwhelming as to the grievances suffered
by the people, their endeavours to remove them by
legitimate means, and the absolute refusal of their
reasonable demands by the advisers and representa-
tives of the Crown. These latter, as was truly said,
were living in " an atmosphere of constitutional
fiction."2

1 Goldwin Smith, Three English Statesmen (1868), pp. 3, 4.

a " All the special grievances and demands of the Reformers were
summed up and merged in their demand for * responsible government.'
By responsible government they meant that the government should be
carried on, not by an executive nominated by the governor and in-
dependent of the vote of parliament, but, as in England, by a cabinet
dependent for its tenure of office on the vote of the Commons. They
meant, in short, that supreme power should be transferred from the
Crown to the representatives of the people. It was nothing less than
a revolution for which they called under a mild and constitutional

18

IMPERIAL OPPOSITION

Lord John Russell, a representative Whig, and
the member of a Whig administration, speaking in
his place in the House of Commons of the demands
of Lower Canada, said : " The House of Assembly
of Lower Canada have asked for an elective legisla-
tive council, and an executive council which shall
be responsible to them and not to the government
and Crown of Great Britain. We consider that
these demands are inconsistent with the relations
between a colony and the mother country, and
that it would be better to say at once, ' Let the two
countries separate,' than for us to pretend to govern
the colony afterwards."1 And, speaking in the same
place, only nine months before the actual outbreak
in 1837, he said that " cabinet government in the
colonies was incompatible with the relations which
ought to exist between the mother country and
the colony. Those relations required that His
Majesty should be represented in the colony not
by ministers, but by a governor sent out by the
king, and responsible to the parliament of Great
Britain. Otherwise Great Britain would have in the
Canadas all the inconveniences of colonies without
any of their advantages."2

These opinions of the colonial minister were
endorsed by the imperial parliament in resolutions

name." Gold win Smith, Canada and the Canadian Question (1891), p.
112.

1 Speech, May 16th, 1836.

3 Speech, March, 1837.

19

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of both Houses passed on April 28th and May
9th, in the same year (1837). The resolution refus-
ing the concession of responsible government de-
clared "that while it is expedient to improve the
composition of the executive council in Lower
Canada, it is unadvisable to subject it to the re-
ponsibility demanded by the House of Assembly
of that province." Amendments favouring the re-
cognition of responsible government were moved
in the House of Commons, but were rejected ;
and Lord Brougham entered his dissent, with rea-
sons, on the journals of the House of Lords. In a
despatch to Lord Sydenham, as late as October
14th, 1839, which deals with the great "difficulty"
Sydenham may encounter "in subduing the ex-
citement which prevails on the question of what
is called responsible government," Lord John
Russell lays special stress on the action of the im-
perial authorities more than two years before. " The
Assembly of Lower Canada," he says, " having re-
peatedly pressed this point, Her Majesty's con-
fidential advisers at that period thought it necessary
not only to explain their views in the communica-
tions of the secretary of state, but expressly called
for the opinion of parliament on the subject. The
Crown and the Houses of Lords and Commons
having thus decisively pronounced a judgment upon
the question, you will consider yourself precluded
from entertaining any proposition on the subject.
It does not appear, indeed, that any very definite
20

/

THE TRUE REMEDY REFUSED

meaning is generally agreed upon by those who
call themselves the advocates of this principle, but
its very vagueness is a source of delusion, and, if
at all encouraged, would prove the cause of em-
barrassment and danger."

The despatch shows clearly enough that the
home government saw difficulties, under certain
circumstances, — theoretical and imaginary they
really were, — in the application of the principle of
executive responsibility to a colony, but none, as
the minister states further on in his despatch, "to
the practical views of colonial government recom-
mended by Lord Durham," as he understood them.1
What is important, however, to notice is, that the
attitude and policy of the home government, above
indicated, with respect to Lower Canada, prior
to the outbreak, were just the same with respect
to Upper Canada. The true remedy that was sought
for the grievances complained of was distinctly re-
fused to both provinces. It made no difference who
was at the head of the colonial office, Tory or
Whig, the answer to the petitions for redress was,
in effect, the same. Glenelg was of opinion that,
" in the administration of Canadian affairs, a suffi-
cient practical responsibility already existed with-
out the introduction of any hazardous schemes " —
which "schemes," be it added, were what really

1 " At first ministers at home were apprehensive lest the applica-
tion of that principle to a dependency should lead to a virtual renuncia-
tion of control by the mother country." Erskine May, Constitutional
History, 3d. Ed., Vol. iii, p. 367.

21

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

brought "peace with honour," by the men who
advocated them, to this country. In Upper Canada
the answer was sufficiently galling. Sir Francis
Bond Head's reply to the protests of his executive
council on one occasion was, that he was the sole
responsible minister, and that he was only bound
to consult his council when he felt the need of their
advice. "The lieutenant-governor maintains," said
he "that responsibility to the people, who are
already represented in the House of Assembly,
is unconstitutional ; that it is the duty of the
council to serve him, not them." The message ex-
emplified the man, and was a mild epitome of the
arbitrary theory and practice of executive responsi-
bility which prevailed during his own and the pre-
vious regimes, but which was effectually shattered
by the insurrection.

All these things were known to the Reformers
in both Upper and Lower Canada. It is scarcely to
be wondered at that, under these circumstances,
coupled with the actual situation at their own
doors in every town and hamlet in the province,
the prospects of redress seemed infinitely distant,
and that hope died within the people's hearts. In
Upper Canada, only three months following the
decisive action of the imperial parliament, Sir
Francis Bond Head must have read a manifesto,
published in the public prints, from the Reformers
of Toronto to their fellow-Reformers throughout
the province, which was plainly a declaration for
22

BOND HEAD INVITES REBELLION

independence ; and this meant a political revolution.
He could not but know that this final and porten-
tous remonstrance was being approved by consider-
able sections of the people in all parts of the country;
that the arrogant and autocratic exercise of the
authority of the Crown, and the abuses of the
vicious system of administration, had alienated
popular sympathy and support from the govern-
ment ; that the seeds of disaffection were sown
broadcast ; and that, as in Ireland and England,
during the last days of the fierce agitation for
Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Reform,
the country was on the brink of civil war. And
yet, servant and representative of the Crown as he
was, he, at that very time, according to his own
admission, subsequently published, was encouraging
armed resistance to the government in order to
exhibit his power in suppressing the revolt ! 1

How far the insurrection of 1837 can be excused
or justified, is a question upon which every thought-
ful person must form his own conclusions from a
perusal and consideration of the history of the
time. The question is a practical and not an
academic one, for no one admits that rebellion
against a regularly organized government is never
justifiable. The data for an impartial judgment are

1 "It certainly appeared too much as if the rebellion had been
purposely invited by the government, and the unfortunate men who
took part in it deliberately drawn into a trap by those who sub-
sequently inflicted so severe a punishment on them for their error."
Lord Durham's Report, p. 72.

23

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

largely supplied by the narrative of events and the
commentaries thereon, which are contained in the
pages of this volume. For a considerable period
following the outbreak, public opinion in Canada
and in England, for reasons which need not be
discussed here, was condemnatory of the appeal to
physical force, but it was far from unanimous ; it
was impossible that it should be unanimous. The
movement failed in the field through no lack, as
the historian has told us, of capacity and courage
on Mackenzie's part ; still it failed, and there was a
natural reaction of sympathy and opinion, stim-
ulated by the aftermath of the frontier disturbances,
against the movement and those who were con-
cerned in it personally and politically, as well as
against the party with which they were identified.
Greater patience, renewed petitions and protests,
firmer faith in the disposition and willingness of
the imperial authorities to accede to the constitu-
tional changes so earnestly and unavailingly de-
manded, would, in due time, it has been said, have
ensured a responsible executive and the full and
complete benefits of parliamentary government as
it was in Great Britain. The political tendency of
the times was favourable to Liberal doctrines and
constitutional reform, and the home government
had already been moving, and would continue to
move, in that direction. Such is the argument, in
brief, usually made against the movement.

The reply is interrogatory — How long must
24

THE CASE AS TO REBELLION

a free people, entitled to freedom and all the
other benefits of British institutions, and fit for
self-government, endure the tyranny, oppression,
and general viciousness of such a system as pre-
vailed prior to 1837 ? What is the time limit in
such a case, for history has set such a limit in some
other cases ? Determined as was the attitude of the
people of Upper Canada, startling and significant
as was the warning conveyed by the insurrection,
and intensely dissatisfied and alienated, according
to Lord Durham and Lord Sydenham, as large
numbers of the most law-abiding persons in the
province were, even after the rebellion was crushed,
— the old system was long in dying. Under cir-
cumstances and influences that one would have
supposed had greatly hastened its demise, it died
hard ; for not until the regime of Lord Elgin, more
than ten years after the first angry shot was fired
in the Canadian provinces, were the long-looked-for
measures of remedial justice and reform fairly and
fully in force.1 If, said the Reformer, under such
adventitious aids backed by a rebellion de facto
(strong or weak, it matters not), the people had so
long to wait, how long must the waiting have been

1 "In 1847 responsible government was fully established under
Lord Elgin. From that time, the governor-general selected his advisers
from that party which was able to command a majority in the legisla-
tive assembly, and accepted the policy recommended by them. The
same principle was adopted, about the same time, in Nova Scotia ; and
has since become the rule of administration in other free colonies."
Erskine May, Constitutional History, 3d. Ed., Vol. iii, pp. 367, 368.

25

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

— how long the practice of the virtues of patience
and forbearance, had Upper Canada never beheld a
"rebel" in arms?

Questions like these have occasionally provoked
an answer. Mr. W. J. Rattray, a thoughtful pub-
licist and writer on historical and political subjects,
has given it as his opinion that, were it not for
the rebellion, many years must have elapsed before
the British government would have consented to
carry out the reforms advocated in Mackenzie's
"Seventh Report on Grievances," and subsequently
recommended by Lord Durham. "Had these con-
cessions," he says, "been only made three years
before, there would have been no rebellion; and
it may safely be affirmed likewise that, but for the
rebellion, responsible government would not even
now have been granted."1 Other answers have been
given at different times, either in the columns of
the newspaper press, or in public speeches and ad-
dresses. But, in whatever form they have appeared,
they show that public opinion with respect to the
rebellion, aided as it has been by historical research
and a calmer and more deliberate consideration of
the causes and outcome of the whole movement,
has been greatly modified in the intervening years.

In a speech delivered by the Hon. Edward Blake,
M.P., to his Irish constituents in the summer of
1898, with respect to the Irish rebellion of 1798,
Mr. Blake said : "Rebellion is morally justified

1 The Scot in British North America (1881), Vol. ii, p. 485.

26

EDWARD BLAKE'S OPINION

upon two conditions : first, that there are grievances
that are serious, overwhelming and long endured,
and that peaceable redress has turned out to be
impossible; and, secondly, that there is some
reasonable chance of success at any rate in the
rising." These conditions were not wanting in 1837.
An eminent historian has declared that "Toronto
all but fell into the hands of the rebels. Mackenzie,
who showed no lack either of courage or capacity
as a leader, brought before it a force sufficient for
its capture, aided as he would have been by his
partisans in the city itself, and he was foiled only
by a series of accidents, and by the rejection of his
bold counsels at the last."1 "The rebellion in both
provinces, though vanquished in the field of war,
was victorious in the political field, and ended in
the complete surrender of imperial power."2 The
same authority has also expressed the opinion,
which is all but universally accepted, that in both
Canadas it was, in fact, not a rebellion against the
British government, but a petty civil war, in Upper
Canada between parties, in Lower Canada between
races, though in Lower Canada the British race
had the forces of the home government on its side.
"We rebelled neither against Her Majesty's person
nor government, but against colonial misgovern-
ment," were the words of one of the rebel leaders
in Lower Canada. "The two movements were

1 Goldwin Smith, Canada and the Canadian Question (1891), p. 119.
*Ibid., p. 97.

27

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

perfectly distinct in their origin and their course,
though there was a sympathy between them, and
both were stimulated by the general ascendency of
Liberal opinions since 1830 in France, in England,
and in the world at large. The rebellion was the
end of Sir Francis Bond Head. Then came Lord
Durham, the son-in-law of Grey, ... to inquire
into the sources of the disturbance, pronounce
judgment, and restore order to the twofold
chaos."1

The origin and history of the insurrection in
Canada have also, within very recent years, oc-
cupied public attention in Great Britain and South
Africa, in connection with the rebellion and the
terribly destructive war which followed in that part
of the king's dominions. Comparisons were not
unnaturally made between the condition of affairs
at the seats of rebellion in each country prior to
the outbreak, and the justification in each case for
the revolt. It is worthy of notice that the historic
parallel, on the score at least of provocation and
justification, is favourable to Canada and to those
who took part in the insurrection in these pro-
vinces ; and such evidently was the opinion of the
British government, and of public opinion in Great
Britain, so far at any rate as it was represented in par-
liament. The revolt in Canada was officially stated
to be " founded on grievances under constitutional
conditions which were recognized as unsatisfactory

1/&tU, p. 120.

28

JOSEPH CHAMBERLAINS OPINION

by the government of the day and altered by
subsequent legislation. In the Cape there has been
adhesion to the Queen's enemies, during war, of
those who have not even the pretext of any griev-
ance, and who have for a generation enjoyed full
constitutional liberty."1 It was "unnecessary," wrote
the ministers at Cape Town to Sir Alfred Milner,
"for the purpose of tracing the mode of dealing
with those guilty of the crime of rebellion or high
treason in Canada, to give any history of the causes
which led up to the rebellion in Upper and Lower
Canada. In both cases the disturbance had its
origin in a conspiracy for the redress of grievances
which were more or less well grounded, and recog-
nized as being so by the reforms which followed
the outbreak."2 And speaking on the same point, in
his place in the House of Commons, in a debate on
the address (January 20th, 1902), when the policy
and conduct of the government were under criticism,
the colonial secretary, Mr. Chamberlain, said: "Just
let me for a moment, in two or three words, remind
the House what took place in Canada. The Cana-
dians had great grievances, which the Cape rebels
had not. The Cape rebels had every liberty, every
right, every privilege which the Canadians desired,
or which they have since acquired. There was

1 Extract from telegram from Mr. Chamberlain, colonial secretary,
to Sir Alfred Milner, May 5th, 1900.

2 Extract from Memo, by ministers at Cape Town to Governor Sir
Alfred Milner, April 27th, 1900.

29

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

justification — or an excuse — for the conduct of the
Canadian rebels. There was no justification of any
kind for the conduct of the Cape rebels. In the
case of Canada there was justification which was
admitted by subsequent legislation. The wrongs of
the Canadians were subsequently redressed, but
they were redressed on the initiation of this coun-
try, and not as terms or conditions of surrender."1

Sir Wilfrid Laurier, since he became first minister
of Canada, has referred to the rebellion on two nota-
ble occasions. Speaking in the House of Commons,
on his motion of condolence with respect to the
death of the late Queen, he said : " Let us re-
member that, in the first year of the Queen's reign,
there was a rebellion in this very country ; there
was a rebellion in the then foremost colony of
Great Britain, rebellion in Lower Canada, rebellion
in Upper Canada ; rebellion — let me say it at once,
because it is only the truth to say it — rebellion, not
against the authority of the young Queen, but re-
bellion against the pernicious system of govern-
ment which then prevailed."

The second occasion was the banquet of the
Canadian Club in London, England, on July 16th,
1902, when, in responding to the toast of " The
Dominion of Canada," he said : " The loyalty of
Canada has been enhanced by the free institutions
given to her. If it had not been for the charter

1 The Parliamentary Debates, 4th Series, Vol. 101, p. 376. The
Time* report is the same.

30

SIR WILFRID LAURIERS OPINION

of liberty which she had received, perhaps the con-
dition of things would have been different. In 1837
Canada was in a state of turmoil and excitement.
There was rebellion not only in the province of
Quebec, but in the British province of Ontario.
The rebellion, in his mind, was quite justified by
the unworthy system which then obtained, and by
attempting to rule what ought to have been a free
people by methods which were unsuited to them.
But in 1899, when they had been given a free
regime and had a parliament to which the govern-
ment of the country was responsible, when they
had the blessings of responsible government in the
same measure that they had in England, when the
dominion of her late Majesty was threatened in
a distant part of her domain, the very sons of the
rebels of 1837 were the first to come to the rescue
and to maintain the dominion of Her Majesty in
South Africa. That was the result of the wise policy
that had been followed with regard to Canada and
the other colonies of Great Britain."

These various expressions of opinion touching
the question of 1837, whence imputations of dis-
loyalty against Mackenzie and the Reformers of his
time have been drawn, and which are supplemented
elsewhere in these pages, are not unworthy of
consideration. The lapse of years, and a clearer and
truer perception and understanding of the events in
which he figured, of the system of government and
abuses which he assailed, of the forces, political and

31

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

personal, which beset him, and of the man himself,
have manifestly wrought a more rational judgment
with respect to those old and exasperating matters
of controversy. Their true significance is under-
stood as it never was before by statesmen and pub-
licists, and by those who inspire and mould the
thought of the nation. " The tumult and the shout-
ing " of crimination and recrimination, which they
once provoked, have passed with the passing of the
men of the old dispensation ; and loyalty to the
Crown not being, as in fact it never has been, the
exclusive possession of any particular party in the
State, these old charges of disloyalty, whencesoever
they come, must be regarded as a spent force in
the politics and government of Canada.

32

CHAPTER II

EARLY YEARS

THE part played by William Lyon Mackenzie
in the making of Canada embraces the politi-
cal history of Upper Canada, and more particularly
of the Reform party in Upper Canada, from the
year 1824, when he came upon the scene as the
editor and publisher of a newspaper in the interests
of good government and constitutional reform,
down to the outbreak in December, 1837. Macken-
zie's work and influence may also not unfairly be
held to extend to the results of the revolutionary
movement with which he was identified — to Lord
Durham's mission, his Report which, formed the
basis of the Union Act of 1840, the beneficent
change of imperial policy towards Canada, and the
reforms which followed in its train. The good as
well as the ill should be weighed in the balance of
popular judgment. The period itself was one of un-
rest and growing discontent, of agitation and tur-
bulence, of stress and storm, but it was also a period
of rapid development of public opinion in favour of
a radical change in the constitution of the Canadas.
Mackenzie was conspicuous all those years as a
journalist and parliamentarian, employing every
legitimate means and power at his command for
the progress and improvement of political condi-

33

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

tions, and the betterment of the people. The cul-
mination of the struggle was a civil war, under-
taken and ended unsuccessfully for the concession
to Canada of those principles of self-government
within the Empire which were denied the advocates
and friends of reform, and the denial of which,
under circumstances of intolerable provocation, set
the country aflame with insurrection.

In writing this biography it will be my duty, as
far as convenient, to allow the subject of it to tell
his own tale ; and where opinions must be expressed,
it will be my aim to make them judicial and just,
though I may not conceive that he was always
right, either in act or opinion.

Mackenzie's parents were married at Dundee,
Scotland, on May 8th, 1794. Of this marriage,
William Lyon Mackenzie, the subject of this
biography, was the sole issue. He was born at
Springfield, Dundee, on March 12th, 1795; and
his father died when the child was only twenty-
seven days old. His mother, by the death of her
husband, who left behind him no property of
any account, became to a great extent dependent
upon her relatives, of whom she had several in the
Highlands; and she sometimes lived with one and
sometimes with another. Some of them were poor,
others well to do ; but the mother always managed,
by some ingenuity of industry, to keep a humble
home over the heads of herself and her boy. Her
constitutional temperament always kept her busy,
34

HIS MOTHER

let her be where she might, her highly nervous or-
ganization rendering inaction difficult to her, ex-
cept towards the close of her life. In this respect,
there was a remarkable resemblance between her-
self and her son; and from her, it may safely be
affirmed, he derived the leading mental character-
istics that distinguished him through life.

Her dark eyes were sharp and piercing, though
generally quiet; but when she was in anger, which
did not often occur, they flashed out such gleams
of fire as might well appal an antagonist. The
small mouth and the thin, compressed lips, in har-
mony with the whole features, told of that uncon-
querable will which she transmitted to her son. The
forehead was broad and high, and the face seldom
relaxed into perfect placidity; there were always on
the surface indications of the working of the in-
domitable feelings within.

Her strong religious bias made Mrs. Mackenzie
an incessant reader of the Scriptures, and such re-
ligious books as were current among the Seceders.
With this kind of literature she early imbued the
mind of her son ; and the impressions thus formed
were never wholly effaced. The strongest reciprocal
affection existed between her and her son, at whose
house she spent the last seventeen years of her life,
having followed him to Canada in 1822. She had
attained the mature age of ninety years when she
died, a fact which goes to show that it was through
her that Mackenzie inherited a physical frame cap-

35

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

able of extraordinary endurance, as well as his
natural mental endowments.

Daniel Mackenzie, father of the subject of this
biography, is described as a man of dark complex-
ion; and his grandfather, Colin Mackenzie, used to
bear the cognomen of "Colin Dhu," or black Colin.
Daniel learned weaving in all its branches; but, en-
tering into an unprofitable commercial speculation,
he was reduced to keeping a few looms for the
manufacture of "green cloth."

In June, 1824, just when he had entered on his
editorial career, Mackenzie was called upon to meet
the charge of disloyalty; and his defence, which
traces his ancestry, is in his happiest mood.

"My ancestors," he said, "stuck fast to the legiti-
mate race of kings, and, though professing a differ-
ent religion, joined Charles Stuart, whom (barring
his faith) almost all Scotland considered as its right-
ful sovereign. Colin Mackenzie, my paternal grand-
sire, was a farmer under the Earl of Airly in Glen-
shee, in the highlands of Perthshire ; he, at the com-
mand of his chieftain, willingly joined the Stuart
standard, in the famous 1745, as a volunteer. My
mothers father, also named Colin Mackenzie, and
from the same glen, had the honour to bear a com-
mission from the prince, and served as an officer in
the Highland army. Both my ancestors fought for
the royal descendant of their native kings ; and after
the fatal battle of Culloden, my grandfather accom-
panied his unfortunate prince to the Low Countries,
36

HIS ANCESTRY

and was abroad with him on the continent, follow-
ing his adverse fortunes for years. He returned at
length, married, in his native glen, my grand-
mother, Elizabeth, a daughter of Mr. Spalding of
Ashintully Castle, and my aged mother was the
youngest but two of ten children, the fruit of that
marriage. The marriage of my parents was not pro-
ductive of lasting happiness; my father, Daniel
Mackenzie, returned to Scotland from Carlisle,
where he had been to learn the craft of Rob Roy's
cousin, Deacon Jarvie of the Saltmarket, Glasgow,
in other words, the weaving business, took sickness,
became blind, and, in the second year of his marri-
age with my mother, died, being in his twenty-eighth
or twenty-ninth year. I was only three weeks old at
his death ; my mother took upon herself those vows
which our Church prescribes as needful at baptism,
and was left to struggle with misfortune, a poor
widow, in want and in distress. . . .

"Well may I love the poor, greatly may I esteem
the humble and the lowly, for poverty and adver-
sity were my nurses, and in youth were want and
misery my familiar friends; even now it yields a
sweet satisfaction to my soul that I can claim kin-
dred with the obscure cotter and the humble la-
bourer of my native, ever honoured, ever loved
Scotland.

" My mother feared God, and He did not forget
nor forsake her; never in my early years can I re-
collect that divine worship was neglected in our

37

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

little family, when health permitted; never did she
in family prayer forget to implore that He, who
doeth all things well, would establish in righteous-
ness the throne of our monarch, setting wise and
able counsellors around it. A few of my relations
were well to do, but many of them were poor
farmers and mechanics, (it is true my mother could
claim kindred with some of the first families in
Scotland; but who that is great and wealthy can
sit down to count kindred with the poor?) yet
amongst these poor husbandmen, as well as among
their ministers, were religion and loyalty held in as
due regard as they had been by their ancestors in
the olden time. Was it from the precept, was it
from the example, of such a mother and such rela-
tions, that I was to imbibe that disloyalty, democ-
racy, falsehood, and deception, with which my
writings are by the government editor1 charged?
Surely not. If I had followed the example shown
me by my surviving parent, I had done well; but
as I grew up I became careless, and neglected pub-
lic and private devotion. Plainly can I trace, from
this period, the commencement of those errors of
the head and of the heart which have since embit-
tered my cup, and strewed my path with thorns,
where at my age I might naturally have expected
to pluck roses." . . .

1 Charles Fothergill, editor of the Upper Canada Gazette, then pub-
lished in Toronto, and King's Printer. The Gazette, like the Moniteur
of Paris, had an official and a non-official side.

88

SCHOOL DAYS

His first school teacher was Mr. Kinnear, of
Dundee, who was master of a parish school. One of
his schoolmates, from whom I have sought informa-
tion, describes him as "a bright boy with yellow
hair, wearing a short blue coat with yellow but-
tons." Though very small when he first entered
school, he was generally at the head of his class.
His progress in arithmetic, particularly, was very
rapid. He was often asked to assist other boys in
the solution of problems which baffled their skill;
and, while he rendered this service, he would pin
papers or draw grotesque faces with chalk on their
coat-backs.

At the age of ten years, some difficulty occurring
between him and his mother, he resolved to leave
home and set up on his own account. For this pur-
pose he induced some other boys of about his own
age to accompany him to the Grampian Hills,
among which he had often been taken, and where,
in a small castle which was visible from Dundee,
and of which they intended to take possession, they
made the romantic resolve of leading the life of
hermits. They never reached the length of the
castle, however, and after strolling about a few
days, during part of which they were terribly
frightened at the supposed proximity of fairies,
they were glad to trudge their way back to the
town, half famished. This incident is characteristic,
and might have been regarded as prophetic ; for the
juvenile brain that planned such enterprises would

89

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

not be likely to be restrained, in after life, where
daring was required. It is probable that the difficulty
between young Lyon and his mother, which led to
this escapade, arose out of the long reading tasks
which it was her custom to impose upon him.
He was in this way thoroughly drilled in the West-
minster Catechism and Confession of Faith; he
learned the Psalms and large portions of the Bible
by rote, and was early initiated into Baxter's Call
to the Unconverted, and several similar works.
When one of these tasks had been given him, his
mother used to confine him closely till it had
been mastered. This early exercise of the mem-
ory, it may be reasonably assumed, tended to give
to that faculty the strength which in after life
was a source of astonishment to many.

Those who did not know Mackenzie's personal
habits often attributed to his unaided memory
much that was the result of reference to those
stores of information which he never ceased to col-
lect, and which were so arranged as to admit of
easy access at any moment. He has left in his own
hand- writing a list of "some of the books read be-
tween the years 1806 and 1819," in which are fifty-
four works under the head of "divinity," one
hundred and sixty-eight on history and biography,
fifty-two of travels and voyages, thirty-eight on
geography and topography, eighty-five on poetical
and dramatic literature, forty-one on education,
fifty-one on arts, science, and agriculture, one
40

HIS EARLY BUSINESS CAREER

hundred and sixteen miscellaneous, and three hun-
dred and fifty -two novels; making, in all, nine hun-
dred and fifty-eight volumes in thirteen years. One
year he read over two hundred volumes. With his
tenacious memory, Mackenzie must have been en-
abled to draw, from time to time, upon these stores,
during the rest of his life. The works are confined
almost exclusively to the English language; and
the truth is, that he had only an imperfect know-
ledge of any other. Of a tendency to scepticism, of
which he was accused in the latter part of his life —
with what justice will hereafter be seen — there is,
in the works which must have tended to give a
cast to his mind, an almost entire absence.

In early youth, politics already possessed a charm
for him, the Dundee, Perth and Cupar Advertiser,
the first newspaper he ever read, serving to gratify
this inclination. But he was soon admitted to a
wider range of political literature ; for he was intro-
duced to the Dundee news-room at so early a
period of life that he was for years after its young-
est member.

. For a short time after leaving school, and when
he must have been a mere boy, he was put into
Henry Tullock's draper shop, Dundee ; but dislik-
ing the work he did not long remain there, prob-
ably only a few months. He afterwards became an
indentured clerk in the counting-house of Gray, a
druggist in a large way of business in Dundee. It
was probably while in the counting-house of Gray,

41

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

that Mackenzie acquired that knowledge of the
mysteries of accounts which afterwards made
his services of considerable value as chairman of
the Committee of Public Accounts in the assembly
of Canada, and which enabled him to render impor-
tant service in the Welland Canal investigation,
and on other occasions when financial mysteries had
to be solved.

At an early age, apparently when he was about
nineteen, he went into business for himself at Alyth,
some twenty miles from Dundee, setting up a
general store in connection with a circulating lib-
rary. He remained there for three years, when the
result of inexperience assumed the shape of a busi-
ness failure. His creditors were all honourably paid
after he had acquired the necessary means in Can-
ada, at the distance of some years. It was about the
middle of May, 1817, when he left Alyth; and he
soon afterwards went to England, where at one
time we find him filling the situation of clerk to
the Kennett and Avon Canal Company, at another
time in London ; and he used to relate that he was
for a short time in the employ of Earl Lonsdale as
a clerk.

The idea of going to Canada is said to have been
first suggested to him by Edward Lesslie, of Dun-
dee. Before starting he visited France. The date of
this visit cannot be fixed with certainty; but it was
probably in November or December, 1819. He
confesses to having, a little before this time,
42

SAILS FOR CANADA

plunged into the vortex of dissipation and con-
tracted a fondness for play. But all at once he
abandoned the dangerous path on which he had en-
tered, and after the age of twenty-one never played
a game at cards. A more temperate man than he
was, for the rest of his life, it would have been im-
possible to find.

In April, 1820, Mackenzie was among the passen-
gers of the Psyche bound for Canada, a young man
just turned twenty-five years of age, who, without
having enjoyed any other advantages of education
than the parochial and secondary schools of Dundee
offered, had a mind well stored with varied infor-
mation which he had devoured with keen literary
appetite and appreciation. It was fated that this
young man should change the destiny of the coun-
try to which the good ship Psyche was bearing him.
He was of slight build and scarcely of medium
height, being only five feet six inches in stature.
His massive head, high and broad in the frontal
region and well rounded, looked too large for the
slight wiry frame it surmounted. He was already
bald from the effects of a fever. His keen, restless,
piercing blue eyes, which threatened to read your
most inward thoughts, and the ceaseless and ex-
pressive activity of his fingers, which unconsciously
opened and closed, betrayed a temperament that
could not brook inaction. The chin was long and
rather broad; and the firm-set mouth indicated a
will which, however it might be baffled and thwart-

43

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ed, could not be subdued. The lips, firmly pressed
together, constantly undulated in a mass, moving
all that part of the face which lies below the nos-
trils; with this motion the twinkling of the eyes
seemed to keep time, and gave an appearance of
unrest to the whole countenance.

After his arrival in Canada, Mackenzie was for a
short time employed in connection with the survey
of the Lachine Canal ; but it could only have been
a few weeks, for in the course of the summer he
entered into business in York, as the present city of
Toronto was then called. There John Lesslie and he
were in the book and drug business, the profits of
the books going to Lesslie, and those of the drugs
to Mackenzie. The question arose of finding an-
other place at which to establish a second business,
and Dundas was selected. Here he conducted the
business of the partnership for fifteen or sixteen
months, during which time, I have heard him say,
a clear cash profit of £100 a month was made, until
the partnership was dissolved, by mutual consent, in
the early part of 1823. A division of the partnership
effects was then made; and, in papers which have
been preserved, Mackenzie appears as a purchaser
from the firm of Mackenzie & Lesslie to the amount
of £686 19s 3jd. The goods included in this pur-
chase were as miscellaneous as can well be im-
agined, and with this stock a separate business was
commenced; but it was not long continued, for in
the autumn of the same year Mackenzie removed
44

ABANDONS COMMERCE

to Queenston, and there opened a general store.
He remained only a year; and before the expiration
of that time he had abandoned commerce for poli-
tics ; the stock of goods was disposed of to a store-
keeper in the country; and, as a journalist, he made
the first step in the eventful career which opens
with this period of his life.

While living in Dundas, Mackenzie was married
on July 1st, 1822, at Montreal. Miss Isabel Baxter,1
his bride, may be said to have been a native of the
same town as himself; for she was born at Dundee,
and he at Springfield, a suburb of the same place ;
they both were at the same school together.

Up to this time, Mackenzie had not held any
other office in Canada than that of school trustee ;
and he confessed that even that mark of public
confidence inspired him with pride. He and David
Thorburn were elected to that office at the same
time, at Queenston.

1 Miss Isabel Baxter was the second daughter of Peter Baxter of
Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland, who settled near Kingston in the
county of Frontenac, where he became the owner of a valuable farm
property, which, after his death, passed into the hands of George Bax-
ter, one of his sons. George Baxter was master of the Royal Grammar
School at Kingston, and had, as two of his pupils, Sir Richard Cart-
wright and the late Sir John A. Macdonald. His sister, Isabel, who
married Mackenzie, came to Canada with Mackenzie's mother, and the
marriage took place three weeks after her arrival. The youthful bride,
who had scarce attained her majority, has been described as "a bright,
handsome, Scotch lassie, who preserved her refined features, and her
gentle, winsome manner till past the age of seventy." Mrs. Mackenzie
died at Toronto on January 12th, 1873, in her seventy-first year. See
sketch of her life, with portrait, at page 221 of Morgan's interesting
work on Types of Canadian Women (1903),

45

CHAPTER III

UPPER CANADA UNDER THE CONSTITUTIONAL

ACT

IN the year 1824, when Mackenzie, as a journalist,
commenced his public career, the province of
Upper Canada was being governed under the Con-
stitutional Act of 1791. x The Quebec Act of 1774, 2
which it supplanted, was found inadequate for the
purposes it was intended to serve. This was owing
to difficulties inherent in the situation, but which
tended, nevertheless, to the extension of popular
government. The Act made no provision for an
elective legislative body ; the only body for legisla-
tive purposes was a council appointed by the Crown,
composed principally of English residents, notwith-
standing the great numerical superiority of the
French population. The repeal of the Act was due
to the uncertainty and confusion arising out of the
French legal system, which had been made appli-
cable to the English as well as the French sections
of the country, the agitation in the legislative
council against that system and in favour of the
introduction of English law, the backward state of
legislation in the province, and the agitation and
demand for an elective assembly which followed the

1 31 Geo. Ill, c. 31.
* 14 Geo. Ill, c. 83,

47

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

immigration into Canada of the United Empire
Loyalists. These immigrants, who had left the thir-
teen colonies when the latter declared themselves
independent of the mother country, had been ac-
customed to representative institutions in the col-
onies which they abandoned, and brought with them
a natural desire for similar institutions in this
country. In about a year after they colonized the
continental part of Nova Scotia, which was in 1784,
the home government created the present province
of New Brunswick, and gave it a legislative assembly.
This stimulated a demand for the same kind of a
body in what was afterwards known as Upper Can-
ada, and also amongst the English residents of
Lower Canada. These latter hoped thereby to se-
cure an elective assembly for the whole province of
Quebec, in which, with the help of the representa-
tives chosen by the new English incomers, they
would be able to counterbalance the French vote in
Lower Canada. Even the French themselves joined
in the demand for such an assembly, influenced
partly, no doubt, by the progressive ideas of the
time, but also by the hope of finding in a French
assembly a security for their language, laws and
institutions, more especially their ecclesiastical sys-
tem, which they could not find in a legislative
council controlled by men of a different race and
creed.

The Constitutional Act had several distinct ob-
jects in view. One was to confer legislative authority
48

THE OBJECTS OF THE ACT

in Lower Canada on a French assembly, and so
overcome the difficulties in regard to the old
ecclesiastical system, and especially the old civil
law, to which the legislative council had been
inimical. A second object was to give the like
legislative power to an English assembly in Upper
Canada. The third object was to enable the two
races to work out their own political future apart
from each other, under a constitution resembling
that of Great Britain, as far as the circumstances of
the country would admit. *

The debate on the bill in the House of Commons
was conducted in the main by three of the most
famous men in parliamentary history, Pitt, the
younger, Burke and Fox. Pitt said that the ques-
tion was, whether parliament should agree to
establish two legislatures. The principle was to
give a legislature to Quebec in accord, as nearly as
possible, with the British constitution. The division
of the province was liable to some objections, but
to fewer than any other measure. He regarded the
division as essential, as he could not otherwise
reconcile the clashing interests known to exist.
"I hope," he said, "this separation will put an end
to the competition between the old French in-
habitants and the new settlers from Britain and the
British colonies." Burke approved of the division.
"For us to attempt," he said, "to amalgamate two

1 See despatch of Lord Grenville to Lord Dorchester, October 20th,
1789, in Christie's History, Vol. vi, Appendix, pp. 16-26.

49

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

populations composed of races of men diverse in
language, laws and habitudes, is a complete ab-
surdity. Let the proposed constitution be founded
on man's nature, the only solid basis for an enduring
government." He thought the English ought to
enjoy the English constitution, the French, the old
Canadian constitution. Fox was on the whole rather
against the division of the province. But, in discuss-
ing the policy of the Act, he laid down a principle
which was destined, after half a century, under the
Union Act of 1840,1 to become the rule of colonial
administration. "I am convinced," said he, "that
the only means of retaining distant colonies with
advantage, is to enable them to govern themselves."
On the question of the legislative council he favour-
ed an elective body, whose members should possess
qualifications higher than those of the House of
Assembly, and to be chosen by electors of higher
standing than those having votes for the Lower
House. It was during this debate on the Con-
stitutional Act that the memorable quarrel took
place between Burke and Fox which severed their
long private friendship.

The Constitutional Act, as an instrument of
government, was far in advance of the Quebec
Act, and was a remarkable step in the political
development of the country. Its effect upon the
French was beneficial in one important particular :
it educated them to a considerable extent in self-

1 3-4 Vict., c. 35.

50

EFFECTS OF THE ACT

government, and taught them to appreciate its ad-
vantages. But at the same time it continued the
work, which the Quebec Act had practically com-
menced, of strengthening them as a distinct nation-
ality desirous of perpetuating their own favoured
institutions. This, it has been said, was an influence
which did not make for a homogeneous nation, and,
by segregating the French from the other provinces,
was not in the interest of the French-Canadians
themselves. The British statesmen, however, who
were responsible for the Constitutional Act had no
wish or desire to destroy the national life and cha-
racter of the people of French Canada. The Act as
a whole was the handiwork of Pitt. He remembered
that, in less than ten years from the time that the
French power was broken in America, the thirteen
colonies, having no longer the dread of French
aggression, declared their independence. In his
speech in the House of Commons he said that the
real object was to create two colonies separate from
and jealous of each other, so as to guard against
a repetition of the rupture — "the great Anglo-
Saxon schism " — which had separated the thirteen
colonies from the mother country. It was a short-
sighted policy, but is not to be wondered at. Eng-
lish statesmen could hardly be expected at that
time to foresee the advent of colonial self-govern-
ment half a century afterwards, and its successful
reign in the subsequent years, much less the germ
of the federal system which was undesignedly in-

51

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

troduced by giving each province the control of
its own affairs.

Under the Constitutional Act, the former pro-
vince of Quebec, or what remained of it after the
revolutionary war, was divided into the two pro-
vinces of Upper and Lower Canada, the division
taking effect on December 26th, 1791, by an order
of the king in council. The division line was prac-
tically the river Ottawa, which separated roughly
the French and English settlements, and left most
of the seigniories, relics of the Canadian feudal
system created under the French regime, in Lower
Canada. A legislative council and a legislative
assembly were constituted within each province,
by whose advice and consent the sovereign, repre-
sented by the governor, or (in the case of Upper
Canada, the younger province,) the lieutenant-
governor, and appointed by him, should have power
" to make laws for the peace, welfare and good
government" of the separate provinces. In Upper
Canada the legislative council was to consist of " a
sufficient number of discreet and proper persons,
being not fewer than seven," who were to be sum-
moned thereto, under the great seal of the province,
by the governor or lieutenant-governor, or person
administering the government, every such person
to hold his seat for life, subject to be vacated in
certain cases defined by the statute. The Speaker of
the council was to be appointed and removed by
the lieutenant-governor. His Majesty was also em-
52

MAIN PROVISIONS OF THE ACT

powered by the Act to confer upon any subject of
the Crown by letters-patent, under the great seal of
either province, " any hereditary title of honour,
rank, or dignity of such province," and " to annex
thereto, by the said letters-patent, an hereditary
right of being summoned to the legislative council
of such province." This provision for creating a
political aristocracy emanated from Pitt, and was
favoured by Burke but opposed by Fox, who, as
we have seen, declared his preference for an elective
instead of a nominative council.

The legislative assembly was to consist of not less
than sixteen members, who were to be chosen by elec-
toral districts of which the limits and the number of
representatives of each district were fixed by the lieu-
tenant-governor. This representation was increased
twice in subsequent years, until, under the regime of
Sir Peregrine Maitland, it was made self-regulating
by an Act passed for that purpose. In 1828, when
Mackenzie was first elected, the number of mem-
bers was forty-eight.

One other element of the provincial constitution
was the executive council, who are referred to in
four sections of the statute1 as being "appointed
by His Majesty, his heirs or successors, within such
province, for the affairs thereof" — which meant, of
course, by the lieutenant-governor.

There was thus in Upper Canada, under this

1 Sections 7, 34, 38 and 50, the words of reference being substan-
tially the same in each section.

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

instrument of government, a reproduction of the
British civil polity — a lieutenant-governor, who
represented the Crown, a legislative council, nom-
inated by the Crown, corresponding to the House
of Lords, an assembly, elected by the people,
corresponding to the House of Commons, and an
executive council, representing the confidential ad-
visers of the sovereign. These features of the new
system were emphasized by General Simcoe, the
first governor of the province, in his speech at the
close of the first session of the first parliament of
Upper Canada, on October 15th, 1792. He con-
gratulated his yeomen commoners on possessing
"not a mutilated constitution, but a constitution
which has stood the test of experience, and is the
very image and transcript of that of Great Britain."
"Though it might be the express image in form,"
says Mr. Goldwin Smith, "it was far from being
the express image in reality of parliamentary gov-
ernment as it exists in Great Britain, or even as it
existed in Great Britain at that time. The lieu-
tenant-governor, representing the Crown, not only
reigned but governed with a ministry not assigned
to him by the vote of the assembly but chosen by
himself, and acting as his advisers, not as his
masters. The assembly could not effectually control
his policy by withholding supplies, because the
Crown, with very limited needs, had revenues,
territorial and casual, l of its own. Thus the imita-

lrThe "casual and territorial revenues" were derived from the sale

54

LORD DURHAM'S CRITICISMS

tion was somewhat like the Chinese imitation of the
steam vessel, exact in everything except the steam."1
Lord Durham's commentaries on the political
constitutions provided by the Act of 1791, as already
outlined, are highly instructive. These disclosed, as
he could not help noticing, common weaknesses
and defects. "It is impossible," he says, "to observe
the great similarity of the constitutions establish-
ed in all our North American provinces, and the
striking tendency of all to terminate in pretty
nearly the same results, without entertaining a
belief that some defect in the form of government,
and some erroneous principle of administration,
have been common to all ; the hostility of the races
being palpably insufficient to account for all the
evils which have affected Lower Canada, inasmuch
as nearly the same results have been exhibited
among the homogeneous population of the other
provinces."2 A common defect is also observed in

of timber on the Crown lands and from other sources, and, for a long
time, were held and appropriated by the lieutenant-governor and his
officials instead of by the House of Assembly, which should have con-
trolled these and all other public moneys. This species of finance, as
long as it lasted, was naturally a subject of constant contention between
the Crown officials and the representatives of the people.

1 Canada and the Canadian Question (1881), p. 100.

2 Durham's Report, p. 32. There have been several different
editions of Lord Durham's Report, namely, the original English
edition, 1839, published in London by the British government, the
Canadian reprint of the same year by Robert Stanton, Queen's Printer,
Toronto, and a recent English edition by Methuen & Co., 1902. The
page references in the present volume are to the Canadian edition.

55

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the irritating relations between the executive and
the popular body. "It may fairly be said that the
natural state of government in all these colonies is
that of collision between the executive and the
representative body. In all of them the administra-
tion of public affairs is habitually confided to those
who do not co-operate harmoniously with the
popular branch of the legislature ; and the govern-
ment is constantly proposing measures which the
majority of the assembly reject, and refusing its
assent to bills which that body has passed."1

Turning to counterparts in the Canadian con-
stitution of King, Lords and Commons in Great
Britain, he deals first with the governor, or lieu-
tenant-governor, and says : " The fact is that,
according to the present system, there is no real
representative of the Crown in the province ; there
is in it literally no power which originates and con-
ducts the executive government. The governor, it
is true, is said to represent the sovereign, and the
authority of the Crown is, to a certain extent,
delegated to him ; but he is, in fact, a mere subor-
dinate officer, receiving his orders from the secre-
tary of state, responsible to him for his conduct,
and guided by his instructions."2

" It has, therefore, been the tendency of the
local government to settle everything by reference
to the colonial department in Downing Street. Al-
most every question on which it was possible to

1 Ibid.t p. 32. a Ibid., p. 37.

56

DURHAM'S RECOMMENDATIONS

avoid, even with great inconvenience, an immedi-
ate decision, has been habitually the decision of
reference; and this applies, not merely to those
questions on which the local executive and legisla-
tive bodies happened to differ — wherein the refer-
ence might be taken as a kind of appeal — but to
questions of a strictly local nature, on which it
was next to impossible for the colonial office to have
any sufficient information."1

One of Durham's recommendations to the im-
perial authorities was a revision of the constitution
of the legislative councils under the Constitutional
Act, so as to make the second body of the proposed
united legislature a useful check on the popular
House, and so prevent a repetition of those collis-
ions between the councils and the assemblies which
had been such a fruitful cause of dangerous irrita-
tion. " The present constitution of the legislative
councils of these provinces ' (i.e. under the Act of
1791), he says, " has always appeared to me incon-
sistent with sound principles, and little calculated
to answer the purpose of placing the effective check,
which I consider necessary, on the popular branch
of the legislature. The analogy which some persons
have attempted to draw between the House of
Lords and the legislative council seems to me erron-
eous. The constitution of the House of Lords is con-
sonant with the frame of English society, and, as the
creation of a precisely similar body, in such a state

1 Ibid., p. 45.

57

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of society as that of these colonies, is impossible, it
has always appeared to me most unwise to attempt
to supply its place by one which has no point of re-
semblance to it, except that of being a non -elective
check on the elective branch of the legislature. The
attempt to invest a few persons, distinguished from
their fellow-colonists neither by birth nor heredi-
tary property, and often only transiently connected
with the country, with such a power, seems only
calculated to ensure jealousy and bad feeling in
the first instance, and collision at last.1"

Having noticed the collisions between the ex-
ecutive and the representative body (ante p. 56),
he points out that " the collision with the executive
government necessarily brought on one with the
legislative council. The composition of this body
. . . must certainly be admitted to have been such
as could give it no weight with the people, or with
the representative body, on which it was meant to
be a check. The majority was always composed of
members of the party which conducted the ex-
ecutive government ; the clerks of each council
were members of the other ; and, in fact, the legis-
lative council was practically hardly anything but
a veto, in the hands x>f public functionaries, on all
the acts of that popular branch of the legislature
in which they were always in a minority. This veto
they used without any scruple."2

1 Ibid., p. 104.

2 Ibid., p. 37.

58

THE ASSEMBLY'S JUST DEMANDS

In the scheme of government initiated by the
Constitutional Act, the position and powers of the
House of Assembly were of vital consequence to
the future well-being of the province. A voice in
the selection of persons in whose administration of
affairs it could feel confidence, and the control of
the public revenues, were powers which were essen-
tial to the usefulness of such a representative body.
Although the financial disputes were more easily
arranged in Upper than in Lower Canada, the
assembly was systematically deprived from the
outset of any control over the executive govern-
ment. The argument which Lord Durham present-
ed against this stultification of the assembly was
most incisive and convincing, and, coupled with his
arraignment of the abuses to which it gave rise,
was a complete vindication of the policy and
attitude of Mackenzie and the Reform party.

" The powers," he says, " for which the assembly
contended appear to be such as it was perfectly
justified in demanding. It is difficult to conceive
what could have been their theory of government
who imagined, that, in any colony of England,
a body invested with the name and character of
a representative assembly could be deprived of any
of those powers which, in the opinion of English-
men, are inherent in a popular legislature. It was a
vain delusion to imagine that, by mere limitations
in the Constitutional Act, or an exclusive system
of government, a body, strong in the consciousness

59

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of wielding the public opinion of the majority,
could regard certain portions of the provincial
revenues as sacred from its control, could confine
itself to the mere business of making laws, and look
on as a passive and indifferent spectator, while
those laws were carried into effect or evaded, and
the whole business of the country was conducted
by men in whose intentions or capacity it had not
the slightest confidence. Yet such was the limitation
placed on the authority of the assembly of Lower
Canada;1 it might refuse or pass laws, vote or with-
hold supplies, but it could exercise no influence on
the nomination of a single servant of the Crown.
The executive council, the law-officers, and what-
ever heads of departments are known to the ad-
ministrative system of the province, were placed
in power without any regard to the wishes of the
people or their representatives ; nor indeed are there
wanting instances in which a mere hostility to the
majority of the assembly elevated the most in-
competent persons to posts of honour and trust.
However decidedly the assembly might condemn
the policy of the government, the persons who had
advised that policy retained their offices and their
power of giving bad advice. If a law was passed
after repeated conflicts, it had to be carried into
effect by those who had most strenuously opposed

1 The whole of this commentary on the assembly of Lower Canada
applies, as Lord Durham points out at page 64 of his Report, to the
Upper Canada assembly as well.

60

"THE TRUE PRINCIPLE"

it. The wisdom of adopting the true principle of
representative government, and facilitating the
management of public affairs by entrusting it to
the persons who have the confidence of the repre-
sentative body, has never been recognized in the
government of the North American colonies. All
the officers of government were independent of the
assembly ; and that body, which had nothing to say
to their appointment, was left to get on, as it best
might, with a set of public functionaries whose
paramount feeling may not unfairly be said to have
been one of hostility to itself." *

" A body of holders of office thus constituted,"
he proceeds to say, " 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 appoint-

1 The comments of Mr. Rattray and Mr. Read on the constitutional
helplessness of the House of Assembly, under the practical operation
of the Act, are just as pronounced as those of Durham. The same may
he said of all other writers on the period. See The Scot in British
North America (1881), Vol. ii, pp. 462, 463 ; and The Rebellion of
1837 (1896), pp. 128, 154.

61

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ments 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. Thus a governor of Lower Canada1 has
almost always been brought into collision with the
assembly, which his advisers regard as their enemy.
In the course of the contest in which he was thus
involved, the provocations which he received from
the assembly, and the light in which their conduct
was represented by those who alone had any access
to him, naturally imbued him with many of their
antipathies ; his position compelled him to seek the
support of some party against the assembly ; and
his feelings and his necessities thus combined to
induce him to bestow his patronage, and to shape
his measures to promote the interests of the party
on which he was obliged to lean. Thus, every
successive year consolidated and enlarged the
strength of the ruling party. Fortified by family
connection, and the common interest felt by all
who held, and all who desired, subordinate offices,
that party was thus erected into a solid and per-
manent power, controlled by no responsibility,
subject to no serious change, exercising over the
whole government of the province an authority
utterly independent of the people and its repre-
sentatives, and possessing the only means of

* The same remarks apply to Upper Canada. See foot-note supra,
p. 60.

62

"IRRESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT

>j

influencing either the government at home, or
the colonial representative of the Crown."1

" It is difficult to understand how any English
statesman could have imagined that representative
and irresponsible government could be successfully
combined. There seems, indeed, to be an idea that
the character of representative institutions ought
to be thus modified in colonies ; that it is an
incident of colonial dependence that the officers
of government should be nominated by the Crown,
without any reference to the wishes of the com-
munity whose interests are entrusted to their
keeping. It has never been very clearly explained
what are the imperial interests which require this
complete nullification of representative government.
But, if there be such a necessity, it is quite clear
that a representative government in a colony must
be a mockery, and a source of confusion. For those
who support this system have never yet been able
to devise or to exhibit, in the practical working
of colonial government, any means for making so
complete an abrogation of political influence palat-
able to the representative body."2

Durham's description of the executive council
is no less graphic. " The real advisers," he says,
" of the governor have, in fact, been the executive
council, and an institution more singularly calcu-
lated for preventing the responsibility of the acts

1 Lord Durham's Report pp. 34, 35.
8 Ibid., p. 35.

63

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of government resting on anybody can hardly be
imagined. It is a body of which the constitution
somewhat resembles that of the Privy Council;
it is bound by a similar oath of secrecy; it dis-
charges in the same manner anomalous judicial
functions ; and its ' consent and advice ' are required
in some cases in which the observance of that
form has been thought a requisite check on the
exercise of particular prerogatives of the Crown.
But in other respects it bears a greater resemblance
to a cabinet, the governor being in the habit of
taking its advice on most of the important questions
of his policy. But, as there is no division into
departments in the council, there is no individual
responsibility, and no individual superintendence.
Each member of the council takes an equal part in
all the business brought before it. The power of
removing members being very rarely exercised,
the council is, in fact, for the most part, composed
of persons placed in it long ago ; and the governor
is obliged either to take the advice of persons in
whom he has no confidence, or to consult only a
portion of the council. The secrecy of the pro-
ceedings adds to the irresponsibility of the body;
and when the governor takes an important step, it
is not known, or not authentically known, whether
he has taken the advice of this council or not, what
members he has consulted, or by the advice of
which of the body he has been finally guided.
The responsibility of the executive council has
64

THE FAMILY COMPACT

been constantly demanded by the Reformers of
Upper Canada, and occasionally by those of the
Lower Province. But it is really difficult to con-
ceive how desirable responsibility could be attained,
except by altering the working of this cumbrous
machine, and placing the business of the various
departments of government in the hands of com-
petent public officers." l

In another part of his Report, Lord Durham
deals with " the effect which the irresponsibility of
the real advisers of the governor had in lodging
permanent authority in the hands of a powerful
party, linked together, not only by common party
interests, but by personal ties." And this leads
naturally to a description of the Family Compact.
" But in none of the North American provinces,"
he says, "has this exhibited itself for so long a
period, or to such an extent, as in Upper Canada,
which has long been entirely governed by a party
commonly designated through the province as the
' Family Compact,' a name not much more appro-
priate than party designations usually are, inasmuch
as there is, in truth, very little of family connection
among the persons thus united. For a long time
this body of men, receiving at times accessions to
its numbers, 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 legisla-

1 Ibid., pp. 48, 49,

65

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ture by means of its predominance in the legisla-
tive 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 real
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 power-
ful in the chartered banks, and, till lately, shared
among themselves almost exclusively all offices of
trust and profit. The bulk of this party consists,
for the most part, of native-born inhabitants of
the colony, or of emigrants who settled in it
before the last war with the United States ; the
principal members of it belong to the Church of
England, and the maintenance of the claims of
that Church has always been one of its most dis-
tinguishing characteristics. A monopoly of power
so extensive and so lasting could not fail, in pro-
cess of time, to excite envy, create dissatisfaction
and ultimately provoke attack ; and an opposition
consequently grew up, in the assembly, which
assailed the ruling party by appealing to popular
principles of government, by denouncing the alleged
66

RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT

jobbing and profusion of the official body, and by-
instituting inquiries into abuses for the purpose of
promoting reform and especially economy."1

The crux of the existing political situation, the
radical remedy aimed at, and, as experience has
proved, the only effective one, the contrast in
this respect with the agitation in Lower Canada,
and the manner in which the official party,
although in a minority in parliament, despoiled
the Reformers of their popular victories in the
constituencies, are also clearly indicated. " The
struggle, though extending itself over a variety
of questions of more or less importance, avowedly
and distinctly rested on the demand for responsi-
bility in the executive government."2 . . . "It
was upon this question of the responsibility of
the executive council that the great struggle
has, for a long time, been carried on between
the official party and the Reformers ; for the
official party, like all parties long in power, was
naturally unwilling to submit itself to any such
responsibility as would abridge its tenure, or
cramp its exercise, of authority. Reluctant to
acknowledge any responsibility to the people of
the colony, this party appears to have paid a
somewhat refractory and nominal submission to
the imperial government — relying, in fact, on
securing a virtual independence by this nominal

1 Ibid., pp. 65, 66.

2 Ibid., p. 65.

67

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

submission to the distant authority of the colonial
department, or to the powers of a governor over
whose policy they were certain, by their facilities
of access, to obtain a paramount influence."1

"The Reformers, however, at last discovered that
success in the elections insured them very little
practical benefit; for the official party, not being
removed when it failed to command a majority
in the assembly, still continued to wield all the
powers of the executive government, to strengthen
itself by its patronage, and to influence the policy
of the colonial governor and of the colonial depart-
ment at home. By its secure majority in the
legislative council, it could effectually control the
legislative powers of the assembly. It could choose
its own moment for dissolving hostile assemblies;
and could always insure, for those that were
favourable to itself, the tenure of their seats for the
full term of four years allowed by the law. Thus
the Reformers found that their triumphs at
elections could not, in any way, facilitate the
progress of their views, while the executive govern-
ment remained constantly in the hands of their
opponents. They rightly judged that, if the higher
offices and executive council were always held
by those who could command a majority in the
assembly, the constitution of the legislative council
was a matter of very little moment; inasmuch
as the advisers of the governor could always take

I Ibid., p. 67.

68

THE OBJECT DESIRED

care that its composition should be modified so
as to suit their own purposes. They concentrated
their powers, therefore, for the purpose of obtain-
ing the responsibility of the executive council ; and
I cannot help contrasting the practical good sense
of the English Reformers of Upper Canada with
the less prudent course of the French majority
in the assembly of Lower Canada, as exhibited
in the different demands of constitutional change
most earnestly pressed by each. Both, in fact,
desired the same object ; namely, an extension
of popular influence in the government. The
assembly of Lower Canada attacked the legis-
lative council — a body of which the constitution
was certainly most open to obvious theoretical
objections on the part of all the advocates of
popular institutions, but, for the same reason,
most sure of finding powerful defendants at
home. The Reformers of Upper Canada paid
little attention to the composition of the legislative
council, and directed their exertions to obtaining
such an alteration of the executive council as
might have been obtained without any derange-
ment of the constitutional balance of power;
but they well knew that, if once they obtained
possession of the executive council and the higher
offices of the province, the legislative council
would soon be unable to offer any effectual resis-
tance to their meditated reforms."1

1 Ibid., pp. 66, 67.

69

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

One other salient feature of the constitution
of 1791, which, being fully discussed in a subsequent
chapter, calls only for a passing notice, is the series
of provisions creating the Clergy Reserves and
establishing a State Church in Canada.1 The lieu-
tenant-governor was empowered to make allotments
of land, in the proportion of one lot in seven in the
province, for the " support and maintenance of the
Protestant clergy," the rents arising therefrom to
be applicable to that purpose only. The expression
"Protestant Clergy" was at first construed to mean
the Anglican clergy solely, but the Church of
Scotland having been expressly recognized as a
"Protestant" church by the Act of Union of
England and Scotland, in 1706, the ministers of
that Church, in 1819, were held by the English
law-officers of the Crown to be considered as
"Protestant clergy," and so entitled to share in the
funds. The provisions concerning the Reserves
might be varied or repealed by the provincial par-
liament, but any enactments for that purpose had
to be approved by the English parliament before
being assented to by the king. Considering the
political influences of the time, and the manner
in which they were exercised, this reservation
constituted a strong protection and safeguard for
the church establishment.

The effect of these Church endowments upon
the religious denominations themselves, upon the

1 These are contained in sections 36 to 42, inclusive, of the Act.

70

THE CLERGY RESERVES

legislature, and throughout the whole country, was
most pernicious. In the opinion of many persons,
as remarked by Lord Durham in his Report, they
were one of the chief causes of the rebellion.
Durham speaks of them as " an abiding and un-
abating cause of discontent;" and concludes that
" the result of any determination on the part of the
English government or legislature to give one sect
a predominance and superiority would be, it might
be feared, not to secure the favoured sect, but to
endanger the loss of the colony, and, in vindicating
the exclusive pretensions of the English Church, to
hazard one of the fairest possessions of the British
Crown."1

It is unnecessary to consider any other provisions
of the Constitutional Act, because they were over-
shadowed in importance by those to which reference
has already been made. The constitutional question,
as it may well be called, was the vital question
during the period covered by the Act, and the
gravity of the constitutional question, in so far as
it affected popular parliamentary rule in the pro-
vince, may at once be seen by the insignificant
place occupied by the legislative assembly in the
order and authority of government. Briefly sum-
marized, the order was this : ( 1 ) A colonial secretary
in England who supervised the provincial govern-
ment; (2) a lieutenant-governor in the province
who acted under an imperial commission and in-

1 Report, pp. 76, 77.

71

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

structions ; (3) an executive council appointed by
the lieutenant-governor and responsible to him
alone ; (4) a legislative council composed of mem-
bers appointed for life by the lieutenant-governor ;
and (5) a legislative assembly elected by the people
on a limited franchise, and exercising little con-
trol over the finances and government of the
province.

This was the constitution under which the people
of Upper Canada were living when Mackenzie cast
in his lot with them in the year 1820. Its history
affords a fair illustration of the dictum of the old
Greek philosopher, that "a good constitution in
itself is not more necessary than men with proper
sympathies and understandings to administer it."
Admirable as it appeared in the broad pages of the
statute-book, no man of Mackenzie's intelligence
and discernment could fail to perceive what an ill-
constructed and mischievous machine it was in its
practical operation. He declared war against it, and
against the men who were upholding and defending
it for their own selfish ends — at first with modera-
tion, which developed into intense hostility, until at
last, with his life in his hands and at the sacrifice
of everything which life holds dear, he was con-
strained to strike the blow which compassed its
destruction.

It was a conflict of less than fourteen years, be-
cause Mackenzie's attitude was not publicly defined
until the appearance of the first number of the
72

EVILS OF EXISTING SYSTEM

Colonial Advocate in the early summer of 1824.
At that time the evils of the system of govern-
ment which had grown up under the new constitu-
tion were fully developed. Their name was legion.
Frequent collisions between the executive and the
legislative assembly, and between the assembly and
the legislative council ;* abuses of the provincial
grants for local public works ; a weak and unpopu-
lar administration of the royal prerogative ; interfer-
ence of the colonial department in the purely local
affairs of the province ;2 the irresponsibility of the ex-
ecutive council, and the absence of any division of the
public service into regular ministerial departments ;
the Clergy Reserves and the establishment of rec-
tories, and the fierce bitterness and strife to which

1 During the eight years preceding 1837, no fewer than three
hundred and twenty-five bills passed by the legislative assembly were
rejected by the legislative council — an average of more than forty
for each session. Making every allowance for the proper rejection
of some of them, the fact is cogent evidence of the direct and
perpetual conflict that prevailed between the two deliberative branches
of the legislature. It shows, as has been said, that "the Upper
House had no weight with the people, and the Lower House no
weight with the Crown."

2 In 1839, after Lord Durham had presented his Report to the
home government, Lord Glenelg, the colonial minister, expressed
the opinion that ' ' parliamentary legislation, on any subject of ex-
clusively internal concern to any British colony possessing a repre-
sentative assembly, is, as a general rule, unconstitutional. It is a
right of which the exercise is reserved for extreme cases, in which
necessity at once creates and justifies the exception." (Parliamentary
Papers, 1839, No. 118, p. 7.) This was really the first official acknowledg-
ment of the right of colonial self-government, and the cause of the
change of opinion is not hard to determine.

73

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

these gave rise ; the want, in a large part of the pro-
vince, of roads, post-offices, mills, schools and
churches ; the corrupt and wasteful appropriation
of the Crown lands ;x the lack of proper arrange-
ments for the reception and disposition of immi-
grants ; the Family Compact — another name for the
concentration of political power and patronage in

1 The method of granting public lands was one of the great evils
of the time. Under Governor Simcoe there were free grants of wild
lands to actual settlers, which was a good policy ; but, under his
successors, the public lands were used for enriching the favourites
of the government. Each member of the executive council was given
five thousand acres, and each of his children twelve hundred acres.
Favoured members of the legislative council and their children were
dealt with in the same liberal fashion ; other influential persons re-
ceived twelve hundred acres each. For the first thirty-five years under
the Constitutional Act, these grants were in the discretion of the
governor-in-council, which was shamefully abused. Thousands of acres,
whole townships, in fact, in some cases, were owned or controlled by
individual grantees. Grants were not unfrequently made to persons in
the service of the officials, and afterwards transferred to the officials
themselves or their children. One case on record is that of a three
days' old child of a member of the legislative council, to whom a grant
of a reserve, applied for, was actually made! Lord Durham gives the
following statement of the land grants : <{ In Upper Canada, 3,200,000
acres have been granted to f U. E. Loyalists,' being refugees from the
United States who settled in the province before 1787, and their
children ; 730,000 acres to militia men ; 45,000 acres to discharged
soldiers and sailors ; 255,000 acres to magistrates and barristers ;
136,000 acres to executive councillors and their families ; 36,900 acres
to clergymen, as private property ; 264,000 acres to persons con-
tracting to make surveys ; 92,526 acres to officers of the army and
navy ; 500,000 acres for the endowment of schools ; 48,520 acres to
Colonel Talbot ; 12,000 acres to the heirs of General Brock ; and
12,000 acres to Doctor Mountain, a former Bishop of Quebec ;
making altogether, with the Clergy Reserves, nearly half of all
the surveyed land in the province." Durham's Report, p. 94.

74

THE BANE AND THE ANTIDOTE

the hands of a few persons, and the tyranny, mal-
administration and manifold evils which it pro-
duced ; the appointment of military men as lieu-
tenant-governors ; the exorbitant salaries, for per-
functory services, of certain public officials ; the
union of judicial and legislative functions in the
same persons ; the appointment of judges and other
public officials during the pleasure of the executive
and not during good behaviour ; — these and an in-
calculable number of minor grievances, of which
they were the direct and inevitable cause, con-
stantly provoked the just resentment and chal-
lenged the attacks of the Reformers under Mac-
kenzie and the other Reform leaders of the
time. It was of these that Lord Durham wrote in
his Report, in which both the bane and the anti-
dote of the existing system are clearly indicated :
" Such are the lamentable results of the political
and social evils which have so long agitated the
Canadas ; and such is their condition that, at the
present moment, we are called on to take imme-
diate precautions against dangers so alarming as
those of rebellion, foreign invasion and utter ex-
haustion and depopulation. When I look on the
various and deep-seated causes of mischief which
the past inquiry has pointed out as existing in every
institution, in the constitutions, and in the very
composition of society throughout a great part of
these provinces, I almost shrink from the apparent
presumption of grappling with these gigantic diffi-

75

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

culties. Nor shall I attempt to do so in detail.
I rely on the efficacy of reform in the constitu-
tional system by which these colonies are governed,
for the removal of every abuse in their administra-
tion, which defective institutions have engendered.
If a system can be devised which shall lay, in these
countries, the foundation of an efficient and popular
government, ensure harmony in place of collision
between the various powers of the State, and bring
the influence of a vigorous public opinion to bear
on every detail of public affairs, we may rely on
sufficient remedies being found for the present

vices of the administrative system

"We are not now to consider the policy of
establishing representative government in the
North American colonies. That has been ir-
revocably done; and the experiment of depriving
the people of their present constitutional power
is not to be thought of. To conduct their govern-
ment harmoniously, in accordance with its estab-
lished principles, is now the business of its rulers,
and I know not how it is possible to secure that
harmony in any other way than by administering
the government on those principles which have
been found perfectly efficacious in Great Britain.
I would not impair a single prerogative of the
Crown ; on the contrary, I believe that the interests
of the people of these colonies require the pro-
tection of prerogatives which have not hitherto
been exercised. But the Crown must, on the other
76

MACKENZIE'S JUSTIFICATION

hand, submit to the necessary consequences of
representative institutions, and if it has to carry-
on the government in union with a representative
body, it must consent to carry it on by means
of those in whom that representative body has
confidence."1

After all, the strongest justification of Mackenzie
and the Reformers of his time, apart from the facts
and transactions themselves, is this exhaustive
statement on the affairs of British North America
presented to the home government by Lord
Durham at the close of his brief administration in
Canada. The Report is beyond praise. It is one
of the classics of British political literature, and a
splendid addition to the many famous State papers
in the archives of the nation. The masterly analysis
of the whole situation, the grasp of conditions,
the exposition of principles and the practical
wisdom embodied in the Report, and its far-
reaching influence on British colonial government,
are great and enviable monuments to its illustrious
author. Reading between the lines one can easily
see the painful impression produced on his mind
by his investigation of affairs in Canada at that
time, yet there is, in the language and tone of
the whole document, a restraint of feeling and
reserve of censure, and a fairness and moderation
of statement and conclusion, which are admirable
in the extreme. A more finished, instructive and

1 Report, pp. 118, 119.

77

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

thoroughly judicial deliverance, on the many and
difficult questions of a great controversy, has never
been made by any British statesman. " The
Report," writes one who has done justice to the
character and work of Durham and the memorable
part which he played in the annals of the Empire,
"was a noble and far-sighted plea for autonomy
and equality. Durham, to borrow his own words,
sought to turn Canada from a 'barren and injurious
sovereignty' into 'one of the brightest ornaments
in the young Queen's Crown.' The Durham Report
brought about, not merely the union of two
distracted provinces, but gave the people of
Canada self-government, without imperilling a
single prerogative of the throne. It marked a
new era in the relation of England to her
colonies ; for the broad and philosophic principles
upon which it was based were capable, as after
years have shown, of application to similar problems
of government in almost every quarter of the
globe. Its outcome was not only the redress of
political grievances, or even the creation of new
and splendid opportunities for adventurous but
loyal sons of England under other skies ; it was
all this, but it was more. It was the recognition,
based on the knowledge, inspired by sympathy,
and made luminous by moral vision, that the
authority of the mother country rested on other
than material ascendency. Lord Durham appealed
to the sentiments and ideals of men, and laid,
78

ANALOGY OF GRIEVANCE REPORT

four-square to all the winds that blow, the
foundations, not only of that great Dominion,
which he did not live to see, but also of that
passionate loyalty — a veritable union of hearts —
which served England well in recent years of
warfare and of peril."1 "Canada will one day do
justice to my memory," were the dying words
of this famous constitutional reformer. The day
has long since come, and the radiance of its
gratitude will never be dimmed.

For the conclusions and findings of Lord Durham
in this celebrated Report, Mackenzie is fairly en-
titled to a large share of credit. Long before
Durham's State paper was laid before the British
parliament, Mackenzie had prepared the "Seventh
Report on Grievances" for the information of the
imperial authorities. It no doubt contained con-
siderable matter which was irrelevant from an
imperial standpoint, although not so considered by
the author, who, in his narrative based on the
knowledge and experience of thousands of persons
on the spot, was naturally anxious to recite every
material fact and circumstance, however insig-
nificant. Durham, as we know, made independent
inquiries for the information on which his Report
was formulated, but he certainly profited largely
from Mackenzie's labours. A perusal and com-
parison of the two documents shows that, with

1 Stuart J. Reid, Life and Letters of Lord Durham (1906), pp. 337,
338.

79

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

some few exceptions, the statements of fact as to
political and economic conditions in the province,
and the remedies and recommendations proposed
for their amelioration and improvement, are sub-
stantially the same. The control of the Crown
lands, which had been one of the most fruitful
sources of official favouritism and corruption, was
perhaps the most important question upon which
the two men differed, Mackenzie as a home ruler
favouring local, and Durham imperial, control ; but,
so far as the constitutional changes were concerned,
they were both of one mind as to the true and
imperative remedy. The fact that the two reports
support and corroborate each other gives weight
and value to both of them as historical and con-
stitutional documents, and fully justifies, if any jus-
tification were necessary, the position of Mackenzie
and the Reform party with respect to the whole
bill of indictment against the existing system.

One of the arguments which the Reformers had
to meet in their controversies with the official
party, during this period, was derived from the
Constitutional Act itself. The Act, it was said, was
silent on the question of executive responsibility.
The argument would have been just as cogent with
respect to the Union Act, 1840,1 which was based
on Lord Durham's Report, or to the British North
America Act, 1867,2 because there is no provision

1 3-4 Vict., c. 35.

2 30-31 Vict., c. 3.

80

EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITY

on the subject in either of those statutes. Nor was
any such provision necessary, so far as the Con-
stitutional Act was concerned. The question was
one in regard to which, as Lord John Russell said,
the Act was "necessarily silent." This point did
not escape the attention of Lord Durham, who
shows very clearly that a change of policy in the
provincial government might be effected by a
single despatch to the governor-general containing
instructions, coupled with an assurance on His
Excellency's part, that the government of the
province "should henceforth be carried on in con-
formity with the views of the majority in the
assembly." Durham's argument on the question
was followed up by a distinct recommendation
that "the responsibility to the united legislature of
all officers of the government, except the governor
and his secretary, should be secured by every
means known to the British constitution. The
governor, as the representative of the Crown, should
be instructed that he must carry on his government
by heads of departments, in whom the united
legislature shall repose confidence; and that he
must look for no support from home in any contest
with the legislature, except on points involving
strictly imperial interests."1 The "assurance" and
" instructions," referred to by Lord Durham, were
subsequently conveyed by Lord John Russell in
despatches dated September 7th and October 14th,

1 Report, p. 139.

81

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

1839, to Lord Sydenham, the first governor-general
of the united province.1

The authorship of Lord Durham's Report, which
has given rise to some controversy, appears to be
satisfactorily settled by his biographer. " It would
be idle," Mr. Stuart J. Reid says, "to ignore the
oft-repeated statement that Durham did not write
the Report which bears his name. It rests on mere
hearsay evidence at best, and is untrue, and there-
fore unjust." He proceeds to show that the story
originated with Lord Brougham, Durham's most
vindictive enemy, whose testimony is worthless.
Brougham attributed the work to Gibbon Wake-
field and Charles Buller, both of whom accom-
panied Durham to Canada, Buller as Durham's
secretary. " Buller, in process of time, obtained
the credit of the whole production. The late Henry
Reeves was reponsible for this, perhaps more than
any one else, by a foot-note which he inserted in
the Grewlle Memoirs, He gives no authority what-
ever for the statement, and it may, therefore, be
dismissed as gossip, which, after floating about the
world for a generation or more uncontradicted, was
accepted as historical fact. Gibbon Wakefield, so
far as is known, never claimed the authorship of the
Report. Charles Buller, so far from doing so, ac-
tually denounced as a * groundless assertion ' the
view that Lord Durham did not write it. This de-
claration was made in the pages of the Edinburgh

1 See Journals of Legislative Assembly, 1841, pp. 390-6.

82

AUTHORSHIP OF DURHAM'S REPORT

Review, in an article on Canadian affairs, which was
unsigned. It is now possible to state with authority,
that that article was actually written by Charles
Buller, and, therefore, though even in the Diction-
ary of National Biography he is credited with the
authorship of the Report, the statement, on his own
showing, falls to the ground. It may be further
added that, in the unprinted Sketch of Lord Dur-
ham's Mission to Canada, Buller speaks at some
length of the Report, expresses admiration of its
contents, and, by no single phrase or even word,
hints that he was responsible for it. Unless the
present writer is greatly mistaken, such a claim was
never made in Buller 's lifetime; if it had been, he
would instantly have repudiated it. The truth is,
the Report, so far as the facts which it embodied
were concerned, was necessarily to a large extent
the work of Durham's assistants. Buller, Wakefield,
Turton and lesser men, all had a hand in gathering
the materials for it. Durham himself admitted as
much in one of his last speeches in the House of
Lords, where he paid a generous tribute to the men
who, under his directions, had accumulated the
evidence which he turned to such memorable ac-
count in this great State paper."1

1 Stuart J. Reid, Life and Letters of Lord Durham (1900), Vol. ii.
pp. 338, 340, 341.

83

CHAPTER IV

"THE COLONIAL ADVOCATE"

WHEN Mackenzie abandoned trade for poli-
tics, he was doing well, and had done well
ever since he commenced business. A perseverance
in the career on which he had entered four years
before would have led to wealth. In the first num-
ber of the Colonial Advocate, published at Queens-
ton on May 18th, 1824, he describes himself as
being "as independent as editors can well be." The
step which he had now taken was one of the most
important in his whole career, since it involved
everything that followed. Why did he take it?
Fortunately the answer can be given in his own
words. Writing from the United States to a friend,
after the rebellion, he says : —

"When you and your father knew me first, in
1820, I was a young man connected with trade in
York and Dundas. The prudent, judicious, and
very profitable manner in which I conducted, alone,
the partnership concerns of a large trading estab-
lishment at the head of Lake Ontario, surely af-
forded satisfactory evidence that I had no occasion
to leave my private pursuits for the stormy sea of
politics with a view to the improvement of my pe-
cuniary prospects. When I did so, and assumed, as
the westernmost journalist in the British domin-

85

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ions on the continent of America, the office of a
public censor, I had no personal enemies, but was
on friendly terms with many of the men whom
since then I have steadily opposed. I never inter-
fered in the public concerns of the colony in the
most remote degree, until the day on which I
issued twelve hundred copies of a newspaper with-
out having asked or received a single subscriber. In
that number I stated my sentiments, and the ob-
jects I had in view, fully and frankly. I had long
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; dissen-
sion was created among classes; citizens were ban-
ished 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 digni-
taries of the Roman Catholic Church had had the
control of in Scotland at the era of the Reforma-
tion; 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
86

UPJPER CANADA IN 1820

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. So far as I or any other pro-
fessed Reformer was concerned in inviting citizens
of this union to interfere in Canadian affairs, there
was culpable error. So far as any of us, at any time,
may have supposed that the cause of freedom
would be advanced by adding the Canadas to this
Confederation, we were under the merest delu-
sion.

This picture of Upper Canada in 1820 may be
highly coloured ; but in the general outlines, repul-
sive as they are, there is too much truth. The lim-
ner lived to see a change of system in Canada; and
after he had had a more than theoretical experience
of democracy in the United States — having resided
there for several years — he warns Canadians not to
be misled by the delusion that the cause of liberty
would be advanced by uniting these provinces to the
American republic. When we come to see at what
price he purchased the experience which entitled
him to express such an opinion, the value of this
admonition cannot fail to be enhanced in the esti-
mation of all unprejudiced judges.

87

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

In some respects the condition of the province
in 1820 was worse than Mackenzie described it.
He dealt only with its political condition ; but the
absence of demand for employment made wretched
those who depended solely upon their labour for
subsistence. When Lord Hamilton suggested, in
the House of Commons in 1820, that an emigra-
tion to the North American colonies would be the
most effectual means of relieving distress at home,
the Chancellor of the Exchequer replied that the
emigrants who had recently gone there, "so far
from rinding increased means of subsistence, had
experienced a want of employment fully equal to
that which existed in the most distressed manufac-
turing districts of this country. The North Ameri-
can provinces of Great Britain had been so over-
loaded with emigrants that the government of
Canada had made the strongest remonstrances to
the government of this country on the subject."

The condition of things otherwise was very
unsatisfactory. Protest against existing abuses
seemed impossible ; public meetings, the actors
in which had been deputed to represent any por-
tion of the electors, were illegal ; and everything in
the shape of a convention was held to be sedi-
tious. A provincial statute known as the Alien Act,
passed in 1804, made it possible to arrest any per-
son, who had not been an inhabitant of the province
for six months and who had not taken the oath of
allegiance, on the mere suspicion that he was "about
88

THE ALIEN ACT, 1804

to endeavour to alienate the minds of His Majesty's
subjects from his person or government, or in any
wise with a seditious intent to disturb the tranquil-
lity thereof." If such a person failed to prove his
innocence, he must, on notification, quit the province
within a named time, failing which he might be
formally tried. On trial, if adjudged guilty, he was
to be ordered to quit the province, and if he did
not do so, he was deemed guilty of a felony and to
suffer death as a felon without benefit of clergy.

