y, having been born
in the parish of Glammis, Forfarshire, on the 9th of March, 1804. Within
legitimate bounds there was no more pronounced Reformer in the Province
than Mr. Gibson, whose house was a sort of rendezvous or place of
meeting for party caucuses. He was an honourable and high-minded man,
much esteemed by his neighbours, and in high favour with his party. The
Second Riding chose Mackenzie. Many of the voters disapproved of some of
his acts, but his paper was largely read among them, and it was felt
that some recompense was due to him for the indignities which he had
suffered. The Third Riding returned Dr. Thomas David Morrison, of
Toronto, who has already been referred to in connection with the
municipal affairs of the city. He was a physician enjoying a good
practice; a man of good sense and wise counsels, and a prominent
personage in the ranks of Reform. For the Fourth Riding was returned
John Mackintosh, a resident of Toronto, and a connexion, by marriage, of
Mackenzie. He was a steady Reformer, of no remarkable abilities, who a
few months previously had been elected President of the Metropolitan
District Reform Convention, and was known to be to a large extent under
Mackenzie's control. Such were the four York representatives.

At the close of the contest the Reformers of the Province had secured a
certain majority, which led them to look eagerly forward to the meeting
of Parliament, although, with the exception of Bidwell and Perry, their
best and most trusted chiefs had no seats therein. Rolph and the
Baldwins had positively refused to stand for any of the constituencies,
although strongly urged to do so. They seem to have felt that the
political pulse was not healthy, and that no credit was to be won,
either for themselves or for the Reform cause, while the morbid symptoms
continued. The worst symptom of all in their eyes was the ascendency of
Mackenzie and his satellites among the rural and uneducated part of the
community.[189] With this ascendency they were wholly out of accord, and
they awaited the time when he should find his proper level in public
opinion. Dr. Rolph had brought himself to acquiesce in this estimate of
Mackenzie with great reluctance; and it is probable that his strong
suspicions of double-dealing in the matter of the mayoralty election had
something to do with his change of views.

By this time Mackenzie had become tired of publishing the _Advocate_,
which was not a commercial s