public
at large. It condemned the defendant to pay a fine of fifty pounds, to
be imprisoned for twelve calendar months, to find securities for his
good behaviour for three years after his liberation, himself in four
hundred pounds and two sureties in one hundred pounds each, and to
stand committed until all these conditions should be complied with.

Certainly it was no wonder that the little world of upper Canada opened
its eyes at such a Star Chamber sentence as this, pronounced in the year
of Grace 1828. It seemed as if the whirligig of time had brought back
the days of Bartemus Ferguson and _The Niagara Spectator_.[125] It was
an open question with many persons, even among those who were upon the
whole favourable to the measures of the Government, whether the
prosecution should have been sustained at all or not. A charge of
"native malignancy" was not likely to seriously affect the character or
standing of Attorney-General Robinson, who was ready enough to apply
much stronger epithets to his enemies. But, however that might be, there
could be no sort of doubt that the punishment awarded was wholly
disproportionate to the offence, more especially when the defendant's
circumstances were considered. If persisted in, the sentence really
involved the latter's perpetual imprisonment, for no two men of
substance were likely to be found who would feel safe in guaranteeing
the good behaviour of such a turbulent spirit as Francis Collins for so
long a period as three years. Throughout the whole of this infamous
persecution the Attorney-General showed to very little advantage. As
previously mentioned, he had showered four indictments upon the
defendant within the brief space of two days. Three of these he had
withdrawn, and upon the fourth the defendant had been acquitted. He had
then gone out of his way to lay a personal information upon a very
insignificant pretext. Poor Collins was his enemy, and must not be
allowed to characterize his conduct as "native malignancy," whereas the
editors of newspapers under the patronage and pay of the Government were
permitted to pursue a deliberate system of malicious vilification with
impunity. The latter were allowed to publicly malign not only individual
members of the Opposition, but to circulate the grossest libels upon the
House of Assembly itself. With these offences the Attorney-General did
not think fit to meddle. They were committed by his personal and
political friends, and, unl