Robert Gourlay, an educated Scotsman, son of
a gentleman of considerable fortune, and who
was reputed to be the best informed man in
the kingdom respecting the poor of Great Britain,
came to Canada in 1817, where he and his wife
owned land in the county of Oxford. Having
studied the existing conditions in Upper Canada,
he began to discuss them by writings and speeches
in a manner that had not before been heard
in the province. In his voluminous writings, he
was careful to confine himself to statements of
fact and to avoid exaggeration. He aroused
public indignation to a high degree against the
ruling party. The Compact decided on his de-
struction, and a criminal prosecution for libel fol-
lowed. He was tried at Kingston after arrest, but
found not guilty. He was arrested again on a simi-
lar charge, and tried and acquitted at Brockville.
The prisoner conducted his own defence. The al-
leged libel occurred in two paragraphs of a petition

89

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

to the Prince Regent, drafted by Gourlay, and ap-
proved of, printed and published by sixteen resi-
dents of the Niagara district, six of whom were
magistrates.

But matters were not to rest here. Perjured evi-
dence was procured against him, and as members
of the legislative council were permitted to set the
law in motion under the Alien Act, William Dick-
son and William Claus, magistrates and members of
the council, brought him to trial before themselves
under the Act, and adjudged that he should leave
the province within ten days. This order he refused
to obey. "I resolved," he says, "to endure any
hardship rather than to submit voluntarily." Thir-
teen days after, on January 4th, 1819, the same
magistrates issued an order for commitment, un-
der which he was arrested and confined in Niagara
gaol until he could be tried at the next sittings of
the court of general gaol delivery. Meantime, being
brought before Chief Justice Powell on a writ of
habeas corpus, affidavits of respectable persons were
read declaring him to be a natural-born British
subject, domiciled for the previous nine months at
Queenston in Upper Canada, and affirming that he
was respected and esteemed and that he had taken
the oath of allegiance. But he was remanded to
gaol to await trial.

"After two months confinement," he wrote, "in
one of the cells of the gaol, my health began to
suffer, and, on complaint of this, the liberty of
90

THE CASE OF ROBERT GOURLAY

walking through the passages and sitting at the
door was granted. This liberty prevented my get-
ting 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 magis-
trates 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 gaol, and see
that all was right with the prisoners. I prepared a
memorial for their consideration, but on this occa-
sion 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 chair-
man of the Sessions happened to be the brother of
one of those who had signed my commitment, and
the court broke up without my obtaining the small-
est 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 con-
nect my ideas through any length of reasoning but
by writing, which many days I was wholly unfitted
for by the violence of continual headache." The
jury was irregularly drawn from "a line of nearly

91

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

twenty miles, along which it was well known that
there was the greatest number of people pre-
judiced and influenced against me," l

After more than seven months confinement,
Chief Justice Powell, on August 20th, 1819, pro-
ceeded with the trial, John Beverley Robinson
acting as prosecuting attorney. No attempt was
made to convict Gourlay of sedition ; the only
charge that was pressed against him was his refusal
to leave the province. His condition, when brought
into court, was that of a broken-down man bereft
of reason, and though he had prepared a written
defence, which he had in his pocket, he could
not remember what he had done with it. He had
obtained the opinion of several eminent English
counsel that his imprisonment was wholly unjus-
tifiable, and Sir Arthur Peggott was convinced
that he should have been discharged under the
writ of habeas corpus. He was found guilty —
guilty of not having left the province. On being
asked if he had anything to say why the sentence
of the court should not be passed on him, he burst
into a "loud, strident peal of unmeaning, maniacal
laughter." The sentence of the court was that he
must leave the province within twenty-four hours,
and he was reminded of the risk he would run in
disobeying, or in returning later to Upper Canada ;
that is to suffer death as a felon, without benefit of
clergy. That day he crossed the Niagara River — an

1 Gourlay's Statistical Account of Upper Canada. Gen. Int. xiii.

92

GOURLAY BANISHED

exile. "I thanked God," he wrote several years after-
wards, "as I set my first foot on the American
shore, that I trod on a land of freedom." Such were
the methods adopted by the ruling faction in 1819
to put down public discussion.

The object of a convention which was held at
York, in 1818, was to arrange for sending commis-
sioners to England to bring before the imperial
authorities the condition of the province, with a
view to its amelioration. Colonel Beardley of Ham-
ilton, the chairman, was tried by court-martial and
deprived of his commission. Among the delegates,
there were many who had shown their attachment
to their sovereign during the War of 1812. The
lands to which they were entitled, as bounty, were
withheld from them on account of their presence
at that assemblage. A very difficult and irritating
question also arose of the state of the naturalization
laws as they affected persons of British birth who
had remained in the United States till after 1783,
and then came to settle in the province. Of the
post-office revenue, no account was given; and, in
return for high rates of postage, the service was very
indifferently performed.

With what opinions did the future leader of an
insurrection, which it cost many millions of dol-
lars to quell, set out? Was he a fierce Democrat,
who had resolved, with malice prepense, to do all in
his power to overthrow those monarchical institu-
tions which had suffered gross abuse at the hands

93

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of those to whom their working had been confided?
No prospectus having gone forth as an avant cour-
rier of the Colonial Advocate, the first number of
the journal, which was in octavo form, was devoted
chiefly to an exposition of the principles of the
editor. The range of topics embraced was wide, and
the tone of discussion, free from the bitterness
that marked his later writing, was frank. A Calvin-
ist in religion, proclaiming his belief in the West-
minster Confession of Faith, and a Liberal in poli-
tics, yet was Mackenzie, at that time, no advocate
of the voluntary principle. On the contrary, he
lauded the British government for making a landed
endowment of the Protestant clergy in the prov-
inces, and was shocked at the report that, in 1812,
voluntaryism had robbed three millions of people
of all means of religious ordinances. " In no part of
the constitution of the Canadas," he said, "is the
wisdom of the British legislature more apparent
than in its setting apart a portion of the country,
while yet it remained a wilderness, for the support
of religion." Mackenzie compared the setting apart
of one-seventh of the public lands for religious
purposes to a like dedication in the time of the
Christians. But he objected that the revenues were
monopolized by one Church, to which only a frac-
tion of the population belonged. The envy of the
non-recipient denominations made the favoured
Church of England unpopular. Though this distri-
bution of the revenues was manifestly in accordance
94

THE ADVOCATES SALUTATORY

with the law creating the Reserves, the alteration
of that law, if it should not meet the wishes of the
people, had been contemplated and provided for
by its framers. By this argument Mackenzie was
easily brought to the conclusion "that Catholic and
Protestant, Episcopalian and Presbyterian, Metho-
dist and Baptist, Quaker and Tunker, deserve to
share alike in the income of these lands;" and he
expressed a hope that a law would be enacted "by
which the ministers of every body of professing
Christians, being British subjects, shall receive
equal benefits from these Clergy Reserves." But
this was not to be; for agitation on the question
was to be directed to the abrogation, not the equal
division, of these reservations.

On this question, the conservative character of
Mackenzie's opinions was found to be out of har-
mony with the general sentiment, as it gradually
unfolded itself, and his own opinions changed. As
the subject was more discussed, he saw reason to
change them. On another question — that of estab-
lishing a provincial university — he contended for a
principle, the adoption of which would have prevent-
ed a great deal of subsequent difficulty. Cordially
seconding the proposal of Dr. Strachan to establish
such an institution, he predicted that it would
attract but few students and not answer the pur-
pose for which it was required "if tied down by
tests and oaths to support particular dogmas." This
warning was unheeded, and, for the reasons he had

95

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

given, the university had to be turned upside down
a quarter of a century afterwards.

The executive government, the legislative coun-
cil, the bench, the bar, the Church, all came in for a
share of attention. Lieutenant-Governor Sir Pere-
grine Maitland, a son-in-law of the then governor-
general of Canada, the fourth Duke of Richmond,
was disadvantageously compared to De Witt Clin-
ton, of the state of New York. The members of the
executive, apparently for no sound reason, were
described as "foreigners." The legislative council, a
majority of whose members held offices under the
Crown, and were even pluralists in a small way,
were represented as being "always selected from
the tools of servile power." The dependent position
of the judges, being removable at the pleasure of
the executive, was lamented. As for the Church
which claimed to be the established religion of the
country, its ministers were declared to be not of
that class who endure persecution for conscience'
sake. The bar was admitted to have four righteous
members, and might, therefore, be considered to be
in a hopeful condition.

• In so many words, the young journalist volun-
teered a disclaimer, by way of anticipation, of being
a Radical Reformer. He had joined no Spafield
mobs. He had never benefited by the harangues
of Hunt, Cobbett, or Watson. He was not even
chargeable with being a follower of Gourlay, who
had already rendered himself odious to the ruling
96

HIS BANISHMENT SUGGESTED

faction. With none of these sins was Mackenzie
chargeable. And though he was a warm Reformer,
he "never wished to see British America an ap-
pendage of the American union." American liberty-
was good, but British liberty was better. From the
Americans we might learn something of the art of
agriculture; but of government nothing. Yet our
own system of cross-purposes required reformation.
The proposed Union Bill of 1818 had been rightly
rejected, and the only desirable union was one of
all the British American colonies. The law of pri-
mogeniture was condemned.

Such were the views promulgated by the young
journalist at the outset of his career. Yet, moderate
and even conservative as they were on many points,
an organ of the official party suggested that he
should be banished from the province, and the whole
edition seized. We look upon them now as being,
for the most part, moderate and rational. The views
which he expressed in reference to a provincial uni-
versity, before it had been brought into existence,
afterwards came in the shape of a reform, the fruit
of a long and bitter controversy. Members of the
legislature no longer hold subordinate offices, much
less are they pluralists. The judges hold their offices
for life, and are not removable at the pleasure of
the executive. The executive council can only be
composed of such men as can obtain the favour of
a legislative majority. The Church of England,
having no exclusive privileges and making no pre-

97

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

tensions to dominancy, no longer excites jealousy,
envy, or hatred. All the provinces of British Am-
erica have been united under one government. The
right of primogeniture has been abolished, and in-
testate estates are equally distributed among the
children. The mode of administering the govern-
ment has been so revolutionized as to be equivalent
to a complete change of system. The game of cross-
purposes, of which Mackenzie complained, is no
longer played between two branches of the legisla-
ture, or between the popular branch and the execu-
tive.

Something new under the sun had appeared in
the newspaper world of Upper Canada. To official
gazettes containing a little news, and semi-official
sheets, which had the intense admiration of the rul-
ing oligarchy, little York had previously been accus-
tomed. To newspaper criticism, the executive had
not been inured; and it was determined that the
audacity of the new journal should be rebuked. In
spite of all his protestations, Mackenzie was called
upon to defend himself against an imputation of dis-
loyalty; and, judging from his reply, he appears to
have felt this as one of the most galling, and at the
same time one of the most untrue, accusations that
could have been made against him. A Mackenzie
disloyal! In the annals of the whole clan no record
of so unnatural a monster could be found. On June
10th, 1824, Mackenzie replied at great length. A
part of this reply has already been given in the way
98

ANSWERS DISLOYALTY CHARGE

of family history; and the more material parts of
the remainder must not be omitted.

"Had Mr. Fothergill not been pleased to accuse
me in plain terms of democracy, disloyalty, and
foul play, I should not have devoted so much of
this number to party argument. It is necessary for
me, however, when my good name is so unexpect-
edly and rudely assailed, in the first place, to deny,
in plain and positive terms, such a charge; it will
then accord with my duty, as well as with my in-
clination, to inquire how far he or any man is en-
titled, from any observations of mine, to advance
such statements as appear in the official papers of
the 27th ult. and 3rd instant.

"I consider it the bounden duty of every man
who conducts a public newspaper, to endeavour to
so regulate his own conduct in private life that the
observations he may publicly make on the words
and actions of others, may not lose their weight
and influence on being contrasted with his own
behaviour, whether as the head of a family or as an
individual member of society. Were I a native of
the village in which I now write, or of the district
in which it is situated, the whole of my past life
could be fairly referred to as a refutation, or as
a corroboration, of what he has urged against me ;
but as that is not the case, this being only the fifth
year of my residence in Canada, I must refer to
that residence, and to such other circumstances
as I may consider best calculated to do away with

99 -

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the injurious impression that will be raised in the
minds of those who do not know me, and who may,
therefore, be unjustly biased by his erroneous state-
ments. I will, in the first instance, refer to every
page of the four numbers of the Advocate now
before the public; I may ask every impartial
reader, nay, I may even ask Mr. Robinson1 him-
self (that is, if he has any judgment in such
matters), whether they do not, in every line, speak
the language of a free and independent British
subject ? I may ask whether I have not en-
deavoured, by every just means, to discourage
the unprofitable, unsocial system of the local
governments, so detrimental to British and colonial
interests, and which has been productive of so much
misery to these colonies ? Whether I have not en-
deavoured to inculcate in all my readers that god-
like maxim of the illustrious British patriot, Charles
James Fox, that * that government alone is strong
that has the hearts of the people.'? It is true, my
loyalty has not descended so low as to degenerate
into a base, fawning, cringing servility. I may
honour my sovereign, surely, and remember the
ruler of my people with the respect that is due
unto his name and rank, without allowing my
deportment to be equally respectful and humble to
His Majesty's butcher, or his baker, his barber, or
his tailor ! . . .

" It may be proper that I should for this once

1 Then attorney-general.

100

COMPLAINS OF SLANDER

add a few other reasons why disloyalty can never
enter my breast ; even the name I bear has in all
ages proved talismanic, an insurmountable barrier.
There are many persons in this very colony who
have known me from infancy, so that what I may
say there or here can easily be proved or disproved
if it should ever become of consequence enough to
deserve investigation. If Mr. Fothergill can find
that any one who bears the name which, from both
parents, I inherit, if he can find only one Mackenzie,
and they are a very extensive clan, whether a rela-
tion of mine or otherwise, whether of patrician, or
(as he terms me) of plebeian birth, who has ever
deserted or proved disloyal to his sovereign in the
hour of danger, even I will allow that he had the
shadow of a reason for his false and slanderous im-
putations ; but if in this research he fails, I hope,
for the sake of truth and justice, for the honour of
the Canadian press, for the sake of the respect-
ability of that official journal of which he has the
management, if not for mine which never wronged
him, that he will instantly retract a charge, which,
to say the least of it, is as foolish and groundless as
the observations he has connected with it are vain
and futile. Only think of the consequences which
might result from owing allegiance to a foreign
government; think that in a few short weeks, or it
may be years, one might be called on, upon the
sanctity of an oath, to wage war against all that
from childhood upwards he had held most dear ; to

101

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

go forth in battle array against the heritage of his
ancestors, his kindred, his friends, and his acquaint-
ances ; to become instrumental in the subjugation,
by fire and sword, to foreigners, of the fields, the
cities, the mausoleums of his forefathers — aye, per-
haps in the heat of battle, it might be his lot to
plunge the deadly blade into the breast of a father,
or a brother, or an only child. Surely this picture is
not overcharged. In our days it stands on record as
having been verified."

There is no reason, not even in the subsequent
history of Mackenzie, to doubt the sincerity with
which these protestations were made. Years after,
in a letter to Lord Dalhousie, governor- in-chief,
he went so far as to suggest the possible return to
their allegiance to England of the United States,
if it were once understood that the full rights of
British subjects were to be conferred upon the
colonies. And he constantly raised a warning voice
to show the danger of a persistent refusal to give
to colonists the full enjoyment of those rights. His
nature had evidently to undergo a great change be-
fore he could become a leader of insurrection.

Mr. Fothergill does not appear to have shown any
disposition to prolong the personal contest he had
provoked; and he afterwards in the legislature be-
came an advocate of the man he had at first made a
personal antagonist. In December, 1826, we find
him moving in the assembly that a small sum be
paid to Mackenzie for the reports of the debates he
102

NO GOVERNMENT PATRONAGE

had published. This, he said, would help to draw
attention in the proper quarter to our country. It
was plain that newspapers which assumed anything
like independence in their principles or feelings
were, in Upper Canada, totally excluded from
benefiting by any advertising over which the
government had control. He thought the news-
papers furnished, and the bills, resolutions, etc., re-
ported by the editor of the Advocate, were fully as
useful to the country, and as deserving of payment
from the funds of the people, as were the procla-
mations for which the Kingston Chronicle received
£45 the year before from the casual revenues of
the Crown.

The motion for granting Mackenzie £37 16s.
was carried ; but the lieutenant-governor struck
the item out of the contingencies, and it was not
paid. Mr. Fothergill, having had experience of
newspaper publishing, was no indifferent judge
of the difficulties he described. The advance post-
age payment by the publishers on every weekly
paper, for the yearly output, must have been next
to a prohibition of newspapers; and we may be
sure that they were regarded with no friendly
eye by the government. While postage was ex-
acted on Canadian newspapers in advance of their
transmission, United States papers were allowed
to come into the province without being prepaid,
an anomaly characterized by Mackenzie as a pre-
mium upon democratic principles, and a not in-

103

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

effectual method of revolutionizing opinion in the
Canadas.

A union of all the British American colonies had
few earlier advocates than Mackenzie. In a letter
to the Right Hon. George Canning, dated June
10th, 1824, he writes:—

. . . "A union of all the colonies, with a govern-
ment suitably poised and modelled so as to have
under its eye the resources of our whole territory,
and having the means in its power to administer
impartial justice in all its bounds, to no one part at
the expense of another, would require few boons
from Britain, and would advance her interests much
more in a few years than the bare right of posses-
sion of a barren, uncultivated wilderness of lake
and forest, with some three or four inhabitants to
the square mile, can do in centuries. A colonial
marine can only be created by a foreign trade aided
by free and beneficial institutions; these, indeed,
would create it as if by the wand of an enchanter.
If that marine is not brought into being; if that
trade, foreign and domestic, continues much longer
shackled by supreme neglect, and by seven inferior
sets of legislative bodies reigning like so many
petty kings during the Saxon heptarchy, England
may yet have cause to rue the day when she ne-
glected to raise that only barrier or counterpoise to
republican power which could in the end have best
guarded and maintained her interests. . . .

"British members of parliament and political
104

ADVOCATES CONFEDERATION

writers who talk of giving the colonies complete
independence now, either know not that our popu-
lation and resources would prove very insufficient
to preserve our freedom, were it menaced, or else
they desire to see the sway of England's most for-
midable rival extended over the whole of the vast
regions of the North American continent."

Nor was this a mere casual expression of opinion,
for, on December 14th, 1826, his journal continued
the advocacy of this measure under the head of " A
Confederation of the British North American Col-

onies."

Some years before, the colonial department had
had this union under consideration, and, in 1822,
John Beverley Robinson, at the request of the im-
perial authorities, gave his opinions at length on a
plan of union that had been proposed.1 He thought
he saw many advantages in such a union; but the
imperial government appear to have entertained a
fear that it would lead to the colonies combining
against the mother country, a fear not entertained
by Mr. Robinson. The question attracted some
attention in Nova Scotia about the same time, and
Thomas C. Haliburton wrote a pamphlet in which
union was advocated.

In July, 1824, soon after Mackenzie had entered
on the career of a journalist, a general election
came on. The result, a majority opposed to the
executive, there is no reason to believe was much

1 Canada and the Canada Bill, 1840.

105

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

affected by his writings, since he had issued only a
few numbers of his paper. There had been a great
change in the personnel of the House. Only sixteen
members of the previous assembly had been re-
elected; there were twenty-six new members. In
the new House the government was destined to be
confronted by large majorities, even on their own
measures, but the principle of executive respon-
sibility was not acknowledged, and no question of
ministerial resignation ever followed a defeat.

The House met on January 11th, 1825. As the
session approached, Mackenzie saw reasons for re-
moving his establishment to York, then the seat of
the government for Upper Canada. A paper pub-
lished at Queenston must necessarily reproduce
stale accounts of the legislative proceedings. It was
doubtful whether any newspaper, which had then
been published in Upper Canada, had repaid the
proprietor the cost of its production. Any publisher
who sent a thousand sheets through the post-office
must pay eight hundred dollars a year postage,
quarterly in advance. Postmasters received nothing
for distributing newspapers, and were accordingly
careless about their delivery. Since 1821, Francis
Collins had furnished the principal reports of the
legislative debates ; but it is in evidence that, up to
1827, the operation of publishing them had never
been remunerative. The new House paid a re-
porter one hundred pounds for reporting during
the session, the reports to be delivered to the
106

PARLIAMENTARY REPORTS

papers for publication, unless the committee on
printing should exercise the arbitrary discretion of
refusing to allow any particular report to be printed.
While these reports were permitted to be published
in the Observer, they refused to allow them to
appear in the Advocate. The question came up in
the House, and, although there was no decision
upon it, the exclusion was not long maintained.
The spite against the Advocate was carried to great
lengths. During the ceremony of re-interring the re-
mains of General Brock at Queenston Heights on
September 13th, 1824, some person, in the absence
of Mackenzie, put into a hole in the rock at the
foundation of the monument a bottle, which he had
filled with coins and newspapers, and among which
was a single number of the Advocate. When the
fact became known to the authorities, the founda-
tion was ordered to be torn up and the obnoxious
paper taken out, so that the ghost of the immortal
warrior might not be disturbed by its presence,
and the structure not be rendered insecure !

Adding a bookstore to his publishing house, Mac-
kenzie at one time entertained the idea of relying
principally on the printing of books, and the issu-
ing of a political sheet occasionally. The Advocate
had not indeed appeared with strict regularity,
only twenty numbers having been published in six
months. Some numbers had, after several weeks,
been reprinted, and others continued to be asked
for after they could be supplied. The last number

107

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of the Advocate published at Queenston, bears
date November 18th, 1824; and the first number
printed in York appeared on the twenty-fifth of
the same month. In January, 1825, its circulation
was stated at eight hundred and thirty.

The first trial of party strength, if such the
election of Speaker could be considered, seemed to
indicate a pretty well-balanced House, the vote
being twenty-one against nineteen ; but, upon other
questions, the government minority shrank to much
smaller dimensions. John Willson, of Wentworth,
had become the successor of Speaker Sherwood.
The Reformes were in ecstasies. "The result of this
election," said Mackenzie, "will gladden the heart,
and sweeten the cup, of many a Canadian peasant
in the midst of his toil." The advantage of such
a victory must, however, be very small, under a
condition of things which permitted the advisers of
the sovereign's representative to keep their places
in spite of a permanently hostile legislative major-
ity. Not only were ministers not responsible to the
House, they did not admit that they had any
collective responsibility at all. The attorney -general
said, in his place in the House, "he was at a loss to
know what the learned member from Middlesex
meant by a prime minister and a cabinet; there
was no cabinet ; he sat in that House to deliver his
opinions on his own responsibility ; he was under
no out-door influence whatever."

All eyes were turned towards the governor ; and,
108

WOE TO THE CANDID EDITOR

as there was no responsible ministry to stand be-
tween him and public censure, the authority of the
Crown, which he represented, could not fail to be
weakened by the criticism of executive acts. The
new House was described by Mackenzie as being
chiefly composed of men who appeared to act from
principle, and were indefatigable in the discharge
of their duties.

The Advocate, at the end of a year after its com-
mencement, had appeared forty-three times. The
subscribers, who were accounted with at the rate
of fifty-two numbers for a year, were warned that
they must not expect any greater regularity in
future. One year's experience had taught the pro-
prietor that "the editor in Canada who, in the
state the province was then in, will attempt freely
to hazard an opinion on the merits and demerits of
public men, woe be to him ! By the implied consent
of King, Lords and Commons, he is doomed to
speedy shipwreck, unless a merciful Providence
should open his eyes in time, and his good genius
prompt him ■ to hurl press and types to the bottom
of Lake Ontario.'" In any event, the experiment
must have been a hazardous one in a country where
the population was scattered over a very wide ex-
tent of territory, and numbered only 157,541.

The one paper circulating among this population,
which yielded a certain profit, was the Upper Can-
ada Gazette. It became necessary for Mackenzie to
notice a report that he had been offered the editor-

109

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ship of this official paper in reversion. He showed
the absurdity of the supposition that such an offer
could be made to him who had opposed nearly all
the measures of the government. Fothergill, the
editor of the official paper, had joined the extreme
Liberals on the alien question, contending that all
Americans then in the country ought to have the
full rights of British subjects conferred upon them
by statute ; and he had moved strong resolutions on
the back of an inquiry into the mysteries of the
post-office revenue, taking the ground that it was
contrary to the Constitutional Act to withhold
from the legislature an account of this revenue, or
to deprive the House of the right of appropriating
it. By this course, he had assisted in producing
those numerous defeats which had fallen, one after
another, with such irritating effect, upon the gov-
ernment. A man who did this could not long con-
tinue a special favourite of the government in those
times ; but that Mackenzie was ever thought of in
connection with the editorship of the non-official
part of the official Gazette, is out of the question.
The ink of Fothergill's reported speech on the post-
office question was scarcely dry when he was dis-
missed from the situation of King's Printer. He had
not abused his trust by turning the paper, with the
conduct of which he was charged, against the gov-
ernment, but he had ventured to confront a gross
abuse in the assembly. That was his crime, and of
that crime he paid the penalty. It was no doubt in-
110

FOTHERGILL DECAPITATED

convenient to have a King's Printer who, even in
his legislative capacity, opposed himself to the gov-
ernment; but the fault lay in the system which
permitted the incumbent of such an office to hold a
seat in the legislature. The union of judicial and
legislative powers in the hands of one person was a
still greater evil; and though it might have been
productive of far worse results, it was permitted tc
exist long after the period now referred to.

Free speech met small encouragement at the
hands of the executive. Francis Collins, who had
been the official reporter of the legislature for five
years, commenced, in an evil hour, the publication
of a newspaper, the Canadian Freeman, and in that
year, 1825, the governor cut off his remuneration.
He exhausted his means in the vain effort to report
the debates at his own cost, and found himself em-
barrassed with debt.

About six weeks before his printing office was
destroyed by a mob, Mackenzie drew a contrast
between the life of an editor, in those days, and
that of a farmer, in which a vast balance of advan-
tage appeared in favour of the latter. The perpetu-
ity of task- work involved in the conduct of even a
weekly paper was felt to be such a drag that he
became appalled at it ; and for the moment he re-
solved to have done with politics and political
newspapers. Writing of the Advocate he said: "I
will carry it on as a literary and scientific work,
will enrich its pages with the discoveries of eminent

1X1

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

men, and the improvements of distinguished artists;
but from thenceforth nothing of a political or con-
troversial character shall be allowed to appear in
the Journal of Agriculture, Manufactures and
Commerce"

How long this resolution was kept cannot be
determined; but the next number of his journal,
which took the folio shape, was chiefly filled with a
long review of the politics of the Upper Province.
He gave an account of the effect of his two years'
journalistic campaign, claiming to have largely
assisted in producing a party revolution. Men were
astonished at the temerity of his plain speaking;
for, since Gourlay's banishment, the prudent had
learned to put a bridle on their tongues. Timid
lookers-on predicted, in their astonishment and
with bated breath, that the fate of Gourlay would
soon fall on Mackenzie and silence his criticisms.
Nearly the whole press of the country was on his
back; but, in spite of the rushing torrent of abuse,
he kept the even tenor of his way, avoiding per-
sonalities as much as possible.

112

CHAPTER V

SILENCING THE PRESS

ONE fine summer evening, June 8th, 1826, a
genteel mob composed of persons closely
connected with the ruling faction walked into the
office of the Colonial Advocate at York, and, in
accordance with a preconcerted plan, set about the
destruction of types and press. Three pages of the
paper in type on the composing-stones, with a
" form " of the journals of the House, were broken
up, and the face of the letter battered. Some of the
type was then thrown into the bay, to which the
printing-office was contiguous ; some of it was scat-
tered on the floor of the office ; more of it in the
yard and in an adjacent garden. The composing-
stone was thrown on the floor. A new cast-iron
patent lever-press was broken. " Nothing was left
standing," said an eye-witness, "not a thing." This
scene took place in broad daylight, and it was said
that one or two magistrates, who could not help
witnessing it, never made the least attempt to put
a stop to the outrage. The valiant type destroyers,
who chose for the execution of their enterprise a
day when Mackenzie was absent from the city,
were most of them closely connected with the
official party, which was then in a hopeless min-
ority in the legislature, and had recently been
exasperated by a succession of defeats.

113

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Mr. Baby, inspector-general, was represented on
the occasion by two sons, Charles and Raymond,
students-at-law. Henry Sherwood, son of Mr.
Justice Sherwood, who, while yet a law student,
held the office of clerk of assize, gave his personal
assistance. Mr. Lyons, confidential secretary of
Governor Maitland, was there to perform his part.
To save appearances, Sir Peregrine found it neces-
sary to dismiss Lyons from his confidential situa-
tion ; but he soon afterwards rewarded him with
the more lucrative office of registrar of the Niagara
district. Samuel Peters Jarvis, son-in-law of a late
chief justice of the Court of Queen's Bench, per-
formed his part, and found his reward in the ap-
pointment to an Indian commissionership. Charles
Richardson, a student-at-law in the office of the
attorney-general, showed his zeal for the cause of
his official friends, and received in requital the
office of clerk of the peace for the Niagara district.
James King, another clerk of assize and student-at-
law in Solicitor-General Boulton's office, did not
hesitate to give his active assistance. Charles
Heward, son of Colonel Heward, auditor-general
of land patents and clerk of the peace, and
Peter Macdougall, a merchant or shopkeeper
in York and an intimate friend of Inspector-
General Baby, complete the list of eight against
whom the evidence, afterwards taken, was suffici-
ently strong for conviction. The whole number
of persons concerned in the destruction of the
114

OFFERS TO PAY DAMAGES

Advocate office was fifteen; and it is difficult to be-
lieve that this band of young men, subordinate
officials and sons and relatives of the official party,
could have planned in secret this outrage on the
property of an obnoxious journalist, and executed
it, without the knowledge of any of their superiors.
The audacity of the rioters and the open conniv-
ance of leading officials who witnessed the scene
with satisfaction, form an instructive comment on
the state of society in the Family Compact of the
little town of York, in the year of grace, 1826.

When it became certain that a verdict for dam-
ages would be obtained, and that a criminal pro-
secution might also be instituted, an offer was
made through J. B. Macaulay (afterwards chief
justice), solicitor for the culprits, "to pay at
once the full value of the damage occasioned to the
press and types, to be determined by indifferent
and competent judges selected for that purpose."
The letter containing this offer disavowed any de-
sire on the part of "the gentlemen" to do an
irreparable injury to the property, claimed credit
for the attack having been made openly and with a
full sense of its responsibility, and alleged that it
was not prompted by malice, political feeling, or
private animosity, but by " the personal calumnies
of the later Advocates"1 "This advance," it was

1 M So far as the ' personal calumnies ' were concerned, it is clear
that Mr. Mackenzie did not begin them in the columns of his paper. . . .
That he criticized official acts with a freedom and warmth to which the
ruling class were unaccustomed, must be admitted. But he was gen-

115

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

said, "was in conformity with the original in-
tention," and from no desire to withdraw the
matter from a jury, in which event it was hoped
there would be no attempts to prejudice the cause,
nor any complaints of a reluctance to compensate,
voluntarily, a damage merely pecuniary, although
provoked by repeated assaults on private character
not susceptible of adequate redress.

If the party who committed the violence had,
from the first, intended to pay the damage they
had done in the deliberate businesslike way in-
dicated by Mr. Macaulay, it is surprising that some
of them should have absconded in order to evade
the consequences of their crime ; but it is possible
that they feared a criminal prosecution, and left
their solicitor and friend, who had himself offered
more provocation to criticism than any of them, to
make a bargain that would save them from the
gaol. The press-destroying mob were probably sur-
prised at the indignation their achievement excit-
ed in the public mind ; and in the beginning they
endeavoured to stem the torrent by issuing
two placards in justification. But Mackenzie had
been guilty of no aggression to turn the tide of

erous enough to recognize the good qualities of his opponents, and, un-
til they assailed him personally with a virulence nothing he had
written could justify, he never assailed individual character ; . . . and
there is nothing to prove that, if he had been spared those bitter per-
sonal attacks, he would not have maintained his policy of moderation
and forbearance." W. J. Rattray, The Scot in British North America
(1881), Vol. ii, pp. 458, 459.

116

THE QUESTION OF PROVOCATION

public feeling against him, and the experiment
failed. It was not till after this that the above offer
was made. The first proposal not being listened to,
a second was made through the same medium,
which met the same fate as the first; and, indeed, if
there had been no object in making an example of
the perpetrators of an outrage that reflected on all
concerned, the amount offered as compensation was
ridiculously inadequate. But Mackenzie refused any
amicable settlement with Macaulay's clients and
friends ; and there was nothing left but to send the
case to trial, and let a jury, upon the hearing of the
evidence, award equitable, and, if they thought fit,
exemplary damages.

Macaulay, in the first letter in which he pro-
posed a settlement of the matter, assumes that the
outrage was caused by " the personal calumnies of
the later Advocates ; " and it becomes necessary to
see where the aggression commenced, and what
degree of provocation the independent journalist
had given to the official party by whose satellites
the work of destruction had been done. Nothing is
plainer, on an examination of the facts, than that,
until violently provoked, Mackenzie had been ex-
ceedingly sparing of personalities, and from the
first he had been anxious to avoid them altogether.
In one of the earliest numbers of his journal, he
said : " When I am reduced to personalities, I will
bring the Advocate to a close." To the personal
abuse of the government papers he made no per-

117

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

sonal reply, confining himself to complaining, in
the spirit of injury, of the wrong which he suffered.
Of these, Carey's Observer appears to have been,
up to this time, the greatest offender. Between the
personal and political character of the actors with
whom he had to deal, Mackenzie observed a proper
distinction. Of Governor Maitland he said that "he
was religious, humane, and peaceable ; and if his
administration had hitherto produced little good to
the country, it may not be his fault, but the fault
of those about him who abused his confidence." J.
B. Macaulay (afterwards Chief Justice of the Court
of Common Pleas) he described — and he did it
from a sense of duty — as a gentleman evincing " so
much honour, probity, just feeling, and disinterest-
ed good-will," as generated, in the publicist's mind,
"a greater degree of respect and esteem for the
profession in general than we had before enter-
tained." He expressed a desire to see his friend re-
place Mr. Justice Boulton on the bench. Upon this
latter functionary he had been, at first, playfully
sarcastic, comparing him to Sir Matthew Hale, and
latterly severe ; but it will not be denied that the
judge had fairly laid himself open to criticism.
While opposing the attorney-general of the day
(afterwards Chief Justice Robinson), he did ample
justice to his talents and his personal character: —

"Mr. Robinson has risen in my estimation, in
regard to abilities, from what I have seen of him
during this session ; indeed, there are not a few of
118

FAIRNESS TO OPPONENTS

his remarks which I have listened to with pleasure;
and some of the propositions he has made in parlia-
ment, the road bill especially (with a few modifica-
tions), have my entire approbation. As a private
gentleman, as a lawyer, and as a law-officer, he
stands as high in the estimation of the country as
any professional man in it. As a counsellor of State
to the Emperor of Russia, or Napoleon Bonaparte,
he might have figured to advantage ; but his prin-
ciples will, if not softened down, forever unfit him
for a transatlantic popular assembly. He advocates,
with singular force, those doctrines the repugnance
to which un-colonized the thirteen United States ;
and every taunt which he utters against our repub-
lican neighbours tells in account against the in-
terests of Great Britain, so far as these are united
with this colony. It is evident that Mr. Robinson
has not been long enough in the school of adversity
to learn wisdom and discretion. He is a very young
man, and I do hope and trust that, when the heat
and violence of party spirit abate within him, he
will yet prove a bright and lasting ornament to the
land which gave him birth, and that the powers of
his mind will be exerted to promote the happiness
and welfare of all classes of his fellow-subjects."

Mackenzie had been severe upon Jonas Jones, but
that gentleman had first set the example of using
harsh terms. He had said in reply to a very able
speech in the House of Assembly on the alien
question, that the member (Dr. Rolph) who made

119

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

it had a " vile, democratic heart, and ought to be
sent out of the province." If an appeal to the
Sedition Act could silence an opponent, why
take the trouble to refute his arguments ? He had,
moreover, used threats of personal violence against
Mackenzie, and was, of course, open to severe
retaliation. In the legislative assembly he had
called Mr. Hamilton, the member for Wentworth,
a " fellow," when a scene followed on which it was
necessary to drop the curtain to hide it from the
vulgar gaze of the public. Considering these cir-
cumstances in mitigation, it must be confessed that
the criticisms upon Mr. Jones scarcely exceeded
the bounds of merited and justifiable severity. To
Henry John Boulton, Mackenzie had declared an
absence of personal dislike in criticizing his public
acts. Considering Dr. Rolph too severe in his stric-
tures on the government, he had opposed him on
that account, and a personal estrangement had
been the consequence.

Such is the manner in which Mackenzie had
treated his political opponents during the two years
he had controlled a political journal ; and it may
easily be conceived how slender was the pretext,
on the ground of provocation, for the destruction
of his printing-office. I do not say that he had
never applied to his opponents language of severity,
but I do say that he was not the aggressor; that
under the greatest provocations he had avoided
personalities ; and that, at the worst, he had not
120

HIS OPPONENTS' MALEVOLENCE

proceeded to anything like the extremity to which
his assailants had gone ; and this not for the want of
materials to work upon.

In the meanwhile, how were his political adver-
saries bearing themselves towards Mackenzie ?
Macaulay had gone to the unwarrantable length
of violating the seal of secrecy and publishing
private letters addressed to him by Mackenzie,
though there was not, in the conduct of the latter,
the shadow of excuse for this outrage. Macaulay
was now a member of the executive council, and
Mackenzie, who had previously praised him, had
hinted that he was not as independent as formerly ;
but this was in a private letter. The cause of the
quarrel was utterly contemptible, and Macaulay
showed to great disadvantage in it. A disagree-
ment had taken place between the Rev. Dr.
Strachan, then rector of York, and one John
Fenton, who had officiated as clerk under the
rector. Mackenzie, being in Niagara, learned that
Mr. Radcliffe had received a letter from Mr. Fen-
ton in which the latter stated his intention of pub-
lishing a pamphlet on the state of the congregation
in York. Meanwhile Mr. Fenton was reinstated in
his position. Accordingly, a paragraph was inserted
in the Advocate which certainly left the impression
that a fear of the threatened pamphlet had led to
the reinstatement of Fenton with an increased
salary. It is possible that the insinuation was not
just ; and yet this could not be said if there was no

121

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

mistake about the alleged facts on which it was
founded. It was not denied that Mr. Fenton had
been reinstated, but it was alleged that his salary-
was increased ; and Mackenzie certainly had what
seemed to be good authority for stating that the
publication of a pamphlet had been announced.
This was the only statement in dispute, and if it
was not proved, it certainly was not disproved. Mr.
Radcliffe might have been asked to write a note
stating that he had not received such a letter from
Mr. Fenton, and that would have settled the mat-
ter. Macaulay was one of the church-wardens, and,
after the lapse of three weeks, he wrote to deny the
statement that a pamphlet had been threatened,
and that Mr. Fenton's reinstatement carried with
it any increase of salary. His letter was sent to the
Advocate for publication, and after it was in type
he wrote to recall it, not because the matter had
assumed a new shape, but because Mr. Fenton
had written a denial of that part of the paragraph l

1 The paragraph was in these words: — ' ' Had the church-warden con-
fined his remarks to his fellow functionary ( the clerk/ we would most
readily have distributed the types of his letter yesterday, as he re-
quested. But the tone he has seen fit to assume towards ourselves is not
to be borne. There was a time when we looked upon that church-warden
as one who would become the most open, manly, and independent of
his class, but it has gone by. We prized his talents, his abilities, and
his judgment far too high ; and the tenor of his railing accusation
against us will show the province that he has not improved the style of
his compositions since he left off studying Byron. The church- ward en,
who is not one of our subscribers, will find to-morrow that, even to him,
we shall not meanly truckle, nor shall we to any man, although the
blackest poverty on earth should be our reward."

122

A VINDICTIVE OFFICIAL

which related to the pamphlet. Mackenzie, on
account of the offensive attitude the writer had
assumed towards him, refused to cancel the letter
to which Macaulay had appended, not his own sig-
nature, but the nom de plume of "A Church-
warden," and the few lines in which Mackenzie
explained his refusal to comply with the request
of a person who he thought had forfeited all claim
to his indulgence, contain the whole extent of the
provocation he gave to Macaulay. The latter must
have been in an uncontrollable rage before he
brought himself to publish the private letters ad-
dressed to him by Mackenzie on the subject of the
Fenton affair, and to make jeering remarks in refer-
ence to Mackenzie's mother, an aged woman of
seventy-five years. But he did not stop there ; he
sent the manuscript, into which he had condensed
his rage, to Mackenzie, with an offer to pay him for
its publication in the Advocate^ a paper which he
declared his intention to do all in his power to
crush. One of his advertisements, a little less libel-
lous than the rest, would have been published; but,
the money being demanded in advance, Macaulay
refused to redeem his promise, and pretended to
have a right to insist on its publication without the
payment he had at first offered. He taunted Mac-
kenzie with his poverty, and with what he called
" changing his trade," and advised him to " try to
deserve the charity " of the public a little better
than previously, if he expected to support his

123

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

mother and his family by the publication of a
newspaper ; as if it were asking charity to publish a
public journal at the usual price, and a crime for a
man to support a mother who was too aged and
too helpless to support herself. * Without even
mentioning him by name, Mackenzie had described
Macaulay as a man whom he had ceased to look
upon as possessing manly independence ; and, in
return, this member of the government claimed
a right to have published in the Advocate letters
containing gross personal abuse of its editor and
ridicule of his aged mother. To these letters he had
not the manliness to append his name ; if he had, he
was aware that their virulence would not have pre-
vented their publication, for in that case the writer
would have placed himself, as well as his antagonist,

1 This piece of insolence was founded on the following passage in a
private letter addressed by Mackenzie to Macaulay: "As to the motives
and character of my journal, let its unexampled circulation among the
better classes in the colony speak for me. As to the result — I feel that
I mean to do right — I am well satisfied that I am doing good, and,
though I have to struggle with a slender capital, and a government who
make the public advertising subservient to other purposes than that of
giving general information of the thing advertised, I am well pleased
and contented to struggle along through life as free as the air on the
Scottish mountains; yea, and more so than the most voluptuous courtier
can be, even in his most joyous hours. If I am enabled to maintain my
old mother, my wife and family, and keep out of the hands of the law
for debt, I care not for wealth, and should as willingly leave this
earthly scene not worth a groat as if I were worth thousands. I one
day thought I should have wished to have seen you member of the
legislature for York, and that you would have become a useful and
truly independent representative of the people. It was not to be, how-
ever. I greatly mistook your views, which, situated as you now are, are
not likely to become more liberal."

124

PRESS AMENITIES IN YORK

upon trial before the public ; and every one who
read them, in connection with the comments they
must have provoked, would have been able to
judge of the spirit in which they were conceived
and the justice of their contents. The right to com-
pel the editor to publish anonymous communica-
tions, which Macaulay had claimed, was wholly
without foundation ; and as for courtesy to such a
correspondent it was out of the question. But it is
useless to reason upon the acts of a man who had
permitted passion so completely to get the mastery
over his judgment.

I have gone fully into the provocation offered by
Macaulay, because it was in reply to a pamphlet in
which he embodied all this venom, that Mackenzie
told some stories about certain members of the
Family Compact that he never would have put
into print if he had not been provoked beyond en-
durance. If, in striking back, a few blows fell upon
Macaulay 's official associates who had not joined
openly in the provocation, and Mackenzie exceeded
the bounds of strict retaliatory justice, it must be
remembered that the connection between all the
sections of the Family Compact was very close,
and that when the last word of defiance has been
hurled at a man, he is not to be bound by a very
rigid etiquette if he finds it necessary to " carry the
war into Africa." But the reply, calmly viewed at
this distant day, so far as it affected Macaulay
appears mild and playful beside the savagery of the

125

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

unprovoked attack ; I say unprovoked, because it
does not exceed the bounds of fair or ordinary
criticism to tell a political opponent that you have
ceased to see in him a person possessed of manly
independence. At the same time it must be con-
fessed that some of Macaulay's friends came in for
knocks which there is no public evidence of their
having merited at Mackenzie's hands ; and it would
have been better if he had confined the punishment
he was well entitled to inflict to the man who alone
had raised a hand to strike him down.

Macaulay's libel did not produce the effect in-
tended. The object, it is plain enough, was to pro-
voke Mackenzie into the use of language for which
he might be prosecuted, and either banished, like
Gourlay, or shut up in a prison. But Mackenzie
was too wary to be caught in this clumsy trap ; and
his reply, instead of retorting rage for rage, was
playfully sarcastic and keenly incisive. The dia-
logue form was adopted, the speakers being a con-
gress of fifteen contributors to the Advocate, who
purported to have assembled in the blue parlor of
Mr. McDonnell of Glengarry, at York. Patrick
Swift, nephew of the immortal dean, who had in-
herited a share of his uncle's sarcasm, was a pro-
minent actor, and infused his playful spirit into the
other contributors. Over a huge bowl of punch,
toasts are drunk, tales told, songs sung, and politics
discussed. " Lawyer Macaulay" was " the knight of
the rueful countenance ; " and it was hinted by one
126

TRIAL OF THE PRESS RIOTERS

of the wits that even he had family reasons for not
scoffing at persons for " changing their trade."

Mackenzie's enemies were furious. He had stung
them to the quick ; but he had dealt with matters
to which it would not be desirable to give addi-
tional notoriety by making them subjects of prose-
cution. Truth might, legally speaking, be a libel,
but there are unpleasant truths, which, though it
be illegal to tell, cannot well be made a ground of
action. Juries might be obstinate and refuse to con-
vict a writer, who, after unbearable provocation,
had been stung into telling unpleasant facts, a little
dressed up or exaggerated though they may have
been to give effect to their narration. It was clear
that Mackenzie could not be banished for sedition.
He could not even be tried under the Sedition Act,
having been some years in the province ; and he
had neither spoken nor published anything of a
seditious nature. What then remained ? The sole
resource of violence ; and violence was used ; the
office of the Advocate was destroyed by a mob
consisting of persons who bore suspiciously close
relations to the government.

The trial came off at York, in the then new
court-house, in 1826. The defendants had elected
to have a special jury. Of the twelve jurors who
were to try the case, nine resided in the country,
and only three in York. Chief Justice Campbell
was the presiding judge ; and by his side sat, as
associate magistrates, the Hon. William Allan and

127

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Alexander McDonnell. Both sides were well pro-
vided with able counsel. For the plaintiff, appeared
the younger Bidwell and Stewart and Small; for
the defendants, Macaulay and Hagerman. It was
shown that the Hon. Mr. Allan, who played the
part of associate justice on the trial, had been in
conversation with Colonel Heward, whose son was
among the desperadoes, at a point where they must
have witnessed the whole scene. Though they were
both magistrates, neither of them attempted to re-
monstrate with the defendants, nor to induce them
to desist. The defendants called no witnesses ; and
Hagerman, in addressing the jury on their behalf,
assailed the Advocate; but he did not venture to
read the objectionable matter to the jury. Without
a tittle of evidence to support his assertion, and in
the teeth of well-known facts, he stated that Mac-
kenzie had left York at the time his printing
materials were destroyed to evade the payment
of his debts.

After a trial which lasted two days, it seemed
very unlikely that the jury would agree, for they
remained out for thirty-two hours. During all this
time, various amounts of damages had been dis-
cussed. Sums varying from £2,000 to £150 had
found favour with different jurors ; but the real
difficulty was with one man — a George Shaw —
who tried to starve his fellow-jurors into com-
pliance with a verdict giving £150 damages; but,
finding this impracticable, he at last gave way. Mr.
128

RESULTS OF THE TRIAL

Rutherford, the foreman, named £625 and costs,
and the amount was agreed to by all the jurors.
Referring to the result of the trial, soon after, Mac-
kenzie said : " That verdict re-established on a per-
manent footing the Advocate press, because it en-
abled me to perform my engagements without
disposing of my real property ; and although it has
several times been my wish to retire from the
active duties of the press into the quiet paths of
private life, I have had a presentiment that I
shall yet be able to evince my gratitude to the
country which, in my utmost need, rescued me
from utter ruin and destruction." The money was
raised by subscription, the political friends of the
press-destroyers feeling in duty bound to bear
harmless the eight volunteers who had performed
the rough task of attempting to silence, by an act
of violence, an obnoxious newspaper.

There remained the question of a criminal prose-
cution. Mackenzie, being called before the grand
jury, declined to make any complaint; but the
matter was not allowed to rest. Francis Collins,
having been proceeded against criminally by the
attorney-general for four libels in April, 1828, re-
taliated upon the party of his accusers. On informa-
tion laid by him, seven of the defendants, who had
been cast in civil damages for the destruction of
the Advocate office, were tried for riot. This pro-
ceeding, being of a retaliatory nature and taken
against the wishes of Mackenzie, was not looked

129

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

on with much favour ; and though the defendants
were found guilty, they were let off with nominal
damages.

Though the trial of Collins was not proceeded
with, the government paper announced that it had
not been abandoned ; and it came on at the next
assizes. Nor had the end of other judicial retaliations
been reached. Mackenzie was not to escape ; and
yet he deserved some consideration at the hands of
the official party. When called as a witness in the
type riot prosecution, which he had refused to
originate, he said he had no desire to prosecute
the rioters against whom civil damages had been
obtained ; and he expressed a hope that they would
receive only nominal punishment. His suggestion
had been acted upon. But all this did not avail at a
time when Collins was proceeded against for four
libels in Upper Canada, and Mr. Neilson for an
equal number in Lower Canada.

Before the trials for libel could come on, an
event occurred, in the removal of Judge Willis,
which was not calculated to inspire the defendants
with confidence in the impartial administration of
justice. If the local executive suspended a judge
because his interpretation of the law did not accord
with their views, the power of the executive in
political prosecutions could not but be regarded as
a source of danger to public liberty. Mr. Willis had
only received his appointment on October 11th,
1827 ; and, on the sixth of the following June, he
130

REMOVAL OF JUDGE WILLIS

was suspended until the pleasure of His Majesty's
imperial government should be known. On a pre-
vious occasion, far from bending to the influence of
power, he had undertaken to teach the attorney-
general his duty. In the Hilary term then past,
Mr. Justice Willis had taken his seat on the bench
beside Chief Justice Campbell and Mr. Justice
Sherwood ; and differences of opinion on points
of great legal importance had arisen among them.
Before the following Easter term, the chief justice
had obtained leave of absence ; and the differences
of opinion between the remaining two judges,
Willis and Sherwood, were carried to such a length
as to excite public attention. Under these circum-
stances, Judge Willis directed his special attention
to the constitution of the court ; and he found that
the statute creating this tribunal provided "that
His Majesty's chief justice, together with two
puisne judges, shall preside in the said court."
Considering the court illegally constituted without
three judges, he refused to sit with Mr. Justice
Sherwood as his only colleague, when, according
to his reading of the law, there ought to be an-
other. Sometime before Trinity term, it came to
the knowledge of the provincial government that
Mr. Justice Willis had come to this conclusion.
When the opportunity presented itself, he delivered
his opinion at length on the subject. Having dealt
with the question of what was required, under the
provincial statute, to constitute a legal Court of

131

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

King's Bench, he touched upon the cause of the
legal inefficiency of that tribunal. The chief justice
had obtained leave of absence ; but he had obtained
it from the lieutenant-governor alone, while Mr.
Willis contended that the consent of the governor-
in-council was necessary.

The opponents of Mr. Justice Willis accused
him of showing temper in the delivery of his
opinion ; but the accusation, when sifted, was
found to be groundless. A committee of the as-
sembly, of which Dr. Baldwin was chairman, re-
ported that they had "particularly inquired into
this matter," and had come to the conclusion " that
to the public eye and ear, the manner and language
of Mr. Justice Willis, on the occasion of so express-
ing his opinion on the bench, relative to the de-
fective state of the court, in no respect departed
from the gravity and dignity becoming him as a
judge ; and peculiar malevolence alone could repre-
sent it otherwise." The evidence fully bore out this
statement. "When Mr. Justice Willis delivered his
opinion," Mr. Carey told the committee, " his con-
duct was dignified and honourable." ■

When Mr. Justice Willis had concluded his opin-
ion, an unseemly spectacle took place. Mr. Justice
Sherwood ordered the clerk to adjourn the court.
Mr. Justice Willis replied that it was impossible to

1 Mr. Carey was editor of the York Observer, and had long1 been a
firm supporter of the government; but at this time he was wavering in
his allegiance.

132

OPINIONS IN JUDGE'S FAVOUR

adjourn what did not exist ; there was no legal
court. Mr. Sherwood rejoined: "You have given
your opinion: I have a right to mine, and I shall
order the court to be adjourned." " He spoke," said
Mr. Carey, "apparently under great irritation." Mr.
Justice Willis bowed and withdrew, the clerk obey-
ing the order of the remaining judge.

A difficulty that had occurred between Mr.
Justice Willis and Attorney- General Robinson, on
a previous occasion, was also made a subject of
inquiry before the parliamentary committee; and
Mr. Carey, in his evidence, stated that so far as
manner was concerned, the only thing to complain
of in the judge was his too great lenity in the
presence of the treatment he received.

Dr. Baldwin, Robert Baldwin, and John Rolph,
practising barristers, entered a protest against the
legality of the court when it had been constituted
with two judges, giving at length their reasons for
agreeing with Judge Willis that, in order to a legal
constitution of the court, there must be three jud-
ges. A petition, which the Duke of Wellington
thought deserved no particular notice, bearing the
signatures of thousands of Upper Canadians, in fav-
our of the independence of the judiciary and sustain-
ing the position of Judge Willis, was sent to the king
and the two Houses of Parliament. The law point
was finally decided by the Privy Council adversely
to the views of Mr. Justice Willis, whose removal
was thereupon ratified by the imperial government.

188

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

It was now certain that the juries who might try
the libel cases would not be directed by Mr. Justice
Willis, but by some one whose affinity to the pro-
secutors was undoubted. Soon after the commence-
ment of the York assizes, which opened on October
12th, 1828, the libel prosecutions against Collins
came on. Of the libel upon the attorney -general, he
was found guilty, and sentenced by Mr. Hagerman
— who had temporarily gone upon the bench, leav-
ing the Kingston collectorship of customs to take
care of itself — to be imprisoned for twelve months
in the York gaol, and to pay a fine of £50. The libel
consisted of imputing "native malignancy" to the
attorney-general, and of stigmatizing as "an open
and palpable falsehood " a statement made by that
functionary in open court.

It is not necessary to raise the question whether
such libels as these ought to have been met by
criminal prosecutions. But, if it was the duty of the
attorney-general to prosecute Collins, it was also
his duty to prosecute others connected with the
government press, who had used fully as great a
latitude of expression. One of these writers * had
stigmatized several members of the legislative
assembly as " besotted fools," actuated by no other
feeling than malice, to gratify which they paid
no regard to truth or decency. Addressing a single
member, the same writer informed him, "There
are no bounds to your malice ; ' and the whole

1 Kingston Chronicle.

134

PROSECUTIONS FOR LIBEL

House was described as an " intolerable nuisance."
"The poison of your malignant disposition," also
made use of, was an expression fully as offensive as
" native malignancy." If it was the duty of the
attorney-general to prosecute for the use of such
language, he was bound to perform that duty
impartially, and was not entitled, in fairness, to
single out opponents for victims, while the offences
of political friends were overlooked.

A public subscription was raised to pay the
amount of the fine ; public meetings were held and
committees formed to take the case of Collins into
consideration. At a later period, the House inter-
posed in behalf of Collins, but they failed to change
the determination of the executive to keep him in
close confinement for the whole of the prescribed
term of his sentence. Sir John Colborne thought
himself entitled to snub the House for their inter-
ference, by expressing extreme regret at the course
they had taken. He forgot that the sovereign
whom he represented was the fountain of mercy,
and thought only of his obligation to carry a rig-
orous and cruel sentence into effect.

The threatened prosecution of Mackenzie for an
alleged political libel had been kept suspended
over his head for nearly a year. For some reason,
however, the executive resolved to abandon the
prosecution, and two days before the date fixed for
the striking of the special j ury, the attorney-general
addressed a note to Mr. R. B. Sullivan, who acted

135

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

for Mackenzie, stating the conclusion that had been
arrived at. The alleged libel, of which the prosecu-
tion was thus abandoned, was purely political. It
was neither more nor less than a recommendation
to certain constituencies to change their representa-
tives at the next ensuing general election ; and was
expressed in language that must be admitted to
have been very strong, but also very general, why
this should be done. The report of a committee of
the House, on which the paragraph was founded,
contained more serious accusations than the alleged
libel itself. This committee, of which Mr. Beardsley
was chairman, reported, among other things, "that
some of the most daring outrages against the peace
of the community have passed unprosecuted, and
that the persons guilty have, from their connections
in high life, been promoted to the most important
offices of honour, trust, and emolument, in the local
government."

Violence is a blindfolded demon, more likely to
defeat its own objects than to attain them. The
means taken to crush a public journal, obnoxious
to the ruling faction, proved the cause of its resus-
citation and firm establishment. At the very time
when the press was broken and the type thrown
into the bay, the last number of the Advocate had
been issued. Macaulay could not have made a
worse selection of the time for attempting to strike
Mackenzie down. The latter seriously contemplated
retiring from political discussions, and prudence
136

REVIVAL OF THE "ADVOCATE"

might have suggested that he should be allowed
to depart in peace. The publication, burthened as
it was with a postal tax payable in advance, and
addressing itself to a small scattered community,
had never repaid the expenditure necessary to
sustain it. What means its proprietor had made
in trade were soon dissipated on the literary specu-
lation. His property, real and personal, was worth
twice the amount of his debts ; but he was embar-
rassed for ready money, threatened with capias by
one creditor, and thoroughly disheartened. From
these embarrassments he resolved to free himself.
With the consent of Mr. Tannahill, his principal
creditor, Mackenzie went to Lewiston, in order to
prevent the accumulation of law costs, till his
affairs could be settled. Besides, his health was
broken ; and he had sometime before been thrown
into a fever by the vexation he had suffered.
His eldest daughter had died, and another member
of his family was ill. Under these circumstances,
it is not surprising that he should have sighed
for that repose which journalism had interrupted
in the first instance, and of which it still con-
tinued to prevent the return. But, while he loved
repose, he had not been able to resist the excite-
ment of the semi-public life of the journalist,
who already dreamed of the overthrow of an
administration and the reform of the oligarchical
system then in operation. He who repiningly com-
pared his own toils to the quiet life of the farmer,

137

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

would sit up whole nights, labouring assiduously to
accomplish political ends. Though he could be a
child among his children, and was never so happy
as when he joined in their play, he would fre-
quently consume two consecutive nights in the
patient but exhausting labour of the pen.

While living at Queenston, Mackenzie became
acquainted with Robert Randal, a Virginian by
birth (and a near relative of John Randolph of
Roanoke), who had come to this province as a
settler, and was then living at Chippewa. Randal
was a politician, and it is probable that his in-
fluence on Mackenzie first led him into politics.
He was a man who, with a keen eye to the
future, selected land at different places where
future towns were certain to spring up. He
became entangled in lawsuits involving property
to a very large amount ; and in one way and
another was cruelly victimized. His lawyers played
him false; and the officers of the law conspired
to defraud him. He was involved in pecuniary
embarrassments, and was charged with perjury
for swearing to a qualification which, based on a
long list of properties the ownership of some of
which litigation had rendered doubtful, was declar-
ed to be bad. Mackenzie took his part, and, when
Randal died, he bequeathed a share of his property
to the man who had in some sort been his protector.
The connection produced its effect upon Mackenzie
for life.

138

AIDS THE CAUSE OF THE ALIENS

In the spring of 1827, Mackenzie raised the
question of sending to England an agent to plead
with the British government the cause of the
American-born aliens in Canada. A petition, said to
have been signed by fifteen thousand persons, was
ready to be carried to England. A central com-
mittee, charged with the protection of the rights
of the aliens, met at Mackenzie's house, and he
acted as its confidential secretary. This commit-
tee offered the mission to Dr. Rolph, who de-
clined acceptance. The question was then between
Fothergill and Randal ; Mackenzie, favouring the
appointment of the latter, carried his point. Randal
was in the position of the persons whose cause
he had to plead. On behalf of the committee,
the delegate's instructions were drawn up by Mac-
kenzie ; and the committee having advanced a
sum for his expenses, part of which had been
raised by subscription, Randal set off for London
in the month of March.

In order to smooth the way for the delegate in
England, Mackenzie addressed letters to the Earl
of Dalhousie, governor-in-chief, surcharged with
expressions of loyalty, and recommending colonial
representation in the imperial parliament. It is
worthy of note that the first of these letters con-
tains several extracts from American authorities
predicting a dissolution of the federal union. After
giving these extracts, the writer asks : " And is this
the government, and are these the people, whose

139

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

alliance and intimacy we ought to court instead of
those of England ? No, my lord ; their constitu-
tional theory is defective, and their practice neces-
sarily inconsistent. Their government wants con-
solidation ; let us take warning by their example."

There were in the province a large number of
persons, who, though born in British colonies, had,
by the progress of events, and the effect of the laws
resulting from those events, lost the legal quality
and privileges of British subjects. All who were
born in the old American colonies, and had con-
tinued to live there till after the peace of 1783,
became, on September 3rd. of that year, by the
Treaty of Independence, citizens of the United
States. They therefore, by that fact, ceased to be
British subjects. Both American and English law
courts agreed as to the effect of the treaty upon
the nationality of those who resided in the United
States at the peace of 1783. The results were disas-
trous. Persons who had made immense sacrifices by
adhering to the British standard during the Revo-
lutionary War, lost, in some cases, large amounts
of property, in consequence of their inability to in-
herit as British subjects.

By a British statute passed in 1790, a seven
years' residence, the taking of the oath of alleg-
iance, the observance of the sacrament of the
Lord's Supper, according to the usages of the
Protestant Church, and of other formalities, grant-
ed all aliens who came to the colonies the
140

THE ALIEN QUESTION

rights of British subjects with certain reservations.
But they could not become members of the Privy
Council or of parliament ; l they were incapacitated
from holding any position of trust, civil or military,
in the United Kingdom or Ireland ; and they could
not accept any grant of land from the Crown.
The provisions of this statute were hardly ever
complied with by alien emigrants from the United
States. Men whose industry had cleared the coun-
try of forests, who had carried civilization into the
wilds of the west and assisted in repelling invasion,
found themselves aliens, without any legal security
for their property.

Whatever might be the effect of a narrow or
rigid construction of the Alien Law upon these
persons, they had not hitherto received the treat-
ment of aliens. They had received grants of land
from the Crown and devised real property; some of
them had held offices of trust in the militia, and
spilt their blood in defence of the country in which
they were now to be denied the rights of citizens,
except upon conditions which they regarded as
degrading. It was not to be expected that a man
who had fought beside the gallant Brock would
feel complimented if asked to take the oath of
allegiance. The recent decision of the Court of
King's Bench, in England, in the Ludlow case,
created uneasiness, alarm and indignation. After

1 In May, 1826, an Imperial Act was passed to render naturalized
foreigners capable of sitting in the legislature of Upper Canada.

141

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

much correspondence with the lieutenant-governors
on the subject, the imperial government sent in-
structions to Sir Peregrine Maitland to cause a bill
to be introduced into the legislature by which all
the rights of British subjects could be conferred
upon the aliens in the province. The bill passed the
legislative council, whose members owed their
nomination to the Crown, in the session of 1826 ;
but when it was sent down to the assembly, it met
an equal amount of opposition and support on two
several divisions. The House was equally divided
for a whole week ; and the bill, after being five
times negatived by the casting vote of the Speaker,
was at length irregularly passed. Though the
division of numbers was so long equal, the majority
of the members who spoke opposed those provisions
which required all persons placed in the category
of aliens by the recent judicial decision, to remedy
their former neglect by complying with the pre-
scribed formalities.

The bill passed by the legislature was of a nature
which rendered necessary its reservation for the
signification of the royal pleasure. To prevent
the royal assent being given to it, Randal had been
selected to bear the petition of some thousands
of the persons whom it affected. His success was
complete. Another bill, framed in conformity with
the royal instructions, which Randal's exertions
had procured, was introduced into the Upper
Canada assembly by Bid well, a prominent member
142

RANDAL'S SUCCESSFUL MISSION

of the opposition, and carried. It invested with the
quality of British subjects all residents of the
province who had received grants of land from the
Crown or held public office, as well as their children
and remote descendants ; all settled residents who
had taken up their abode before the year 1820,
their descendants to have the right to inherit in
case the parents were dead ; all persons resident
in the province on March 1st, 1828, on taking the
oath of allegiance after seven years' residence in
some part of His Majesty's dominions. It was also
provided that no person of the age of sixteen, on
May 26th, 1826, should be debarred from inheriting
property on account of its descent from an alien.

The success of Randal's mission to England
had a material effect upon Mackenzie ; for, ever
after, except a few years about the period of the
rebellion, he believed in the specific of an appeal
to the imperial government. His own subsequent
visit to the colonial office, and its success, confirmed
an opinion which he cherished to the day of his
death.

At no time does Mackenzie appear to have been
a very strong partisan. Not that his views and posi-
tion were not decided. He was strongly opposed to
the ruling minority ; but he was very far from hav-
ing unbounded confidence in the majority of the
assembly. Of the leaders of the opposition, Rolph
and Bidwell, he sometimes spoke in sharp -terms of
condemnation, showing that he was under no sort

143

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of party control or leadership. When reminded by-
one of his own political friends in the House that
certain petitions laid before the legislature were not
privileged communications, that an action for libel
would lie if they contained what the law regarded
as libellous matter and were reprinted in a news-
paper, his reply was that he intended to publish
both the petitions in question in the next number
of his paper, a promise which was faithfully kept.

144

CHAPTER VI

ENTERS PARLIAMENT

BEFORE the commencement of 1828, Mac-
kenzie was a declared candidate for a seat
in the next House of Assembly ; and it is not
impossible that he already aimed at attaining to
the leadership. Speaking of this House as a body,
in a letter to Earl Dalhousie, he said : " Many of
these legislators are qualified to sign their names;
but, as to framing and carrying through a bill on
any subject whatever, the half of them wisely
never attempted such a herculean task." And in
the same letter he expressed undisguised con-
tempt for the whole sham of colonial legislatures
then in vogue. " I have long been satisfied," he
said, "that if the North American colonies were
rid of these inferior and subordinate legislatures,
which are, and must ever be, insufficient for the
purposes for which they were intended, and allow-
ed instead a due weight in both branches of the
British parliament, it would prove the founda-
tion of their permanent and true happiness." The
difficulty was that these representative assemblies
were mocked with a semblance of that legislative
power with the substantial possession of which they
were never endowed. Even the Reformers had only
an imperfect conception of the true remedy. The

145

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ministry might be subjected to a succession of de-
feats in the assembly without raising a question of
resignation ; and the Reform journals very seldom
undertook to deal with the question of ministerial
responsibility. Mackenzie was the " advocate of
such a change in the mode of administering the
government as would give the people an effectual
control over the actions of their representatives,
and through them over the actions of the execu-
tive." Most of those who essayed to effect reforms,
contented themselves with encountering abuses in
detail, a mode of warfare which left untouched a
radically defective system of administration.

When we look back upon the system that exist-
ed, the mind is filled with astonishment that it
should have enjoyed such comparative immunity
from attack. A party triumph at the polls carried
hardly any of the advantages of victory into the
legislature. The members of the executive belonged
to the minority. The majority might pass bills in
the assembly, but, unless they pleased the ruling
party, they were rejected by the Crown-nominated
chamber. There was no general separation of
legislative and judicial functions ; and when the
assembly, in 1826, addressed the imperial govern-
ment to remove the chief justice from the sphere of
politics, the answer was that the governor had
profited greatly by his advice, and that there was
nothing in the circumstances of the colony to
render a change of system desirable. The judiciary
146

NOVEL REMEDY FOR A BAD SYSTEM

and the members of the executive received their
appointments, and the greater part of their pay,
from revenues belonging to England, on which
they were largely dependent. When the House
presented an address to the king praying that
the bounty lands, which had been withheld from
those officers of the militia who attended a conven-
tion on the grievances of the colony in 1818, should
be given to them, Governor Maitland, by the
command of His Majesty, replied that when they
expressed " deep contrition " for presuming to ask
for a redress of grievances, the lands would be
granted to these erring militiamen of 1812. The
system reacted upon itself; the bad advice sent by
irresponsible ministers from this side came back
across the Atlantic matured into the commands
of the sovereign ; and the name and the authority
of England suffered, while the real culprits escaped
the merited punishment of ejection from office
by the votes of a majority of the people's repre-
sentatives.

It is not surprising, under these circumstances,
that a scheme so impracticable as colonial repre-
sentation in the imperial parliament should have
been turned to, in despair, by Mackenzie. A union
of the colonies, which he had often advocated,
would have necessitated a change of system, if
it was to be an effective remedy for the glaring
defects of administration which then existed.

In the commencement of 1828, while advocating

147

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

a responsible executive, Mackenzie disclaimed all
" intention or desire to assist in cutting any colony
adrift from its parent state." He confesses, how-
ever, that his proposal for representation in the
imperial parliament had not met universal appro-
bation. The ruling faction desired to have things
their own way ; and so comfortable were existing
arrangements that they were afraid of the effects of
a change. The people were unfortunately becoming
suspicious of the external influence that sustained
the oligarchy ; and were wisely disinclined to listen
to a scheme of representation in a distant parlia-
ment, where their feeble voice must have been
drowned in the clangour of over six hundred
representatives.

At the close of 1827, Mackenzie's pecuniary
circumstances had greatly improved. In a letter
written previous to the election, he gives us some
information on this point : " By an unwearied
application to business, I am now again an unen-
cumbered freeholder of Upper Canada, to more
than thrice the amount required by law as a par-
liamentary qualification, besides being possessed
of nearly as much more lands, with good bonds for
deeds. I have also valuable personal property, in-
cluding a business which nothing but the actual
knowledge of the election of a bad parliament,
in aid of the present corrupt administration,
would induce me to quit. Being, therefore, easy
in my circumstances, entirely freed from the terrors
148

DECLARES HIS CANDIDATURE

of litigation, prosperous in my business, in good
health, and owing very few debts, I have applied
to the people of the most populous county in
Upper Canada for the highest honour in their
gift, the surest token of their esteem and con-
fidence."

Having once resolved to seek a seat in the
legislature of his adopted country, Mackenzie
waited for no deputations to solicit him to become
a candidate ; he submitted his claims to no clique
of election managers, and heeded not their volun-
tary resolves. Months before the election was to
take place, he issued an address to the electors
of the county of York. James E. Small had been
Mackenzie's solicitor in the famous type case;
but he was astonished at the temerity of his late
client in venturing, unasked, to declare himself
a candidate for the representation of the most
populous county in Upper Canada. It so happened
that Small was to be a candidate for the same
county. Jesse Ketchum and William Roe were the
choice of a convention, but Mackenzie declared
-himself a candidate and thus announced himself: —

" I have attended two public meetings, but it is
not my intention to go to any more until I meet
the people at the hustings ; it is a needless waste
of time, and benefits nobody but the tavern-keeper.
If I go into the legislature, it must be in my
own way, or not at all. For I mean to break
through all the old established usages, to keep no

149

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

open houses, administer to the wants of no pub-
lican, hire no vehicles to trundle freemen to the
hustings to serve themselves, nor to court the
favour of those leading men who have so powerfully
influenced former elections. I will not lessen my
own resources for maintaining independence by
spending at the outset, as was done by others four
years ago, a sum sufficient to maintain my large
household for a twelvemonth ; but, if I shall become
one of the stewards of the province, I hope I shall
be found not only faithful, but also fully competent
to discharge the duties of a representative in such a
way as ought to secure for me the confidence of an
intelligent community." His first election cost
£500.

Opposed by the administration and its organs
from political reasons, Mackenzie's candidature was
contested even by professed Liberal journals, from
a business jealousy that derived its venom from the
circumstance of his own paper having a circulation
larger than any rival in Upper Canada. Assailed by
every newspaper in York, except his own ; libelled
in pamphlets, and slandered in posters, he pursued
the even tenor of his way, and managed to find
time for the preparation of electioneering docu-
ments calculated to influence not merely the
county of York but the whole province. The
result showed that Small had miscalculated the
relative influence of himself and his opponent.
Ketchum and Mackenzie were elected.
150

EVENTS OF HIS FIRST SESSION

The first session in which Mackenzie had a seat
in the legislative assembly, opened inauspiciously
for the advisers by whom Sir John Colborne was
surrounded. Having been convened on January 8th,
1829, it soon gave proof of its hostility to the
administration. The vote on the speakership, which
stood twenty-one for Willson, the late Speaker,
and twenty-four for Bidwell, did not at all indicate
the strength of parties ; for, while Willson received
the support of the government, the division showed
that he still retained many friends among the
opposition. The address in reply to the speech from
the throne, founded on resolutions framed by
Rolph and containing the strongest expressions of
a want of confidence in the advisers of the
governor, was carried with the nearest possible
approach to unanimity : thirty-seven against one.
In those days a unanimous vote of censure on
the governor's advisers produced no change of
ministry. The assembly complained of the govern-
ment, when they ought to have struck a blow at
the system which rendered it possible for a party,
who could command only a small minority in the
popular branch of the legislature, to continue their
grasp on the reins of power. Such was the House
in which Mackenzie first held a seat; such the
practice of the government when he first entered
public life.

During this session an event occurred that
brought him into collision with two members of

151

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the legislature who were afterwards active in his
expulsion from the House. The new governor, Sir
John Colborne, had been exhibited in effigy at
Hamilton, and a rumour had found currency that
there was a conspiracy to liberate Collins from gaol
by force. Whatever connection these two subjects
may have had, they were jointly referred to a
special committee of inquiry. Gurnett had stated
in his newspapers, that the intention of certain
petitioners for the release of Collins was to liberate
him by force, if necessary. On January 29th, Rolph
moved that Gurnett be brought to the bar of the
House to be interrogated touching this statement.
When he came he refused to answer, on the ground
that his evidence would implicate himself. Allan
MacNab (afterwards Sir Allan) was among the
witnesses called, and he refused to answer the ques-
tions put to him. On motion of Dr. Baldwin, he
was declared guilty of a high breach and contempt
of the privileges of the House. Being taken into
custody by the sergeant-at-arms, and brought a
prisoner to the bar of the House, he complained of
having been tried and convicted without a hearing.
His defence was not satisfactory to the House, and,
on motion of Mackenzie, he was committed to the
York gaol, under the warrant of the Speaker,
during the pleasure of the House. Solicitor-General
Boulton was also called as a witness. He, too,
thought himself entitled to refuse to answer the
questions of the committee, and, for this contempt
152

PROPOSES POST-OFFICE REFORMS

and breach of privilege, was let off with a repri-
mand.

Mackenzie in the assembly soon became one of
its most active members. He commenced as he
ended, by asking for information and probing to
the bottom questions of great public interest. In
the committee-room he made his mark, during the
first session, not less distinctly than in the House.
As chairman of the select committee to inquire
into the state of the post-office department in
Upper Canada, he drew up a comprehensive report
replete with the most valuable information and
suggestions. The mail service was miserably per-
formed ; and matters were so managed as to leave
a considerable surplus profit which failed to find its
way into the provincial exchequer. Not a mile of
new post- road could be opened, or a single post-
office established, without the authority of the
postmaster-general in England, who was necessarily
destitute of the minute local information necessary
for the correct determination of such questions.
The postage on a letter between England and
Canada ranged from five shillings to seven shillings
and six pence. The tri -weekly mail between Mon-
treal and the present city of Toronto was slowly
dragged over roads that were all but impassable;
and it was a standing wonder how the mail-carriers
were enabled to perform their duties westward.
Mackenzie recommended, as the beginning of all
efficient reform, that the department should be

153

■

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

placed under the control of the local authorities.
He also laid it down as a principle that no attempt
should be made to draw a revenue from the post-
office ; but that the entire receipts should be
devoted to the securing of additional postal facili-
ties. Complaints had been made, in previous
sessions, that the colonists were taxed, without
their consent, through the post-office department,
and that the surplus revenue was never accounted
for, a complaint which had been met by Attorney-
General Robinson by a reference to Dr. Franklin,
who was said not to have regarded postage in the
light of taxation.

Nor was this the only committee of which
Mackenzie was chairman. In that capacity he made
a report on the privileges of the House and the
conduct of returning officers at the recent election,
and he afterwards carried, on a vote of twenty-
seven against five, a resolution that the chief clerk,
with the approbation of the Speaker, should
appoint the subordinate officers of the House,
except the sergeant-at-arms and any others ap-
pointed under the existing law.

During this session, Mackenzie carried various
other motions and addresses to the government.
On nearly every vote he was sustained by immense
majorities. When certain powerful interests were
interfered with, his success was not so marked ;
and on a few occasions he failed to obtain a
majority. In those days, the assembly counted a
154

HIS REFORM RESOLUTIONS

chaplain among its servants, and in accordance
with the attempt, which had not yet been abandon-
ed, to give the Church of England a position of
ascendency in Upper Canada, he was a member of
that Church. On a vote of eighteen against
fourteen, Mackenzie carried a resolution which
struck at this exclusiveness by declaring that,
during the remainder of the session, the clergy
of the town generally be invited to officiate, in
turn, as chaplain, and that their services be paid
out of the contingent fund.

But the government was so fenced in that it
could exist in the face of any amount of opposition.
During this session it was entirely independent of
the House for the means of carrying on the gov-
ernment. No money grant was asked ; and the
House was officially informed that it would not be
expected to trouble itself with the matter. The
Crown revenue, which came into its hands under
an imperial statute of 1774, * sufficed to defray the
expenses of the government and of the administra-
tion of justice ; and any bills passed by the House,
which did not meet with the sanction of the
government, could be easily disposed of in the
council.

In this session he brought before the House
a series of thirty-one resolutions — a moderate num-
ber compared with the celebrated ninety-two of

1 The Quebec Revenue Act, 1774, (14 Geo. Ill, c. 83), and its
amendment, the Quebec Revenue Act, 1775, (15 Geo. Ill, c. 40).

155

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Lower Canada — on the state of the province. He
therein took a position far in advance of the times.
Contending for that right of local self-government
of which the constitution contained the guarantee,
he asserted the right of the House to control the
entire revenue arising within the province ; com-
plained that money voted for the civil service had
been applied to the pensioning of individuals in
sums of from £500 to £1,000 a year; denounced
the favours shown to a particular Church, pensions,
monopolies, and ex-ofjicio and criminal informations,
at the instance of the Crown, for political libels.
The necessity of making the Canadian judges
independent was asserted in opposition to opinions
expressed in high quarters in England. The un-
limited power of sheriffs holding office during
pleasure was declared to be dangerous to public
liberty, especially as the office was often filled by
persons of neither weight nor responsibility. The
patronage exercised by the Crown or its agent, the
governor, in the province, was asserted to be at
variance with sound policy and good government.
Though the importance of Canada to England as
a nursery for her seamen and as a country con-
suming a larger quantity of British goods in
proportion to the population, was insisted on, it
was alleged that the discontent arising from the
abuse of power was one of the causes that led to
the invasion of the province in the War of 1812;
the resulting losses suffered by the most active
156

SIR JOHN COLBORNE

friends of the British power, and falling most heavily
on the Niagara district, ought, it was contended,
to be made good out of the territorial revenue of
the Crown instead of being left unliquidated or
allowed to fall on a poor province. The appoint-
ment of an accredited agent at the seat of the
imperial government, was declared to be desirable.
The resolutions constituted a budget of grievances,
most of which have been not only redressed but
forgotten.

