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Tous les autres exemplaires origiriaux sont film6s en commengant par la ptemidre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernidre page qui comporte une telle er r I had once before made up my mind to give to the Pubh'c my sentiments on this subject, but I am almost ashamed to confess that I was deterred, or rather restrained, by the conviction that the Editor of the Advocate, and his fellow laborer the Fteemany would represent me-as they had done before-to be acting under the direction, or with the knowledge or sanction of the ExecoUve Government, and consequently, according to their doctrine, unworthy of belief; and, although I then felt, anddonowfeel,the* perfect absurdity of such a charge, & strongly condemn any appre- hension which may be by others pronounced very unworthy & un- just towards the Public, the currency which the foulest & the most unfounded attacks upon the character and reputation of some of our oldest and most respectable inhabitants seemed to obtain through- out the Province, and the avidity with which they were sought after and read, by those whose abilities & station in society might have taught them better, made me imagine that the time had not yet arrived when I could hope for a cool, dispassionate & unbiass- ed opinion of my conduct, and tlfe motives which governed it. I had sufficient experience of the uncompromising baseness of Mr. Mackenzie's disposition, and could not doubt that he would descend to the meanest and most contemptible artifices, and use the most strenuous exertions to paralize the effect which a candid and ingenuous relation of facts was calculated to produce on the minds of a generous and impartial PubUc ; but as he appeared to think that he had already succeeded in establishing a belief, that the Government had incited a party of young men to commit a trespass on his property, it was not altogether improbable or un- reasonable to suppose that a similar artifice would be practised by him on the credulity of the same persons, and with equal success. Indeed, it is more than probable that, he will now resort to thi$ stratagem to blunt the effect which the following pages may have upon his Subscribers ; for I think they will find themselves not» little at fault, when tiiey reflect upon and compare the statementA li i\ 1^ Z- f [r'^'/^;^^'* J"? strengthened as they are by a «,Iemn aifidavu of theu trutl>, w.th the innumerable and extrav^nt false^ hoods, tabneated and ushered into the world by their friend Mr. Mackenzie unsupported in any way but by his character and re- putation for honor and integrity, which his style of conducting his paper was calculated to impress upon the public raind-for I know not what other test they have by which to judge of bis character. If his word, supported only by a character so acquired, is to be considered satisfactory, and is to stand uncontradicted even by the oaths of eight or nine persons of undisputed veracity ; then I most sincerely hope and trust that his friends will atleast pause, before they agam condemn the conduct or motives of any one, against whom the columns of such a Journal as the C«/oma/ ilrf»ooa.'« may be filled, with base, scurrilous, and unfounded abuse. Vorkf 1828. SAMUEL P. JARVIS, I .\ // 'I STATEMENT, &c. WrTHiN the last few weeks the columns of certain Newspa- pers printed in this Town, have been filled with statements con- trived with much meanness and malignity, to inflame and abuso the Public mind, with respect to a transaction in which I am stated-and not untruly-to have acted a prominent part. I have thought several times before, that an explanation to my fellow subjects, of all that can be truly stated upon the subject of Mr Mackenzie, and his infamous Press, was due, in justice to my* self, and to others-and now, upon the occasion of the mean and deliberate revival of statements, formerly made, with a full knowledge of their falsehood, I will discharge, candidly at all events, a duty which I think I owe to society-and I shall do it m as few words, and as plainly as I can. I will appeal to such of you as have, like myself, been born and brought up in Upper Canada, to remember, that until within these few years, our society was happily undisturbed, and un disgraced, by those unfeeling and unprincipled attacks upon the characters and reputations of individuals and families, and by those gross and vulgar personalities which have, for L)me time past, i ,m a blot upon the Province—I say a blot upon the Province ; because, it must appear very evident to our fellow subjects in other Countries, that unless such calumni- ators found some support from others, they could not continue their scandalous trade; and no one can expect but that in the eyes of all ieflecting men, those who abet such a nuisance to society, must appear as culpable as those who derive their bread from it. I do not say that we had not formerly some Newspa- pers in which, for political purposes, and, perhaps, also in the