blic man and to assist in the
reformation of the constitution of his native province. He enjoyed many
advantages for the role he had undertaken. He was tall, his height being
upwards of six feet, well proportioned, handsome and striking in his
features, and he possessed a voice of great strength and sweetness. He
was proficient in all athletic exercises, and took an interest in all
those movements which commend themselves to young men of enterprise and
force of character. He was a lieutenant in the first battalion of the
York County Militia when he was only eighteen years of age, and his
devotion to the militia force continued until the end of his life.
Possessed as he was of all the elements which make men popular and
prominent, he was early marked for advancement in the field that he had
chosen for the exercise of his talents.

CHAPTER II

EARLY EFFORTS FOR REFORM

The agitation for an improvement in the constitution of New Brunswick
began long before L. A. Wilmot was born. The first man who took a
prominent stand for reform in the legislature was Mr. James Glenie, a
member for the county of Sunbury from 1792 to 1809. Mr. Glenie, who was
a Scotchman and a man of much ability, had been an officer in the Royal
Engineers during the Revolutionary War. His efforts to obtain reforms
were met by the friends of the governor, Mr. Carleton, with the most
violent opposition. He was denounced as an incendiary, and indeed there
was hardly a limit to the fierceness with which he was attacked for
attempting to bring about an improvement in the system of government.
The old Family Compact and their friends were ever ready to tell the
public how loyal they were, and to denounce as a traitor any person who
presumed to object to the existing state of things. Mr. Glenie was not
able to effect anything substantial for the improvement of the
constitution, because the time was not ripe for the changes he proposed.
England itself was suffering at that time from a relapse from true
constitutional methods, so it was not to be expected that much
attention would be paid to complaints which came from a remote province
of North America.

The cause of Reform would not have been nearly so well supported as it
was, had it not been for the fact that the abuses which existed touched
the self-interest of many persons who were by no means Reformers at
heart, and who in fact cared nothing about responsible government. The
first successful att