hed on such a pretext, his fellow-workers in the
Assembly would not fail to institute measures against the publishers of
various newspapers throughout the land who had been in the constant
habit of reporting the proceedings in Parliament without leave. Only
fifteen members voted for MacNab's motion, while twenty recorded their
votes against it, and among the latter were several of the most
redoubtable Tories in the House. The organizers of the attack perceived
that they had made a false move, and withdrew their forces for a fresh
assault in a different quarter.

The opportunity for a fresh attack did not present itself until the
following session. Meanwhile, Mackenzie occupied himself in turning his
notoriety to account, and in developing his policy of agitation. He
resolved upon getting up a series of petitions to the King and the
Imperial Parliament, calling attention to the various grievances
wherewith the inhabitants of the Province were burdened, and praying
for redress. During the summer he carried out his project by organizing
a series of public meetings in some of the most populous cities and
towns of the Province, at each of which a petition was adopted and
numerously signed. It is said that the aggregate number of signatures
obtained exceeded 24,500. The agitator's success encouraged him to
persevere in the course he had adopted, and when Parliament re-assembled
in November he was ripe and ready for the fray that was sure to follow.
The assault against him now took the shape of a charge of gross,
scandalous and malicious libel, intended and calculated to bring the
House and the Government of the Province into contempt, and to excite
groundless suspicion and distrust in the minds of the inhabitants,
thereby constituting a breach of privilege. The matter complained of was
embodied in two articles published in the _Advocate_ subsequent to the
opening of the session, and both publication and authorship were
admitted by Mackenzie. One of the articles was a sharp criticism on the
manner in which the House had treated a petition from certain
inhabitants of Vaughan. The other was a well-merited tirade against the
local Executive, which was unfavourably contrasted with that of the
sister Province. Neither of them was grossly abusive, nor even unfair.
They were indeed exceptionally favourable specimens of the Mackenzie
style of journalism, and were incomparably milder than articles which
may constantly be seen in the Ca