ious pretexts,
he refused to do; but when the Legislature opened in January, 1838, he
sent a message to the House, which Dr. Ryerson, then in Toronto, thus
describes, in a letter to a friend at Kingston, dated February 3rd,
1838. He said:--

Instead of giving us the promised money for the Upper Canada
Academy, Sir Francis Head has sent a part of the correspondence
with Lord Glenelg and with me down to the House of Assembly, with a
message in which he implicates me, as also a letter to Lord
Glenelg, written a few weeks after my return from England, in which
he impeaches me. I have, in consequence, drawn up a petition to the
House, filling six large sheets, exposing the whole of his conduct
towards us, vindicating myself from the charges contained in his
despatches, and proposing to establish every fact which I have
stated before a select Committee of the House of Assembly. My
petition was presented this morning. According to rule, a petition
has to lie on the table for twenty-four hours before it is read.
But a motion was made and agreed to, to dispense with the rule, and
read my petition. It was then read, and created a great sensation.
It was then moved that 200 copies of it be printed, together with
all the documents sent down by the Governor, to which the petition
referred. After discussion the motion was carried by a vote of 33
to 4. This was, of course, very gratifying to my feelings, as it
must be extremely mortifying to the Governor. This is the first
petition that has been ordered to be printed by the present--Sir
Francis' own--Parliament. The dispensing with the rule, and giving
such a petition the preference, was the highest mark of respect
which the House could have shown me. I have not felt so much
agitated with anything for years, as with this matter. I am now
greatly relieved. I feel as if the Lord God of Hosts was on our
side. The Governor clearly thought that as he was so greatly lauded
and had become so famous a conqueror, we would not dare to come out
against him before the public, or meet him face to face before the
Assembly.

On the 16th, Dr. Ryerson again writes to Kingston:--

This Academy business is a most painful one to me. The Legislative
Council and the House of Assembly have each appointed a select
Committee on the subject. But I am