hope of making a profit by the slander. Public men were spoken of lu their Public capacity, and the various- authorities of the ¥ i Province attacked with rancour and injustice. Tndeed we all know this was the case, and that with respect to the Printtr of one paper, he went to such unwarrantable lengths in conduct of this kind, that he vas convicted and sentenced, for a se- ditious libel, to a very ignominious punishment, from which he was saved by the lenity of those against whom it bad been his whole employment, to endeavor to raise the hatred and indignation of the Country. But, then, let it be remembered, that altliough the Editors of these former Journals transgressed' the laws, and became justly liable to punishment it was against Public Measures and Public Men that their efforts, however base and unprincipled, were directed. A few years ago Mr. Mackenzie came to this Country, a per- feet Stranger, and in the employment of a respectable man, who has since become a worthy and useful member of our Society— and how long before or after I do not know, but probably some- where about the same time, Mr. Francis Collins, the present Edi- tor of the Freeman, came here from another part of the United Kingdom, equally a Stranger to us all, and was, of course, like other strangers, at liberty to gain among us, without hindrance, an honest livelihood, by any lawful course. We saw both these person*, for several years, in this Town— the former apparently earning his support by attending the Shop of his Employer— the latter following his occupation of a Journeyman Printer in the Gazette Office. Why they did not continue in these employ- ments, no one has any business to inquire— it is enough to know that no one of all those, whom they now spend their time in slandering, could have had any inducement to injure them in their several callings ; and that no one did. They saw us living as people do in other societies, happily and harmoniously.— We had done so, for a long series of years, before they came among m. During that time some of our most respected inhabitants L. 1 ll ( hail gone to their (graves in peace — and the feelings of their relations had never been harrowed by bnit.il and infiiiman at- tacks, which the dead cannot repel. Many of our Townswo- men— aged and respectable M< tiers of families — had arrived at the verge of life, without having been distressed and insulted by having their names bandied about, with the coarsest abuse, ia the columns of Newspapers. Many of our Townsmen had here —as in all other countries — risen to independence and to respect- ability ,*iu character and circumstances, by their own exertions, without having drawn upon them, by their prosperiry. the envy of malignant spirits — without having their Wives and Mothers, their Daughters and Sisters, and even their Grand-mothers, in- sulted and spoken of, with coarse and unfeeling insolence, in Newspapers, industriously circulated throughout the Province ; for no offence of theirs; for no provocation they had given :— in short, for no other reason, and upon no other pretext, than that their relatives happened to fdl those respectable sta- tions which some person must fill in all civilized societies — but which are always objects of envy to the mean and the vi- cious. It was, I think, some time in the year 1824, that Mr. Mac- kenzie set up a Paper, called the " Colonial Advocale," in the District of Niagara. — The principal object it proAssed v. as, to advance the Commercial and Agricultural interests of the Pro- vince; but it very soon became evident that the Conductor of the Paper was determined to try whether there was not in this Colony an appetite for calumny, wliirh he might turn lo good account, and which he might gratify with less trou- ble to himself, and less exertion of intellect, than would be required for more honest purposes; for, indeed, it had been proved very clearly to the people of Upper Canadi, tlmt when « writer has once brought himself to lay aside all reoiud to decency and truth, nothing is easier than for him to till thu B "!• ID columns of a Newspaper, once a week, with false and slan- derous stories. " ^ Mr. Mackenzie, accordingly, even while he kept his Pres. at ^.agara, commenced an attack fpon a few persons, «,ost pre m,nent-or supposed by him to be so-in public affairs, and com- inenced ,t in a style which had been almost without precedent i„ h,s Country be:ore, and which I am sure, very many people will for a wh,le attempt to establish it at the head If 2,1 ??' ^.tely.however.he «xedh™.,rattl: IS'pthn' htdi:^.- Paper under the original titk of "Colonial Advoeate " .t vl irregular intervals. "votaie, at very I neve " subscribed to his Paper, but frequently saw it in the oHht; othits.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - -- ^^ ^^^ indeed he did fo^ so^n^S ^ l^S" ^ ^ J^' '' well known, that, in order to force himseirrnl'-M . ^^ he wasinthehabitofsendin.iLZ/rM ^^^ ?