en. He was never so happy as when among the young
people, and long after he became a judge he took an intense interest in
drilling the schoolboys and instructing them in all martial exercises;
indeed, he seemed to be quite as much devoted to this work as he was to
any other of his numerous employments. When a very young man, he became
an ensign in the first battalion of York County militia, and speedily
rose to be captain. When the so-called Aroostook War[9] broke out in
1839 he was major of a company of rifles attached to that battalion, and
he volunteered for active service at the front. His interest in military
matters continued until a late period, and, in the first military camp
organized in the province by the lieutenant-governor, the Hon. Arthur
Gordon, in 1863, he commanded one of the battalions. If Wilmot had not
been a politician and a lawyer, he might have been a great evangelist or
a great soldier.

Judge Wilmot was very fond of flowers, and the beautiful grounds at
Evelyn Grove, where he resided, were looked upon as the finest in the
province. Nearly every visitor to Fredericton found his way to that
charming place and was sure of a cordial welcome from the judge, who
delighted to show strangers what he had been able to accomplish in
growing flowers and rare plants. Not the least interesting feature of
such visits was the conversation of the host, who abounded in knowledge
of horticulture, and was always ready to give others the benefit of his
information. It was in this lovely retreat that the last years of Mr.
Wilmot's life were passed. When his term as governor expired, the
government of Canada very properly gave him a pension as a retired
judge. In 1875 he succeeded the Right Hon. Mr. Childers, as second
commissioner under the Prince Edward Island Land Purchase Act. He was
nominated as one of the arbitrators in the Ontario and North-West
Boundary Commission, but did not live long enough to act in that
capacity.

{HIS DEATH}

During the last two or three years of his life he suffered much from
chronic neuralgia, which sometimes prevented him from stirring
out-of-doors. No serious result was anticipated, and he was generally
able to take active exercise and engage in his usual routine of duty. On
Monday, May 20th, 1878, while driving in his carriage with his wife, he
complained of a sudden and severe pain in the region of the heart. He
was at once driven home and a physician summoned, but in a few minu