The arrival in the province of Sir John Colborne,
in the capacity of lieutenant-governor, had been
hailed as the sure promise of a new era. The
illusion had vanished before the close of the session,
during which an executive council, which found
itself in a permanent minority in the popular
branch of the legislature, had been kept in office.1
Mackenzie, who had been elated by hopes which
were destined not to be realized, now uttered
complaints where he had before been disposed to
bestow praise. He had gone into the legislature
with a desire to point out, and, if possible, remedy,
what he believed to be great abuses in the govern-
ment.

In the spring of 1829, Mackenzie visited New
York, Washington, Philadelphia, and other places

1 The following is a list of the members of the executive council
with dates of appointment : James Baby, 1792; John Strachan, 1818;
William Campbell, 1825; James B. Macaulay, 1826; Peter Robinson,
1828 ; and George H. Markland, 1828. One had held office for thirty-
seven years.

157

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

in the United States, with a disposition to view
everything he saw there in colour de rose. The
alarming sound of a threatened dissolution of the
union even then fell upon his ears ; he could de-
tect in it nothing but the complaints of dis-
appointed faction. While on this visit he wrote a
long letter on the political condition of Canada to
the editor of the National Gazette. The authorship
was not avowed, and though various conjectures
were hazarded on the subject, it is difficult to see
how it could have been a question at all. The letter
bore the strongest internal evidence of its author-
ship, and was, besides, little more than an amplifica-
tion of the thirty-one resolutions he had brought
before the legislature in the previous session.

The contrasts made between the government of
Canada, as then administered, and that of Wash-
ington, could hardly be otherwise than of a danger-
ous tendency. An English statesman might make
them with impunity ; but if a Canadian followed his
example, his motives would not fail to be impugned.
So it was with Mackenzie, who claimed to be, in
English politics, neither more nor less than a Whig.
These contrasts obtruded themselves by the pro-
pinquity of the two countries ; and there is no
reason to suppose that, in Mackenzie's case, they
at this time implied any disloyalty to England.1

1 As the general election of 1831 approached, the misrepresenta-
tions of the object of Mackenzie's mission to the United States con-
tinued to be repeated with increased virulence and rancour. He met

153

AN UNPOPULAR EXECUTIVE

During the parliamentary recess, a vacancy having
occurred in the representation of York by the ap-
pointment of Attorney-General Robinson to the
chief justiceship of the Court of King's Bench, the
vacant seat was contested between Robert Baldwin,
whose father was then a member of the House, and
James E. Small. Mackenzie supported the former,
who obtained ninety- two votes against fifty- one
given to his opponent. Taking the assembly for
our guide, it would be difficult to imagine a
government administered in more direct defiance
of the public will than that of Canada in 1830. The
legislative session opened on January 8th ; and in
the address in reply to the speech of the governor,
the House was unanimous in demanding the dis-
missal of the executive council. " We feel unabated
solicitude," said the representatives of the people,
"about the administration of public justice, and en-
tertain a settled conviction that the continuance
about your Excellency of those advisers, who, from
the unhappy policy they have pursued in the late

them by the publication of a letter he received from the chief clerk of
the Department of State, dated Washington, July 28th, 1830, which con-
cludes as follows: " I have just received a letter from Mr. Van Buren,
the secretary, dated at Albany, the 23d of this month, expressly autho-
rizing me to deny all knowledge of or belief, on his part, in the revolu-
tionary designs imputed to you, as I now have the honour of doing, and
to state, moreover, that he has not the smallest ground for believing
that your visit had anything political for its object. He directs me
also to add that, if the president were not likewise absent from the
seat of government, he is well persuaded he would readily concur
in the declaration which I have thu3 had the honour of making in his
behalf."

159

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

administration, have long deservedly lost the con-
fidence 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 House
was unanimous in desiring the removal of the ad-
visers of the governor ; but a discussion arose upon
the proper method of accomplishing that object.
Mackenzie hit upon the true remedy. " I would,"
he said, " candidly inform His Majesty's ministers
that they do wrong to encourage and support in
authority an organized body of men in direct oppo-
sition to the wishes of the people of the country."
If there was any hope of making the wishes of the
House prevail, it was by an appeal to England.
The governor had, in the previous session, been
appealed to by an almost unanimous vote of the
House to remove his advisers ; but he had felt
himself at liberty to ignore the wishes of the people's
representatives. On a direct vote of a want of con-
fidence, the government had, in the previous session,
been able to muster one vote out of thirty-eight ;
now their solitary supporter had deserted them. By
the personal favour of the governor, they were still
retained in office.

The governor received the address of the House
with a curtness that revealed a petulant sullenness
bordering on insult : " I return you my thanks for
your address," was all he condescended to say. That
it might not appear invidious, he used the same
160

HIS REPORT ON BANKING

formula in receiving the echo address of the legis^
lative council.

No member of the House had the same know-
ledge of financial matters, revenue, banking, and
currency, as Mackenzie. There were more finished
scholars, and more brilliant, though not more power-
ful, orators than he ; but in his knowledge of the
mysteries of accounts he was unrivalled. At the
commencement of the session, he concluded an able
speech on the currency by moving for a committee
of inquiry. Of this committee he was chairman;
and in that capacity made an elaborate report on
banking and currency.

" The system of banking," said the report, " in
most general use in the United States, and which
may with propriety be termed ' the American bank-
ing system,' is carried on by joint stock companies,
in which the stockholders are authorized to issue
notes to a certain extent beyond the amount of
their capital, while their persons are privileged
from paying the debts of the institution, in the
event of a failure of its funds to meet its engage-
ments." On this system, which had found its way
into Canada, Mackenzie was anxious that no more
banks should be chartered ; but, in case the House
resolved upon that course, he recommended the fol-
lowing precautions as likely to afford some security
to the bill-holders: "(1) That a refusal to redeem
their paper should amount to a dissolution of their
charter. (2) That the dividends be made out of the

161

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

actual bona fide profits only. (3) That stock should
not be received in pledge for discounts. (4) That
stockholders, resident within the district in which
any bank is situated, should not vote by proxy.

(5) That either branch of the legislature should
have the power to appoint proper persons to ascer-
tain the solvency of the bank, or detect mismanage-
ment, if they should see fit to institute an inquiry.

(6) It should be stipulated that any Act of the
legislature prohibiting the circulation of bills under
five dollars, shall not be considered an infringe-
ment of the charter. (7) The book or books of the
company in which the transfer of stock shall be
registered, and the books containing the names
of the stockholders, shall be open to the exam-
ination of every stockholder, in business hours,
for thirty days previous to any election of direc-
tors. (8) Full, true, and particular statements
should be periodically required, after a form to
be determined on, and which will exhibit to the
country the actual condition of the bank to be
chartered."

He moved an address for detailed accounts of the
different branches of the public revenue ; intro-
duced a bill — which passed unanimously at its final
stage — providing that the publication of truth, un-
less with malicious intent, should not be a libel;
and that the defendant in an action for libel should
be entitled to plead truth in justification and to
produce his proofs. This bill was rejected by the
162

PROPOSED REFORMS OF LIBEL LAW

legislative council in company with more than forty-
others.1

As in the previous session, Mackenzie brought
forward resolutions directed against the practice of
filling the legislative council with dependent place-
men ; but they were not pressed on either occasion.
If this point had been insisted upon by the House,
which showed an inexplicable backwardness in

1 u There is a fact, known to very few, in the life and labours of an
old Canadian journalist which the writer may, perhaps, be excused for
mentioning. It should interest all who have sympathized with the
early struggles for a free press in Canada. A few years ago, in the
course of a newspaper controversy which arose in regard to the story
of the Upper Canadian Rebellion, and the personages who figured
therein, the writer, in looking through the papers of the late William
Lyon Mackenzie, came upon a draft parliamentary bill 'For more
effectually securing the Liberty of the Press.' It was in manuscript,
in Mackenzie's plain, bold handwriting, and showed marks of careful
revision in order, apparently, to render its phraseology acceptable as
a piece of parliamentary drafting. From the date which it bore — and
subsequent enquiries verified the fact — the bill had been drawn in
advance of any agitation for those salutary provisions of Lord Camp-
bell's Act which have been of immense service to journalism wherever
they have been adopted. The remarkable feature of the Mackenzie bill
was this : that it not only contained proposed amendments of the law
the same in effect as those embodied in Lord Campbell's Act, with a
number of additional clauses that would have rendered that famous
Act more effective, but it also embraced the substance of some other
reforms which were afterwards engrafted on the Canadian law of
libel. The bill had not been laid before the legislature, by reason, as far
as we could discover, of the stirring events which drove its author into
exile ; but there can be no doubt that, had a good, instead of an evil,
star shone upon his path, his libel bill would have been the precursor,
in the old Upper Canada House of Assembly, of the great measure
which, during his term of expatriation, was placed upon the statute-
book and became the law of England." John King, Q. C, A Decade
in the History of Newspaper Libel" p. 49.

163

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

dealing with it, there is reason to believe that
it would have been conceded by the imperial gov-
ernment.1

After the close of the session of 1830, the belief
seems to have generally prevailed that the execu-
tive government would dissolve a House which
had been unanimous in asking the governor to dis-
miss his advisers. The death of the king, George IV,
settled all doubts that might have existed on this
head. But before the intelligence of this event
reached Upper Canada, the battlecry of party had
been raised in anticipation of a dissolution of the
new House. In the month of July, Mackenzie ad-
dressed a series of very long letters to Sir John
Colborne, apparently intended to influence the con-
stituencies. Several columns of the first letter were
devoted to a complaint founded on the accusa-
tions brought by the government press against the
loyalty of the assembly, and abuse of its mem-

1 In a despatch by Sir George Murray, then colonial secretary,
September 29th, 1829, " virtually" addressed to Sir John Colborne,
as he was officially advised, the following passage occurs : —

" The constitution of the legislative and executive councils is
another subject which has undergone considerable discussion, but upon
which His Majesty's government must suspend their opinion until I
shall have received some authentic information from your Excellency.
You will, therefore, have the goodness to report to me, whether it
would be expedient to make any alteration in the general constitution
of those bodies, and especially how far it would be desirable to intro-
duce a larger proportion of members not holding offices at the pleasure
of the Crown ; and, if it should be considered desirable, how far it may
be practicable to find a sufficient number of persons of respectability of
this description."

164

DEFENCE OF REFORM ASSEMBLY

bers.1 These attacks followed closely upon the pub-
lication of a despatch from Sir George Murray, col-
onial secretary, to Sir James Kempt, lieutenant-gov-
ernor of Lower Canada, in which the imperial min-
ister inculcated "the necessity of cultivating a spirit
of conciliation towards the House of Assembly" —
plainly showing the feelings of the British govern-
ment on the subject. After collecting a long list of
accusations against the dominant party in the assem-
bly, he met the charge of disloyalty brought against
the assembly and the Reform party in direct terms.
" The people of this province," he said, " neither de-
sire to break up their ancient connection with Great

1 The Upper Canada Courier, published by Gurnett, described the
House and the Speaker as follows :

* * Mouthpiece of a tyrant gang, [the House of Assembly]

Whose hatred is levelled at all loyal subjects.

Poor abject creature of a rebel race,

I scorn thy brief and undeserved authority."

And again :

" A thing like him [the Speaker] will only breed contempt,
And cause our House to prove a scene of riot,
Uproar and noise. A theatre for spouting
Disgusting trash and scurvy billingsgate,
The scoff and scorn of all who witness it.

44 Devoid of dignity, address, and manners,
He seems a thing unworthy to preside
O'er doting fools who loiter at camp meetings
To hear old women prate in mawkish phrases.

" Out upon them [the House of Assembly] ; shouldst thou choose
Him [Mr. Bid well] Speaker,

Thou'lt prove thyselves a base and shameless faction,
Disgraceful both to government and people."

165

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Britain, nor are they anxious to become members of
the North American confederation ; all they want
is a cheap, frugal, domestic government, to be ex-
ercised for their benefit and controlled by their own
fixed land-marks ; they seek a system by which to
insure justice, protect property, establish domestic
tranquillity, and afford a reasonable prospect that
civil and religious liberty will be perpetuated, and
the safety and happiness of society effected. "

It was one of Mackenzie's complaints that the
members of the executive government were not
responsible to the people of Canada through their
representatives ; and that there was no way of
bringing them to account for their conduct. When
the election contest approached more nearly, he put
forward responsible government as a principle of
vital importance. As a needful reform, he placed it
on a level with the necessity of purging the legisla-
tive council of the sworn dependents of the execu-
tive, who comprised the great majority. Of Upper
Canada politicians, we are entitled to place Mac-
kenzie among the very earliest advocates of re-
sponsible government.1 It is doubtless true that
others afterwards made the attainment of this
principle of administration more of a specialty than
he did ; for where abuses grew up with rank lux-
uriance, he could not help pausing to cut them
down in detail. The independence of the judiciary,

1 In September, 1830, he put forth the following programme, and
afterwards frequently repeated its publication : —

166

PROGRAMME OF REFORMS

for which he persistently contended, has been, like
responsible government, long since attained.

His letters to Sir John Colborne are not free
from remarks to which a general consent would
not now be given. In drawing up an indictment
containing a hundred counts against the administra-
tion, the constitution was not always spared ; but
the system of administration then pursued would
now find no supporters in this province ; and if
we were obliged to believe that it was constitu-
tional to sustain in power a ministry condemned by
the unanimous voice of the people's representatives,
the necessity for constitutional reform would be
universally insisted on. If the British government,
and even the British constitution, came in for a
share of condemnation, it must be remembered
that the oligarchical system, which reduced the

" To insure good government, with the aid of a faithful people, the
following five things are essential :

** 1. The entire control of the whole provincial revenues is re-
quired to be vested in the legislature— the territorial and hereditary
revenues excepted.

"2. The independence of the judges; or their removal to take
place only upon a joint address of the two Houses, and their appoint-
ment from among men who have not embarked in the political business
of the province.

"3. A reform in the legislative council, which is now an assembly
chiefly composed of persons wholly or partly dependent upon the
executive government for their support.

"4. An administration or executive government responsible to the
province for its conduct.

* ' 5. Equal rights to each religious denomination, and an exclusion
of every sect from a participation in temporal power."

167

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

popular branch of the legislature to a nullity, was
sustained by the imperial government, and that
the Reform Bill of Lord John Russell had not yet
been passed.

The letters to the governor were immediately
followed by u An Appeal to the people of Upper
Canada from the judgments of British and colonial
governments." This " Appeal ' was one of the
mildest productions Mackenzie ever wrote. Free
from personalities, it consisted entirely of an appeal
to the reason and the better feelings of the people,
and can be fairly judged from an extract addressed
to the agricultural classes : —

"A kind Providence hath cast your lot in a
highly favoured land, where, blessed with luxuriant
harvests and a healthful climate, you are enabled to
look back without regret upon the opulent nations
of Europe, where the unbounded wealth of one
class, and the degrading poverty of another, afford
melancholy proofs of the tyranny which prevails in
their governments. Compare your situation with
that of Russia, an empire embracing one-half of the
habitable globe, the population of which are slaves
attached to the soil, and transferable to any pur-
chaser; or with Germany, Italy, Portugal, and
Spain, where human beings are born and die under
the same degrading vassalage. Traverse the wide
world and what will you find ? In one place, a priva-
tion of liberty ; in another, incapacity to make use
of its possession ; here, ignorance, vice, and political
168

HIS FIRST RE-ELECTION FOR YORK

misrule ; there, an immense number of your fellow-
men forced from their peaceful homes and occupa-
tions 'to fight battles in the issue of which they
have no interest, to increase a domain in the posses-
sion of which they have no share.' Contrast their
situation with yours, and let the peaceful plains, the
fertile valleys of Canada, your homes, the homes of
your wives and children, be still more dear to you.
Agriculture, the most innocent, happy, and im-
portant of all human pursuits, is your chief em-
ployment ; your farms are your own ; you have
obtained a competence, seek therewith to be con-
tent."

Mackenzie's re-election for York was opposed by
nearly every newspaper in the country ; and the
few that did not oppose remained silent. Some car-
ried the virulence of personal abuse to an extent
that caused him to complain of injustice ; but he
would neither condescend to reply nor to meet his
assailants with their own weapons. The county of
York returned two members. In the Reform in-
terest stood Mackenzie and Jesse Ketchum ; op-
posed to them were Simon Washburn and Thorne.
So far did Mackenzie carry his sense of fairness
that he publicly announced that he would " abstain
from using the press as a medium of injuring, in the
public estimation," those who might be opposed to
him as candidates. The result was Ketchum, 616 ;
Mackenzie, 570 ; Washburn, 425 ; Thorne, 243.1

1 Shortly before the election came on, Mr. Mackenzie had given

169

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

The new House met on January 7th, 1831. No
previous assembly had committed half as many
follies as the one that now met for the first time
was to perpetrate.

The first trial of party strength showed that the
majority had passed to the official side. Archibald
McLean became the new Speaker on a vote of
twenty-six against fourteen. He was the first native
Canadian elected to the chair of the Upper Canada
assembly. His father had emigrated from Argyle-
shire, Scotland ; and the son had, in previous local
parliaments, allied himself with the official, or Family
Compact, party. Personally, he was not obnoxious,
even to the opposition ; and his pleasing address
was much in his favour. But his election indicated
a complete change in the politics of the House ;
and the party now dominant in both branches of
the legislature, as well as in the government, was
subject to no check whatever. The way in which it
abused its power will hereafter be seen.

It is impossible to note the change in the char-

" reasons," occupying four newspaper columns, " why the farmers and
mechanics should keep a sharp look-out upon the Bank [of Upper
Canada] and its managers." These reasons were based upon the refusal
of the officers of the bank, in the previous session, to answer the in-
quiries, on numerous points, of a parliamentary committee ; on the
statement, in the evidence of Robert Baldwin, that notes had been dis-
counted and refused discount from political reasons ; on the palpable
defects which then existed in the charter, defects which were such as
even then no economist or good business man in Europe would have
thought of defending. In order to exclude Mackenzie from the last
annual meeting proxies had been refused.

170

AN ACTIVE PARLIAMENTARIAN

acter of the House produced by the election of
1830, without inquiring to what possible causes so
extraordinary a party revolution was attributable.
The enigma seems to be not wholly incapable of
solution. The opposition to the executive, in the
previous House, had gone far to abolish all party
lines. Very few members who served from 1828 to
1830 had any serious political sins to answer for in
respect to that period. The purse-strings were held
by the executive. Holding the Crown revenues in
dependent of the legislature, it could wield the in-
fluence which money gives ; and, in a young colony,
poor and struggling, this was necessarily consider-
able. The state of the representation was, in some
respects, worse than that in the unreformed House
of Commons. The session was not very old when
Mackenzie moved for a committee of inquiry on the
subject. On a vote of twenty-eight against eleven
the House granted the committee ; and after two
attempts on the part of the officials and their friends
to break the force of the conclusion arrived at, Mac-
kenzie got a committee of his own nomination.

It had already become evident that, even in the
present House, Mackenzie would frequently get
his own way, and that he would give no end of
trouble to the official party. He brought forward
motions which the House, in spite of its adverse
composition, did not venture to reject, and they
were sometimes accepted without opposition. He
carried a motion of inquiry into the fees, sal-

171

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

aries, pensions, and rewards, paid out of that
portion of the revenue which was not at the dis-
posal of the legislature, as well as a motion for a
return of all sums paid out of the same source to
religious denominations. He made strong efforts
to effect a reform in the very defective system
of banking which then prevailed. The friends
of bank mystery had been obliged to give way,
and to allow regular returns of the Bank of Upper
Canada to be made to the government. On this
subject Mackenzie did not carry his motion, but he
compelled those who opposed him to yield much of
what he contended for.

If a member who gave the official party so much
trouble could be got rid of, how smoothly things
might be expected to glide along in the House as
at present constituted. Could a vote of expulsion
not be carried ? Previous to the general election,
Mackenzie had distributed, at his own expense,
several copies of the journals of the House,
unaccompanied by comment and precisely in the
shape in which they were printed by the House.
The declared object of the distribution was to give
the voters in different places the means of referring
to the official record of the votes and proceedings
of the House, in order that they might be able to
trace every vote, motion, and resolution of their
late representatives, and to ascertain when they
were absent and when present ; and also whether
their votes were acceptable or not. It appears that
172

CHARGE OF BREACH OF PRIVILEGE

it had been decided at a private party meeting,
at which several of the leading officials are said
to have been present, that this should be treat-
ed as a breach of privilege, and be made the
ground of a motion to expel the member guilty
of it. For this purpose the aid of a committee
of inquiry was obtained consisting of Attorney-
General Boulton, MacNab, Willson, Samson and
William Robinson. MacNab was selected as
the minister of vengeance ; and it may be pre-
sumed that he performed his task con amove,
since he had an old grudge to settle with the
member on whose motion he had, in a previous
session, been sent to prison for refusing to an-
swer the inquiries of a committee of the House.
MacNab based his complaint chiefly upon the fact
that the journals had been distributed without the
appendix. If the appendix had gone too, he owned
"that he should not so readily have made up his
mind on the question of privilege." The motion
was that, upon a report of a select committee,
Mackenzie had abused the trust imposed on him —
to print the journals — by publishing portions of
them, and distributing the same for political
purposes, "thereby committing a breach of the
privileges of this House." The solicitor-general
(Hagerman) made no hesitation in denouncing the
circulation of the journals as " altogether disgrace-
ful, and a high breach of the privileges of the
House." He deemed it monstrous to circulate them

173

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

"without the consent or approbation of the
House," and for the shameful purpose of letting
the constituencies know how their members had
voted. Attorney- General Boulton said the question
was, whether, for this " bad purpose, any portion
of the journals of the House could be published;"
and he answered it by unhesitatingly declaring his
" opinion, as a lawyer, that such a publication was
a breach of parliamentary privileges, whether done
with an evil intent or for a praiseworthy purpose."
Mr. Dalton had, in the previous session, published
portions of the proceedings of the House in his
journal, The Patriot; and if Mackenzie was liable
to be punished, so was he. Every newspaper pub-
lisher was equally guilty.

Mackenzie had a clear appreciation of the effect
which such an ill-advised movement would produce
on the public mind. " If," he said, M the object
of this resolution is to do me injury, it is but
another proof of the incapacity and folly of the
advisers of this government, who could not have
better displayed their weakness of intellect and
unfitness for office, than by bringing me before
the public as a guilty person, on an accusation
against which the whole country, from one end to
the other, will cry out, ' Shame !' If I have done
wrong, every newspaper editor in London, in
Lower Canada, and in this province, is deserving
of punishment."

Nothing could be plainer than that the charge on
174

AN IMPORTANT REPORT

which it was sought to justify the motion for
expulsion was a mere pretext. These considerations
must have flashed upon the House ; and in spite of
its subserviency to the administration, and in spite
of the desire to get rid of Mackenzie's active
opposition by removing his presence from the
House, a majority, fearing the effect of the pro-
ceeding upon the constituencies, shrank from
sustaining MacNab's motion. The vote stood fifteen
against twenty ; the names of the attorney-general
and the solicitor-general figured in the minority. *

Baffled for a time, but resolved not to forego
their purpose of getting rid of a troublesome op-
ponent, a new pretext was soon invented. It was
pretended that Mackenzie had printed a libel upon
the House. Before, however, the time came for
the second motion for expulsion, the House had
entered on another session ; and in the interval
Mackenzie was far from having done anything to
conciliate the dominant faction. On March 16th,
1831, the committee on the state of the represen-
tation, of which he was chairman, reported. It
condemned the practice of crowding the House
with placemen ; showed that the legislative council
had repeatedly thrown out bills for allowing the
same indemnity to members for towns as was paid

1I do not, of course, intend to deny the constitutional right of the
House to punish for libellous contempt of itself. But the power is one that
requires to be exercised with great caution; and assuredly it should
not be abused by making it a pretext for the expulsion of a member
who is found troublesome to the dominant party.

175

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

to those for counties ; recommended the modifi-
cation of that provision of the law which gave a
representative to every town having one thousand
inhabitants, so as to include a portion of the
adjoining country sufficient to give the con-
stituency four thousand inhabitants ; an approach
to the equalization of constituencies, in other cases,
was recommended in detail. It was shown that the
executive had exerted undue influence on placemen
who held seats in the legislative council; and had
compelled them to change their tone and vote in
direct opposition to their convictions previously
expressed in their places. A few had had spirit
enough to protest ; but submission had been the
rule.

The recess was of less than ordinary length, the
parliament, prorogued on March 16th, 1831, having
been again convened on November 17th. But
the period had been long enough for Mackenzie to
arouse an agitation which shook Upper Canada
throughout its whole extent. Nothing like it had
ever before been witnessed in the Upper Province.
In the middle of July, he issued, in temperate
language, a call for public meetings to appeal to
the king and the imperial parliament against the
abuses of power by the local authorities. He did
not mistrust the justice or the good intentions of
the sovereign. On the contrary, he showed the
people that there were substantial reasons for be-
lieving in the good intentions of the king towards
176

GRIEVANCE PETITIONS

the province. " If," he said, in a public address,
"you can agree upon general principles to be main-
tained by the agents you may appoint in London,
I am well satisfied that His Majesty's government
will exert its utmost powers to fulfil your just and
reasonable requests ; your king's noble efforts on
behalf of your brethren in England, Ireland, and
Scotland, are an earnest that you have in him a
firm and powerful friend." In these public meetings,
York led off; and was followed by responsive
movements throughout the province. Mackenzie
was present at many of the meetings, and even
in such places as Brockville and Cornwall he
carried everything as he wished. Each petition
adopted by those meetings was an echo of the
other ; and many appear to have been exact copies
of one another. To produce a certified copy of the
proceedings of the York meeting was sure to obtain
assent to what it had done. A distinct demand for
a responsible government found a place in these
petitions. The king was asked " to cause the same
constitutional principle which has called your pre-
sent ministers to office to be fully recognized and
uniformly acted upon in Upper Canada; so that we
may see only those who possess the confidence of
the people composing the executive council of your
Majesty's representative." Representative reform,
which then occupied so much attention in England
was demanded. The control of all the revenue
raised in the province was asked to be placed in the

177

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

assembly ; the disposal of the public lands to be
regulated by law ; the secularization of the Clergy
Reserves ; the establishment of municipal councils
which should have the control of local assessments ;
the abolition of exclusive privileges conferred upon
particular religious denominations ; law reform ;
provision for impeaching public servants who be-
trayed their trust; the exclusion of judges and
ministers of the Gospel from the executive council
and the legislature ; the abolition of the right of
primogeniture — these items completed the list of
those grievances of which redress was asked.

Mackenzie afterwards became the bearer of these
petitions to England. The aggregate number of
signatures appended to them was over twenty-four
thousand five hundred. In spite of counter-petitions
numerously signed, his mission, as we shall see,
was far from being barren of results.

During the spring of 1831, Mackenzie made a
journey to Quebec to pay a visit to some of the
leading politicians of Lower Canada. He took
passage at Montreal, in the steamer Waterloo, for
Quebec. While on her way down the vessel was
wrecked early on the morning of April 13th, op-
posite St. Nicholas, and the passengers had a narrow
escape across the ice-jam for their lives. The vessel
went down in deep water. The accident arose from
the supposition that the ice-bridge at Cap Rouge
had given way, and left the channel clear.

There is one incident connected with the landing
178

A WRECK AND ITS INCIDENTS

of the passengers, which Mackenzie often related.
A poor woman whom he overtook, in company
with Mr. Lyman, making her way to shore, was
unable to jump from one piece of ice to another, or
was afraid to venture. Mackenzie threw himself
across the breach, and she walked over upon his
body.

179

CHAPTER VII

EXPULSIONS FROM THE ASSEMBLY

IN the last session, the attempted expulsion of
Mackenzie had failed. The pretext adduced to
excuse the proposal was so flimsy and untenable
that a majority of the House shrank from com-
mitting themselves to it. A new crime had been
invented, and a new pretext found. Before, it was a
breach of privilege for distributing the journals of
the House ; now, it was a libel constituting a breach
of privilege. The House met on November 17th,
1831, and on December 6th Mackenzie's expulsion
was proposed. The proceedings were initiated by a
flourish about the privileges of parliament, the in-
tention being to justify an outrage which it was
proposed to perpetrate in their name. The pre-
liminary motion affirmed, "that the privileges of
parliament were established for the support and
maintenance of the independent and fearless dis-
charge of its high functions, and that it is to the
uncompromising assertion and maintenance of these
privileges in the earliest periods of English history,
that we are chiefly indebted for the free institutions
which have been transmitted to us by our ancestors."
With a view to showing the animus of the proceed-
ings, Bid well, seconded by Perry, moved in amend-
ment that so much of the journals as related to the

181

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

previous attempt at expulsion be read ; but in a
House of forty members he was beaten by a
majority of ten. Bid well returned to the charge,
proposing to amend the resolution so as to give
credit to " a free press, in modern and enlightened
times, notwithstanding the many different attempts
to destroy its liberty," a share in the preservation
of the free institutions transmitted to us by our
ancestors. This amendment being rejected, on a
vote of twenty-four against sixteen, another amend-
ment, embodying two extracts from articles in the
Colonial Advocate, was moved. The first of these
articles was a mere summary of the proceedings of
the House on the subject of certain petitions pray-
ing for a redress of grievances, and the second, by
far the more severe, certainly did not exceed the
latitude of political criticism at that time constantly
taken by the English press.1 It would be easy to

I Here is the second alleged libel :

II Excellent Example op Lower Canada. — The harmony which
subsists between the governor-in-chief, the House of Assembly, and
the colonial secretary, Lord Viscount Goderich, must be pleasing and
gratifying to every true friend of representative government ; for it is
evidently the consequence of a just and honourable course of pro-
cedure in these high parties towards the people of Lower Canada. We
are glad to perceive, by Lord Goderich's despatch in answer to the
assembly's petition sent home last spring by Mr. Viger, that all the
judges are to be dismissed both from the executive and legislative
councils ; that the revenues from the Jesuits' Estates are to be applied
by the province to educate the Canadians ; that the power of regu-
lating trade is to be exercised in future with great attention to the
interests of the colony ; that provincial bills for giving corporate powers
and making local regulations will be sanctioned ; that the right of the
colonists to regulate their internal affairs is fully admitted ; that offices

182

CHARGE OF LIBELLING THE PRESS

quote from leading London journals numerous ex-
amples of greater severity of denunciation. At this
distance of time we look back with amazement at
the paltry passions and narrow judgment that could
construe these articles into libels on the House, con-
stituting a breach of privilege for which nothing
less than ignominious expulsion of the author would
be a fitting or adequate punishment.

Mackenzie promptly accepted the responsibility
of the articles, both as author and publisher. The
Speaker, being appealed to, decided that Mackenzie
had a right to be heard in his own defence. The
latter then proceeded to address the House ; but

of trust and profit are to be more equally distributed in future ; that
officers who have lost the confidence of the country are to be dis-
missed, if the complaints made against them are proved ; that all the
proper influence of government is to be given to the satisfaction of the
colony, and that any colonial law increasing the responsibility and
accountability of public officers will be sanctioned by England. In the
assembly we see noble and patriotic efforts made to increase the happi-
ness of the people, enlighten their understandings, and watch dili-
gently over their rights and privileges ; and on the part of the
governor-in-chief there does really appear to be a willingness to act
with the House of Assembly, and faithfully to assist them in securing
for the country the inestimable advantage of good laws and free in-
stitutions.

" The contrast between their executive and ours, between the material
of our assembly and theirs, and between the use they make of an in-
valuable constitution and our abuse of it, is anything but satisfactory
to the friends of freedom and social order in Upper Canada. Our repre-
sentative body has degenerated into a sycophantic office for registering
the decrees of as mean and mercenary an executive as ever was given
as a punishment for the sins of any part of North America in the
nineteenth century. We boast of our superior intelligence, of our
love of liberty ; but where are the fruits ? Has not the subservience

183

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

before he had concluded, an adjournment took
place. Next day, Bidwell moved for a committee
to inquire whether any libels had been published
on the House during the session. The motion was
declared to be out of order. The Speaker also an-
nounced that he had given an erroneous decision,
on the previous day, in giving the accused the right
of self- defence. But Mackenzie was allowed to pro-
ceed. He was not the only member of the House
who published a newspaper ; and others had, in
speaking of the proceedings of the assembly, used
much harsher language than he had. But the
truth was, one party was permitted any latitude of
language in dealing with their opponents. This had

of our legislature to a worthless executive become a by-word and a
reproach throughout the colonies ? Are we not now, even during the
present week, about to give to the municipal officers of the govern-
ment, as a banking monopoly, a power over the people, which, added
to their already overgrown influence, must render their sway nearly
as arbitrary and despotic as the iron rule of the Czar of Muscovy?
Last winter, the majority of our assembly, with our Speaker at their
head, felt inclined to make contemptuous comparisons between the
French inhabitants of a sister colony and the enlightened constituents
who had returned them, the said majority. In our estimation, and
judging of the tree by its fruits, the Lower Canadians are by far the
most deserving population of the constitution they enjoy ; for they
show themselves aware of its value. While judging the people here by
the representatives they return, it might be reasonably inferred that
the constituents of the McLeans, Vankoughnets, Jarvises, Robinsons,
Burwells, Willsons, Boultons, MacNabs, McMartins, Frasers, Chis-
holms, Crookes, Elliotts, Browns, Joneses, Masons, Samsons, and
Hagermans, had immigrated from Grand Tartary, Russia, or Algiers,
the week preceding the last general election ; for, although in the
turgid veins of their members, there may be British blood, there cer-
tainly is not the appearance of much British feeling."

184

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

been apparent in the prosecution of Collins, and the
menaced proceedings against Mackenzie, while the
newspaper organs of the official party were left un-
disturbed in their carnival of unmeasured abuse of
opponents.

The speech of the arraigned member shows so
well the unfairness of those who thus charged him,
and the partiality of their methods, that the
material parts of it are given : —

"The articles complained of," Mackenzie said,
" contain opinions unfavourable to the political char-
acter of members who compose the majority of this
House, also opinions unfavourable to those persons
who compose the executive council of the colony.
The former are charged with sycophancy, the latter
with being as mean and mercenary as any other
colonial administration. It is alleged that to pro-
pagate such opinions is criminal and deserves
punishment. Undoubtedly, if there is a rule or law,
it is wrong to transgress it. But I know no law
that is transgressed by propagating these opinions.
Let it even be supposed, for the sake of argument,
that the opinions complained of are false, though I
firmly believe that they are perfectly true; if all
false quotations and false opinions are improper,
then all discussion, either in this House or through
the press, must also be improper, for one set of
opinions must be wrong. And if none but true
opinions can be given or quoted by either party,
then there can be no argument. The newspaper

185

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

press of this colony takes different sides on political
questions. Four-fifths of the twenty-five journals
published in this colony are in raptures with the
lieutenant-governor, the councils, and the House of
Assembly ; they continually laud and extol them
to the skies for the wonderful benefits they are con-
ferring, and (as they say) are about to confer upon
the province. The remaining journals, comparatively
few in number, but of very extensive circulation,
disapprove generally of the manner in which public
affairs are conducted. Shall they not possess the
power to blame, if they think fit, that which the
others praise ? May not they who find fault be in
the right, and the others who praise in the wrong ?
How are the people to know when to approve or
to disapprove of the conduct of their rulers, if
the freedom of expressing all opinions concerning
public men be checked ? In English law, it is said
that though discussion should be free it should be
* decent,' and that all indecency should be punished
as libellous. The law of libel leaves the terms
'indecent discussion' undefined, and in old English
practice, as Bentham justly remarks, what is
'decent' and 'what the judge likes' have been
pretty generally synonymous. Indecency of dis-
cussion cannot mean the delivery either of true or
false opinions, because discussion implies both ;
there is presumed to be two parties, one who
denies, and another who affirms, as with us, where
twenty journals are in favour of the majority in
186

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

this House and only five generally opposed to
them. Would you wish all check from the press
put a stop to ? Assuredly there is no medium
between allowing all opinions to be published, and
of prohibiting all. Where would you draw the line?
Those among us who may wish to conceal the
abuses of our defective government will denounce
the paragraphs complained of as libellous, because
it is a point of great importance with them to
keep the people in ignorance, that they may neither
know nor think they have any just cause of com-
plaint, but allow the few to riot undisturbed in the
pleasures of misrule at their expense. They say
West India negro law is admirable. The solicitor-
and attorney-general have already gratuitously de-
nounced the paragraphs before the House, as
tending to bring the government into contempt
and impede its operation. If the government is
acting wrongly, it ought to be checked. Censure of
a government causes inquiry and produces dis-
content among the people, and this discontent is
the only means known to me of removing the
defects of a vicious government and inducing the
rulers to remedy abuses. Thus the press, by its
power of censure, is the best safeguard of the
interests of mankind ; and unless the practical
freedom of the press were guaranteed by the spirit
and determination of the people of Upper Canada,
it is doubtful to me whether this House itself, as
an elective body, would be an advantage to the

187

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

community. I rather think it would not. It is by
no means an improbability that the electors of this
House should sometimes make a bad choice. That
I think they have done so now is evident from my
votes upon most questions. It is by the liberty of
the press, and the freedom of expressing opinions,
that a remedy can be had for an unfortunate
choice ; the more the country knows of your acts,
the more severely editors on whom it depends
animadvert on your public conduct, the more will
that conduct become a matter of inquiry and dis-
cussion, and the country will look into your actions
and weigh your character thereby. If the people
support a press and expect independent opinions
from the editor, would you have that editor deceive
them by praising the most notorious selfishness and
sycophancy, and dressing these vices in the garb of
virtue ?

" If one man in a legislative assembly saw that
he might promote misrule for his own advantage,
so would another ; so would they all ; and thus bad
government be reared and upheld. Unless there be
a check by the people upon governors and legislators,
founded on a knowledge of their character, govern-
ments will inevitably become vicious. If the
legislature shall (as these proceedings indicate in
my case) assume the power of judging censures on
their own public conduct, and also assume the
power to punish, they will be striking a blow at the
interests of the people and the wholesome liberty
188

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

of the press. Where bad judges, hypocritical gov-
ernors, wicked magistrates, sycophantic representa-
tives, can, by the doctrine of contempts, exercise
at will a censorship over the press and punish the
journalist who strives to promote the public interest
by a fearless discharge of an unpleasant duty, mis-
rule and injustice will be the inevitable consequence.
It is our duty to watch the judges ; but were they
to assume the power of punishing editors summarily
for animadversions on their conduct on the bench,
how would the people know what that conduct
had been, or learn whether we did or did not do
our duty in striving to secure for them a perfect
judicature ? There is assuredly no security for good
government unless both favourable and unfavour-
able opinions of public men are allowed to be
freely circulated. To have the greater benefit in the
one case, you must submit to the lesser evil in the
other. But it will perhaps be said that the language
of these paragraphs is passionate, and that to cen-
sure you in passionate language is libellous. Who
shall define what is, and what is not, violent and
passionate language? Is not strong and powerful
emotion excited in one man's mind by expressions
which in another man produce no such effect ? Will
you affirm that opinions ought to be put down if
conveyed in strong language, or what you may be
pleased to consider strong terms ? This doctrine
would leave to the judges the power of interpreting
the law favourably or unfavourably in all cases.

189

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Libel might thus mean one thing in York, and
another thing at Sandwich. The freedom of the
press has been for many years practically recognized
by all factions, sects, and parties in these colonies ;
and each, in its turn, has had resort to that power-
ful lever in attempting to direct public opinion.
Opinions both favourable and unfavourable, both
true and false, have been safely promulgated, and
truth and error advocated by opposite sides, of
which I will now refer to some examples. It cannot
even be alleged by my judges, the public agents
for the Gore Mercury [Messrs. Mount, Burwell,
Shade, Ingersoll, and Robinson], owned by the
learned member opposite [Mr. MacNab], that that
newspaper has changed and become more violent
than at the onset. Mr. MacNab told us, in his
first number, that 'believing decency and good
manners to compose some part of virtue, we shall
endeavour to exclude from our columns all se-
lections or communications having in the least a
contrary tendency. All personal reflections, priv-
ate scandal, and vituperative attacks upon in-
dividual character, we openly declare we wish
never to have even sent to us.' And, in the very
same number, he gave several delectable verses as
his own definition of this 'virtue,' 'decency,' and
'good manners.' I may as well give the House
a specimen from his opening number, where he
speaks of the majority of the last House of As-
sembly:—
190

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

1 Each post of profit in the House
To greedy sharks assigned,
And public records of the state
Clandestinely purloined.

' The attorney from the Senate House
Endeavoured to expel,
Whose hall they made look like a room
Where raving drunkards dwell.

1 For months this ribald conclave
Retailed their vulgar prate,
And charged two dollars each per day
For spouting billingsgate.

' Two years their saintships governed us
With lawless, despot rule,
At length the sudden change broke up
The league of knave and fool. '

" After apportioning to your predecessor in that
chair a due share of this ' decent ' poetry, the learned
gentleman opposite informed the people of Went-
worth that their late representatives, of whom I
was one, were so many ' juggling, illiterate boobies
— a tippling band — a mountebank riff-raff — a saint-
ly clan — a saddle-bag divan — hackneyed knaves';
and that they possessed other equally pleasant and
agreeable qualities, which it appears his fine sense
of virtue, decency, and good manners did not allow
him to forget in his future productions, which my
judges, his agents [Messrs. Shade, Robinson, & Co.],
have taken such unequalled pains to circulate among
our worthy constituents. I declare I think it a
severe punishment to be obliged to seek for

191

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

specimens of 'the liberty of the press,' as practised
by the majority of this House, in such a vehicle as
the Mercury, but it nevertheless appears to me the
best and most effectual way of exhibiting to the
country the gross and shameful partiality of this
proceeding. I will now call the attention of the
House to Mr. MacNab's Mercury of June 9th and
September 15th last. Courtiers are seldom slow in
perceiving what pleases a government, and are
always ready to use the means, however improper.
It has been found no difficult road to the favour
of His Excellency and his council to cast oppro-
brium on Mr. Ryerson, the Methodists, Mr.
Bidwell, and others whom His Excellency had no
friendship for ; accordingly we find Mr. MacNab
and the agents of his Mercury stating that Mr.
Ryerson is ' a man of profound hypocrisy and un-
blushing effrontery, who sits blinking on his perch,
like Satan when he perched on the tree of life in
the shape of a cormorant to meditate the ruin of
our first parents in the garden of Eden/ and that
he is the ally of 'shameless reprobates.' My brother
members go on and civilly publish in the Mercury,
that my soul was going with a certain potentate of
darkness to his abode ; that I, 'the rascal,' had been
guilty of 'dark calumnies and falsehoods — false
oaths, false acts — with many other sins of blackest
hue.' I will not read the production; it is too gross;
but those who wish to refer to the proofs of 'good
manners', afforded by those of my judges who
192

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

circulate the Mercury, may have the perusal of the
paper itself. In the Mercury, printed on the day
this session was convened, I find that Mr. MacNab
and his agents circulated (through the Kingston
Chronicle) an opinion that I had been 'wickedly
employed in exciting ' the people of Upper Canada
'to discord, dissension, and rebellion.' I presume
this was published as a fair specimen of the degree
of politeness due from one member to another ; for
the two honourable members for Wentworth used
precisely similar language at the great public meet-
ing held last summer at Hamilton. This brings me
to notice the meeting of the inhabitants of York
last July, and the petitions to the king and this
House, of which Messrs. MacNab and Gurnett,
and their agents, give an account in their journals
as follows : —

'"The whole proceeding, however, is so super-
latively ridiculous, and so palpably fraudulent and
deceptive, that we find the utmost difficulty in
taking the subject up at all as a serious matter, or
in alluding to it with any other language than that
of ridicule and contempt. And as these are also the
feelings and the sentiments with which every man
of common sense, of every sect and party in the
province, looks at and laughs at those extravagant
proceedings — always excepting the little knot of
half a dozen disappointed and revengeful political
aspirants who constitute the nucleus of the old
central junto party, and of every other disaffected

193

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

body which has been organized under different
appellations in this country within the last seven
years ; always, we say, excepting this knot of
worthies, and those ever-ready tools of their dis-
honest purposes — the illiterate and mentally en-
slaved adherents of Ryersonian Episcopal Method-
ism— with these exceptions, we repeat, every man
in Upper Canada thoroughly penetrates the fraudu-
lent proceedings by which the party in question,
through the agency of their hired tool, Mr.
Mackenzie, are now attempting to attain their
selfish and dishonest object.

" ' But the question naturally presents itself, how,
in defiance of these incontrovertible facts, can so
large a number of the people of the province be
induced to give the sanction of their signatures to
the complaints contained in Mr. Mackenzie's ad-
dresses? This is a question, however, to which
every intelligent man in the country is prepared to
answer: "First, through the influence, direct and
insidious, which the crafty Methodist Episcopal
priesthood exercise over their illiterate, but well
organized and numerous, adherents ; and secondly,
through the fraud, falsehood, or sheer humbug
which is resorted to by Mr. Mackenzie at his
pretended Township Meetings.'"

" There is language for us, Mr. Speaker, language

calculated to please the heads of the government,

and intended doubtless as illustrative of the benefits

we of the minority might derive from the liberty of

194

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

the press. Let us now examine who are the ac-
credited partners, public supporters, or rather, as
they are called, agents of the Courier — Colonel
Ingersoll, M.P., Mr. Mount, M.P., Colonel Burwell,
M. P., your honourable colleague, the York bank
agent at Dundas, the Hon. Counsellor Crooks, at
Flamborough, Mr. Jones at Prescott, Mr. Berczy at
Amherstburg, and a long list of officials. Will those
gentlemen named, who have places on this floor,
and who are all pressing forward this prosecution,
be able to persuade the country that they are not
parties to one of the most partial and shameful
schemes ever hatched against a fellow-mortal ?
Well and truly does Mr. MacNab tell his readers
in one of his numbers, that * Hatred can survive
all change, all time, all circumstance, all other
emotions ; nay, it can survive the accomplishment
of revenge, and, like the vampire, prey on its dead
victim.' The majority of this House, whatever may
be their practice in regard to sycophancy, profess to
dread and abhor the very name of sycophants ; yet
are they willing to use the freedom of the press to
bestow remarkable titles on others. The Mercury
and the Courier, and their agents, my brother mem-
bers here present, in their account of the Hamilton
meeting, jointly honour me with the appellations of
a 'politico-religious juggler' — 'mock patriot' — 'con-
temptible being '-'grovelling slanderer '-'wandering
impostor,' whose ' censure is praise,' and whose
'shameless falsehoods,' 'foul deeds,' 'envious ma-

195

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

lignity,' and 'impotent slanders,' point me out as
'the lowest of the vile.' All this it is expected I
should quietly submit to, and so I do. Next, it
appears to be expected that I should patiently en-
dure the most insulting abuse on this floor from
persons in authority under the government ; and
that, too, I have been found equal to. Thirdly, I
must not call things by their right names in the
newspaper called the Advocate ; but either praise
the most undeserving of public men, be silent as
death, or go back to the freeholders of the country
with the brand of a ' false, atrocious, and malicious
libeller ' on my forehead. If such shall be your mea-
sure of justice, I will not shrink from the appeal to
the country. Not one word, not one syllable do I
retract ; I offer no apology ; for what you call libel
I believe to be solemn truth, fit to be published
from one end of the province to the other. I cer-
tainly should not have availed myself of my privi-
lege, or made use of the language complained of on
this floor ; but since I am called to avow or dis-
avow that language, as an independent public
journalist I declare I think it mild and gentle ; for,
be it remembered, Mr. Speaker, I see for myself
how matters are carried on here ; your proceedings
are not retailed out to me at second hand. When
the petitions of the people, numerous beyond all
precedent since the days of Chief Justice Robinson,
Jonas Jones, and the alien question, were brought
into this House, praying for economy and retrench-
196

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

merit, for the regulation of wild lands sales by law,
for the abolition of Crown and Clergy Reserves,
and all reservations except for education, for the
means of education, for an abolition of banking
monopolies, for a reduction of law fees and a sim-
plification of law practice, for the equal distribution
of intestate estates, for the establishment of the
mode of trying impeachments, for assuring the con-
trol of the whole public revenue, for a revision of
the corrupt jury-packing system, for the repeal of
the everlasting salary bill, for disqualifying priests
and bishops from holding seats in the two councils,
for taking the freeholders' votes at convenient places,
for allowing the people the control over their local
taxes, for inquiring into the trade law of last April,
for the abolition of the tea monopoly, and for an
equal representation of the people in this House,
how was I treated by those who press on this in-
famous proceeding ? Contrary to all parliamentary
usage, the petitions were consigned to a select com-
mittee chiefly composed of the bitter enemies of the
improvements prayed for, and myself and the other
members who introduced them excluded by your
vote. My motions for referring these petitions to
their known friends, in order that through them
bills agreeable to the wishes of the country might
be brought before you, were negatived at the re-
quest of a member who has openly abandoned the
principles which procured him a seat on this floor
and a silver cup elsewhere, and adopted a course

197

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

which has elevated him to the rank of a deputy
Crown clerk, a justice of the quorum, and a favourite
in the circle of officials at the west end of this city ;
in more vulgar language, ' he has turned his coat,'
and, I might add, 'his waistcoat also.' [Cries of
order.] The honourable member for Frontenac
[Mr. Thomson], who has made these several somer-
saults for his convenience, is a public journalist, and
consequently, like me, a dealer in opinions. In his
Kingston Herald of October 26th last, he calls the
petitions of the country, with the consideration of
which this House has since entrusted him, a ' hum-
bug,' and tells his brother member [Mr. Buell] that
he * must plead guilty, if it be " illiberal and un-
just " to expose the unprincipled conduct of an in-
dividual [meaning myself] whom we [meaning him-
self] conceive to be an enemy to our country, and
a promoter of discord and disaffection.' What a
generous, just, unbiased, and impartial judge he
will make in his own cause, Mr. Speaker, on the
present occasion !

" Again, speaking of the address to His Majesty,
which has already been signed by ten thousand free-
holders and inhabitants, he uses the following terms
in the Herald of July last : —

u ' We need not inform our readers that the un-
called for, and, as the Patriot justly designates it,
"impertinent" address, is the production of Mr.
Mackenzie of the Colonial Advocate, whose object
is to excite discontent in the minds of the farmers
198

HIS SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

•

within the sphere of his influence, and at the same
time to offer a deliberate insult to the legislature of
which he happens to be a member.' The honourable
gentleman assumes to himself the right of denounc-
ing at will his brother representative as a traitor to
his country, a promoter of rebellion, and for no other
reason than that that member (myself) had originat-
ed an address to our present most excellent sove-
reign, King William, which ten thousand of our
fellow-subjects have since sanctioned by their signa-
tures I He declares by his votes on this question
that he, as one of the majority in this House, may
brand me with every infamous epithet which ill-
will may see fit to embody in a resolution, but that
I, as a public journalist, must be expelled and
perhaps disqualified, if I once venture to hint at
the glaring political subserviency of public men.
Our late colonial minister, Sir George Murray, in
a speech addressed to the electors of Perthshire,
is reported to have said that l It would be well if
the people would at all times bear in mind that
crowds have their courtiers as well as monarchs.
Wherever there is power there will be flatterers,
and the people do not always sufficiently recollect
that they are liable to be flattered and misled as
well as princes, and by flatterers not less mean,
cringing, and servile, and, above all, not less false
or less selfish than the filthiest flatterer who ever
frequented a palace to serve his own private ends
by betraying the interests of his master.' Mr.

199

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Speaker, I never was so well convinced that crowds
have their sycophants in Upper Canada as well as
courts, as since I have had the honour of a seat in
this assembly." . . .

The governor, whose nod would have been suffi-
cient to quash these proceedings in a House swarm-
ing with placemen and dependents on the execu-
tive, had received, "with much pleasure," a petition
from certain "gentlemen," residing in the county of
Durham, in which the previous House was spoken
of as " a band of factious demagogues, whose acts
perceptibly tend to disorganize society, to subvert
legitimate authority, and to alienate men's minds
from constitutional government." And in another
part of the document thus graciously received, the
assembly was described as being composed of " un-
principled and designing men," deluders "under
the dark mantle of specious patriotism."

So far as related to the decision of the House, it
was to no purpose that Mackenzie exposed the
gross partiality of these discreditable proceedings.
The majority had marked their victim, and no
argument that could be used would induce them
to forego the sacrifice. Attorney- General Boulton,
who seemed to have feared that Mackenzie would
renew his defence, on the House resuming next
day, moved to amend Mr. Samson's resolution by
striking out the order for hearing the accused in
his defence, and it was carried. On the same day,
the House, acting as accuser, judge, and jury,
200

EXPELLED BY A PARTY VOTE

declared Mackenzie guilty of libel. The vote was
precisely the same as on the two previous divisions
— twenty-seven against fifteen— a fact which shows,
in the strongest light, how incapable was this
partisan tribunal of deciding fairly upon a ques-
tion of libel. By a party vote Mackenzie's guilt
had been pronounced; by a party vote he was to
be expelled.

On December 12th, the House declared the
defence of Mackenzie to be a gross aggravation of
the charge brought against him, and that " he was
guilty of a high breach of the privileges of this
House." They refused to strike a committee to
inquire whether any other libels upon them had
been published since the commencement of the
session. The majority had no idea of exercising
their tyranny in an impartial manner. Their object
was to sacrifice their opponents, not to deal out
the same measure of punishment to their friends.
Among those who would have been found guilty,
if the inquiry had been pushed, were some of
Mackenzie's accusers and judges. The vote for
expulsion stood twenty-four against fifteen, and
there were four absent members belonging to the
official party, all of whom would, if present, have
borne true allegiance on this occasion. Attorney-
General Boulton, acting as prosecuting counsel on
behalf of the majority, described the accused as
a " reptile" ; and Solicitor- General Hagerman varied
the description to " a spaniel dog."

201

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

The imperial parliament has, times innumerable,
punished individuals for libels upon either House.
A libel upon an individual member has always been
treated as a libel upon the whole body to which he
belonged. Admitting the force of English precedent,
Mackenzie, if guilty of libel upon the House, was
liable to punishment. But the articles complained
of as libellous, in his case, can hardly be said to
have exceeded the legitimate bounds of discussion;
and they were not nearly so bad as many others
which the House thought it proper to overlook,
and of which, indeed, some of the majority con-
cerned in his condemnation had been guilty. It was
this gross partiality, this want of even-handed
justice, which rendered the proceedings against him
so odious. Some of the libels which, in his defence,
he showed had been levelled through the press, at
particular members of the House, against other
members, reflected upon a previous parliament ; but,
if English precedent be worth anything, no right is
clearer than that of one House to punish for libels
upon a previous House. If the assembly could
punish for libel at all, it could punish for libels
upon a previous assembly. The punishment, in
Mackenzie's case, was altogether unusual. Depri-
vation of his seat was wholly unjustifiable.

The feeling excited in the unbiased reader's

mind, as he goes over this recital, will be no safe

indication of the degree of public indignation

aroused by this mockery of justice. During the

202

PUBLIC INDIGNATION AROUSED

week of the sham trial, petitions to the lieutenant-
governor were numerously signed, praying him to
dismiss a House tainted with the worst vices of
judicial partiality ; for the result had been foreseen
by the preliminary divisions. On the day of the
expulsion, a deputation from the petitioners waited
upon the governor's private secretary and informed
him that next day, at two o'clock, a number of
the petitioners would go to Government House in
a body to receive His Excellency's reply. At the
appointed hour, nine hundred and thirty persons
proceeded to fulfil their mission. They were received
in the audience chamber, and, the petition having
been presented, they were dismissed with the
studiously curt reply: "Gentlemen, I have received
the petition of the inhabitants."

But the precautions taken betrayed the fears of
the government. Government House was protected
with cannon, loaded, served, and ready to be fired
on the people ; the regiment in garrison was sup-
plied with a double allowance of ball cartridges,
and a telegraph was placed on the viceregal resi
dence to command the services of the soldiers if
necessary. There were even then some who urged
an appeal to force ; and the strange supposition
seems to have been entertained that the Scottish
soldiers would not fire upon them. Mackenzie
checked the impetuosity of the more ardent spirits
who advised violent measures. He had strong con-
fidence in the disposition of the new Reform

203

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ministry in England to do justice to the province ;
and he inculcated the necessity of patience.

What his enemies intended to make the day of
his humiliation and ruin, proved the day of his
triumph. The violence exercised towards him by
the dominant faction won for him the sympathies
of the people. After the return of the petitioners
from the Government House, they proceeded to
the residence of Mackenzie, largely reinforced. The
man rejected by the assembly as a libeller was
carried through the streets amidst the acclamations
of the populace, who took this emphatic way of
testifying their approbation of his conduct, and their
determination to uphold the rights of a free press,
which they felt had been outraged in his person.
Among other places, the procession stopped at the
Parliament House and cheered. They were cheers
of triumph and defiance, telling how quickly the
decision of the assembly had been reversed by that
public opinion to which all elective bodies are ul-
timately accountable. At the office of the Guar-
dian newspaper, then edited by the Rev. Egerton
Ryerson, who had warmly espoused the cause of
Mackenzie, the procession halted to give three
cheers. From a window of the Sun Hotel, Mac-
kenzie addressed the people ; and cheers were given
for the " Sailor King," and for Earl Grey and the
Reform ministry. When Mackenzie had retired,
the meeting was reorganized, and resolutions were
passed sustaining the course he had taken as a
204

A POPULAR HERO

politician and a journalist; complaining of the reply
of the governor to the petitioners as unsatisfactory
and insulting; asserting the propriety of petitioning
the sovereign to send to the province, in future,
civil instead of military governors; and pledging
the meeting, as a mark of their approbation of his
conduct, to present Mackenzie with " a gold medal
accompanied by an appropriate inscription and
address."

At the same sitting at which the expulsion of
Mackenzie had been decreed, the House had order-
ed the issue of a new writ for the election of a
member in his place. The election was held on
January 2nd. Over two thousand persons were
present. There was a show of opposition made to
the re-election of Mackenzie. Mr. Street was nom-
inated. Forty sleighs had come into town in the
morning to escort Mackenzie to the polling place.
An hour and a half after the poll opened, Mr.
Street, having received only one vote, against one
hundred and nineteen cast for Mackenzie, aban-
doned the hopeless contest.

After the close of the poll, came the presentation
of the gold medal, which was accounted " a superb
piece of workmanship." On one side were the rose,
the thistle and the shamrock, encircled by the
words, " His Majesty King William IV, the peo-
ple's friend." On the reverse was the inscription :
"Presented to William L. Mackenzie, Esq., by his
constituents of the county of York, U. C, as a

205

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

token of their approbation of his political career.
January 2, 1832." The massive cable chain, attached
to the medal, contained forty links of about one
inch each in length.

When Mackenzie returned to the House with
the unanimous approbation of his constituents, the
question of re-expulsion was immediately brought
up. While he stood at the bar of the House wait-
ing to be sworn in, the question was raised, but the
majority of the House seemed disinclined to incur
the odium of a second expulsion, an amendment
to proceed to the order of the day being carried by
a vote of twenty-four against twenty. The motion
was met by hisses below the bar, which were only
suppressed by a threat to clear the House of
strangers. The crowd of voters, who had accom-
panied their re-elected representative to York,
pushed their way into the House. An attempt was
made to prevent their entering the lobby ; but
they forced through the outer door and gained an
entrance.

The movers in the business had not put the case
very skilfully. No new libel had been charged, and
the only offence that concerned the House con-
sisted of an attempt to justify what the majority
had previously voted a libel and a breach of pri-
vilege. The question raised was rather one of dis-
ability than of any new offence. It was probably
owing to the fact that the majority saw this ground
to be untenable that they refused to sanction the
206

MOTION FOR ANOTHER EXPULSION

motion. The House had an undoubted right to
expel any member for adequate cause ; but it had
no right to create a disability unknown to the law.

Hagerman felt that it was necessary, in bringing
up the question of the re-expulsion, to go upon the
ground of a new libel upon the House. He there-
fore moved, January 6th, a resolution declaring
certain matter which had appeared in the Colonial
Advocate of the previous day, and of which Mac-
kenzie admitted himself to be the author, to be a
false, scandalous, and malicious libel upon the
House, and a high breach of its privileges, and that
the author be expelled the House, and declared
unworthy to hold a seat therein. Hagerman had
the prudence to leave out of view the general
censures on the executive council, and the de-
mand for the dismissal of himself and Attorney-
General Boulton, which were to be found in
the article, part of which he brought forward
as a ground for expelling the author from the
House. It is not to be supposed, however, that
he was insensible to these reflections ; and the
imperial government afterwards took the advice
of Mackenzie to dismiss both these functionaries.
One of the principal grounds of that dismissal was
the part they took in the expulsion of a political op-
ponent from the House, upon pretexts that were
deemed to be constitutionally untenable.

Only one hour was given to Mackenzie to pre-
pare his defence, during which the House adjourned.

207

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

On its re-assembling, the clerk, at the request of the
accused, read the whole of the article, — part of which
was complained of as a libel upon the House, —
extending to more than five newspaper columns.
Such an article would not now arrest the atten-
tion of the House, much less cause its author to
be punished for libel in any shape. Whether, techni-
cally speaking, it was libellous or not, it was far less
so than many articles in other newspapers, some
of them written by members of the assembly, the
writers of which were neither prosecuted in the
courts nor expelled from the House.

Solicitor-General Hagerman showed a disposition
to carry the abuse of privilege as far as the most
despotic sovereign had ever carried the abuse of
prerogative. That he had no natural dislike of libels
he clearly proved by the profuse use he made of
them under cover of that very privilege in the
name of which he asked the expulsion of a fellow-
member. He described Mackenzie as " the worst of
slanderers," who "would govern by means of the
knife, and walk over the bleeding bodies of his
victims." Of the minority of the House, he said, if
they continued there, they " would continue as
slanderers, or supporters of slanderers;" that "Mr.
Mackenzie," when he closed his defence, had
"cast a malignant and wicked glare across the
House ;" and that " at that moment, he left what
was most virtuous within the walls, and took away
what was the most vile and debased." When, in the
208

A DESPOTIC ASSEMBLY

course of his defence, Mackenzie read extracts from
the speeches of Sir Francis Burdett, Earl Grey,
Lord Brougham, Mr. Macaulay, and others, the
solicitor-general exclaimed that they were "base
and diabolical." Here were libels a hundred times
worse than those against which these words were
uttered. Mackenzie attempted to convince the
House of its error by showing that it was
setting itself in opposition to public opinion ; and
pointed in proof to the approbation of his con-
stituents, as shown both by his re-election and
the gold medal that had been presented to him.
After two or three attempts on the part of the
solicitor-general to stop the defence, on such
grounds as that the reading of extracts from
the English press to show the degree of liberty
allowed there to criticisms upon parliament was
improper, the Speaker declared Mackenzie out of
order. Having appealed against the decision of
the Speaker, whom the House sustained by a large
majority, Mackenzie resolved to attempt no more.
It was, he said, a farce and a mockery for the House
to call on him to make his defence, and then pre-
vent his proceeding. He disdained to attempt any
further defence before such a tribunal. He then
tied up his papers, and walked out of the House
amidst loud cries of " Order " from all sides.

The question was soon settled, the House voting
the re-expulsion by nine o'clock, the second day of
the discussion, on a division of twenty-seven against

209

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

nineteen. The resolution, forged in the mint of the
solicitor-general, went much beyond a mere expul-
sion. It declared the expelled member incapable of
holding a seat in the House during that parliament ;
thus assuming that a mere resolution of the House
could create a disability to which nothing short of
a specific law could give legal force.1 Supposing
this complaint of libel to have been well founded,
the proper course would have been for the coun-
cil to address the governor to order a prose-
cution, as was done by the House of Commons
in the case of Wilkes, who was only expelled
after he had absconded to France. But there was
a very substantial reason for avoiding this course.
No conviction could have been obtained. The
appeal which Mackenzie now made to the electors
of York was in his most impassioned style, and
may be taken as a very fair sample of his powers
of agitation.

. " Canadians," he said, " you have seen a Gourlay
unlawfully banished ; a Thorpe persecuted and de-
graded ; a Randal cruelly oppressed ; a Matthews
hunted down even to the gates of death ; a Willis
dragged from the bench of justice, slandered, pur-
sued even across the Atlantic by envy and malice,
and finally ruined in his fame, fortune, and domestic

1 "If," says May, in his Constitutional History of England, "by
a vote of the House, a disability, unknown to the law, could be created,
any man who became obnoxious might, on some ground or other, be
declared incapable. Incapacity would then be declared, not by the law
of the land, but by the arbitrary will of the Commons."

210

AN IMPASSIONED APPEAL

happiness ; you have seen a thousand other less
noted victims offered upon the altar of political
hatred and party revenge ; sacrificed for their ad-
herence to the principles of the constitution, their
love of liberty and justice, their ardent desire to
promote the happiness of your domestic firesides.
How many more sacrifices the shrine of unlawful
power may require, none can tell. The destroyer
is made bold by your timidity and the base and un-
principled triumph over your truest friends, because
they believe you will show a craven spirit, and put
up with every possible insult, however aggravated.
The hired presses style you the tag-rag and bob-tail
who assemble at town meetings, and in the legisla-
ture your most faithful members are daily insulted
and abused as rebels in heart, and as the factious abet-
tors of the libeller, the disaffected, and the disloyal.
. . . Had Charles X profited by experience as did
his brother Louis XVIII, the elder branch of the
Bourbons had yet reigned in France. Louis was
illuminated by his journey to Ghent, and stuck by
the charter ever after. But it is said that our great
men put their trust and confidence in the troops at
Kingston and in this garrison. Do they expect to
make butchers of British soldiers, the soldiers of
liberty, the friends of freedom, the conquerors of
the tyrant of France, the gallant followers of the
noble-hearted Colonel Douglas ? Are these the men
they expect to protect them should continued mis-
rule bring upon them the indignation of an injured,

211

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

outraged, and long-suffering community ? Do they
suppose that men of honour would violate their
obligation to their country and their God, and im-
brue their hands in the blood of their kind and con-
fiding brothers, to gratify the bitter enemies of their
noble king ? Surely the champions of British liberty
are unfit to perform the drudgery of menial slaves !
Surely the men whom our beloved sovereign has
sent here to protect us from foreign aggression can-
not desire to abridge our privileges ! Their rights
are ours — their history our history — their earliest
recollections ours also. We acknowledge one com-
mon origin ; our fathers worshipped together in one
temple. Does the infatuated junto, who are now
acting so foolishly, expect the bravest of Scotland's
sons to sabre their countrymen merely because they
do not conform to the doctrines of prelacy and
follow the example of Archdeacon Strachan to
apostacy and worldly wealth? Do they believe
there is a soldier in Canada whose youthful heart
ever bounded with joy in days of yore, on old Scot-
land's hills, while he sang the national air of * Scots
wha hae wi' Wallace bled,' and whose manhood has
been employed in repelling foreign aggression, who
would disgrace his name and the regiment he be-
longs to by increasing the widows and orphans of
Canada ? And yet, if such are not the expectations
of our rulers, why do they trifle with the feelings of
the people ? What would a handful of troops be to
the natural aristocracy of Canada, the hardy yeo-
212

HIS ADVICE TO THE PEOPLE

manry who own the soil, even if the former were of
the most ferocious class of human beings, instead
of the manly and accomplished defenders of their
country, covered with immortal honour and un-
stained laurels on many a victorious battlefield ?
I disdain to hold out threats, but it is time to speak
with plainness. . . .

" We come, at last, to the leading question: What
is to be done ? Meet together from all sections of the
country, at York, on Thursday next, the nineteenth
instant, in this town, on the area in front of the
court-house ; let the farmer leave his husbandry,
the mechanic his tools, and pour forth your gallant
population animated by the pure spirit of liberty ;
be firm and collected — be determined — be united —
never trifle with your rights ; show by your conduct
that you are fit for the management of your do-
mestic affairs, ripe for freedom, the enlightened sub-
jects of a constitutional sovereign, and not the serfs
of a Muscovite, or the counterpart of a European
mob ! Strive to strike corruption at its roots ; to
encourage a system calculated to promote peace
and happiness ; to secure as our inheritance the
tranquil advantages of civil and religious freedom,
general content, and easy independence. Such a
connection as this with our parent state would
prove long and mutually beneficial ; but, if the
officials go much further, they will drive the
people mad."

To a certain extent, the majority of the assembly

213

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

had, by the injustice of which they had been guilty,
gained their point. They had goaded their victim
into the use of expressions which, in his cooler
moments, he had never used. It must not be over-
looked, however, that whatever there was of menace
in his impassioned language, it was directed against
the provincial oligarchy. A marked distinction was
made between them and the " noble king," whose
"soldiers of freedom" were the " champions of Brit-
ish liberty." If he was indiscreet, we must not forget
the galling provocation to which he had been sub-
jected in being not only expelled from the legislature
for libels that others might print with impunity, but
that, with a view of preventing his re-election, the
organs of the official party had represented that he
was loaded with a disability unknown to the law,
the creation of the arbitrary will of the assembly.
We shall see, as we proceed, that some members of
the Family Compact shortly afterwards threatened
to throw off their allegiance upon infinitely less
provocation.

The election of a member to represent the county
of York, in the place of the expelled representative,
commenced on January 30th, Mackenzie being
proposed, for the fourth time, by Joseph Shepherd.
Two other candidates, James E. Small and Simon
Washburn, presented themselves. Small stated
from the hustings that "he did not come before
the freeholders as approving of the conduct of the
assembly in their repeated expulsions of Mr. Mac-
214

ELECTED FOR THE FOURTH TIME

kenzie; he considered their proceedings, in these
cases, arbitrary and unconstitutional. But, as they
had declared Mr. Mackenzie disqualified, he had
come forward presuming that the electors would
see the expediency of not electing a member who
could not take his seat. He opposed Mr. Washburn,
not Mr. Mackenzie, who, he was satisfied, would
have a majority of votes." Washburn, on the con-
trary, expressed his approval of the proceedings of
the assembly in the expulsion of Mackenzie, of
whom he spoke in terms of harshness similar to
those used by the more violent of the majority of
the House. Washburn retired on the second day
of polling, much disgusted at having received only
twenty-three votes. Mackenzie received six hundred
and twenty-eight votes, and Small ninety-six. Dur-
ing the parliamentary session following this re-elec-
tion, Mackenzie was absent in England, and while
there, as we shall see, was again expelled from the
legislature. In his absence from the assembly, the
Bank of Upper Canada had been authorized to
increase its stock to a very large extent. The bill
was, however, vetoed in England, at the instance
of Mackenzie, as based on unsound principles.

Alexander Frazer, a man of coarse manners and
violent language, publicly threatened to horsewhip
Mackenzie from his place in the assembly during
the mock trial ; and it was said that, within twenty-
four hours, he received from Sir John Colborne a
promise of the collectorship of Brockville. The

215

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

promise was faithfully fulfilled. This official ap-
proval of ruffianly conduct, which should have called
down the severe censure of the House, was only of
a piece with that which happened a few years be-
fore, when a number of partisans of the Compact,
who wrecked the Advocate office in the proprietor's
absence and under the eye of Tory justices of the
peace, were rewarded with offices under the Crown.
Some of these incidents in Mackenzie's life, coupled
with the treatment which he constantly received
from the official party, and from the despotic as-
semblies which decreed his expulsions from parlia-
ment, would have made many a public man an ir-
reconcilable foe to British institutions. " Consider-
ing," said a Conservative journal, "the persecutions
to which Mackenzie was subjected, in his long and
brave struggle for popular rights and good govern-
ment, his moderation was marvellous. What popu-
lar leader of our day, who could wield the power
which he did, would endure half as much as he
under conditions as galling? Not one. There is,
however, a remedy in human nature against ty-
ranny, that will keep us safe under every form of
government."1

1 The News, Toronto, December 26th, 1895.

216

CHAPTER VIII
MACKENZIE'S MISSION TO ENGLAND

AN interest always attaches to the career of an
individual whom the public regards as the
victim of injustice, whose crime consists of his
having defended a popular right or contended for a
principle. The majority of the assembly, in attempt-
ing to crush an opponent, had made a martyr. The
expelled member had crowds of sympathizers in
all parts of the province. Public meetings were held
to denounce this arbitrary stretch of privilege.
Petitions to the king and the imperial parliament
for a redress of grievances, of which the expulsion
of Mackenzie was one, were numerously signed. Of
these petitions, it was already known, Mackenzie
was to be the bearer to the colonial office, where
he would personally advocate the reforms for which
they prayed.

A counter-movement was set on foot by the
official party. With the Reform ministry in Eng-
land, this party was not very sure of its standing.
What might be the result of Mackenzie's visit,
armed with numerous petitions, unless some anti-
dote were applied, it would be impossible to tell.
The prospect which this state of things held out
enraged the official faction ; and, in more than one
instance, they resorted to violence, from which

217

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Mackenzie only escaped with his life by something
little short of a miracle.

On March 19th, 1832, one of the public meetings
called by the government party was held at
Hamilton. Mackenzie attended by special invita-
tion. As too often happens where two political
parties attempt to outnumber one another, at a
public meeting, great confusion occurred. On a
show of hands for the selection of a chairman both
parties claimed the victory ; but the sheriff took the
chair. The other party — represented by a local
paper as being much the more numerous — retired
to the court-house green, where an address to the
king was adopted. After the meeting Mackenzie
went to the house of a friend, Matthew Bailey,
where he dined. A rumour had been circulated,
in whispers, that a plan had been formed dur-
ing the day to take Mackenzie's life, or at least
to do him such bodily injury as would render
it impossible for him to make his contemplated
journey to England. Several of his friends appris-
ed him of this, and urged him strongly to leave
town before dark. About nine o'clock that night,
when he was sitting in a parlor upstairs with a
friend writing, the door was suddenly opened
without any premonition, and in stepped William
J. Kerr and George Petit. When asked to take
seats, Kerr at first refused, but immediately after-
wards sat down. He almost instantly rose again,
and, walking up to the table and turning over the
218

A MURDEROUS ASSAULT

sheets on which Mackenzie had been writing, re-
marked with much apparent good humour : "Well,
Mr. Mackenzie, have you got all our grievances re-
dressed at last?" Something more was said, when
Kerr, asking Mackenzie to speak with him in
private, was at once lighted down stairs by the
unsuspecting victim, by whom he was followed.
Kerr opened the street door; and, while standing
on the steps in front, introduced Mackenzie to two
or three accomplices, remarking, "This is your
man." All at once, one of them seized him by one
side of the coat collar, while Kerr seized the other.
The candle was dashed to the ground, and they
attempted to drag their victim, in the dark, into an
open space in front of the house. Mackenzie grasped
the door, and, struggling in the hands of the
would-be assassins, shrieked, "Murder." One of the
party then struck him a terrible blow with a blud-
geon, felling him down upon the stone steps, whence
he was dragged into the square in front of the
house, where he received repeated kicks and blows,
and his life was only saved by the opportune arrival
of some neighbours with Mr. Bailey's brother. The
villains took to their heels, except Kerr, who was
upon the ground ; and when he rose, he resorted to
the stratagem of assuming not only the innocent
man but the protector, saying, "Don't be afraid,
Mr. Mackenzie; you shan't be hurt, you shan't be
hurt." He then scampered off as well as he could
after his accomplices; and next morning he was

219

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

heard boasting at the Burlington Canal — a govern-
ment work of which he was manager — that he had
saved Mackenzie's life from the attempt of a band
of ruffians ! The victim was found to be bleeding
profusely, disfigured in the face, injured in the head,
and hurt in the chest.

Kerr was a magistrate and a rich man, and had
charge of a public work. For the part he played in
the outrage he was brought to trial in August,
1832, at the Gore District Assizes, some person,
unknown to Mackenzie, having laid the information.
Mr. Justice Macaulay was the presiding judge ;
and, considering the relations of all the parties,
it is proper to say that he showed the greatest
impartiality on the trial, though there might be
a question about the adequacy of the punishment
awarded. A fine of one hundred dollars is not
serious to a rich man, nor sufficient punishment
for an assault of that aggravated nature which
irresistibly carried with it the idea of serious pre-
meditated injury, if not something more. The
first blow would probably have proved fatal had
not the bludgeon come in contact with the lintel of
the door.

The example of Hamilton was followed in York.
On July 6th, 1832, at a public meeting called to
organize an agricultural society, a disorderly mob,
who had left the meeting to cheer the governor,
returned, bearing an effigy of Mackenzie, which
they burnt, and then made an attack upon the
220

HIS ARRIVAL IN ENGLAND

office of the Colonial Advocate. They broke the
windows and destroyed some of the type, and
were only prevented from doing further mischief
by the exertions of a few individuals.

In April, 1832, Mackenzie started on his jour-
ney to England as the bearer to the imperial
government of petitions which had, for the most
part, been born of the excitement arising out of
his expulsions from the legislative assembly. The
organs of the official party affected to be merry
at the idea of a man, who had been twice expell-
ed from the legislature and declared incapable of
sitting during that parliament, taking a budget
of grievances to Downing Street and expecting to
obtain a hearing. But they had reckoned without
their host, as the event proved.

He arrived in London in time to witness the
third reading of the Reform Bill in the House of
Lords. Here he made the acquaintance of
O'Connell, the great Irish agitator, Cobbett, Joseph
Hume, Lord Goderich, Earl Grey and Mr.
Stanley, and he has left interesting sketches of
most of these men. Of the prime minister he
wrote : " Well does Earl Grey merit the high
station and distinguished rank to which he has
been called ; truth and sincerity are stamped on
his open, manly, English countenance; intelligence
and uprightness are inscribed on all his actions. You
may read his speech in the Times or Chronicle;
you may imagine to yourself the noblest, happiest

221

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

manner in which such sentiments might be de-
livered by a sincere and highly gifted patriot ; still
your conception will fall far short of the reality of
the admirable address and manner of the prime
minister of Britain. His Lordship had need of
neither the peerage nor the post he fills to point
him out as one of the first among men ; he was, he
is, one of that aristocracy of nature which in any
free country are found among the pillars of its
liberties, and in any despotism among the foremost
to break the tyrant's yoke, or perish in attempt-
mg it.

Mackenzie also made the acquaintance of Mr.
Rintoul, editor of the Spectator, and of Mr. Black,
editor of the Morning Chronicle, which then held
almost as important a position as the Times ; and
he was enabled to address to the British public,
through these journals, any observations he had to
make on the subject of Canada.

Of all the members of the House of Commons,
Joseph Hume rendered the greatest assistance to
Mackenzie. He was on the best terms of friendship
with the ministry, though he kept his seat on the
opposition benches and pursued that independent
course which seemed to be the only one possible to
him. When he laid before the House of Commons
the petition of which Mackenzie was the bearer,
he did so not only with the knowledge and consent
of the government, but " he was happy to have the
assurance of Viscount Goderich [secretary of state
222

AT THE COLONIAL OFFICE

for the colonies], that his Lordship was busy in-
quiring into the grievances complained of with a
a view of affording relief." Mackenzie had, by this
time, already had an interview with the colonial
minister, and, in company with Hume, Viger —
who had gone to England on a similar mission
on behalf of Lower Canada — and George Ryerson —
who had gone to England on behalf of the Metho-
dist Conference — he was to have another interview
in a few days.