^^^ slan- 11 vernment, the Members of the Legislature, and some of the high- est Officers in the Colony. Why an abuse of the Press, licentious beyond all former ex- ample, was suffered by the Government, to continue with impu- nity, it is not my business to inquire. I can easily conceive, that a great unwillingness should be felt, to notice a Paper so ut- terly contemptible, and conducted so entirely without regard to the maintaining a character, either for decency or truth. I can readily suppofc that it must have anticipated with confidence, that the public at large would receive from. the perusal of such a Paper, no other impressions than abhorrence of its falsehoods and contempt for its author ; and that any official: notice of either, would only be giving a degree of importance to such a Journal, which it never could attain, if left to itself; How far It is right to forbear on such principles, or to forbear at all, I ^vill not presume to say ; my individual opinion is, that the Laws should not have been allowed to be insulted so long and so gross- ly, with impunity; and, I believe, that the ferbearance shown, has only encouraged and increased an evil that other measures would have cured. But, no part of the responsibility rests with me ; what I desire to give to the Public, is merely a state- ment of facts. Finding, it would seem, that his Paper, conducted as it was, was not very profitable, he began in the Spring of 1826, to show symtoms of discontinuing it ; and, if I remember right— for I have no file of his Papers before me—he threw out several hinte of his intention to do so, complaining of the want of zeal and interest in the pe^vle, which prevented "their supporting an Independent Prt-js;" but perceiving, as I hope I may more truly represent it, that the morality and ho- nest principles of the people prevented their contributing to 12 support any man in obtaining a living by inventing and dissem- inating slander Nevertheless, before Mr. Mackenzie could make up his mind to abandon his employment and endeavor to earn his living by honest Jndustry, he was determined to make one ortvvodes- jperate efforts, to draw the universal attention of the public npon him. Perhaps his hope was, that he should compel the Government to prosecute him, by the unexampled scurril- ity of his language ; or, perhaps, he expected to gain a rather less degree of notoriety by enraging individuals and provoking them to « prosecution, which he, of couise, would represent as per- secution ; or he may have meant principally to make an experi- ment, whether, by making his columns, the vehicle of the gross- est and coarsest slanders, and of the most malicious lies against the living and the dead; against men and women- the powerful and the helpless, he should not at least secure the patronage ot all those whose minds and hearts were so ut- terly depraved, as to rejoice in this degradation of humaa nature, and thus draw a subsistence from some source, no mat- ter how polluted. Under the influence of some or all of these motives, he be- gan m the month of May, 1826, to send into the world a rr ."'''^^' ""''^"'"''^ ^'' '^''' disgusting ribaldry, for their hardened insolence, and for their brutal and unfeeling cruelty • and hese libels were directed, not merely against personsl^ Public situations, who had borne h^. slander for years with Client contempt; but against pers<«iB-^unknown in public life and unconnected with politios-against married women.-' gaiTs ge widows and even against our friends who had been long dead, and who, while they lived, were universally beloved and respected. Many, of the foul aspersions thus published to the i> la world, had no connection with any Public measure; the mis- fortunes, the poverty, the former occupations, the personal an- pearance of individuals, were all made alike the objects of unfeeling and impious abuse, regardless of the pain which the wanton calumny might bring to the bosoms of relations and friends. To make the insolence the more intolerable, no pams were taken to avoid mention of names; on the contrary they were given at full length-no blanks-no asterisks-all set down plainly, to amuse the malice of the world, and to insure the whole mass of unmanly scandal being as fully understood and applied abroad, as it might otherwise only have been among ourselves. I cannot reconcile it to myself to be the means of givine a second publication to these horrid papers, which, I L sure, It has been the endeavor of all good men to forget ; and, there' fore, I will not, for the sake of justifying my own conduct the more plainly, pollute the public eye, with placing before them any part of tliese productions, which no language can describe. But, I call upon any man who may have preserved a file of he Colomal Advocate, to turn to the number published on the 18 h May, 1826, as well as to those immediately preceding and following It, and then to inform me, if he can, in what Coun- try, and at what time, the feelings of a whole Society were ever so barberously and cruelly outraged, as they were by this man, whom no one