518 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY: 



}'eciprocal. I shall notice a tliird expedient, in attempting which, detraction (by resorting to 

 an imposture so gross as to carry its own refutation upon the very face of it) has effectually 

 avowed its own impotency : — It has been wliispered that I have endeavoured to increase the 

 general rate of assessments within the Home District. Wretched misrepresentation ! I should 

 have been my own enemy indeed, if I had lent myself to such a measure. On the contrary ; 

 my maxim has been, and shall ever continue to be, that so much of tlie public burden as 

 possible should be shifted from the shoulders of the industrious farmers and mechanics, upo n 

 those of the more opulent classes of the community ; persons with large salaries and lucrative 

 employments : the shallow artifice of these exploded fibs suggests this natural reflection, that 

 slander could find no real foundation to build upon, wlien reduced to the necessity of rearing 

 its fabrics upon visions. To conclude, gentlemen, I have no interests separate from yours, no 

 country but that which we inhabit in common. In all situations, under all circumstances, I 

 liave been the friend of the people and the votary of their rights. I have never changed with 

 the times, nor shifted sides with the occasion ; and you may therefore reasonably confide that 

 I shall always be, gentlemen, your most devoted and most attached servant 



" York, 2nd May, 1804. A. Macdoneli,. 



An attempt had also been made to induce Mr. R. Henderson to become a candidate at this 

 election. He explained the reason why he declined to come forward in the following card : — 

 '•Tiie subscriber thmks it a duty incumbent on him thus publicly to notify his friends who 

 wished him to stand as a candidate at the ensuing election for York and its adjacent counties ; 

 that he declmes" standing, having special business that causes his absence at the time of the 

 election. He hopes that his friends will be pleased to accept of his grateful acknowledgments 

 for the honour they wislied to confer on him. But as there are several candidates who solicit 

 the suffrages of the Public, they cannot be at a loss. He leaves you, gentlemen, to the freedom 

 of your own will. He has only to observe that were he present on the day of election, he 

 would give his vote to the Honorable David William Smith. I am. Gentlemen, your obedient 

 and obliged servant, R. Henderson, York, 26th May, 1804." 



Mr. Henderson's occupation was afterwards that of a local army contractor, &c., as may be 

 gathered from an advertisement which is to be observed in the Oracle of September 6, 1806 : — 

 " Notice. Tlie subscriber having got tlie contract for supplying His Majesty's troops at the 

 garrison with fresh beef, takes the liberty of informing the public that he has engaged a person 

 to superintend the butchering 'ousiness, and that good fresh beef may be had three times a 

 week, Fresli pork and mutton will be always ready on a day's notice ; poultry, &c. . Those 

 gentlemen who may be pleased to become customers, may rely on being well served, and regu- 

 larly supplied. If constant customers, &c., a note of the weight will be sent along with the 

 article. Families becoming constant customers, will please to send a book by their servant, to 

 have it entered, to prevent any mistakes. The business will commence on Monday, the 1st of 

 September next. R. Henderson. Y'ork, Aug. 28, 1806." — The grazing ground of Mr Henderson's 

 fat cattle was extensive. In the same paper we have a notice bearing his signature, announcing 

 that "the subscriber has a considerable number of fat cattle running at large between the town 

 and the Humber. They are all branded on the horns with R. H." The notice continues : "If 

 any of said cattle should be offered for sale to butchers or others, it is hoped no one will pur- 

 chase them, as tlioy may suppose them to be stolen. A number of fat cattle is still wanted, 

 for which cash will be paid." 



The result of the election at York in 1804 is announced in the OmcU of June 16. As was probably 

 to be expected, Mr. Macdoneli was the man returned. Thus runs the paragraph : " On Monday 

 last the 11th instant, the election of a Knight to represent the counties of Durham and Simcoe 

 and the East Riding of the County of York, took place at the Government Buildings in tliis 

 town. At the close of the poll, Augus Macdoneli was declared to be duly elected to represent 

 the said counties and riding. We have not yet been able to collect any further returns," the 

 Editor adds, "but as soon as practicable they will be laid before the public." On the 4th of the 

 following August, accordingly the following complete list was given of members returned at the 

 election of 1804. Alexander Macdoneli and W. B. Wilkinson, Esqrs., Glengarry and Prescott, 

 Robert Isaac DeGrey, Eiq., Storniont and Russell. John Chrysler, Dundas. Samuel Sherwood, 

 Esq., Grenville. Peter Howard, Esq., Leeds. Allan McLean, Esq., Frontenaci Thomas 

 Borland, Esq., Lennox and Addington. Ebenezer Washburn, Esq., Prince Edward. David 



