where the
inhabitants have been indoctrinated with ideas of fair play and equal
rights. It made a popular hero of one who, if the truth must be told,
had very little of the heroic in his composition. Had the Government
been wise enough in their own interests to let him have his say in the
Assembly, he would soon have found his proper level, and would have
ceased to carry any weight there.[152] He would undoubtedly have raised
a good deal of temporary excitement by unearthing abuses, and by
vituperating persons whom he disliked. But he could never have seriously
threatened the supremacy of the Compact, for the very sufficient reason
that he could not command the sympathies or respect of the leading
spirits of his own party. Rolph, the Bidwells and the Baldwins had by
this time come to rate Mackenzie at about his true value. They
recognized his talents, which were many and considerable. He had a clear
head for accounts, and was full of suggestive ideas about matters of
finance. Some of these ideas were unpractical, and even chimerical, but
anyone capable of separating the wheat from the chaff could learn much
from him, and could render his suggestions available. He was an
excellent subordinate, useful on committees, and active in the
management of details. He also had his uses as the conductor of a public
press, though, owing to the erratic and ill-balanced mind of its editor,
the _Advocate_ was in some respects a source of weakness rather than of
strength. His influence was pretty much confined to the farmers and
mechanics of that portion of the country where his paper was chiefly
circulated; and even there his influence would never have been anything
like so great as it actually became had it not been for the persecution
to which he was subjected. Over and beyond, he could not be said to
have any distinctive _locus standi_ in the Reform party. Of
statesmanship, properly so called, he had nothing beyond the most misty
conception. The structure of his mind prevented him from seeing a
question in its various aspects, and in judging of future political
events he was much more often wrong than right. That he was honestly
desirous of advancing the cause which he had espoused there seemed no
good reason to doubt, but it was evident to those who were brought into
intimate relations with him that the fiery zeal which he displayed was
made up at least as much of hatred of his foes as of any overpowering
enthusiasm for Reform. Anot