charged with being the leader of the present movement. I am
entitled to no such honour. If I have written a line it has been as the
amanuensis of my ecclesiastical superiors; if I have done anything, it
has been in compliance with the wishes of those whom I love and honour;
and my attachment to the Wesleyan body, and the associations and doings
of my early years, have been appealed to, as a ground of claim for my
humble aid in connection with this movement. Sir, the Wesleyan people,
plain and humble as they were, did me good in my youth, and I will not
abandon them in my old age.

I have only further to add, that whatever may be my shortcomings, and
even sins, I can say with truth that I love my country; that by habit of
thought, by association, by every possible sympathy I could awaken in my
breast, I have sought to increase my affection for my native land. I
have endeavoured to invest it with a sort of personality, to place it
before me as an individual, beautiful in its proportions, as well as
vigorous in all the elements of its constitution, and losing sight of
all distinction of classes, sects, and parties, to ask myself, in the
presence of that Being, before whom I shall shortly stand, what I could
do most for my country's welfare, how I could contribute most to found a
system of education that would give to Canada, when I should be no more,
a career of splendour which will make its people proud of it. I may
adopt the words of a poet--though they may not be very poetical:--

'Sweet place of my kindred, blest land of my birth,
The fairest, the purest, the dearest on earth;
Where'er I may roam, where'er I may be,
My spirit instinctively turns unto thee.'

Whatever may have been the course of proceeding adopted towards me in
this inquiry, I bear enmity to no man; and whatever may be the result of
this investigation, and the decision of the committee, I hope that
during the few years I have to live, I shall act consistently with the
past, and still endeavour to build up a country that will be
distinguished in its religious, social, moral, educational, and even
political institutions and character; to assist in erecting a structure
of intellectual progress and power, on which future ages may look back
with respect and gratitude, and thus to help, in some humble degree, to
place our beloved Canada among the foremost nations of the earth.

* * * * *

The following private letters, written to m