lute sharpness of
outline, and there are subjects to which neutral tints altogether fail
to do justice. Of such a character are more than one of the scenes here
reproduced. Independently of the mere method of treatment, the
historical evidence is so clear and explicit that it can be questioned
by no one who takes the trouble to examine it. As to mere matters of
fact, there will be little or no difference of opinion among those who
consult and compare the various authorities cited in the notes.[130]

The cases hitherto recorded are merely a few out of many, but they
suffice to tell the story of Executive cruelty and selfishness during
the period referred to more effectively than it could possibly be told
without their aid. To set forth with equal fulness of detail the
circumstances attendant upon the persecution of Jonah Brown, Robert
Randal, Hugh Christopher Thompson, and a round score of minor victims,
would be to extend this work to an interminable length. The materials
for a work written on such a plan are abundant, as they include all the
facts arising out of the stupendous iniquity sought to be perpetrated
under the guise of the Alien Bill. The particulars connected with the
attempt to force this infamous measure upon the people of Upper Canada
cannot be inquired into in these pages. Sufficient to say that it was a
most dishonest and unstatesmanlike attempt on the part of the Executive
to get rid of political opponents by repudiating the well-understood
obligations of their predecessors in office: an attempt to dispossess
persons who, relying upon the faith of the Government of the day, had
settled in the country and taken up lands, to which they had received
titles, and upon which they and their parents had in many cases resided
ever since Governor Simcoe's time. The attempt failed through the
vigilance of the Opposition and the interference of the Imperial
Government, but it proved the length to which the official party were
prepared to go in order to maintain the existing order of things. It was
of a piece with the rest of the Executive policy, which seemed to wax
more and more exacting and one-sided with lapse of time. It was
abundantly clear to many persons unconnected with the Reform party that
there was no justice in the land for a Reformer, and that the oligarchy
by whom the country was dominated cared nothing for its best interests.
Constitutional liberty was systematically trampled under foot. The
oft-quo