This interview, at which all the four gentlemen
named met Lord Goderich, took place on July 2nd,
and lasted nearly three hours. The attempts made
to lessen Mackenzie's influence, in the shape of
attacks by political opponents in Canada, and the
various forms they had taken, appeared to go for
nothing with Viscount Goderich. Mackenzie could
not trace the effect of such influence. " The con-
duct of the colonial minister" he found to be
" friendly and conciliatory ; his language free from
asperity ; and I left him," adds Mackenzie, " with
the impression strongly imprinted on my mind that
he sincerely desired our happiness as a colony, and
that it was his wish to act an impartial part." The
agent of the Upper Canada petitioners explained
at length his views of the state of Upper Canada.
Viscount Goderich encouraged the deputation to
lay the petitions before the House of Commons ;
and he appears to have recognized, from the first,
the substantial nature of many of the grievances

223

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

which were subjects of complaint. If the ministry
had shown a disposition to treat the petitions as of
no great importance, Hume would have brought
the whole subject of. the political condition of
Upper Canada before the House of Commons ;
and as he would have been warmly seconded by
O'Connell and others, an effective demonstration
would have been made. Although George Ryerson
was present at this interview, he took no part in
any of the questions discussed except those relating
to religion and education, with which he had been
specially charged.

On August 3rd, Mackenzie, in company with
Hume and Viger, had a second interview with
Viscount Goderich at the colonial office, lasting
about an hour and a half. These interviews were
not obtained through the intercession of Hume,
by whom the agent had first been introduced to
members of the ministry, but at the request of
Mackenzie, who desired that the three other
gentlemen might be included with himself. He
afterwards had several interviews with Lord God-
erich at which no third person was present.
The colonial minister listened to Mackenzie's state-
ments with the greatest attention, though he ob-
served a decorous reticence as to his own views ;
and even when he had come to conclusions,
he did not generally announce them till he had
put them into an official shape. In one of these
interviews, Mackenzie complained that the revenue
224

DECLINES A LUCRATIVE OFFICE

of the post-office department, in Upper Canada, was
not accounted for, whereupon Lord Goderich pro-
posed to divide the management of the department
in Canada, and give Mackenzie control of the
western section, with all the accruing emoluments.
Mackenzie replied by saying: "So far as I am
concerned, the arrangement would be a very
beneficial one, as I could not fail to be personally
much benefited by it ; but your Lordship must
see," he added, "that the evil I complain of would
be perpetuated instead of being remedied. I must
therefore decline the offer." Mackenzie estimated
the value of the office, undivided, at fifteen thou-
sand dollars a year, one-half of which he would
have obtained if he had accepted Lord Goderich's
offer. This was in strict accordance with the whole
practice of his life. With every opportunity of
acquiring competence, and even wealth, he lived
a large portion of his life in poverty, and died
under the pressure of pecuniary embarrassment.

Mackenzie was not received at the colonial office
in a representative character — he was delegated by
the York " Central Committee of the Friends of
Civil and Religious Liberty" — but as an individual
having an interest in the affairs of the province,
and a member of the legislature of Upper Canada.
It was agreed that he should address what com-
plaints he had to make to the colonial secretary in
writing. He made the fullest use of this privilege,
writing long documents on a great number of

225

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

subjects in which Canadians were then interested.
It was in the preparation of these papers that
he performed the extraordinary feat, referred to
in a previous part of this work, of continuing to
write six days and six nights, without ever going to
bed, and only falling asleep occasionally, for a few
minutes, at his desk. He ventured to predict that,
unless the system of government in Upper Canada
were ameliorated, the result must be civil war.
"Against gloomy prophecies of this nature," Lord
Goderich replied, "every man conversant with
public business must learn to fortify his mind,"
adding that he regarded them as the usual resource
of those who wished to extort from the fears of
governments conclusions in favour of which no
adequate reasons could be offered. Mackenzie often
referred to this prediction; and, so far from hav-
ing intended it as a threat, took credit for it as
a warning of the inevitable results of the policy
pursued, contending that, if it had been heed-
ed, all the disasters which followed would have
been averted. He at this time also addressed to
the colonial secretary a number of documents, in-
cluding a lengthy " Memoir ' on the state of the
province, embracing a variety of topics. To this and
some other documents Lord Goderich replied at
great length, on November 8th, 1832, and in a tone
and temper very different from those in which the
local officials were accustomed to indulge.

Lord Goderich at first stated the number of names
226

A SUCCESSFUL MISSION

attached to the petitions, of which Mackenzie was
the bearer, at twelve thousand and seventy-five.
Upon a recount at Mackenzie's request, there were
found to be twenty-four thousand five hundred sig-
natures; but it was said there were other petitions
signed by twenty-six thousand eight hundred and
fifty-four persons, "who concur in expressing their
cordial satisfaction in those laws and institutions
which the other sort of petitioners have impugned."
While combating a great many of the arguments
adduced by Mackenzie, Lord Goderich yielded to
his views upon several points. Hitherto no indem-
nity had been paid to members of the assembly
representing town constituences. Lord Goderich
directed the governor not to oppose objection to
any measure that might be presented to his accept-
ance "for placing the town and county represent-
atives on the same footing in this respect." He also
agreed to place upon the same footing as Quakers
other religious bodies who had a like objection to
taking an oath. It having been alleged that the local
executive distributed the public lands among their
favourites without the authority of law, His Ma-
jesty, upon the advice of the colonial minister,
interdicted the gratuitous disposal of public lands,
and requested that they should be made subject
to public competition, with a view "to the utter
exclusion of any such favouritism as is thus depre-
cated." He instructed the governor to adopt all
constitutional means to procure a repeal of the law

227

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

which disqualified British subjects from voting at
elections after their return from foreign countries ;
and also that "His Majesty expects and requires of
you neither to practice, nor to allow, on the part of
those who are officially subordinate to you, any
interference with the right of His Majesty's subjects
to the free and unbiased choice of their represen-
tatives." " His Majesty," it was further stated,
"now directs me to instruct you to forward, to
the utmost extent of your lawful authority and
influence, every scheme for the extension of edu-
cation amongst the youth of the province, and
especially the poorest and most destitute among
their number, which may be suggested from any
quarter, with a reasonable prospect of promoting
that design."

It had been the custom of the governors to ex-
cuse themselves from laying a full statement of the
revenue and expenditure before the legislature, by
pleading the restrictions imposed by their instruc-
tions. But Lord Goderich rendered this excuse im-
possible in future by the averment that "if the
royal instructions are supposed to forbid the most
unreserved communication with the House of
Assembly of the manner in which the public
money, from whatever source derived, is ex-
pended, such a construction is foreign to His
Majesty's design." "Nothing," it was added, "is
to be gained by concealment upon questions of
this nature, and a degree of suspicion and pre-
228

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE GOVERNOR

judice is naturally excited, which, however ill-
founded, often appears in the result to be incurable."
Coming to the question of ecclesiastics holding
seats in the legislative council, Lord Goderich said
it was expected of the bishop and the archdeacon,
"that they should abstain from interference in
any secular matter that may be agitated at that
board." But, even under this restriction, Lcrd
Goderich added, " I have no solicitude for retain-
ing either the bishop or the archdeacon on the list
of legislative councillors ; but, on the contrary, am
rather predisposed to the opinion that, by resign-
ing their seats, they would best consult their own
personal comfort, and the success of their designs
for the spiritual good of the people." But, as their
seats were held for life, their resignations must be
voluntary ; since, it was argued, there would be no
justification for degrading them from their positions
when no specific violation of duty had been imputed
to them. If the expense of elections was so in-
ordinate as represented, the governor was instructed
to "signify to the legislative bodies that it is the
earnest desire of His Majesty, that every practical
method should be taken for correcting what would
be so great an evil, by reducing the cost ' within
the narrowest possible limit.'" In reference to an
independent judiciary, Lord Goderich, anticipating
the complaints now addressed to him, had directed
the governor to suggest the enactment of a bill
for that purpose. Thus, another point urged by

229

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Mackenzie and those who acted with him, when
they conceived that Judge Willis was offered up a
sacrifice to the displeasure of the local executive,
had been gained.

Such are some of the concessions obtained by
Mackenzie, during his visit to England, from the
imperial government. The despatch of Lord
Goderich was intended for the public eye, and
its style was eminently diplomatic. On several
points he differed from Mackenzie ; and sometimes
he succeeded in putting his correspondent in the
wrong. Unfortunately there were reasons, as after-
wards appeared, for doubting the sincerity of some
of Lord Goderich's professions.

The reception which the despatch of Lord God-
erich met at the hands of the Family Compact,
shows better than almost anything else the lengths
to which a faction, spoiled by a long course of un-
checked and irresponsible power, would go. The
legislative council, instead of placing it on their
journals, took the unusual course of returning it to
the governor. Mackenzie's correspondence, to which
the colonial secretary had taken so much trouble
to reply, they assured the governor they viewed
"with the most unqualified contempt"; and the
despatch of Lord Goderich, so far as it was a reply
to that correspondence, they could not " regard as
calling for the serious attention of the legislative
council."

The legislative assembly discussed, at great length,
230

RECEPTION OF THE DESPATCH

the question of sending back this despatch. After a
heated debate, the House, by a vote of twenty-one
against twelve, resolved not to allow the documents
accompanying the despatch, and on which it was
founded, to go upon the journals. A subsequent
House gave such portions of these documents as
Mackenzie selected an enduring record in the
famous " Seventh Report of the Committee on
Grievances." The newspaper advocates of the
official party went a little beyond the officials
themselves. The principal of them, the Courier,
described the despatch of Lord Goderich as "an
elegant piece of fiddle-faddle, full of clever stu-
pidity and condescending impertinence."

But the end was not yet. The repeated expul-
sions of Mackenzie from the legislative assembly,
in which Crown officers had borne a conspicuous
and discreditable part, had attracted the attention
of the imperial government. The objections which
the colonial secretary entertained to these expul-
sions were early communicated to Sir John Col-
borne ; and they were fully explained, in the sum-
mer of 1832, to the Crown officers, Hagerman and
Boulton, and to others " whose official situation
placed them in a confidential relation to the govern-
ment."1 The matter was first brought to the atten-
tion of the colonial office by Hume ; and the autho-
rities sent instructions to Sir John Colborne to de-
sire the officials by whom he was surrounded not to

1 Letter of General Rowan to Mackenzie, November 30th, 1833.

231

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

be concerned in the repetition of so objectionable a
procedure. But, notwithstanding this warning, they
remained contumacious. While absent in England
Mackenzie had again been expelled from the legis-
lative assembly ; and the attorney-general, opposing
his constitutional law to that of the imperial govern-
ment, argued for the legality of the course pursued
by the House. Both the Crown officers voted for a
motion to return to Lord Goderich the despatch
and accompanying documents, and found them-
selves in a minority.

The dismissal of Attorney- General Boulton and
Solicitor- General Hagerman, resolved upon in
March, 1833, was the result of the discreditable
part they had taken in the repeated expulsions of
Mackenzie from the legislature, as well as for
having, upon other questions, opposed the policy of
the imperial government, and thus cast doubts
upon the sincerity of its motives.1

On March 7th, Mackenzie had a long interview
with Lord Howick, under-secretary of state for the
colonies, at the colonial office; and it was at the

1 Letter from the governor's private secretary to H. J. Boulton,
April 29th, 1833 :

"Sir: — I have the honour to acquaint you, in reply to your letter
of this day, that the lieutenant-governor understands that the part of
your political proceedings to which the despatch of the secretary of
state particularly adverts, is that you and the solicitor-general pro-
moted the repeated expulsion of a member of the assembly, although
the constitutional objections to that course had been conveyed to
His Excellency by His Majesty's government, and were, it is concluded,
communicated by him to you."

232

DISMISSAL OF CROWN OFFICIALS

request of that official that he put his complaint
against the Crown officers into writing. Next day
they assumed the required form; and two days
later he had another interview with Lord Gode-
rich, when, in reference to the Crown officers,
the under-secretary remarked, "They are remov-
ed." But it appears, by the date of Lord Goderich's
letter, that their removal had been determined on
four days before.

When the despatch of Lord Goderich, ordering
the removal of the Crown law-officers, reached
Upper Canada, Hagerman had started for Eng-
land, where on May 6th, while going into the
colonial office, he met Mackenzie coming out.
Boulton was at York, but soon followed. It is
interesting to see how the official party, which had
long claimed a monopoly of loyalty, bore this
reverse. An article appeared in the Upper Canada
Courier, attributed to the pen of the deprived
attorney-general, containing direct threats of re-
bellion. The removal of these two functionaries
was described as being "as high-handed and ar-
bitrary a stretch of power as has been enacted
before the face of high heaven, in any of the four
quarters of this nether world, for many and many
a long day." " The united factions of Mackenzie,
Goderich, and the Yankee Methodists" were spoken
of in the most contemptuous terms. Of the friends
of Boulton and Hagerman, it was confessed that
"instead of dwelling with delight and confidence

233

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

upon their connection with the glorious empire
of their sires, with a determination to support that
connection, as many of them have already supported
it, with their fortunes or their blood, their affections
are already more than half alienated from the
government of that country ; and in the apprehen-
sion that the same insulting and degrading course
of policy towards them is likely to be continued,
they already begin to ' cast about ' in * their mind's
eye,' for some new state of political existence which
shall effectually put the colony beyond the reach
of injury and insult from any and every ignoramus
whom the political lottery of the day may chance
to elevate to the chair of the colonial office." The
colonial secretary, it was added, by his course of
liberality, had not only "alienated the affections"
of the Boulton-Hagerman school of politicians,
but had " produced the feelings of resentment, and
views with regard to the future," which caused
them to look for "some new state of political
existence."

Hagerman arrived in England about the time
the despatch ordering his removal reached Canada ;
and Boulton followed immediately on learning of
his dismissal. Mr. Stanley, who had succeeded
Lord Goderich as secretary for the colonies, restor-
ed Hagerman to his official position in the June
following, within three months after his dismissal.
It was afterwards officially stated that Hagerman's
restoration was the consequence of exculpatory
234

EFFECTS OF CHANGE OF MINISTER

evidence offered by him. Boulton at the same
time obtained the office of chief justice of New-
foundland, where he soon embroiled himself with
a large and influential section of the population,
whereupon the imperial government relieved him
of that charge also.

Mackenzie was discouraged at finding a portion
of his success already neutralized. After recently
expressing the greatest confidence in the justice
of the imperial government, he now bitterly ex-
claimed : " I am disappointed. The prospect before
us is indeed dark and gloomy."

The restoration of Hagerman seems to have
been due as much, if not more, to the change that
had taken place in the administration of the colonial
office as to the exculpatory evidence he had offered.
Lord Goderich, so long as he retained the seals,
continued to court interviews with Mackenzie, and
to solicit information from him on the affairs of
Canada. Thus on March 27th, 1833, Lord Ho wick
wrote him: "I am desired by his Lordship to
acquaint you that he is disposed to think that
much advantage might be derived from a personal
communication from yourself and Mr. Viger, either
to this place, the postmaster-general, or the secre-
tary of the post-office, on the questions which have
been agitated in Upper and Lower Canada respect-
ing the post-office in those provinces." If his known
intention to leave London in a few days would
prevent a personal interview, Mackenzie was re-

235

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

quested to put any suggestions he might have to
make into writing. He thereupon drew up a
scheme of post-office reform for the province,
supporting his recommendation by a number of
documents, including several reports on the subject
by committees of the Houses of Assembly in
Upper and Lower Canada. The request for an
interview, on the part of Lord Goderich, was
repeated; but when that gentleman was about
resigning the administration of the colonial office,
he directed that the whole matter be left over for
the determination of Mr. Stanley. The new colonial
minister decided to send for Mr. Stayner, deputy
postmaster-general at Quebec, to hear his explana-
tion, before arriving at any conclusion ; and Mac-
kenzie left London the day on which Stayner
arrived there. The result was to bring out informa-
tion regarding the post-office revenue, which had
been persistently refused to the demands of the
House of Assembly. A return, which Stayner was
requested to make for the information of the House
of Commons, showed him to be in possession of per-
quisites to several times the amount of his salary. In
the course of a long interview with Mr. Stanley at
the colonial office in the month of May, Mackenzie
strongly urged the necessity of giving the Canadians
the control of the post-office revenue, as well as every
other revenue arising in the province, for the reason
that mismanagement must lead to discontent, and
estrange the colonists from the mother country.
236

REASONS FOR APPEAL TO ENGLAND

As has been already stated, Mackenzie success-
fully invoked the royal veto against the bill for
increasing the capital stock of the Bank of Upper
Canada, which was passed in his absence from the
House occasioned by his second expulsion. This
result was obtained after the objections to the
measure had been stated at length to Lord God-
erich, and after much correspondence with the
Board of Trade. At the same time, and for similar
reasons, the Kingston Bank Act was disallowed.

It may strike the reader, at this time of day, as
singular that an agent and leader of a colonial
party which claimed to be the exponent of a
liberal creed and the interpreter of popular opinion,
should be so ready to invoke the interference of
the imperial government and the royal veto in the
local affairs of the province. To a certain extent the
seeming anomaly admits of explanation. On many
questions, the local executive, acting through the
Crown-nominated and dependent legislative coun-
cil, thwarted the wishes of the people's representa-
tives ; and, under an irresponsible local administra-
tion, there was no effective appeal possible but to
the imperial government. But, in some cases,
interference against the decisions of the popular
branch of the legislature was invoked. Appeals of
this nature, unless some plain and obvious principle
were violated, could hardly be justified.

The Rev. Egerton Ryerson, arriving in England
while Mackenzie was there, was through him

237

4r

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

introduced to the colonial office. Ryerson was

delegated by the Canadian conference to submit a

proposition for a union between the body it

* "'K'.y represented and the English Methodists. Without

•Jf yt> v entering into the merits of the case, it will be

<* f j t* sufficient to say that the course pursued by

r j* *° f Ryerson, while in England and after his return

y '? \y ^ to Canada, gave Mackenzie great offence, and he

ffjf often, to the last years of his life, expressed

j? /regret that he had done anything to secure Ryerson

/yy \yi/ admittance to the colonial office, which, in spite
\Ax-f °f the access which Mackenzie obtained, had for
V>%J nearly eighteen months shut its doors in the face

Early in 1833, Mackenzie published in London

\ *>xy jpf Viger, who went as the delegate of the Lower
i Vyry*xiy^ Canada assembly. Baldwin, who afterwards visit-
ed y^Hi yr^^ed London, was never able to obtain an audience
v rr j^ *\ if of the colonial minister. Viger was in London long
J* v^v 0^ before Mackenzie, whom he had vainly solicited
v A ^v j* .to accompany him, offering to bear the charge of

, \ an octavo volume of five hundred pages, under the
title of Sketches of Canada and the United States.
It treated of a great variety of subjects having no
necessary connection with one another, and little
regard was paid to method in the arrangement.
The greater part of the book consisted of notes
taken by the author while travelling, at different
times, in the United States and Canada.

Before returning to Canada, Mackenzie revisited
238

HIS VISIT TO SCOTLAND

Scotland in company with Mrs. Mackenzie, after
making a tour of a large part of England. When
he arrived in his native city of Dundee, he was
struck with the changes that time had wrought.
In a letter he says : " After a long absence from
a country, one of the most striking changes notice-
able is that in the age of the people. I have
been introduced to cousins I left in the cradle,
who are now grown men and women — some
of them married, some studying law, some at
college, some clerks in banks, some learning
mechanical occupations, and others farming. . . .
In the churches the same changes are visible.
In the two Sundays spent here and in Strath-
more we have regularly gone to the Kirk, some-
times to the Seceders, and sometimes to hear
the established clergy. The walls of the Kirks, the
seats, the pulpits, many in the congregation, I
could remember from infancy, but the ministers
were, some of them, new to me. There were
enough, however, of old recollections to make
these last visits to Scottish places of worship
deeply interesting."

While in Dundee, Mackenzie made a settlement
with such of his creditors as he had been unable to
pay when he left Scotland, with their consent, for
Canada in 1820. He sailed from London on June
25th, 1833, and arrived at Quebec on August 18th,
after an absence of nearly eighteen months. In
Quebec and Montreal he was pressed to accept

239

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of public dinners, but in both cases he declined,
excusing himself on the ground of his long absence
from Canada, and his desire to arrive at York as
soon as possible.

To the last years of his life, Mackenzie was proud
of the reforms which his journey to England was
the means of effecting in the government of Upper
Canada ; and he ever continued to cherish a grate-
ful remembrance of the aid rendered him by Mr.
Ellice, Mr. Hume, and others from whom he re-
ceived assistance in the execution of his mission.
Considering that he went to England in no official
capacity ; that he was probably opposed in the pri-
vate communications of the military governor ; and
that attempts had been made by his enemies to
disgrace him by thrice expelling him from the leg-
islative assembly, it must be confessed that the
success which he achieved was greater than that
of any other man who ever went from Canada, in
a non-official capacity, on a similar errand.

Of this journey the people's agent was left to
bear the greater part of the expense. The actual
disbursements were £676, of which he received
£150. Payment of the balance was recommended by
a committee of the assembly, but was never made
on account of the supplies being withheld, and the
country which he had served with such disinterested
devotion allowed him to go down to the grave in
poverty. Many years afterwards, in 1868, on the
petition of Mrs. Mackenzie containing a statement
240

HIS THIRD EXPULSION

of the facts and asking for the reimbursement of
the expenses so incurred by her husband, the legis-
lature of Ontario, on the recommendation of the
government, granted her the sum of four thousand
dollars in settlement of the claim. l

Mackenzie was expelled for the third time from
the House of Assembly, while he was absent in
England. The session commenced on October
31st, 1832. On November 2nd, MacNab, without
waiting till the governor's speech was answered,
moved that the entries in the journals relative to
the previous expulsion be read. Solicitor-General
Hagerman, who was then in possession of the con-
stitutional objections urged by the imperial govern-
ment against these proceedings, contended that
though the county of York could elect whom they
pleased, the House had the right, by a simple reso-
lution, to determine the eligibility of whomsoever
they might send ; and thus, in fact, to create a dis-
ability not sanctioned by law. Very little argument
was required to convince the majority that this
monstrous stretch of privilege was equally proper
and expedient. The resolution having been carried,
on a division of fifteen against eight, all that re-

1 The government, upon whose recommendation the grant was
made, was composed of Hon. J. S. Macdonald, attorney-general, Hon.
S. B. Richards, commissioner of Crown lands, Hon. John Carling
(now Sir John Carling, a member of the senate of Canada), com-
missioner of public works, Hon. E. B. Wood (afterwards chief justice
of Manitoba), provincial treasurer, and Hon. M. C. Cameron (after-
wards chief justice C. P. Division High Court of Justice, Ontario),
provincial secretary.

241

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

mained to be done was to prove or assert the
identity of the William Lyon Mackenzie elected
for York with the William Lyon Mackenzie pre-
viously expelled by the House, and to declare him
ineligible to sit or vote in the House. MacNab
thought it sufficient to assert the fact and the dis-
ability. He moved a second resolution to that effect.
This having been carried, on the same division as
the first, the third expulsion was decreed, for no
other reason than that there had been two others
— a ground which MacNab himself afterwards ad-
mitted to be untenable.1

This arbitrary and utterly indefensible proceed-
ing was promptly resented, as it had been on the
two previous similar occasions, by the constituency
of York. In the absence of Mackenzie, his friends
brought his claims before the electors. The electors
considered their privileges invaded ; and so strong
was the feeling that no one ventured to come for-
ward and declare himself the candidate of the
official party. Mackenzie was therefore unanimously
re-elected.

On his return to York and desiring to take the
usual oaths, Mr. Fitzgibbon refused to administer
them to him as the member elect. This time there

1 When the question of expunging these proceedings from the
journals came before the House on February 16th, 1835, MacNab ad-
mitted his error, and voted for the motion. " I am filling to admit,"
he said, "that the last words, which went on to say that Mr. Macken-
zie was expelled by reason of a former resolution, were wrong, and that
we had no right to expel him on account of a former expulsion."

242

INCAPABLE OF HOLDING A SEAT

was to be no expulsion. The matter had assumed a
new shape. It was contended that there had been
no election. Bidwell brought the question to a vote.
He moved, in substance, that Mackenzie had been
duly elected for the county of York ; that he was
under no legal disability, and was by the law and
constitution a member of the House ; and that,
upon taking the oath, which the law made it the
duty of the commissioner to administer, he would
have a right to sit and vote in the House. The
motion was rejected on a vote of eighteen against
seven. MacNab, who admitted Mackenzie's eligi-
bility for election, contended that, though the
county of York might elect, the House had the
right to refuse to receive the member elected,
thereby taking up an impossible position. He had
voted that Mackenzie was incapable of holding a
seat in the House during that parliament ; though
he held that the electors had a right to elect him.
Perry asked the House to affirm a principle which
is now held by the best authorities to embody
sound constitutional law: that the House had no
right, without the concurrence of the other branches
of the government, to disfranchise any elector, or
to disqualify any person from being elected, when
such elector or person elected is under no legal
disability; but he was able to command only
thirteen votes in a House of thirty-two members.
On a vote of eighteen against fifteen, the House
then repeated its resolution that Mackenzie should

243

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

not be permitted to take a seat or vote as a mem-
ber during the session ; after which, a motion
ordering a writ for a new election was carried by a
bare majority of one, the minority being of opinion
that Mackenzie, having been duly elected, was
qualified to serve, and that in reality there was
no vacancy.

Mackenzie went back to his constituents on
December 16th, 1833, and was once more re-
elected without opposition. It deserves to be
noticed that, in his address to the electors, he
declared "the grand defect in the colonial con-
stitution " to be "the want of responsible govern-
ment." The election being over, a series of
resolutions were put to the meeting and carried
unanimously. Among other things, they called
for an inquiry into the conduct of Sir John
Colborne, whom they charged with interfering with
the constitutional rights of the people. The in-
tention of a large body of the electors to accompany
Mackenzie to the assembly at York being known,
he entreated them to abstain from any acts of
violence. They reached the House soon after
mid-day. The galleries were soon filled ; some
were admitted below the bar, and others remained
in the lobbies, for want of room inside. The result
was awaited with great anxiety by the large body
of electors, who were becoming indignant at being
defrauded of the franchise by the repeated expulsions
of one of their members from the House, or the
244

DRAGGED OUT OF THE HOUSE

refusal of the majority to receive him. Perry rose
to present a petition against a repetition of the
proceedings by which the county of York had
been deprived of half its legal representation.
MacNab, in opposing its reception, was hissed
from the gallery. It was now proposed to clear
the gallery of the crowd of strangers with which
it was packed ; and when the operation had been
partially completed, the sergeant-at-arms went up
to Mackenzie, who was waiting below the bar to be
sworn in, and ordered him to leave. He replied
that he had been unanimously elected by the
county of York, and that the writ had been
returned to the clerk of the Crown in chancery,
who was present in the House. If leave were given,
he would prove that he had a right there. The
sergeant-at-arms — MacNab, father of the member —
then seized him by the collar, in a violent manner,
saying, while he dragged him towards the door,
"You shall go out." A brawny Highlander, one
of the four or five who still remained, interposed
either with a blow at the officer or held him back.
As soon as the door was opened, the crowd, who
had descended from the gallery to the lobby, rushed
forward ; but before they could get in, the door
was bolted and barricaded with benches, members
and officers pressing towards the door to prevent it
being forced. The galleries, which had only been
partially cleared, were the scene of great confusion.
The excitement was extreme, and the business of

245

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the House was brought to a stand. The question
of sending to prison the stalwart Highlander who
had interfered with the sergeant-at-arms, was
raised ; but a bystander remarked that " he feared
it would be no easy matter to find the gaol, on
such an errand." That official now returned to
Mackenzie, and asked him to give proof of his
election. This having been done, the officer of the
House informed the Speaker, from whom he
received orders to clear the space below the bar
of strangers, that Mackenzie claimed to remain as
a member. The Speaker urged the commissioners
to refuse to administer the oaths, and afterwards
decided that Mackenzie was a stranger because he
had not taken them. MacNab (the member) said
that to allow Mackenzie to remain below the bar
would be a proof of pusillanimity in the House,
in issuing an order which they had not the courage
to enforce. It was not till after a long debate
that the Speaker decided that Mackenzie was a
stranger and not entitled to remain below the bar,
whereupon the sergeant-at-arms removed him.

The hissing that took place in the gallery was
unjustifiable. Such a proceeding is almost invariably
the precursor of a revolutionary movement. But
let us apportion the degree of censure due to the
various parties. The electors of York had been de-
frauded of their elective rights by the proceedings
of the House, some of which were clearly un-
constitutional. The endurance of the electors was
246

AGAIN EXPELLED FROM THE HOUSE

well-nigh exhausted ; and, while their interference
with the deliberations of the House cannot be
justified, the repeated provocations they had re-
ceived must be taken into account. The conduct
of the majority was revolutionary.

It was indeed a memorable day in Canada. There
were among the electors some who argued that, if
their member was forcibly ejected from the House,
they, too, would be justified in resorting to force in
defence of their violated rights. They had, they said
to one another, some old rusty muskets which they
might furbish up for future use, if this sort of thing
were to be continued.

On the following day Mr. Morris moved that
Mr. Mackenzie, having libelled the House more
than two years before and made no reparation,
a previous resolution declaring him unworthy
of a seat therein ought to be adhered to ; to
which MacNab added, by way of amendment,
u and therefore the said William Lyon Mackenzie,
again elected and returned to represent the county
of York in this present parliament, is hereby ex-
pelled." The resolution, as amended, was carried
by a very narrow majority, the vote being twenty-
two against eighteen.

In the evening Mackenzie addressed a communi-
cation to the governor stating what had occurred,
and requesting to be permitted to take the oath
before His Excellency, according to a provision of
the Constitutional Act, or that some other prompt

247 i

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

and immediate relief might be afforded to him
and his constituents. The question was referred to
Attorney-General Jameson, who reported that Mac-
kenzie was entitled to take the oath, and that no
person commissioned by the governor had a right
to refuse, since his office was ministerial and not
judicial. The governor therefore directed Mr.
Beikie, clerk of the executive council, to ad-
minister the oath. Mackenzie did not go before
the clerk for this purpose till February 11th, feel-
ing no doubt that, as the House had declared him
expelled, he would not be allowed to take his seat.
He finally made the trial at the urgent request of
his friends. But we must here notice some events,
and their consequence, that occurred in the in-
terval.

The majority of the House were more than half
afraid of the possible consequence of their act.
The governor, completely under the control of his
irresponsible advisers, firmly believed that the
official party was the sole depository of loyalty
in the province. In reply to representations made
to him by Mackenzie, Mackintosh, Ketchum,
and Shepard, at a personal interview, he recom-
mended "that Mr. Mackenzie may offer to make
the reparation which the House, by their late
resolution, seem to expect from him " — a piece of
advice that was very unlikely to be taken. In their
interview with Sir John Colborne, Mackenzie and
the three gentlemen who accompanied him had
248

DEFIANT PETITIONS

complained of the refusal of S. P. Jarvis and Joseph
Fitzgibbon, commissioners appointed to administer
the oaths to members of the assembly. These gentle-
men subsequently apologized for their conduct, and
their apologies were sent to the governor along
with the letter of his secretary recommending the
offer of reparation.

Petitions breathing defiance began to reach the
governor. " Loyal as the inhabitants of this country
unquestionably are," said a petition from Whitby,
" your petitioners will not disguise from your Ex-
cellency that they consider longer endurance, under
their present oppressions, neither a virtue nor a
duty. For though all mankind admit the claims of
good government to the respect and support of the
governed, yet very different considerations are due
to that which is regardless of public interests,
wars with public inclinations and feelings, and
only aids or connives at oppression." In other
petitions the electors complained that laws were
passed without their consent, and a dissolution
of the legislature was prayed for. A town meet-
ing, in King, refused to appoint an assessor and
collector of taxes, on the ground that they had
no right to pay taxes when the assembly robbed
them of half their representation.

Hume, removed from the influence of local feel-
ings and prejudices, wrote from London to Mac-
kenzie, giving his opinion that the events of De-
cember 16th and 17th — Mackenzie's unanimous

249

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

re-election and his forcible ejection and re-expulsion
— would hasten the crisis that would terminate in
the independence of Canada. But he was smarting
under a sense of injury in consequence of some
attack made upon him by the Rev. Egerton Ryer-
son ; and his letter was at once intemperate and
indiscreet. In speaking of the " baneful domination"
of the mother country as a thing for Canada to rid
itself of as soon as possible, he failed to make the
proper distinction between the colonial oligarchy
and the imperial government, though the latter,
with every desire to do justice, upheld a false
system, and was not infrequently misled by the
prejudiced and interested statements of the knot of
permanent and irresponsible officials by whom the
governor was surrounded.

The colonial oligarchs and their supporters in
the assembly were just as ready to complain of the
domination exercised by Downing Street over the
local affairs of the province as Hume himself, when
their interests were interfered with. The disallow-
ance of the Bank Charter Acts, to which reference
has already been made, almost created a rebellion
among the Tories of Upper Canada. In March,
1834, the assembly passed an address to the king
protesting, in the most energetic terms, against the
exercise of the royal veto in that case, laying down
the general principle that, in all local affairs, the
provincial legislature ought to be supreme. To
have extorted assent to such a declaration, from a
250

FORCIBLY TAKEN FROM HIS SEAT

section of the Tories, was no small gain.1 There
seems to be no question that they did not com-
prehend the full force of a declaration that was to
make the legislature supreme in local matters.

On February 11th, 1834, no new writ had been
issued for a new election ; and Mackenzie went
before the clerk of the executive council and took
the oath prescribed for members of the legislature.
At three o'clock on the same day, he walked into
the House of Assembly and took his seat among
the members. The House was in committee of the
whole. He had not been long there when he re-
ceived a visit from Mr. MacNab, sergeant-at-arms,
who informed him that he was a stranger, and
must retire. Mackenzie replied that he was a mem-
ber of the House, legally elected and duly sworn ;
and he produced an attested copy of the oath. He
was, he said, charged with no offence or irregularity
that could disqualify him for sitting and voting.
Before going to the House, he had given public
notice that he should not leave his seat unless
violence were used ; and he now told the sergeant-
at-arms that if he interfered it would be at his
peril. This officer replied that he must use force.

1 In a House of thirty members, six (of whom five were Tories)
voted against part of the address protesting against the exercise of the
royal veto. It was moved by Bidwell and seconded by Perry, in
the shape of an amendment to another address that had been proposed.
Nine Tories voted for the amendment, and thus affirmed principles
mainly sound in themselves, but with which the whole practice of their
lives was in contradiction.

251

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Mackenzie was three times forcibly taken from his
seat ; and when he appealed to the Speaker for
protection, that functionary replied that it was not
possible for the sergeant-at-arms to have mistaken
his duty. A resolution in favour of his taking his
seat was lost on a vote of twenty-one against
fifteen. While these proceedings were going on,
there was a dense crowd in the gallery, whose
general conduct was orderly and decorous, Mac-
kenzie having previously cautioned them to remain
" quiet and passive spectators."

A few days after these arbitrary proceedings on
the part of the majority of the House had taken
place, Mr. Duncombe made a motion which was
intended to bring about a new election for the
county of York by a side wind. Mackenzie's friends
did not admit that his seat was legally vacant ;
and therefore they could not vote for the issuing of
a writ for a new election. Duncombe's resolution
instructed the Speaker to take the necessary steps
to have any vacancy in the House forthwith
supplied ; but it was rejected, as was also a motion
proposed by MacNab for issuing a writ for the
election of a member for York in the place of
Mr. Mackenzie expelled. And so the county of
York remained unrepresented during nearly a
whole parliament.

A brief review of the whole proceedings will give
the best idea of the spirit in which they were con-
ducted. At first, an attempt was made to expel the
252

REVIEW OF THE EXPULSIONS

obnoxious member because he had, at his own cost,
distributed copies of the journals of the House,
without note or comment, unaccompanied by the
appendix. Next, a pretended libel, published in a
newspaper, was made a ground of expulsion, and
acted upon. Neither of the articles complained of
was half so severe as articles that are now daily
published without exciting attention. Then a new
libel was discovered, and made the cause of a
second expulsion. This time the House stretched
the power of privilege to the extent of creating a
disqualification unknown to the law. The third
time, the House contented itself with giving force
to this declared disability. Next time, a unanimous
re-election was declared to be no election at all,
though the returning officer had returned Mac-
kenzie as duly elected, and no candidate had
appeared to oppose him. The fifth time, he was
declared expelled, though not allowed by the
House to take the oaths or his seat ; and the same
majority that now expelled him had declared, a
short time before, that he was not, and could not
be elected, they having assumed that he was
incapable of being elected during that parliament.
This last time he was, at first, forcibly ejected from
the space below the bar on a motion to clear
the House of strangers, because, not having taken
the oaths which the Speaker urged the commis-
sioners not to administer, he must be treated as a
stranger ; and then, after he had taken the oath, he

253

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

was again forcibly dragged from his seat by the
sergeant-at-arms, condemned to silence under the
outrage, and threatened with imprisonment. The
frequency and the facility with which the majority
shifted their ground, showed that all they wanted
was a colourable pretext for carrying out a foregone
conclusion, to rid themselves of the presence of an
opponent who gave them so much trouble.

As in the case of Wilkes, who was expelled from
the House of Commons, the whole of the proceed-
ings relating to these expulsions were expunged
from the journals of the assembly, being declared
subversive of the rights of the whole body of
electors of Upper Canada.1 This was done in the
first session of the next parliament, on July 16th,
1835, by a vote of twenty-eight to seven. MacNab
voted to expunge his own resolutions, and frankly
admitted that the House was wrong in grounding
its third expulsion on the fact of the second. From
first to last, the proceedings against 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.

1 Wilkes's expulsion was not pronounced until it was found that
he had absconded.

254

CHAPTER IX

MUNICIPAL AND LATER PARLIAMENTARY

CAREER

ON March 6th, 1834, the town of York had its
limits extended, and became an incorporated
city under the name of Toronto. On March 15th,
a proclamation was issued calling an election of
aldermen and common councilmen for the twenty-
seventh of that month. The Reformers resolved to
profit by the circumstances ; and, having carried
the elections, they selected Mackenzie for mayor,
the first mayor not only of Toronto but in the
province. The event was looked upon as possessing
some political significance, for Toronto was the
seat of government and the headquarters of the
Family Compact ; and, as the sequel proved, it was
prophetic of the result of the next parliamentary
election in the city.

Mackenzie gave his time gratuitously to the
interests of the city, and discharged the duties of
mayor with the same vigour that he carried into
everything he undertook. The whole machinery
of municipal government had to be constructed
and set in motion. The city finances were in a
condition that much increased the difficulty of the
task. The value of all the ratable property in the
city was only £121,519, and there was a debt of
£9,240. To meet the demands on the city treasury,

255

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

it was necessary to levy a rate of three pence cur-
rency on the pound. This was regarded as a mon-
strous piece of fiscal oppression, almost sufficient
to justify a small rebellion.1

The arms of the city of Toronto, with the motto,
" Industry, Intelligence, Integrity," were designed
by Mackenzie.

During the term of Mackenzie's mayoralty, cholera
revisited the city, and swept away every twentieth
inhabitant. Throughout the whole course of the
plague, the mayor was at the post of duty and of
danger. He sought out the helpless victims of the
disease and administered to their wants. He was
constant in his attendance at the cholera hospital.
In the height of the panic occasioned by this terrible
scourge, when nobody else could be induced to take
the cholera patients to the hospital, he visited the
abodes of the victims, and, placing them in the
cholera cart with whatever assistance he could get
from the families of the plague-stricken, drove them
to the hospital. On some days he made several visits
of this kind to the pest-house. Day and night he

1 "There was/' Mackenzie said, "a wonderful outcry raised in
Toronto that the inequality of the taxes, and the burthensome extent
to which they had been laid upon the citizens, were the acts of the
corporation, and still more especially the doings of the mayor. This
unfounded statement induced many persons not only to manifest an
unwillingness to pay, but also to urge others to withhold payment,
and gave the collectors a great deal of trouble; while some of the
members of the council were daily met by complainants, to each of whom
a long detail of facts had to be gone into, the whole appearing inter-
minable."

256

STRICKEN WITH CHOLERA

gave himself no rest. At length, worn out by fatigue,
the disease, from which he had done so much to
save others, overtook him. The attack was not
of an aggravated nature ; and he was fortunate in
securing the timely assistance of Dr. Widmer, for
medical men were difficult to obtain.

The mayor was also assiduous in his attendance at
the police court, where he constantly sat to decide
the cases for adjudication. At the mayor's court, too,
he presided. Here he had the assistance of juries.
His magisterial decisions gave general satisfaction ;
but he was much censured for putting into the
stocks an abandoned creature who had frequently
been sent to gaol without any beneficial effect, and
who was, on this occasion, excessively abusive to
the court. Before the close of his mayoralty, Mac-
kenzie issued a circular stating his determination to
decline to come forward again for the city council ;
but when his friends complained that he had no
right to desert the Reform cause, he, at the eleventh
hour, permitted his name to be used by the parties
who had insisted on nominating him for re-election.
The Reformers — for the election was made a party
question — were defeated, Mackenzie being rejected
on a national cry raised by the friends of R. B.
Sullivan, afterwards a member of the bench. On
January 5th, 1835, Mackenzie received the un-
animous thanks of a public meeting, "for the
faithful discharge of his arduous duties during the
period of his office."

257

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

On December 9th, 1834, the "Canadian Alliance
Society " was formed at York. James Lesslie was
president, and Mackenzie corresponding secretary.
In the declaration of objects, based upon re-
solutions drawn up and submitted by Mackenzie,
for the attainment of which the society was formed,
there were eighteen subjects of legislation, fourteen
of which were subsequently adopted.1 In most cases
these questions were disposed of in the manner
recommended by the Alliance, and in others the
deviation therefrom was more or less marked. The
objects of the society were denounced by the
partisans of the government as revolutionary.
Their tendency was certainly democratic ; and the
carrying out of many of the objects of the Alliance
proved how steadily public opinion advanced in
that direction.

On his return from England, Mackenzie had
announced his intention of giving up the publica-
tion of a newspaper. His journal had been carried on
by Randall Wickson in his absence. He said he
would issue one or two irregular papers, and then
stop the publication. He had commenced when Re-
form was less fashionable, and now there were other

1 These were : responsible government ; abolition of the Crown-nom-
inated legislative council ; a more equal taxation of property ; abolition
of the law of primogeniture ; disunion of Church and State ; seculariza-
tion of the Clergy Reserves ; provision for the gradual liquidation of
the public debt ; discontinuance of the undue interference of the co-
lonial office in the local affairs of the province; cheap postage; amend-
ment of the libel law ; amendment of jury laws ; control of all the
provincial revenues by the representatives of the people.

258

AS A JOURNALIST

Liberal journals, so that his own could be better
spared. But the few fugitive sheets counted up to
forty-eight after the announcement was made and
before November 4th, 1834, when the last number
of the Colonial Advocate was published.

When he commenced the arduous, and in those
days perilous, task of a Reform journalist, Mac-
kenzie had no enemies among the official party.
Setting out with Whig principles, he was driven
by the course of events into the advocacy of radical
reform. " I entered," he says, " the lists of opposition
to the executive because I believed the system of
government to be wretchedly bad, and was un-
influenced by any private feeling, or ill-will, or
anger, towards any human being whatever." He
threw away much of the profits of his business by
circulating, at his own expense, an immense number
of political documents intended to bring about an
amelioration of the wretched system of government
then in existence. " Gain," he truly says, " was
with me a matter of comparatively small moment ;
nor do I regret my determination to risk all in the
cause of Reform ; I would do it again." He did
afterwards risk all on the issue of revolution, and
lost the game. In 1834, he thought he had done
with the press forever. The Advocate was incor-
porated with the Correspondent, sl paper published
by Dr. O 'Grady, a Roman Catholic priest, under
the name of the Correspondent and Advocate;
and Mackenzie expressed a wish that no one would

259

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

withhold subscriptions from any other paper in
the expectation that he would ever again connect
himself with the press.

In making an estimate of Mackenzie as a jour-
nalist, it may be said that his writings show an
uneven temper; but taking them in the mass,
and considering the abuses he had to assail, and
the virulence of opposition he met — foul slanders,
personal abuse, and even attempted assassination
— we have reason to be surprised at the modera-
tion of his tone. In mere personal invective he never
dealt. He built all his opposition on hard facts, col-
lected with industry and subject to the usual amount
of error in the narration. Latterly, he had entirely
abandoned the practice of replying to the abusive
tirades of business competitors or political oppo-
nents. He generally wrote in the first person;
and his productions sometimes took the shape of
letters to important political personages. His
articles were of every possible length, from the
terse, compact paragraph to a full newspaper page.
On whatever objects exerted, his industry was
untiring ; and the unceasing labours of the pen,
consuming nights as well as days, prematurely
wore out a naturally durable frame. Though
possessed of a rich fund of humour, his work was
too earnest and too serious to admit of his drawing
largely upon it as a journalist. Whatever he did,
he did with an honest intention ; and, though
freedom from errors cannot be claimed for him,
260

AGAIN ELECTED FOR YORK

it may truly be said that his very faults were the
results of generous impulses acted upon with in-
sufficient reflection.

A general election took place in October, 1834.
Mackenzie was elected to the assembly by the
second riding of York, this being the first election
since the division of the county into four ridings.
His opponent, Edward Thomson, obtained one
hundred and seventy-eight votes against three
hundred and thirty-four, and in addition to the
personal success of Mackenzie, the party with
whom he acted secured a majority in the new
House. Bidwell was elected Speaker for the
second time. The new House met on January
15th, 1835. On the first vote, the government
was left in a minority on a vote of thirty-one
against twenty-seven. The solicitor-general branded
Bidwell, the new Speaker, as a disloyal man who
"wished to overturn the government and in-
stitutions of the country."

The letters of Hume to Mackenzie had been
denounced by the official party as rank treason.
Referring to this circumstance, the address in
reply to the governor's speech expressed satisfac-
tion that "His Majesty has received, through your
Excellency, from the people of this province, fresh
proofs of their devoted loyalty, and of their sin-
cere and earnest desire to maintain and perpetuate
the connection with the great empire of which
they form so important a part;" proofs which would

261

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

"serve to correct any misrepresentations intended
to impress His Majesty with the belief that those
who desire the reform of many public abuses in
the province are not well affected towards His
Majesty's person and government." It also de-
precated the spirit in which honest differences of
opinion had been treated by persons in office, who,
on that account, had impeached the loyalty, in-
tegrity, and patriotism of their opponents, as
calculated " to alienate the affections of His
Majesty's loyal people and render them dissatisfied
with the administration." " But," the address con-
cluded, " should the government be administered
agreeably to the intent, meaning, and spirit of our
glorious constitution, the just wishes and con-
stitutional rights of the people duly respected,
the honours and patronage of His Majesty in-
discriminately bestowed on persons of worth and
talent, who enjoy the confidence of the people
without regard to their political or religious
opinions, and your Excellency's councils filled
with moderate, wise, and discreet individuals, who
are understood to respect, and to be influenced by,
the public voice, we have not the slightest ap-
prehension that the connection between this pro-
vince and the parent state may long continue to
exist, and be a blessing mutually advantageous
to both."

A majority of the House rejected an amendment
indirectly censuring Hume's " baneful domination"
262

"BANEFUL DOMINATION" LETTER

letter.1 That gentleman had, in explanation of his
letter, accepted an interpretation put upon it by
Dr. Morrison, "That Mr. Hume justly regards such
conduct [the repeated expulsions of Mr. Mackenzie
from the House] on the part of the legislature,
countenanced as it was by the Crown officers and
other executive functionaries in the assembly, and
unredressed by the royal prerogative, as evidence of
baneful and tyrannical domination, in which con-
duct it is both painful and injurious to find the pro-
vincial officials systematically upheld by the min-
ister at home against the people."

In the early part of the session, January 26th,
1835, Mackenzie moved for and obtained the
celebrated select committee on grievences, whose
report, Lord Glenelg stated, was carefully ex-
amined by the king, was replied to at great
length by the colonial minister, and was taken by
Sir Francis Bond Head — so he said — for his
guide, but was certainly not followed by him.

1 This letter is dated, "Bryston Square, 29th of March, 1834" and
contains some very strong language. u Your triumphant election," Mr.
Hume says, "on the 16th, and ejection from the assembly on the 17th,
must hasten the crisis which is fast approaching in the affairs of Canada,
and which will terminate in independence and freedom from the bane-
ful domination of the mother country, and the tyrannical conduct of a
small and despicable faction in the colony.". . . "I confidently trust,"
he added, " that the high-minded people of Canada will not, in these
days, be overawed or cheated of their rights and liberties by such
men as Mr. Stanley and the colonial compact. Your cause is their
cause ; your defeat would be their subjugation. Go on, therefore, I
beseech you, and success — glorious success — must crown your joint
efforts."

268

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

As we approach the threshold of an armed
insurrection, it is necessary to obtain from those
engaged in it their view of the grievances which
existed. For this purpose an analysis of the famous
"Seventh Report of the Committee on Grievances"
will be necessary. Before, doing so, however, let us
notice briefly the affairs of the Welland Canal, in
which Mackenzie successfully intervened in the
public interest.

The canal era preceded that of railroads. In
1824, not a single effort of a practical nature had
been made to improve the inland navigation of
the province. In 1830, the Rideau had been com-
pleted. A vessel of eighty-four tons burthen had,
in the previous November, passed through the
Welland. The Burlington and the Desjardins Can-
als were far advanced towards completion. Mac-
kenzie, who had been a warm advocate of internal
improvements, obtained a committee, in the session
of 1830, to inquire into the management and ex-
penditure of the Welland Canal Company. The
whole thing had so much the appearance of a finan-
cial juggle — the original estimates of £15,000 to
£23,000 having been followed by an expenditure
of over £273,000 — that curiosity must have been
much excited to know by what legerdemain the
different steps in the financial scheme had succeed-
ed one another.

On March 6th, 1835, Mackenzie was appointed
by the House of Assembly director of the Welland
264

THE WELLAND CANAL

Canal Company, in respect of the stock owned by
the province. He entered into a searching investi-
gation ; and if he showed a somewhat too eager
anxiety to discover faults, and made some charges
against the officers and managers of the company
that might be deemed frivolous, he also made
startling disclosures of worse than mismanagement.
With the impatience of an enthusiast, he published
his discoveries before the time came for making his
official report, sending them forth in a newspaper-
looking sheet entitled The Welland Canal, three
numbers of which were printed. A libel suit, in
which he was cast in damages to the amount of two
shillings, resulted from this publication ; and Mr.
Merritt, president of the company, in the ensuing
session of the legislature, moved for a committee to
investigate the charge brought against directors
and officers of this company. It was a bold stroke
on the part of the president ; but, unfortunately for
the canal management, the committee attested the
discovery of large defalcations on the part of the
company's officers. Accounts sworn to by the sec-
retary of the company, and laid before the legislat-
ure, were proved to be incorrect.1 Large sums — one

1 In a letter to Mackenzie dated Toronto, September 16th, 1836, Mr.
Francis Hincks, then engaged as an accountant in the investigation,
and than whom there was no better judge of accounts, said : "As to
the Welland Canal books, I have already said, and I now publicly re-
peat and am willing to stake my character on the truth of it, that for
several years they are full of false and fictitious entries, so much so
that if I was on oath I could hardly say whether I believe there are

265

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

amount was $2,500 — of the company's money had
been borrowed by its own officers without the auth-
ority of the board. Improvident contracts were
shamefully performed. The president, directors, and
agents of the company leased water powers to
themselves. The company sold, on a credit of ten
years, over fifteen thousand acres of land, together
with water privileges, for £25,000, to Alexander
McDonnell, in trust for an alien of the name of
Yates, and allowed him to keep two hundred acres,
forming the town plots of Port Colborne and
Allanburg. A quarter acre sold at the latter place
for $100. The company repurchased the remainder,
for which the company's bonds for £17,000 were
given to Yates, though all they had received from
him was eighteen months interest, the greater part
of which he had got back in bonuses and alleged
damages said to have arisen from the absence of water
power. If such a transaction were to occur in private
life, the committee averred, it "would not only
be deemed ruinous, but the result of insanity."
George Keefer, while a director, became connected

more true or false ones. I am persuaded it is impossible for an account-
ant who desires to arrive at the truth to investigate them with any satis-
faction, particularly as the vouchers are of such a character as to be of

little or no service It has been clearly proved that large sums

of money have been lost to the company, and, of course, to the pro-
vince, which, if the present directors do their duty, can, in great part,
be recovered ; yet you, the person who has discovered these losses, and,
what is still better, has exposed the system, have been abused in the
most virulent manner from one end of the province to the other, and
have not obtained the slightest remuneration for your services."

266

CANAL MISMANAGEMENT

with a contract for the locks. A large number of
original estimates, receipts, and other important
documents were missing; and no satisfactory account
of what had become of them could be obtained.
The books were kept in the most slovenly and dis-
creditable manner, being blurred with blunders*
suspicious alterations, and erasures. The length of
the canal was unnecessarily extended ; but if the
company suffered from this cause, individuals
profited by the operation. Improvident expen-
ditures, all the worse in a company cramped
for means, were proved to have been made. One
Oliver Phelps owed the company a debt of $30,000
covered by mortgage, which was released by
the board without other satisfaction than a deed
of some land worth about $2,000. It was not
a case of writing off a bad debt, because the
property covered by the mortgage was good for
the amount. Over $5,000 worth of timber, pur-
chased by the company and not used, was part-
ed with without equivalent. Some of it was stolen,
some used by Phelps, who was not charged with it,
and some purchased by a member of the assembly,
Gilbert M'Micking, in such a way that the com-
pany derived no advantage from the sale.

The difference between Mackenzie and the com-
mittee of the House was this : he suspected the
worst in every case of unfavourable appearances;
they were willing to make many allowances for
irregularities where positive fraud could not be

267

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

proved. The committee carried their leniency
further than they were warranted by the facts. In
the same sentence in which they acquitted the
directors of any intentional abuse of the powers
vested in them, they confessed themselves unable
to explain the Phelps transaction.

But to return to the " Seventh Report of the
Committee on Grievances." In order to understand
what were, at this time, the subjects of complaint
by the popular party in Upper Canada, the contents
of this report must be examined. And to discover
the spirit in which these complaints were met in
England, the reply of Lord Glenelg, then secretary
of state for the colonies, must be consulted. We
are not entitled to pass over, as of no interest, the
complaints as to these grievances which proved
to be the seeds of insurrection, and the prompt
response to which would have prevented the
catastrophe that followed in less than three years
after.

Sir John Colborne had admitted in a despatch
to Sir George Murray, February 16th, 1829, that,
" composed as the legislative council is at present,
the province had a right to complain of the great
influence of the executive government in it." In
1829, it comprised seventeen members, exclusive
of the Bishop of Quebec, not more than fifteen of
whom ever attended ; and, of these, six were mem-
bers of the executive council, and four more held
offices under the government. It was no easy
268

COMMITTEE ON GRIEVANCES

matter, in the then state of the province, to find
persons qualified to fill the situation of legislative
councillor, and that circumstance had doubtless
something to do in determining its character. In
1834 the council contained an additional member,
Bishop McDonnell ; but he drew an annual salary
from the government, and did not therefore, by
his presence, tend to increase its independence of
the executive. While Sir John Colborne professed
to be desirous of seeing the legislative council
rendered less dependent upon the Crown, it was
in evidence that the executive was in the habit
of coercing the members whom it could control.
Instances of remarkably sudden changes of opinion,
effected by this means, were given. A disseverance
of judicial and legislative functions had been
frequently asked by the assembly ; but the chief
justice still continued Speaker of the legislative
council.

To the select committee on grievances was re-
ferred a number of documents, including the cele-
brated despatch of Lord Goderich, and the ac-
companying documents prepared by Mackenzie
while in England, the reply of the lieutenant-
governor to an address of the assembly for informa-
tion regarding the dismissal of the Crown officers,
the re-appointment of one of them, and the selec-
tion of Jameson as attorney-general, together with
petitions, viceregal messages, and other documents.
The committee examined witnesses as well as

269

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

documents, and their report, with documents and
evidence, makes a thick octavo volume.

" The almost unlimited extent of the patronage
of the Crown, or rather of the colonial minister
for the time being," the report declared, was the
chief source of colonial discontent. " Such," it add-
ed, " is the patronage of the colonial office, that the
granting or withholding of supplies is of no polit-
ical importance, unless as an indication of the
opinion of the country concerning the character of
the government." Mr. Stanley, while in communi-
cation with Dr. Baldwin as chairman of a public
meeting in York some years before, had pointed to
the constitutional remedies of " addressing for the
removal of the advisers of the Crown, and refusing
supplies." The former remedy had been twice tried,
but without producing any good effect, and almost
without eliciting a civil reply. The second was here-
after to be resorted to. When the province first
came under the dominion of the British Crown,
certain taxes were imposed by imperial statute for
the support of the local government. In time, as
the House of Assembly acquired some importance
and had attracted some able men, the control of
these revenues became an object of jealousy and
desire. Before there had been any serious agitation
on the subject in Upper Canada, these revenues
were surrendered in exchange for a permanent civil
list. An opportune moment was chosen for effect-
ing this change. Neither of the two previous
270

THE PROVINCIAL FINANCES

Houses would have assented to the arrangement,
nor would the present legislature so long as there
were no other constitutional means of bringing
the administration to account than that which
might have been obtained by a control of the
purse strings. The granting of a permanent civil list
had looked to the Reformers like throwing away
the only means of control over the administra-
tion. Indirectly the executive controlled what was,
properly speaking, the municipal expenditure.
Magistrates appointed by the Crown met in
quarter sessions to dispose of the local taxes. The
bench of magistrates in the eastern district had,
that very session, refused to render the House an
account of their expenditure. The old objections
to the post-office being under the control of the
imperial government were reiterated. The patron-
age of the Crown was stated to cover £50,000 a
year, in the shape of salaries and other payments,
exclusive of the Clergy Reserve revenue, the
whole of the money being raised within the
province. The £4,472, which had annually come
from England for the Church of England, had
been withdrawn in 1834. Considering the poverty
of the province, the scale of salaries was relatively
much higher than at present. Ten persons were in
receipt of $4,000 a year each for their public
services.

The mode of treating the salaries received by
the public functionaries, pursued in this report, is

271

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

not free from objection. The bare statement that
"the Hon. John H. Dunn has received £11,534 of
public money since 1827," proved nothing ; yet
the aggregate sum was calculated to create the
impression that there was something wrong about
it. Some salaries and fees were undoubtedly
excessive. Mr. Ruttan received in fees, as sheriff
of the Newcastle district, in 1834, £1,040, and
in the previous year, £1,180. Pensions had been
pretty freely dispensed out of the Crown revenue.
Under the head of pensions, £30,500 is set down
as having been paid to eleven individuals within
eight years ; but the payment to Bishop McDonnell
should hardly have come under that designation.
While the Church of England received the proceeds
of the Clergy Reserves, annual payments were
made by the government to several other denomina-
tions. Profuse professions of loyalty sometimes
accompanied applications for such payments ; and
there seemed to be no shame in confessing some-
thing like an equivalent in political support. The
Church of England managed to get the lion's
share ; and this naturally brought down on her
the envy and jealousy of other denominations. Of
twenty-three thousand nine hundred and five acres
of public lands set apart as glebes, between 1789
and 1833, the Church of England had obtained
twenty-two thousand three hundred and forty-five
acres.

It was complained that much of the money
272

THE REMEDIES RECOMMENDED

granted for general purposes was very imperfectly
accounted for. " The remedy," said the report,
"would be a board of audit, the proceedings of
which should be regulated by a well-considered
statute, under a responsible government." In due
time, both these things came, Mackenzie having
been in these, as in numberless other instances, in
advance of the times. Justices of the peace, it was
complained, had been selected almost entirely from
one political party. The necessity of a responsible
administration, for any effectual reform of abuse,
had been frequently insisted on by Mackenzie. "One
great excellence of the English constitution," says
this report, "consists in the limits it imposes on the
will of a king, by requiring responsible men to give
effect to it. In Upper Canada no such responsibility
can exist. The lieutenant-governor and the British
ministry hold in their hands the whole patronage
of the province ; they hold the sole dominion of the
country, and leave the representative branch of
the legislature powerless and dependent." English
statesmen were far from realizing the necessity of
making the colonial government responsible ; and,
for some years after, the official idea continued to
be that such a system was incompatible with
colonial dependence. Mr. Stanley had been one of
the few who thought that "something might be
done, with great advantage, to give a really re-
sponsible character to the executive council, which
at present is a perfectly anomalous body, hardly

273

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

recognized by the constitution, and chiefly effective
as a source of patronage." Only a few years before,
Attorney-General Robinson had denied the exis-
tence of a ministry in Upper Canada, and claimed
the right to act solely upon his own individual
responsibility in the House, and without reference
to any supposed necessity for agreement with his
colleagues. And Lord Goderich held that the
colonial governors were alone responsible. He
complained that the legislative councils had been
used " as instruments for relieving governors from
the responsibility they ought to have borne for the
rejection of measures which have been proposed by
the other branch of the legislature, and have not
seldom involved them in dissensions which it would
have been more prudent to decline. The effect of
the constitution, therefore," he added, "is too
often to induce a collision between the different
branches of the legislature, to exempt the governor
from a due sense of responsibility, and to deprive
the representative body of some of its most useful
members." The executive council had scarcely any
recognized duties beyond those which were merely
ministerial. The governor did not feel bound to
ask the advice of his councillors, or to act upon it
when given. In appointments to office, they were,
as a rule, not consulted. The giving or withholding
of the royal assent to bills passed by the legislature
was a matter entirely in the hands of the governor.
Yet the executive council was recognized by the
274

A RESPONSIBLE EXECUTIVE

Constitutional Act ; and cases were specially men-
tioned in which the governor was required to act
upon their advice. The governor, coming a stranger
to the province, could not act without advice ; and
he was lucky if he escaped the toils of some
designing favourite who had access to his presence
and could determine his general course. The
habit of sending out military governors, who were
wholly unsuited for civil administration, was in
vogue. The only excuse for pursuing this course
was that a lieutenant-governorship was not a
sufficient prize to attract men of first-rate abilities.
There was great diversity of opinion as to the
possible success of responsible government. It had
never been tried in any of the old colonies. Mac-
kenzie, while in England, had endeavoured to
convince Lord Goderich that, with some modifica-
tions, it might be made the means of improving
the colonial government. The sum of the whole
matter was that the existing system made the
governor responsible, in the absence of responsible
advisers by whom he might have been personally
relieved ; and he, in turn, was only too glad to
make the legislative council perform the functions
which, on questions of legislation, naturally be-
longed to a responsible administration. He had
them under his control.

The grievance committee insisted on the neces-
sity of entire confidence between the executive and
the House of Assembly. " This confidence," it was

275

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

truly added, " cannot exist while those who have
long and deservedly lost the esteem of the country
are continued in the public offices and councils.
Under such a state of things," it said, "dis-
trust is unavoidable, however much it is to be
deplored as incompatible with the satisfactory dis-
charge of the public business." The demand for
entire confidence between the executive and the
House of Assembly was based upon "the grow-
ing condition of this part of the Empire in popula-
tion, wealth and commerce." The committee
perhaps meant the inference to be drawn that the
necessity for responsible government had not been
perceived in the earlier stages of colonial existence.
From the facts before them, the committee con-
cluded that the second branch of the legislature
had failed to answer the purpose of its institution,
and could "never be made to answer the end for
which it was created," and that "the restoration
of legislative harmony and good government re-
quires its reconstruction on the elective principle."
Although many may think this an erroneous opi-
nion, it cannot be matter of surprise that it should
have found expression. The legislative council, owing
its creation to the Crown, and its members being
appointed for life, found itself in constant collision
with the representative chamber. This collision
created irritation ; and the people naturally took
the part of their representatives in the contest. If
there had been an executive council to bear the re-
276

AN ELECTIVE COUNCIL

sponsibility that was thrown on this branch of the
legislature, a change of ministry would have obviated
the desire for a change of system. The legislative
council would have been modified by having addi-
tions made to its numbers, as was done after the
inauguration of responsible government ; and the
second chamber, being kept in harmony with the
popular will, would not have been attacked in its
constitution. The opinion that the council ought to
be made elective was not confined to Canada ; it
had been shared by several English statesmen, in-
cluding Sir James Mackintosh, Mr. Stanley, and Mr.
Labouchere. Instances were also adverted to by the
committee, in which the members of the local exe-
cutive had prevented the good intentions of the im-
perial government being carried into effect. Such,
in brief, was the famous report of the committee of
grievances.1

It elicited from the secretary of state for the
colonies a reply which we must now proceed to

1 Whether from oversight or whatever cause, the grievance report
had not been adopted by the House, though two thousand copies
had been ordered to be printed in an unusual form, and had been
distributed. On February 6th, 1836, however, the assembly resolved,
by a vote of twenty-four against fifteen, "that the facts and opinions
embodied in that report continue to receive the full and deliberate
sanction and confirmation of the House and the people whom it
represents ; and that it is our earnest desire that the many im-
portant measures of reform recommended in that report may be
speedily carried into effect by an administration deservedly possessing
the public confidence." A copy of this resolution was ordered to be
sent to the secretary of state for the colonies. It was passed a week
after Lord Glenelg's despatch had been laid before the legislature.

277

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

consider. But before the reply came, Lord Glenelg,
on October 20th, 1835, conveyed to Canada the
assurance that the king, having had the report
before him, " has been pleased to devote as much
of his time and attention as has been compatible
with the shortness of the period which has elapsed
since the arrival in this country' of the despatch
enclosing the document.

In the ordinary course of events, the Upper
Canada legislature would have met in November ;
but so important was it deemed that the report
should be responded to, that Major-General Col-
borne was directed to delay the calling of the House
till the ensuing January — a delay of three months.
At the same time, an assurance was conveyed that
the House would find, in the promised communica-
tions, " conclusive proof of the desire and fixed
purpose of the king to redress every real grievance,
affecting any class of His Majesty's subjects in
Upper Canada, which has been brought to His
Majesty's notice by their representatives in pro-
vincial parliament assembled." A belief was at the
same time expressed, that the assembly "would
not propose any measure incompatible with the
great fundamental principles of the constitution,"
which, in point of fact, had been systematically
violated by the ruling party.

Soon after, in addressing the assembly, Mac-
kenzie said : " I would impress upon the House
the importance of two things : the necessity of
278

THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL

getting control of the revenue raised in this country,
and control over the men sent out here to govern
us, by placing them under the direction of responsi-
ble advisers." The House, about the same time,
addressed the governor for information u in respect
to the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the
executive council ; how far that body is responsible
for the acts of the executive government ; and how
far the lieutenant-governor is authorized by His
Majesty to act with or against their advice." The
governor replied that the executive council had no
powers but such as were conferred on it by "the
express provisions of British or colonial statutes,"
about which the House knew as much as he. How-
ever, he condescended to proceed to particulars. " It
was necessary," he said, " that they should concur
with the lieutenant-governor in deciding upon appli-
cations for lands, and making regulations relative to
the Crown Lands Department." He admitted that
these duties were additional to those imposed by
statute. " It was also," His Excellency proceeded to
state, " the duty of the executive council to afford
their advice to the lieutenant-governor upon all
public matters referred to them for their considera-
tion." He himself, as well as his council, was respon-
sible to the imperial government and removable at
the pleasure of the king. Where, by statute, the
concurrence of the executive council was required
to any Act of the government, it could not be dis-
pensed with, and in such case the executive council

279

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

must share the responsibility of the particular Act.
But the lieutenant-governor claimed the right to
exercise " his judgment in regard to demanding
the assistance and advice of the executive council,
except he is confined to a certain course by the in-
structions of His Majesty." The governor thus
fairly expressed the official view of ministerial re-
sponsibility, as was afterwards shown by Sir Francis
Bond Head's instructions on his appointment to
the lieutenant-governorship of Upper Canada.

The promised reply of Lord Glenelg was dated
December 15th, 1835. It took the shape of in-
structions to Sir Francis Bond Head on his ap-
pointment to the lieutenant-governorship of Upper
Canada.1 The patronage at the disposal of the
Crown, which had been so much complained of,
had been swelled by the practice of confiding to
the government or its officers the prosecution of
all offences. But this circumstance was declared
by Lord Glenelg to be no proof of any peculiar
avidity on the part of the executive for the exercise
of such power. The transfer of the patronage to

1 Head, who had been instructed to communicate the substance of
these instructions to the legislature, laid the entire despatch before
the two Houses, a proceeding for which he incurred the disapproba-
tion of the colonial office, and of the British public. He admitted that
he was aware the proceedings would embarrass Lord Glenelg ; but he
excused himself by alleging that the original draft of the despatch
authorized him to communicate a copy of it ; as if the original inten-
tion of the colonial minister ought to supersede the final decision
of the minister and the sovereign. The king had made the alteration
with his own hand.

280

LORD GLENELG'S REPLY

any popular body was objected to as tending to
make public officers virtually irresponsible, and
to the destruction of the " discipline and sub-
ordination which connect together, in one unbroken
chain, the king and his representative in the
province, down to the lowest functionary to whom
any portion of the powers of the State may be
confided." The selection of public officers, it was
laid down, must for the most part be entrusted
to the head of the local government ; but there
were cases in which the analogy of English practice
would permit a transference of patronage from
the governor to others. Whatever was necessary
to ensure subordination to the head of the govern-
ment was to be retained ; everything beyond this
was at once to be abandoned. Subordinate public
functionaries were to continue to hold their offices
at the pleasure of the Crown. They incurred no
danger of dismissal except for misconduct; and
great evils would result from making them inde-
pendent of their superior. The new governor was
instructed to enter upon a review of the offices in
the gift of the Crown, with a view of ascertaining
to what extent it would be possible to reduce them
without impairing the efficiency of the public
service, and to report the result of his investigation
to the colonial secretary. He might make a reduc-
tion of offices either by abolition or consolidation ;
but any appointment made, under those circum-
stances, would be provisional and subject to the

281

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

final decision of the imperial government. In case
of abolition, the deprived official was to receive
a reasonable compensation. What share of the
patronage of the Crown, or of the local government
could be transferred to other hands, was to be
reported. A comparison of claims or personal
qualifications was to be the sole rule for appoint-
ments to office. As a general rule, no person, not a
native or settled resident, was to be selected for
public employment. In case of any peculiar art
or science, of which no local candidate had a com-
petent knowledge, an exception was to be made.
In selecting the officers attached to his own person,
the governor was to be under no restriction.
Appointments to all offices of the value of over
£200 a year were to be only provisionally made
by the governor, with a distinct intimation to the
persons accepting them that their confirmation
must depend upon the approbation of the imperial
government, which required to be furnished with
the grounds and motives on which each appoint-
ment had been made. The hope was expressed
that, unless in an extreme emergency, the House
would not carry out the menaced refusal of sup-
plies.

If these instructions from the colonial office
showed a disposition to treat the colonists with
consideration, it was the sort of consideration which
we bestow upon persons wholly incapable of man-
aging their own affairs.
282

LORD GLENELG'S REPLY

To any measure of retrenchment, compatible
with the just claims of the public officers and the
efficient performance of the public duties, the king
would cheerfully assent. The assembly might
appoint a commission to fix a scale of public
salaries. The pensions already granted and made
payable out of the Crown revenues were held to
constitute a debt, to the payment of which the
honour of the king was pledged ; and on no con-
sideration would His Majesty "assent to the
violation of any engagement lawfully and advisedly
entered into by himself or any of his royal pre-
decessors." At the same time, the law might fix,
at a reasonable limit, the amount of future pensions ;
and to any such measure the governor was in-
structed to give the assent of the Crown.

The assembly was anxious to dispose of the
Clergy Reserves, and place the proceeds under the
control of the legislature. The other chamber
objected ; and Lord Glenelg urged strong con-
stitutional reasons against the imperial parliament
exercising the interference which the assembly
had invoked. And it must be confessed that, in
this respect, the assembly's demand was not con-
sistent with its general principles or with those
contended for by the popular party. It was easy
in this case to put the assembly in the wrong;
and Lord Glenelg made the most of the opportun-
ity. But, with strange inconsistency, the imperial
government in 1840 assumed, at the dictation of

288

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the bishops, a trust which five years before they
had refused to accept at the solicitation of the
Canadian assembly, on the ground of its uncon-
stitutionality. Lord Glenelg admitted that the
time might arrive, if the two branches of the
Canadian legislature continued to disagree on
the subject, when the interposition of the imperial
parliament might become necessary ; but the time
selected for interference was when the two bran-
ches of the local legislature had, for the first time,
come to an agreement and sent to England a bill
for the settlement of the question.

On the question of King's College and the prin-
ciples on which it should be conducted, the two
Houses displayed an obstinate difference of opinion,
and the governor was instructed, on behalf of the
king, to mediate between them. The basis of the
mediation included a study of theology ; and it
was impossible satisfactorily, in a mixed community,
to do this with a hope of giving general satisfac-
tion. This college question having once been placed
under the control of the local legislature, Lord
Glenelg could not recommend its withdrawal at
the instance of one of the two Houses.

The suggestion for establishing a board of audit
was concurred in. As a fear had been expressed
that the legislative council would oppose a bill
for such a purpose, the governor was authorized
to establish a board of audit provisionally, till
the two Houses could agree upon a law for the
284

LORD GLENELG'S REPLY

regulation of the board. Lord Glenelg objected
to the enactment of a statute requiring that the
accounts of the public revenue should be laid
before the legislature at a particular time and by
persons to be named, since this would confer on
them the right to " exercise a control over all the
functions of the executive government," and give
them a right to inspect the records of all public
offices to such an extent as would leave " His
Majesty's representative and all other public
functionaries little more than a dependent and
subordinate authority." Besides, it was assumed
they would be virtually irresponsible and indepen-
dent. At the same time, the governor was to be
prepared at all times to give such information as
the House might require respecting the public
revenue, except in some extreme case where a
great public interest would be endangered by
compliance.

Rules were even laid down for the regulation of
the personal intercourse of the governor with the
House. He was to receive their addresses with the
most studious courtesy and attention, and frankly
and cheerfully to concede to their wishes as far as his
duty to the king would permit. Should he ever find
it necessary to differ from them, he was to explain
the reasons for his conduct in the most conciliatory
terms. Magistrates who might be appointed were
to be selected from persons of undoubted loyalty,
without reference to political considerations. The

285

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

celebrated despatch of Lord Goderich, written in
consequence of the representations made by Mac-
kenzie while in England, was to be a rule for the
guidance of the conduct of Sir Francis Bond Head.
On the great question of executive responsibility
Lord Glenelg totally failed to meet the expecta-
tions expressed in the grievance report to which he
was replying. He did more ; he assumed that " the
administration of public affairs, in Canada, is by no
means exempt from the control of a sufficient prac-
tical responsibility. To His Majesty and to parlia-
ment," it was added, " the governor of Upper Can-
ada is at all times most fully responsible for his
official acts." Under this system the lieutenant-gov-
ernor might wield all the powers of the government,
and was even bound to do so, since he was the only
one who could be called to account. The assembly,
if they had any grounds of complaint against the
executive, were told that they must seek redress,
not by demanding a removal of the executive
council, but by addressing the sovereign against
the acts of his representative. Every executive
councillor was to depend for the tenure of his
office, not on the will of the assembly, but on
the pleasure of the Crown. And in this way respon-
sibility to the central authority in Downing Street,
of all the public affairs in the province, was to be
enforced. The members of the local government
might or might not have seats in the legislature.
Any member holding a seat in the legislature was
286

AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM

required blindly to obey the behests of the gover-
nor on pain of instant dismissal. By this means it
was hoped to preserve the head of the government
from the imputation of insincerity, and to conduct
the administration with firmness and decision.

These instructions embody principles which
might have been successfully worked out by a
governor and council ; but they were inapplicable
in the presence of a legislature. There was no
pretence that the system was constitutional, and
the elective chamber must be a nullity when the
Crown-nominated legislative council can at any
time be successfully played off' against it. As for
responsibility to the Canadian people through their
representatives, there was none. All the powers of
the government 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, in-
tended to amuse the colonists, served no other end
than to irritate and exasperate men who had pene-
tration enough to detect the mockery, and whose
self-respect made them abhor the sham.

In November, 1835, Mackenzie visited Quebec
in company with Dr. O 'Grady. They went, as a
deputation from leading and influential Reformers
in Upper Canada, to bring about a closer alliance
between the Reformers in the two provinces. In
the Lower Province affairs were approaching a crisis

287

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

more rapidly than in the west. The difficulties
arising out of the control of the revenue had led
to the refusal of the supplies by the Lower Canada
assembly; and, in 1834, £31,000 sterling had been
taken out of the military chest, by the orders of the
imperial government, to pay the salaries and con-
tingencies of the judges and the other public officers
of the Crown, under the hope that, when the diffi-
culties were accommodated, the assembly would re-
imburse the amount. But the difficulties, instead of
finding a solution, continued to increase. As the
grievances of which the majority in the two pro-
vinces complained had much in common, the re-
spective leaders began to make common cause.
The provinces had had their causes of difference
arising out of the distribution of the revenue col-
lected at Quebec. But the political sympathies of
the popular party in each province were becoming
stronger than the prejudices engendered by the
fiscal difficulties which had acted as a mutual re-
pulsion. Mackenzie and his co-delegate met a
cordial and affectionate welcome. This expression
of sympathy, extending to all classes of Reformers,
was expected to prove to the authorities, both in
Canada and England, " that the tide is setting in
with such irresistible force against bad government,
that, if they do not yield to it before long, it will
shortly overwhelm them in its rapid and onward
progress." Mackenzie was on good terms with
Papineau, whose word was law in the assembly of
288

LETTER TO HUME

Lower Canada, of which he was Speaker, but who,
in committee of the whole, used the greatest free-
dom of debate. This visit resulted in establishing a
better understanding between the Reformers of the
two provinces.

In December, 1835, Mackenzie addressed a long
letter to Joseph Hume, in which he explained that
the Reformers of both provinces directed their
exertions mainly to the accomplishment of four
objects : an elective legislative council, an executive
council responsible to public opinion, the control
of the whole provincial revenues, and a cessation
of interference on the part of the colonial office —
"not one of which," he said, "I believe will be con-
ceded till it is too late."1 The prediction proved to
be correct ; but all these changes were effected after
the insurrection of 1837. He tendered his thanks
to Mr. Hume for his exertions on behalf of Canada
in these words : —

" On behalf of thousands whom you have bene-
fited, on behalf of the country so far as it has had
confidence in me, I do most sincerely thank you
for the kind and considerate interest you have

1 Though all these objects were afterwards carried into effect, Sir
Francis Bond Head regarded their advocacy as proof of treasonable
designs. In a despatch to Lord Glenelg, dated June 22nd, 1836, after
quoting the above passage, he says: "As the Republicans in the
Canadas generally mask their designs by professions of attachment
to the mother country, I think it important to record this admission
on the part of Mackenzie of the traitorous object which the Re-
formers in this province have in view."

289

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

taken in the welfare of a distant people. To your
generous exertions it is owing that tens of thousands
of our citizens are not at this day branded as rebels
and aliens ; and to you alone it is owing that our
petitions have sometimes been treated with ordinary
courtesy at the colonial office.

