umbent of that office was no longer Sir
Peregrine Maitland, whose torpid and nerveless administration had
come to an end some weeks before,[126] when, as previously mentioned,
he had taken his departure for Nova Scotia. His successor as
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was Major-General Sir John Colborne,
a distinguished officer of the 52nd Regiment, who had done gallant
service in the Peninsula, and had fought at Waterloo. He is described by
Napier, the historian of the Peninsular War, as having developed "an
extraordinary genius for war." After the return of peace he had had some
experience in diplomacy, having for some time been placed in charge of
the Government in the island of Guernsey. His appointment to the more
onerous and responsible post of Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada was
heralded as the precursor of better times. It was announced that he had
come over charged with instructions to reverse the fatuous policy of his
predecessor, and to conduct the administration in accordance with the
well understood wishes of the people. It seems tolerably certain that
some such general directions as these had actually been given, but great
latitude was necessarily left to Sir John himself; and, as after events
proved, he was ill fitted for the discharge of such duties as had been
entrusted to him. He was destined to furnish, in his own person, a
sufficient argument against the absurd system pursued by the Home
Government of saddling the colonies with military rulers. That Sir John
was an excellent soldier goes without saying. It is certain, too, that
he was in the main actuated by upright and honourable motives. But he
had been "a man of war from his youth," and his early training and long
military career had made him stern and unbending. He had no sympathy
with the aspirations of a people who were just beginning to grasp the
principles of constitutional liberty, and who saw many things in the
body politic which called aloud for reform.

It did not take long for the people of Upper Canada to gauge the
character of the new Governor, for he had not been a fortnight in the
Province before he had practically allied himself with the Compact.
Hardly had he assumed the functions of his office ere a petition,
signed by a number of influential inhabitants of York and its
neighbourhood, was presented to him by a Committee on behalf of Collins.
The facts were set out in detail, and his Excellency was asked to
exercise the roy