had injured-whom, indeed, many of those whom he thus insulted, did not know by sight, and of whose existence even-it is very probable-some of the persons he abused were unconscious. .njured, and what ought to have beeu the feelings of all man- kmd, .8«.»rt the mdividual «to, for tie ch^ of making . li HH i i i f i anw 14 few pouTK^s by woh a trade, rather than by the honest exercise of his tniud P.nd hands, could thus scatter his base oalumniet to exoite the hatred of the malignant, and the ridicule of the unfeeling, to inflict paia and injury for which, he could never atone ? If I speak warmly on this subject, it is because I am myself an instance of the most cruel persecution of this heartless man. I never had with him either transaction or dispute of any kind— I held no situation that made me responsible for any act of the Government, or that gave me any share in their measures — I am not, and never was, a politician, not having either the station or the disposition, and not pretending to the talent that leads a person into that path ; if any merit belongs to me for it, I had, like almost every otlier person, allowed his slanderous attacks upon myself and others to pass unnoticed. I never condescended to be the author of a line in print in which he or his Colonial Advocate was spoken of. But this signified nothing—I was connected with persons who served the Government- -in an humble office I had the honor to serve it myself. I was, as every man of charac- ter is, the friend of those Gentlemen whom he thought it his interest to abuse most; and I had a Mother and a Wife, whose feelings he might wound, and Children, whose love and respect for their Father might make them one day feel their share of the pain, to which they could not yet be sensible. These were, in Mr. Mackenzie's eyes, sufficient reasons, for I can fancy no other, for stigmatizing me in his paper as a Mur- derer—in his paper, which he boasted of sending to all cor- ners of the world, and which you all know he sent to all who would receive it, and to hundreds who would not. In making this charge, he knew he should be understood n ■^tii'' <»>iin»> i i » .« »v- 1& more its fol!y-of all that follovvc.1, the publio arc awaro. Or course, Mr. Mackenzie, as a moment's relL-otioa nnfri.t liave Inl cess. He had, at lentil,, suceeede.l in produeing such an c.(r,.ct as I am satisfied he had been long eontemplatin,.. He ha.l, on the one hand, a few inconsiderate individuals on whom he could wreak lus vengeance, for an injury l.ttle n.ore than in.arinarv-, while on the other, he could make it answer the purposl- of his politics, by a/recting to believe, that the Government, or anv per- son whom he ehose to traduce, had been the contrivers of this hasty and thoughtless act. The loss, in point of fact, did not fall iipon him ; but, for all that, he now migbt assume the language of complaint represent himself as persecuted, and, by my impru- dence, and the imprudence of others as,ociated with me, he had a straight road before him for repairing his broken fortunes. We were all known, and were some of us responsible ; and it was not long before an action brought against us by Mr. Mackenzie, in ^2,000 damages, showed pretty plainly his conviction, that ho had at last, brought his Press and Types to good market-his creditors, it is well known, rejoiced with him, and they had rca- son. ^ kelzif LTr K '"'' '""^ "P '' '^' '"^'"^"^ '^'^'' ^^'^'' ^Ir. Mac- .Z V Z '""^'"''^^ traversing every corner of the District ^preading the story of ^^ his .ronys^^U,, wrongs, ind ed ! T e iLet ' " "^P"^""^'^"' ^^'^''^"^ other possible and teelings which no money could repair. ^ He took his stand at the corners of the principal streets, lead- mg into the Town, in order to catch the people of the Country as they passed, and to qualify them by his haran,ues-of apiece, DO doubt, with the statements in his Paper-to discharge, coolly : ) !f « f 20 dnd imparliallif, the tliity of Jurors, in his own case, at the ap- proaching Assizes, and in the hope, that, if they should not be chosen, they might, at least, pertorui tiie friendly task of instruct- ing their neighbors. His Counsel at the trial, thought it neither proper nor prudent to give, by his assertions, any countenance to the base falsehoods which Mr. Mackenzie had uttered for the purpose of implicating the Government, and various official characters, in a transaction of which the Defendants alone were the authors ; but the wrongs, the losses, the sullerings, of tiie PlaiutilF, were made the ground of an appeal to the compassion of the Jury, and they were called on to prove their indignation against an outrage of which the cir- cumstances were, of course, painted with the strongest coloring by the Counsel, while the provocation, which no language could exaggerate, was kept out of view. It was proved on the trial, by Mr. Mackenzie's '^wn witnesses, that the general tenor of his Paper was scandalous and scurrilous ; and the Counsel for the Defence, in language whi( h must have