nment, which had ordered him
to appoint Mr. Bidwell to a judgeship, and also upon Mr. Bidwell as a
former leader of the Reform party who had opposed him. Mr. Bidwell's
letters having reached the Governor, he sent for that gentleman. What
transpired is thus related by Mr. Bidwell, in a letter written to me
some time afterwards:--

Sir Francis assured me that the letters had been sent to him
without his orders, and that he never would allow my letters to be
opened. I asked him to open them, as I did not wish to have any
suspicions about them indulged afterwards; but he refused to do it,
and said he had too much respect for me to allow it. Indeed, on the
Wednesday previously, I expressly informed the Attorney-General of
my own anxiety, (and that I was willing) to undergo the most full
and unreserved examination, and to let all my papers be examined.

The terms of my note of the 8th December--the evening of the day of
the interview--were dictated, or at least, suggested to me by Sir
Francis, and referred particularly to his expressions of personal
regard. The object of drawing such a note from me is now
apparent--but I was not then aware that he had received orders from
Lord Glenelg to make me a Judge.

Before leaving Toronto (as he intimates), and after his arrival at
Lewiston, Mr. Bidwell wrote to Sir F. Head (December 11th, 1837),
protesting his innocence and against the injustice of the means used to
compel him to leave his country.

The conclusion of Mr. Bidwell's note from Toronto is as follows:

I am confident ... that the investigations, which will now of
course be made, will fully remove those suspicions from the mind of
your Excellency, and will prove that I had also no knowledge or
expectation that any such attempt [_i.e._ insurrectionary movement]
was in contemplation.

To accomplish his revengeful purpose, however, Sir F. Head wrote or
inspired an editorial to the Toronto _Patriot_ newspaper (then the organ
of his Government) stating that as Mr. Bidwell had left the country,
under circumstances that proved his consciousness of guilt, it was
therefore the duty of the Benchers of the Law Society to erase his name
from their rolls.

I was then stationed at Kingston. When I saw the editorial in the
_Patriot_, I at once recognized Sir F. Head's hand in it, and was
horror-struck at the idea of a man being exiled fro