his
paper, but he was so tortured by the incessant persecutions to which he
was subjected that he could accomplish little or nothing in the way of
reform. From some of his votes in the Assembly it would appear that he
made tacit overtures towards reconciliation with his enemies,[54] but he
had offended too deeply to be forgiven, and their rancour was not to be
appeased. Eventually he was compelled to relinquish the publication of
the _Guardian_ for want of funds to carry it on. Notwithstanding all
that he had endured, his loyalty remained unshaken, and when the War of
1812[55] broke out he responded to the call for volunteers by
shouldering his musket and doing his devoirs like a man at the battle of
Queenston Heights. Even this obtained for him neither complaisance nor
immunity from abuse. He found himself ruined in fortune, opposed and
hated by those in authority, without any prospect before him but
starvation. It is not singular that a man subjected to such conditions
should become disheartened. In a moment of exasperation he deserted the
ranks where he had been held as of so little account. Accompanied by a
small body of Canadian volunteers, he repaired to the camp of the enemy,
where he offered his services, and obtained a colonel's commission. He
served under Major-General Brown at the siege of Fort Erie, where he was
slain while planting a guard.

Such are three of the most notable examples of ministerial tyranny in
comparatively early times. As before mentioned, they attracted less
widespread attention than did Mr. Gourlay's case some years later,
because, though they were signal instances of the abuse of power, they
were not marked by such refinement in cruelty, and because they appealed
to the political sympathies of comparatively few. In the time of Judge
Thorpe, Wyatt and Willcocks, the dominating class not only held a
monopoly of power, but they and their adherents were numerically in the
ascendant. At the time of Gourlay's persecution the population was much
more evenly divided. The oligarchy still had control of all the avenues
to power, but there was a large and steadily-increasing class in the
community who recognized the fact that many changes were necessary
before Upper Canada could become a prosperous and well-governed colony,
and a satisfactory place of abode for the average British immigrant.

In closing this hasty review of the nature and effects of Family Compact
domination in Upper Canada, I w