carried conviction to every candid mind, showed to be clear and certain, that, in the first place, Mr. Mackenzie had sustained no actual damage, and that if he had, it was to be charged solely to his own misconduct, and to provocations more aggravated than had ever before been endured ; and that the peace of Society hav- ing been infringed, and the possessions and property of an indi- vidual trespassed upon, some damage must, of course, be given ; yet, if they were limited either to the amount of the loss Avhich Mr. Mackenzie had suffered, or of the recompense which his con- duct deserved, they mast be small indeed. The plain fact is, that the Press in Mr. Mackenzie's hands, had become worthless, and was a loss to him — when he aban- doned it, it was left to his creditors — the loss of it, therefore, as n to Press and Types, (had it amounted to £50) was, in cflToctjtlieir loss, and not his. TIr' loss of the opportunity of using such un engine of malice and falsehood, was in reality, no loss to liim or them; for, while he had used it, unmolested, and unrestruin. d, either by force or law, or religion or morality, it had only encum- bered him with debt, and covered him with contempt. The Jury found a verdict of £625 — and it has bicn paid, not wholly by the Defendants themselves, but by a tax — if I may call it sc — which our inconsiderate act imposed upon So- ciety in various parts of the Province. We were enabled to pay it, and to disappoint the malice of Mr. Mackenzie, by the voluntary contributions of persons who, sharing the feelings of indignation under which we had acted, regretted, while they condemned, the rash, imprudent, and improper act, into which those feelings had hurried us. Mr. Mackenzie, having received a more than tenfold recom- pense for an injury provoked by himself, is evidently disap- pointed, that individuals, whom his own unprincipled scurrilities had led into the only act of violence, perhaps, which can lie laid to their charge, have not been forever ruined hy it — he would be content with nothing less than that they should be marked out, for the remainder of their lives, as proscribed members of Socie- ty — forever unworthy of the countenance of the Public, or the confidence of their Government. He would wish that an inju- ry offered to a venomous Press, which had once been his, should be the only offence never to be pardoned, and never to be atoned for — and he would see, with pleasure, nine or ten in- dividuals, for one trespass heedlessly committed, without con- cealment or disguise, and under the most provoking circura- stances, ruined and disgraced for the rest of their lives, whilst he is permitted to continue- —as he had done for years before — to stab the reputation of these persons and their families, with- out |)rovocation, without remorse, and without punishment. ;l \'i: ': ^^^"r vj fl lt' - M He lias aocorilingly been, ever since, complaining, that my- self nnd one or > ,vo ofhcrs, whom he ridiculously and luls.-ly represents as holding high situations under Government, have Mot been ruined beyond redemption, by this one aet; and he lias uncharituhly and basely pretended to eonstrue the forgive- ness or forbearance of the Government (after we had suffer- ed for onr indiseretion) into an approbation of the act. Tii(> object of sueh insinuations is as evident as its injustice, lie must think meanly of the hearts and minds of his readers, on %vliom he endeavors to impress such groundless suspieions. While he has been laboring to produce this impression, which he knows to be false, I and the others whom he was prosecuting at Law, have always felt that our case was most unfortunately prejudiced, and our trial prevented from being equal and dispas- sionate. by the step which His Excellency the Lieutenant Gov- ernor thought il proper to take, in dismissing Mr. Lyons from be- mg a Clerk in his office, and thereby pronouncing, in the stron - est terms, h.s condemnation of an act which was the subject of a ■Law suit depending against us. Besides this artifice of attempting to throw suspicion on the Government, Mr. Mackenzie next attempts to console himself lor his disappointment in not seeing our ruin complete, as well as his own lortune established, by stating that the extravagant ver- diet 01 the Jury, which he hoped was calculated to ruin ourselves and families, was paid wholly by the <....ers of Governm ut, and by certain individuals, whose character. an,1 lV.elings he had «rue y traged, and by pretending that, having done this, they that t r H^ r "'' '""■''^' '^''''''y approved of the act, but that they had instigated and contrived it. I have, on my pa;t, to assure the Public, that so far from being indemnified by the con- tiib-itions, which, from various motives, were made for our relief, -!t burthen fell heavily upon such of us, as had the means of paying aiu. Jung: and, I aliirm, that the share of the verdict II: V ■ r'w^'i'f* i«MfM*r^ ■lifc.