hom was Captain Matthews--complied with the
solicitation, and the performance took place at the little York theatre
on the night of December 31st. During the intervals between the acts the
orchestra played the national airs, "God Save the King," "Rule
Britannia," and "The British Grenadiers." Several persons in the
audience--Captain Matthews among the number[87]--apparently out of
compliment to the actors, all of whom were from across the lines, called
out for "Yankee Doodle" and "Hail Columbia." The demand was complied
with, at least in part. The orchestra were unable to play "Hail
Columbia," but the audience were regaled with the lively strains of
"Yankee Doodle." Captain Matthews joined in the applause which followed,
and removed his hat, calling upon others to do the same. The weight of
evidence would seem to favour the idea that he was not the first to
raise his hat, or to request the removal of the hats of his
fellow-members. At all events the request was generally complied with.
And this was the gist of the story. Captain Matthews's share in the
events of the evening was the having joined in the demand for the two
objectionable airs, in the applause which ensued upon the rendering of
one of them, and in the request for the uncovering of heads. These dire
offences sealed the doom of a gallant officer who had served his king
for more than a quarter of a century, and whose acquiescence in the call
for the national airs of the republic was probably due, at least in
part, to the effervescence of feeling begotten of a good dinner.

It is difficult to trace, step by step, the progress of the measures
adopted against him. Distorted and exaggerated accounts appeared in _The
Kingston Chronicle_ and _The Quebec Mercury_. But it is hardly likely
that any _ex officio_ notice would have been taken of the affair if the
newspaper reports had not been backed by a specific charge. Captain
Matthews appears to have been secretly accused to the military
authorities. He soon afterwards received a letter from the military
secretary to the Earl of Dalhousie, Commander of the Forces in Lower
Canada, stating that that dignitary's attention had been attracted by a
report in the public prints of a representation that Captain Matthews
had, in a riotous and outrageous manner, in the theatre at York, called
for the national airs and tunes of the United States, "urging the
audience there assembled to take off their hats, as is usual in the
Brit