hich he resided. During his first session in Parliament he
attracted considerable attention to himself, for he spoke frequently and
well, and generally with a humorous eloquence which made him a favourite
with those who were not bitter partisans on the other side.

It was to be expected that Captain Matthew's defection from the
political faith of his ancestors would render him specially odious to
the High Tories of Upper Canada. It was shameful, they thought, that an
officer deriving an income from His Majesty's Government should
entertain, much less give utterance to, such vile democratic opinions as
were constantly heard from his lips. The Captain was indiscreet, and
became more and more outspoken the oftener he was charged with
radicalism; but on no occasion did he utter anything savouring of
disloyalty, for the very sufficient reason that there was no disloyalty
in his heart. It was apparent to the Compact that his influence was most
pernicious to them; yet no feasible plan for getting rid of him
presented itself. Would it not be possible, by a little extra exertion,
to deprive him of his pension? Could this laudable object be
accomplished, the obnoxious Captain, who was of an impetuous
temperament, would probably be goaded into saying or doing something
really culpable--something which would place weapons in the hands of his
enemies whereby he might be effectually silenced. The plan was at any
rate worth trying. A system of espionage was accordingly adopted towards
him.[86] During the sitting of the Legislature, myrmidons of the
Executive dogged his footsteps wherever he went, in order to obtain some
grounds for a hostile accusation against him.

The spies did not have long to wait, for any shallow pretext was
sufficient to serve as a peg upon which to hang an imputation of
disloyalty, and the doomed man himself was unsuspicious of any design
against him. The pretext actually resorted to was so utterly
contemptible that one feels almost ashamed to record the attendant
circumstances.

A company of theatrical performers from the United States visited York
during the session which assembled in the autumn of 1825. The actors met
with little encouragement, and became, in stage parlance, "stranded."
Being reduced to extremity, they resolved upon giving a special
performance for the delectation of the members of the Legislature, whose
patronage was solicited for the occasion. Sixteen or eighteen of the
members--among w