^ ^ 83 ivl.icli T myself Tiftd to defray, from no very abundant means, xvm puch, that if Mr. Mafki'iizie hml made u^ much doar profit by his Press, during the whole time he has employed it in the work of detraction, he would not have found it neeessarv to leave the concern and abandon it to his creditors. With this sunple fact before the Public, I w ill ask, upon what caiculatioi, ,];,] the Jury found their verdict ? I have also to assure Mr. Mackenzie, ra- ther than the Public, foi many of the latter already know the fact, that anu)nR the contributors to the payment of -he verdict, were many, both of men and women, whose names ad never been made the topics of his slander, and who, lis inj? in different parts of the Province, and having no reason for personal resentment against him, yet-felt that the cause was that of So. iety in gener- al, and voluntarily ottered to bear their share in th ■ consequen- ces of a pardonable imprudence, committed under i 'le influence of the most unpardonable provocation — so general w is (he scan- dal excited by Mr. Mackenzie's paper!! As to the idea, that those who contributed to our relief, approved of the act . it is hard- ly deserving of a serious refutation. In point of fact, both I and my companions had the mortifica- tion to find that no one approved of an act, the impolicy t which on every account (to say nothing of its bad tend( ncy a , an ex- ample) was too evident not to be seen by every body, nd by ourselves as well as others, as soon as we reflected ojwn it. No persons certainly had more reason to regret or cond. mn if and none, I am persuaded, did more justly or more heartilv con- demn it, ihan the very persons whom Mr. Mackenzie would in- sinuate (though he well knows better) to have given it their coumenance. It is true that some persons seemed to think it repreheni-ible chiefly as a breach of the Laws— and others, as aflbrding an evi- dent triumph and advantage to a worthless person. All concur- ^& lJ I 14 ted in censuring and regretting the transaction from the moment t was known, and .f we had been unassisted, except by those ^vho thought we had done wisely Mr. Mack;nzie's malign^t ^Vislies might have been gratified to the utmost. ^ Another act to which Mr. Mackenzie has resorted for the pur- pose of raising a prejudice against us, and, at the same time, in- juring the Government, is his insinuating that we had favor shown us, ,n not being prosecuted criminally for the act, as well tv whifh" '' '"' "^"' '''" ''"^''"^^ ^^^ valueof the proper- ty, which we overturned and threw about. We went without disguise or concealment of any kind and in open day, to the premises of Mr. Mackenzie, and did what' I have s a ed-and nothing more. We were all known, and immedi- ately prosecuted by him for damages. There was nothing to in- vestigate; every thing was known, audit was for Mr. Macken- 2ie to determine, whether, besides trying to fill his pocket with damages, he should also have us brought up before the Sessions or Assizes, and punished in another way. If it is the duty of the Government or of Crown Officers to prosecute criminally for every trespass done to individuals, whe her those individuals complain of it or not, I think I have a right to ask why th-e Crown Oflicers have allowed Mr. Mackenzie to call me a Murderer, another person a Shoe-black, and another a Beggar, in his Newspaper, as often as he pleased, and to abuse m the most offensive manner, not only the whole Magistracy of whomt"^" '''''"' '"' ""'^ '"''^''^"^'' -'^-d f-^Je, whom he choses to make the object of his malice. I think thei character IS as dear to them, and mine to me, as the old Prl d poSvtL ""'fr''' '"^^^^ ^^ '^^^ neverpaidfor,could poss b y be to him I know, if I complain, or if any other per- Zt no"t 17' "' 1^:- ^^^^^---'« I^'bels, the Grand Juries xuust notxce them, and the Attorney General must conduct the ..a.. 25 prosecution ; but, inasmuch as we have not thought it Worth (Jup while to do so, Mr. Mackenzie has gone unpunished by the public^ although he has not — as we were forced to do — ^made any recom- pense to the individuals for the injuries he and his Press htd in- flicted. But people will know better what to think df these insinua- tions and complaints of Mr. Mackenzie, when I state to them— « as I now do — that the Defendants were, above all things, aiixious that they should have been prosecuted criminally by the Grand Jury or the Crown Officers, while the civil cause vvas depending; they would cheerfully have suffered any imprisonment, or paid any fine to the public^ upon an Indictment, in the hope that such punishment would have prevented the Jury from giving as large damages to Mr. Mackenzie, and they were disappointed, (and the Crown Officers know it) that they did not think proper in this case, any more than in other cases of trespass committed against the person or property of an individual, to interfere un- called for by the individual, who knew the aggressors and had chosen his remedy against them. Our Counsel stated^ very tru- ly, at the trial, the handle that Mr. M ackenzie wouW