oppression of the day, determined to sell his property
for whatever it might bring, and remove to the States. He was on a
steamboat on Lake Ontario, on his way to the Territory of Iowa to buy
land and settle there, when the newspaper containing my communication
fell into his hands; he read it, rose up and said that as long as there
was a man in Canada who could write in that way there was hope for the
country. He returned home, resumed his business, and lived and died in
Canada.

The Attorney-General was annoyed at the publication of his letter to Mr.
Bidwell, and attempted a justification of his conduct. At the conclusion
of a letter to me, he said that I had concealed my name for fear of the
legal consequences of my seditious paper. I at once sat down and wrote
the most argumentative paper that I ever penned (and for the recovery
of which I afterwards offered five pounds, but without success),
reducing the questions to a series of mathematical propositions, and
demonstrating in each case from the Attorney-General's own data, that my
conclusions were true, and his absurd. I concluded by defying his legal
threat of prosecution, and signed my name to the letter.

The effect of my reply to Mr. Attorney-General Hagerman was marvellous
in weakening the influence of the first law adviser of the Crown, and in
reviving the confidence of the friends of liberal constitutional
government.[65]

Subsequently, (in June, 1838), I received a letter from Mr. Hagerman, in
which he stated that in my observations on Mr. Bidwell's case I had made
assertions that impeached his character, and desired me to inform him on
what evidence I had based my statements. He said:--

The first assertion is that I was the author of certain remarks
published under the editorial head of the _Patriot_ newspaper of
this city, injurious to the reputation of Mr. Bidwell.... The
second statement is that I desired to procure his expulsion from
the Province, because he had been preferred to me for the office of
judge.

My reply to Mr. Hagerman was brief and to the point:

I beg to say, in reply to your letter, that I am not conscious of
having made either of the assertions which you have been pleased to
attribute to me.

I think it only just to the late Mr. Hagerman to add, that the sharp
discussions between him and me did not chill the friendliness, and even
pleasantness, of our personal intercourse afterward