f not a jaundiced, eye.
Every evil which he discovered was, in his estimation, truly an evil;
and all evils were about of equal magnitude. Besides, in attacking an
evil or an abuse, he did not fail to attack the perpetrator or upholder
of it also, and that, too, with a strength of invective, or of cutting
sarcasm, which brought every foible, and weakness of his, and even those
of his father before him, vividly into view. This was the baleful secret
of his strength as an assailant; but this, too, caused him to be
regarded by his victims with intense dislike, bordering on hatred. This
style of attack, on the part of Mr. Mackenzie, did not necessarily arise
from anything like vindictiveness, but rather from a keen sense of
dislike to what he conceived to be wrong in the thing he was attacking.

In 1849 (12 years after the rebellion), Mr. Mackenzie, in a letter to
Earl Grey, used the following remarkable language:--

A course of careful observation during the last eleven years has
fully satisfied me that, had the violent movements in which I and
many others were engaged on both sides of the Niagara proved
successful, that success would have deeply injured the people of
Canada, whom I then believed I was serving at great risks.... I
have long been sensible of the errors committed during that
period.... No punishment that power could inflict or nature
sustain, would have equalled the regrets I have felt on account of
much that I did, said, wrote, and published; but the past cannot be
recalled.... There is not a living man on the continent who more
sincerely desires that British Government in Canada may long
continue, etc. Page 291, 292.

No man was more unselfish than Mr. Mackenzie. He would rather suffer
extreme hardship than accept a doubtful favour. Even in regard to kindly
and reasonable offers of help, he was morbidly sensitive (as mentioned
on page 298 of his "Life and Times"); and yet, looking at the conduct of
many men in like circumstances, he deserved commendation rather than
censure for his extreme conscientiousness.

Mr. Mackenzie did the State good service in many things. His
investigations into the affairs of the Welland Canal were highly
valuable to the country, greatly aided as he was by Mr. (now, Sir)
Francis Hincks as chief accountant. His inquiries in regard to the Post
Office and Prison management were also useful. Besides, he advocated
many i