Statement of facts relating to the trespass on the printing press in the possession of Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie, in June, 1826/Preface
PREFACE.
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In presenting to the Public a statement of facts relating to the trespass committed in 1826, on the Printing Press, at that time in the possession of Mr. William Lyon Mackenzie, and candidly declaring and avowing the motives which influenced the persons concerned in that act, I feel it necessary, as I am connected with the Government by an office—however unimportant—to ofter, respectfully, to His Excellencv the Lieutenant Governor, an apology for the liberty I have taken in presuming to make use of His name, or the names of persons forming members of His Government, without first obtaining His permission, or even making Him aware of my intention.
But the Editor of the Colonial Advocate, having lately thought proper by representing in his usual style, statements relating to the injury committed upon his property, by myself and a few others, in language which could not have proceeded from any mind not callous to truth, and devoid of every honorable and virtuous feeling, with the sole view of exciting public indignation against myself and companions, and involving the Government in a suspicion created by his own malignant imagination, that they were the contrivers and instigators of the act he complains of; I cannot, in justice to myself, or to those implicated through my indiscretion, remain longer silent, and quietly witness this second attempt at imposition, without an effort to counteract its wicked and mischievous tendency, by what I declare on my honor, and what is known to eight or nine other persons concerned with me, to be a true, faithful, and ungarnished statement of every thing taht occurred, relating to that hasty and inconsiderate act.
I had once before made up my mind to give to the Public 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 Freeman, would represent me—as they had done before—to be acting under the direction, or with the knowledge or sanction of the Executive Government, and consequently, according to their doctrine, unworthy of belief; and, although I then felt, and do now feel,the perfect absurdity of such a charge, & strongly condemn any apprehension which may be by others pronounced very unworthy & unjust 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 throughout 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 & unbiassed opinion of my conduct, and the 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 Public; 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 unreasonable 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 this stratagem to blunt the effect which the following pages may have upon his Subscribers; for I think they will find themselves not a little at fault, when they reflect upon and compare the statements herein set forth, verified and strengthened as they are by a solemn affidavit of their trutlh, with the innumerable and extravagant falsehoods, fabricated and ushered into the world by their friend Mr. Mackenzie unsupported in any way but by his character and reputation for honor and integrity, which his style of conducting his paper was calculated to impress upon the public mind—for I know not what other test they have by which to judge of his 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 at least pause, before they again condemn the conduct or motives of any one, against whom the columns of such a Journal as the Colonial Advocate may be filled, with base, scurrilous, and unfounded abuse.