have made, and the motives which he would haVe imputed to Such a departure in his case, from the ordinary forms of proceeding. But what is best of all, Mr. Mackenzie has, within these few days, confessed in his paper, that the Grand Jury, hearing the evidence given in Court, did notice the transaction so far, that they sent for him to their room, and only forebore to proceed up- on his complaint, because he expressly declined to prosecute, al- leging, that he thought the civil action was punishment enough, But no sooner has Mr. Mackenzie pocketed his £625, and applied a small part of it in repairing the injury done to his Press, and the rest to his other purposes, than he resumes his trade of slander, and abuses the Grand Jury and the Court altogether, be- m 26 I »b.n only ,.y of tti., rt., i, i, ,,^^ jj^ ^^^^^__^.^ As (0 the amount of damages awarded T 1.. .o 3«y »uoh o„ ...e ,„bjee., L do tl'w , ntd I."" t" "™ tice to Mr. Mackenzie's Cm,n««i k ^''^^^^' 'tis but jus- »rted to „„ „„fa, z:X^:^:z'"^ "• -y *« '-^y - . Public. The Jury h.ve by Lw .h,\. ' '"" "^ '"'•''"""^ 'k" fan-ages, and i. would m;';;::';™ "' "^""""^ "■" -nner in „h„t .Hey have ..eX T. ^ IT """" "^ "' wis-, to iban abound U:^^:^^^ :: ^^^^ ;*-'.«„ he i, stated ^> have been twice horse'lteli. Ji""^' '«^''' of .he Provinee, and for that parHeuhrlr.lh.fr'f"' ■•" effigy at Kingston and a, aTo J, "^ "^ ' ''""^'° """8 Of these outrages he ha, thought it jrudeni to take no notice iL on the spot-rhe'dTled 71 """ ""' '^""''' he™ighthave'suceeededi^S:t;Lre-L::ere'lS enough of such proceeding, i„ „,her countne, tolnow Thlt "™ Of arr '-' - "^^^^^^TZ p optity oi a liuffiau is more sacred than his nerson I o at a loss to understand ^ ^' ' '*'" me'^'r'aitLl":"''':;*'''""^''''" -- »-'ar the pubhe suspicion to work upon, and then affects to re- gret, that his Counsel would not allow him upon the trial to attempt to prove the truth of his assertions, telling him very gravely, that it would hurt his cause.-They knew it would, and so did he; for, not a question could have been asked with that view, that would not have proved at once, upon oath, the injustace and the malice of his own insinuations. He thought It better, therefore, to confine his calumny to his paper, and say nothing about the proofs. On this head I feel it right tostate, trufy and plainly, with re- spect to Mr. Allan, who is a Magistrate, and Mr. Reward, who ^ not, and I believe never has been, that I neither saw them, nor knew they were in view. The transaction took place just at hat time, m a Summer afternoon, at which people are usually to be seen standing or walking near their doors.-.The house of ^r. Allan ,s immediately opposite to the Advocate office-the house of Mr. Reward near and in sight, though more distant-^ the Attorney General's office stands between them. Had Mr. Allan and Mr. Reward been in the street, before we entered the house, I am convinced I should have seen them ; but 'f' !!' ..^' -.'••ws 11! i 2B us thpy were not, and as the whole transaction occupied but a mo^ ment of time, being scarcely sooner began than ended, had they known what was going on, they could not possibly have prevent- ed it — & as to their being parties to it, and approving it, because they happened to be in sight, it might be said as truly, that the erovvd that stood on the bank, last Spring, and saw the Squaw quarrelling with Higgins, and strike him with the axe, were ac- complices in his death. Another statement wholly false, is, that the pafty r-jndezvouseij at the Attorney General's office. If they had done so, it would only have shown more clearly their heedlessness and indiscre- tion ; but there is not a word of truth in the assertion. It is well known that the Attorney General's residence is a njile from his office, which he, therefore, does not see, except in office hours, und which might be used by any Clerk who keeps the key of it, without the knowledge of the Attorney General, for any purpose. But the truth is, it was neither used nor intended to be used on this occasion as a place of rendezvous, any more than the office of the Canadian Freeman — not one of the party had been in it, or came from it — and the whole foundation for the story is, that some of the young men were seen to come past it, and from that direction, as others did past other houses in the other street. The office, however, was dU the while locked up and fastened ; and the Attorney General, I dare say, at his dinner, at the othec end of the Town, knowing as much of vyha,t was dping as Mr.. Mackenzie, who was at Lewiston. As to my awn conduct and raotives— I confess the want of prudence — the impropriety, of the former — I cannot, and do not admit, the impropriety of the latter. I feel na\y, and I felt it as strongly after an hour's reflection, that what we did was wrong— and I regret it.