epreciation of a man who, in his day and generation, was looked up to
with reverence by a large and influential portion of the community, and
whose memory is still warmly cherished by not a few. But truth is truth,
and the simple fact of the matter is that Dr. Strachan did more to
stifle freedom and retard progress in Upper Canada than any other man
whose name figures in our history. His baneful influence made itself
felt, directly or indirectly, in every one of the public offices.
Wherever liberty of thought and expression, whether as affecting things
spiritual or temporal, ventured to lift its head, there, bludgeon in
hand, stood the great Protestant Pope, ready and eager to strike. It may
perhaps be conceded that he acted according to his earnest convictions.
So, doubtless, did Philip of Spain and Tomas de Torquemada. It is not
going too far to say that Dr. Strachan was utterly incapable of seeing
more than one side of any question involving the interests of himself
and his church. When his cause was a just one, who so fond as he of
appealing to the majesty of the law. When he wished to pervert the law
to his own purposes, who so apt at enjoining a disregard therefor.[7]
There is abundant reason for believing that he was the original
instigator of the Gourlay prosecutions. They were at all events carried
on by his satellites, and fostered by his fullest concurrence and
approval. Their object was to drive Mr. Gourlay out of the country, and
to this end it would appear that the Compact were prepared to go
whatever lengths the necessities of the case might require. A criminal
prosecution for libel was set on foot against the doomed victim of
Executive malevolence, who was arrested and thrown into jail at
Kingston, where he lay for some days. The trial took place on the 15th
of August, 1818, when Mr. Attorney-General Robinson put forth the utmost
power of his eloquence to secure a conviction. In vain. The prisoner
conducted his own defence, and so clearly exposed the flimsiness of the
indictment that the prosecution utterly failed. A second arrest on a
similar charge resulted in another acquittal at Brockville. It was by
this time manifest that no jury could be found subservient enough to
become blind instruments of oppression. The alleged libel consisted of
two paragraphs in a petition to the Prince Regent, drafted by Mr.
Gourlay, approved of, printed and published by sixteen residents of
Niagara District, six of whom wer