" We have wearied you with our complaints,
and occupied many of those valuable hours which
you would have otherwise given to the people of
England. But the time may come when Canada,
relieved from her shackles, will be in a situation to
prove that her children are not ungrateful to those
who are now, in time of need, their disinterested
benefactors."

A shadowy idea of independence appears already
to have been floating in men's minds ; and it found
expression in such terms as are employed in his
letter about Canada being relieved of her shackles.

290

CHAPTER X

SIR FRANCIS BOND HEAD'S ARBITRARY

METHODS

ON January 14th, 1836, Sir Francis Bond Head,
who had just arrived in the province as
lieutenant-governor, opened the session of the
Upper Canada legislature.1 The royal speech, in

referring to the dissensions that had taken place
in Lower Canada, and to the labours of the im-
perial commissioners, Lord Gosford, Sir Charles
Grey and Sir George Gipps, appointed to inquire
into the grievances complained of, assured the
House that, whatever recommendations might be
made as the result of this inquiry, the constitution
of the provinces would be firmly maintained. As
the constitution of the legislative council was one
of the subjects of inquiry, this information could
not be very consolatory to the Reformers.

1 Sir Francis afterwards admitted, with admirable candour, that
he ' ' was really grossly ignorant of everything that in any way re-
lated to the government of our colonies." He was somehow connected
with paupers and poor laws in England when he was appointed ; and
was totally unfitted by experience and temperament to be lieutenant-
governor of any important dependency of the British Crown. How
Lord Glenelg could have stumbled upon so much incapacity, is as
great a mystery to the Canadians, at this day, as it was to Sir
Francis when, at his lodgings at Romney, in the county of Kent,
his servant, with a tallow candle in one hand and a letter brought
by a king's officer in the other, enabled him to make the discovery
that he had been offered the lieutenant-governorship of Upper
Canada.

291

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

During the session, Mackenzie carried an address
to the king on the subject of the restraints imposed
upon the province by the commercial legislation
of the mother country. British goods could not
pass through the United States, on their way to
Canada, without being subjected to the American
duty ; and the address prayed that the sovereign
would negotiate with the Washington government
for the free passage of such goods. The facility
of transport thus asked for was fully secured by
the United States Bonding Act passed ten years
after. For the purpose of upholding the monopoly
of the East India Company, not an ounce of tea
could be imported into Canada by way of the
United States. The abolition of this monopoly was
demanded. Canadian lumber and wheat were
heavily taxed — twenty-five cents a bushel on the
latter — on their admission into the United States ;
the same articles coming thence into the province
were free of duty. Mackenzie anticipated by
eighteen years the Reciprocity Treaty of 1854.
The address prayed "that His Majesty would
cause such representations to be made to the
government of the United States as might have
a tendency to place this interesting branch of
Canadian commerce on a footing of reciprocity
between the two countries." Nor did he stop here.
He thought it right that this principle of recipro-
city should be extended to all articles admitted by
Canada free of duty from the United States.
292

BOND HEADS EARLIER ATTITUDE

Sir Francis Bond Head, unused to government,
had been instructed by the colonial secretary in the
rules of official etiquette and courtesy which he was
to observe ; and, in answering this address, he did
not assume that objectionable tone which shortly
afterwards marked his utter unfitness for the posi-
tion to which he had been appointed. In regard to
the removal of the Crown officers, there was a de-
spatch marked "confidential," and which for that
reason he did not produce. He had no means of ex-
plaining the continuance in office of Hagerman,
further than that his reinstatement was the result
of exculpatory evidence offered by that person
while in England. The governor could require,
and, if necessary, insist on the resignation of officials
who might openly or covertly oppose the measures
of his government ; but he would not take a retro-
spective view of their conduct, or question the
wisdom of what had been done by his predecessors,
in this respect. He applied the same rule to appoint-
ments made to the legislative council ; he could not
undertake to judge of the principles that guided his
predecessor. Lord Ripon, he considered, in giving
his opinion of the presence of the Roman Catholic
bishop and the Anglican archdeacon in the legisla-
tive council, had expressed no intention in reference
to them. Sir Francis confessed, with maladroitness,
to the existence of despatches which he did not feel
at liberty to communicate ; besides the one already
mentioned, he had received another dated Sep-

293

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

tember 12th, 1835, and containing observations on
the grievance report. He asked from the House the
consideration due to a stranger to the province, un-
connected with the differences of party, entrusted
by his sovereign with instructions "to correct,
cautiously, yet effectually, all real grievances,"
while maintaining the constitution inviolate.

During this session an event occurred which,
though Mackenzie was not directly connected with
it, had an important bearing on the general course
of affairs that eventually lead to the armed insur-
rection in which he was a prominent actor. It is
necessary to a clear comprehension of all the cir-
cumstances which produced this crisis, that the
event should be briefly related.

On February 20th, 1836, Sir Francis called three
new members to the executive council, John Henry
Dunn, Robert Baldwin, and John Rolph. The two
latter were prominent members of the Reform
party, and Dunn had long held the office of re-
ceiver-general. Their appointment was hailed as
the dawn of a new and better order of things, and
the governor professed, with what sincerity will
hereafter appear, a desire to reform all real abuses.
On March 4th these gentlemen, with the other
three members of the executive council,1 resigned.
They complained that they had incurred the odium
of being held accountable for measures which they
had never advised, and for a policy to which they

1 Peter Robinson, George H. Markland, and Joseph Wells.

294

RESIGNATION OF COUNCIL

were strangers. That the three Tory members of the
council should have joined in the resignation shows
the irresistible force which the popular demand,
put forward by Mackenzie and others for a respon-
sible administration, carried with it. The current
was too strong to leave a reasonable hope of their
being able to make way against it. But what they
shrank from undertaking, Sir Francis was to try,
by the aid of more supple instruments, to accom-
plish. The six councillors, on tendering their resigna-
tions, insisted on the constitutional right of being
consulted on the affairs of the province generally,
and resorted to some elaboration of argument to
prove that their claim had an immovable founda-
tion in the provincial charter.

The governor, on the other hand, contended that
he alone was responsible, being liable to removal
and impeachment for misconduct, and that he was
at liberty to have recourse to their advice only
when he required it ; but that to consult them on
all the questions that he was called upon to decide
would be "utterly impossible." His political theory
was very simple. " The lieutenant-governor main-
tains," he said, " that responsibility to the people,
who are already represented in the House of
Assembly, is unconstitutional ; that it is the duty
of the council to serve him, not them" — a
doctrine that was soon to meet a practical rebuke
from his official superiors in England.

The answer of His Excellency was sent to a

295

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

select committee of the House, who made an
elaborate report in which the governor's treatment
of his council was censured in no measured terms.
The increasing dissatisfaction which had been
produced by the maladministration of Governors
Gore, Maitland, and Colborne, was said to have
become general. The new appointments to the
executive council of liberal men, made by Sir
Francis, were stigmatized as "a deceitful manoeuvre
to gain credit with the country for liberal feelings
and intentions when none existed;" and it was
declared to be matter of notoriety that His Ex-
cellency had "given his confidence to, and was
acting under, the influence of secret and unsworn
advisers." "If," they said, "all the odium which
has been poured upon the old executive council
had been charged, as His Excellency proposes,
upon the lieutenant-governors, their residence [in
the province] would not have been very tolerable,
and their authority would have become weakened
or destroyed." The authority of Governor Simcoe,
whose appointment followed close after the passing
of the Constitutional Act of 1791, was adduced
to show that "the very image and transcript" of
the British constitution had been given to Can-
ada. The governor was charged with having "assum-
ed the government with most unhappy prejudices
against the country," and with acting " with the
temerity of a stranger and the assurance of an old
inhabitant." Much warmth of feeling was shown
296

REFUSAL OF SUPPLIES

throughout the entire report, and the committee
gave it as their opinion that the House had no
alternative left " but to abandon their privileges
and honour, and to betray their duties and the
rights of the people, or to withhold the supplies."1
" All we have done," it was added, " will otherwise
be deemed idle bravado, contemptible in itself, and
disgraceful to the House."

The House adopted the report of the committee
on a vote of thirty-two against twenty-one ; and
thus committed itself to the extreme measure of a
refusal of the supplies. To the resolution adopting
the report, a declaration was added that a respon-
sible government was constitutionally established
in the province.

In the debate on the question of adopting the
report, the Tories took the ground that responsible
government meant separation from England. "The
moment," said Mr. McLean, "we establish the
doctrine in practice, we are free from the mother
country." Assuming that the imperial government
would take this view of the matter, Solicitor-

1 The object of the assembly in stopping, or rather restricting, the
supplies, was to embarrass the government. They did not go to the
extent of refusing all money votes, but granted different sums for roads,
war losses, the post-office, schools, and the improvement of navigation.
Twelve of these bills Sir Francis reserved, in the hope that he would
be enabled to embarrass the machinery of the legislature if they were
vetoed in England. But, much to his disgust, they were assented to by
his sovereign. When he received the despatch containing the assent to
these bills, he at first thought of suppressing it, but on sober second
thought he transmitted it to the legislature.

297

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

General Hagerman covertly threatened the majority
of the House with the vengeance of " more than
one hundred and fifty thousand men, loyal and true."
The temper of both parties was violent, for already
were generating those turbulent passions of which
civil war was to be the final expression.

Sir Francis, having received an address adopted
at a public meeting of the citizens of Toronto,
assured the members of the deputation who pre-
sented it, that he should feel it his duty to reply
with as much attention as if it had proceeded
from either branch of the legislature ; but that he
should express himself "in plainer and more homely
language." This was regarded as a slight to the
inferior capacity of the "many-headed monster,"
and was resented with a bitterness which twenty
years were too short to eradicate.

The deputation left the viceregal residence in-
spired by a common feeling of indignation at
what they conceived to be intentional slights put
upon them. It was soon resolved to repay the
official insolence with a rejoinder. Dr. Rolph and
Mr. O'Grady prepared the document. "We thank
your Excellency," said the opening sentence, "for
replying to our address, 'principally from the
industrial classes of the city,' with as much atten-
tion as if it had proceeded from either branch
of the legislature ; and we are duly sensible, in
receiving your Excellency's reply, of your great
condescension in endeavouring to express yourself
298

MURMURS OF INSURRECTION

in plainer and more homely language, presumed
by your Excellency to be thereby brought down
to the lower level of our plainer and more homely
understandings." They then pretended to explain
the deplorable neglect of their education by the
maladministration of former governments. "It is,"
they added, "because we have been thus mal-
treated, 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." The change they desired to bring about
was " cheap, honest, and responsible government."
After referring to the cases of Gourlay, Collins,
Randal, Justice Willis and Captain Matthews, they
proceeded : "And even your Excellency has dis-
closed a secret despatch to the minister in Downing
Street (the very alleged tribunal of justice), con-
taining most libellous matter against William
Lyon Mackenzie, Esq., M.P.P., a gentleman
known chiefly for his untiring services for his
adopted and grateful country. We will not wait,"
they plainly told the governor, "for the immolation
of any other of our public men, sacrificed to a
nominal responsibility which we blush we have
so long endured to the ruin of so many of His
Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects." After an
elaborate argument to prove the necessity of a
responsible administration, the rejoinder concluded
by what Mackenzie, in a manuscript note he has

299

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

left, calls "the first low murmur of insurrection."
" If your Excellency," the menace ran, " will not
govern us upon these principles, you will exercise
arbitrary sway, you will violate our charter,
virtually abrogate our law, and justly forfeit our
submission to your authority."

It was arranged that Lesslie and Ketchum should
drive to Government House, deliver the document,
and retire before there was time for any questions
to be asked. They did so, simply saying they came
from the deputation of citizens. Sir Francis did
not even know who were the bearers of the un-
welcome missile. He sent it, in a passion, to
George Ridout, on the supposition that he had
been concerned in the delivery. Ridout sent it
back. It was in type before being despatched,
and, scarcely had it reached the governor, when
a printed copy of it was in the hands of every
member of the House.

On March 14th, four new executive councillors
were appointed, namely, Robert Baldwin Sullivan,
William Allan, Augustus Baldwin, and John
Elmsley. The last had resigned his seat in the
executive council some years before, on the ground
that he could not continue to hold it and act
independently as a legislative councillor, though
the principle of dependence had never before
been pushed to the same extent as now. Three
days after these appointments were announced, the
House declared its " entire want of confidence " in
300

VOTE OF NON-CONFIDENCE

the men whom Sir Francis had called to his coun-
cil. The vote was thirty-two against eighteen. An
address to the governor embodying this declaration
of non-confidence, and expressing regret that His
Excellency should have caused the previous council
to tender their resignation while he declared his
continued esteem for their talents and integrity,
was subsequently passed on a division of thirty-
two against nineteen.

The popular party had unintentionally given an
incidental sanction to the assumptions of the gover-
nor, founded on the despatch of Lord Goderich on
the dismissal of the Crown officers in 1833. Their
removal was the result of their opposition in the
legislature to the expressed wishes of the imperial
government. In procuring the annulment of the
bank charters, Mackenzie was not sustained by the
party with whom he acted, and by whom the dis-
missal of the Crown officers was gratefully accepted.
It was the misfortune of Sir Francis to be required
to carry out the principle of complete subordination
of all the officers of the local government to the
Downing Street authorities, at a time when the
disposition of the colonists to repudiate that system,
and to insist on the responsibility of the executive
council to the assembly, had become irresistible.
But he showed the greatest reluctance to deviate
from this course after he received a confidential
despatch from Lord Glenelg, dated September
30th, 1836, laying it down as a principle that,

801

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

in the British American provinces, the executive
councils should be composed of individuals possess-
ing the confidence of the people. Every Canadian
who had advocated this principle had been set
down by Sir Francis as a republican and a traitor,
and the principle itself he had denounced as un-
constitutional. Sir Francis conceived his mission
to be to fight and conquer what he called the
" low-bred antagonist democracy." He thought the
battle was to be won by steadily opposing "the
fatal policy of concession," keeping the Tories in
office, and putting down the party which he in-
differently designated Reformers, Radicals, and
Republicans. He thought himself entitled to
claim credit for having, by his reply to "the
industrial classes of Toronto," caused a scene of
violence at a public meeting, at which, he relates
to Lord Glenelg with much satisfaction, "Mr.
Mackenzie totally failed in gaining attention,"
and Dr. Morrison, who was then mayor of
Toronto, "was collared and severely shaken."
" The whole affair," he adds, " was so completely
stifled by the indignation of the people, that the
meeting was dissolved without the passing of a
single resolution."

The governor, who had completely thrown him-
self into the hands of the Family Compact, had
other schemes for influencing the constituencies in
favour of one party and against another; for he
was not long in resolving to dissolve a House that
302

HOSTILE ASSEMBLY DISSOLVED

voted only such supplies as would subserve the
purposes of the majority, while it withheld others
of which the want tended to embarrass the ma-
chinery of the government. This dissolution of the
assembly, which took place on May 28th, 1836,
was in effect a declaration of war.

Amongst the bills passed by the legislature were
twelve money bills, which were reserved by His
Excellency. The avowed object of reserving the
bills was to deprive the majority of the House of
what might be so distributed as to conduce to their
re-election. On motion of Mr. Perry, the House
had adopted the vicious principle of making the
members of the legislature a committee for expend-
ing the £50,000 road money granted ; and there
was some point in the observation of Sir Francis
that this member's name appeared too often in con-
nection with such expenditures. But, although the
reservation of these money bills did not lead to
their being vetoed, the effect on the constituencies
was the same. The elections were over before it was
known that the royal assent had been given in
opposition to the recommendation of the governor,
who took care to make it understood that on this
question he had the concurrence of his council.

Before the elections were announced, steps were
taken, of which Sir Francis appears to have been
cognizant, for procuring petitions in favour of a
dissolution of the House. Perhaps they were sug-
gested by himself or his council. Certain it is that

303

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

he had timely warning of petitions in process of
being signed, some time before they were pre-
sented. The Tory press divided the country into
two parties, one of whom was represented to be
in favour of maintaining the supremacy of the
British Crown in the province, and the other as
being composed of traitors and republicans. This
representation was transferred from partisan news-
papers to official despatches and replies to admiring
addresses. Timid persons were awed into inactivity,
not thinking it prudent to appear at the polls,
where their presence would have caused them to
be branded as revolutionists. The Tories subscribed
largely for election purposes ; votes were manu-
factured and violence resorted to.

By such means was Sir Francis afterwards enabl-
ed to boast of the perilous success he had achieved.
Having dissolved the assembly because it proved
unbending, he determined that he would personally
see to it that the new House was one willing
to submit to his dictation. It is not often that a
governor has so mixed himself up in election con-
tests. He had in fact done everything upon his own
responsibility, having never consulted the imperial
government, to whose directions he professed to
feel it his duty to pay implicit obedience. He had
written to Lord Glenelg informing him that it was
his intention to dissolve the House, and instructing
him — as if he were the superior — to send him no
orders on the subject. Nor was this the only occa-
304

BOND HEADS VAGARIES

sion on which he undertook to transmit his orders
to Downing Street. When, in the spring of 1836,
Robert Baldwin, one of his late councillors, started
for England, he described him to Lord Glenelg as
an agent of the revolutionary party, and expressed a
wish that he might not be received at the colonial
office, adding a suggestion that, if he should make
any application, he should be effectually snubbed
in a letter in reply, which should be transmitted
to Canada for publication. He also denounced to
the colonial minister the project of surrendering
to the control of the Canadian legislature the
casual and territorial revenues ; being desirous of
keeping the executive, as far as possible, finan-
cially independent of the popular branch of the
legislature. He quarrelled with the commission
of inquiry, which had been sent to Canada head-
ed by Lord Gosford, for recommending that the
executive council should be made accountable to
public opinion, and assured the imperial govern-
ment that the project was pregnant with every
species of danger. When he received a confidential
despatch from Lord Glenelg, acquainting him that
this course had been determined on, he became
half frantic ; and on the publication of a despatch
from Sir Archibald Campbell, lieutenant-governor
of New Brunswick, directing him to increase the
number of his councillors, and to select them from
persons possessing the confidence of the people, he
vented his disappointment by declaring that " the

305

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

triumph which the loyal inhabitants of our North
American colonies had gained over the demands
of the Republicans was not only proved to be
temporary, but was completely destroyed." He
carried his indiscretion to an inconceivable extent.
The province, he openly declared, was threat-
ened with invasion from a foreign enemy; and
he proceeded to throw out a defiant challenge to
this imaginary foe. " In the name of every regiment
of militia in Upper Canada," he said, " I publicly
promulgate, let them come if they dare." This
piece of audacious folly made him the subject of a
remarkable practical joke. A deputation, headed by
Hincks, waited on him to inquire from what point
the attack was expected, the inference being that
they desired to know in order that they might
be prepared to repel the invaders.

The fate of British dominion in America, he
assured the colonial minister, depended upon his
advice being taken, and his acts sustained. Several
times it was necessary to curb him; and once he
made an inferential, rather than a direct, tender of
his resignation. He dismissed George Ridout from
the offices of colonel of the militia, judge of the
District Court of Niagara and justice of the peace,
on the pretence that he was an active member of
the Alliance Society, which had issued an address,
on the subject of the resignation of the late execu-
tive council, containing words personally offensive
to the governor ; and when this charge was dis-
306

A PROMOTER OF REBELLION

proved to the satisfaction of Lord Glenelg, he
refused to obey the order of the colonial minister
to restore Ridout to office. He also refused to obey
the instructions of the colonial secretary to appoint
Marshall Spring Bid well to a judgeship in the Court
of Queen's Bench ; and, when he had done his best
to drive men into rebellion, he claimed credit for
his foresight in having pointed out their traitorous
intentions.

"After all," says Mr. Rattray, "the burden of
reponsibility for that futile outbreak must rest
upon the shoulders of the lieutenant-governor.
'He sowed the wind by exciting the passions of
the masses, and reaped the whirlwind in the petty
rebellion of which he must forever stand convicted
as the chief promoter. Had he taken time to
acquire a just knowledge of the condition of the
country — had he acted with calm and impartial
wisdom, presuming that knowledge to have been
acquired, Upper Canada would not have known
the stigma of even partial rebellion/1 His extra-
vagant language, his arbitrary acts, his undisguised
interference with the freedom of election, his sub-
lime self-confidence, taken together, stamp him
as at once the rashest, most violent, and yet the
feeblest and most incompetent representative the
Crown ever had in British North America."2

1 McMullen, History, p. 439.

a The Scot in British North America, Vol. ii, pp. 473, 474.

307

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Mackenzie, Bidwell and Perry were among the
members of the popular party who failed to secure
a re-election. It was the first election at which the
county of York had been divided into ridings.
Mackenzie stood for the second riding, having
for his opponent, Edward Thompson, a man with-
out decision enough to make him a very decided
partisan. He passed for a modified Reformer at
the election, which was a great advantage to
him, and acted with the Family Compact when
he got into the House. As he had not energy
enough to be bitter, many timid voters, alarmed
by the cries of revolution raised by the governor
and the Family Compact, thought that if they
voted at all, it would be safest, if not best, to vote
for him. He obtained four hundred and eighty-nine
votes ; Mackenzie, three hundred and eighty-nine.
Just before the election there had been a sale of
lots, by the government, at the mouth of the River
Credit. They were mostly divided into quarter
acres, and were sold for thirty-two dollars each.
Some of the patents were issued during the elec-
tion, others only a few days before. But this did
not turn the scale of the election ; for, in the list
of voters, 1 find only four who voted for Thomp-
son on lots at Port Credit. About an equal num-
ber of votes, offered for Mackenzie, were turned
away on what appear to be frivolous grounds.
If such great pains had not been taken by Thomp-
son's friends to prevent a scrutiny, there might,
808

SUFFERS DEFEAT IN YORK

looking at the disparity in the number of votes
received by the two candidates, have been some
reason for concluding that Mackenzie was beaten
by a majority of legal votes. Nothing but a scrut-
iny could have settled the point in dispute. There
was said to have been a suspiciously large increase
in the number of voters. The unscrupulous influ-
ence of the government in the election, attested
by Lord Durham's Report, is beyond question.1

It was said that Mackenzie was opposed by
bank as well as government influence ; and this
seems not improbable, since he had procured the
disallowance of two bank charter bills when he
was in England. Complaints of bribery were also
made ; and if they were well founded, it is reason-
able to suppose that the money formed part of
the official election fund subscribed in Toronto.
After the desperate policy resorted to for the
purpose of ejecting Mackenzie from a previous
legislature, it is not to be supposed that any effort
would be spared to prevent his return. There can

1 "The circumstances under which they [the members of the House]
were elected, were such as to render them peculiarly objects of sus-
picion and reproach to a large number of their countrymen. They are
accused of having violated their pledges at the election. In a number
of instances, too, the elections were carried by the unscrupulous ex-
ercise of the influence of the government, and by a display of violence
on the part of the Tories, who were emboldened by the countenance
afforded to them by the government ; such facts and such impres-
sions produced in the country an exasperation and a despair of good
government, which extended far beyond those who had actually been
defeated at the poll." — Earl Durham's Report on the Affairs of British
North America, June, 1839.

309

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

be no doubt that the improper use of official
influence was the main cause of the election result-
ing as it did. Sir Francis himself rode out to the
polling place during the election. Mackenzie's mor-
tification at a result which he believed to have been
brought about by improper means, was extreme.

About the time of the commencement of the
first legislative session, which took place on
November 8th, 1836, Mackenzie was taken dan-
gerously ill of inflammatory fever, followed by
inflammation of the lungs and pleura, brought on
by his taking cold. On November 23rd, he was
pronounced convalescent ; but his ultimate recovery
was slow.

Petitions against the return of any member
whose seat it was intended to contest, were
required to be presented within fourteen days of
the commencement of the session. On December
13th — one month and five days after the session
had opened — Dr. Morrison, on producing medi-
cal certificates of Mackenzie's illness, obtained an
extension of the time for presenting a petition
against Thompson's return. Seven days were allow-
ed. The regulation set aside was not one of law,
but was simply a rule of the House. When the
allegations in the petition had become known to
the House, the majority evinced extreme anxiety
to avoid inquiry. Mackenzie, continuing to collect
evidence and to increase his list of witnesses, re-
frained from completing his recognizances, as se-
810

ELECTION PETITION KILLED

curity for costs, till nearly the expiration of the
time required, namely, fourteen days after the pre-
sentation of the petition. New facts continued to
come in ; and, before handing in his list of witnesses,
he wished to make it as complete as possible. But,
by an entirely new construction of the law, he was
held to have exceeded the time. Dr. Rolph showed
the untenableness of the position which a partisan
majority was ready to assume ; but without avail.
The petition was introduced on December 20th.
It then, as required by law, lay on the table two
days before being read ; which last act, it was
contended, completed the series which made up
the presentation. The House had always acted
on this construction ; and it could not have one
rule for itself and another for petitioners. The
petition must therefore be considered as having
been presented on the twenty-second ; and the
fourteen days for completing the recognizances
would not end till January 5th. The order had
been discharged on the fourth, which was an illegal
abridgment of the time. The Speaker was requir-
ed, on the twenty-second, to give notice to the
petitioner of the day fixed for taking the petition
into consideration ; but he failed to give it till the
thirtieth, and for his default, the House, not the
petitioner, was responsible. This argument was
conclusive ; but the vote to discharge the order
carried.

It may seem strange that the presentation of a

811

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

petition should include its reading, fixed by law
at two days after its introduction ; but the House
must be judged by its practice, and this was stated
to have been uniformly different, on all previous
occasions, from the course now taken. Jonas
Jones, by whom the Act relating to contested
elections was brought in, did Mackenzie full jus-
tice on this occasion. " He considered that Mr.
Mackenzie had a right to count fourteen days
from the time his memorial was read, and that he
had neglected no requirement of the law ; " and,
on this ground, Jones voted against an amendment
declaring that the order relating to the petition
had been legally discharged, and that therefore
it ought not to be restored. Ogle R. Go wan,
another political opponent of the petitioner, showed
that, in the previous parliament, he had been
placed in precisely the same position as Mackenzie
with respect to time ; and that not a single member
of the House, a large majority of whom were
opposed to him in politics, raised an objection.
One thing is very clear, the government party was
seriously anxious to avoid an inquiry. If they
had nothing to fear from a scrutiny, it is difficult
to conceive what motive they could have had for
departing from the uniform practice in order to
prevent an investigation.

Mackenzie had the authority of the senior clerk
of the House for believing his was the uniform prac-
tice, and on December 22nd, the day on which it
812

/

REASONS FOR AN INQUIRY

was contended the presentation of the petition was
completed, MacNab obtained fourteen days for the
sitting member to prepare his list of witnesses — an
implied confession that the fourteen days, after which
the petition would be acted upon, commenced on
that day. An amendment was added to this motion-
giving Mackenzie the same time to prepare the list
of his witnesses, and yet the majority afterwards re-
fused to give the time they had thus agreed upon
for completing his recognizances.

There was the more reason for the inquiry, be-
cause the allegations in the petition included even
the head of the government in charges of undue in-
terference by making inflammatory replies to ad-
dresses, with a view to influencing the election ;* by
the issuing of land patents to persons known to be
hostile to the petitioner, without exacting a com-

1 A few of the replies given by Sir Francis to addresses, and pub-
lished with a view to influencing the elections generally, illustrate his
attitude. In his reply to the electors of Toronto he said : —

"Gentlemen : — No one can be more sensible than I am, that the
stoppage of the supplies has caused a general stagnation of business
which will probably end in the ruin of many of the inhabitants of
this city ; and in proportion as the metropolis of the province is im-
poverished, the farmers' market must be lowered ; for how can he
possibly receive money, when those who should consume his produce
are seen flying in all directions from a land from which industry has
been publicly repelled ? "

Denouncing the Reformers as agitators, he said : —

" My plans and projects are all contained and published in the in-
structions which I received from the king. They desire me to correct,
without partiality, the grievances of this country ; and it is because
the agitators see I am determined to do so, that they are endeavour-

818

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

pliance with the conditions of purchase ; besides
gross partiality on the part of the returning officer
and bribery on the part of the sitting member. It
would have been far better that these grave charges
had been subjected to the test of a rigid scrutiny;
because, if they were not well-founded, their refu-
tation could most easily and most effectually have
been made in this way.

The decision of the House can scarcely excite
surprise ; for in a case of that peculiar nature, where
either side of the case could be sustained by plausible
arguments, a partisan majority, so violently opposed
as it was to the petitioner, was not likely to be
very scrupulous in its decision. Rightly or wrongly
the petitioner was firmly convinced that he had been

ing to obstruct me by every artifice in their power. They declare me to
be their enemy, and the truth is, I really am."

But his address to the electors of Newcastle district transcends,
if possible, the rest : —

"As your district," he said, "has now the important duty to
perform of electing representatives for a new parliament, I think it
may practically assist, if I clearly lay before you what is the con-
duct I intend inflexibly to pursue, in order that by the choice of
your new members, you may resolve either to support me or oppose
me, as you may think proper. I consider that my character and your
interests are embarked in one and the same boat. If by my adminis-
tration I increase your wealth, I shall claim for myself credit, which
it will be totally out of your power to withhold from me ; if I dim-
inish your wealth, I feel it would be hopeless for any one to shield
me from blame.

"As we have, therefore, one common object in view, the plain
question for us to consider is, which of us has the greatest power to do
good to Upper Canada ? Or, in other words, can you do as much good
for yourselves as I can for you ? It is my opinion that you cannot ! It is

814

HEAD PLACED ON HIS DEFENCE

defrauded of his seat, and unfairly and illegally de-
nied the liberty of proving how it had been done,
and of recovering what had been unwarrantably
taken from him. He had a keen sense of personal
injury, and when wrong done to him was also done
to the public, he was slow to forget, and not too
ready to forgive.

Dr. Duncombe, a member of the Reform party
in Upper Canada, who had held a seat in the legis-
lative assembly, brought to the notice of the col-
onial secretary, Lord Glenelg, the complaints made
against the lieutenant-governor in connection with
this election, as well as against his general policy,
and Sir Francis was required to put in his defence.
The report, as everybody had foreseen, was a

my opinion that if you choose to dispute with me, and live on had
terms with the mother country, you will, to use a homely phrase, only
'quarrel with your own oread and butter.' If you like to try the ex-
periment by electing members who will again stop the supplies, do so,
for I can have no objection whatever ; on the other hand, if you choose
fearlessly to embark your interests with my character, depend upon
it I will take paternal care of them both.

" If I am allowed I will, by reason and mild conduct, begin first
of all by tranquillizing the country, and as soon as that object shall be
gained, I will use all my influence with His Majesty's government to
make such alterations in the land-granting department as shall attract
into Upper Canada the redundant wealth and population of the mother
country. Men, women, and money are what you want, and if you
will send to parliament members of moderate politics, who will cor-
dially and devoid of self-interest assist me, depend upon it you will
gain more than you possibly can do by hopelessly trying to insult
me ; for let your conduct be what it may, I am quite determined,
so long as I may occupy the station I now do, neither to give offence,
nor to take it."

315

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

verdict of acquittal, and a special verdict, it must
be remarked, since it declared that the country
owed the viceregal defendant a debt of gratitude
for his patriotism and other inestimable qualities.
But the public was not thereby convinced, and the
discontents were not allayed.

A considerable portion of Dr. Dun combe's letter,
containing the charge against the lieutenant-gov-
ernor on which the committee had pronounced,
related to the election for the second riding of
York in which a committee had been illegally re-
fused to Mackenzie. Nor was he allowed to pro-
duce before the committee, that pretended to in-
quire into these charges, the evidence which he
was prepared to produce in support of them.

The case of Mackenzie, though perhaps not
exactly like any other, cannot be regarded as hav-
ing stood alone. The improper means taken by the
executive to influence the elections did not affect
him alone. Sir Francis openly proclaimed himself
the enemy of the Reformers ; and he brought all
the weight of his position to bear against them
as a party.1

1 " On the 15th of February, 1837," Mackenzie related, " Samuel
Lount, the late upright and patriotic member for Simcoe, called at my
house accompanied by Thrift Meldrum, merchant and innkeeper in
Barrie, and I mentioned to them that I was collecting evidence for
a pamphlet to expose the government, as the executive influence had
cneated me out of my right to do so through an election contest for the
second riding. Lount took out his pocket memorandum book, and
stated that Meldrum had been requested to open his tavern for Robin-
son and Wickens, at the time of the late election, and that he did

016

INJUSTICE AND CALUMNY

The sense of injustice engendered by these
means rankled in men's minds, and tended to
beget a fatal resolution to seek redress by a resort
to physical force. This resolution, which did not
assume a positive shape for sometime afterwards,
was a capital error, and one which some were to
expiate with their lives, others with sufferings and
privations and contumely scarcely preferable to
death.

It was not sufficient for Sir Francis and his
friends to pursue with injustice one of the two par-
ties into which the country was divided ; they were
not less ready to assail them with personal calumny.
The Tory press asked : " Who is William Lyon Mac-
kenzie?" And then proceeded to give its own answer.
With the Celtic blood boiling in his veins at the
personal insults offered, Mackenzie replied in terms

so; that since the election he (Meldrum) had informed him (Lount),
that on one occasion he (Meldrum, accompanied Wellesley Ritchie,
the government agent, from Toronto to the Upper Settlement; that
Ritchie called him (Meldrum) to one side at Crew's tavern, where
the stage stopped, and told him that Sir Francis had employed him
(Ritchie) to give the deeds to the settlers in Simcoe, and that he
(Ritchie) wanted him (Meldrum) to assist him in turning Lount
out. Meldrum agreed to do his best, opened his house, and says
that Wickens paid him faithfully for his liquor, etc. When Lount
had read the above from his memorandum, I asked Meldrum if
he could swear to these facts. He said he could, for they were
perfectly correct. I then asked Lount, who gave me a number of
important facts, why he did not contest the election, and he told me
it would have been throwing £100 away, and losing time, for that no
one, who knew who the members were, could for a moment expect
justice from them."

317

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

that cannot be characterized as either temperate
or discreet.1 The fiery words which he used under
the excitement can hardly be held to express more
than the exasperation of the moment ; and if they
did not fall harmless, it was because the govern-
ment of Sir Francis had inclined, the people to
listen to desperate counsels.

In the session of 1836-7, which closed on March
4th, Sir Francis's " bread and butter " assembly was
very far from realizing his election promises of re-
form. But it is not probable that any section of the
public was disappointed, for they were not promises
that any one expected to see fulfilled. The fear
of a legal and inevitable dissolution, which seemed
to be impending, weighed heavily upon parliament.
King William IV would probably not live four
years; and, on the demise of the sovereign, the

1 "Small cause, indeed," he said, "have Highlanders and the
descendants of Highlanders to feel a friendship for the Guelphic
family. If the Stuarts had their faults, they never enforced loyalty in
the glens and valleys of the north by banishing and extirpating
the people ; it was reserved for the Brunswickers to give, as a sequel to
the massacre of Glencoe, the cruel order for depopulation. I am proud
of my descent from a rebel race who held borrowed chieftains, a scrip
nobility, rag money, and national debt in abomination. And, not-
withstanding the doctor's late operations with the lancet, this rebel
blood of mine will always be uppermost. Words cannot express my
contempt at witnessing the servile, crouching attitude of the country
of my choice. 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."

318

THE PRELUDES OF REVOLUTION

assembly would legally cease to exist. Sir Francis
was not likely to fare so well in a second election
as he had in the first. A bill was therefore passed,
which enacted that a dissolution of the House
should not necessarily follow a demise of the
Crown. The money bills, passed this session, showed
an extraordinary degree of recklessness, on the part
of the House, in incurring debt. The entire amount
voted must have been about five millions of dollars,
at that time a very large sum compared to the
amount of revenue. The establishment of fifty-
seven rectories by Sir John Colborne, before he left
the government, which had given great offence to
a large majority of the population, received the
approval of the assembly.

The session closed in one of those hurricanes of
passion which often precedes a violent revolutionary
movement. The question of a union of Upper and
Lower Canada had been before the House during
the session, and resolutions had been passed con-
demning the project. At twelve o'clock on the
last day of the session — the prorogation was to take
place at three — the concurrence of the House was
asked in an address to the Crown founded on the
resolutions. Dr. Rolph moved an amendment, the
object of which was to prevent a decision on the
question in the absence of many members who
had already gone home. Having been stopped by
the Speaker he later obtained the right to enter
on a wider range of discussion, and went on amid

319

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

much confusion, but when he was uttering the
words, "The evil of our inland situation is admitt-
ed; what is the remedy ?" — the Speaker announced,
" The time has arrived — half-past one — to wait on
the lieutenant-governor with some joint address."
And the scene was abruptly brought to a close.

Thus ended the last regular session of the Upper
Canada legislature preceding the outbreak of 1837,
though an extraordinary session was to intervene.
Several such scenes had occurred during the first
session of the ''bread and butter" parliament.1

In the spring of this year (1837) Mackenzie went
to New York, arriving there about the end of
March. At the trade sales, then going on, he
purchased several thousand volumes of books, and
made large additions to his printing establishment.
About two years before, he had added a large book-
store to his other business, and his present pur-
chases furnished decisive proof that, at this time,
the idea of risking everything upon an armed
insurrection had not entered into his calculations.

On July 4th, he published the first number
of the Constitution newspaper, the last issue of
which appeared on November 29th, 1837. The
first and fourth pages of the number for De-

1 The Montreal Gazette, a Tory paper, was greatly scandalized at
the " scenes of an unseemly character that have lately been enacted
in the Commons House of Assembly of our sister province of Upper
Canada. We particularly allude," it said, "to the disorderly, and,
we must add, disgraceful manner in which important questions were
discussed during the late session."

320

REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS

cember 6th were printed, when it was brought
to a violent close by the breaking out of the in-
surrection. The forms of type were broken up by
the Loyalist mob. When he brought the Colonial
Advocate to a close, he was anxious to bid adieu to
the harassing cares of Canadian journalism forever ;
but his political friends had, by their urgent
entreaties, succeeded in inducing him to re-enter a
field to which he had previously bid a final fare-
well. The Constitution became the organ of
increasing discontent, and might easily be mis-
taken for the promoter of it. But, as always
happens, the press reflected public opinion with
more or less accuracy, and already the Liberal
portion of it had begun to speak in no muffled
or ambiguous accents. The country was in fact
entering upon the period of revolutionary ideas,
expressed in speeches and rhymes, and in news-
papers and more solemn documents. Sir Francis
may be said to have produced the first specimens
in inflammatory replies to addresses. What nearly
always happens, on such occasions, happened on
this. People found themselves committed to re-
volutionary ideas without the least suspicion of
the extent to which they had gone, much less of
what was to follow. The new House met for the
first time on November 8th, 1836. Dr. Duncombe's
letter to Lord Glenelg, charging the head of the
provincial government with crimes which deserved
impeachment, was referred to a committee of the

321

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

House of Assembly which sat on November 25th.
Every one knew in advance what the decision
would be ; but the proceeding was in the nature of
an impeachment of Sir Francis. For, if he were
found guilty, what was to be done ? A colonial
governor who misconducts himself can only be
tried in England ; and unless there was a foregone
determination to exculpate him from the charges
made against him, there could be no object in
referring them to a committee. Dr. Rolph, assum-
ing a serio-comic air, ridiculed the proceeding in
a speech that will ever be memorable in Canadian
history.

322

CHAPTER XI

PRECURSORS OF CIVIL WAR

THE crisis was now rapidly approaching. It
was to come first in Lower Canada, with
which the fortunes of the western province were
to become involved. Lord Gosford, Sir Charles
Grey and Sir George Gipps, the royal com-
missioners appointed to inquire into the grievances
complained of in Lower Canada, had reported ;
and, about the middle of April, their reports — five
in number — were made public. The surrender of
the casual and territorial revenue to the assembly,
whose claim to control it had led to repeated and
angry disputes, was recommended on condition that
the arrearages of salaries, amounting to £31,000,
should be paid, and a civil list, amounting to about
£20,000, should be granted during the life of the
king. The legislative council, it was recommended,
should be erected into a court of impeachment for
offending public servants. The demands for an
elective legislative council and a responsible
executive were reported against. The decision of
the commissioners on the subject of the legislative
council was in accordance with instructions they
had received. In a despatch dated July 17th,
1835, Lord Glenelg informed the commissioners

323

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

that all discussion of one of the vital principles
of the provincial government — a Crown-nominated
legislative council was alluded to — was precluded
by the strong predilections of the king, the solemn
pledges repeatedly given for the maintenance of
the existing system, and the prepossessions derived
from constitutional analogy and usage. The decision
thus communicated by way of instructions to the
commissioners was merely echoed by them. It
affected Upper equally with Lower Canada ; for
Lord Glenelg, in his instructions to Sir Francis
Bond Head, had stated as his reason for not
answering the part of the grievance report which
referred to the constitution of the legislative
council, that the instructions to the commissioners
contained views on this point which had received
the deliberate sanction of the king.

The imperial government went beyond the re-
commendation of the commissioners. Lord John
Russell, on March 8th, obtained the assent of the
House of Commons to resolutions which, among
other things, authorized the seizing of the funds in
the hands of the receiver-general of Lower Canada,
and applying them to purposes for which the
assembly would only grant them on condition that
certain reforms should be effected. On October 3rd,
1836, the House had come to the resolution to
adjourn their proceedings till His Majesty's govern-
ment should have commenced " the great work of
justice and reform, especially by bringing the legis-
324

LORD RUSSELL'S CONTENTION

lative assembly into harmony with the wishes and
wants of the people." Lord John Russell contended
that the demand for an executive council, similar to
the cabinet which existed in Great Britain, set up a
claim for what was incompatible with the relations
which ought to exist between the colony and the
mother country. "These relations," he said, re-
peating the stereotyped official idea of those times,
" required that His Majesty should be represented
in the colony not by ministers, but by a governor
sent out by the king, and responsible to the parlia-
ment of Great Britain." A colonial ministry, he con-
tended, would impose on England all the incon-
veniences and none of the advantages of colonies.
This simply meant that there was no hope from
England of responsible government for either pro-
vince.

As to the authority of the imperial legislature to
remedy a defect in the cessation of supply on the
part of a colonial assembly, he apprehended that
there could be no doubt. The same thing had been
done only the year before with respect to Jamaica ;
and that was precedent sufficient. When a similar
question was raised with regard to the legislature
of the colony of New York, Dr. Franklin had ad-
mitted that the power, now contended for, resided
in the imperial House of Commons. With two such
precedents, Lord John Russell deemed himself
justified in resorting to a measure of confiscation
which led to rebellion.

825

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Mr. Hume had a better appreciation of the
crisis. He looked upon the proceedings as involving
a question of civil war. If the Canadians did not
resist, they would deserve the slavish bonds which
the resolutions of Lord John Russell would prepare
for them ; and he hoped that, if justice were denied
to Canada, those who were oppressed would achieve
the same victory that had crowned the efforts of
the men who had established that American re-
public which had given a check to those monarchi-
cal principles which would otherwise have over-
whelmed the liberties of Europe.

How little the House of Commons was conscious
of the results that hung upon its decision, may
be gathered from the fact that, while Mr. Hume
was speaking, the House was counted to see if
there was a quorum. Not over one-tenth of the
members who usually attended the Lords came to
listen to or take part in the debate ; and except
Lord Brougham, who entered on the journals his
protest against such proceedings, not a single
member opposed the passage of the resolutions.

The resolutions were carried, and the result,
which Mr. Hume had predicted, followed. They
were received with a storm of indignation by the
French- Canadians. * The local officials and their

1 As these resolutions were the great factors in provoking civil
war, in both provinces, the one most affecting Upper Canada is here
given : " 5. That while it is expedient to improve the composition of the
executive council in Lower Canada, it is unadvisable to subject it to the
responsibility demanded by the House of Assembly of that province."

326

THE FEELING IN LOWER CANADA

friends were jubilant at the imaginary success which
had been achieved for them. The journals of the
opposition were defiant. The seizure of the revenue
was denounced as robbery. " Henceforth," said an
English organ of the opposition, "there must be
no peace in the province — no quarter for the
plunderers. Agitate ! agitate ! I agitate 1 ! 1 Destroy
the revenue ; denounce the oppressors. Everything
is lawful when the fundamental liberties are in
danger. 'The guards die — they never surrender/"
At public meetings the imperial resolutions were
denounced as a breach of faith and a violation of
right. The Toronto Alliance Society, on April
17th, expressed its sympathy with the Lower
Canadians, and condemned the coercion resolutions
of the imperial government.

Success is the only thing that is generally held
to justify insurrection against a government ; and
though it is impossible to lay down any general
rule as to the point at which submission to oppres-
sion ceases to be a virtue, it is generally admitted
that the initiation of rebellion can only be
excused by a reasonable prospect of success. If
the question of the Lower Canadian rebellion could
be decided upon the merits of the principle at
stake, we should be obliged to confess that what
the Canadians fought for was just as sacred as that
right of self-taxation for which Washington took
up arms, and in defence of which the thirteen
American colonies threw off the yoke of England.

327

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

On June 15th, Lord Gosford tried the effect of
a proclamation on the agitation which was con-
vulsing society. But the proclamation was torn to
pieces by the habitants amid cries of "A bas la
proclamation" Louis Joseph Papineau, the chief
agitator, a man of commanding eloquence who was
omnipotent with the French-Canadian population,
traversed the whole country from Montreal to
Rimouski, holding meetings everywhere and excit-
ing the people to the highest pitch of exasperation.
While he was on the south shore of the St.
Lawrence, LaFontaine and Girouard were perform-
ing a similar mission on the other bank of the
great river. Dr. Wolfred Nelson, too, bore his
share in the work of popular agitation, having
been a conspicuous figure at the first of the " anti-
coercion" meetings which was held at St. Ours,
in the county of Richelieu. Some of the meetings
were attended by men with firearms in their
hands.

In the beginning of July, Mackenzie discussed,
in his newspaper, the question, — " Will the Can-
adians declare their independence and shoulder
their muskets?" "Two or three thousand Canadians,
meeting within twenty-five miles of the fortress of
Quebec, in defiance of the proclamation, with
muskets on their shoulders and the Speaker of the
House of Commons at their head, to pass resolu-
tions declaratory of their abhorrence of British
colonial tyranny, and their determination to resist
328

INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION

and throw it off, is a sign not easily misunder-
stood." He then proceeded to the question: " Can
the Canadians conquer?" and gave several reasons
for answering it in the affirmative.

These opinions were deliberately written and
published by Mackenzie on July 5th, 1837. The
French- Canadians appealed to the other British
provinces of America for co-operation, and looked
to the United States for support. And this co-
operation the leading Reformers of Upper Canada
resolved to give.

On August 2nd, a "Declaration of the Re-
formers of Toronto to their Fellow Reformers
in Upper Canada," was published in the Consti-
tution. This document was virtually a declaration
of independence, and it was afterwards called the
" Declaration of the Independence of Upper Can-
ada;" but there is reason to doubt whether its
purport was fully understood even by all who
signed it. Setting out with the declaration that the
time for the assertion of popular rights and the
redress of the multiplied wrongs of half a century,
patiently borne, had arrived, it entered into a long
recital of grievances, and ended with a pledge to
make common cause with Lower Canada, and
a resolve to call a convention of delegates at
Toronto, "to take into consideration the political
condition of Upper Canada with authority to its
members to appoint commissioners, to meet others
to be named on behalf of Lower Canada and any

829

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

other colonies, armed with suitable powers as a
congress to seek an effectual remedy for the griev-
ances of the colonists."

This declaration has a public and a secret history.
The public history is, that at a meeting of Re-
formers held at John Doel's brewery, Toronto,
on July 28th, the troubles in Lower Canada were
taken into consideration. On motion of Mackenzie,
seconded by Dr. Morrison, a resolution was passed
tendering the thanks and expressing the admiration
of the Reformers of Upper Canada to Papineau
and his compatriots for their " devoted, honourable,
and patriotic opposition" to the coercive measures
of the imperial government. Other resolutions were
passed to make common cause with the Lower
Canadians, "whose successful coercion would doubt-
less, in time, be visited upon us, and the redress of
whose grievances would be the best guarantee for
the redress of our own;" and, among other things,
appointing a committee to draft and report to
an adjourned meeting a declaration of the objects
and principles which the Reformers aimed to carry
out.1

The secret history is this. The document was
a joint production in which O'Grady's and Dr.
Rolph's pens were engaged. The draft was taken
to a meeting at Elliott's Tavern on the corner of

1 The committee consisted of James Hervey Price, O'Bierne, John
Edward Tims, John Doel, John Mcintosh, James Armstrong, T. J.
O'Neill, and Mackenzie, with power to add to their number.

880

SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION

Yonge and Queen Streets, previous to its being
taken before the adjourned meeting at the brewery
for adoption. Dr. Morrison, on producing the draft
of the declaration, laid it down as a sound canon
that neither he nor any other member of the legisla-
ture ought to be called upon to sign it. To this rule
James Lesslie took exception. He said that a docu-
ment of grave import had been read to the meet-
ing. It had been written by men who gave the most
of their time to politics, and read to men who gave
most of their attention to trade and commerce. The
responsibility of signing such a document should
not be thrown upon those who had not prepared
it, and who knew least about its contents. The pro-
fessional politicians ought to set the example, and
then the others might follow. If the declaration
contained only an enumeration of facts, and if it
were a proper document to be signed, the members
of the legislature, such as Drs. Morrison and Rolph,
ought to set the example ; and if they did so, he
would follow. Dr. Morrison found it necessary to
append his name to the declaration, but as Dr.
Rolph was not there to pursue the same course,
Lesslie refused to sign, and he induced his brother
William to erase his signature. Next morning Dr.
Rolph sent for Lesslie to inquire what had been
done at the meeting, and the latter replied by
letter, repeating his objections to being put in the
front rank of a movement in which he ought to
be a follower. Dr. Morrison was not without rea-

831

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

sons for his hesitation and timidity, though it is too
much to expect that men will enter on a course
fraught with danger, if their advisers refuse to
accompany them.

At the meeting held at the brewery on July 31st,
at which the declaration was adopted, a permanent
vigilance committee was appointed. It consisted of
the members of the committee who had reported
the draft of the declaration ; and Mackenzie com-
plied with a request that he should become agent
and corresponding secretary. The plan of proceed-
ing was similar to that acted upon in Lower Canada,
where the public meetings were held under the di-
rection of a central committee ; and Mackenzie's
duties as agent were to attend meetings in different
parts of the country, taking, in Upper Canada, the
rdle played by Papineau in the sister province.

The machinery of agitation, of which the motive
power was in Toronto, was to have four several
centres of action outside the city. At the meeting
held in the brewery on July 28th, a plan, sub-
mitted by Mackenzie, " for uniting, organizing, and
registering the Reformers of Upper Canada as a
political union," was adopted. A network of societies
was to be spread over the country ; and care was to
be taken to have them composed of persons known
to one another.

When Sir Francis dissolved the assembly and
resorted to the most unconstitutional means of
influencing the elections of 1836, he carried despair
832

REVOLUTION THE SOLE REMEDY

into many a breast where hope had till then con-
tinued to abide. The coercion of Lower Canada
by the imperial government and legislature caused
all such persons, in the Canadas, to look to a
revolution as the only means of relief. Mackenzie
was among those who came to this conclusion. But
he only shared with a large class of the population
a sentiment which was the inevitable product of
the existing state of things, and which affected
masses of men, at the same moment, with a
common and irresistible impulse. The Toronto
declaration of July 31st was the first step on the
road to insurrection. It committed all who accepted
it to share the fortunes of Lower Canada. The
machinery of organization and agitation, which
was created at the same time, became the instru-
ment of revolt.

The public meetings which Mackenzie had un-
dertaken to attend now commenced. At the first
held at Newmarket, the agent of the Toronto
central committee spoke for an hour and a half.
A resolution was passed approving of the Toronto
declaration, and appointing delegates to the con-
vention to be held in that city. Their names were
Samuel Lount, afterwards executed for high trea-
son ; Nelson Gorham, who became involved in the
rebellion and was for a long time a political refugee
in the United States ; Silas Fletcher, who also be-
came a political refugee ; Jeremiah Graham, and
John Mcintosh, M.P.P., who, though a party to the

883

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

insurrection, was never arrested and scarcely
suspected. The principal complaint made in the
resolutions was that the constitution was "con-
tinually violated and trampled upon by the
executive, and countenanced by the colonial office
and the English parliament." To take these griev-
ances and the general state of the province into
consideration was to be the business of the con-
vention. It was also resolved to abstain, as far as
possible, from the consumption of duty-paying
articles ; and to unite with the Lower Canadians,
whose cause was declared to be the cause of Upper
Canada, "in every practicable measure for the
maintenance of civil and religious liberty." A
political association and a permanent vigilance
committee were formed.

Two days after, the second of the series of public
meetings took place at Lloydtown. Mackenzie,
Lloyd, Lount, and Gibson, all of whom afterwards
bore an active part in the rebellion, addressed the
meeting. Mackenzie became head of the proposed
provisional government; Gibson was comptroller,
and had, besides, a military position ; Lloyd was
the trusted messenger who carried to Papineau
intelligence from his supporters in Upper Canada.
No less than seventeen resolutions were passed.
A resort to physical force was declared not to be
contemplated. Approval of the Toronto declara-
tion was expressed, and delegates to the proposed
convention were appointed. They were, Dr. W.
834

OMINOUS RESOLUTIONS

W. Baldwin and Messrs. Jesse Lloyd, James Grey,
Mark Learmont, John Lawson and Gerard Irwin.
Separation from England was advocated on the
ground that the connection imposed upon the
province the evils of a State Church, an "unnatural
aristocracy, party privilege, public debt, and general
oppression." To avert much bloodshed on both sides,
and loss and dishonour by a war between people
of a common origin, the payment of a price for the
freedom of the province was suggested. If the
question of independence was tested by means of
the ballot, it was hinted that there could be no
doubt as to the result. Elective institutions, ex-
tending even to the judiciary, were declared indis-
pensable.

Mackenzie left Lloydtown accompanied by only
a couple of friends. About fifty young farmers
mounted their horses and escorted him to the
village of Boltontown. As soon as Mr. Coats had
been called to the chair, the Orangemen declared
their intention of putting down the meeting, and of
resorting to force if necessary to accomplish their
object. Finding they were not numerous enough
to prevent the adoption of the Toronto declaration,
they grew vociferous, rendering it impossible to
continue the proceedings. They gave Mackenzie's
escort five minutes to leave the place, threatening,
if their mandate were not complied with, to bring
out firearms, which they professed to have all
ready loaded in one of the houses. This threat was

335

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

neither regarded on the one side, nor carried into
effect on the other.

After the public meeting had been broken up,
part of the business it had on hand was transacted
in Mr. Boulton's house. Delegates to the conven-
tion were appointed and a vigilance committee
named. Some hours after, when several of those
who had formed Mackenzie's escort to the place
had gone, a collision between the two parties took
place. Twenty-six Mackenzie men, mounted, were
crossing the bridge over the Humber when one of
the opposite party seized the hindmost by the
thigh, as if with the intention of forcing him into
the river. Two others were attacked at the same
time. All the twenty-six dismounted instantly, and
fell upon their assailants with whatever was within
their reach. Blood flowed freely ; and some of the
assailing party, as they lay on the ground, were
made to confess that they had only got their
deserts.

The meetings followed one another in rapid
succession. The next was held in the township of
Caledon, two days after the one at Boltontown.
Some of the resolutions passed at this meeting
were drawn up with considerable skill, and one of
them undertook to define the case in which an
appeal to physical force would become a duty.1

1 A resolution moved by Mr. James Baird, and seconded by Mr.
Owen Garrity, read thus: "That it is the duty of the subjects of kings
and governors to keep the peace, and submit to the existing laws ;

336

WHEN FORCE IS JUSTIFIABLE

From Caledon to Chingacousy, the agent of the
Toronto central committee was escorted by about
twenty horsemen. Here a meeting was held in
front of the house of John Campbell, on the
morning of August 10th. Trouble had been
anticipated ; and Francis Campbell, brother of
John Campbell, on whose grounds the meeting
was held, went with the statutes under his arm
ready to read the Riot Act, if necessary ; and John
Scott, another magistrate, had gone there sur-
rounded by a number of Orangemen. Several of
these and some of Mackenzie's supporters had
firearms ; others carried heavy clubs. The two
parties were greatly exasperated against one
another, and the Orangemen made use of threaten-
ing language. To prevent a collision, Mackenzie's

that it is equally the duty of kings and rulers to administer the
government for the well-being and happiness of the community ;
and that when the existing laws and constitution of society become
notoriously oppressive in form or administration, it is then, and
at all times, the duty of free subjects, for the benefit, safety, and
happiness of all parties to call meetings, and ascertain, as far as can be
done, the general opinion and estimate of all the good and evil which
government dispenses, as it is also the duty of a just government
to protect its subjects in the peaceful exercise of such a precious
and obvious right. 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

337

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

party gave way. An adjournment took place to
John Campbell's house. What had become the
usual routine of these meetings was gone through,
and one of the resolutions mentioned independ-
ence as a state of existence that would have
some advantages over that which the province
then enjoyed.

On August 12th, Mackenzie was at John
Stewart's, in the Scotch Block, Esquesing. Here
at first his party were outnumbered, but after the
opposition had retired, resolutions were passed
declaring that the boasted remedial measures of
which the governor had, on his arrival, declared
himself the bearer, were a deception. " There is,"
wrote Mackenzie in reference to this meeting,
"discontent, vengeance, and rage in men's minds.
No one can have any idea of the public feel-
enemy. The history of England and of this continent is not wanting in
examples hy 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 revolution of 1688, on one continent, and of 1776,
on another, may serve to remind those rulers who are obstinately per-
sisting in withholding from their subjects adequate securities 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."

838

TWO HUNDRED HOSTILE MEETINGS

ing who has not taken the same means that I have
to ascertain it."

None of the speeches made by Mackenzie at
these meetings were reported, or have been pre-
served. But the effect of his prodigious power as
a speaker, over a popular audience, must have
been very great. The Tory organs, after a meeting
held at Churchville, openly threatened that if he
held any more meetings, he would be assassinated.
It was afterwards stated that a deliberate plot had
been entered into, by the hostile party who at-
tended this meeting, to take Mackenzie's life;
and that one who was a party to it had divulged
the secret to a person who, at the proper time,
would publicly reveal it.

From the Vaughan meeting he and David
Gibson were accompanied by a cavalcade of about
a hundred horsemen and some thirty carriages;
and it appears to have been understood that, in
future, the Orangemen, if they disturbed any more
meetings, should be met by their own weapons.

Between the beginning of August and the early
part of December, when the outbreak occurred, two
hundred meetings are said to have been held in
the country, at nearly all of which the Toronto
declaration was read and sanctioned. One hundred
and fifty vigilance committees, in connection with
the central committee at Toronto, were formed.
The nature of the movement could hardly have
been misunderstood by the most unreflecting spec-

339

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

tator ; but only some of the members of the branch
societies were actually trusted with the secret of
the intended revolt. Some of the active leaders
joined no association ; and although they appa-
rently kept aloof from the movement, they were
secretly among its most active promoters.

A commercial crisis aided the public discontent.
In May, the New York banks suspended specie
payments ; and those of Montreal followed. In
Toronto, the Bank of Upper Canada was looked
upon as the prop of the government ; and it was
probably as much for political as commercial reasons
that Mackenzie advised the farmers to go to the
counter of the bank and demand specie for their
notes. As a political weapon against the govern-
ment, an attempt to drain the banks of their specie
by creating a panic could have no sort of justifica-
tion, except in times of revolution. When Mac-
kenzie produced a run upon the Bank of Upper
Canada, a resort to armed insurrection was a con-
tingency to which many were looking with alter-
nate hope and fear : hope that it might be avoided,
fear that it would come.

If the Upper Canada banks had suspended specie
payments, their charters would have been liable to
forfeiture. Chiefly to prevent this result, Sir Francis
called an extraordinary session of the legislature on
June 19th. In the course of the session, which lasted
about a month, a bill of prospective indemnity for
pursuing such a course was passed. In the mean-
840

THREATS OF ASSASSINATION

time, the Commercial Bank at Kingston had sus-
pended ; and the Farmers' Bank in Toronto stopped
soon afterwards. The government loaned £100,000,
by the issue of debentures, to the Bank of Upper
Canada ; £30,000 to the Gore Bank ; and £40,000
to the Commercial Bank. But when the rebellion
came, the suspension of specie payment followed.

At the close of the session, Mackenzie, in his
journal, declaimed on the condition of public affairs
with scathing bitterness. The style is characteristic
of the man, when his soul was stirred to its inmost
depth. He continued to attend political meet-
ings in the country; and the exasperation of his
enemies continued to increase. In Westminster,
Middlesex, the friends of Mackenzie and the sup-
porters of Papineau turned out in such large
numbers that the opposite party shrank from the
attempt to carry out their scheme of attack.

Threats, secret and open, were now made by
the Tory party to assassinate Mackenzie. An
anonymous letter, bearing the Hamilton post-
mark, was sent to Charles Durand, barrister of
that place, informing him that Mackenzie would
be assassinated. It was signed " Brutus," as a
guarantee of its sincerity. The Tory press, more
bold than anonymous letter writers, was scarcely
less explicit. Through this channel, he was in-
formed that, " if he dared to show himself in the
London district with the evil design of poisoning
the happiness of the contented settlers by agitation

341

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

and strife, they would put it forever out of his
power to repeat his crime." And shortly after,
credible witnesses swore that the source of the
danger lay much higher than the exasperated men
who carried bludgeons to public meetings — men
who bore the titles of honourable, and were thought
to constitute excellent material out of which to
make executive councillors, being charged with
plotting for Mackenzie's destruction.

Scarcely had the news of the coercion measure
of Lord John Russell reached Canada, when the
threatening utterances to which reference has been
made commenced. The confessions of English
statesmen, that the thirteen colonies of America
were right in resisting taxation without represen-
tion, were turned to a profitable account. Mr.
Atwood's apothegm that "the strength of the
people is nothing without union, and union no-
thing without confidence and discipline," became a
standing motto of the revolutionary party. And
Hume's declaration that if there had been no
display of force there would have been no Re-
form Bill, was not without its effect in changing
the vigilance committees into nuclei of military
organizations. Shooting matches, first got up by
Gibson, in which turkeys were the immediate
victims, became fashionable. Drilling was prac-
tised with more or less secrecy. An occasional
feu dejoie on Yonge Street in honour of Papineau,
with a hundred rifles, would be made the subject
842

FORGING PIKES

of boast in the press. Bidwell, who had refused to
accept a nomination to the proposed convention,
and who kept at a safe distance from all these
movements, could not refuse his legal advice that
trials of skill among riflemen were perfectly law-
ful. The people were badly armed, and a brisk
business in the manufacture of pikes began to be
carried on, but there was hardly a single bayonet
in the outbreak north of Toronto.

By the commencement of November, one thou-
sand five hundred names were returned to Mac-
kenzie of persons enrolled and ready to place them-
selves under arms — if arms could only be procured
— at one hour's notice. In the Home District, in
which Toronto was situated, attendance on weekly
drill was deemed a duty. The Gore District, farther
west, was not much behind its metropolitan neigh-
bour. From one end of it to the other, political
unions were in the course of formation. They se-
lected their leaders and reported themselves to the
agent and secretary of the central vigilance com-
mittee. The organizations in the country were
now called Branch Reform Unions ; and they
were numbered according to the order of their
formation.

There were two kinds of organization. In addi-
tion to the vigilance committees and reform unions,
about seventy delegates had been elected to take
part in a convention which was to send representa-
tives to a British American congress. The meeting

343

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of an approaching convention, which had been de-
cided upon in the previous August, continued
to be alluded to after the rising had been deter-
mined upon, and if the movement had proved suc-
cessful, the convention would undoubtedly have
been held.

In Lower Canada the crisis had arrived. The
legislative session, convened in August, had pro-
duced no reconciliation between the governor and
the assembly. The House told Lord Gosford that
they had not been able to derive from " His Excel-
lency's speech, or from any other source, any motive
for departing, even momentarily, " from their deter-
mination to withhold supplies until the grievances
of the country were redressed. The governor replied
to the address, charging the House with virtually
abrogating the constitution by a continued abandon-
ment of their functions ; and as soon as the members
had left his presence, he issued a proclamation pro-
roguing the legislature. The popular agitation con-
tinued ; monster meetings were called in different
parts of the country.

On November 11th, Morin, Legare', Lachance,
Chasseur, and Trudeau, editors, managers, and
publishers of Le Liberal, were arrested for sedition
at Quebec. This alarmed the popular leaders, who,
for a time, made themselves less prominent. On the
sixteenth of the same month, some further arrests
were made ; but this time they proceeded upon the
graver charge of high treason.
844

MACKENZIE'S BOLD PLAN

M. Dufort, a messenger bearing letters from
Papineau, arrived in Toronto. ! The purport of the
message was an appeal to the Upper Canadian Re-
formers to support their Lower Canadian brethren
when a resort to arms should be made. Mackenzie
was convinced that the time to act had come. In
the garrison at Toronto, there were only three pieces
of cannon and one soldier, Sir Francis having sent
the troops to Lower Canada for the purpose, as he
afterwards boasted, of entrapping Mackenzie and
others into rebellion by appearing to be wholly
without the means of resistance. Of the fifteen
hundred men whose names had been returned on
the insurrection rolls, only a very small proportion
had firearms of any description. There were lying
in the City Hall four thousand muskets, which
had been sent up from Kingston, and which
were still unpacked. Mackenzie's plan was to
seize these arms, together with the archives, the
governor, and the executive council ; and by this
means to effect a revolution sans coup ferir.
Chimerical as such a project would be, under
ordinary circumstances, it must be remembered
that the folly of Sir Francis had left the gov-
ernment at the mercy of any half hundred men

1 M. Dufort was on his way to Michigan to get up an expedition to
assist the Canadians, where, in connection with Judge Butler, a
prominent member of the House of Representatives of that state,
he formed a "council of war," embracing prominent and influential
members of the House of Representatives, state's officers, and wealthy
citizens.

845

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

who might have undertaken to carry such a project
into effect.

Having made up his mind as to what ought to
be done, Mackenzie, one afternoon early in Novem-
ber, called upon fourteen or fifteen persons with
whom he had been acting in the organization of
political societies throughout the country, and
asked them to meet him that evening at the house
of Mr. Doel, on the north-west corner of Bay and
Adelaide Streets.1 They all attended. Dr. Morrison
took the chair; and Mackenzie proceeded to give
his views of what course it would be proper to
pursue in the crisis which had arisen. Fortunately
his own account of this meeting has been pre-
served : —

"I remarked, in substance, that we had, in a
declaration adopted in July, and signed approvingly
by many thousands, affirmed that our wrongs and
those of the old thirteen colonies were substantially

1 Among the persons who assembled on that night to listen to
a project of revolution were: Dr. Morrison, a Lower Canadian by birth,
who was practising medicine in Toronto ; John Mcintosh, a Scotsman,
who formerly owned and sailed a vessel on Lake Ontario, and who
retired upon a moderate competence ; John Doel, an Englishman, who
by a brewery and the rise in the value of some real estate of which he
was the owner, was well able to live on the interest of his money ;
Robert Mackay, a Scotsman and grocer, in a good way of business ;
John Armstrong, a Scotsman and axe maker ; Timothy Parsons, an
Englishman, who kept a dry goods store ; John Mills, a Scotsman
by birth, and a hatter by trade ; Thomas Armstrong, a Scotsman
and carpenter employing several men ; John Elliott, an Englishman
and an attorney ; and William Lesslie, a bookseller and druggist,
doing a good business.

846

MACKENZIE'S BOLD PLAN

the same ; that I knew of no complaint made by
the heir of the house of Russell, in 1685, against
the government of England overturned three years
thereafter, that could not be sustained against that
of Canada ; that not only was redress from Britain
hopeless, but that there was imminent danger that
leading Reformers would be seized and sent to the
dungeon ; that the House of Assembly had been
packed through fraud — the clergy hired and paid
by the State — the endowment of a hierarchy begun
in defiance of the royal pledge — the public credit
abused and the provincial funds squandered — offices
created and distributed to pay partisans — emigra-
tion arrested — discontent rendered universal — and
government converted into a detestable tyranny;
while in Lower Canada chaos reigned, backed by
the garrisoned troops; and British resolutions to
leave no check in the hands of the people, upon any
abuse whatever, had passed the House of Commons.
Law was a mere pretext to plunder people system-
atically with impunity — and education, the great
remedy for the future, discouraged in Upper and
unknown in Lower Canada — while defaulters,
cheats, embezzlers of trust funds and of public
revenue were honoured and encouraged, and
peculators sheltered from the indignation of the
people they had robbed. I stated that when I saw
how Ireland, the condition of which was fully
understood in London, had been ruled, I had no
hope for Canada except in resistance, and affirmed

847

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

that the time had come for a struggle, either for
the rights of Englishmen in connection with Eng-
land, or for independence. Canada, as governed,
was an engine for the oppression of our country-
men at home.

" I spoke with great earnestness, and was only
interrupted by some brief casual remarks.

"In adverting to the condition of society, I
remarked that Head was abhorred for the conduct
of those he had upheld and cringed to ; that in the
city all classes desired a change — credit was pros-
trate, trade languishing — and asked if the proper
change could be obtained in any possible way short
of revolution.

" Still there was no answer.

" I stated that there were two ways of effecting
a revolution : one of them by organizing the farmers,
who were quite prepared for resistance, and bring-
ing them into Toronto to unite with the Toronto
people ; and the other, by immediate action.

" Dr. Morrison made some deprecatory or dissen-
ting remark, but I continued.

" I said that the troops had left ; that those who
had persuaded Head to place four thousand stand-
of-arms in the midst of an unarmed people, in the
City Hall, seemed evidently not opposed to their
being used ; that Fort Henry was open and empty,
and a steamer had only to sail down to the wharf
and take possession ; that I had sent two trusty
persons, separately, to the garrison, that day, and it
848

MACKENZIE'S BOLD PLAN

was also i to let ■ ; that the lieutenant-governor had
just come in from his ride and was now at home,
guarded by one sentinel ; and that my judgment
was that we should instantly send for Dutcher's
foundry-men and Armstrong's axe-makers, all of
whom could be depended on, and, with them, go
promptly to the Government House, seize Sir
Francis, carry him to the City Hall, a fortress in
itself, seize the arms and ammunition there, and
the artillery, etc., in the old garrison ; rouse our
innumerable friends in town and country, proclaim
a provisional government, send off the steamer of
that evening to secure Fort Henry, and either
induce Sir Francis to give the country an executive
council responsible to a new and fairly chosen
assembly to be forthwith elected, after packing off
the usurpers in the ■ Bread and Butter Parliament,'
such new assembly to be convened immediately;
or, if he refused to comply, go at once for Indepen-
dence, and take the proper steps to obtain and
secure it.

"I also communicated, in the course of my
remarks, important facts relative to Lower Canada,
and the disposition of her leading men.

"Dr. Morrison manifested great astonishment
and impatience towards the close of my discourse,
and at length hastily rose and exclaimed that this
was treason, if I was really serious, and that if I
thought I could entrap him into any such mad
scheme, I would find that he was not my man.

349

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

I tried to argue with him, but finding that he was
resolute and determined, soon desisted.1

"That the proposition I made could have been
easily and thoroughly carried into effect, I have
never for a moment doubted ; and I would have
gone about it promptly, in preference to the course
afterwards agreed upon, but for the indecision or
hesitancy of those who longed for a change but dis-
liked risking* anything on such issues. I made no
request to any one about secrecy, believing that
the gentlemen I had addressed were honestly de-
sirous to aid in removing an intolerable burthen,
but that much difference might exist as to the best
means of doing so ; and that the government would
be kept inactive, even if it knew all — its pretended
friends, headed by a fool, pulling one way, and its
enemies another."

About November 18th another plan of operations
was decided upon. There were about a dozen per-
sons present when the decision was come to. The
organized bands, distributed over the country, were
to collect together and march upon Toronto by
Yonge Street, the main northern entrance to the
city, on Thursday, December 7th. The manage-

1 Dr. Morrison, I learn from Charles Baker who lived next door
to him, had no real objection to the scheme ; but he distrusted some
one in the room, and was afraid to commit himself, but who it was
that was the object of his suspicion he did not state. The circum-
stance of his afterwards agreeing to a far more dangerous project
for effecting the same object, is sufficient guarantee of the correct-
ness of this information.

350

AN APPEAL TO ARMS DECIDED UPON

ment of the enterprise was to be confided to Dr.
Rolph, as sole executive ; and the details were to
be worked out by Mackenzie. The correspondence
with Papineau and the other popular leaders in
Lower Canada was to be conducted by the ex-
ecutive ; and he was to communicate intelligence
of their intended movements to his associates. It
was understood that the day named for the rising
should not be altered by any less authority than
that by which it had been fixed. The insurgent
forces were to be brought as secretly as possible
to Montgomery's Hotel, on Yonge Street, about
four miles north of the city of Toronto, between
six and ten o'clock at night, when they were to
march upon the city. A force of between four and
five thousand was expected. The four thousand
stand-of-arms in the City Hall were to be seized ;
the governor and his chief advisers were to be
captured and placed in safe custody ; the garrison was
to be taken possession of. A convention, the mem-
bers of which had begun to be elected in the pre-
vious August, was to be called ; and a constitution,
which had already assumed shape and form, was to
be submitted for adoption. In the meantime, Dr.
Rolph was to be administrator of the provisional
government. Such was the helpless condition of the
government, and so few were its willing supporters
supposed to be, that all this was expected to be
effected without the effusion of blood.1

1 It is the fate of persons who fail in an enterprise of this kind

351

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

With the possible exception of the date of the
intended outbreak, none of the movements designed
to end in armed insurrection and revolution were

to have their motives misrepresented by their contemporaries ; and it
is sometimes not till the prejudice of their time has passed away
that justice is done to them. Sir F. Head frequently stated, in written
documents, that the object of the insurgents was to rob the banks and
set fire to the city, forgetting that they were mainly composed of the
wealthiest farmers in the county of York, the very class whom he
(when it suited him) called "yeomen" and ''gentlemen." "There
can be no doubt," he wrote on one occasion, "that could Dr. Rolph
and Mackenzie have succeeded in robbing the banks, they would
immediately have absconded to the United States." "Nothing,"
wrote Mr. Hincks, afterwards governor of British Guiana, in the To-
ronto Examiner , in 1838, "in Sir F. Head's writings has given more
disgust than this assertion." Of Dr. Rolph, Mr. Hincks proceeded
to say that "he was the most talented and highly educated man in
the province, and that there never was a man less likely to be in-
fluenced by pecuniary considerations." "With regard to Mackenzie,"
Mr. Hincks added, " it has been so much the fashion to accuse him
of every crime which has disgraced humanity, that people really
forget who and what he is. We can speak impartially of Mr. Mac-
kenzie more particularly, because those who know us well know
that we have never approved of his political conduct. Let us not
be misunderstood. We agreed with him on certain broad principles,
more particularly responsible government, and when those principles
were involved, we supported him, and shall never regret it. As a
private individual we are bound in justice to state that Mr. Mac-
zenzie was a man of strict integrity in his dealings, and we have
frequently heard the same admitted by his violent political oppo-
nents. He was not a rich man, because he never sought after
wealth. Had he done so his industry and perseverance must have
insured it. We do not take up our pen to defend the political char-
acter of either Dr. Rolph or Mr. Mackenzie ; but when these false
and malignant slanders are uttered, we shall always expose them.
Are there ten people in Upper Canada who believe that the object
of either Dr. Rolph or Mr. Mackenzie was to rob the banks and
abscond to the United States?"

352

HEAD ENCOURAGES THE REVOLT

unknown to the government. In the beginning of
September, intelligence of the purpose to which
the organizations in the county were being turned,
was conveyed to the governor. Before the middle
of November, a short time prior to the fixing of the
day of rising, two ministers called upon Attorney-
General Hagerman one night at nine o'clock, and
related what was going on in the townships of
Gwillimbury, Albion, Vaughan, and other places.
One of them was fresh from these scenes of excite-
ment, where he had been travelling in a pastoral
capacity. Hagerman was inclined to laugh in the
faces of his informants. He did not believe, he said,
there were fifty men in the province who would
agree to undertake a descent upon Toronto ; he
would like to see the attempt made. One of the
ministers replied by declaring his belief that there
were, in the Home District alone, more than five
hundred persons who had already determined upon
such an attack. The same representations had
already been made to the governor, in person ; but,
as he paid no attention to them, this appeal was
made from the governor to the minister. But it
was in vain. The one was found to be as deaf and
as obstinate as the other. On October 31st, Sir
Francis had refused the offer of a volunteer com-
pany to guard the Government House, preferring
to wait, as he expressed it, till the lives or pro-
perty of Her Majesty's subjects should require
defence.

353

/

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Nor was this all. Sir Francis made it a matter
of boasting that, "in spite of the remonstrances
which, from almost every district in the province,"
he received, he allowed Mackenzie " to make de-
liberate preparation for revolt ; " that he allowed
him " to write what he chose, to say what he chose,
to do what he chose ; " that he offered no opposi-
tion to armed assemblages for the purpose of drill.
Nor did he rest satisfied with doing nothing to
check preparations, the nature of which he under-
stood so well ; he encouraged the outbreak. For
this purpose he sent all the troops from the pro-
vince ; and boasted that he had laid a trap to entice
Mackenzie and others into revolt. Nothing could
have been more culpable than this conduct of the
governor. To encourage men to the commission
of an act, and then to punish its performance with
death, as in the case of Samuel Lount and Peter
Mathews, approaches, very nearly, deliberate con-
nivance at a crime.

Sir Francis, however, was not responsible for the
executions. He had left the province before they
took place ; and many who were never admirers of
his policy believe that he had too much mag-
nanimity of character to have pursued a vindictive
course in needlessly causing an effusion of blood.
He released several prisoners, with arms in their
hands, as soon as they were captured, though some
of them, contrary to good faith, were arrested
again.

354

PEEL'S POSITION

In his viceregal speech on the opening of the
third session of the thirteenth parliament of Upper
Canada on December 28th, 1837, Sir Francis said,
as he states in his Narrative " I considered that, if
an attack by the rebels was inevitable, the more I
encouraged them to consider me defenceless the
better" and in the same work he boastingly reports:
" I purposely dismissed from the province the
whole of our troops." But when this extraordinary
conduct on the part of the lieutenant-governor
had been severely censured both in parliament and
by the press, he denied that he had sent away the
troops. "Many people," he says in the Emigrant,
u have blamed, and I believe still blame, me for
having, as they say, sent the troops out of the
province. I, however, did no such thing." He then
proceeds to throw on Sir John Colborne the blame
of an act for which, before he had discovered that
it was improper, he had eagerly claimed all the
credit. u It was the duty of the government," said
Sir Robert Peel, in a speech in the House of Com-
mons, January 16th, 1838, "to have prepared such
a military force in the colony as to have dis-
couraged the exciters of the insurrection from
pursuing the course they did." How great then
must be the condemnation of the lieutenant-
governor.

A draft of a constitution was prepared by Mac-
kenzie, to be submitted to the proposed conven-
tion for adoption, after a provisional government

355

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

should have been established in Upper Canada. It
was actually published by Mackenzie in his paper
the Constitution, on November 15th, 1837, a few
days before the 7th of December was fixed
upon for a descent upon Toronto. When he left
Toronto for the country, thirteen days before the
intended outbreak, he took a small press and a
printer with him, for the purpose of striking off
copies of this document. The constitution of the
United States was the model on which this was
formed ; the variations being chiefly the result
of different circumstances.

