58 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



He left at his death a considerable mass of manuscripts, one being 

 "The Concise History of the Late Rebellion in Upper Canada" from 

 which the accompanying is taken. The greater part of this history, 

 which runs to about 20,000 words, is familiar ground; it does not differ 

 from the current accounts of the rebellion and no small part of it is 

 invective against Mackenzie and his followers. I have therefore not 

 thought it worth while to copy all of it. 



Coventry also left a considerable mass of poetry, more or less 

 good; amongst the manuscripts is one seemingly based on Chaucer, 

 which purports to be a poetical account of a fishing and hunting party 

 at Rice Lake — it brings in a great many persons who were well known 

 in Cobourg, Port Hope and the township of Hamilton, and each one of 

 these is made to tell a story. At the present day, the stories are rather 

 vapid and of little interest to anyone except those who were acquainted 

 with the persons to whom they are attributed — I knew most of them by 

 sight and all by name. 



He also left a manuscript, "Reminiscences," which contains an 

 account of his life up to the end of the second decade of the last 

 century. He gives an interesting story of John Wesley, which I attach 

 to this paper, and he also has the following: 



"I was at Vauxhall the night that George IV died. Everyone 

 was in full black dress, which gave the Gardens a most remarkable 

 appearance. Such a sight will never be seen again, for they are now 

 abolished." 



Coventry was employed by the Government of Canada to collect 

 material for the history of Canada, and it was through his efforts 

 that the "Simcoe Papers" were obtained. 



According to my recollection, Coventry was a man of fine pre- 

 sence and dignified bearing, and with the courtesy of an English 

 gentleman. I have no reason whatever to suppose that he has mis- 

 represented anything, although his account of the destruction of the 

 "Caroline" does not agree in all respects with that given by Dent and 

 others, nor with that given by an officer "G. T. D." (the late George 

 Taylor Denison, Sr.) in the Canadian Monthly for April, 1873, Vol. 

 3, p. 289. 



Anecdote of John Wesley 



"In after years my father often narrated events that happened 

 at that period ; not the least remarkable was the following : 



"There was another quiet house not far distant from Wands- 

 worth Common at which the celebrated John Wesley visited, and my 

 father being a neighbour was sent for when John arrived on his visit, 



