[1] Willcocks claimed that the Guardian was meant: “to disseminate the principles of political truth, check the progress of inordinate power, and keep alive the sacred flame of a just and rational liberty.”[1] In 1809, Judge William Dummer Powell complained of its widespread popularity and the fact that it was in nearly every household.

"[9] In 1811, the Thorpe-Willcocks assembly group, including Charles Burton Wyatt and John Mills Jackson used their connection to Britain to continue their opposition against Governor Gore, and created a petition over the "partiality and corruption" of the provincial administration.

As J.J.Talman commented of the time: "There was no Hansard in Upper Canada and the journals of the legislature [gave] only a bare account of the business carried on, we are entirely dependent on newspaper reports for information as to what, and how much, was said on the floor of the assembly.

"[12] Although the group could not be labeled a "party" (as it had no formal structure) they still managed in gaining other members and creating strong ideals by having practical and educated responses to issues of the day, such as: “land-granting, executive power, and social inequities.”[1] However, Governor Gore often saw it as bad conduct, and in 1807 they were both prosecuted; Thorpe was removed from the bench and Willocks lost his office of the sheriff in the Home District.

Thorpe later used the Upper Canada Guardian in November of that year to make an address, responding to the situation: "Though wretched, even to agony, whilst under the slightest imputation, yet your welfare, your happiness and the prosperity of the province, shall engage my attention and animate my exertions.

"[15] The opening sentences of the paper summarize Willcocks' inspiration in starting the Upper Canada Guardian and reveal its ambitions: The Editor of the GUARDIAN is convinced that a Free Press is essential to a Free state, and assures the Province, that over his Publications there shall be neither inspector nor Licenser except the Law and the Constitution; for what the eye of the Law cannot inspect with approbation, never shall be suffered to insult the eye of the Public; and what the Constitution will not fully license, never shall be offered to disgust the Loyal and Faithful Subjects of our Gracious Sovereign.”[15]The general factors that caused political opposition in Upper Canada in 1802 to 1804 were the: "widespread reaction against government changes in land policy[...]which increased the fees on land grants and tightened the rules concerning the eligibility of loyalists for free land grants.

In an 1809 issue, Willcocks observed that: "Our Magistrates are not moved with the same tender compassion towards the people and impose no more taxes on them than would be actually wanting to defray the District Expenditures.”[16] His loyalty drove him to take advantage of the power of the press; he used the paper as a platform to communicate the assembly's and his personal opinions of government in Upper Canada.

[2] He published this address in nearly every issue: “The undersigned flatters himself with the hope that by his strict attention to the commands of all those who may wish to employ him, in conjunction with his knowledge of the business, to render that general satisfaction which will secure to himself the patronage of a discerning public.” [2] Essentially, Willcocks desired to inspire his readers into acting justly despite the consequences.

[1] Although his jail prosecution served as a minor setback, it also gained him the sympathy of the victims of the issues that he addressed (such as small farmers and/or loyalists who wanted land grant privileges),[1] a seat in parliament[17] and more readers.

Even though the Upper Canada Guardian exhibited Willcocks' seditiousness against the government, it was not his goal to be perceived as a radical personage: "It is not my intention, Gentlemen, by a recital of sufferings, to influence or irritate the minds of an injured, insulted, and loyal people.

No: but it is my intention and my wish to impress upon the public mind the indispensable necessity there is of sending men to the new parliament, whose livelihood or prospects in life do not depend upon the will or caprice of any tyrannic individual, and whose principles are unambitious, and beyond the reach of corruption.