f the serious responsibility of positively
refusing to place Mr. Bidwell on the bench, or to restore Mr. George
Ridout to the Judgeship from which I have removed him." He went on to
deprecate the necessity for this "overt act of hostility," but added
that disobedience on the part of a Lieutenant-Governor does not
necessarily imply disaffection to the Minister. He hinted that he was
quite prepared for an immediate dismissal. A great part of the despatch
was taken up with libels upon Mr. Bidwell and his father. In order that
there might be no misunderstanding on the matter, he emphatically
repeated his refusal to elevate the former. "So long as I remain
Lieutenant-Governor of this Province," he wrote, "I will _never_ raise
Mr. Bidwell to the bench; and I think it proper to confess to your
Lordship that I have at this moment two appointments to make of King's
Counsel, neither of which can I conscientiously bestow upon that
gentleman." He declined to argue the question as to Mr. Ridout any
further, and again refused in the most explicit terms to reinstate him
in office. This language left the Colonial Secretary no other discretion
than to "accept Sir Francis's resignation," but before this
determination was officially conveyed to him the peace of the Province
was disturbed by the outbreak of the rebellion.

During the whole summer of this year Mackenzie was doing his utmost to
add to the prevalent feeling of discontent against the Government. A
superlative bitterness had possessed him ever since the elections, and
the fate of his petition had inflamed his resentment almost to madness.
He felt that he had been cheated out of his seat, and that nothing was
to be hoped for on behalf of either himself or his fellow-workers so
long as the existing Government remained in power. To subvert that
Government thenceforth became the dominant passion of his life. He was
ready to adopt any means, lawful or unlawful, to secure that end. The
tone of the _Constitution_ was not to be mistaken. The mind of the
editor had evidently run a long course since he had first begun to
concern himself with public affairs. In one of the early numbers of the
_Advocate_[272] he had boasted that disloyalty could never enter his
breast. "Even the name I bear," he had written, "has in all ages proved
talismanic, an insurmountable barrier." What a change had come over him
since giving utterance to those words. He now boasted of his "rebel
blood," which he dec