184 CANADIAN LOCAL HISTORY: 



son as Colonial Secretary, severely censured Jiiui for tlie line of action adopted in relation to 

 the Fo)-syth grievance. Colonels Givins and Coffin aftei'wavds brought an action against the 

 Speaker of the House for false imprisonment, but they did not recover : for the legality of the 

 imprisonment, that is the right of the House to convict for what they had adjudged a contempt, 

 was confirmed by tlie Court of King's Beach, by a solemn judgment rendered in anotlier cause' 

 then pending, which involved the same question. 



Altliough its hundred-acre domain is being rapidly .narrowed and circumscribed by the 

 encroacliments of modern improvement, the old family abode of Col. Givins still stands, 

 wearing at tiiis day.a look of peculiar calm and tranquillity, screened from the outer world by 

 a dark grove of second-growth pine, and overshadowed by a number of acacias of unusual 

 height and girth. Governor Gore and his lady, Mrs. Arabella Gore, were constant visitors at 

 this house ; and here to this day is preserved a very fine porti-ait, in oil, of that Governor. It 

 will satisfy the ideal likely to be fashioned in the mind by the current traditions of this par- 

 ticular ruler of Upper Canada. In contour of countenance and in costume he is plainly of 

 the type of the English country squire of a former day. He looks good humoured and shrewd ; 

 sturdy and self-wiUed ; and fond of good cheer. Tlie cavalier style adopted by him towards 

 the local parliament was one of the seeds of trouble at a later date in the history of Upper 

 Canada. "He would dismiss the rascals at once." Such was his determination on their 

 coming to a vote adverse to his notions ; and, scarcely like a Cromwell, but rather like a 

 Louis XIV., though still not, as in the case of that monarch, with a riding-whip in his hand, 

 but nevertheless, in the undress of the moment, he proceeded to carry out his hasty resolve. 

 Tke entry of the incident in the Journals of the House is as follows : " On Monday, 7th April, 

 at 11 o'clock a.m., before the minutes of the former day were read, and without any previous 

 notice, the Commons, to the great surprise of all the members, were summoned to the bar of 

 the Legislative Council, when his Excellency having assented, in his Majesty's name, to several 

 bills, and reserved for his Majesty's pleasure the Bank bill, and another, to enable creditors 

 to sue joint debtors separately, put an end to the session by the following speech :— " Honour- 

 able Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,— The 

 session of the provincial legislature having been protracted by an unusual interruption of 

 business at its commencement, your longer absence from your respective avocations must be 

 too great a sacrifice for the objects which remain to occupy your attention. I have therefore 

 come to close the session and permit you to return to your homes. In accepting, in the name 

 of his Majesty, the supply for defraying the deficiency of the funds which liave hitherto 

 served to meet the charges of the administration of justice and support of the civil govern- 

 ment of this provmce, I have great satisfaction in acknowledging the readiness manifested 

 to meet this exigence." 



Upper Canadadian society was, indeed, in an infant state ; but the growing intelligence of 

 many of its constituents, especially in the non-official ranks, rendered it unwise in rulers to 

 push the feudal or paternal theory of government t(K> fa.r. The names of the majority in the 

 particular division of the Lower House that brought on the sudden prorogation just 

 described are the following :— McDonell, McMartin, Caiueroir, Jones, Howard, Casey, Eobin- 

 son, Nellis, Seoord, Nichol, Burwell, McCormack, Cornwall. Of the minority : Van Kouglmet, 

 Crystler, Eraser, Cotter, McNabb, Swayze, and Clench. 



Six weeks after. Governor Gore was on his way to England, not recalled, as it would seem, 

 but ijurposing to give an account of himself in his own person. He never returned. He is 

 understood to have had a powerful friend at Court in the person of the Marquis of Camden. 



In the account which we gave of some of the early York elections, a spirited address of 

 Judge Thorpe's will be remembered. The indepen<lent tourse pursued by that gentleman, 

 when elected, excited the ire of the lieutenant-governor and his docile executive ; and the 

 colonial minister of the day was induced to remove him from the Bench. On Governor Gore's 

 second and final visit to England, some expressions of his gave rise to an action for libel on 

 the part of Mr. Thorpe, the result of which was an award of ilamages for the plaintiff. 



One of the "districts" of Upper Canada was called after Governor Gore. It was set off, 

 during his regime, from the Home and Niagara districts. But of late years country names 

 liave rendered the old district names unfamiliar. In 1 887, " the men of Gore " was a phrase 

 invested with stirring associations. 



