After a
scattering fusilade of small talk from both sides of the House, the
report of the Committee was received, leave was refused, and the
disturbing question was laid at rest.
Those who have followed, it may be with interest, this veracious piece
of history, and are curious to learn the fate of the honourable member
for Middlesex, will find the story graphically told in Mr. Dent's
"Canadian Rebellion," Vol. I., chap. 6. The authors take the liberty
of appending Mr. Dent's closing paragraph: "But though Captain
Matthews," says the historian, "had been cleared by the Legislature,
he had still to run the gauntlet of the military inquisition. They
could not compel his attendance during the existence of the Parliament
then in being, but they possessed an effectual means of reducing him
to ultimate submission. This power they exercised; his pension was
stopped--a very serious matter to a man with a large family and many
responsibilities. He continued to fight the battles of Reform with
dogged courage and pertinacity as long as his means admitted of his
doing so, but he was soon reduced to a condition of great pecuniary
distress, and was compelled to succumb.
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