— It was infringing the peace of Society, and tak- Vig the Law into our own hands ; and, it was setting an exam- ^SaP -"•M^^-fU. f'-»tB^.i^, ,'.ii»c:k'>a«i^^. . •—•(», 89 pie which might lead to worse excesses. I feel that, by one im* prudent and rash proceeding, we have been the means of support- ing rather than suppressing a Nuisance, and that we were doing for a very despicable Person, the very thing he wanted — we were giving him notoriety, which he wanted to obtain by any ineans, and at any price. But I feel, that more than all, the Government, and those in- dividuals of the Government whom Mr. Mackenzie had been employed in traducing, had reason to complain of our want of consideration, in subjecting them to insinuations which they could not condescend to repel. I allowed persons, thoughtlessly, to join me, whose connexion with the friends and officers of the Government would afford a plausible ground for a malicious calumny, not considering that their having been provoked beyond others by the brutal slan- ders on their relations and employers, though it prompted them most strongly to the act, made them the last persons that should hpve been sudfered to join in it, As the best amendment I can make for the lateness of my re- flection, I have taken upon myself the task without the know- ledge, and consequently without the approbation of the Govern- ment—whose servant I am— to give to the Public this true ac- count of a matter, upon the fame of which Mr. Mackenzie evi- dently hopes to live, after the injury has been recompensed. As to the morality or immorality of the act, I am easy on that head, for I feel that I deserve more the respect of Society, and have more reason to respect myself, as an actor in the attack up- on the Press of the Colonial Advocate, than those persons who, regardless of the peace aqd happiness of families, have contribut- ed funds for the propagation of scandal and falsehood* by sub- scribing to the Paper which has proceeded from^ it. ./i' A I niiw ig Mii M miM Wi " ' ^"ffl e l sa T!ie original of the Affidavit which follows, may be seea br •ny persoii, m m) poisessiou.. V , SAMUEL P. JARVIS. York, January , 1858. Samuel P. Jarvis, Charles Richardson, John Lyons, and Jame* Kmg. Esquires; Peter M'Dougall, Merchant; Henry Sherwood,. Charles Heward, and Charles Baby, Gentlemen; severally make Oath and say, that they were the Defendants in the action of Trespass, brought by William tyon Mackenzie, for an injury done to his Press and Types, in which a Verdict of £625 wag rendered for the Plaintiff ;.-that the act complained of, was com- mitted without much time for reflection, and without any delib- erate concert;— that it poceeded from the impulse of their owa minds, under a strong feeling of indignation, for very cruel, false, and scandalous attacks then lately made in the Colonial Advocate, upon some of the Defendants, or their Relations or Friends.— And, lastly, these Deponents say, that the charges and insinua- tions made in some of the Public Newspapers, that the Defend- ants were incited and persuaded to do the act complained of, either by the Government, or by any members of the Govern- ment, or by any Magistrate, or that they had communicated their 'ntentions to, or consulted with any other person or persousi who. were not then actually assembled and met together; or, that the same was made with their approbation, are wholly and utterly untrue. Sworn before me, this 2d January, 1828, Alex. M'Donell 2d ^ , J. P. ) SAMUEL l\ JARVIS, HENRY SHERWOOD, JAMES KING, C. R. HEWARD, CHARLES BABY, PETER M'DOUGALL, JOHN LYONS, CHA'S RICHARDSON. e e r ■'^^!',/**- f*^*-' 31 Mn LyonMworn to the tf„ra,aid Affidavit before «e,',h, lOth day of January, 1828. ' JAMESCUMMI]VGS,l.p. Sworn before me, at Niagara, Charles Richardson, to the .aid Affidavit, this 10th day of January, 1828. . ^ /.ifwy2£ri:ji/j,j,p. k \^ Since writing this Statement, I have reft,^ in *T, nr ^... ute a.e (.3.. oecewr;i:.Ls:r We „„„,a .dv.eMxreS::sj,:; "'•■•'• kave It in our power to throw some li.ht ouZ i '' " "" he recollect decl.ri„g .» „ i„div1 „ 1 Motellt:! ,."°1 loss .mounted to Forty-five DoIl.r, „„l '°°"™'' ""M k" real Two thousand Four h'undred td V^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ If Mr. Mackenzie denies this we bell.? T ^^ ^"""'^'' • time and place where and the nlr'^ I ''"'"'^ '^''^ ^^^^^ was made', when the SlnTpoVdero^^ vocate was last in Montreal, at a pub LI '^^" ™..rron.our..a«ishn.en.;a:;ra';:^^^^^^^^ It is not a bad comment upon the oninmn t i, ed, and I dare sav if Mr M V ■ ^ ^'""^ ^""P'^'" es or friends de2; to f '''' °' any of his .vitness- reference tthtToJucrrfr?' ''''' "'^ '"^ '^'''^''y^ ignorant. '' °^ '^'' P^^^^' ^^^ ^^^^^^ name I am '^1 m i\:, 82 at remember an Editorial remark of Mr. Gumett, the Edit* or of the Gore Gazette^ which leads me to think that he could, if he wolild, throw further light upon this point. Inthe mefeh time, I think the Montreal Gazette has made it pretty clear, that instead of calling the Verdict a ten-fold re- compense for all Mr. Mackenzie's loss, I should have been nearer the truth if I had used the words Fifty-fold. S.P.J. M' r 3^. '# ■ijfflfc*^- ..*«-,«„., ?'Sf!3rj| >