sed that if any constituency in the
Province was beyond the reach of Tory influence, the Second Riding was
entitled to that distinction. It was notoriously the most Radical
constituency in the colony. It had stood loyally by Mackenzie all
through the troubled epoch of the successive expulsions. Yet it had now
thrown him overboard on behalf of a political nobody. The explanation is
to be found in the fact that the Riding had been the scene of some of
the moat scandalous abuses committed during the campaign. The Tories had
resolved that Mackenzie should be defeated at any cost, and had resorted
to the most reprehensible means to secure that end. To elect a professed
Tory would have been an impossibility, so the person fixed upon to
oppose him was one whom the author of "Middlemarch" might have had in
her eye when she described Sir James Chettam as "a man of acquiescent
temper, miscellaneous opinions and uncertain vote."[258] His name was
Edward William Thomson, and he professed to be a moderate Reformer. His
moderation was acceptable to a considerable proportion of the electors,
many of whom were tired of Mackenzie. The official party, however, did
not choose to rely upon legitimate means for defeating the Radical
candidate. Money was spent freely, and brawny bullies were hired for
purposes of intimidation. Good votes were rejected on one side, and bad
ones accepted on the other. Patents were sent down to the polling place,
certain recipients whereof voted for Thomson. Sheriff Jarvis attended,
and by his language and demeanour did what he could to discourage
Mackenzie's supporters. Not a stone was left unturned to effect the
desired object. Such means as Mackenzie had at his command were
altogether insufficient to counteract the devices employed against him.
He was beaten, and by a majority of a hundred votes.

This result took Mackenzie completely by surprise. It came upon him in
the form of a revelation. He had not permitted himself to entertain any
doubt of his success, and the conviction that he had lost his
popularity cut him to his inmost soul. He retired to the house of one of
his supporters in the neighbourhood, where he completely broke down, and
wept with a bitterness which evoked the active sympathy of those
present. But this mood did not last. It was succeeded by a sullenness
and stolidity such as had never before been observed in him. He knew
that he had been beaten unfairly, and resolved to petition against t