e man had been killed
on the decks. As the vessel was American, and had been raided in
American ports, the episode raised an international dispute that might
in another mood have caused war.

Lount and Matthews pay for the rebellion on the gallows, upon which the
imperial government expressed regret that the Toronto Executive "found
such severity necessary." Later, when "the Hunters' Lodges" raid
Prescott, and Van Shoultz, the Polish leader, with nine others, is
executed at Kingston, a great revulsion of feeling takes place against
_the family compact_. The execution of the patriots did more for their
cause than all their efforts of twenty years. The Canadian people had
supported the agitators up to the point of armed rebellion. That gave
British blood pause, for the Britisher reveres the law next to God; but
when the governing ring began to glut its vengeance under cloak of
loyalty that was another matter. After the execution of Lount and
Matthews _the family compact_ could scarcely count a friend outside its
own circle in Upper Canada. It is worth remembering that the young
lawyer who defended Van Shoultz in the trial at Kingston was a John A.
Macdonald, who later took foremost part in framing a new constitution
for Canada.

Affairs had gone faster in Quebec. There the rebellion almost became
war. Papineau was leader of the agitators,--Papineau, fiery,
impetuous, eloquent, followed by the bold boys in the bonnets blue,
marching the streets of Montreal singing revolutionary songs and
planting liberty trees. In Lower Canada, too, things have come to the
pass where the agitators advocate armed resistance. From the first, in
Quebec, the struggle has waged round two questions,--the exclusion of
the French from the council, and the right of the colony to spend its
own revenues; but boil down the ninety-two resolutions of 1834, and the
demands {428} of the agitators in Lower Canada are the same as in Upper
Canada, for complete self-government. A dozen clashes of authority
lead up to the final outbreak. For instance, the House elects
Papineau, the agitator, speaker. The Governor General refuses to
recognize him, and Parliament is dissolved.

Failing to obtain redress by constitutional methods, the agitators now
advocate the right of a colony to abolish government unsuited to it.
The constitutional party takes alarm and organizes volunteers.
Papineau's party, early in 1837, begin violently advocating that al