356

CHAPTER XII

A SPURT OF CIVIL WAR

BY some means a knowledge of the intended
rising reached several persons from whom
Mackenzie would have desired to keep it a secret.
Dr. Morrison was a party to the arrangement
finally agreed upon. He is believed to have dis-
closed the plan of insurrection to several persons.
What was going on came to the ears of Dr.
Baldwin. The latter, it would seem, never men-
tioned it to his son, Robert ; for that gentleman
declared that he had no knowledge of it. Bidwell
had refused to become a member of the proposed
convention, and he does not appear to have attend-
ed the meetings at which insurrection was organ-
ized. There seems to be no reason to believe,
however, that he is entitled to plead ignorance
of the movement. He was asked his opinion on the
legality of the shooting matches ; he was the bosom
friend of Dr. Rolph, with whom he was in the
habit of cordially co-operating; and it has been
stated that, without working with the dozen per-
sons in Toronto who were actively engaged in the
organization of the movement, he was secretly
giving all the assistance he could. He accepted
expatriation at the hands of Sir Francis when
the revolt failed. !

1 The day before the outbreak the governor was sitting* in a room in

857

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Previous to the day fixed for the outbreak in
Upper Canada, the clash of arms had been heard
in the Lower Province. On December 5th, Lord
Gosford proclaimed martial law, and offered re-
wards for the apprehension of the patriot leaders.
Dr. Nelson, who lived at St. Denis, hearing of the
movement for the arrest of himself and the other
leaders, prepared for resistance. Five companies of
troops, with one field-piece and a detachment of
Montreal cavalry under the command of Colonel
Gore, arrived at St. Denis on the morning of
November 23rd. The battle commenced about
nine o'clock, and lasted till nearly four in the
afternoon, being carried on with great bravery

the Government House, the windows of which were Mocked up with
rough timber and loopholed. Bidwell sent in his card. When he
was admitted to an interview he was apparently so alarmed as to
be unable to speak. Sir Francis, holding Bidwell's letters in his
hand, pointed with them towards the window, saying : "Well Mr.
Bidwell, you see the state to which you have brought us?" "He
made no reply," writes the ex-lieutenant-governor, "and as it was
impossible to help pitying the abject, fallen position in which he
stood, I very calmly pointed out to him the impropriety of the course
he had pursued, and then, observing to him, what he knew well
enough, that if I were to open his letters his life would probably be in
my hands, I reminded him of the mercy as well as the power of
the British Crown ; and I ended by telling him that, as its humble
representative, I would restore to him his letters unopened, if he
would give me, in writing, a promise that he would leave the Queen's
dominions forever. . . . He retired to the waiting-room, wrote
out the promise I had dictated, and returning with it, I received
it with one hand, and with the other, according to my promise, I
delivered to him the whole of his letters unopened. The sentence
which Mr. Bidwell passed upon himself he faithfully executed." Sir
Francis Bond Head, The Emigrant.

358

CIVIL WAR IN LOWER CANADA

on both sides. The troops retired, leaving behind
one cannon, some muskets, and five wounded. At
St. Charles, the insurgents, under T. S. Brown,
suffered a reverse. "The slaughter on the side of
the rebels," writes Colonel Wetherall, " was great."
" I counted," he adds, " fifty-six bodies, and many
more were killed in the building and the bodies
burnt." He was much censured for what was
deemed unnecessary slaughter.

This reverse was destined to have a discouraging
effect upon the insurgents in Upper Canada, where
the work of final organization had commenced.
Military leaders had to be chosen, and each assign-
ed his post of duty. A tour of the neighbouring
country had to be made, and this duty fell to
Mackenzie. On the evening of November 24th —
less than twenty-four hours before the defeat at
St. Charles — he left Dr. Rolph's house on this
mission. Just before starting, he mentioned to
one or two persons who had not been parties to
the plan of rising, what was going to take place ;
but he was very careful not to communicate the
intelligence to any one on whose secrecy he felt
he could not rely. Except in a single instance, no
notices were sent beyond the limits of the metro-
politan county of York. He visited Lloydtown,
Stouffville, Newmarket, and other places in the
north. His business was to make the necessary
preparations for carrying out the plans agreed
upon. Having no knowledge of military opera-

359

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

tions, he refused to assume a position of command
for which he was by experience entirely unfitted.
This determination he announced at Lloydtown,
several days previous to the intended march upon
Toronto. Samuel Lount and Anthony Anderson
were then named to commands. Mackenzie deem-
ed it essential to the success of the movement
that it should be directed by persons of military
skill and experience. He wrote to Van Egmond,1
to be at Montgomery's Hotel on the evening
of the seventh, to lead the forces into the city,
and he placed much reliance upon him and
other veterans whose services he deemed it of
the utmost importance to secure.

On the night of December 3rd, Mackenzie, who
had now been nine days in the country organizing
the movement, arrived at the house of David Gib-
son, some three miles from the city. He there
learnt with dismay that, in his absence, Dr. Rolph
had changed the day for making a descent upon
Toronto from Thursday to Monday, December
4th. Various reasons have been assigned for this
change. There was a rumour that a warrant was
out for the arrest of Mackenzie for high treason —
which was true — and that cannon were being
mounted in the park surrounding the Government
House — which was false. The publication of certain

1 Van Egmond was a native of Holland, and, as a colonel in
Napoleon's army, had seen much service. He also held an English
colonelcy. He owned thirteen thousand acres of land in the western
part of the province.

360

THE GOVERNOR ROUSED AT LAST

militia orders is said to have been regarded as proof
that the government was on the alert. It was said
that the governor had a letter from the country
disclosing all the plans of the patriots ; and that
the council, concluding at last that there was real
danger, had commenced a distribution of arms.
The real truth was, as a verbal message sent to
Lount stated, Dr. Rolph became alarmed, under
the impression that the government was giving out
the arms at the City Hall, and arming men to fill
the garrison and form companies to arrest the
leaders of the revolt expected between then and
the next Thursday ; and that they had already dis-
tributed one hundred stand-of-arms, and had be-
come aware of the day fixed for the rising. These
circumstances, the message added, rendered it
necessary that Lount and his men should be in
town on Monday night. Regarding the change
of day as a fatal error, Mackenzie despatched one
of Gibson's servants with a message to Lount, who
resided near Holland Landing, some thirty-five
miles from Toronto, not to come till Thursday,
as first agreed upon. But it was too late. The
messenger returned on Monday afternoon with
Lount's reply that the intended rising was publicly
known all through the north ; and that the men
had been ordered to march, and were already on
the road. Rude pikes formed the weapons of the
majority ; a few had rifles ; there were no mus-
kets.

361

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Much annoyed at the unexpected change in the
programme, Mackenzie, with the natural intrepidity
of his nature, resolved to make the best of it. When
Lount arrived in the evening, he brought only about
eighty or ninety men, exhausted with a march of
between thirty and forty miles through deep mud,
and dispirited by the news of the reverse in Lower
Canada. Though Dr. Rolph had met Mackenzie
that morning at James Hervey Price's house on
Yonge Street, a couple of miles or so from Toronto,
they had no intelligence of the state of the town
after ten o'clock. Rolph had returned, and no mes-
senger came to bring Mackenzie and his friends any
news of what was going on in the city. Regarding
it as all important that communication with the
city should be cut off, for the purpose of prevent-
ing any intelligence being sent to the government,
Mackenzie advised the placing of a guard upon the
road ; and that the handful of jaded men who had
arrived should summon all their powers of en-
durance and march on the city that night. No one
seconded his proposal. Lount, Lloyd and Gibson
all protested against what they regarded as a rash
enterprise. They deemed it indispensable to wait
till the condition of the city could be ascertained,
or till they were sufficiently reinforced to reduce
to reasonable limits the hazard of venture in which
all concerned carried their lives in their hands.

Thus the golden opportunity was lost. Delay
was defeat. At this time the number of men under
362

A CITIZENS DISHONOUR

Lount, reinforced as they would have been in the
city, would have been quite sufficient to effect the
intended revolution, since the government was liter-
ally asleep and had few true friends.

Failing in this proposal, Mackenzie next offered
to make one of four who should go to the city,
ascertain the state of matters there, whether an
attack would be likely to be attended with success,
spur their friends into activity with a view to an
attack the next evening, and bring Drs. Rolph and
Morrison back with them. Captain Anderson, Shep-
ard, and Smith, volunteered to join him. They
started between eight and nine o'clock. Before they
had proceeded far they met John Powell with
Archibald Macdonald, mounted, acting as a sort of
patrol. Mackenzie pulled up, and, with a double-
barrelled pistol in his hand, briefly informed them
of the rising, and added that, as it was necessary to
prevent intelligence of it reaching the government,
they must surrender themselves prisoners, and in
that character go to Montgomery's Hotel, where
they would be well treated. Any arms they might
have upon their persons, they must surrender. They
replied that they had none ; and when he seemed
sceptical as to the correctness of the reply, they
repeated it. Mackenzie then said, "Well, gentle-
men, as you are my townsmen and men of honour,
I should be ashamed to show that I question your
word by ordering you to be searched."

Placing the two prisoners in charge of Anderson

863

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

and Shepard, he then continued his course, with his
remaining comrade, towards the city. Before they
had gone far, Powell, who had returned, rode past
them. While he was passing, Mackenzie demanded
the object of his return, and told him, at his peril,
not to proceed. Regardless of this warning, the
government messenger kept on. Mackenzie fired at
him over his horse's head, but missed his mark.
Powell now pulled up, and, coming alongside Mac-
kenzie, placed the muzzle of a pistol close to his
antagonist's breast. A flash in the pan saved the
life of the insurgent chief.

Macdonald now also came up on his return. He
seemed much frightened ; and, being unable to give
any satisfactory explanation, was sent back a second
time by Mackenzie. In the meantime, Powell es-
caped. He dismounted, and finding himself pur-
sued, hid behind a log for a while ; and then by
a devious course proceeded to Toronto. He went
at once to Government House, and aroused the
governor from his slumbers. His Excellency placed
his family and that of Chief Justice Robinson on
board a steamer lying in the bay, ready to leave
the city if the rebels should capture it. Macken-
zie, having sent his last remaining companion back
with Macdonald to Montgomery's Hotel, now
found himself alone. A warrant had for some time
been out for his arrest on a charge of high treason,
and the government, informed of the presence of
the men at Montgomery's, was already astir. It
364

POWELLS TREACHERY

would have been madness for him to proceed com-
panionless to the city, and so he turned his horse's
head and set out for Montgomery's. Before he had
proceeded far he found, lying upon the road, the
dead body of Anderson, who had fallen a victim to
Powell's treachery. Life was entirely extinct. An-
derson and Shepard, as already stated, were escort-
ing Powell and Macdonald as prisoners to the
guard-room of the patriots at Montgomery's Hotel.
Powell, who, on being captured, had twice protest-
ed that he was unarmed, slackened the pace of his
horse sufficiently to get behind his victim, when he
shot him with a pistol through the back of the neck.
Death was instantaneous. Shepard's horse stumbled
at the moment, and Powell was enabled to escape.
As there was now only one guard to two prisoners,
he could not have hoped to prevent their escape.
Macdonald followed his associate.

On which side life had first been taken it would
be difficult to determine ; for, when Mackenzie got
back to Montgomery's Hotel, he found that
Colonel Moodie, inflamed by liquor, had, in trying
to force his way past the guard at the hotel, at
whom he fired a pistol, been shot by a rifle. The
guards who returned the fire missed their aim,
when one of the men, Ryan, who was standing on
the steps in front of the hotel, levelled his rifle at
Colonel Moodie, of whom the light of the moon
gave a clear view, and fired the fatal shot.

Lount's men were a good deal dispirited by the

365

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

death of Anderson. And they had no particular
reasons for being in good humour. Lingfoot, by
whom Montgomery's Hotel was kept, had no
provisions to offer them ; and none could be pro-
cured that night. The handful of countrymen,
exhausted by their long march, with no man of
military experience to excite their confidence, had
to sup on bad whiskey and recline upon the floor,
where many from sheer fatigue fell sound asleep.
The rest were still uneasy as to the state of things
in the city. The bells had been set a-ringing ; and
they were uncertain as to the rumours about the
arrival of steamboats laden with Orangemen and
other Loyalists. They had expected to learn the
exact state and condition of the city from their
friends there. Mackenzie with three companions, as
we have seen, had failed to reach the city, where the
wished-for intelligence might have been obtained.
Other messengers were sent, but none returned.
They were made prisoners. It is probable that Dr.
Morrison attempted to convey to them the infor-
mation they so much needed; for it is pretty cer-
tain that he passed the toll-gate on his way out.
But the sight of Captain Bridgeford, a government
sympathizer, in all probability compelled him to
go back.

By midnight, the numbers were increased ; and
before morning, Mackenzie, with his natural im-
petuosity of disposition, again proposed to march
on the city ; but he was again overruled. And
366

THE FIRST FLAG OF TRUCE

indeed, the chance of success was already much
diminished, because the government had now had
several hours for preparation. To Mackenzie's pro-
posal it was objected that nothing was known of
the state of the garrison ; the city bells had sounded
an ominous alarm ; the forces expected from the
west had not arrived ; and the executive in the city,
by whom the premature rising had been ordered,
had sent no communication.

Next day, the relative force of the two parties
was such that the patriots might, if properly
armed, have obtained certain conquest. They
had between seven and eight hundred men; but
many of them were unarmed. The rest had rifles,
fowling-pieces, and pikes. Many of those who
were unarmed returned, almost as soon as they
discovered there were no weapons for their use.
Provisions, including fresh and salt beef from
a Loyalist butcher who lived up Yonge Street,
about two miles above Montgomery's, were ob-
tained for the men. Sir Francis claims to have
had three hundred supporters in the morning,
and five hundred in the evening ; but the statement
has been disputed and is open to doubt. His fears
may be judged by his holding parley with armed
insurgents. On Tuesday, the fifth, he sent a flag
of truce to the rebel camp, with a message asking
what it was they wanted. There is no reason to
doubt that this was a stratagem to gain time.
Mackenzie replied : " Independence and a con-

367

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

vention to arrange details." He added that the
lieutenant-governor's message must be sent in
writing, and feeling time to be precious, he said
it must be forthcoming in one hour.

Whom had Sir Francis selected as the medium
of communication between himself and the rebels ?
This question touches on one of the most painful
subjects I have to deal with in this work. Robert
Baldwin could hardly have been entirely ignorant
of what every one who read the newspapers of the
day must have been informed ; but he had neither
part nor lot in the revolt. But Mackenzie himself
was not deeper in the rebellion than Dr. Rolph;
and his acceptance of the post of mediator between
the men he had encouraged into insurrection and
the government against which they had been
induced to rebel, is so extraordinary an act that
it is almost impossible to account for it. The only
possible explanation lies in the difficulty of his
position, which arose from his being asked to un-
dertake this office. Sheriff Jarvis went to Price
— so the latter says — and appealed to him, in
the name of God, to give his assistance "to
stop the proceedings of those men who are going
to attack us." Price replied, with much reason,
that if he should go out it would be said that
he went to join the rebels. And he suggested:
" Why not go to Baldwin, Dr. Rolph, or Bidwell?"
If Rolph had persisted in refusing he would have
laid himself open to suspicion — as he did by a
368

ROLPH'S EQUIVOCAL POSITION

first refusal ; and if he had been arrested, the worst
might have happened. The Doctor's returning
prudence may have bid him go; and perhaps
he thought he could perform this mission without
serious injury to his friends in the field.1 But the

1 Samuel Lount, being examined before the commission on treason,
December 13th, 1837, said: "When the flag of truce came up, Dr.
Rolph addressed himself to me ; there were two other persons
with it besides Dr. Rolph and Mr. Baldwin. Dr. Rolph said he
brought a message from His Excellency the lieutenant-governor
to prevent the effusion of blood, or to that effect. At the same
time, he gave me a wink to walk on one side, when he requested me not
to heed the message, but to go on with our proceedings. What he
meant was not to attend to the message. Mackenzie observed to
me that it was a verbal message, and that it had better be submitted in
writing. I took the reply to the lieutenant-governor's message to
be merely a put off. ... I heard all that was said by Dr. Rolph to
Mr. Mackenzie, which is as above related." Of this statement,
Dr. Rolph, in 1852, induced the flag-bearer, Hugh Carmichael, to
sign a denial in these terms: "During the going out and staying
on the ground, and returning to the city, as above stated (all of
which was promptly done), Dr. Rolph, Mr. Baldwin, and myself,
being all on horseback, kept in close phalanx, not a yard apart.
Neither of the persons mentioned could have got off his horse,
nor could he have winked to Mr. Lount and walked aside and
communicated with him, nor have said anything irrelevant to the
flag of truce, or against its good faith, as is untruly alleged,
without my knowledge." There are yet three other witnesses besides
Mackenzie ; and as it is not my business to accuse or excuse anybody,
but to get at the truth, their testimony must be given. Mr. Baldwin
made a statement relating to the second visit to the rebels, when
the answer of the lieutenant-governor was taken. Carmichael alleges
that till the flag of truce was at an end, Dr. Rolph could not
have done what was attributed to him by Lount, whose statement
was corroborated, in one way or another, by three or four persons.
Carmichael's statement, it will be seen, does not go to the extent
of saying that, after the lieutenant-governor's reply was delivered
and the flag of truce declared at an end, Dr. Rolph did not tell

369

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

effect of his arrival with a flag of truce, about one
o'clock, threw a damper on the zeal of the men.
They fancied that when he appeared in the service
of the governor, the patriot cause must be desper-
ate. Mackenzie did not venture to tell the real
state of the case to more than five or six persons ;
for if it had been publicly announced, the fact
might have reached town and occasioned the
Doctor's arrest. The intelligence that Bidwell
had been asked to accept the mission undertaken
by Rolph, created the false impression that they
were both opposed to Mackenzie's movement.
Lount, to whom he addressed himself, says Dr.
Rolph secretly advised him to pay no attention

Lount to take his men into the city. It leaves that question untouched.
Mr. Baldwin's evidence, taken in connection with Carmichael's
on this point, is very important. "On the return of the Doctor
and myself, the second time," he says, "with the lieutenant-
governor's reply that he would not give anything in writing, we
found the insurgents at the first toll-gate, and turned aside to
the west of Yonge Street, where we delivered this answer ; after
which Dr. Rolph requested me to wait for him. / did wait some
time, during which he was out of my sight and hearing. I was then
directed to ride westerly ; this occupied the time while I was rid-
ing at a common walk from Yonge Street to the College Avenue,
probably three-eighths of a mile. The direction to ride westerly,
as I then supposed, was for the purpose of the flag being carried
to the city by way of the College Avenue. Shortly after reaching
the avenue, however, I was joined by Dr. Rolph, and we returned
together by way of Yonge Street. I have no reason to know what
communication took place between Dr. Rolph and the insurgents
when he was out of my sight and hearing." — Appendix, Assembly's
Journals, 1837-8, p. 406. William Alves, who was present, says that,
on the second visit, Dr. Rolph advised the rebels to go into the city.

870

THE SECOND FLAG OF TRUCE

to the message, but to proceed. Mackenzie told
Lount this advice must be acted upon ; and the
order to proceed was given.

Lount was advised by Mackenzie to march his
men into the city without loss of time, and take up
a position near Osgoode Hall. Mackenzie then rode
westward to the larger body of insurgents, near
Colonel Baldwin's residence, and ordered an in-
stant march on the city. When they reached the
upper end of College Avenue, a second flag of
truce arrived. The answer brought by Baldwin
and Dr. Rolph was that the governor refused to
comply with the demands of the insurgents. The
truce being at an end, Dr. Rolph secretly advised
the insurgents to wait till six o'clock, and then

P. C. H. Brotherton, another of the insurgents, made oath to the
same effect on December 12th, before Vice-Chancellor Jameson, and
stated that Dr. Rolph had told him, on the eighth, that "Mackenzie
had acted unaccountably in not coming into the town ; and that
he expected him in half an hour after he returned with the flag."
These statements are sufficiently conclusive as to the general fact;
the only question that is not settled is, whether it was on the first
or second visit that Dr. Rolph told the insurgents to go into the
city. Did he give this advice on the occasion of both visits ? Mackenzie
and Lount say the order to go into the city was given on the first
visit. Against this positive evidence, Dr. Rolph produces his own
denial and a statement from the flag-bearer, who attempts to prove
a negative from the alleged impossibility of the occurrence taking
place. It must be explained that the statement signed by Carmichael
was prepared in Quebec, where it was dated and taken thence to Toron-
to for signature. Besides this, Carmichael was not very consistent
in his statements of the affair, having told a very different story
at other times. The weight of the evidence is therefore entirely
in favour of the correctness of Lount's statement.

371

^y

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

enter the city under cover of night. Reinforcements
to the number of six hundred were expected in the
city ; and they were to be ready to join the forces
from the country as soon as the latter arrived.
Accordingly, at a quarter to six, the whole of the
insurgent forces were at the toll-bar on Yonge
Street, about a mile from the principal street of
the city, on which the Government House, west
of the line of Yonge Street, was situated. Mac-
kenzie addressed the men and endeavoured to
inspire them with courage by representing that
there would be no difficulty in taking the city.
The government, he said, was so friendless that
it had only been able to muster a hundred and
fifty defenders, including the college boys ; and t
the governor's family had been put on a steamer
ready to take flight. The actual force claimed by
Sir Francis on Tuesday night was "about five
hundred."

The patriot forces were a half-armed mob, with-
out discipline, headed by civilians, and having no
confidence in themselves or their military leaders.
Lount's men, who were armed with rifles, were in
front; the pikemen came next, and in the rear
were a number of useless men having no other
weapons than sticks and cudgels. Captain Duggan,
of the volunteer artillery, another officer, and the
sheriff's horse, fell into the hands of the insurgents
when they were within about half a mile of the
city. At this point they were fired upon by an
372

THE FIRST SKIRMISH

advanced guard of Loyalists concealed behind a
fence, and whose numbers — of which the insurgents
could have no correct idea — have been variously
stated at from fifteen to thirty, and shots were
exchanged. After firing once, the Loyalists, under
Sheriff Jarvis, started back at full speed towards
the city. The front rank of Lount's men, instead of
stepping aside after firing to let those behind fire,
fell down on their faces. Those in the rear, being
without arms and fancying that the front rank had
been cut down by the muskets of the small force
who had taken a random shot at them, were panic
stricken ; and in a short time nearly the whole
force was on the retreat. Many of the Lloydtown
pikemen raised the cry, " We shall all be killed,"
threw down their rude weapons, and fled in great
precipitation. Mackenzie, who had been near the
front, and in more danger from the rifles behind
than from the musketry of the Loyalists, stepped to
the side of the road and ordered the men to cease
firing. He was of opinion that one of the insurgents,
who had been shot, fell from a rifle bullet of an
unskilful comrade. The impetuous and disorderly
flight had, in a short time, taken all but about a
score beyond the toll-gate. The mortification of
Mackenzie may be imagined. Hoping to rally the
men, he sent Alves back to explain to them that
the danger was imaginary ; and putting spurs to
his horse he followed at a brisk pace immediately
after, for the same purpose. When they came to a

373

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

halt, he implored them to return. He told them that
the steamers had been sent off to bring the Orange-
men from the other districts ; that whatever defenders
the government had in the city were in desperate
alarm ; that the success, which could now be easily
achieved, might on the morrow be out of their
reach ; that the moment the timidity of the patriots
became known, the government would gain new
adherents ; and that if they did not return, the
opportunity for the deliverance of the country
would be lost. In this strain he addressed successive
groups. He coaxed and threatened. He would go
in front with any dozen who would accompany
him. Relying upon the succour they would meet
in the city, he offered to go on if only forty men
would go with him. Two or three volunteers pre-
sented themselves ; but the general answer was
that, though they would go in daylight, they would
not advance in the dark.

The majority lost no time in returning to their
homes. And although some two hundred additional
forces arrived during the night, the whole number,
on the Wednesday, had dwindled down to about
five hundred and fifty. One cause of the panic on
Tuesday night arose from the alarming stories,
told by some persons who had joined them from
Toronto, of the preparations in the city ; how the
Tories, protected by feather-beds and mattresses,
would fire from the windows of the houses and
make terrible slaughter of the patriots.
874

STATE OF THE OPPOSING FORCES

Dr. Home's house, close to Yonge Street, the
rendezvous of spies, was burnt by the rebels, as
those of Montgomery and Gibson were sub-
sequently by the Loyalists. In Home's house a
search was made for papers that might show what
information was being asked by the government
or sent to it ; and the fire was caused by the up-
setting of the stove. Nothing whatever was taken
out of the house.

That night Dr. Rolph sent a messenger to Mont-
gomery's to inquire of Mackenzie the cause of the
retreat. The answer was sent back in writing, and
next morning, despairing, it would seem, of aU hope
of success, Rolph set out for the United States as
a place of refuge. He was soon to be followed by a
large number of others.

Wednesday opened gloomily upon the prospects
of the insurgents. Morrison remained in his house.
Mackenzie called the men together and explained
to them the reason for the strong censures he had
used on the retreat the previous evening. If they
had taken his advice and been ready to foUow his
example, Toronto would have been theirs. The
enemy had, in the meantime, been largely rein-
forced. They were well officered, well armed, and
had command of the steamers for bringing up
further reinforcements. If the patriots were to suc-
ceed it was essential that they should have con-
fidence in themselves. They were greatly in want
of arms ; the four thousand muskets and bayonets

875*

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

they had intended to seize were now ready to be
turned against them.

Mackenzie, Lount, Alves, and several others set
off on horseback to collect arms to intercept the
western mail, which would convey intelligence
which it was desirable should not be communi-
cated to the friends of the government, and to
make prisoners of persons who might be carrying
information for the government to the disadvantage
of the insurgents. The mail-stage, coming into
Dundas Street, the principal western entrance into
Toronto, was captured, and with the driver, mails,
and several prisoners was taken to the rebel camp.
Among the letters were some addressed by the
president of the executive council to persons in the
country, and containing information that the govern-
ment expected soon to be able to make an attack
at Montgomery's. Mackenzie, not knowing that
Rolph had fled, wrote to him to send the patriots
timely notice of the intended attack ; but of course
he got no answer. The messenger never returned.
A man on horseback told them that the govern-
ment intended to make the attack on Thursday,
and the information proved correct.

Thursday found division in the patriot camp. Gib-
son objected to Mackenzie's plans, though they were
sanctioned by Colonel Van Egmond, who, true to
the original understanding, had just arrived. Gib-
son's objections led to a council of war. Those who
objected to Mackenzie's plans proposed no substi-
876

PLANS TO DELAY HOSTILITIES

tute. A new election of officers took place. This
caused great delay. The plan suggested by Van
Egmond, and adopted by Mackenzie, was to try
to prevent an attack on Montgomery's till night,
in the hope that by that time large reinforcements
might arrive. And there was some reason in this,
for this was the day originally fixed for the general
rising, and a notification of the alteration had been
sent only to Lount's division. One man had a force
of five hundred and fifty ready to bring down, and
many others who were on the way, when they
found it was all up with the patriots, in order to
save themselves, pretended they had come down
to assist the government to quell the insurrection.
A militia colonel was to contribute a couple of fat
oxen to the rebel cause. Another colonel had made
the patriots a present of a gun, a sword, and some
ammunition. Thousands, whom prudence or fear
kept aloof from the movement, wished it success.
Under these circumstances, the only hope of the
patriots seemed to lie in preventing an attack till
night. In order to accomplish this the city must be
alarmed. Sixty men, forty of them armed with
rifles, were selected to go to the Don Bridge, which
formed the eastern connection with the city, and
destroy it. By setting this bridge and the adjoining
house on fire it was thought the Loyalist force
might be drawn off in that direction, and their plan
of attack broken up. The party sent eastward was to
intercept the Montreal mails. The rest of the men

877

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

who had arms " were to take the direction of the
city, and be ready to move either to the right or
the left, or to retreat to a strong position as pru-
dence might dictate."

A party was sent eastward, as agreed upon ; the
bridge and house were fired and partly burnt, and
the mails intercepted. But the delay of two hours
occasioned by the council of war proved fatal.
Three steamers had, in the meantime, been bring-
ing reinforcements to the alarmed governor.

Toronto contained twelve thousand inhabitants,
and if the government had not been odious to the
great majority of the people, it ought to have been
able to raise a force sufficient to beat back four hun-
dred rebels ; for to this number the patriot army
had been reduced. But neither Toronto nor the
neighbouring country furnished the requisite force,
and Sir Francis had awaited in trembling anxiety
the arrival of forces from other parts of the
province. Having at length determined on an
attack, Sir Francis assembled the "overwhelming
forces" at his command, under the direction of
Colonel Fitzgibbon. The main body was headed
by Colonel MacNab, the right wing being com-
manded by Colonel S. Jar vis, the left by Colonel
William Chisholm, assisted by Mr. Justice Mc-
Lean. Major Cafrae, of the militia artillery, had
charge of two guns. The order to march was given
about twelve o'clock, and at one the Loyalists
and the patriot forces were in sight of one another.
878

THE FIGHT AT MONTGOMERY'S FARM

When the sentinels at Montgomery's announced
that the Loyalists were within sight, with music
and artillery, the patriots were still discussing their
plans. Preparation was at once made to give them
battle. Mackenzie, at first doubting the intelligence,
rode forward till he became convinced by a full
view of the enemy. When he returned, he asked
the small band of patriots whether they were ready
to encounter a force greatly superior in numbers
to themselves, well armed, and provided with
artillery. They replied in the affirmative, and he
ordered the men into a piece of thin woods on
the west side of the road, where they found a
slight protection from the fire of the enemy they
had to encounter. A number of the men took a
position in an open field, on the east side of the
road. The men in the western copse had to sustain
nearly the whole fire of the artillery from Toronto.
"And never," says Mackenzie, "did men fight
more courageously. In the face of a heavy fire of
grape and canister, with broadside following broad-
side of musketry in steady and rapid succession,
they stood their ground firmly, and killed and
wounded a large number of the enemy, but were
at length compelled to retreat."

Some are of the opinion that the fighting lasted
an hour ; but there are different opinions on this
point. Mackenzie remained on the scene of action
till the last moment ; in fact until the mounted
Loyalists were just closing upon him. " So un-

379

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

willing was Mackenzie to leave the field of battle,"
says an eye-witness, "and so hot the chase after
him, that he distanced the enemy's horsemen
only thirty or forty yards, by his superior know-
ledge of the country, and reached Colonel Lount
and our friends on the retreat, just in time to
save his neck." Immediately £1,000 reward was
offered for his apprehension.

This day was the turning-point in his career.
It witnessed the almost total wreck of long cher-
ished hopes. The hope of peaceable reform had
for some time been extinguished ; that of success-
ful revolution had been next indulged. Instead
of finding himself the hero of a revolution, he
only preserved his life by going into exile. Foiled
in an enterprise in which he risked all, he lost
all. Ruined in property, blighted in prospects,
exiled and outlawed, with a price upon his head,
how complete was the wreck of his fortune and
his hopes.1

1 His ruin resulted from the failure of the insurrection. At the
time of the outbreak, his printing establishment was the largest and
the best in Upper Canada ; and, although not rich, he was in good
circumstances. In the previous year his account for public printing
was $4,000. His book-store contained twenty thousand volumes, and
he had an extensive bindery. He had town lots in Dundas, a farm
lot in Garafraxa, and a claim to a proportion of the immense Randal
estate. A large amount was owing to him ; and all he owed was only
about £750. Such of his movable property as was not destroyed by
violence or stolen was never satisfactorily accounted for, though
part of it went to pay some of his creditors, who got judgments
against him under the fiction of his being an absconding debtor.

880

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

The governor thought it necessary, so he has
told the world, to " mark and record, by some
stern act of vengeance, the important victory"
that had been achieved over the insurgent forces.
In the presence of the militia, he determined to
burn John Montgomery's Hotel and David Gib-
son's dwelling house, and this was done.

We left Mackenzie at the close of the defeat
at Montgomery's ; and he must now be allowed
to tell the story of his escape in his own words.

" It evidently appearing that success for the
insurgents was, at that time, impossible, the
colonel and many others gave way, and crossed
the field to the parallel line of road west of
Yonge Street. I endeavoured to get my cloak,
which I had left at the hotel, through which
Captain Fitzgibbon's men were just then sending
their six-pound shots with good effect, but too late.
Strange to tell, that cloak was sent to me years
afterwards, while in prison, but by whom I
know not.

"Perceiving that we were not yet pursued, I
passed on to Yonge Street, beyond Lawyer Price's,
and the first farmer I met, being a friend, readily
gave me his horse — a trusty, sure-footed creature,
which that day did me good service. Before I had
ridden a mile the smoke rose in clouds behind
me, and the flames of the extensive hotel and
outbuildings arrested my attention, as also another
cloud of smoke which I then supposed to be from

881

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the Don Bridge, in the city, which we had sent a
party to destroy or take possession of. Colonel
Fletcher, now of Chautauqua county, N.B.,
handed me an overcoat, and told me he would
make for the States, but not by the head of
Lake Ontario.

"Although it was known that we had been
worsted, no one interrupted us, save in friendship.

Dr. , from above Newmarket, informed me

that sixty armed friends were on their way, close
by. I assured him it was too late to retrieve our
loss in that way, and bade him tell them to
disperse. Some, however, went on as volunteers
for Sir Francis Bond Head ; the rest returned
to their homes.

" At the Golden Lion, ten miles above the city,
I overtook Colonel Anthony Van Egmond, a
Dutch officer of many years' experience under
Napoleon. He agreed with me that we should at
once make for the Niagara frontier, but he was
taken, almost immediately after, by a party who
had set out from Governor Head's camp to gain
the rewards offered then and there.

'* Finding myself closely pursued and repeatedly
fired at, I left the high road with one friend (Mr.
J. R.) and made for Shepard's Mills. The fleetest
horsemen of the official party were so close upon
us that I had only time to j ump off my horse and
ask the miller himself (a Tory) whether a large body
of men, then on the heights, were friends or foes,
882

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

before our pursuers were climbing up the steep
ascent almost beside me.

"When I overtook Colonel Lount, he had, I
think, about ninety men with him, who were partly
armed. We took some refreshment at a friendly
farmer's near by. Lount was for dispersing. I pro-
posed that we should keep in a body and make for
the United States via the head of Lake Ontario,
as our enemies had the steamers ; but only sixteen
persons went with me. I had no other arms than
a single-barrel pistol, taken from Captain Duggan
during our Tuesday's scuffle, and we were all on
foot. Some of my companions had no weapons at
all.

" We made for Humber Bridge, through Vaug-
han, but found it strongly guarded ; then went up
the river a long way, got some supper at the house
of a farmer, crossed the stream on a foot-bridge,
and by two next morning, the eighth, reached the
hospitable mansion of a worthy settler on Dundas
Street, utterly exhausted with cold and fatigue.1

" Blankets were hung over the windows to avoid
suspicion, food and beds prepared, and, while the
Tories were carefully searching for us, we were
sleeping soundly. Next morning (Friday) those
who had arms buried them, and after sending to
inquire whether a friend a mile below had been
dangerously wounded, we agreed to separate and

1 The house of Absalom Wilcox, who had several sons engaged
in the revolt, one of whom was afterwards on Navy Island.

383

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

make for the frontier, two and two together. Allan
Wilcox, a lad in his nineteenth or twentieth year,
accompanied me, and such was my confidence in
the honesty and friendship of the country folks,
Protestant and Catholic, European and American,
that I went undisguised and on foot, my only
weapon at the time being Duggan's pistol, and
this not loaded. Address was now wanted more
than brute force.

" We followed the concession parallel, and next
to the Great Western Road saw and talked with
numbers of people, but with none who wanted the
government reward. About three in the afternoon,
we reached Comfort's Mills, near Streetsville ; we
were there told that Colonel Chisholm and three
hundred of the hottest Orangemen, and other most
violent partisans, were divided into parties search-
ing for us. Even from some of these there was no
real danger. They were at heart friendly.

" Mr. Comfort was an American by birth, but a
resident of Canada. I asked his wife for some bread
and cheese, while a young Irishman in his employ
was harnessing up his wagon for our use. She in-
sisted on our staying to dinner, which we did. Mr.
Comfort knew nothing of the intended revolt, and
had taken no part in it, but he assured me that
no fear of consequences should prevent him from
being a friend in the hour of danger. After con-
versing with a number of people there, not one of
whom said an unkind word to us, my companion
384

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

and I got into the wagon and the young Emeralder
drove us down the Streetsville road, through the
Credit Village (Springfield) in broad daylight, and
along Dundas Street, bills being then duly posted
for my apprehension, and I not yet out of the
county which I had been seven times chosen by
its freeholders to represent. Yet, though known
to everybody, we proceeded a long way west be-
fore danger approached. At length, however, we
were hotly pursued by a party of mounted troops ;
our driver became alarmed, and with reason, and
I took the reins and pushed onward at full speed
over a rough, hard-frozen road, without snow. Our
pursuers nevertheless gained on us, and when near
the Sixteen-Mile Creek, we ascertained that my
countryman, Colonel Chalmers, had a party guard-
ing the bridge. The creek swells up at times into
a rapid river ; it was now swollen by the November
rains. What was to be done ? Young Wilcox and I
jumped from the wagon, made toward the forest,
asked a labourer the road to Esquesing to put our
pursuers off our track, and were soon in the thickest
of the patch of woods near the deep ravine, in which
flows the creek named and numbered arithmetically
as the Sixteen.

" Trafalgar was a hot-bed of Orangeism, and as
I had always set my face against it and British
nativism, I could hope for no friendship or favour,
if here apprehended. There was but one chance for
escape, however, surrounded as we were — for the

385

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

young man had refused to leave me — and that was
to stem the stream, and cross the swollen creek.
We accordingly stripped ourselves naked, and with
the surface ice beating against us, and holding our
garments over our heads, in a bitterly cold Decem-
ber night, we buffeted the current, and were soon
up to our necks. I hit my foot against a stone, let
fall some of my clothes (which my companion
caught), and cried aloud with pain. The cold in
that stream caused me the most cruel and intense
sensation of pain I ever endured, but we got
through, though with a better chance for drown-
ing, and the frozen sand on the bank seemed
to warm our feet when we once more trod upon
it.

" In an hour and a half we were under the hospit-
able roof of one of the innumerable agricultural
friends I could then count in the country. I was
given a supply of dry flannels, food, and an hour's
rest, and have often wished since, not to embark
again on the tempestuous sea of politics, but that I
might have an opportunity to express my grateful
feelings to those who proved my faithful friends in
the hour when most needed. I had risked much
for Canadians, and served them long, and as faith-
fully as I could, and now, when a fugitive, I found
them ready to risk life and property to aid me —
far more ready to risk the dungeon, by harbouring
me, than to accept Sir Francis Head's thousand
pounds. The sons and daughters of the Nelson
386

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

farmer kept a silent watch outside in the cold,
while I and my companion slept.

" We crossed Dundas Street about 11 o'clock
p. m., and the Twelve-Mile Creek I think, on a
fallen tree, about midnight. By four, on Saturday
morning, the ninth, we had reached Wellington
Square by the middle road. The farmers' dogs
began to bark loudly, the heavy tramp of a party
of horsemen was heard behind us — we retired a
little way into the woods — saw that the men were
armed — entered the road again — and half an hour
before twilight reached the door of an upright
magistrate, which an English boy at once opened
to us. I sent up my name, was requested to walk
upstairs (in the dark) and was told that the house,
barns, and every part of the premises had been
twice searched for me that morning, and that
MacNab's men, from Hamilton, were scouring the
country in all directions in hope of taking me.
I asked if I had the least chance to pass down
by the way of Burlington Beach, but was answered
that both roads were guarded, and that Dr. Rolph
was, by that time, safe in Lewiston.

"Believing it safest, we went behind our friend's
house to a thicket. He dressed himself, followed us,
gave a shrill whistle, which was answered, and
all three of us were greatly puzzled as to what
safe course I could possibly take. As my com-
panion was not known, and felt the chill of the
water and the fatigue, he was strongly advised

387

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

to seek shelter in a certain house not far off. He
did so, reached the frontier safely, and continued
for four months thereafter very ill.

" At dawn of day it began to snow, and, leaving
foot-marks behind me, I concluded to go to a
farm near by. Its owner thought I would be
quite safe in his barn, but I thought not. A pease-
rick, which the pigs had undermined all round,
stood on a high knoll, and this I chose for a
hiding-place. For ten or twelve days I had slept,
when I could get any sleep, in my clothes, and
my limbs had become so swollen that I had to
discard my boots and wear a pair of slippers ; my
feet were wet, I was very weary, and the cold and
drift annoyed me greatly. Breakfast I had had none,
and in due time Colonel McDonell, the high sheriff,
and his posse stood before me. House, barns, cellars,
and garret were searched, and I the while quietly
looking on. The colonel was afterwards second in
command to Sir Allan MacNab, opposite Navy
Island ; and when I lived in William Street, some
years ago,1 he called on me, and we had a hearty
laugh over his ineffectual exertions to catch a rebel
in 1837.

" When the coast seemed clear, my terrified host,
a wealthy Canadian, came up the hill as if to feed
his pigs, brought me two bottles of hot water for
my feet, a bottle of tea, and several slices of bread
and butter ; told me that the neighbourhood was

1 In 1844.

388

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

literally harassed with bodies of armed men in
search of me, and advised that I should leave that
place at dark, but where to go he could not tell me.
He knew, however, my intimate acquaintance with
the country for many miles round. Years thereafter
he visited me when in Monroe County Prison, and
much he wondered to see me there. After I had
left his premises he was arrested ; but he had power-
ful friends, gave bail, and the matter ended there.

" When night had set in, I knocked at the next
farmer's door ; a small boy who lived, I think, with
one of the brothers Chisholm (strong government
men, collectors, colonels, etc.), or who was their
nephew or other relative, came to me. I sent in
a private message by him, but the house had been
searched so often for me that the indwellers dreaded
consequences, and would not see me. The boy,
however, volunteered to go with me, and we pro-
ceeded by a by-path to the house of Mr. King, who
lived on the next farm to Colonel John Chisholm,
which was then the headquarters of the Tory militia.
The boy kept my secret ; I had supper with Mr.
King's family, rested for an hour, and then walked
with him toward my early residence, Dundas vil-
lage, at the head of Lake Ontario. We saw a small
party of armed men on the road, near the mills of
an Englishman, but they did not perceive us. Mr.
King is now dead, but the kind attention I met
with under his hospitable roof I shall never forget.
Why should such a people as I tried and proved

889

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

in those days ever know hardship, or suffer from
foreign or domestic misrule ?

" We went to the dwelling of an old friend, to
whom I stated that I thought I would now make
a more speedy, yet equally sure, progress on horse-
back. He risked at once, and that too most willingly,
not only his horse, but also the knowledge it might
convey that he had aided me. Mr. King returned
home, and I entered the village alone in the night,
and was hailed by some person who speedily passed
on. I wanted to take a friend with me, but durst
not go to wake him up ; there was a guard on duty
at the hotel, and I had to cross the creek close by
a house I had built in the public square. 1 then
made for the mountain country above Hamilton,
called at Lewis Homing's, but found a stranger
there, passed on to the dwellings of some old
Dutch friends, who told me that all the passes
were guarded — Terryberry's, Albion Mills, every
place.

" I got a fresh horse near Ancaster, from an old
comrade1 — a noble animal which did me excellent
service — pursued my journey, on a concession
parallel to the Mountain Road above Hamilton,
till I came near to a house well lighted up, and
where a guard was evidently posted to question
wayfarers. As it then seemed the safest course, I

1 Mr. Jacob Rymal. Mr. Mackenzie awoke him about midnight,
explained his situation, and asked if he could not let him have a
horse. "The best I have," was the unhesitating reply.

390

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

pulled down the worm fence, and tried to find my
way through the Binbrook and Glanford woods, a
hard task in the daylight, but far worse in the night
time. For several weary hours did I toil through
the primeval forest, leading my horse, and unable
to get out or to find a path. The barking of a
dog brought me, when near daylight, on the tenth,
to a solitary cottage, and its inhabitant, a negro,
pointed out to me the Twenty-Mile Creek, where
it was fordable. Before I had ridden a mile, I came
to a small hamlet, which I had not known before,
entered a house, and, to my surprise, was instantly
called by name, which, for once, I really hesitated
to own, not at all liking the manner of the farmer
who had addressed me, though I now know that
all was well intended.

" Quite carelessly, to all appearance, I remounted
my horse and rode off very leisurely, but turned
the first angle and then galloped on, turned again,
and galloped still faster. At some ten miles distance
perhaps, a farm newly cleared and situated in a
by-place seemed a safe haven. I entered the house,
called for breakfast, and found in the owner a stout
Hibernian farmer, an Orangeman from the north of
Ireland, with a wife and five fine curly-headed
children. The beam of a balance, marked ' Charles
Waters, Maker,' had been hung up in a conspicuous
place, and I soon ascertained that said Charles
resided in Montreal, and that my entertainer was
his brother.

391

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

" I took breakfast very much at my leisure, saw
my horse watered and fed with oats in the sheaf,
and then asked Mr. Waters to be so kind as to
put me on the way to the Mountain Eoad, opposite
Stony Creek, which he agreed to do, but evidently
with the utmost reluctance. After we had travelled
about a quarter of a mile in the woods, he turned
round at a right angle, and said that that was
the way. 'Not to the road,' said I. 'No, but
to Mr. Mclntyre, the magistrate,' said he. Here
we came to a full stop. He was stout and burly;
I, small and slight made. I soon found that he
had not even dreamed of me as a rebel ; his leading
idea was that I had a habit of borrowing other
men's horses without their express leave — in other
words, that I was a horse-thief. Horses had been
stolen ; and he thought he only did his duty by
carrying a doubtful case before the nearest justice,
whom I inferred to be one of MacNab's cronies, as
he was a new man of whom I had never before
heard, though a freeholder of that district and long
and intimately acquainted with its affairs.

" This was a real puzzle. Should I tell Waters
who I was, it was ten to one he would seize me
for the heavy reward, or out of mere party zeal
or prejudice. If I went before his neighbour, the
new made justice, he would doubtless know and
detain me on a charge of high treason. I asked
Mr. Waters to explain. He said that I had come,
in great haste, to his house on a December Sunday
392

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

morning, though it was on no public road, with
my clothes torn, my face badly scratched, and
my horse all in a foam ; that I had refused to
say who I was, or where I came from; had paid
him a dollar for a very humble breakfast, been
in no haste to leave, and was riding one of the
finest horses in Canada, making at the same time
for the frontier by the most unfrequented paths,
and that many horses had been recently borrowed.
My manner, he admitted, did not indicate any-
thing wrong, but why did I studiously conceal
my name and business ? And if all was right with
me, what had I to fear from a visit to the house of
the nearest magistrate ?

"On the Tuesday night, in the suburbs of
Toronto, when a needless panic had seized both
parties, Sheriff Jarvis left his horse in his haste — it
was one of the best in Canada, a beautiful animal —
and I rode him till Thursday, wearing the cap of
J. Latimer, one of my young men, my hat hav-
ing been knocked off in a skirmish in which one or
two of our men were shot. This bonnet rouge,
my torn homespun, sorry slippers, weary gait,
and unshaven beard, were assuredly not much
in keeping with the charger I was riding, and 1
had unfortunately given no reply whatever to
several of his and his good wife's home questions.
My chance to be tried and condemned in the hall
where I had often sat in judgment upon others,
and taken a share in the shapeless drudgery of

898

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

colonial legislation, was now seemingly very good —
but I did not quite despair.

"To escape from Waters in that dense forest
was entirely hopeless ; to blow out his brains, and
he acting quite conscientiously, with his five pretty
children at home awaiting his early return, I could
have done with ease, as far as opportunity went,
for he evidently had no suspicion of that, and
my pistol was now loaded and sure fire. Captain
Powell, when my prisoner ten days before, and
in no personal danger, had shot the brave Captain
Anderson dead, and thus left eight children father-
less. No matter; I could not do it, come what
might ; so I held a parley with my detainer, talked
to him about religion, the civil broils, Mackenzie,
party spirit, and Dr. Strachan ; and found to my
great surprise and real delight that, though averse
to the object of the revolt, he spoke of myself in
terms of good-will. Mr. McCabe, his next neigh-
bour, had lived near me in 1823, at Queenston,
and had spoken so well of myself and family to
him as to have interested him, though he had not
met me before.

" 1 I am an old magistrate,' said I, ' but at

present in a situation of some difficulty. If I can

satisfy you as to who I am, and why I am here,

would you desire to gain the price of any man's

blood ? ■ He seemed to shudder at the very idea of

such a thing. I then administered an oath to him,

with more solemnity than I had ever done when
394

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

acting judicially, he holding up his right hand as
we Irish and Scottish Presbyterians usually do.

"When he had ascertained my name, which
I showed him on my watch and seals, in my
pocket-book and on my linen, he expressed real
sorrow on account of the dangerous situation in
which I stood; pledged himself to keep silence
for twenty-four hours, as I requested ; directed
me how to get into the main road, and feelingly
urged me to accept his personal guidance to the
frontier. Farmer Waters had none of the Judas
blood in his veins. His innate sense of right led
him at once to the just conclusion to do to his
fellow-creature as he would be done by. I per-
ceived, from his remarks, that he had previously
associated with my name the idea of a much
larger and stouter man than I am.

" When I was fairly out of danger he told the
whole story to his neighbours. It was repeated
and spread broadcast, and he was soon seized and
taken to Hamilton, and was there thrown into
prison, but was afterwards released.

" When I was passing the houses of two men,
Kerr and Sidney, who were getting ready, I
supposed, to go to church, I asked some question
as to the road, again crossed the Twenty-Mile
Creek, and at length re-entered the mountain-
path a little below where a military guard was
then stationed. While in sight of this guard, I
moved on very slowly, as if going to meeting,

895

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

but afterward used the rowels to some advantage
in the way of propellers. Some persons whom I
passed on the road I knew, and some I did not.
Many whom I met evidently knew me, and well
was it for me that day that I had a good name.
I could have been arrested fifty times before I
reached Smith ville, had the governor's person and
proclamation been generally respected. As it was,
however, another unseen danger lurked close be-
hind me.

"A very popular Methodist preacher, once a
zealous friend, had taken a course of which I
greatly disapproved, and I had blamed him. Un-
kind words passed between us, through the press,
he, like myself, having the control of a journal
widely circulated. No doubt many of his readers
were affected thereby ; and to this, and not the
love of lucre, I have ascribed the conduct of the
two men whom I had interrogated as to the road.
I have since learned that they warned an armed
party, who immediately took horses and rode
after me. I perceived them when a third of a
mile off, after a part of Mr. Eastman's congre-
gation had passed me on their way home. I
thought it safer to endeavour to put my hunts-
men off the track, and on a false scent, than
to keep on ahead of them ; so I turned short
towards St. Catharines, when I got to Smithville,
and seemed to have taken that road down hill at
full speed. Instead of doing so, however, I turned
396

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

a corner, put up my horse very quickly in the
stable of a friendly Canadian, whose sire was a
United Empire Loyalist, entered his hospitable
abode, he being still at church, beheld my pursuers
interrogate a woman who had seen me pass and
then ride furiously onward by the St. Catharines
road, then went quietly to bed and rested for some
four hours, had a comfortable supper, with the
family, and what clothes I required. A trusty
companion (Samuel Chandler) was also ready to
mount his horse and accompany me the last forty
miles to Buffalo, should that attempt prove prac-
ticable.

" Samuel Chandler, a wagon-maker, resides in
the western states, but I do not now know where.
He was forty-eight years of age when he volun-
teered, without fee or reward, to see me safe to
Buffalo, had a wife and eleven children, and resided
in Chippewa. He is a native of Enfield, Conn., had
had no connection whatever with the civil broils in
the Canadas ; but when told, in strict confidence,
of the risks I ran, he preferred to hazard transport-
ation, or loss of life, by aiding my escape, to accept-
ing the freehold of eight thousand acres of land
which would have been the reward of any of my
betrayers. Other circumstances afterwards roused
his hostility to the government, and he joined the
party taken at the Short Hills. Of those who were
there captured Linus W. Miller, John Grant, John
Vernon, himself and others, were tried before Judge

397

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Jones at Niagara, sentenced to suffer death, but
banished instead to Van Diemen's Land. Chandler
soon escaped in a Yankee whaler, sailed round the
world, and when he reached New York, on his
return to his family (after I had got out of
Rochester prison), I was in no condition to aid
him, which I very unavailingly regretted. A more
trusty, faithful, brotherly-minded man I have never
met ; may Heaven reward Lord Durham's family
for saving his life !

" It was about eight o'clock on Sunday night,
the tenth, when Chandler and I left Smithville.
We turned our horses' heads toward Buffalo,
crossed the Twenty-Mile Creek, ventured to take
a comfortable supper with a friend, whose house
was on our way, crossed the Welland Canal and the
Chippewa River, stearing clear of the officials in
arms in those parts, and got safely into Crowland

before daylight. We soon awoke Mr. C and

left our horses in his pasture, and he immediately
accompanied us on our way to the Niagara River
on foot.

" On inquiry, he found that all the boats on the
river (except those at the ferries, which were well
guarded), had been seized and taken possession of
by the officers of government. There was but one
exception. Captain M'Afee, of Bertie, who resided
on the banks of the Niagara, opposite the head
of Grand Island, was believed to have kept one
of his boats locked up besides his carriages. I
398

MACKENZIE'S ESCAPE

hesitated not a moment in advising Mr. C

to state the difficulty I was in to him, in case he
had a boat, for, although he had no knowledge
of, or belief or participation in, the outbreak, yet
he was well known to be a strictly upright man,
benevolent, not covetous, a member of the Method-
ist Episcopal Church, very religious, and in all he
said or did, very sincere.

" The brothers De Witt are censured for giving
up to Charles II (who had been himself a fugitive),
and to a cruel death, three of his father's judges ;
but the poor and gallant Scotch Highlanders, whom
a mammoth bribe of £30,000 could not tempt to
betray the heir to the Crown, when a wandering
fugitive in the native land of his royal ancestors,
are held in honour. The Irish peasants who refused
to give up Lord Edward Fitzgerald to his country's
oppressors for gold, the poor sailors who enabled
Archibald Hamilton Rowan to escape from Ireland
and an untimely fate, with the proclaimed reward
on a handbill in their boat, and the three bold
Englishmen who saved the life of the doomed
Labedoyere, have the merited applause of an
admiring world. Are these noble citizens of Upper
and Lower Canada, whom wealth could not tempt
to give up, nor danger deter from aiding and sav-
ing their fellowmen, though many of them were
opposed to them in politics, and at a time of the
strongest political excitement — are they less de-
serving of the meed of public approbation ?

399

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

" Mr. Samuel M'Afee is now over sixty years of
age, and I think he is of the New Hampshire family
of that name who played their part like men in
1776. Our movement had proved a failure, and
he knew it. He was wealthy — had a large family
— and risked everything by assisting me ; yet he
did not hesitate, no, not even for a moment.

" As well as I can now remember, it was about
nine on Monday morning, the eleventh, when I
reached his farm, which was one of the finest on
the river; an excellent breakfast was prepared for
us, and I was much fatigued and also hungry. But
there was a military patrol on the river, and before
sitting down to the repast, I thought it safe to
step out and see if the coast was clear. Well for
me it was that I did so. Old Colonel Kerby, the
Custom House officer opposite Black Rock, and
his troop of mounted dragoons in their green
uniforms and with their carbines ready, were so
close upon us, riding up by th,e bank of the river,
that had I not then observed their approach, they
would have caught me at breakfast.

"Nine men out of ten, in such an emergency,
would have hesitated to assist me ; and to escape
by land was, at that time, evidently impossible.
Mr. M'Afee lost not a moment — his boat was
hauled across the road and launched in the stream
with all possible speed — and he and Chandler and
I were scarcely afloat in it, and out a little way
below the bank, when the old Tory colonel and
400

CONTINUED DISAFFECTION

his green-coated troop of horse, with their waving
plumes, were parading in front of Mr. M'Afee's
dwelling.

" How we escaped here, is to me almost a miracle.
I had resided long in the district, and was known
by everybody. A boat was in the river against
official orders ; it was near the shore ; and the car-
bines of the military, controlled by the collector,
would have compelled us to return or have killed
us for disobedience.

" The colonel assuredly did not see us, that was
evident ; he turned round at the moment to talk to
Mrs. M'Afee and her daughters, who were stand-
ing in the parterre in front of their house, full of
anxiety on our account. But of his companions, not
a few must have seen the whole movement, and
yet we were allowed to steer for the head of Grand
Island with all the expedition in our power, with-
out interruption ; nor was there a whisper said
about the matter for many months thereafter.

"In an hour we were safe on the American
shore ; and that night I slept under the venerable
Colonel Chapin's hospitable roof with a volunteer
guard."

The deep-seated and widespread feeling of dis-
content and dissatisfaction, engendered throughout
the province by the system of government which
provoked the rebellion, is remarked upon repeatedly
by Lord Durham in his Report. It shows how
formidable the movement might have become, how

401

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

difficult its suppression, and how disastrous the
consequences, if even a temporary success had been
gained by those who had raised the standard of
revolt. " It cannot, however, be doubted," said
Durham, " that the events of the past year have
greatly increased the difficulty of settling the
disorders of Upper Canada. A degree of discontent,
approaching, if not amounting to, disaffection, has
gained considerable ground. The causes of dis-
satisfaction continue to act on the minds of the
Reformers ; and their hope of redress, under the
present order of things, has been seriously dimin-
ished. The exasperation caused by the conflict
itself, the suspicions and terrors of that trying
period, and the use made by the triumphant party
of the power thrown into their hands, have height-
ened the passions which existed before. . . . A great
number of perfectly innocent individuals were
thrown into prison, and subjected to suspicion and
to the harassing proceedings instituted by magis-
trates whose political leanings were notoriously ad-
verse to them. Severe laws were passed, under colour
of which individuals, very generally esteemed, were
punished without any form of trial."1 "It cannot
be a matter of surprise that, in despair of any
sufficient remedies being provided by the imperial
government, many of the most enterprising colon-
ists of Upper Canada look to that bordering
country, in which no great industrial enterprise

1 Report, p. 72.

402

GENERAL DISCONTENT

ever feels neglect or experiences a check, and that
men the most attached to the existing form of
government would find some compensation in a
change whereby experience might bid them hope
that every existing obstacle would be speedily
removed, and each man's fortune share in the
progressive prosperity of a flourishing state."1 "A
dissatisfaction with the existing order of things,
produced by causes such as I have described,
necessarily extends to many who desire no change
in the political institutions of the province. Those
who most admire the form of the existing system,
wish to see it administered in a very different
mode. Men of all parties feel that the actual cir-
cumstances of the colony are such as to demand
the adoption of widely different measures from
any that have yet been pursued in reference to
them." 2

Referring to the "necessity for adopting some
extensive and decisive measure for the pacification
of Upper Canada," Lord Durham said : " It cannot
be denied, indeed, that the continuance of the
many practical grievances, which I have described
as subjects of complaints, and, above all, the deter-
mined resistance to such a system of responsible
government as would give the people a real control
over its own destinies, have, together with the
irritation caused by the late insurrection, induced a

1 Report, p. 81.

2 Ibid., p. 82.

408

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

large portion of the population to look with envy
at the material prosperity of their neighbours in
the United States, under a perfectly free and
eminently responsible government; and in despair
of obtaining such benefits, under their present
institutions, to desire the adoption of a republican
constitution, or even an incorporation with the
American union. ... I cannot but express my
belief that this is the last effort of their exhausted
patience, and that the disappointment of their
hopes, on the present occasion, will destroy forever
their expectation of good resulting from British
connection. I do not mean to say that they will
renew the rebellion, much less do I imagine that
they will array themselves in such force as will be
able to tear the government of their country from
the hands of the great military power which Great
Britain can bring against them. If now frustrated
in their expectations and kept in hopeless subjec-
tion to rulers irresponsible to the people, they will
at best only await, in sullen prudence, the con-
tingencies which may render the preservation of
the province dependent on the devoted loyalty
of the great mass of its population."1

Lord Durham was followed in the work of paci-
fication by Mr. Charles Poulett Thomson, bettei*
known as Lord Sydenham, Sir John Colborne
having acted as governor in the interval between
Lord Durham's retirement and Mr. Thomson's

1 Report, p. 111.

404

SYDENHAM, GOVERNOR-GENERAL

appointment. The bill for the union of the pro-
vinces, which was based on Lord Durham's Re-
port, had already been introduced by Lord John
Russell, but the imperial government, considering
it advisable to obtain the consent of the legislature
of Upper Canada, and of the Special Council of
Lower Canada, to the passage of the bill, Mr.
Thomson was appointed governor-general, and
despatched to Canada for the purpose, in the
first place, of obtaining such consent, and there-
after of organizing and administering the govern-
ment under the new system.1

Lord Sydenham's task in obtaining the assent
of the Upper Canada House of Assembly to the
union measure was not as easy as has sometimes
been represented. Although a committee of the
House of Assembly had, in 1838, declared in
favour of the proposed union,2 it is quite clear,
from statements made by Sydenham at the time,
that he encountered strong opposition from the

1 Lord John Russell subsequently introduced his bill a second
time in the session of 1840. It was entitled "An Act to Reunite
the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and for the Government
of Canada." It was assented to on July 23rd, 1840, but did not
take effect until February 10th, 1841. Mr. Thomson issued his procla-
mation on February 5th, 1841, and took the oath on that day as
governor-general, under the new Act, before Chief Justice Sir James
Stuart at Government House, Montreal. Hi9 title was Baron Syden-
ham, of Sydenham in the county of Kent, and of Toronto, in Canada.
Christie, History, Vol. v, pp. 357, 358.

2 Journals of the House of Assembly (1838), p. 282.

405

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Tory party in the assembly. These statements,
and his opinions as to the state of things in
Upper Canada at that juncture and previously,
which are found in his private correspondence,
possess special weight and value, not only from
the position and personality of the man himself,
but because, unlike Durham's commentary, they
are not expressed in the guarded or diplomatic
language of a State paper, but with the frank-
ness and sincerity which mark communications
from one friend to another. They touch, as will
be noticed, the question of the provocation for
the rebellion, the conduct of those concerned in
the movement, and other relevant matters.

Writing from Toronto on November 20th, 1839,
to a friend in England, Lord Sydenham, after
referring to the situation in Lower Canada, said :
" But in Upper Canada the case, as it appears to
me, is widely different. The state of things here
is far worse than I had expected. The country is
split into factions animated by the most deadly
hatred to each other. The people have got into
the habit of talking so much of separation that
they begin to believe in it. The constitutional
party is as bad or worse than the other, in spite
of all their professions of loyalty. The finances
are more deranged than we believed even in
England; the deficit £75,000 a year, more than
equal to the income. All public works suspended.
Emigration going on fast from the province. Every
406

SYDENHAM ON THE SITUATION

man's property worth only half what it was. When
I look to the state of government, and to the de-
partmental administration of the province, instead
of being surprised at the condition in which I find
it, I am only astonished it has endured so long.
I know that, much as I dislike Yankee institu-
tions and rule, I would not have fought against
them, which thousands of these poor fellows, whom
the Compact call 'rebels,' did, if it was only to
keep up such a government as they got." l

Speaking of obtaining the assent of the Upper
Canada House of Assembly to the union, Lord
Sydenham, in a letter of December 24th, 1839,
said : " It is impossible to describe to you the
difficulties I have had to contend with to get
this matter settled as it has been in the assembly.
I owe my success altogether to the confidence
which the Reform party have reposed in me per-
sonally, and to the generous manner in which
they have acted with me. A dissolution would
have been greatly to their advantage, because
there is no doubt they would have had a great
majority in the next assembly; and it must have
been most galling to them to see me, as well as
themselves, opposed by a number of the place-
holders without my turning them out. But they
gave up all these considerations (and in this
country where the feeling of hatred to the
Family Compact is intense, they are not light),

1 This letter appears in Scrope's Life of Lord Sydenham, page 148.

407

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

and went gallantly through with me to the
end."1

It was on September 3rd, 1841, in the first
session of the first parliament of Canada, under
the Union Act of 1840, and during Lord Syden-
ham's administration, that the principle of respon-
sible government, so long and earnestly contended
for by Mackenzie, was formally and distinctly
affirmed by the House of Assembly. The Hon.
Robert Baldwin, who was a member of Lord
Sydenham's executive council as originally con-
stituted, had withdrawn from it, on the day the
legislature was convened, owing to a disagreement
with His Excellency as to the political composition
of the council.2 On August 5th, he moved for the
production of copies of Lord John Russell's despat-
ches and other papers on the subject of responsible
government. The return of these documents was
made on August 20th, and, on September 3rd, he
moved a series of resolutions dealing with that ques-
tion. A second series of resolutions was moved in
amendment by the Hon. S. B. Harrison,3 the provin-

1 Scrope's Life of Lord Sydenham, p. 154.

9 Baldwin asked for the dismissal of Messrs. Draper, Sullivan,
Day and Ogden, and the substitution of representative Reformers from
Lower Canada. Lord Sydenham thought the request was untimely and
impolitic, the French-Canadians having been strong opponents of the
union. Poulett Scrope, Sydenham's biographer, is severe in his censure
of Baldwin for his conduct in this matter.

* Mr. Harrison, on his retirement from the legislature, was
appointed judge of the County Court of the county of York.

408

RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT

cial secretary, and these were adopted. The third
amendment was as follows : "That in order to pre-
serve between the different branches of the provin-
cial parliament that harmony which is essential to
the peace, welfare and good government of the pro-
vince, the chief advisers of the representative of the
sovereign, constituting a provincial administration
under him, ought to be men possessed of the con-
fidence of the representatives of the people, thus
affording a guarantee that the well-understood
wishes and interests of the people, which our
gracious sovereign has declared shall be the rule
of the provincial government, will, on all occasions,
be faithfully represented and advocated."1

The resolutions which were adopted are generally
admitted to have been drafted by Lord Sydenham
himself. Two days afterwards he was fatally injured
by a fall from his horse, and died on September
19th. It is to Lord Sydenham's credit, that he
"performed the function of capitulation on the
part of the Crown with a good grace, and fairly
smoothed the transition" to a happier day.

1 For the full text of the resolutions, see Journals of the Legislative
Assembly, Vol. i, September 3rd, 1841, pp. 480, 481.

409

CHAPTER XIII

FRONTIER WARFARE

BEFORE the plans of the Upper Canadian in-
surgents were known, an influential meet-
ing of the citizens of Buffalo, a frontier city on
Lake Erie in the state of New York, to express
sympathy with the Canadian revolution, was held.
At this meeting, which took place on December
5th, an executive committee of thirteen, with Dr.
E. Johnson at its head, was formed for the pur-
pose of " calling future meetings in relation to the
affairs of the Canadas, and to adopt such measures
as might be called for by public opinion." On the
eighth a similar demonstration took place at Oswe-
go. On December 11th, the day Mackenzie had ar-
rived on the south side of the frontier line, the
largest public meeting ever seen in that city was
held in the theatre at Buffalo to express sym-
pathy with the Canadians.

On the following night, true to a promise made
by Dr. Chapin on his behalf, Mackenzie appeared
at the Buffalo theatre, where he addressed a large
and enthusiastic audience. He explained the causes
of the revolt, and argued that Canada was suffer-
ing all those evils which caused the thirteen
colonies, now become the United States, to throw
off their allegiance to England, a country of

411

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

which the government at home was good, but
uniformly bad abroad.

Before the meeting closed, Thomas Jefferson
Sutherland stated his intention of going to Canada
as a volunteer to assist the Canadians to obtain
their independence ; and he asked if any others
present were willing to join him. At his request,
a person in the meeting asked the people present
to contribute arms and munitions of war for the
benefit of the people of Canada. In accordance
with this suggestion, contributions of arms were
made. Sutherland claimed the conception of the
plan of occupying Navy Island with a military
force; on December 19th, 1839, he made oath
that he set about carrying this project into effect
without the privity or co-operation of Mackenzie.
He added that Mackenzie only joined the Navy
Island expedition out of motives of personal
safety. Mackenzie had not been long in Buffalo
before he was introduced to Rensellaer Van Ren-
sellaer by some of the principal people of the
place. They represented him as a cadet of West
Point, and as having gained experience under
Bolivar, in South America, both of which repre-
sentations proved incorrect. He was a son of
General Van Rensellaer of Albany, and belonged
to the influential family of that name in the state
of New York. Sutherland soon showed that he was
totally wanting in discretion, by publicly recruit-
ing for volunteers for Canada, issuing a public
412

VAN RENSELLAER

call for a military meeting, and marching through
the streets to the sound of martial music. Mac-
kenzie, seeing the folly of the procedure, begged
Sutherland to desist ; but it was to no purpose.

At that time, it was thought that Dr. Dun-
combe was at the head of a large force in the
western district of Upper Canada ; and Macken-
zie wished the friends of the Canadian insurgents
to go over to Fort Erie, on the Canadian side,
and there organize a force to join that of Dun-
combe, or act separately, if that should appear
to be the best course. But he was overruled ; and
it was determined that the refugees and their
friends should take up a position on Navy Island.
This island, awarded to England by the Treaty of
Ghent, is situated in the Niagara River, a short
distance above the world-renowned cataract. A
swift current sweeps past the island on either
side, on its way to the great Niagara Falls below;
but its navigation at that point is practicable
for steamers or row boats. Van Rensellaer had
been urged by Sutherland to take command of
the patriot forces ; Sutherland, being previously
unknown to Van Rensellaer, had brought a letter
of introduction from Mr. Taylor, a previous
Speaker of one branch of the legislature of New
York. He was told that he would derive his
authority from Dr. Rolph and Mackenzie ; and
he was to be invested with the entire military
command. Van Rensellaer 's own account of the

418

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

reasons that induced him to accept this position,
represent him as wishing the success of the cause
of republicanism, and desirous of imitating the
example of Sam Houston in Texas.

In the meantime, it became known that Gover-
nor Head was about to make a requisition upon
Governor Marcy, of the state of New York, for
the extradition of Mackenzie as a fugitive from
justice for alleged crimes growing out of the
incidents of the insurrection. Dr. Bethune was
selected as the bearer of the despatch in which
this demand was made. Governor Marcy declined
to comply with the application, on the ground
that the offences charged, being incidents of the
revolt, were merged in the larger imputed crime
of treason, a political offence excepted by the
laws of the state of New York from those for
which fugitives could be surrendered. Attorney-
General Beardsley, at the request of Governor
Marcy, drew up an elaborate opinion in which
the inadmissibility of the demand was shown.1

1 The following is the copy of a letter sent by Governor Marcy
to the Hon. John Forsyth, United States secretary of state, referring
to this extraordinary attempt on the part of Sir Francis Bond Head
and the official party to get Mackenzie into their power. The letter is
dated Albany, December 30th, 1837:

"As I have had some official correspondence with the governor
of Upper Canada in relation to the disturbances in that province,
and have disposed of some applications which have been made to
me for my interference in a manner that may not be satisfactory
to him, I have deemed it my duty to put you in possession of the
facts, that you may judge of the course I have pursued. Having

414

EFFORTS AT EXTRADITION

On December 13th, Van Rensellaer and Mac-
kenzie landed on Navy Island. They called at
Whitehaven, on Grand Island, ten miles from the
city of Buffalo, on the way. There they expected
to find assembled the volunteers by whom they
were to be accompanied, and of whose numbers,
enthusiasm, and equipment so much had been said.
These volunteers had been represented as two hun-

ascertained that considerable excitement existed among a portion
of the citizens of this state in relation to the movements in the
Canadas, I issued a proclamation apprising them of their duty to
the government, and warning them against a course of proceeding
incompatible to our neutral and friendly relations with Great
Britain. I caused this proclamation to be published, not only in
the state paper, but in the counties bordering on the British provinces.
His Excellency Lieutenant-Governor Head made a request on me
to deliver to the civil authorities of Upper Canada William L.
Mackenzie as a fugitive from justice. The crimes imputed to him
were murder, robbery and arson. I herewith send you copies of
the affidavits which accompanied the governor's request. Besides
these affidavits, he transmitted sundry proclamations and other
printed documents, but I do not, however, think it necessary to
furnish you with copies thereof. It appeared quite evident that
the crimes with which Mackenzie was charged resulted from the
revolt which had taken place in that province. You will perceive
by the laws of this state, referred to in the opinion of the attorney-
general, a copy of which is herewith transmitted, that the govern-
ment is not authorized to deliver up a fugitive fleeing from a
foreign country charged with treason. Though Mackenzie was not
charged with treason, it is very evident that that was the crime
for which he would have been tried if he had been given up. The
other offences with which he was charged were the incidents of
the imputed treason and were merged in it.

"I also transmit herewith a copy of my letter to His Excellency
the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, announcing my decision
on the application which he had made to me for Mackenzie as a
fugitive from justice."

415

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

dred and fifty strong, and as having two pieces of
artillery and some four hundred and fifty stand-of-
arms, besides provisions and munitions in abundance.
The surprise both of Mackenzie and Van Rensel-
laer must have been great when they found only
twenty-four volunteers waiting to accompany them.

A provisional government, of which Mackenzie
was president, was organized on the island. A pro-
clamation, dated Navy Island, December 13th,
1837, was issued by Mackenzie stating the objects
which the attempted revolution was designed to
secure, and promising three hundred acres of public
land to every volunteer who joined the patriot
standard. A few days after, another proclamation
was issued adding to the proffered bounty a hun-
dred dollars in silver, payable by May 1st, 1838.
The fulfilment of the promises held out in these
proclamations was, however, dependent upon the
success of the cause in which the volunteers were
to fight.

The provisional government issued promises to
pay in sums of one and ten dollars each. They are
said to have been freely taken on the American
side ; but what amount was issued I cannot ascer-
tain. Dr. Rolph was appointed, on December 28th,
" to receive all the moneys which may be subscribed
within the United States on behalf of the Canadian
patriots struggling to obtain the independence of
their country;" but he declined to act in that
capacity.
416

NAVY ISLAND

The handful of men, who first took possession of
Navy Island, gradually increased to between five
hundred and six hundred. From December 15th to
the 31st the majority of those present were British
subjects. After that date, the American element
was probably in the ascendant. The arms and pro-
visions were chiefly obtained from the States. The
rolls of names have been preserved, with a partial
diary of occurrences.

Van Rensellaer's conduct, while on the island,
has been the subject of much obloquy. While his
bravery is admitted, his intemperance ruined the
prospects of the patriots. Having the entire military
power in his hands, he chose to keep his plans to
himself, and his refusal to act or explain his inten-
tions finally exhausted the patience of his men. The
latter were anxious to cross to the mainland.

A Loyalist force, at first under Colonel Cameron,
and afterwards under Colonel MacNab, appeared
on the Chippewa side, and a bombardment com-
menced. The fire of the Loyalist cannon and mortars,
kept up day after day, was almost entirely harm-
less, only one man on the island being killed by it.
The extent of the mischief done by the patriots
was greater because they were not baffled by woods
on the mainland, where the enemy was encountered.
The men became impatient under the ineffectual
efforts they were making ; and Van Rensellaer was
repeatedly urged to lead them to the enemy who
neglected to come to them. In reply to these

417

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

importunities, he would answer that when his
plans were complete he would announce them ;
that in the meantime it was for the men to hold
themselves ready to execute his orders.

What gave courage to the patriots was the
belief that the moment they crossed over to
the mainland, they would be joined by large
numbers of the population anxious to revolutionize
the government. Chandler was sent over to dis-
tribute proclamations and ascertain the feeling
of the country. He returned to the island with
the report that a large majority of the population
was ripe for revolt, and only awaiting assistance
to fly to arms. Hastings was far from being one
of the most disloyal counties in Upper Canada;
and when it furnished nearly five hundred sworn
rebels, some idea may be formed of the extent to
which the revolutionary feeling had infected the
population. With such information as this in his
hands, a man of Mackenzie's impetuous tempera-
ment was not likely to be at ease under the
inaction to which Van Rensellaer, as commander-
in-chief, doomed the men under his control.

About this time, Thomas J. Sutherland was
starting for the west. A letter to T. Dufort, then
at Detroit, was written assigning to Sutherland the
command of any force at that point likely to co-
operate with those on Navy Island, but it was not
sent. It cannot be now stated who signed the letter.
The original is in Mackenzie's handwriting, and its
418

BURNING OF THE "CAROLINE"

purport is that, "for the purpose of co-operating
with the patriots now on this island in their in-
tended descent upon Canada, and of giving great
strength and more full effect to their plan of
operations for the deliverance of that great country
from the horrors of despotism, the bearer proceeds
immediately to Detroit to take command of any
army which his efforts and those of his friends may
raise for the invasion of Canada." But the signa-
ture to the original is cut off, and the document
is still among Mackenzie's papers.

Up to December 29th, the volunteers on Navy
Island had increased slowly, and they did not
yet number quite two hundred. About an hour
after midnight of that day, an event occurred
which, for some time, threatened to produce war
between England and the United States. " We
observed," says Mackenzie, "about one o'clock, a.m.,
a fire burning on the American side of the river,
in the direction of the small tavern and old store-
house commonly called Schlosser. Its volume
gradually enlarged, and many were our conjectures
concerning it. At length the mass of flame was
distinctly perceived to move upon the waters, and
approach the rapids and the middle of the river
above the falls. Swiftly and beautifully it glided
along, yet more rapid in its onward course as it
neared the fathomless gulf into which it vanished
in a moment amid the surrounding darkness. This
was the ill-fated steamboat Caroline."

419

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Colonel MacNab, in ordering the vessel to be
cut out, acted under the misapprehension that
she had been purchased by what he called
the "pirates" and rebels on Navy Island. He
determined to destroy her on the night of
the twenty-ninth, it having been reported to him
that she had been seen landing a cannon and
several armed men that day on Navy Island.
Captain Drew, R.N., was instructed to collect a
force of volunteers to burn, sink, or destroy the ves-
sel. The expedition comprised seven boats, with an
average of about nine men each, armed with pis-
tols, cutlasses, and boarding pikes. When they
were opposite Navy Island, Captain Drew ordered
the men to rest on their oars, and said to them,
" The steamboat is our object ; follow me." He
soon discovered that she was at the wharf at
Schlosser, on the United States side of the
Niagara River. The boats went silently towards
the fated vessel, and do not appear to have been
discovered till within a few yards of her. The
hands belonging to the steamer had gone to
Niagara Falls that night, and William Wells, the
owner, had allowed strangers — two of whom were
sailors — to occupy their berths till their return.
The hands came back at twelve ; but the stran-
gers do not appear to have left before the attack-
ing party arrived. The crew of the steamer, which
was only of forty-six tons measurement, consisted
of two men and a black boy. They were surprised
420

BURNING OF THE "CAROLINE"

while asleep, and having scarcely any other arms
on board besides a piece which was discharged by
the sentinel on the approach of the boats, hardly
any resistance was offered. In a couple of minutes
the vessel was in possession of the assailing party ;
and, in the fray that took place on deck, five or
six persons were killed. By the orders of Captain
Drew, Lieutenant Elmsley and some of the men
landed on the American shore, and cut the vessel
from her moorings previous to setting fire to her,
in order to prevent the destruction of other pro-
perty by the spreading of the flames. A lamp was
placed in a large basket used for carrying Indian
corn, and the cross-bars of the windows torn off and
placed above the lamp, which set them on fire.
The vessel was then towed out by the boats from
the wharf till she was under the influence of the
current, and was then abandoned.

