d, accompanied by the Sheriff and the surveyor. They were no
sooner out of the way than Forsyth and his servants set themselves to
work to repair damages, and before nightfall the enclosure was rebuilt;
the premises, with the exception of the blacksmith's shop, being
restored to the condition in which they had been before the assault upon
them. But intelligence of the restoration was speedily conveyed to Sir
Peregrine Maitland, who again despatched the same emissary, and the
drama of demolition was re-enacted. The landlord of the Pavilion then
gave up the contest, so far as any attempt at reconstruction was
concerned, and proceeded to obtain redress by due course of law.

Now, it may perhaps be admitted that Forsyth was rightly served, or at
any rate that he deserved little or no sympathy. His enclosure of the
Crown reserve had been without any strict colour of right, and had been
due to pure greed and selfishness. But his blacksmith's shop had been
constructed on the land as far back as 1821, when he had purchased the
adjoining lot from William Dickson, and no one had ever questioned his
right to maintain it there. He seems to have thought that he had as good
a claim to the property as anybody. He had been informed, contrary to
the fact, that the Government reserve extended only to the lower bank,
and did not cover the land at the top. He might easily have discovered
that his information was misleading, but he had not chosen to take so
much trouble, and deserved to suffer the legal consequences of his
neglect. He could undoubtedly have been dispossessed by means of an
action of ejectment, with the costs of which he would justly have been
saddled. But he had a right to expect that, after being allowed to
remain so many years in undisturbed possession, he should only be
dispossessed by civil process. It was not a case where an arbitrary
removal was justifiable, such as may lawfully take place when it becomes
necessary to abate a nuisance. But it was above all things intolerable
that the military should have been employed for such a purpose. Sir
Peregrine Maitland, in sending Captain Phillpotts on the expedition, had
acted, not in his capacity of Lieutenant-Governor, but in that of
Major-General Commanding the Forces in Upper Canada. This it was that
wrought up the public pulse to such a pitch of excitement. This it was
that created a dangerous antagonism between the people and the soldiery,
and led to frequent quarrels an