ts which
persons residing in the County of Simcoe were entitled to, and which
were in witness's possession for them, only about thirty were called
for, and only part of that thirty voted. This is mere petty evasion. As
pointed out in the text, the extent to which such tactics as these
affected the result is not the chief question to be decided. The mere
fact that they were employed is sufficient to settle the question of
culpability. Richey was directed not to interfere with the elections as
_Government agent_. How was it possible for an official known to be
connected with the Government to divest himself of the influence
inseparable from such a connection, more especially when his strong
political bias was well known, and when he presented himself at the poll
as a distributor of deeds among the voters? The mere fact of a
conference on such a subject between the head of the Government and a
subordinate is in itself a suspicious circumstance.

[251] In Lord Goderich's despatch to Sir John Colborne, dated 8th
November, 1832, referred to _ante_, p. 246, the following language is
employed: "His Majesty expects and requires of you neither to practise,
nor to allow on the part of those who are officially subordinate to you,
any interference with the rights of his subjects to the free and
unbiased choice of their representatives;" and, as previously
mentioned, Lord Glenelg had expressly instructed Sir Francis Head to
adopt that despatch as a rule for the guidance of his conduct. See
_ante_, p. 301.

[252] _Ante_, p. 272.

[253] Sir Francis Hincks, who, as previously mentioned in the text, then
resided in Toronto, and was identified with the Reform party, has, in
his _Reminiscences_, recorded his views on this subject, and as they are
founded upon personal experience and recollection they are worth
quoting. "Bearing in mind," he writes, "that there are exceptions to all
general rules, I think that I am not wrong in my belief that the members
of the Church of England and the Presbyterians generally voted for the
Tory candidates, while the Roman Catholics and the Baptists,
Congregationalists, etc., voted as uniformly for the Reformers. The
Wesleyan Methodists held the balance of power in a great many
constituencies, and I believe that it has been generally acknowledged
that the elections in 1836 were carried against the Reformers by their
votes." Again: "I believe that I am correct in asserting that Sir
Francis Head carried t