Under all the circumstances, the right of the
British authorities to destroy the Caroline, even
by the invasion of American territory, cannot be
successfully disputed. The refugees had been se-
duced by American citizens into abusing the right
of asylum ; and they found among those citizens
a large number who had joined their standard and
engaged in a war against a nation with whom their
own government was at peace. The executive gov-
ernment was not armed with legal powers neces-
sary to restrain its own citizens ; but it had not been
entirely inactive. Two days after, the meeting of

421

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

sympathizers was held at Buffalo, Mr. Benton,
district attorney for northern New York, was offici-
ally instructed to watch and prosecute all violators
of the neutrality laws. At the same time, Mr.
Forsyth, secretary of state, by direction of the Pre-
sident, called the attention of Governor Marcy, of
the state of New York, to the contest, and asked
his prompt interference to arrest the parties con-
cerned, if any enterprise of a hostile nature should
be undertaken in the state of New York against a
foreign power in amity with the United States.
Similar letters were, on the same day, addressed to
the governors of Michigan and Vermont, within the
borders of which states some of the Lower Cana-
dian insurgents, after the defeat at St. Charles, had
taken up their quarters. But the destruction of the
Caroline added to the sympathy for the cause of
revolution in Canada an almost uncontrollable in-
dignation at the invasion of American territory,
which all classes of Americans joined in represent-
ing as unwarranted by the law of nations, and not
justified by the circumstances of the case. The
President informed Congress that a demand for
reparation would be made ; public meetings were
held to denounce what was considered a wanton
outrage ; the press aided in inflaming the public
excitement; and it was said that, when General
Burt had collected from one thousand five hundred
to two thousand militiamen to guard the frontier
of New York State, it was with the greatest diffi-
422

STRAINED RELATIONS

culty they could be restrained from going over
to Navy Island to join the insurgents and sym-
pathizers collected there.

However justifiable the destruction of the Caro-
line may have been in the eye of international law,
it was an act of great rashness. A militia colonel,
without the least authority from his superiors, had
ordered the invasion of the territory of a nation
with whom his government was at peace, and when
that nation was using efforts, not very successful
it must be confessed, to maintain neutrality in a
contest in which they were in no way concerned.
The British government assumed the responsibility
of the act ; and, with a degree of haste that was
justly censured at the time, conferred the honour
of knighthood on Colonel MacNab before the
reclamation of the American government had been
disposed of. The Upper Canada House of Assembly
tendered its thanks to the men engaged in the
destruction of the Caroline, and presented swords
to Colonel MacNab and Captain Drew.

President Van Buren seems to have been sincerely
anxious to avoid a war with England ; and it re-
quired all his address to prevent the Caroline
massacre from interrupting the friendly relations
of the two countries. The demand upon England
for " reparation and atonement " was under con-
sideration for two years and a half before it was
disposed of. In the meantime, Alexander McLeod
was arrested on a charge of having murdered Amos

423

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Durfee, whose body was left on American territory
at Schlosser, the night the Cai~oline was cut out.
While the whole question was still open, the British
government demanded his " immediate release."
The demand was refused ; and McLeod was put
upon his trial in the Circuit Court of the state of
New York, at Utica, in October, 1841. The trial
commenced on the fourth, and lasted eight days.
Whether McLeod was guilty or innocent — the
jury declared him not guilty — it must be admitted
that many a man has been hanged upon much
weaker evidence than that which was produced
against him. The verdict of not guilty probably
prevented a war between England and the United
States.

Mrs. Mackenzie was the only female who spent
any length of time on Navy Island. She arrived
there a few hours before the destruction of the
Caroline, and remained nearly a fortnight with her
husband, when ill-health obliged her to leave.
Mackenzie accompanied her to the house of Captain
Appleby, Buffalo, and while on his way he was
arrested, in the railway car, by the United States
marshal for a breach of the neutrality laws. He
entered into recognizance in five thousand dollars
for his appearance, and returned to the island the
next morning, where he remained till General
Van Rensellaer announced his intention to evacu-
ate it with the force under his command, which
he did on January 13th. The Buffalo committee
424

DR. DUNCOMBES FORCE

of thirteen seems to have had more power than the
provisional government, for the question of evacu-
ating the island was decided by them.

When the patriots took possession of Navy
Island, they expected soon to be able to cross
over to the mainland and join Dr. Duncombe's
forces in the west. The doctor, who had been in
constant correspondence with the Lower Canadian
patriots, had under his command between three and
four hundred men ; but a large number of them
were without arms. They were assembled at Brant-
ford, whither Colonel MacNab, with a detachment
of about three hundred and sixty men, repaired.
On his approach, Dr. Duncombe retreated to a
place called Scotland. Colonel MacNab was re-
inforced at Brantford by one hundred and fifty
volunteers and one hundred Indians, under com-
mand of Captain Kerr. When a plan of attacking
the insurgents simultaneously at three points had
been agreed upon, and was to have been executed
next morning, Dr. Duncombe retreated. He told
the men that Mackenzie had been defeated near
Toronto, and that they had better disperse. In the
meantime, Colonel MacNab, learning of the antici-
pated retreat, despatched messengers to Simcoe,
Woodstock, and London, requesting all the vol-
unteers that could be mustered to march down and
intercept the rebels. On December 14th, while at
Scotland, Duncombe's force was increased by about
one thousand additional volunteers. Hundreds more

425

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

had been expected to join him from the neighbour-
hood of St. Thomas and other places in the west. Here
Colonel MacNab seized all Duncombe's papers, as
well as those of Eliakim Malcolm, and took several
prisoners, whom he sent under an escort to Hamil-
ton. In spite of the retreat of Duncombe, and the
dispersion of his men, Colonel MacNab sent to the
governor a strong recommendation to sanction the
raising of volunteer companies of one hundred and
fifty men each. While at Scotland, deputations of
insurgents visited him offering to surrender their
arms, take the oath of allegiance, and, if necessary,
form part of his force. In other places large numbers
of undetected rebels, when they found the tide
turning against them, joined the loyal forces ; so
that the number of volunteers was no proof of the
popularity of the government. At a place called
Sodom, in the township of Norwich, many of Dun-
combe's men surrendered themselves to Colonel
MacNab, who, with a degree of humanity that
reflected credit upon him, after receiving what arms
they had, permitted them to return to their homes
on condition that they should again surrender them-
selves should His Excellency not extend the royal
clemency to them. Some of the ringleaders were
sent to London, under an escort, for trial, and
Joshua Guilam Doan, for whose apprehension a
reward had been offered, was executed there on
February 6th, 1839. On December 19th, 1837,
Colonel MacNab received a report that consider-
426

ATTACK ON FORT MALDEN

able disaffection prevailed in the western district,
particularly in the neighbourhood of Sandwich. But
the insurrection was put down in the western part
of the province without a shot being fired.

General Sutherland left Navy Island for De-
troit, where he found Henry S. Handy, of Illinois,
in charge of the " Patriot Army of the North-
West" as commander-in-chief. The governor of
Michigan does not seem to have been unfriendly
to their plans, which were to attack Fort Maiden
at Amherstburg and to seize the public stores at
Sandwich and Windsor. Thomas Dufort had been
instrumental in getting a council of war together,
at the instance of Bidwell, who, in the previous
November, had urged him to proceed to Michigan
and secure assistance, and he so far succeeded as
to get some of the leading men in that state to
form a council of war, which lent all the aid in
their power to a scheme of co-operation with the
patriots. Men and arms were secured, and also
schooners for their transport, but serious dissen-
sions between Handy and Sutherland, treachery,
lack of judgment, inexperience and misadventures
combined to render the expedition futile. From
one of the schooners General Theller fired a shot
from a nine-pounder into Amherstburg, instead
of at the Fort, without even demanding a sur-
render of the place, and then retired. General
Sutherland, who was in charge of another schooner
with sixty volunteers, landed his force on Bois

427

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Blanc Island opposite Fort Maiden, and issued a
proclamation to the citizens of Upper Canada.
The schooner Anne with arms, munitions and
troops on board, came to his assistance, but being
insufficiently rigged, drifted on the Canadian shore,
where she was beached in three feet of water.
A brisk fire was opened on her by the Royalist
troops, who later boarded and captured the vessel.

Sutherland, on returning to the mainland, was
arrested in Detroit, but Handy continued to drill
men on Sugar Island until the failure of supplies,
and ice starting to come down the river, he was
forced him to ask and obtain the friendly offices of
the governor of Michigan to take his troops back to
Detroit. A later attempt to renew the attack on
Fort Maiden, with arms which the militia of De-
troit stacked in the outer porch of the Detroit
City Hall, where Handy 's men might get them,
was put an end to by the United States troops
under General Brady.

A few weeks after these events, on a cold night
in February, a patriot force under Colonel Vree-
land crossed the river to Windsor with only forty -
three firelocks, but the expedition was, on the
twenty-fifth of the month, put to flight by a force
of British regulars.

The refugees from Canada were frequently in

danger from secret enemies or private assassins.

On January 21st, 1838, Van Rensellaer wrote from

Buffalo to Mackenzie, who was in Rochester, to

428

HICKORY ISLAND

warn him that there were desperadoes in the for-
mer city whose object was to assassinate him.

Soon after they left Navy Island, Mackenzie
and Van Rensellaer found it impossible to continue
work together. In the month of February, an ex-
pedition was planned for the purpose of making
a descent upon Kingston. Van Rensellaer claimed
to have originated the intended movement. How-
ever this may be, he and Mackenzie were playing
at cross-purposes, and the latter decided to have
nothing to do with the expedition, if it was to be
directed by Van Rensellaer.

It had been arranged, by correspondence carried
on by Mackenzie, that a rising should take place
in Canada when the expedition crossed. Near
the end of February, Van Rensellaer crossed from
French Creek, a village situated on the American
side of the St. Lawrence a short distance below
Kingston, to Hickory Island, about two miles from
Gananoque, with a force that has been variously
stated at from fifteen to twenty-five hundred men.
Van Rensellaer, while here, kept his bed in such
a state of intoxication that he could not give an
intelligent answer to any question put to him.
The men, disgusted or alarmed, began to move off
in squads, and, when all chance of success had
been lost, a council of war was held, and it was
determined to retreat. Van Rensellaer reported that
the morning after the island was evacuated, the
Loyalists landed upon it two hundred strong.

429

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Van Rensellaer by way, it would seem, of ac-
counting for his own failure, published a letter,
dated Albany, March 29th, 1838, in which he
blamed Mackenzie for having interfered with his
plans. That letter contained accusations against
Mackenzie which Van Rensellaer himself afterwards
admitted to be unjust. In an unpublished letter
addressed to a Mr. McMahon, and dated Albany,
February 24th, 1840, he says : " Since I have had
time for reflection, for arriving at correct infor-
mation, and for weighing dispassionately circum-
stances which led me to an unjust conclusion while
penning my statement, although I am' yet of
opinion that he has committed errors — and who
has not? — I am bound as a man of honour to
admit that all my charges, whether expressed or
implied, against his moral integrity or honesty of
purpose, are, as far as my present knowledge and
information extend, incorrect." After which con-
fession he exclaims, " I am mightily relieved."

Soon after this, General McLeod despatched Col-
onel Seward with about four hundred men to Point
au Pele' Island. Subsequently he received a despatch
from Colonel Bradley, informing him that Seward's
force had been defeated, with a loss of fifteen or
twenty missing, and had retreated to the American
shore. " The loss of the enemy," says McLeod, in
an unpublished letter, " is fifty or sixty, and a great
number wounded." The Loyalist troops were sup-
ported by cavalry and artillery, and one of the
430

POINT AU PELE ISLAND

patriot colonels attributed their retreat principally
to want of artillery. Nine prisoners were taken by
the British, among whom was General Sutherland.
He was not taken on the island, and his trial was
afterwards declared illegal by the British govern-
ment and his release ordered. He was, however,
kept in prison for a long time.

From this western frontier a combination of great
force, extending over the two Canadas, was soon
to be made, and but for the occurrence of an acci-
dent, it is impossible to say what the result might
have been.

431

CHAPTER XIV

AFTER THE REBELLION

WHILE the abortive expeditions of Bois Blanc
and Point au Pele* were in progress, Mac-
kenzie was sounding the public feeling in other
places. Soon after leaving Navy Island he visited
some of the patriot leaders of Lower Canada at
Plattsburg, and went to New York, Philadelphia,
and other places.

When the question of evacuating Navy Island
was before the Buffalo committee of thirteen,1 Mac-
kenzie had become impressed with what he con-
ceived to be the necessity of establishing a public
journal to express the views of the patriots in
Canada and their friends in the United States.
The project was finally carried out by himself. On
April 17th the prospectus of Mackenzie's Gazette
was published, and the first number of the paper
made its appearance on May 12th, 1838, in New
York, and was continued till the close of 1840.
During the greater part of this time the paper was
published in Rochester, a frontier city on the
Genesee River. To establish a newspaper, under
the circumstances, appealing chiefly to the public

1 On this committee were Dr. Johnson, a former mayor of
Buffalo, Mr. Seymour, master in chancery, Mr. Macy, Mr. Wilkinson,
and other local celebrities.

433

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

interest on a single question, must have been up-
hill work.

In March, steps were taken to organize the
Canadian refugees. At a meeting of some of these
persons held at Lockport, state of New York, on
March 19th, 1838, a committee was formed to
ascertain the numbers, location, and condition of
the Canadian refugees in the States, and to draw
up articles of association, by " means of which their
sufferings might be mitigated, and a redress of
their grievances obtained," and "to adopt such
other measures as, in their discretion, may best
conduce to their welfare." This organization was
called the " Canadian Refugee Relief Association."
It was resolved to form branch unions and to send
agents of the association through the country. Dr.
McKenzie, formerly of Hamilton, was president of
the association, and all correspondence was ordered
to be directed to him at Lockport. Mackenzie was
not present at the meeting. This association pro
ceeded to the execution of schemes in which he
took no part, and in which he was in no way
concerned, either by advising or otherwise. It will
hereafter be seen that several of the members of
this committee were personally engaged in the ill-
advised Short Hills expedition ; and at least one
of them appears to have been concerned in the
destruction of the steamer Sir Robert Peel, in
which twelve of them are said to have been en-
gaged.

434

LOUNT AND MATHEWS

On April 12th, 1838, Samuel Lount and Peter
Mathews, the first of the victims of the rebellion,
were executed at Toronto for high treason. Lord
Glenelg, hearing that there was a disposition on
the part of the local officials in Canada to treat
with undue severity persons who had been con-
cerned in the revolt, remonstrated against such a
course being pursued. But Sir George Arthur,
who, like his predecessor in the governorship of
Upper Canada, had fallen in with the views of
the Family Compact and imbibed some of their
political passions, failed to carry out his instruc-
tions to use his influence to prevent the adoption
of extreme measures. The executive council deter-
mined to interpose their harsh decision to prevent
the possibility of the royal clemency saving Lount
and Mathews from a death upon the gallows.
" Petitions," Sir George Arthur admits, " signed
by not less than eight thousand persons, have
been presented in their favour within the last three
or four days." Sir Francis had led them into the
trap, had encouraged the rebellion when it was
his duty to take measures to suppress it in its
incipient stages, and there can be but one name
for the execution of men whom the executive
had enticed into the commission of the crime for
which they were made to suffer death. There is
reason to believe that Lount could have purchased
his life by putting the government in possession
of evidence that might have tended to place others

435

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

in the position he occupied ; but he resolutely re-
fused to accept it on such terms; and, instead of
blaming others for his fate, continued to the last
to express fervent wishes for the success of the
cause in which he offered up his life.

Much has been said about the salutary effects
of the execution of these men, as an example
to others. Instead of striking awe into men's
minds, the effect was sometimes to produce a
feeling of revenge. I find a remarkable example
of this in the case of one of Lount's friends,
who, after he had been at the Short Hills ex-
pedition, distinctly states : " I have been doing
all in my power, ever since, to avenge the blood
of Lount and support the cause he died for."1

xIn 1903 there was erected in the Necropolis, Toronto, by the
" Friends and Sympathizers" of William Lount and Peter Mathews,
a gray granite monument, surmounted by a broken column, on
which is inscribed the following: —

" Samuel Lount was the eldest son of the late Gabriel Lount,
an Englishman who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the middle of
the eighteenth century, and 'of Philadelphia Hughes his wife, a
Quakeress. He emigrated to Upper Canada and settled near New-
market, in the county of York, in 1811. In 1834 he represented
the county of Simcoe in the Upper Canada legislature, and served
two years. In 1836 he became a candidate again, and was defeated
by corrupt practices used by his political opponents. A petition of
eight thousand people asked for a reprieve, which was refused. He
lived a patriot and died for popular rights.

"Peter Mathews was the son of Peter Mathews, Sr., a United
Empire Loyalist, who fought on the British side in the American
Revolutionary War, and at its close settled with his wife and family in
the townsite of Pickering in the (then) county of York. Peter Mathews,
the son, belonged to Brock's volunteers during the War of 1812

436

REVOLUTIONARY PLANS

A number of other political prisoners, under
sentence of death at Toronto, had their sentences
commuted to transportation for life ; and they, with
others who were to be banished without trial, were
sent to Fort Henry, Kingston, for safe keeping,
till they could be conveyed to Van Diemen's Land.
From Fort Henry they managed to effect their
escape ; and John Montgomery and several others,
after great suffering, succeeded in reaching the
United States.

About June 1st, many persons, who had been
connected with the rebellion, crossed the frontier
line at the west, and took refuge in Michigan.
Now commenced an organization for revolution-
izing Canada and bringing about its independence;
a movement comprising a much larger number
of Canadians than has ever been suspected. The
centre of the organization was in Michigan, and
General Handy was among the most active in
its promotion. Lodges were formed, every member
of which took an oath to be subject to the com-
mander-in-chief, General Handy, and not to obey
any order except from him to General Roberts.
Handy signed blank commissions, and sent some
trusty individuals through the provinces to form
revolutionary societies, and enrol all in whom he
thought he could confide. In every square mile

to 1815, and fought in various battles in Upper Canada of that
war. He was known and respected as an honest and prosperous
farmer, always ready to do his duty to his country, and died as he
lived — a patriot."

437

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of settled country a person was appointed to grant
commissions in the secret army of revolt. Handy 's
commissions were given to the captains ; and the
associations were left to elect their own colonels.
Couriers and spies, one hundred in number, were
constantly kept in motion through the provinces,
taking intelligence daily to Handy. Each of them
had a beat of ten miles, at either end of which he
communicated with others ; and this distance he
regularly made both ways every day. Two hundred
companies, of one hundred men each, were enrolled,
making an aggregate force of twenty thousand men
in the Canadas, ready to rise whenever called upon ;
and through the system of couriers in operation,
they could have been called into action with the
least possible delay. July 4th, 1838, was fixed upon
for striking the first blow. The patriot standard was
to be raised at Windsor, a Canadian village opposite
Detroit ; and when this was accomplished, the
couriers were to be prepared to transmit the intel-
ligence with all possible speed, and a general rising
was to take place. The first thing to be done was
to seize all available public arms, ammunition, and
provisions, and then the fortification of some pro-
minent point designated was to be commenced.
If an accident had not occurred to prevent the
execution of this plan, it is difficult to say what
would have been the result.

A ruffian named Baker came across the path
of General Handy. He got up an expedition on
488

THE SHORT HILLS AFFAIR

the Black River, and induced forty men to join
him by falsely representing that he was authorized
by General Handy to cross to the Canadian shore
with the men as freebooters. They seized some
flour, and being discovered and followed to the
Michigan shore, the affair created a commotion
that set General Brady of the United States army
— who appears to have used his best exertions to
put down all these expeditions — on the alert. A
new guard was set on the arsenal ; and on the day
before Windsor was to have been captured, pre-
paratory to a general rising in Canada, the con-
spiracy had collapsed from the want of arms.

Mackenzie had no connection whatever with
this movement. In 1839, he made an affidavit
that when he heard, through the public press, of
the intended expeditions at Short Hills, and against
Prescott and Windsor, he wrote to Lockport
earnestly urging those whom he thought likely to
have influence with the refugees — the Refugee
Association Committee, no doubt — to abandon all
such attempts as injurious to the cause of good
government in Canada. He was still favourable to
the independence of the Canadas ; but he was not
convinced that the means proposed were calculated
to secure the object. He came to this conclusion,
it would seem, in February, when he refused to
"sail in the same boat" with Van Rensellaer, to
be piloted as the latter might think fit.

Of the Short Hills affair, which took place in

439

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

June, 1838, he first learned from the frontier news-
papers. Those who took part in it, I find, claim to
have had five hundred and twenty-six men, well
armed and equipped ; but it is quite certain that
there was not over one-fifth of that number who
fell in with the lancers at Overholt's tavern. The
rest, if there were any such number as is alleged,
must have been Canadians. A few men crossed the
Niagara River in small bodies, taking with them
what arms they could. These they deposited at an
appointed place which was reached by a march of
some fifteen miles in the woods, and they then
went back for more. These arms must have been
intended for Canadians. In this way, eight days
were spent before the parties were discovered.
Being fired upon by a body of lancers from Over-
holt's tavern, they finally set fire to it, taking
prisoners all who survived, but shortly afterwards
releasing them. The invaders soon after dispersed,
going in different directions ; but thirty-one of them
were captured, and it is believed very few escaped.

It is difficult to determine whether the organ-
ization set on foot by Handy was identical with
what was known as Hunters' Lodges. Hunters'
Societies are generally supposed to have originated
in the state of Vermont, in May, 1838.

A convention of the Hunters' Lodges of Ohio
and Michigan was held at Cleveland, from Sep-
tember 16th to 22nd, 1838. There were seventy
delegates present. Mackenzie was not cognizant
440

HUNTERS' LODGES

of the intended meeting, and the results of its
deliberations were not officially communicated to
him. He was not a member of the society, and
by its rules none but the initiated could be ad-
mitted to its secrets. All the lodges were required
to report to the central committee at Cleveland.

Sir George Arthur had his spies on the frontier
to supply him with whatever could be learned of
these movements for a fresh invasion of Canada.
The information these persons obtained, whatever
credence it might be entitled to, created great
alarm in Toronto. They told Sir George that, at
the end of October, there were at least forty
thousand persons in the frontier States in the
invasion plot, which was " carried on by means
of Masonic Lodges, secretly established in almost
every town along the frontier, the members of
which communicate with each other by private
signs, and are divided into several grades of initia-
tion." But when Sir George Arthur had learned
something of the plot, the expedition of Wind-
mill Point was on the eve of taking place, and
it had been carried into effect two days before
United States Secretary Forsyth could reply to
Sir George's complaint, conveyed to the President
through Mr. Fox. The federal government had
previously learned from its own spies some par-
ticulars of these movements ; but it pleaded its
inability to arrest them.

In the first ten days of November, the Hun-

441

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ters' Lodges were concentrating their forces for
an attack on Prescott. On Sunday morning, the
eleventh, two schooners, in tow of the steamer
United States, left Millen's Bay for Prescott,
having on board men, arms, and munitions of
war. The men who came down in the steamer,
about six hundred in number, were transferred
to the schooners in the evening; one of these
was in command of Van Shultz, a brave Pole,
and the other in charge of the notorious Bill
Johnson. Van Shultz proposed to land all the men
in the expedition immediately on their arrival at
the Prescott wharf; then, after leaving a sufficient
force to guard the boats, to divide them into three
bodies, with the principal of which he should
march through the village, while Colonel Wood-
ruff should lead one wing round on one side, and
another person the other on the other side. The
three bodies were then to meet between the vil-
lage and the fort, in case any resistance were
offered from that point. He was opposed to first
landing on the American side, at Ogdensburg.

The principal officers of the expedition opposed
the plans of Van Shultz, yet, in skill and bravery,
they were all very far his inferiors. They did land
at Ogdensburg; but General Bierce, who was to
have commanded the expedition, fell sick with a
suddenness that created a suspicion of cowardice
which he was never able to remove. Van Shultz
took over about one hundred and seventy men in
442

BATTLE OF WINDMILL POINT

one of the schooners, about nine o'clock on the

«

morning of the twelfth. Bill Johnson managed to
run the other schooner upon the bar, with many
arms and much ammunition on board, and she
never crossed to the succour of Van Shultz.

On hearing of the expedition, Captain Sandom,
commanding the Royal Navy in Upper Canada,
set out from Kingston in pursuit. After an engage-
ment of an hour's duration, the invaders were
driven into a large, circular stone mill, the walls
of which were of immense thickness, and into a
stone house adjacent; but, the fire of Sandom's
guns making no impression on the thick walls,
he withdrew from the attack.

Meanwhile Van Shultz, not receiving the ex-
pected reinforcements from the leaders of the ex-
pedition who remained in Ogdensburg, and not
being joined by any of the inhabitants, was re-
minded by the one hundred and seventy men
under his command of the hopelessness of their
position. They begged him to lead them back
to the States. But there was not a single boat
at their disposal, and the British steamer Experi-
ment kept a vigilant look-out on the river.

On the sixteenth, Colonel Dundas arrived at
Prescott from Kingston with four companies of
the 83rd Regiment, and two eighteen-pounders
and a howitzer. Nearly every shot perforated the
massive mill. Under cover of night, the division
of Van Shultz's men, who were in the stone house,

443

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

took refuge in the brushwood on the bank of the
river, where, with their commander, they were
taken prisoners. A flag of truce was displayed
from the mill, whence the firing had ceased ; and
Colonel Dundas accepted an unconditional sur-
render. One hundred and fifty-seven prisoners were
taken, of whom eleven were executed, including
the gallant and heroic, but misguided and betrayed
leader, Colonel Van Shultz.

Van Shultz was in New York a short time before
the expedition against Prescott took place, but he
neither consulted nor in any way communicated
with Mackenzie, who was then living there. " I
knew nothing of the expedition," said Mackenzie
in his Gazette of November 14th, 1840, "never saw
or wrote a line to Van Shultz, was four hundred
miles distant, and had nothing to do with the
matter whatever; nor did any of the sufferers, when
on trial, or going to the gallows, or to banishment,
once name me." And he afterwards made the same
remark with regard to the Windsor expedition,
with which he had no connection whatever.

A few days after the Prescott expedition, Presi-
dent Van Buren issued a proclamation calling upon
the citizens of the United States to give neither
countenance nor encouragement to persons who,
by a breach of neutrality, had forfeited all claim
to the protection of their own country ; but to
use every effort in their power to arrest for trial
and punishment every offender against the laws,
444

PUBLIC MEETINGS IN THE STATES

" providing for the performance of their obliga-
tions by the United States."

Two days after the surrender of Van Shultz, Sir
George Arthur issued a proclamation renewing the
reward of £1,000 for the apprehension of Mackenzie.
The pretext for this procedure was the pretence
that he had been seen, on November 17th, in the
neighbourhood of Toronto. On that very day he
was in Philadelphia, where he addressed a meeting
of five thousand persons. About a month after, he
was warned that an attempt would be made to
kidnap him, and take him over to Canada.

As Kossuth did afterwards, in the case of Hun-
gary, Mackenzie held a series of public meetings in
some of the principal cities of the States in favour
of Canadian independence. The first was held at
Vauxhall Garden, New York, on November 15th,
the others in Philadelphia, Washington and Balti-
more, where large audiences attended. President
Van Buren was much annoyed at a meeting having
been held at the capital. In Lower Canada, Dr.
Nelson had, a few days before the New York
meeting, made a new appeal to arms, and had
issued a declaration of independence on behalf of
a provisional government for that province, fol-
lowed by a proclamation offering security and pro-
tection to all who should lay down their arms and
cease to oppose the new authority that claimed to
be in existence before the old one had expired.
Notice was taken of this circumstance by the New

445

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

York meeting, which tendered its sympathy to
Lower Canada.

Mackenzie was not, at this time, in the secrets
of the Lower Canadian patriots any more than in
those of the pretended government of Upper Canada
which had been set up at Cleveland. Dr. Robert
Nelson had been in New York a short time before,
and, calling on Mackenzie, proposed to tell him the
plans of the Lower Canadian patriots, whereupon
Mackenzie stopped him, by saying, " Tell me no-
thing, more or less, as I am to take no part ; I have
no means to aid, and I want to know nothing, either
as to what has been done or may be intended." On
the previous June 12th, he had been indicted, at
Albany, for a breach of the neutrality laws of the
United States, for the part he had taken in the
Navy Island expedition, and while the trial was
hanging over him, he had an additional reason
for being anxious to keep clear of all similar
movements.

While Van Shultz had failed at Prescott, General
Bierce was to revive the project of Handy at Wind-
sor. For this purpose men were collected at various
points on the frontier to the number of nearly four
hundred. They marched to the junction, four miles
from Detroit, equipped themselves, and made ready
to cross into Canada, where they seem to have ex-
pected that they were about to commence a winter
campaign. A knowledge of this movement was
spread abroad ; and couriers were sent through the
446

ATTACK ON WINDSOR

western district to bring men for the defence of
Windsor, Sandwich, and Fort Maiden. On the
night of the fifth day, when the numbers had been
much reduced by desertions, General Bierce was
ready to cross the river, the steamer was prepared,
and a crossing was made to Windsor. On landing
he briefly addressed the men, and issued a pro-
clamation to "the citizens of Canada." On near-
ing a house used as a barracks for the militia,
shots were exchanged between the occupants and
the invaders, and a Captain Lewis, from the Lon-
don district, who was with the latter, was killed.
The invaders set the militia barracks on fire, and
two militiamen are said to have been burnt to
death. The sentinel was shot. The steamer Thames,
embedded in the ice, shared the fate of the bar-
racks. After this, the party proceeded towards the
centre of the town, where the principal division was
met by a militia force under Colonel Prince and
Captain Spark, and driven into the woods. Bierce
resolved to retreat, and leave the larger body of the
men who had taken refuge in the woods. The re-
treating party were reduced to the necessity of
picking up canoes, or whatever they could find, in
which to escape. In this raid, twenty-five of the
invaders lost their lives, and forty-six others were
taken prisoners. Of the twenty-five, four were taken
prisoners and shot in cold blood, without the form
of a trial, by order of Colonel Prince. This act was
condemned by Lord Brougham and others in terms

447

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of great severity ; and there can be no doubt that,
whatever excuses may be made for it, Colonel
Prince committed a terrible mistake.

So long as Mackenzie remained at New York,
he was between four and five hundred miles from
the nearest centres of frontier operations. During
the last three-quarters of the year 1838, he had
been occupied in the publication of a newspaper ;
and was now about to yield to the solicitations
of his friends to remove to Rochester, where it was
thought its influence would be more directly felt.
In the early part of January, 1839, he visited that
city, and resolved to remove there with his family
and printing office. The change was made early in
February. The last number of the Gazette issued
in New York bore date January 26th, and the
next number made its appearance in Rochester
on February 23rd.

On March 12th following, Mackenzie issued a
confidential circular calling a special convention,
to be held at Rochester, " to be composed of Cana-
dians, or persons connected with Canada, who are
favourable to the attainment of its political inde-
pendence, and the entire separation of its govern-
ment from the political power of Great Britain."
An Association of Canadian Refugees was formed,
of which John Montgomery was appointed presi-
dent, Mackenzie, secretary, and Samuel Moul-
son of Rochester, treasurer. A confidential cir-
cular, dated " Office of the Canadian Associa-
448

ASSOCIATION OF REFUGEES

tion, Rochester, March 22nd, 1839," was issued,
in which questions were proposed and sugges-
tions made. While the independence of Canada
was the ultimate object aimed at, another ob-
ject was to prevent all isolated or premature
attempts, such as had recently failed at Ogdens-
burg and Windsor, from being made. The notion
of attempting to secure the independence of Canada,
by means of invading parties from the States, was
discarded. But the idea of Americans succouring
the Canadians, in case they should themselves
strike for independence, was unquestionably in-
cluded in the plan. This was shown by one of the
questions asked in the circular.

These associations appear to have differed from
those of the Hunters' Lodges in very essential par-
ticulars. The Rochester Association was composed
of Canadian refugees ; the Cleveland Association
was composed almost entirely of Americans. The
former laid it down as a rule that the independence
of the Canadas must first be asserted by the
resident Canadians, and then, but not till then,
extraneous assistance might be afforded them.
Mackenzie claimed for the Rochester Association
that it prevented small marauding expeditions from
being organized. At the same time, its members
were preparing to second the efforts of the Cana-
dians, should the standard of revolt be again raised
within the provinces. Certain it is, that no expe-
ditions were fitted out against Canada after this

449

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

time, although there were extensive organizations
in the border states, of which the object was to
assist in bringing about the independence of
Canada. There was formed an auxiliary Asso-
ciation of Canadian Refugees in Cincinnati, in
which there were no Americans. Dr. Duncombe
was connected with it. But the plan of uniting
the Canadian refugees, instead of allowing Ameri-
cans to form schemes for the "liberation" of
Canada, seems to have originated with Mackenzie
in January, 1839.

The circular of the Rochester Association does
not appear to have elicited many replies, though
there were refugees scattered all over the union,
from Maine to Florida, and the project came to
nothing.

450

CHAPTER XV

THE TRIALS OF AN EXILE

WE shall now see what Mackenzie was to
suffer and endure for his part in the civil
war in Upper Canada. When he was indicted at
Albany, in June, 1838, Attorney Badgley, by his
instructions, informed the court that he would
be ready for trial next day. Mackenzie kept his
word, and attended before the court; but District
Attorney Benton was not ready. The court re-
quired him to be present again in October. In
September, Mr. Benton assured him the trial
would come on. Mackenzie again attended at
Albany ; but the district attorney had found
reasons, in a statute of Congress, for trying the
case at Canandaigua, Ontario county. About a
month before the June sessions of the Circuit
Court, Mr. Benton informed Mackenzie that the
case might come on on the very first day of
the sittings. The defendant attended at Canan-
daigua ; and, his patience being exhausted, he,
on the second day after the court opened, ad-
dressed a memorial to the judges expressing a
desire to be allowed to be put upon trial on the
charge preferred against him ; he had never shrunk
from a trial, and had no wish that it should be
waived. This memorial was presented on June

451

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

19th, 1839, and the trial commenced before the
United States Circuit Court on the next morn-
ing. It lasted two days. The recognizances, into
which Mackenzie had entered, having expired
some time before, and not having been renew-
ed, his appearance before the court was a volun-
tary act. The judges were Smith Thompson, of
the United States Supreme Court, and Alfred
Conklin, circuit judge of the northern division
of New York. The prosecution was conducted
by N. S. Benton, United States district attorney.
Mackenzie, as had been his custom in cases of
libel, undertook his own defence. No jurors were
challenged. The jury appears, however, to have
been irregularly struck. The indictment, under a
law of 1794, and another of 1818, never before
put into execution, charged the defendant with
setting on foot a military enterprise, at Buffalo,
to be carried on against Upper Canada, a part of
the Queen's dominions, at a time when the United
States were at peace with Her Majesty ; with
having provided the means for the prosecution of
the expedition ; and with having done all this
within the dominion and territory, and against
the peace, of the United States.

After the evidence for the prosecution was
concluded, Mr. Mackenzie addressed the jury for
six hours. " His speech," says a Rochester paper,
"was really a powerful effort. He enchained the
audience, and at its conclusion, if a vote had
452

SPEECH IN HIS DEFENCE

been taken for his conviction or liberation, he
would have had a strong vote in his favour. " I
think it hard," he said, "to be singled out and
dragged here at this time ; but as I require an
asylum in your country, I am bound, and I do
sincerely wish, to pay the utmost respect to
your laws. Indeed it is admiration of your free
institutions which, strange as it may seem, has
brought me here to-day." He pointed out the
anomaly of allowing their own citizens to escape,
while he and one other foreigner were pounced
upon. "I have been told," he remarked to the
iury, "to say pleasant things to you, to use
honeyed words, and avoid any topic that might
touch the national pride or wound the national
vanity ; but as I did not stoop to flatter power
in the few on the other side of the Great Lakes,
it is not likely that I shall cringe to it here,
as apparently vested in the many.*" He told them
very plainly, what had been their traditional policy
in regard to Canada.

Judge Thompson, in his charge to the jury,
was careful to tell American citizens exactly how
far they could go without overstepping the limits
of the law ; they could give their sympathy a
practical shape by personally carrying money and
supplies to the oppressed. He added that, in
the case of Canada, he had no doubt, the " op-
pressions detailed by the defendant really existed,
or do exist, and that all the zeal he has dis-

458

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

played has been the zeal of a patriot." But the
greater part of the judge's charge bore strongly
against the defendant. He told the jury they must
accept the law from him.

At two o'clock the jury retired ; at half past
four they sent for a copy of the statutes of Con-
gress, and at five they came into court with a
verdict of " guilty." The defendant gave eighteen
reasons why the sentence to be passed upon him
should be merely nominal. The court had power
to imprison for three years, and levy a fine of
three thousand dollars ; but Judge Thompson took
into consideration that this was the first trial under
a law passed in 1794 ; that the defendant had
evidently been ignorant of its provisions ; that the
case involved no moral turpitude ; and that the
defendant had acted with a zeal which actuates
men who, however mistaken, think they are right.
The sentence was that he should be confined in
the county gaol of Monroe for eighteen months,
and pay a fine of ten dollars.

For the first three months of his confinement,
Mackenzie was shut up in a single room, with
an iron door, which he was never once allowed
to pass. Except his own family, scarcely any friend
was permitted to see him ; but he was kept on
constant exhibition by the gaoler, crowds of
strangers being allowed to feast their eyes upon
a live rebel leader. Having a perhaps somewhat
morbid fear that he might be poisoned if he
454

NARROW ESCAPE FOR HIS LIFE

accepted food at the hands of the gaoler, his
meals were regularly brought from his own house.
Twice, when he was sick, his physicians were re-
fused admittance. Built on low marshy ground,
the gaol was surrounded with stagnant water
during the greater part of the year ; and as
Mackenzie was particularly susceptible to mias-
matic influence, he suffered severely from the
debilitating effects of marsh fever, and was a good
deal dispirited. Medical certificates, that the close
confinement had a very injurious effect on his
health, having been laid before the board of super-
visors, they, without having any power in the
matter, suggested that he should be permitted a
little more exercise within the walls of the building.
" The charges upon which Mr. Mackenzie was
convicted," they said, " are not looked upon by
the community as very venial, nor in any way
compromising his moral character, and therefore
we would frown down indignantly upon any extra-
ordinary enforcement of official authority."

On October 12th, 1839, the imprisoned fugitive
had a narrow escape for his life. A little before
noon, as he was standing at one of the windows
looking out to see whether a friend, Mr. Kennedy,
was coming, a slug shot, coming through one of
the panes, whizzed past him and penetrated the
plaster on the opposite side of the room. He
opened the window and asked the gaoler's boy,
who was outside, if he saw any one in the direction

455

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

whence the shot must have come. The boy said he
had not. "Who fired the shot," said Mackenzie,
in a private letter, "I shall probably never know;"
but, with the expectation of longevity, which he
always entertained, he added that the escape
afforded "another chance for old age, with the
pains and penalties attached to it." The gaoler,
on inquiry, learned that a tall, stout man, with
a gun in his hand and a dog by his side — having
the appearance of a sportsman — had been seen
beyond the mill-race, whence the shot must
have come, about the time of the occurrence. A
buckshot was found to have penetrated one of
the adjoining windows, and several others struck
the wall. In Buffalo, in 1838, he had been warned
that assassins were on his track, and a young man
about his size, a brother of General Scott's secre-
tary, had been assassinated under circumstances
which gave rise to the suspicion that he had been
mistaken for Mackenzie.

By this time the effects of the close confinement
in the room of a gaol, surrounded by miasma, had
broken the luckless prisoner's health. He could not
take the food which his children regularly carried
to him, and medicine seemed to give no relief.
His means were exhausted, and the approach of a
gloomy winter inclined him to despair. He had
depending on him a mother, ninety years of age, a
wife in delicate health, and six helpless children.
The people, however, had become greatly inter-
456

FAREWELL TO HIS MOTHER

ested in the fate of the political prisoner, and
by the middle of November, memorials for his
release had been signed by between fifty and six-
ty thousand persons. The exertions made had
procured him a larger space to walk in ; medicine
had, at last, produced a salutary effect, and he
was better in health. He was allowed to walk
in the hall into which his room opened, and to
take exercise six hours in the day in the attic
which extended over the entire building.

In December his mother died, and he, by being
brought as a witness in a case tried in his own
house by permission of the state attorney, was
enabled to spend six hours with her, and to receive
her last farewell, but he was not permitted to
attend the funeral.

Mr. Secretary Forsyth's instructions to Marshal
Garrow had not the desired effect of producing any
considerable mitigation of the severity to which the
prisoner had been subjected. On January 14th,
1840, Mackenzie memorialized Mr. Seward, gover-
nor of the state of New York, on the subject. But
the laws of the state gave that functionary no
power to act in a matter which concerned the
United States alone. "Nevertheless," said Governor
Seward, in his reply of the twenty-seventh of the
same month, "I acknowledge most freely that your
offence being of a political character, I think it is
to be regarded in a very different light from crimes
involving moral turpitude, and that a distinction

457

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

ought to be made, as far as possible, between the
treatment of persons convicted of political offences
and those of the other class ; " and he wrote to
the sheriff of Monroe county expressing this opinion,
and the desire that the prisoner's position might
be made as comfortable as possible. The rigour of
his punishment was now abated, and Mackenzie
was allowed to take exercise as prescribed in the
sheriff's orders. The prisoner's birthday was duly
celebrated by a number of friends who dined with
him in gaol, on March 12th.

The memorials to the President for the prisoner's
release had now hundreds of thousands of signa-
tures attached to them. Congress had also been pe-
titioned on the subject. A friend assured him that
the President had, at Saratoga, declared to different
persons that he should not comply with the
petitions for a pardon unless desired by the British
government to release the prisoner. Did that
government present such a request ? Or did the
petitions become too numerous for President Van
Buren to resist? The latter seems to be the true
explanation ; for Mackenzie was afterwards in-
formed, at Washington, that the President, adverse
to a release to the last, felt himself unable to resist
the demand of three hundred thousand petitioners.
About April 12th, the secretary of state told a
friend that Mackenzie would soon be pardoned,
but that it was necessary to keep the matter
secret for a few days ; and, on Sunday evening,
458

VISIT TO WASHINGTON

May 10th, 1840, he was permitted to bid adieu
to the horrors of what he called the American
Bastile.

Though Mackenzie had exerted himself with all
the energy his enfeebled strength would permit,
and though, while imprisoned, he had continued
to conduct his newspaper, and had compiled the
Caroline A Imanac, which contained matter enough,
compressed in small type, to have made a volume
of respectable dimensions — his business failed to
thrive. Till the death of his mother, the family
never suffered want ; but after that event, the
gaunt spectre sometimes threatened to enter the
door. But in this respect there was still worse in
store for them.

Shortly after his release from prison, Mackenzie
revisited Washington and Philadelphia. At Wash-
ington, he had private interviews with a number of
senators and leading men from all parts of the
union. " I heard much and saw much," he wrote
privately from Albany, on July 6th, on his way
back, "and am sure that we of the North have
nothing to hope from the party in power. Van
Buren is with the South, the English importer
and the capitalist, who rule this nation for their
own advantage. There is much and well-founded
discontent among northern members — even of
those who go with the party in power — and some
of them were so plain as to wish trouble on the
frontier — though I place no names here — while

459

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

others hinted that the North might push matters
to the length of a disunion from the slave- driving
South." He still hoped for the independence of
Canada, to which he was not permitted to return,
and where rewards for his apprehension, schemes
for his extradition, and plans to kidnap him were
still kept alive. As the result of his visit to
Washington he felt, "on the whole, greatly en-
couraged." His health was much improved, and
he was delighted with a day's visit to the Catskill
Mountains.

But the greater the exile's practical knowledge
of the working of American institutions, the less
was the admiration he felt for them. " Over three
years' residence in the United States," he said in
the last number of his Gazette, on December
23rd, 1840, "and a closer observation of the con-
dition of society here, have lessened my regrets
at the results of the opposition raised to England
in Canada in 1837-8. I have beheld the American
people give their dearest and most valued rights
into the keeping of the worst enemies of free in-
stitutions ; I have seen monopoly and slavery
triumph at their popular elections, and have wit-
nessed with pain 'the bitter fruits of that specu-
lative spirit of enterprise to which,' as President
Van Buren says in his late excellent message, his
1 countrymen are so liable, and upon which the
lessons of experience are so unavailing ' ; and
although the leaders of parties here may not say
460

PREMIUMS TO KIDNAPPERS

so to their followers, yet the conviction grows daily
stronger in my mind that your brethren of this
union are rapidly hastening towards a state of
society in which President, Senate, and House
of Representatives will fulfil the duties of King,
Lords, and Commons, and the power of the com-
munity pass from the democracy of numbers into
the hands of an aristocracy, not of noble ancestry
and ancient lineage, but of moneyed monopolists,
land-jobbers, and heartless politicians."

Soon after the publication of the Gazette was
closed, the press and types were sold ; and the
family subsisted on the proceeds as long as they
lasted. The injury inflicted on the publication by
the absence of Mackenzie's personal superintend-
ence, while in prison, was never overcome ; and the
paper ceased to be profitable before it ceased to
exist.

The Canadian authorities resorted to every pos-
sible expedient to get Mackenzie into their power.
Rewards for his apprehension were held out as
a premium to kidnappers ; and his personal and
political enemies clubbed their dollars into blood
money to make the temptation strong enough for
some man-catcher to undertake the detestable specu-
lation. In the winter of 1838, a Canadian judge
wrote to an American judge suggesting the " ex-
change ' of Mackenzie for a number of Prescott
and Windsor prisoners. The offer embraced a
hundred for one ; and while the men to be given

461

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

up were guilty of invading Canada, Mackenzie, for
whom it was proposed to exchange them, had had
no connection whatever with the expeditions.
Coming from an old political enemy, the offer
had all the appearance of a revengeful thirst for
the blood of a fallen foe.

There can be no question that the suggestion
made by the judge had the authority of the
colonial executive ; because a similar proposition
was afterwards put forth in the name of the
executive council. In a report to Sir George
Arthur, dated February 4th, 1839, the executive
council said : " Were it positively understood that
such men as Johnson, Birge, Bierce, and Mac-
kenzie would be seized and delivered up, as having
violated the refuge afforded them, there would be
no objection to the release of hundreds of obscure
criminals ; because we might be assured that, if
certain punishment awaited their leaders, not-
withstanding their escape across the border [at
least half of them were Americans and never
lived in Canada], the whole conspiracy would fall
to the ground for want of leaders." So far as it
relates to Mackenzie, this is precisely the same as
if Louis Napoleon were to expect England to
give up French political refugees who had escaped
to that country. With American citizens who had
invaded Canada, in time of peace, the case was
different ; the duty of the federal government was
not to hand over these leaders, but to enforce
462

PREMIUMS TO KIDNAPPERS

against them its own laws for the maintenance of
neutrality. If this had been done, the prosecution
of Mackenzie would have ceased to wear a partial
aspect.

Sir George Arthur approved of the project for
exchanging prisoners for refugees ; and the autho-
rities of the state of New York were sounded on
the subject. W. H. Griffin, post-office surveyor,
went upon this mission. Not finding Mr. Seward
at Albany, he conversed with Mr. J. A. Spensor
on the subject. Mr. Spensor told him that the
principal obstacle to the proposed arrangement was
the public indignation its execution would excite ;
and he suggested that, under the circumstances,
it would be better to kidnap the refugees, adding
an assurance that, if this were done, the state
authorities — Mr. Seward and the rest — would
not be disposed to regard the act as a breach of
amity.1

Why should such a hint not be improved ? Had
Canada no bloodhounds ready to snatch Sir George
Arthur's four thousand dollars by kidnapping Mac-
kenzie ? It seemed not : for a private subscription
of two thousand dollars more, set on foot by one of
the exile's old political opponents, had to be added.
And now surely here is temptation enough to turn
mercenary men into kidnappers ! On November
14th, 1840, Mackenzie received from several re-

1 Letter from Mr. Griffin to the Hon. R. N. Tucker, dated Gana-
noque, U. &, May 14th, 1839.

463

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

spectable citizens of Rochester warning that an
attempt would be made in a day or two to seize
him, drag him on board the steamer Gore, and
carry him off to Canada.1 Among them was Mr.
Talman, who called three times at Mackenzie's
house that day without rinding him. The last time
he left word that Mackenzie should by no means
leave his house after dark that night. But this
warning was not heeded ; he went to see Mr.
Talman that night. The substance of the infor-
mation received from various sources was the same.
A guard was placed upon his house.

The matter, being brought before the attention
of the authorities, was made a subject of judicial
investigation before Mr. Wheeler, on November
20th, 1840. Several witnesses were examined, the
principal of whom, W. A. Wells, stated the result
of a conversation he had had with James Cameron,
son-in-law of the late Mr. Drean of Toronto, and
brother-in-law of Mayor Powell of that place, and

1 Some warned him verbally, and one, Mr. Wells, one of the
publishers of the Rochester Daily Whig, in writing. He said:
'* William L. Mackenzie — Sir : — I take the liberty of informing you
that a plan is in contemplation to carry you to Toronto. It is this;
The steamboat Gore (Captain Thomas Dick) will be in this port in
a day or two. She is to be at the wharf at the mouth of the river
with steam up, etc., to surprise and muffle your face, and put you
in a carriage which will be in waiting, and take you to the boat.
A British officer is in this place, and has disclosed the circumstances to
me. Although we have had some personal difference, I cannot consent
to have you kidnapped. Be on your guard.

"Nov. 14, 1840. W. A. Wells"

464

A KIDNAPPING CONSPIRACY

sometime clerk in the Bank of British America at
Rochester House. Cameron commenced the con-
versation by introducing the subject of the Canadian
troubles, and asked Wells whether he had not had
some difficulty with Mackenzie that had created an
unfriendly feeling between them. Receiving a reply
in the affirmative, Cameron, thinking he might
safely trust a person who was on such terms with
the object of the kidnappers' desire, then unfolded
to him the scheme. Mackenzie was to be decoyed
to the lower part of the city by an invitation from
one whom he regarded as a friend ; he was then to
be seized by two powerful men, a handkerchief
tied round his mouth, and dragged into a carriage,
with a pistol pointed at his face under a threat that
his brains would be blown out if he made a noise.
In this state he was to be taken on board the
steamer Gore, at Frankfort — the mouth of the
Genesee River — which was to be ready with
steam up. In her next trip she was to bring over
another person, a Scottish military officer, who
was to assist in the kidnapping, All this was to be
done with the consent of the persons in charge of
the steamer. Cameron mentioned that, in addition
to the reward offered by the Canadian government
for the apprehension of Mackenzie, he expected to
get a colonial appointment. Cameron's counsel did
not cross-examine the witnesses, but took a tech-
nical exception to the form of warrant. The evi-
dence was deemed sufficient to justify the magis-

465

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

strate in binding Cameron over to answer the
charge, but the case was quashed when it came
before the grand jury.

Cameron afterwards pretended that he had hoaxed
Wells in the conversation at the Rochester House ;
but there is little reason to accept so shallow a pre-
tence. According to his account he was somewhat
" oblivious " of what had occurred at the interview
with Wells ; and men in their cups are very much
in the habit of blurting out truth which at other
times they would conceal. The idea of kidnapping
Mackenzie was not a new one. A long train of
preliminaries pointed to precisely such an enter-
prise as that in which Cameron told Wells he was
engaged. The steamer did leave the upper wharf
that night at an unusual hour, and without ringing
her bell. At the mouth of the river, seven miles
below the head of the Genesee navigation, where
he was to have been put on board, she waited till
near midnight. These are circumstances of suspicion
too strong to be neutralized by the action of the
grand jury in the case.

A few months after the last number of the
Gazette was issued, and a memorial to the judges
of the Court of Common Pleas to admit him to
practice at the bar had been refused, namely, about
March, 1841, the public were notified that William
Lyon Mackenzie's law office was to be found in an
upper room in St. Paul Street. It was a last effort
of despair, and came to nothing.
466

THE DARK DAYS OF ADVERSITY

The clouds of adversity gathered thick and
gloomily over the exile's head. Bereft of his pro-
perty by an insurrection in which he had borne
a leading part, he had known what it was to com-
mence the world anew among strangers. A long
imprisonment had ruined the precarious profession
of a journalist who appealed to the public sym-
pathies only upon a single subject. He found
himself without occupation, and with only very
limited and uncertain means of subsistence. At
this period it would frequently happen that, for
twenty-four hours at a time, the family had
not a morsel of food, and neither light nor fire.
Yet no father could be more assiduous in his en-
deavours to provide for his family. After a day and
night's enforced fasting, he would go shivering
forth in the morning's cold, hoping to collect a
small sum due to him, or, failing in that, to borrow
from a friend the means to purchase bread for his
famishing children. He tried another newspaper,
the Volunteer, of which the first copy appeared
on April 17th, 1841, and the last on May 10th,
1842. During that period only nineteen numbers
were issued. They were printed when the means
to print them could be obtained. This attempt to
revive a general interest in the Canadian question
failed, and without that interest a paper devoted
to it could not live. His pecuniary circumstances
experienced no improvement; and to make things
worse, his house took fire in March, and a portion

467

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of his furniture was burnt. The family suffered
much from sickness, the result of pinching want.
And now, despairing of any measure of success in
Rochester, where he had spent three and a half
weary years, he fixed his hopes once more on New
York. On June 10th, 1842, he left with his family
for the latter city.

After his arrival at New York, the unfortunate
refugee spent most of his time in collecting some
of his old debts and devising ways and means to
live, till an influential political friend obtained for
him the situation of actuary of the New York
Mechanics' Institute. He refused situations in two
or three newspaper offices, because he would not
occupy a subordinate position on the press ; and
this disposition to be everything or nothing was
no bad illustration of his character. In his new
office, Professor Gale, of Columbia College, had
been his predecessor. He was pleased with his occu-
pation. "The prospect brightens," he says, "and I
may enjoy a little ease in my old days," a hope
which was never realized. His emoluments were
chiefly derived from fees ; and these were paid
with so little punctuality or honesty that his new
employment proved but a slight mitigation of
his distress. At the close of the year, however,
he considered himself "very comfortably settled."
" I was much behind, when I got into the
office," he wrote privately, December 24th, " but
during the year for which I am engaged, I
468

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

have no doubt that I shall place myself and
family once more in comfortable circumstances,
the more gratifying as we have suffered much
poverty and long continued privation." Such was
his pride in his children, his ideas of duty, and his
appreciation of the advantages of education, that
he continued to keep them at good schools.

While in this situation, Mackenzie commenced
a work entitled The Sons of the Emerald Isle, or
Lives of One Thousand Remarkable Irishmen.
He made application for a copyright, and entered
into a written agreement with Burgess, Stringer
& Co., of New York, to become the publishers.
In July, 1843, he speaks of having nearly five
hundred of the biographical sketches ready ; but
only two numbers — there were to have been eight
or ten in all, averaging fifty pages each — were pub-
lished. The subjects selected were Irish patriots or
their descendants ; and the concise sketches con-
tain a multitude of facts and much matter of novel
character. He had access to sixteen thousand old
American newspapers extending over a period of
forty years, from which he was enabled to study
the character of the men and the measures of that
time. He wrote, after the first two numbers were
out, that the work would be immensely profitable ;
but want of means seems to have prevented his
continuing it.

At the end of the year, he gave up his office
in the Mechanics' Institute, retiring with a un-

469

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

animous approval of his conduct. Owing to the
remissness of the members in paying, it turned
out a poor place ; and in January, 1844, he declares
that he has had as hard times in New York as
he ever had in Rochester. Having been introduced
to the son of President Tyler, Mackenzie was
offered an inspectorship of customs, at New York,
at eleven hundred dollars a year; but when the
nomination was sent to Washington, it was re-
jected by the secretary of the treasury because the
nominee was a British outlaw and had attacked
the late President. He had issued three numbers
of a new paper called the New York Examiner,
but he gave it up on his nomination to this office.
Tyler wrote him that he might have any other
office in his gift of equivalent value. When the
promised situation came it was a temporary clerk-
ship in the archives office of the New York
Custom House, with a salary of only seven hun-
dred dollars a year.

While engaged in the Customs House, it became
Mackenzie's duty to read a correspondence between
Jesse Hoyt and Benjamin Franklin Butler, of a
very extraordinary character. Hoyt had been
collector of customs at New York, and in that
capacity had embezzled two hundred and fifty
thousand dollars. Mackenzie, thinking that, in
his haste to secure the money, Hoyt had forgotten
that he had left certain private letters in the public
archives, induced Henry Ogden to call upon him
470

THE BUTLER-HOYT BIOGRAPHIES

and ask him to take them away. Hoyt replied
that he had already taken all he wanted. By per-
mission of the collector, Mackenzie copied the
letters ; and he had official authority to do what
he pleased with them. He sent copies of several
of these letters to President Polk ; and the result
of their perusal was to prevent the appointment
of Coddington to the collectorship of New York.
Mackenzie then, on June 1st, resigned his office ;
and, in 1845, published The Lives and Opinions of
Benjamin Franklin Butler, United States District
Attorney for the Southern District of New York,
and Jesse Hoyt, Counsellor at Law, formerly
Collector of Customs for the Port of New York ;
a compact octavo volume of one hundred and
fifty-two pages. In a very short time fifty thous-
and copies were sold ; whereupon an injunction
was obtained from the Court of Chancery to
restrain the further publication of the work. The
copies went up to double the previous price. The
injunction was granted at the instance of Hoyt,
on a complaint that three of his letters were
comprised in the publication. While the publishers
made a very large profit on the book, the author,
to avoid all ground for the imputation of improper
motives in the publication, refused to take any
remuneration for his labour, though he lived on
borrowed money for several months while he was
preparing the work for the press. He took out
a copyright, and assigned it without consideration

471

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

to the publishers. Chancellor Walworth, on appeal,
dissolved the injunction granted by the vice-
chancellor, after the lapse of two and a half years,
deciding that the author had a right of property
in the book, and that a court of equity had no
power to restrain its publication. Unsuccessful
attempts were made, at different times before
grand juries, to indict the author for the use he
made of these letters, but without avail.

In 1846, Mackenzie published The Life and
Times of Martin Van Buren, a closely printed
octavo volume of three hundred and eight pages.
It was enriched by contributions from the bundle
of letters left by Hoyt in the New York Custom
House, though a large portion of the materials
was drawn from other sources. Of this work he
sold the copyright to William Taylor of New
York for a thousand dollars. The sale of the
copyright is dated November 25th, 1845, and
the book was to be completed by about January
15th following. This work dealt Van Buren his
political death blow. He never rose again.

In the course of this year, Mackenzie became
connected with the New York Tribune, of whose
editor, Horace Greeley, he continued to the day of
his death to entertain the highest opinion, as did
Greeley of him. On May 1st he arrived in Albany
for the purpose of attending the convention to
revise the state constitution. He wrote daily to
the Tribune a long letter on the proceedings of
472

HIS FRIENDSHIP WITH GREELEY

the convention. Commencing in the early part of
June, the convention continued its sittings till
October 9th. Many suggestions made by Mac-
kenzie were adopted and embodied in the amended
constitution.

In some respects times with him had improved.
He had plenty of offers of literary employment.
He had found a real friend in Greeley ; and he
received from George Bruce, the great type
founder of New York, a very tempting offer. The
large printing establishment of Percy & Reid, New
York, had been sold at sheriff's sale ; and Bruce
had become the purchaser at ten thousand dollars.
He offered it to Mackenzie on a credit of ten years,
with means to carry on the business. The offer was
gratefully received, but was rejected, contrary to the
advice of his family and friends, principally because
the business would have required a partner, and
he disliked partnerships. Mackenzie remained in
Albany one year, in the latter part of which he
performed the duties of correspondent in the leg-
islative assembly for the Tribune,

Upon returning to New York, Mackenzie con-
tinued his connection with the Tribune till Mr.
McElrath, one of the partners in the establishment,
expressed some dissatisfaction with his writings,
and he then left with the intention of never return-
ing. This was early in April; 1848. He spent some
time in the composition of a work on British
America, which he never completed. He always

473

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

continued on good terms with the editor, Horace
Greeley; and in October, 1848, at Mr. Greeley's
earnest request, he agreed to attend the next
session of Congress as correspondent of the Tri-
bune, But he did not leave New York till about
the New Year.

By the end of the year 1843, an amnesty — not
general but very comprehensive — had enabled
numerous political exiles to return to Canada.
But while Papineau, Rolph, Duncombe, and
O'Callagan were pardoned, Mackenzie was still
proscribed. Hume wrote him on one occasion
stating that the exclusion arose from the belief,
entertained by the English ministry, that the
origin of the rebellion was due to him. Three
years after, Isaac Buchanan wrote to Sir Robert
Peel and Lord Palmerston begging that they
would have Mackenzie included in the amnesty.1

* Mr. J. C. Dent, in his Story of the Upper Canadian Rebellion, (Vol.
ii, p. 302, note), says, speaking of the amnesty: ' ' Considerable
misapprehension appears to exist on this subject owing in great
measure, doubtless, to inaccurate statements in Mr. Lindsey's Life
and Times of William Lyon Mackenzie. It is there alleged that,
by the end of the year 1843, an amnesty — not general, but very
comprehensive — had enabled numerous political exiles to return to
Canada (Vol. ii, p. 290). This is altogether erroneous. No amnesty,
comprehensive or otherwise, was granted in 1843, nor at any time
prior to 1849. Those exiles who returned to Canada before the last
mentioned date did so, either by virtue of special pardons granted
under the great seal, or in consequence of official discontinuance
of proceedings against them."

Mr. Dent is entirely mistaken in this statement. The Act, I Vict.
c. 10, passed March 6th, 1838, and embraced in the statutes of

474

HUME'S LETTER TO MACKENZIE

The reply was that, before this would be done, the
Canadian ministry must recommend the measure.
But the latter were adverse to such a course, and
to them alone his continued exclusion from Canada
was owing. The remembrance of this circumstance
probably intensified his opposition to the men who
composed this ministry after his return to Canada.
In 1848, the Canadian assembly unanimously ad-
dressed the Queen in favour of granting a general
amnesty of all political offences.

A letter from Hume to Mackenzie written at
this time, on the subject of the amnesty, is interest-
ing for other reasons as well. It was dated at
London, January 20th, 1848, and was sent to
Mackenzie at New York where he was then living.
Hume, it will be remembered, was the writer of
the so-called "baneful domination" letter, which
was published by Mackenzie in the Advocate many
years before, and which, being charged as disloyal,
was sought to be used as such against Mackenzie
in every way possible. The following letter, besides
being a tribute to Mackenzie himself, quotes one
of several statements by Lord Sydenham in defence
of the rebellion, and shows that Hume's opinions
were entirely opposed to those imputed to him : —

"Although I have always deprecated and con-

Upper Canada, 1837-8, was an Act to enable the government of
this province to extend a conditional pardon, in certain cases, to
persons who had been concerned in the insurrection, and such
pardons were extended. Mr. Lindsey's statement is strictly correct.

475

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

demned the attempt at revolution, made in Canada
by you and others, by which you were outlawed,
and have been for these ten years in the United
States, yet I cannot forget the eighteen months
you spent in London, as the delegate from the
House of Assembly and people in Upper Canada,
to endeavour to put a stop to the misrule of the
clique administration of that province, and to allay
the discontent so generally existing in the province
at that time.

" Of many public men, deputed to promote the
welfare of their constituents, who have come to
my acquaintance during the last forty years of
my public life, I have known no one who showed
a greater desire to see the abuses of the govern-
ment of the Canadas removed quietly and in a
constitutional way than you did ; and I therefore
gave you every aid in my power to procure for
you access to Lord Ripon and other members of
the administration of the day ; and I attended for
hours to hear your statements of the abuses of the
colonial government (and of the mode of re-
moving them) by the colonial office supporting
the measures of one-third of the popular assembly
there.

" With that knowledge, and after the declaration,
or rather retarded opinion, of Lord Sydenham (after
he became acquainted with the proceedings in
Canada), 'that he was surprised the people had
borne so long the oppression of the family clique,
476

HUME'S LETTER TO MACKENZIE

and had not rebelled sooner,' I cannot but con-
sider you as the victim of the misrule of that
government and of the colonial office in Downing
Street, that had continued their support to the
family clique that was the bane of Upper Canada,
and had caused such discontent throughout the
province.

" It was to be expected that you, who had been
the first mayor of Toronto, and who had been the
leader of the Reformers in the House of Assembly
for years ; and who had, before a select committee
of that assembly, exposed and proved corruption
and misrule to that extent that resistance to the
order of the clique was the theme of the popula-
tion of Upper Canada, when recourse was had to
arms, would be selected as a leader, and as such
you were placed as an outlaw from Canada. As
a political offender you took the chance of the
struggle, and you have suffered for the part you
took ; but, as I think, too much and too long.

" I have six times made application to the minis-
ters of the Crown here to grant an amnesty to all
the political offenders in Canada, stating that, as the
discontent was caused by misrule, oppression and
corruption, the whole should be buried in oblivion
as speedily as possible, but without success. On
the birth of the first Princess by our Queen, I ap-
plied to the ministers to grant a general amnesty
and was refused. On the birth of the Prince of
Wales, I repeated my application with similar want

477

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

of success. When Mr. Baldwin was minister, I sent
to him, and to Mr. Hincks, copies of my correspond-
ence with the ministry for a general amnesty, and
I requested them to apply to the colonial office
for the same. They said the day was not come, and
they never did it.

" In May, 1847, when Lord Palmerston, in inter-
fering in the internal affairs of Portugal, made it
one of the principal points in the Protocol, 'that
every man of whatever rank, taken in arms in the
field or otherwise, should have an amnesty granted,'
I applied to have the pardon, or rather the amnesty,
extended to you and two others from Canada, all
that remained in exile ; but my application was re-
fused. I should have made it the subject of a specific
motion in the House of Commons, if I had not
been advised to allow the government to do the
act themselves. They have one by one removed the
outlawry until you alone remain.

"On the 15th instant I waited on Earl Grey, and
solicited from him an amnesty for you, the only
remnant of Canada's victims. He refused to origin-
ate any steps for your pardon, as the charges
against you were serious, but said that he would
receive favourably any resolution or representation
from the government of Canada in your favour.
I stated that there was a petition to that purport
on file, but he had not seen it. I expect the result
of the elections, now finished, will be to place Bald-
win and his party in power, and, by the first packet,
478

A LETTER TO EARL GREY

I shall write them to take measures for your imme-
diate pardon.

" I have always considered you the victim (a
very incautious one, if you please,) of a vicious
system, and, having witnessed your laborious and
honest endeavours, here and in Toronto, to pre-
vent bad government and to reform the bad
system by constitutional means, I shall never be
deterred from the endeavour to see you in perfect
freedom, and the sooner the better for all parties."

On February 3rd, 1849, Mackenzie addressed a
communication to Earl Grey, at the colonial office,
containing some remarkable confessions, the good
faith of which is sufficiently guaranteed by numer-
ous statements in private letters. From this com-
munication I quote the following extracts:

" A course of careful observation, during the last
eleven years, has fully satisfied me that, had the
violent movements in which I and many others
were engaged on both sides of the Niagara proved
successful, success would have deeply injured the
people of Canada, whom I then believed I was
serving at great risks ; that it would have deprived
millions, perhaps, of our own countrymen in
Europe, of a home upon this continent, except
upon conditions which, though many hundreds
of thousands of immigrants have been constrained
to accept them, are of an exceedingly onerous
and degrading character. I have long been sensible
of the error committed during that period to which

479

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the intended amnesty applies. No punishment that
power could inflict, or nature sustain, would have
equalled the regrets I have felt on account of much
that I did, said, wrote, and published ; but the past
cannot be recalled. . . . There is not a living
man on this continent who more sincerely desires
that British government in Canada may long con-
tinue, and give a home and a welcome to the old
countrymen, than myself. Did I say so, or ask an
amnesty, seven or eight years ago, till under the
convictions of more recent experience ? No ; I
studied earnestly the workings of the institutions
before me, and the manners of the people, and
looked at what had been done, until few men,
even natives, had been better schooled. The result
is — not a desire to attain power and influence
here — but to help, if I can, and all I can, the
country of my birth."

Pressed by Hume and others, the Canadian
government, in 1849, originated a measure for a
complete amnesty of all offences arising out of
the events of 1837-8. Mackenzie had for some
time been the last exile. It passed unanimously
in both Houses; and in the name of the Queen,
Lord Elgin, as governor-general, gave it the royal
assent on February 1st, 1849. Immediately on re-
ceiving this intelligence, Mackenzie resolved to
return to Canada permanently. But after so long
an absence, he was in some doubt as to how he
would be received there. In this state of uncer-
480

MACKENZIE'S RETURN TO CANADA

tainty, he resolved to try the effect of a personal
visit. Before coming to Toronto, the scene of his
former activities, and his future home, he called at
Montreal, then the seat of the Canadian govern-
ment. What Sir George Arthur had, ten years be-
fore, denounced as Mackenzie's scheme of respon-
sible government was now in full operation ; ! but
it was administered by persons, only one of whom,
the Hon. Francis Hincks, paid the least atten-
tion to the man who had been reviled as its
author so long as it was deemed odious or
unpopular. This member of the government had
paid him a casual visit in the Rochester prison ;
while others from Toronto, on whose friendship
he had much greater claims, had passed on with-
out giving any proof that they retained a con-
sciousness of his existence. On his way westward,
the returned exile was burnt in effigy at King-
ston. At this time, namely, in the spring of 1849,
the second LaFontaine - Baldwin administration
was in office, the country was in the throes of
agitation over the Rebellion Losses Bill, as it was
popularly called, and the Queen's representative,
having resolved to give his assent to that memor-
able measure, was about to furnish the strongest
evidence possible of the settlement, firmly and
finally, of the constitutional question.

The arrival of Mackenzie in Toronto was the
signal for a Tory riot. On the evening of March

1 Despatch to the Marquis of Normanby, August 21st, 1839.

481

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

22nd, a mob collected in the streets, with flam-
beaux and effigies of Attorney- General Baldwin,
Solicitor - General Blake, and Mackenzie. They
marched defiantly past the police office, burnt
two of the effigies opposite the residences of the
Crown officers, and then proceeded up Yonge
Street to the house of John Mcintosh, M.P., his
brother-in-law, where Mackenzie was staying. Here,
by the aid of two or three blazing tar-barrels, the
mob burnt the remaining effigy and assailed the
house, broke the windows, and attempted to force
their way through the door. All the while, the
chief of police and at least one member of the
city council were quietly looking on. It is a well
attested fact indicative of Mackenzie's indifference
to personal danger, that, on this occasion, when
some of the rioters were besieging the front doors
of Mr. Mcintosh's house and endeavouring to effect
an entrance, their would-be victim, accompanied
by his daughter Janet, and a young political friend
connected with a city newspaper, left the house by
a rear door opening into the garden, and, unbarring
a front gate which led to the street, walked boldly
through the angry mob to the residence of a Mr.
White, several blocks distant. It was this daughter
(afterwards the wife of Mackenzie's biographer)
who, a twelvemonth previous, waited on Lord
Elgin, the governor-general, with a petition for
her father's pardon, which was granted by the bill
of amnesty of that year.
482

PUBLIC OPINION IN UPPER CANADA

On the following day, the mayor caused special
constables to be sworn in with a view to preventing
a repetition of these outrages ; and an alderman, in
his place in the council, declared that he "would
not hesitate an instant" to assassinate Mackenzie,
were he not restrained by fear of the law ! For
many nights after, the house was well guarded, and
was not again attacked. The office of the Examiner,
which had condemned these outrages, was also
threatened with attack. A mob assembled in King
Street for that purpose*, but when it became known
that there was a number of armed men in the build-
ing, they dispersed without attempting any violence.

The Examiner was at that time published and
conducted by Francis Hincks (Sir Francis Hincks,
as he became later on), whose Reminiscences are a
distinct contribution to the political history of the
period. The following extract from the article re-
ferred to touches points of historical and political
interest, and is a fair reflection of the prevailing
opinion in the province at the time. " The revolt of
1837," said the writer, "was in reality only a revolt
against local misrule — not against imperial autho-
rity. Whatever may have been Mr. Mackenzie's
errors as a public man, and no one is more ready
to admit them than himself, his attachment to the
great principles of the British constitution, no one
who is at all acquainted with his history, prior to the
year 1837, can with truth deny. No man in Canada,
indeed, ever gave such evidence of attachment to

483

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the British Crown, or laboured more earnestly to
secure the attachment of the colonists to imperial
sway than did Mr. Mackenzie until 1836, at which
period hope itself languished and withered and died,
when the hero of the Pampas, on assuming the
government of the Upper Province in 1836, virtu-
ally declared that our constitution was only a
* mockery, a delusion and a snare.' Thousands in
Canada may not be aware of the fact that, in 1832,
Mr. Mackenzie, at the greatest self-sacrifice, left
his business in this city, and, with the assistance
of a few patriotic friends, crossed the Atlantic,
went to London, and for many months laboured
with great intelligence, fidelity and zeal in bring-
ing the complaints of the Canadian people under
the notice of the home government. And for what
purpose did he thus labour ? It was in order to
avert the evils which he foresaw were generating
dissatisfaction, and which were sowing broadcast
the seeds of revolt throughout Canada. Who, we ask,
among all the hosts of Tories in Canada, ever mani-
fested such disinterested devotion to the interests
of his country and the Crown ? We defy them to
name the man. Nothing but a sincere and ardent
attachment to the British constitution could have
led Mr. Mackenzie, or any man, to have made such
a voyage under such circumstances, and for such
a purpose. Malevolence itself could hardly call in
question the stern fealty of such a man to the
government of his country.
484

THE "EXAMINER" ON THE SITUATION

" But there are bounds to loyalty and subject-
tion. The people are not made for the govern-
ment. Government is a compact between the
people and their rulers for the general good, in
which is involved reciprocal rights, duties and
obligations. There is, therefore, treason against a
people as well as treason against a government.
If the laws of the political compact are violated
on the one hand by rulers, we need not be sur-
prised if they should be violated on the other
by the people. And there must be a long and
accumulated load of misrule and suffering before
a people can be led to brave a conflict with
power, and hazard the loss of property and life
in defence of their rights. The revolt of 1837 was
only the crisis of a disease which had been preying
upon the vitals of the country from the beginning
of the present century. Sir Francis Bond Head, with
an effrontery which is almost unparalleled, published
to the world that he encouraged the revolt in
order to exhibit his prowess in its suppression !
A wise ruler would have respected public opinion,
and would have calmed the rising storm, but,
instead of this, he laughed to scorn the constitu-
tional claims of the people — he defied the in-
structions of His Majesty — he boasted that he
had created a rebellion which had well-nigh lost an
important colony to the empire, and he was, there-
fore, by imperial authority, driven from power,
and crowned with imperishable disgrace and in-

485

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

famy. The humiliation and disgrace of this in-
fatuated ruler by the imperial goverment, the
elaborate and faithful report of Lord Durham,
and the unequivocal testimony of Lord Syden-
ham as to the extraordinary misrule and injus-
tice which had distinguished the reign of the
Compact in Upper Canada, form together the
strongest palliation for the events of 1837, just
as a proof of the monster iniquities of James II
led to and palliated the revolt under William III
— with this remarkable difference, however, that
the latter was successful while the former was
not." ■

On May 1st, 1850, Mackenzie brought his family
from New York to Toronto. So long as he remain-
ed in New York, his connection with the Tribune
continued ; and his regular salary gave him the
means of supporting his family in comfort. To the
end Horace Greeley remained his true and admiring
friend. Such was Mackenzie's confidence in his own
popularity, that he resolved to stand for the first con-
stituency that might become vacant. It happened
to be Haldimand ; for which county he was elected
in April, 1851, his principal opponent being George
Brown, the proprietor and editor of the Globe news-
paper. The contest was an exciting one and created
widespread interest on account of the political pro-
minence of the candidates, both of whom belonged
to the Reform party, which, at that time, was com-

1 The Examiner, Toronto, March 24th, 1849.
486

BROWN AND MACKENZIE

posed of groups or sections not fully in accord on
some of the questions of the day.

The result of this election caused a certain amount
of estrangement between Brown and Mackenzie,
which was never wholly removed on account of
Mackenzie's independence in the assembly and
otherwise. It was also one of the causes of Brown's
rupture with a large section of the Reform party
which had supported the second LaFontaine Bald-
win government, and which supported in turn their
successors, the Hincks-Morin administration. The
estrangement was, of course, purely political, for
public reasons and on public grounds, and never
seriously interrupted the personal relations of the
two men. They agreed to differ, however widely,
without carrying their differences into private life ;
in fact, Mackenzie, whose nature and disposition
were thoroughly genial, never allowed his political
differences to affect his private friendships. There
was no reason, so far as he was concerned, for re-
sentment on Brown's part in regard to the issue of
the election, except that Brown may have con-
sidered Mackenzie's standing for the constituency,
under the circumstances, an unfriendly act. Mac-
kenzie did not so regard it. He claimed that he
was quite within his rights in becoming a candi-
date, and he conceded the same right to any person
who might choose to exercise it. Dr. T. T. J. Har-
rison, of Selkirk, an old resident of Haldimand, and
one of the comparatively few who have a personal

487

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

knowledge of the history of the contest, has made
the following reference to it in a published inter-
view: "I notice that, in his Life of the Hon. George
Brown, Mr. Alexander Mackenzie states that
Brown was the choice of the Reform convention
as a candidate in that election, but that is not cor-
rect. There was no convention. There were eighteen
persons, two from each municipality, chosen by Mr.
Brown and a Mr. Turner, who was also an aspirant,
and these eighteen fixed upon Brown as the candi-
date. That was one of our objections to Brown's
candidature — my father and I, I need scarcely say,
were Mackenzie men — and one of the principal
arguments which we addressed to the people. We
could always say, that the nominators really repre-
sented no persons but themselves, and that the
great body of the people were not consulted ; and
this argument was always an effective one. Parties,
in the political sense, were pretty well split up in
that contest. Mr. Michael Harcourt, the father of
the present minister of education,1 and who after-
wards represented the county, did not support
Mackenzie at that time. He was a Brown man.
But Mr. Mackenzie was too much for them all."2

The restrictions of space in this volume prevent
even a cursory review of Mackenzie's subsequent
parliamentary career ; this must be reserved for a

'The Hon. Richard Harcourt, ex-M.P.P., for many years a member
of the Ontario legislature.

2 The Star, Toronto, December 27th, 1900.

488

POLITICAL CHANGES

more extended biography, should such ever be called
for in connection with the political history of the
last seven years in which he held a seat in the
assembly. Upon re-entering parliament, he found
the area of legislative action and the system of
government greatly changed. The provinces of
Upper and Lower Canada, which had separate
legislatures at the time of his expatriation, were
now united in a legislative partnership ; the Family
Compact, as a power in the State, was dead and
buried, although the spirit of its enmities still sur-
vived;1 the new system, inaugurated by the Union
Act of 1840, had had a ten years' trial with a fair
measure of success ; the principle of responsible

1 In a debate in the House of Assembly, in March, 1849, on
the Rebellion Losses Bill, Sir Allan MacNab, a leading Tory mem-
ber of the House, whose party was opposed to the bill, called
the French-Canadians "aliens and rebels." In reply, Solicitor-
General Blake (father of the Hon. Edward Blake and the Hon. S.
H. Blake) said : "I have not come here to learn lessons of loyalty
from honourable gentlemen opposite. ... I have no sympathy
with the would-be loyalty of honourable gentlemen opposite, which,
while it at all times affects peculiar zeal for the prerogative of the
Crown, is ever ready to sacrifice the liberty of the subject. This
i9 not British loyalty: it is the spurious loyalty which, at all periods
of the world's history, has lashed humanity into rebellion. . . .
The expression l rebel ' has been applied by the gallant knight
to some gentlemen on this side of the House, but I tell gentle-
men on the other side of the House that their public conduct
has proved that they are the rebels to their constitution and
country." MacNab shouted across the House that, so far as he was
concerned, this was "nothing else than a lie." Straightway there
ensued a scene of angry disturbance on the floor of the House and
in the galleries, which threatened to end in a personal encounter
between the two belligerents had not the sergeant-at-arms intervened.

