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Mackenzie (WILLIAM LYON a Canadian)

WILLIAM LYON, a Canadian journalist; born in Dundee, Scotland, March 12, 1795; emigrated to Canada in 1820; and in 1824 established the "Colonial Advocate," first at Queenstown, then at Toronto. There his denunciations of the officials resulted in the partial destruction of his printing office in 1826. In 1828 he was elected to the provincial Parliament for York, but was expelled for libel on the Assembly, and was successively expelled and re-elected till finally the government refused to issue the writ. In 1834 he was elected the first mayor of Toronto, and in 1836 he started the "Constitution." In 1837 he published a virtual declaration of independence in his paper, headed a band of armed insurgents, and demanded of the lieutenant-governor a settlement of all provincial difficulties by a convention.

This demand not having been granted, Mackenzie determined to arrest the lieutenant-governor and capture the military stores in Toronto; but being met by a superior force at Montgomery's Hill, 4 miles from the city, the insurgents were MACKENZIE RIVER MCKINLEY put to flight after a brief skirmish in