489

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

government, which for a time had not been clearly-
understood by the representatives of the Crown,
had been fully recognized by Lord Elgin, then
nearing the meridian of his fame ; this great con-
stitutional remedy, for the attainment of which
Mackenzie had spent the best years of his life, had
brought other blessings in its train. Although a
brave tribune of the people, Mackenzie had never
pretended to be a politicial seer ; but a seer he
proved to be. Twenty years later and exactly ten
years after he had passed forever from the scene,
the opinions which his writings show he had
expressed, and the prophecies he had uttered,
during the ante-rebellion conflict, with respect
to the adoption of executive responsibility, were
aptly stated by the historian : — -

" By the adoption of this principle," says Erskine
May, " a colonial constitution has become the very
image and reflection of parliamentary government
in England. The governor, like the sovereign whom
he represents, holds himself aloof from and superior
to parties, and governs through constitutional ad-
visers, who have acquired an ascendency in the
legislature. He leaves contending parties to fight
out their own battles ; and, by admitting the
stronger party to his counsels, brings the executive
authority into harmony with popular sentiments.
And as the recognition of this doctrine, in Eng-
land, has practically transferred the supreme auth-
ority of the State from the Crown to parliament
490

THE QUESTIONS OF THE DAY

and the people, so, in the colonies, has it wrested
from the governor and from the parent state the
direction of colonial affairs. And again, as the
Crown has gained in ease and popularity what
it has lost in power, so has the mother country,
in accepting to the full the principles of local
self-government, established the closest relations
of amity and confidence between herself and her
colonies."1

It was "a far cry" from 1837, and the after
years of hard adversity, to the normal political
serenity and settled constitutional conditions of
1851 ; and, for a time, the returned exile found
it difficult to realize the tremendous political trans-
formation. But he speedily got his bearings, and
ere long was in the thick of the imminent political
controversies of the day — representation by popu-
lation, secularization of the Clergy Reserves, which
meant separation of Church and State, and which
was already a subject of agitation, separate schools,
etc. These, which were destined to become burn-
ing questions, and embarrassing and even destruc-
tive to succeeding governments, were at this time
not seriously confronting the second LaFontaine-
Baldwin ministry, which was then in office. It was
not till 1852 that the population of Upper Canada
fairly outnumbered that of Lower Canada. It then
became evident that the prediction of Lord Dur-
ham, that failure to accept his prudent proposal of

1 Constitutional History of England (1871), Vol. iii., pp. 368, 369.

491

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE ,

representation according to population, in the legis-
lature of the united provinces, would be productive
of future inter-provincial dissension, was about to
be verified. Representation by population became
the political slogan of George Brown and the
powerful newspaper of which he was the founder,
and, for many years, the editor, and introduced, as
it could not fail to do, a cleavage, which gradually
widened, between the representatives of the Reform
party in the two provinces, and helped to sow the
seeds of decline in its reigning administration.

The story of that particular period need not be
dwelt upon here. It is not within the scope of this
volume, and has been admirably told by Mr. John
Lewis, in his biography of George Brown in the
" Makers of Canada " series. The ultimate fate of
the ministry, however, in which the leaven of
disintegration was already at work, was determined
by Mackenzie. He introduced, and supported in a
speech of considerable argumentative force, a
motion for the abolition of the Court of Chancery.
The motion was lost, but the division list showed
a majority of the Upper Canadian representatives
in its favour, including the members of the legal
profession, who usually voted with the govern-
ment. Attorney-General Baldwin, the Upper
Canadian leader, was greatly mortified at this
evidence of apparent want of confidence on the
part of representatives of his own province, and
he shortly afterwards resigned from the govern-
492

ADVOCATES REPEAL OF THE UNION

ment,1 very much to the regret of its supporters. In
the following October, LaFontaine retired from
public life altogether ; and so it happened, that the
member for Haldimand became the unwitting in-
strument in breaking up, eventually, one of the
strongest and most capable administrations of
the ante-federal era of government.

The political changes, which followed the retire-
ment of the second LaFontaine-Baldwin govern-
ment, transferred the French-Canadian majority,
which had been the mainstay of that government,
to the Conservative party in 1854, under the leader-
ship mainly of John A. Macdonald. The alliance
thus formed lasted without interruption during
the remaining years of Mackenzie's parliamentary
career, and in fact for many years afterwards.
The Globe, inspired by George Brown, fulmin-
ated against " French-Canadian domination," and
the government of Upper Canada by a Lower
Canada majority. Brown's remedy was repre-
sentation by population ; Mackenzie's remedy was
a repeal of the legislative union of the two pro-
vinces, and the establishment of a system of
government on a federal basis, or, indeed, on
any basis which would give Upper Canada a
complete control of her own affairs. " Mac-
kenzie's annual motion for a repeal of the union "
became a familiar phrase in the parliamentary
reports of the Globe and other Reform papers of the

1 His resignation was tendered June 30fh, 1851.

493

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

time. Both remedies, which had the same object in
view, were repeatedly denied by the Conservative
majority, but were ultimately effectuated and em-
bodied in the British North America Act, 1867.

Outside of parliament Mackenzie was as much
sought after, on political occasions, as he had ever
been in former years. There was no Reform de-
monstration of any pretensions to which he was
not invited, and at which, when he attended, he
was not a welcome and honoured guest. Writing
to him from Port Rowan, in the county of
Norfolk, on December 18th, 1855, Mr. S. P.
Mabee, a prominent Reformer, said: "I was very
sorry that you were not at our last anti-minis-
terial dinner, which really was a grand triumph,
and I think must go far towards prostrating the
present unprincipled Coalition. I travelled twenty-
five miles over almost impassable roads for the
purpose of seeing and hearing you and George
Brown. Mr. Brown was there and gave a most
excellent exposition of the Coalition. You were
very much missed. When your letter of regret
was read, I never heard a greater outburst of
applause. I had no idea your services were so
highly appreciated in this country. I verily believe
you are the most popular man in Canada ; honesty
and virtue as a politician must have its reward
either sooner or later."1

1 The writer was the father of the present chairman of the Railway
Commission of Canada.

494

CRITICIZES REFORM ALLIANCE

Some of these meetings, at a later date than
the one above mentioned, were in the interest of
the Reform Alliance, an organization designed to
unite and consolidate all sections of the Reform
party throughout the province. Like the Church
at Corinth, the Reform party was not at that
time " perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment." One of the objects
of the Alliance was to promote union, and the
presentation of a solid front to their adversaries.
Mackenzie was as usual a candid critic of the
movement. He thought "the voice is Jacob's
voice, but the hand is the hand of Esau ; " in
other words, he thought he perceived George
Brown's hand directing the machinery of the
organization, and that it was an attempt on his
part at dictation with respect to political opinion
and action which Mackenzie believed should,
within reasonable bounds, be perfectly free and
untrammelled. He was probably none the less
confirmed in this view from the fact that the
Globe had been all along — in fact almost from
his entrance anew on the parliamentary stage —
an undisguised censor of many of his votes in
the party divisions of the assembly, and of his

alleged disposition to be a " political fault finder." It
was under these circumstances that Alexander Mac-
kenzie, then a rising politician on the Reform side,
writing from Sarnia, January 22nd, 1857, remon-
strated with the other Mackenzie in these terms:

495

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

" As a sincere friend of yours, I trust you will
permit me to say a word concerning the course
you have thought proper to pursue in reference
to the Reform Alliance. I assure you I think your
course in the last two numbers [of Mackenzie's
Message'] is anything but what the party have
reason to expect at your hands ; opposition from
Tories is natural, and the more the better for that
matter, but opposition from you is a very different
matter, and must result in either depriving you
of all influence politically, or in killing off a laud-
able attempt to unite all Reformers under a close,
consistent organization. Are you prepared for either
of these alternatives ? I cannot believe it. I regret
exceedingly that you should go aside from arguing
the question and attack Mr. Brown's motives, etc.
Such a course is neither just nor wise. If Mr.
Brown is considered by yourself and the body of
Reformers unsafe and unprincipled, attack him
openly by all means. If he is not so considered,
ally yourselves with him. For my own part,
I can say that he has entirely fulfilled all the
pledges he made at the two elections here. Like
yourself, he has laboured unceasingly for the
good of the party and the public interests ; and
now it seems to me quite possible to make
our principles and party the dominant power
in the State, if you and other Reformers fall
in heartily with us in the recent movement. If
this is not done, there will be nothing left for
496

RESIGNS HIS SEAT IN ASSEMBLY

us to do but battle against professed friend and
open foe alike."

This was certainly a characteristic letter, and we
may be sure that it received a characteristic reply.
There is no record of what the reply was, but the
Alliance having soon after died a natural death,
there was probably no further room for correspond-
ence or controversy.

In December of this year (1857) there was a
dissolution of parliament, followed by a general
election in January, 1858. Mackenzie, who had
been returned without difficulty at the previous
election, now went back to his constituents, as
the event proved, for the last time. There were
no party conventions in those days, and no less
than six candidates entered the lists. He was re-
elected by one hundred and ninety majority over\/
the next highest of the rival candidates — a result
which was regarded as a great mark of confidence,
and a handsome endorsation of his conduct as the
representative of the constituency. The general
result, however, was a sore disappointment to him.
He had hoped for such a political change in the
two provinces, or at least in the Upper Province,
as would give the party of Reform a controlling
influence in the new parliament ; but this was far
from being the case. There was a very substantial
Conservative majority, which, in his opinion, was
not likely to be weakened or diminished within
the next four years, at all events. He had a strong

497

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

conviction that, in such a parliament, there would
not be that disposition to trust the people which
he believed should prevail in their representative
body. He despaired of the future, and resolved
to quit the parliamentary arena ; and, in the
month of August, 1858, he resigned his seat in
the legislature. The announcement was received
with unfeigned regret by the Reform party and the
Reform press in all parts of the country. The Globe,
in a brief appreciative article, voiced the general
sentiment by deploring "the loss to the Reform
party in the House " of one whose " vote has always
been on the side of good government and the
people's rights." "If," it added, "we thought that
the veteran Reformer was really about to retire
into private life, we should have more to say about
him, but we believe he can no more keep out of
politics than a cat can keep out of the dairy when
the window is open." l

The omission of a fuller narrative, either here or
in any other work dealing with the events of that
time, of Mackenzie's public life and career after his
return to Canada, is not for want of material to
prove his industry, vigilance and fidelity as a repre-
sentative of the people, his political independence,
and his high ideals of honesty and uprightness in
administration, and in the conduct of the public
business of the country. Although he never sought a
leading position in parliament, the proceedings and

1 The Globe, August 18th, 1858.

498

MACKENZIE IN PARLIAMENT

debates in the assembly, which, in those days, were
fully reported in the newspaper press, afford
ample evidence of the prominent and useful part
which he took in the discussion of all questions of
public moment, and in the criticism of all measures
of proposed legislation. There is scarce an issue of
the leading newspapers published while parliament
was in session, in which he does not figure as con-
tributing to the debates something substantially
helpful and effective. Considering all he had under-
gone, and the many trials of temper he had had
to endure in twelve years of exile, it is surpris-
ing how free his speeches were of the gall which
chronic opposition engenders. He would fre-
quently draw upon his large fund of humour, in
a manner which is still pleasantly remembered by
the then habitues of the House. If any reference
were made to the rebellion, he would always treat
the subject jocosely. " There's the attorney-general
for Lower Canada," l for instance, he would say ;
"when the British government placed an esti-
mate on our heads, they valued mine at four
thousand dollars, and his at only two thousand !"

Mackenzie's participation in parliamentary dis-
cussions, however, was more that of an impartial
and independent bystander than as the represent-
ative of any political party ; he in fact never allied
himself closely with either of the two parties, and
so left himself free to criticize the doings of both.

1 The Hon. George E. Cartier.

499

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

In his opposition to the Municipal Loan Fund Bill
he stood alone, although, not long after the passage
of that measure, a large majority of the people
of Canada would have voted the same way. His
exercise of this freedom became all the more
widely known to the public for the reason that
he was one of the comparatively few members
of the House who was "easy to report." He was
a fluent and forcible speaker, and, what is not
always found in the possessor of these qualities,
a good debater as well. His habits as a journal-
ist gave him a ready command of simple and
appropriate language, and it was well understood
among the busy men in the gallery that their
reports of his speeches required little or no correc-
tion. Being, however, a tireless student of public
questions which needed study and exposition, he
was, in the last years of his parliamentary life,
sometimes apt to be prolix and irrelevant, especially
when he came down to the House full of the
subject ; but, with all his idiosyncrasies in this
respect, and despite the impatience at times of
a not over-tolerant assembly, he never ceased to
fill a unique place, and to hold his own as a
popular and attractive personality in the councils
of the united provinces. His motions for depart-
mental returns, which were frequent and well
directed, were of infinite assistance to the govern-
ment and to members of the House generally,
besides providing valuable data for future use
500

MACKENZIE IN PARLIAMENT

and service. His knowledge of finance, also, and
of financial and trade questions, and of the science
of banking and our banking system — which was
admitted by all his contemporaries — added greatly
to his usefulness as a parliamentarian. Few pub-
lic men, in parliament or out of it, were better
equipped for the work of his time than William
Lyon Mackenzie.

501

CHAPTER XVI

LAST YEARS, ILLNESS AND DEATH

FEW men who have led a life of great mental
activity long survive the abandonment of
their accustomed habits of labour. Nor was it
different with William Lyon Mackenzie. When
he resigned his seat in the legislative assembly in
1858, few of his colleagues were equal to the
endurance he underwent. It was no uncommon
thing for him to burn the midnight oil till streaks
of gray were visible in the eastern horizon. He
would do this three or four nights in the week.
Every one thought there were still many years
of wear in his slender but wiry frame ; but the
seeds of mortality had been already sown in his
system. During the last two years of his life he
failed more rapidly than his most intimate friends
were able to realize ; and to declining health there
supervened pecuniary embarrassments which cast
a gloom over the close of his existence. But
hopes of brighter days always cheered him even
in the darkest hour of adversity, and he was
constantly trying to inspire others, with whom he
was in intimate relations, with the same feeling.

Of a highly sensitive nature and somewhat secre-
tive, he was never fully understood, perhaps, even
by his most intimate friends. There was no sacri-

503

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

fice which he would not cheerfully make for his
children ; he could enter into all their childish feel-
ings, and would at almost any time leave his studies
to engage in their play ; yet he was sometimes
unapproachable. The rude collisions with the world,
in which he received so many hard knocks, would
temporally weaken the springs of his elastic temper,
and, till the fit was over, the gloom that crowded
upon his thoughts would cast its dark shade on
all around. In his children he took the greatest
pride ; and the stern politician, who carried on so
many relentless contests, wore the watch of his
eldest daughter around his neck for twelve years
after her death, in almost superstitious veneration
of her who had passed away.

After his return to Canada, his stern independ-
ence conciliated the respect of all parties. He was
very far from being rich ; but he taught the world
this moral, that it is not necessary to be rich to be
politically independent. Immediately after his re-
turn, Isaac Buchanan, with that princely munifi-
cence for which he was noted, offered to make him
a gift of a thousand dollars ; but he refused it, lest
it should interfere with his independence of action.1

1 The Hon. Isaac Buchanan, M.P., who was a warm friend and
admirer of Mackenzie, was in his day the Conservative member for
Hamilton, in the parliament of the United Provinces, the pioneer of
the wholesale trade of Upper Canada, and one of the projectors of the
Great Western Railway, which is now part of the Grand Trunk
system. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, July 21st, 1810, the fourth son of
Peter Buchanan of " Auchmar," an ancient seat of the Buchanans,
on the banks of Loch Lomond, Stirlingshire, he came to Canada in

504

THE MACKENZIE HOMESTEAD

The late Robert Hay, afterwards M.P. for Centre
Toronto in the House of Commons, generously
offered to furnish his house from top to bottom
— a kindness which was gratefully declined. Twice
he was offered office under the government — once
directly and once indirectly — but he treated the
offers as little short of insults ; such was his almost
morbid jealousy of a covert attack on his independ-
ence. The county of York paid him some £300 due
on account of previous legislative services ; and
the government paid for his services as Welland
Canal director before the union. In 1856, some
friends started a subscription for a "Mackenzie
Homestead ; ' and after several years' exertions,
some £1,250 were collected; of which £950 were in-
vested in a house in Toronto, and the rest loaned
by the committee to himself. Owing to a difference
of opinion between himself and the committee, he
inserted a notice in the public journals, in 1859, re-
fusing to allow any more subscriptions — of which
there were about fifteen hundred dollars, outstand-
ing— to be collected. From February, 1853, to the
autumn of 1860, he published a weekly paper,
Mackenzie's Message, but not with great regularity.
Latterly he was unable, for various reasons, to

1830, established in Toronto a branch of a leading mercantile house
in Glasgow in which he was a partner, and was subsequently senior
partner in an extensive wholesale business carried on in Glasgow,
New York, Montreal, Hamilton and London. Mr. Buchanan died
many years ago at "Auchmar," his home on the mountain over-
looking Hamilton.

505

William lyon Mackenzie

give the business of the office the attention which
it required ; financial difficulties closed in around
him, and hope, his constant companion, which had
never before deserted him, failed him at last.
The inevitable stood in his pathway, although he
long refused to recognize it.

For months before he died it was painfully
evident that his health was rapidly failing, but
his stern will knew no yielding. He declined to
admit his physical weakness, and, although com-
plaining of dizziness in walking, persisted in tak-
ing this favourite exercise as long as it was possible.
Even when confined to his sick chamber, and when
recovery was hopeless, he insisted upon his ability
to regain his strength, and clung to life with a
tenacity that was marvellous. He refused all medi-
cines or stimulants, and it was only by strategy
that these could be administered. Towards the
close of his illness he was unconscious for days
together, his speech, in the periods of fever which
was consuming his vitality, recurring pathetically
to the Gaelic of his early years. At other times,
with mind and faculties active and apparently un-
clouded, he would insist upon rising and being
dressed as for a journey, only to lie down again
dispirited and exhausted. On the Sunday preceding
his death his indomitable spirit made what proved
to be its final effort. He had members of his family
about him ministering to his simple wants ; he re-
ceived the visits of a number of old friends, with
506

DEATH AND FUNERAL

whom he had very touching interviews ; and he
listened reverently to the consolations of religion.
During the following days he was for the most
part unconscious of suffering, and of those who
watched beside him, and on Thursday evening,
August 28th, 1861, as the sun was sinking, he
passed away. He died broken-hearted with disap-
pointment ; died because he no longer knew where
to find the means of existence, and because his
proud spirit forbade him to beg. From his most
intimate friends, who might have helped him, he
concealed the embarrassments of his pecuniary
position. Such was the end of this extraordinary
man whose powers of agitation, at one period of
his life, gave him an almost absolute command over
the masses in his adopted country.

The funeral on the following Saturday afternoon,
from the family homestead on Bond Street, was
attended by a large concourse of people from the
city and country. All classes and creeds, the high
and the lowly, old opponents and old friends, were
represented in the long cortege of mourning. Many
came from distant places to pay their last tribute
of respect to the memory of one whom they ad-
mired and loved. The remains were interred in the
family plot in the Necropolis, with the simple
religious service of the Presbyterian Church, of
which the deceased was a member.1 There, " in

1 Mackenzie was one of the founders of St. Andrew's Church,
Toronto, of which the late Rev. D. J. Macdonnell was, for many

507

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

the long silence of peace," Mackenzie lies buried
beside his devoted wife,1 and surrounded by twelve
of his children, a granite column crowned by a
Celtic cross marking their last resting-place. One
daughter, the youngest of a family of thirteen,
alone survives.2

The announcement of Mackenzie's death evoked
many kindly tributes from the press of Canada, and
the lapse of years has, as we have seen, added in
grateful measure to the testimony of regard in
which his name and services are held by the
Canadian people. Considering the proximity of the
event to the turbulent period in which he was so
prominent an actor, it would have been natural
to expect some harshness and severity to mingle,
here and there, with the generous words which
were published of him when " his tired life's story "
came to an end. But of harshness or severity there
was none. His appeal to arms against the tyranny
of Sir Francis Bond Head and the official party,
of which Bond Head was the ruling spirit, was
censured in some quarters ; but the appeal, it must
be admitted, was not in vain. The constituency
to which the censures were addressed, or which

years, the minister. He was the secretary of the meeting at which the
congregation was organized, and, along with the Hon. Mr. Justice
Maclean and Mr. Alexander Morris, took a prominent part in the
proceedings. He and his family were regular attendants at St.
Andrew's, and also, in later years, at Knox Church.

1 Mrs. Mackenzie died January 12th, 1873.

8 The wife of John King, K. C, Toronto.

508

OPINIONS OF NEWSPAPER PRESS

gave them any serious hearing, has been long since
merged in one of wider influence and authority.
Mackenzie, and the Reformers of his day who
enlisted in his cause, will be judged by the more
deliberate and enlightened judgments of our own
time, and by these they will not be condemned.

When it became known that his illness had ter-
minated fatally, the Toronto newspapers appeared
in mourning columns, and with lengthy and ap-
preciative obituaries. The local press in all parts
of Canada was equally pronounced in its notices
of the event. It was not forgotten that Mackenzie
was not only a veteran of a stormy and ex-
asperating period in the political arena, but that
he was also a pioneer and veteran of their own
profession ; that, as Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer said
of Cobbett, he possessed " the spirit of change, of
criticism, of combativeness, which is the spirit of
journalism ; that he was not only this spirit em-
bodied, but that he represented journalism, and
fought the fight of journalism against authority,
when it was still a doubt which would gain the
day."1

Of the many notices of Mackenzie which appear-
ed at that time, the following are fairly indicative
of the opinions held of him, and of his character
and work, by the newspapers of both political
parties. They are necessarily abbreviated, but they
are sufficient to show the u spirit of the press":

1 Historical Character*, p. 357.

509

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

" A man of very great, though sometimes mis-
directed, ability and energy, he played a great part
in his adopted country, and exerted a very import-
ant influence over its material and political interests.
No history of Canada can be complete in which his
name does not occupy a conspicuous, and, we must
add, notwithstanding his errors, an honourable
position. Whatever may have been the means he
employed, his aims were honest and public spirited.
He was no money hunter ; he was the friend of
purity and economy in the administration of public
affairs. Let no man who values the political free-
dom and enlightment we enjoy, fail to give a meed
of praise to one who struggled for long years,
amidst enormous difficulties, to secure for his
country a free constitution and an efficient admin-
istration of affairs. Those who have known Mr.
Mackenzie as a writer and speaker in his later
years only, can form no idea of his power in his
younger days. . . . He was at all times a man of
impulse, prompt in action, full of courage and fire.
No danger could deter him from the accomplish-
ment of his designs ; his courage commanded the
admiration of his bitterest enemies. In the early
struggles of the people of Upper Canada for the
privileges of self-government, Mr. Mackenzie's
services were invaluable ; and, though he com-
mitted a grievous error in exciting the people to
rebellion, it must be recollected that the insurrec-
tion was the immediate cause of the introduction of
510

OPINIONS OF NEWSPAPER PRESS

a new political system. It might have been gained
without the rebellion, but the rebellion gained it.
Mr. Mackenzie did good service by imparting to
the early settlers a love of economy and sound
principles in the administration of affairs, which has
borne its fruits in the steady adhesion of the people
of Upper Canada to these virtues, although they
have been overborne under the existing regime by
the power of Lower Canada. With many faults,
Mr. Mackenzie is borne in affectionate and grateful
remembrance by hundreds, we might say, thou-
sands, of the honest yeomanry of Upper Canada,
who recall his early labours on their behalf, and
bear willing testimony that he never took part in a
job, never advocated a measure, which he did not
believe to be for the public good. Their regard for
him is his best monument."1

"Few men have exercised a more potent in-
fluence on the affairs of Canada than that wielded
by the subject of this notice. He it was who first
directed attention to the necessity of those changes
in the system of government which were afterwards
effected under the auspices of others when he had
been driven into exile. . . . Even the rebellion
with all its evils was not without its incidental
advantages. It awakened the attention of the
imperial government to the monstrous abuses of
the oligarchical system which had previously
existed, and brought about a beneficial change

1 The Globe, Toronto, August 29th, 1861.

511

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

sooner than it could otherwise have occurred.
During his long public career he did many things
which he afterwards admitted to be wrong, and for
which he expressed the deepest regret ; but what-
ever errors may have blended with his exertions —
errors which he himself afterwards frankly admitted
— there can be no question that he did much to
advance the cause of civil liberty in his adopted
country. ... It is now all but universally con-
ceded, that, however erroneous his views, Mr.
Mackenzie did everything from a thoroughly
honest motive, and in the belief that it wras best
for the country. He was no trading politician or
office-seeker, and the best test of his political
virtue is, that he resisted the most alluring tempta-
tions when he thought their acceptance would be
contrary to the interests of the public. His most
intimate friends best knew the value he set upon
political honesty, and how deep and utter was his
detestation of a tendency to dishonesty or corrup-
tion. His great ambition appears to have been to
bequeath a name which should be free from the
suspicion of corruption or selfishness ; and in that
we think it will be generally admitted that he
succeeded." l

" Mr. Mackenzie was all his life one of the most
prominent public men in Canada — possessed of
great natural ability, industry and perseverance.
Though a poor man he was always strictly honest

1 The Leader y Toronto, August 30th, 1861.

512

OPINIONS OF NEWSPAPER PRESS

and independent. The part he took in the Rebellion
of 1837 is familar to our readers. Mr. Mackenzie
for a long time edited the then leading paper in
Upper Canada ; and was always connected with the
press in some shape or other. His principal business
in parliament was to scent out and expose jobs
and corruption, and unhesitatingly denounce the
perpetrators. He also kept a scrapbook ready at
hand to pounce upon inconsistent politicians, and
convict them out of their own mouths. Though a
man of extreme views, there is no doubt as to his
sincerity and honesty of purpose. His is one of
those names in the history of Canada that will not
be let die. There are many who will regret Mr.
Mackenzie's loss ; though ' after life's fitful fever
he sleeps well.' " *

" Mr. Mackenzie, in his prime before the union,
occupied a prominent position in the politics of
Upper Canada, and, by his energy and power as a
public writer and stump orator, lashed the people
into rebellion in 1837. ... It is certain that, by
the bitterness of his attacks upon the government
and the governing class, he stung them to wrath ;
and possibly, in their exasperation, they may not
have been overwise in the language which they in
their turn used in denouncing him. It was he who
commenced the system of printing extracts from
the journals of the legislature, and obnoxious votes,
interspersed with capitals and black letters as thick

1 Montreal Pilot,

513

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

as plums in a pudding — a system of which Mr.
George Brown has been an imitator, and which
he has pursued with a success almost as great
as that of Mr. Mackenzie. ... It must be said
of him that, in all his bitter agitation, he was
not actuated by any corrupt or sordid motives.
The sacrifice of his property was sufficient proof of
his sincerity. . . .In the House he spoke fre-
quently, and at times he rose to eloquence, and
won cheers from all sides. When Lord Elgin
strained the constitution at Quebec in favour of
Mr. Hincks, by dissolving parliament before a
bill was passed, the old man stepped out on the
floor to raise his voice against that act of wrong-
doing, and aimed his hot, quick words so well
that they once again stirred men's blood and
produced a marked sensation. . . . His real
strength lay in detecting flaws in the public
accounts, and to his credit be it said that, during a
time of corruption and inflation, he never soiled his
hands, or ever obtained any advantage whatever
from any party. ... He was small of stature but
physically strong, and, almost to the last, he could
spring over a table at a standing jump. He is now
gone to his account for the good and evil he has
done. We are willing to forget, in as far as may
be, past political differences — to remember only
the good in his career."1

" Mr. Mackenzie's name is mixed up with the con-

1 Montreal Gazette.

5U

OPINIONS OF NEWSPAPER PRESS

stitutional history of Canada to a greater extent,
perhaps, than that of any other individual ; and,
with his many faults, there can be no doubt that
he had, throughout all his career, the interests of
Canada and of human freedom at heart. In the
great struggle in Upper Canada against the Family
Compact, as it was then called, which terminated
in the Rebellion of 1837, he was a leading spirit,
trusted, not only by his own party in that province,
but by the French-Canadian majority in Lower
Canada then led by Papineau. In the civil war he
was the most prominent leader, and had several very
narrow escapes. . . . Latterly, those who had sym-
pathized with the man who had laid all his energies,
means, and opportunities, on the altar of his country
without meeting any reward, contributed a suffi-
cient amount to purchase for him a comfortable
homestead where he quietly ended his days."1

" The late Mr. Mackenzie appears to have been
sincere in all his proceedings. He believed the
country, as a colony, oppressed, and he was deter-
mined to bring it immediate relief. He erred, how-
ever, in using the sword instead of the pen, and in
fostering rebellion instead of loyalty. . . . To err,
however, is human. Mr. Mackenzie was not, with all
his faults, an office seeker, and in this respect pre-
sents a strong contrast to the 'look to Washing-
ton' men of the present day. He is gone — peace
to his ashes."2

1 Montreal Witness. 2 Brantford Courier.

515

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

" As a politician, Mr. Mackenzie was exceedingly
industrious, and brought a vast amount of energy
to bear upon whatever he undertook. As a news-
paper writer his style was peculiarly his own, and
latterly he wrote but little. Few men have gone
through so many varying and trying changes as
Mr. Mackenzie ; yet he flinched not in anything
he undertook. He was a man of extraordinary
energy and possessed an unconquerable will. What-
ever may be said of his faults and follies, and he
had many, he was certainly sincere in all he did.
As one of the most remarkable men of this country,
Mr. Mackenzie departs at a ripe age leaving behind
him many memorials of the past."1

" No man's career, perhaps, is better known here
than his, and while he had his faults as well as other
men, it may truly be said of him, that he was ever
above those influences which act so powerfully on
many public men in Canada. He was always above
the money power, and never succumbed to the
blandishments of executive patronage ; but was ever
actuated, we doubt not, by the conviction that he
was doing right, however far from it he may have
been, so that with all his faults we respect his
memory."2

" We make no excuse for inserting a lengthy
notice on the death of the late W. L. Mackenzie
from the columns of the Globe. He played too con-

1 Hamilton Spectator.

2 Hamilton Times, " Death of an Old Patriot."

516

OPINIONS OF NEWSPAPER PRESS

spicuous a part in Canadian politics to be passed
over with a mere paragraph. Would that it could
be said of all politicians, what is universally ad-
mitted in regard to Mr. Mackenzie — he sought not
his own advancement or wealth, but the good of
the country. Wayward and impracticable though
many esteemed him, yet his aims were not to enrich
himself, and he has descended to the grave after
a long and busy life with the enviable character
of ' An honest man, the noblest work of God.' " !

" It is unfortunate that a man's death must pre-
cede a general appreciation of his character and
services. Being dead, all parties praise him, and
his funeral cortege would do honour to the memory
of a king. In the sad procession all classes of
citizens were amply represented. The mayor and
corporation were there to dignify the ashes of the
first chief magistrate elected to preside over the
affairs of the city. Radical and Tory walked and
rode together, the more pointedly to prove the
sincerity of their conviction that the dead man's
errors were on the side of his country. It was a
funeral which demonstrated that in the long run
honesty is cherished ; that blunders and even crimes
are forgiven by the people, if their author has but
acted under the pressure of disinterested impulses.
The pity is, that the generous verdict is postponed
until the being most concerned is placed beyond
the jurisdiction of earthly tribunals." 2

1 Brockville Recorder. 2 Toronto correspondence Ottawa Citizen.

517

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

The press of the United States, which, to say the
least, was quite competent to form a dispassionate
judgment, and many of whose journalists were well
acquainted with Mackenzie, was particularly appre-
ciative of his labours as a constitutional reformer.
In common with other newspapers, the New York
Tribune, whose famous editor, Horace Greeley,
watched the progress of events in this country with
the closest attention, expressed an opinion on this
point that has met with very general acceptance.
" William Lyon Mackenzie," said the Tribune, re-
ferring particularly to the conflict in Upper Canada,
" was the leader of the real struggle for responsible
government in Canada. He conducted the political
siege, and headed the storming party that effected
the breach. Mackenzie personified the vim and
virtues, personal and political, that fought the
fight and won it."

Mackenzie was scarcely in his grave when the
newspaper press called for some "tangible testi-
mony " to his memory. " Mr. Mackenzie dead and
buried," said the Toronto correspondent of the
Ottawa Citizen, " is nothing more to be heard con-
cerning him ? Is the long procession which followed
his remains to the grave to be the last sign of the
public estimate of his honesty and usefulness?"
The erection of a monument to commemorate his
public services has been frequently suggested. As
in the case of the portraits of Mackenzie, which
were hung in the legislative and municipal
518

PROPOSALS OF PUBLIC MONUMENT

buildings at Toronto, the proposal has been
favourably received by the press of both parties,
and, although it has never taken practical shape,1
the comments on the subject possess a certain
historic interest, apart from the references to Mac-
kenzie himself.

" It is surprising, not a few will say ungrateful,
that, during all these years of political progress,
no memorial of a personality so picturesque and
strenuous as Mackenzie should have come into
existence. The late Sir M. C. Cameron used to
say that, Conservative as he was, he would gladly
contribute to such an object. The first premier of
Ontario, the Hon. J. S. Macdonald, was also one of
Mackenzie's ardent admirers. Mackenzie proved his
faith by his works as a fearless public man. He
was the leader of a movement which, though not
faultless, hastened a radical change in British
colonial government ; and he staked his life on
the issue. Such a man may well be honoured by
a monument to his memory."2 "Apropos of tablets,"
said the Westminster, "is it not time for a monu-
ment to be erected to the memory of William
Lyon Mackenzie ? . . . The fierce political animo-
sities of '37 have died away, and Canadians of
to-day can see the great men of those troublous

1 The late Hon. Archibald McKellar, at one time commissioner
of public works in the Ontario government, and subsequently
sheriff of Wentworth, had the project pretty well in hand at the
time of his death ; but his plans died with him.

2 The Star, Toronto, May 23rd, 1900.

519

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

times in a clearer light, and do them juster honour
than their fellows did. What though our fathers
killed the prophets, if they were true prophets,
we should not be ashamed to build their sepul-
chres." 1

A writer in a Toronto morning paper, who de-
scribed himself as a " Loyalist in the stirring times
of 1837," felt impelled, as he said, to declare him-
self in favour of this public recognition of Mac-
kenzie's patriotic labours. Commenting on the
Loyalist's letter, a leading Conservative journal
said, in its article of the day : " This proposal is
not a new one, but it is none the less laudable,
and, coming from a Conservative source, is signi-
ficant of the just sentiment which eventually
prevails with respect to sterling honesty and self-
sacrifice in public life. The strong contrast in this
respect presented by Mackenzie's patriotic career,
with the utter selfishness of not a few in high
places since his day, is making itself felt as time
goes on. The events of the last few years in
Canada have made the Reform leader more ap-
preciated than ever he was. The movement which
he headed was less a movement against the Crown's
authority, than against the abuse and prostitution
of it by men unworthy of the Queen's confidence.
The rash and tyrannical Sir Francis Bond Head
did more to goad the long-suffering people of
Upper Canada into revolt than any man living

i May, 1900.

520

THE PRESS ON THE REBELLION

at the time. . . . By all means give him a monu-
ment. He well deserves it, if only because he
hastened by many years the reign of responsible
government, and taught, by shining example as
well as precept, the much needed lesson that
fearless, unpurchasable independence in the peo-
ple's service should be, as too often it is not, the
highest aim and reward of political ambition."1

Any further reference to the personal and public
character and career of Mackenzie seems scarcely
necessary. Like others who have passed through
the fires of political persecution, he said and did
some things which it may not always be possible
to defend or excuse. There is no desire to defend
or excuse them in these pages ; nor, in an im-
partial estimate of his life work, is it necessary
to do so. Neither is it necessary to endorse his
own manly confessions of fault or error, although,
as he himself once said in his place in parliament,
he believed " there was more true nobility of mind
in confessing an error than in persisting in one."

A few years ago, a correspondent in a Toronto
newspaper took exception to the Reform party
being classed with Mackenzie and his associates.
A prominent Liberal journal,2 resented the dis-
tinction in a strong article in defence of the
" rebels ' of 1837, and was supported by other
Liberal newspapers throughout the province. "This

1 The News, Toronto, December 26th, 1895.

2 The Hamilton Times, February 26th, 1901.

521

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

protest," said a Toronto journal, referring to the
correspondent's letter, " doubtless expresses the
opinion of a small section of the Reform party,
but a section whose numbers are diminishing, and
which will become extinct. A Reformer of the
present day who calls it ' disloyal ' to rebel against
unbearable tyranny is out of date. Whether or not
Mackenzie — the man Mackenzie — was headstrong,
vain, and visionary, future generations will care less
and less to enquire. Men will remember only that
the world has too little of that courage which
counts not the cost of political protest, and will not
compromise with tyranny. By the foolhardiness of
such men as those of '37 and later, those ■ crazy
men ' at Harper's Ferry, men who follow the path
of their convictions, though it lead them to the
scaffold, the race of men is honoured."1 " We who
enjoy the liberties for which Mackenzie and his
followers fought would be ungrateful if we weighed
their actions in too nice a balance. They suffered
for us, and the principles for which they fought
proved to be the best not only for Canada but
for the Empire."2 " But for the strenuous and
protracted fight Mackenzie made for pure adminis-
tration and democratic institutions, the oligarchy
he sought to overthrow might have retained its
hold much longer on the provincial machinery. To
very many people he is only a 'rebel,' or an un-

1 The Star, Toronto, March 4th, 1901.
■ The Globe, Toronto, January 2nd, 1902.

522

ESTIMATES OF HIS CHARACTER

successful patriot ; to those who know most about
his efforts and achievements, his career was remark-
ably successful as well as admirable."1

Writing of Macaulay, in his beautiful little essay,
"Nil Nisi Bonum" Thackeray says: "He is always
in a storm of revolt and indignation against wrong,
craft, tyranny. How he cheers heroic resistance ;
how he backs and applauds freedom struggling for
its own ; how he hates scoundrels ever so victorious
and successful;" — words not inapplicable to Mac-
kenzie, and that might have been said or written
of him, ever and anon, in the vicissitudes of fortune
that marked his chequered career. He was unques-
tionably one of the strong personalities of his time,
and whatever be the reason, he has retained his
hold on the imagination of the people. Old men
of the rebellion period have recounted with pride
how they were " out with Lyon Mackenzie in '37."
Possessed of popular gifts, and of unswerving hon-
esty and independence, he was animated by strong
convictions, and, when needs be, could express
them with persuasive eloquence. " He was an
uncompromising friend of civil and religious liberty,
and had an innate hatred of wrongdoing, injustice
and oppression. This is the true test of his political
propaganda. He encountered a thoroughly bad
system of government and administration and
enormous public abuses. These he persistently
assailed, and, in the long and bitter conflict which

1 The Globe, February 0th, 1903.

523

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

closed with the rebellion, he received no quarter." !
Although not always right, he always believed
he was right, and he had the power of inspiring
that belief in others. He was what his physical
features and make-up suggest, a dynamic man, all
energy, activity and force, capable of long sustained
physical and mental exertion in the prosecution
of his labours, masterful, impatient of opposition,
suspicious of the political caucus, no friend of the
" machine," and undaunted in any purpose by its
unpopularity, difficulty, or danger. At the same
time, as described by one who knew him well, he
was "a pleasant companion and associate, full of
vivacity and good humour and the ready mother
wit of a Highlander. Despite all the bufferings
of fortune, he never lost, even in his latest years,
the freshness, buoyancy and brightness of youth.
He frolicked with his children, delighted in their
society, and was as young in heart as any of
them."

Although not unwatchful of the currents of
public opinion, "the great support of the State,"
Mackenzie struck down below the surface to the
working of those social forces beneath, which seldom
fail to influence communities in the discussion of
public questions and the promotion of political
movements. He believed in trusting the people,
but he was not of those who thought that the
people were never wrong. On the contrary, he

1 The Globe, Toronto, August 4th, 1906.

524

THE JUDGMENT OF HISTORY

thought they were wrong on many occasions, and
he so declared with some bitterness ; but he be-
lieved with Burke, "that in all disputes between
them and their rulers, the presumption is at least
upon a par in favour of the people ; " and that
when popular discontents are prevalent, something
is amiss in the constitution or the administration.
"The people have no interest in disorder," wrote
Burke. u When they do wrong, it is their error,
and not their crime," adding the famous passage
from the Memoirs of Sully (whom he describes as
a great man and minister of state and a zealous
asserter of monarchy), that "the revolutions that
come to pass in great states are not the result of
chance, nor of popular caprice. . . . As for the
populace, it is never from a passion for attack that
it rebels, but from impatience of suffering."1 "A
passage," said John Morley, " which practical
politicians and political students should bind about
their necks and write upon the tables of their
hearts."2

The " impatience of suffering," thus emphasized
by Lord Morley, had everything to do with in-
spiring and determining the public career of the
man whose life story has now been told. The story

1 Thoughts on the Present Discontents, Burke's Works, Bonn's Ed.,
Vol. i, p. 310.

2 Burke, English Men of Letters, pp. 50, 51. The author is now
Viscount Morley, Secretary of State for India in the British cabinet,
of which the late Right Hon. Campbell-Bannerman was, and the Right
Hon. H. H. Asquith is now, the First Minister.

525

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

is not perfect in every detail, but the readers of
to-day are far enough removed from the violent
things which were said and done on both sides
at that time, from the bitter warfare of the parties
and the long train of mutual animosities to which
it gave rise, more especially in the pre- confedera-
tion years of our history, to regard with dispas-
sionate feelings the character and work of the man
himself — to remember his unselfish patriotism, his
noble integrity, his many and great services and
sacrifices for the public welfare. These must always
ensure him a high place in the affections of a people
who have gained so much from his vindication of
liberty and justice, and his advocacy of those great
constitutional reforms which are inseparably con-
nected with our present system of government.
Posterity, which generously veils the follies and
frailties of public men, who have honestly and
patriotically served their country in their day and
generation, can never forget the debt of gratitude
which it owes to Mackenzie for the just cause which
he made his own, and history, in passing judgment,
will not unfairly adjust the balance with respect to
one whose faults and errors were so far over-
shadowed by his virtues.

526

INDEX

INDEX

Alien Act, 1804, 88 ; hardships of,
140, 141 ; bill to amend, 142

Amnesty, Act of 1838, 474 ; Hume
urges, for Mackenzie, 477, 478 ;
Act of 1849, 480

Anderson, Anthony, given com-
mand of the rebels, 360 ; moves
on Toronto, 363 ; takes prison-
ers, 364 ; victim of Powell's
treachery, 365

Annexation to United States, Mac-
kenzie not for, 10

Arthur, Sir George, governor of
Upper Canada, 435 ; disregards
clemency petitions, 435 ; learns
of intended attack on Canada,
441 ; renews reward for Mac-
kenzie's capture, 445 ; proposes
exchange of prisoners and re-
fugees, 463 ; U.S. refuses, 463

Assembly, Legislative, composition
of, under Constitutional Act, 53 ;
Gold win Smith on, 54 ; irritation
between and executive, 55 ; Lord
Durham on, 56, 58, 59, 60 ; the
true principle of government, 61,
63

" Association of Canadian Refugees, "
formed, 448 ; object of, independ-
ence of Canada, 449 ; ended fur-
ther expeditions against Canada,
449

B

Baldwin, Doctor W. W., upholds

Judge Willis, 132 ; protests
against his removal, 133

Baldwin, Robert, defends Judge
Willis, 133 ; Mackenzie supports
159 ; elected to the assembly
159 ; on banks in politics, 170
appointed executive councillor
294 ; resigns, 294 ; goes to Eng
land, 305 ; opposed by Head, 305
accompanies flag of truce, 368
retires from executive council,
408 ; Mackenzie defeats govern-
ment of, 492

Banking, report of House on, 161

Bank of Upper Canada, increase
of capital vetoed, 215 ; run on,
340

Bidwell, Marshall Spring, defends
Mackenzie, 181, 182 ; moves com-
mittee of inquiry, 184 ; moves
Mackenzie's eligibility, 243 ; dis-
countenances royal veto, 251 ;
elected Speaker of the House,
151 ; again elected Speaker of
the House, 261 ; Head declines
to make him judge, 307 ; de-
feated for the House, 308; re-
fuses nomination to convention,
343 ; gives legal advice to rebels,
343 ; his part in the rebellion, 357;
accepts voluntary exile, 358

Bierce, General, plans attack on
Windsor, 446 ; lands at Windsor,
447 ; retreats, 447

Blake, Hon. Edward, when rebel-
lion is justified, 26, 27

Blake, William Hume, solicitor-

529

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

general, debate oil Rebellion
Losses Bill, 489

Boulton, John Henry, solicitor-
general, reprimanded, 153 ; dis-
missed from office, 232 ; threatens
rebellion, 233 ; chief justice of
Newfoundland, 235

Brown, George, Mackenzie defeats,

486 ; relations with Mackenzie,

487 ; the Haldimand election,

488 ; Alexander Mackenzie's good
offices, 496

Buchanan, Isaac, urges Mackenzie's
amnesty, 474 ; generosity of, 504

Buller, Charles, authorship of Lord
Durham's Report, 82, 83

Cameron, James, attempts to kid-
nap Mackenzie, 464

" Canadian Alliance Society," found-
ed December 1834, 258; its ob-
jects, 258

Canadian Freeman, the, Collins pub-
lishes it in 1825, 111

Caroline Almanac, Mackenzie pub-
lishes, 459

Caroline the, (steamboat), goes over
Niagara Falls, 419 ; cutting out
of, 420 ; merits of act, 421 ; in-
ternational complications, 423

Casual and territorial revenues, de-
tails of, 54, 55

Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph,
justifies Upper Canada rebellion,
29,30

Chandler, Samuel, aids Mackenzie's
escape, 397

Christie, his History of Canada, 405

Chronicle, Kingston, 103

530

Citizen, the (Ottawa), Mackenzie's
obituary in, 517 ; urges monument
to, 518

Clergy Reserves, created by Con-
stitutional Act, 70 ; details of,
70 ; Lord Durham on, 71 ; Mac-
kenzie's view of, 94, 95 ; griev-
ance report on, 272 ; Lord Glen-
elg's position, 283

Colborne, Sir John, governor of
Upper Canada, 157 ; Mackenzie's
letters to, 164-7 ; suggests Mac-
kenzie make reparation, 248 ; his
view of legislative council, 268 ;
his view of executive council, 279

Collins, Francis, reports legislative
debates, 106 ; publishes Canadian
Freeman in 1825, 111 ; convicted
of libel, 134 ; fined and impri-
soned, 134

Colonial Advocate, the, published at
Queenston, May 18th, 1824, 85 ;
reviews condition of provinces,
86, 87 ; topics discussed in, 94-7 ;
reports debates, 102, 103 ; grant-
ed a subsidy for printing, 103 ;
moved to York, Jan. 1825, 106 ;
House refuses publication of re-
ports in, 108; destruction of, 113;
W. J. Rattray on, 116 ; defend-
ants made to pay £625 damages,
129; criminal prosecution of, 130;
second destruction of, 221 ; last
issue Nov. 1834, 259

Comfort, Thomas, aids Mackenzie's
escape, 384

Confederation of British American
colonies, Mackenzie advocates,
104, 105 ; Robinson reports on,
105

INDEX

Constitutional Act, the, its objects,

48, 49 ; the debate on the bill,

49, 50 ; the handiwork of Pitt,
51 ; the germ of the federal sys-
tem, 51 ; divided Quebec into
two provinces, 52 ; created legis-
lative council, 52 ; created legis-
lative assembly, 53 ; executive
council, 53 ; General Simcoe on,
54 ; Goldwin Smith on, 54 ; Lord
Durham's commentary on, 53,
56 ; recommends revision of, 57 ;
provisions creating Clergy Re-
serves, 70 ; effect on parliament-
ary rule summarized, 71, 72 ;
Mackenzie declares war against,
72 ; silent on the question of
executive responsibility, 80 ; evils
of system of government sum-
marized, 73-5 ; Lord Durham on
these evils, 76, 77

Constitution , the, Mackenzie starts,
320 ; destroyed by mob, 321 ;
draft constitution of provisional
government published in, 356

Council, Executive, created under
Constitutional Act, 53 ; irritating
relations with assembly, 55, 58 ;
Durham on, 61 ; real advisers ot
the governor, 63 ; responsibility
of, demanded by U. C. Reformers,
64, 69 ; Durham's view of the
effect of irresponsibility, 65, 66 ;
Sir John Colborne's view of, 279 ;
Lord Glenelg's view of, 286

Council, Legislative, the, created by
Constitutional Act, 52 ; Lord
Durham criticizes and suggests
revision, 57 ; attitude of Lower
Canadian Reformers to, 67 ; atti-

tude of Upper Canadian Re-
formers to, 69 ; rejects 325 bills
in 8 years, 73; Sir John Col-
borne on, 268 ; collision with
assembly, 276 ; should be elec-
tive, 277 ; Glenelg insists shall
be non-elective, 324
Courier, the (Brantford), Macken-
zie's obituary in, 515

D

Dalling and Bulwer, Lord, author
of Sir Robert Peel, 16

Declaration of Independence, July
1837, its history, 330 ; the work
of Rolph and O'Grady, 330

Dufort, Thomas, agent of Papineau
to Upper Canada, 345 ; sets out
for Michigan. 345 ; secures assist-
ance in Michigan, 427

Duncombe, Dr., complains to Glen-
elg of Head, 315 ; deals with the
York election, 316 ; his letter re-
ferred to a committee, 321 ; re-
port of the committee, 322 ; forces
at Brantford, 425 ; retreat to
Scotland, 425 ; increased by one
thousand, 425 ; men disperse, 426 ;
amnestied, 474

Dundas, Colonel, defends Windmill
Point, 443 ; accepts Van Shultz's
surrender, 444

Dunn, John Henry, appointed ex-
ecutive councillor, 294 ; resigns,
294

Durham, Lord, "a man ahead of
his time," 6, 7 ; speech on the
Reform Bill, 14, 15; his report on
the Constitutional Act, 55 ; on the
position of lieutenant-governor,

531

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

56 ; on the legislative council,

57 ; on the executive council, 58
63, 64 ; says Reformers are justi-
fied in demanding responsible ex-
ecutive, 59, 67, 68, 69 ; points out
powerlessness of assembly, 60 ;
on the Family Compact, 62, 65 ;
Clergy Reserves one of chief
causes of rebellion, 71, 72 ; on
evils arising from Constitutional
Act, 75, 76 ; says representative
government was guaranteed by
Constitutional Act, 76 ; his re-
port justifies Reformers, 77 ;
Stuart J. Reid on the Report,
78, 79 ; analogy between Report
and " Seventh Report on Griev-
ances," 79, 80 ; Union Act of
1840 based on Report, 80 ; re-
commends responsible govern-
ment, 81 ; authorship of Report,
82, 83 ; on Head's interference
in election, 309 ; on the causes
of disaffection, 402 ; the remedy,
403

E

Elgin, Lord, governor-general,
480 ; assents to amnesty act, 480

Examiner, the (New York), Mac-
kenzie publishes, 470

Examiner, the (Toronto), published
by Sir Francis Hincks, 483 ; on
the riots, 483 ; its estimate of
Mackenzie, 484, 485

Family Compact, the, their loyalty
tested, 10 ; Durham's view of, 62,
65, 66 ; great influence of, 66 ;

532

lasting and extensive monopoly
of power, 66; decides on Gour-
lay's destruction, 89 ; destroys
Colonial Advocate, 115 ; incensed
at Lord Goderich's concessions,
230 ; secures Head's sympathy,
302

Fitzgibbon, Colonel James, defeats
rebels at Montgomery's farm, 379

Fothergill Charles, attacks Mac-
kenzie in U. C. Gazette 38 ;
accuses Mackenzie of disloyalty,
99; moves to pay Mackenzie for
report of debates, 102, 103; dis-
missed from position of king's
printer, 110

G

Gazette, Mackenzie's, published
May 12th, 1838, 433 ; last issue
of, 461
Gazette (Montreal), Mackenzie's
obituary in, 514

Gibson, David, organizes shooting
matches, 342 ; rebels meet at his
house, 360 ; opposes advance on
Toronto, 362 ; his house burned,
375 ; objects to Mackenzie's plans,
376 ; escapes, 380

Glenelg, Lord, colonial secretary,
opposes responsible government,
20 ; on colonial self-government,
73 ; refers report of the com-
mittee on grievances to the king,
263 ; his reply to report, 280 ;
on executive councils, 302;
schooled by Head, 304 ; Head
disobeys his orders, 307 ; non-
elective legislative council, 324

Globe, the (Toronto), justifies the

INDEX

rising- of 1837, 13; on Mackenzie's
expulsions, 254 ; on Mackenzie's
retirement from public life, 498 ;
Mackenzie's obituary, 511 ; on
Mackenzie's personality, 523

Gourlay, Robert, comes to Canada,
1817, 89 ; arouses public feeling,
89 ; tried for libel at Kingston
and again at Brockville and
acquitted, 89 ; tried under Alien
Act and ordered to leave pro-
vince, 90; refuses and is committ-
ed to gaol, 90 ; habeas corpus
proceedings failed, 90 ; treatment
in prison, 91 ; Chief Justice
Powell orders him to leave pro-
vince, 92 ; banished, 93

Goderich, Viscount, colonial sec-
retary, 1832, 221 ; enquires into
Upper Canada Reformers griev-
ances, 223, 224 ; offers Mac-
kenzie the post-office department,
225 ; deprecates civil war, 226 ;
replies to Mackenzie, 227 ; re-
lieves religious bodies as to
taking oath, 227 ; stops free gifts
of public lands, 227 ; British sub-
jects not to be disqualified from
voting, 228 ; promotes extension
of education, 228 ; orders account
of public moneys, 228 ; suggests
retirement of ecclesiastics as legis-
lative councillors, 229 ; reduces
cost of elections, 229 ; favours
independent judiciary, 229
differs from Mackenzie, 230
Family Compact incensed at, 230
dismisses Hagerman and Boulton,
231, 232 ; resigns, 235 ; disallows
Bank Acts, 237

Greeley, Horace, editor of N. Y.
Tribune, 472 ; Mackenzie's friend,
473 ; his influence with Mac-
kenzie, 474

Grey, Earl, prime minister, Mac-
kenzie's opinion of, 221 ; favours
amnesty of, 478 ; Mackenzie's
letter to, 479

Gurnett, George, brought to the
bar, 152 ; editor of Courier, 165 ;
style of, 165

H

Hagerman, Christopher Alexander,
solicitor - general, accuses Mac-
kenzie of libel, 208 ; dismissed
from office, 232 ; goes to England,
233 ; restored to office, 234 ;
threatens House with vengeance
of troops, 298

Handy, Henry S., commander of
patriot army, 427 ; quarrels with
General Sutherland, 427 ; occu-
pies Sugar Island, 428 ; put to
flight, 428 ; forms new plot to
revolutionize Canada, 437 ; its
extent, 438 ; failure, 439

Harrison, Dr. T. T. J., his account
of the Haldimand election, 487

Harrison, Hon. S. B., moves resolu-
tion for responsible government,
which carried, 408

Hay, Robert, generosity of, 505

Head, Sir Francis Bond, governor
of Upper Canada, states his posi-
tion on responsible government,
22 ; Durham says he purposely
invited rebellion, 23 ; his instruc-
tions on taking office, 263 ; makes
public a confidential despatch,

533

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

280 ; arrives in Canada, 291 ; his
appointment, 291 ; states his posi-
tion, 293 ; appoints three execu-
tive councillors, 294 ; council
resigns, 294 ; his views of re-
sponsibility, 295 ; censured by
committee of the House, 296 ;
House adopts the report, 297 ;
refused supplies, 297 ; replies to
address of deputation, 298 ; the
deputation's reply, 300 ; appoints
four new councillors, 300 ;
schooled by Lord Glenelg, 301 ;
joins Family Compact, 302 ; dis-
solves the House, 303 ; refuses
assent to money bills, 303 ; inter-
feres in elections, 304 ; insults
Glenelg, 304 ; denounces Robert
Baldwin, 305 ; quarrels with
imperial commission of inquiry,
305 ; refuses to obey Lord
Glenelg, 307; W. J. Rattray
on, 307 ; his success in the elec-
tions, 308 ; unscrupulous in-
fluence in, 309 ; Lord Durham
on, 309 ; some of his addresses,
313 ; charged with undue in-
fluence, 313 ; sustained by parti-
san House, 314 ; refuses offer of
troops, 353 ; invites revolt, 354,
355 ; prepares to escape, 364 ;
sends flag of truce, 368 ; orders
burning of property, 381 ; seeks
Mackenzie's extradition, 415 ;
offers reward for Mackenzie's
apprehension, 380
Hincks, Sir Francis, on Welland
Canal, 265 ; befriends Mackenzie,
481 ; publishes Examiner, 483 ;
his Reminiscences, 483 ; his esti-

584

mate of Mackenzie, 484 ; prime
minister, 487

Hume, Hon. Joseph, befriends
Mackenzie, 221 ; assists Canada's
cause, 222 ; presents case against
Crown officials, 231 ; suggests
Canadian independence, 250 ;
u baneful domination " letter,
263 ; Dr. Morrison defends, 263;
thanked by Mackenzie, 289 ;
predicts civil war, 326 ; letter to
Mackenzie, 475

" Hunters' Lodges," convention of,
440 ; attack on Prescott, 442

Immigration, to colonies in 1820,
state of, 88

Jar vis, Sheriff W. B., Loyalists
retreat under, 373

K

Ketchum, Jesse, elected to the
assembly, 150 ; delivers rejoinder
to governor, 300

Kerr, W. J., attempts Mackenzie's
assassination, 218 ; tried and con-
victed, 220

King, Dr., aids Mackenzie's escape,
389

King, John, K.C., author of A
Decade in the History of News-
paper Libel, 163

LaFontaine, L. H., addresses re-
volutionary meetings, 328

INDEX

Lands, public, evils of methods of
granting, 74 ; list of grants in
first thirty-five years, 74

Laurier, lit. Hon. Sir Wilfrid,
justifies U. C. rebellion, 30, 31

Lesslie, James, president of u Can-
adian Alliance Society," 258 ;
delivers rejoinder to governor,
300 ; refuses to sign declaration
of independence, 331

Libel, Mackenzie's bill on, 163

Lieutenant-Governor, (office of),
Durham's view of his power, 56,
57 ; his surroundings in 1838,
61 ; his position in both Upper
and Lower Canada, 62

Life and Times of Martin Van
Buren, Mackenzie publishes, 472

Lives of Butler and Hoyt, Mackenzie
publishes, 471

Lount, Samuel, member for Simcoe,
316 ; election corruption, 317 ;
given command of rebels, 360 ;
arrives at Montgomery's, 362 ; his
account of the flag of truce, 369 ;
his first engagement, 373 ; his
second engagement, 379 ; leaves
country, 380; executed, 435 ;
his fidelity, 435 ; petitions for
commutation, 435 ; effect of his
execution, 436 ; monument to, 436

Lower Canada, crisis approaching,
287 ; imperial commissioners'
report, 323 ; against responsible
government, 325 ; events leading
to rebellion, 327 ; asks other pro-
vinces for support, 329 ; crisis
arrives, August 1837, 344 ; arrest
of editors, 344 ; conditions of, in
1837, 347 ; rebellion in, 358

M

Mackenzie, Hon. Alexander, his
letter in reference to George
Brown, 496

Mackenzie, Isabel, wife of William
Lyon Mackenzie, granted $4000
by parliament, 240 ; at Navy
Island, 424 ; death of, 508

Mackenzie's Message, newspaper,
published 1853, 505

Mackenzie, William Lyon, his per-
sonality, Goldwin Smith on, 3 ;
Dr. Harrison on, 4 ; W. J. Ratt-
ray on, 5, 6 ; first to enunciate
responsible government, 5 ; "a
man ahead of his time," 6 ; his
loyalty, 10 ; not an annexationist,
11 ; a constitutional reformer,
12 ; parentage and ancestry, 34-
6 ; defends himself from charges
of disloyalty, 36-8 ; school days,
38, 39 ; books he read from 1806-
19, 40, 41 ; enters commerce, 41,
42 ; goes to Canada, 43 ; physical
description of, 43 ; joins survey
of Lachine Canal, 44 ; enters
business with John Lesslie, 44 ;
moves to Queenston, 44 ; marries,
45 ; declares war on Constitutional
Act, 72 ; starts Colonial Advocate,
85 ; describes Upper Canada in
1820, 85-7 ; warns Canadians
against union with the United
States, 87, 97 ; attitude on Clergy
Reserves, 94 ; advocates provin-
cial university, 95 ; reforms ad-
vocated by, which have come into
effect, 97, 98 ; defends himself
against disloyalty charge*, 98-101;

535

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

advocates federation of all North
American colonies, 104, 105 ;
moves to York, 106 ; pictures
life of editors, 111 ; assists a
party revolution, 112 ; mob
destroys Colonial Advocate, 113 ;
Macaulay offers damages, 115 ;
personal attacks, 117-20 ; Macau-
lay's treatment of, 121-3 ; re-
taliates, 124, 125 ; answers Macau-
lay's pamphlet, 126; gets £625
damages, 129 ; refuses to prose-
cute criminally, 129 ; indicted
for libel, 130 ; prosecution aban-
doned, 135 ; friendship of Robert
Randal, 138 ; secures Randal's
mission to England, 139 ; ad-
vocates responsible government,
146, 148 ; elected for York, 150;
moves committal of Allan McNab,
152 ; chairman of committee on
post - office, 153 ; chairman of
committee on privileges of House,
154 ; carries many motions and
addresses, 154 ; opinions stated,
156 ; visits New York, 157 ; letter
in National Gazette, 158; supports
Robert Baldwin, 159 ; chairman
of committee on banking, 161,
162 ; moves libel bill, 162, 163 ;
letters to Sir John Colborne, 164;
advocates responsible govern-
ment, 166, 167 ; appeal to the
people of Upper Canada, 168 ;
re-elected for York, 169 ; the
banks oppose, 170 ; gets com-
mittee on state of representation,
171 ; it reports, 175 ; prints
journals of House, 172 ; accused
of printing libel on House, 175 ;

536

rouses Upper Canada, 176, 177 ;
visits Quebec, 178 ; introduces
thirty-one resolutions, 155 ; first
expulsion from assembly, 181-
201 ; the libel complained of,
182, 183 ; his speech in his
defence, 185 ; House refuses com-
mittee of inquiry, 201 ; petitions
to the governor, 203 ; governor's
answer, 203 ; backed up by the
people, 204 ; again elected, 205 ;
presented by constituents with
gold medal, 205 ; second expul-
sion moved, 207 ; defends himself,
209 ; expelled a second time, 209 ;
appeals to electors, 210-13 ; again
elected, 215 ; attempt to assassin-
ate, 219 ; Colonial Advocate office
again attacked, 221 ; his mission
to England, 221 ; estimate of
Earl Grey, 221 ; his friendship
with Hon. Joseph Hume, 222 ;
introduces George Ryerson to
Lord Goderich, 223 ; offered man-
agement of post-office depart-
ment, 225 ; prepares statement for
minister, 226 ; reply to Lord
Goderich, 227 ; concessions ob-
tained, 227-30 ; third expulsion,
232, 242 ; secures dismissal of
Boulton and Hagerman, 232 ;
scheme of post-office reform, 236 ;
asks control of post-office revenue
for Canadians, 236 ; obtains veto
of Bank Charter Acts, 237 ;
introduces Rev. Egerton Ryer-
son to colonial office, 238 ; quar-
rels with Ryerson, 238; publishes
Sketches of Canada and the United
States, 238 ; visits Scotland, 239 ;

INDEX

pays old creditors, 239 ; refuses
banquets in Montreal and Quebec,
240; left to pay bis own expenses,
240 ; unanimously re-elected for
the third time, 242 ; not permitted
to take oath, 242 ; new election
ordered, 244 ; unanimously re-
elected for the fourth time, 244 ;
ejected from the House, 245 ;
governor orders that he be
allowed to take oath, 248 ; takes
the oath, 251 ; again ejected from
the House, 252 ; again expelled,
252 ; first mayor of Toronto,
255 ; designs city arms, 256 ;
helps cholera patients, 256 ; takes
cholera, 257 ; defeated for second
mayoralty term, 257 ; forms
Canadian Alliance Society, 258 ;
retires from journalism, 259 ;
estimate of him as a journalist,
260 ; again elected for York,
261 ; obtains select committee on
grievances, 263 ; obtains com-
mittee on Wei land Canal, 264 ;
appointed director, 264 ; antici-
pates official report of canal com-
mittee, 265 ; sued for libel, 265 ;
report of committee on griev-
ances, 270 ; urges responsible
government, 279 ; visits Quebec,
287 ; meets Papioeau, 288 ;
opposes British restraint on trade,
292 ; anticipates reciprocity
treaty, 292 ; defeated for the
House, 308 ; claims the election
was unfair, 309-14 ; insulted by
Tory press, 317 ; his replies, 318 ;
visits New York, 320 ; starts the
Constitution, 320 ; Declaration of

Independence of Upper Canada,
329, 330; meetings at Doel's
brewery, 330-2 ; becomes agent
of convention committee, 332 ;
addresses nearly 200 public meet-
ings, 333-8 ; advises run on Bank
of Upper Canada, 340 ; second
meeting at Doel's brewery, 346 ;
urges seizing arms and proclaim-
ing provisional government, 349;
drafts constitution 355 ; or-
ganizes rebellion, 359 ; warrant
out for his arrest, 360 ; tries to
correct Rolph's mistake, 361 ;
his advice disregarded, 362 ;
starts for the city, 363 ; again
proposes to march on the city,
366 ; meets Head's flag of truce,
367, 368 ; urges Lount to march
into the city, 371 ; battle of Mont-
gomery's farm, 379 ; a ransom
offered for, 380; account of his
escape, 381 et seq. ; addresses
Buffalo audience, 411 ; meets Van
Rensellaer, 412 ; Head seeks his
extradition, 414 ; occupies Navy
Island, 415 ; president of pro-
visional government, 416 ; arrest-
ed at Buffalo, 424 ; threats of
assassination, 428 ; abandons Van
Rensellaer, 428 ; exonerated by
Van Rensellaer, 430 ; visits New
York and Philadelphia, 433;
starts Mackenzie s Gazette, 433 ;
no connection with later frontier
movements, 439, 444, 446 ; moves
to Rochester, 448 ; forms Associa-
tion of Canadian Refugees, 448 ;
tried for breach of neutrality
laws, 452 ; found guilty, 454 ;

537

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

his sentence, 454 ; rigorous treat-
ment in gaol, 455-8 ; released
459 ; publishes Caroline Almanac
459 ; last issue of Gazette, 460
his exchange attempted, 463
attempts to kidnap him, 464
publishes the Volunteer, 467
poverty, 468 ; moves to New
York, 468 ; appointed to Me-
chanics' Institute, 468 ; publishes
Lives of One Thousand Remarkable
Irishmen, 469 ; publishes the Ex-
aminer, 470; appointed to N.Y.
Customs House, 470 ; two books
published by, 471, 472 ; goes on
Tribune, 472 ; Hume's letter to,
475 ; writes to Earl Grey,
479 ; amnestied, 480 ; visits
Toronto, 481 ; brings family
back, 486 ; elected for Haldi-
mand, 486 ; his relations with
George Brown, 487 ; his work in
parliament, 492 ; again elected
for Haldimand, 497 ; resigns,
498 ; later parliamentary life,
500 ; love of his children, 504 ;
Buchanan's proffered friendship,
504 ; Robert Hay's generosity,
505 ; offered office, 505 ; pub-
lishes Mackenzie's Message, 505 ;
friends purchase homestead for,
505 ; financial difficulties, 506 ;
declining health, 506 ; death and
funeral, 507, 508 ; one of the
founders of St. Andrew's Church,
507 ; tributes of the press, 509-
23
MacNab, Sir Allan, committed to
gaol by Speaker, 152 ; moves
Mackenzie's expulsion, 241 ; ad-

588

mits error, 242 ; leads forces
against Navy Island, 417 ; orders
cutting out of Caroline, 420 ;
knighted, 423 ; goes to Brant-
ford, 425 ; seizes Dr. Duncombe's
papers, 426 ; goes to Sandwich,
427 ; debate on Rebellion Losses
Bill, 489

M'Afee, Samuel, aids Mackenzie's
escape, 400

Mcintosh, John, Mackenzie's bro-
ther-in-law, 482 ; house attacked
by mob, 482

McLean, Archibald, elected Speaker,

170

McLeod, Alexander, charged with
murder of Amos Durfee, 423 ;
trial and acquittal, 424

McLeod, General, occupies Point
Pele Island, 430

Macaulay, J. B., defends destroyers
of Colonial Advocate, 115 ; offers
compensation, 117 ; Mackenzie's
opinion of, 118 ; violates secrecy
of private letters, 121 ; taunts
Mackenzie, 123 ; Mackenzie re-
taliates, 124 ; writes venomous
pamphlet, 125 ; Mackenzie's re-
ply, 126

Marcy, governor of N. Y., declines
surrender of Mackenzie, 414

Mathews, Peter, executed, 435 ;
monument to, 436

Merritt, W. H., president of Wel-
land Canal , 265 ; sues Mackenzie
for libel, 265

Montgomery, John, banished, 437 ;
escapes from Fort Henry, 437 ;
president "Association of Cana-
dian Refugees," 448

INDEX

Moodie, Colonel, shot at Mont-
gomery's hotel, 365

May, Erskine, author of Constitu-
tional History, 21, 25 ; on effect
of responsible government 490

Morrison, Dr. Thomas David, de-
fends Joseph Hume, 263 ; aids
Mackenzie's petition, 310 ; aids
Lower Canada, 330 ; refused to
sign Declaration of Indepen-
dence, 331 ; at Doel's brewery,
346 ; his conduct explained, 350 ;
joins rebellion movement, 357

N

Nelson, Dr. Wolfred, addresses
revolutionary meetings, 328 ;
takes the field, 358

News, the (Toronto), urges monu-
ment to Mackenzie, 521

Newspapers, postage on, 93, 103,
106 ; their tributes to Mackenzie,
509-23

O

O' Conn ell, Daniel, befriends Mac-
kenzie, 221

O'Grady, Doctor, publishes Corres-
pondent and Advocate, 259 ; visits
Quebec with Mackenzie, 287 ;
prepares answer to governor, 298 ;
pens Declaration of Indepen-
dence, 330

Observer, Carey's, allowed to print
legislative reports, 107 ; defends
Judge Willis, 132, 133

Papineau, Louis J., visited by Mac-

kenzie, 288 ; addresses meetings
328 ; amnestied, 474

Patriot, the, publishes proceedings
of House, 174

Peel, Sir Robert, condemns Head
for inducing rebellion, 355

Perry, Peter, expenditure of
£50,000 road money, 303 ; de-
feated for the House, 308

Post-Office, report on, 153; Mac-
kenzie offered control of depart-
ment, 225 ; Lord Goderich re-
quests Mackenzie's opinion on,
235 ; Mackenzie's scheme for
reform of, 236 ; control of the
revenue from, 236

Powell, Chief Justice, tries and
banishes Robert Gourlay, 92

Powell, John, shoots at Mackenzie,
364 ; his treachery, 365

Press tributes, paid to Mackenzie on
his death, 509-23

Price, James Hervey, at Doel's
brewery, 330 ; rebels at his house,
362

Prince, Colonel, defends Windsor,
447 ; shoots prisoners, 447 ; con-
demnation for, 448

Quebec Act, the, commentary on,
47 ; cause of its repeal, 47

R

Rattray, W. J., his opinion of
Mackenzie, 5, 6, 12, 26 ; views
of the rebellion, 26 ; on destruc-
tion of Advocate, 115 ; opinion of
Head, 307

589

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

Randal, Robert, 138 ; Mackenzie
defends, 138 ; goes to England
about Alien Act, 139 ; success of
his mission, 142, 143

Read, D. B., author of The Rebellion
of 1837 ', 1, 5, 12

Rebellion, excused, 12 ; history of,
12, 13; the Globe justifies, 13;
J. S. Willison's view, 14 ; Lord
Durham on the power of rebellion,
14, 15 ; Lord Dalling and Bul-
wer on, 15, 16 ; Goldwin Smith's
view, 18, 27 ; of 1837, how far
justified, 23, 24 ; Chamberlain's
view of, 28-30 ; Laurier's view
of, 30, 31; " first low murmur
of insurrection," 300

c ' Reform Alliance," the, objects
of, 495 p Mackenzie attacks, 496 ;
death of, 497

Reid, Stuart J., Life and Letters of
Lord Durham, 2, 7, 12, 17 ; on
authorship of Durham's Report,
82, 83

Representation, state of, in U. C,
Mackenzie's committee on, 171 ;
report of, 175, 176

Responsible government, Rattray
on, 5, 6 ; Lord John Russell on,
19, 20 ; resolution refusing passed
by imperial House, 20 ; Lord
Glenelg opposes, 21 ; Erskine
May's review, 21 : Bond Head
on, 22 ; Lord Durham justified in
demanding, 61, 67-9 ; the ( 4 true
remedy," 61, 63 ; Durham's Re-
port urges, 81 ; Mackenzie ad-
vocates, 148, 166, 177, 244, 279 ;
"Seventh Report on Grievances,"
273 ; Lord Glenelg on, 279-86 ;

540

Lord Russell opposes, 325 ; comes
at last, 409 ; Erskine May on
value of, 490

Ridout, George, dismissed by Head,
306

Robinson, John Beverley (Chief
Justice), prosecutes Gourlay, 92 ;
reports on union of provinces,
105 ; denies existence of minis-
try, 274

Rolph, Dr. John D. , defends Judge
Willis, 133 ; moves address, 151 ;
brings Gurnett to bar, 152 ; ap-
pointed executive councillor, 294;
resigns, 294 ; prepares answer to
Governor Head, 298 ; exposes
opposition to Mackenzie's peti-
tion, 311 ; prevented from speak-
ing in the House, 319 ; speech
ridiculing Governor Head's ex-
culpation by House, 323 ; pens
Declaration of Independence,
330 ; does not sign, 331 ; to be
u sole executive " of rebellion
movement, 350 ; changes day of
rising, 361 ; meets Mackenzie,
362 ; accompanies flag of truce,
368 ; advises Lount to advance,
371 ; second flag of truce, 371 ;
leaves for the U. S., 375 ; on
Navy Island, 413 ; declines
treasurership, 416 ; amnestied,
474

Russell, Lord John, opposes elective
legislative council, 19 ; opposes
cabinet government, 19 ; in-
structions to Lord Sydenham, 20;
seizes Lower Canada funds, 324 ;
opposes responsible government,
325 ; Union Act, 405

INDEX

Ryerson, Rev. Egerton, his mission
to England, 237 ; introduced to
colonial office, 238 ; quarrels
with Mackenzie, 238

Rymal, Jacob, aids Mackenzie's
escape, 390

Select Committee on Grievances,
Seventh Report of, 26; Mac-
kenzie obtains committee, 263 ;
matters referred to, 269 ; the
committee's report, 270-7 ; reply
of Lord Glenelg, 280 ; Head's
instructions, 280 ; subjects dealt
with, 281-6

Sherwood, Justice Levi us P.,
quarrels with Judge Willis, 131-3

Shorthills affair, the, 440

Simcoe, General, Lieutenant-Gov-
ernor of U. C, his view of the
Constitutional Act, 54

Small, James E., defeated by Bald-
win, 159 ; opposes Mackenzie,
214

Smith, Goldwin, his opinion of
Mackenzie, 3 ; Canada and the
Canadian Question, 3, 10, 27, 55 ;
Three English Statesmen, 18 ; on
revolution, 18 ; view of the
parliamentary government under
the Constitutional Act, 54, 55

Stanley, Lord, colonial secretary,
236 ; discusses post-office, 236 ;
restores Hagerman to office, 234
Star, the (Toronto), opinion of Mac-
kenzie, 4 ; on rebellion, 13 ; Mac-
kenzie as a reformer, 522
Strachan, Rev. Dr., proposes pro-
vincial university, 95

Sutherland, Thomas J., plans occu-
pation of Navy Island, 412 ; want
of discretion, 412 ; starts for Mich-
igan, 418 ; reaches Detroit, 427 ;
meets Handy, 427 ; lands on Bois
Blanc Island, 428 ; arrested in
Detroit, 428 ; taken by the Loyal-
ists, 431 ; found guilty but re-
leased, 431

Sydenham, Lord, on the state of
the province, 406 ; would not
have fought against rebels, 407 ;
praises Reformers, 407 ; opposi-
tion from the Family Compact,
407 ; gives responsible govern-
ment, 409 ; surprised people had
not sooner rebelled, 477

Thompson, Edward, defeats Mac-
kenzie, 308

' ' Toronto Alliance Society" sym-
pathizes with Lower Canada, 327

U

University, Provincial, Macken-
zie's view on, 95

Upper Canada Gazette, official organ
38, 109

Van Buren, President, anxious to
avoid war with Britain, 423 ;
issues neutrality proclamation,
444 ; annoyed at Mackenzie, 445 ;
pardons Mackenzie, 458 ; his poli-
tical death blow, 472

Van Egmond, Colonel, commander-
in-chief of the rebels, 1837, 360;

541

WILLIAM LYON MACKENZIE

arrives late, 376 ; endorses Mac-
kenzie's plans, 376 ; in charge at
Montgomery's, 379 ; captured,
382 ; dies in prison, 382

Van Rensellaer, Rensellaer, fought
under Bolivar, 412 ; given com-
mand at Navy Island, 413 ; arrives
there, 415 ; his habits, 417 ; evacu-
ates island, 424 ; plans attack on
Kingston, 429; failure of, 429;
blames Mackenzie, 430; exoner-
ates Mackenzie, 430

Van Shultz, Colonel, plans attack
on Prescott, 442 ; officers oppose
plans, 442 ; lands at Prescott,
443 ; battle of Windmill Point,
443 ; surrender, 444 ; execution
of, 444

Volunteer, the (newspaper), Mac-
kenzie publishes, 467

W

Welland Canal, the, Mackenzie's
committee to inquire into, 264 ;
Mackenzie a director of, 265 ;
Francis Hincks on, 265 ; transac-
tions of officials, 266, 267 ; report
of committee, 268

Wilcox, Absolom, aids Mackenzie's
escape, 383

Wilcox, Allan, accompanies Mac-
kenzie in his flight, 384-6

Willis, Judge, appointed 1827,
130; quarrels with brother
judges, 131 ; his contention, 131,
132, 133 ; removed, 133 ; large
petition in favour of, refused, 133

Willison, J. S., his opinion of
Mackenzie, 14

Windmill Point, battle of, 441, 444

542

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