112 LEAVES THEY HAVE TOUCHED. 



Portage would indicate Penetanguishene, where Sir John would 

 embark on Lake Huron for the North or North- West. 



My first relic of the ruler of Upper Canada who came next after 

 Sir Peregrine Maitland — viz., Sir John Colborne — will be one of an 

 ecclesiastical character again. It is a note addressed to Bishop 

 Mountain of Montreal, son ot Bishop Mountain of Quebec, accom- 

 panying a paper justificatory of himself in proceeding to establish 

 the famous fifty-seven Rectoiies. He says : " My dear Lord, — In 

 transmitting to you the accompanying letter respecting the Rectories 

 in Upper Canada, I beg to mention that I have no objection to thia 

 communication being forwarded by you to the Colonial Secretary, if 

 you think the explanations will be useful to the cause. I remain, my 

 dear Lord, sincerely yours, J. Colborne." This note is dated Sorel, 

 14th Oct., 1837. On the same subject, I transcribe a letter to the 

 same Bishop from Chief Justice Bobinson, written also at Sorel, in 

 1837. It reads as follows, and contains, as we shall see, the main 

 reason of Sir John Colborne's recent action : " My dear Bishop, — I 

 am spending a day with Sir John Colborne before commencing my 

 duties on the Eastern Circuit. The Archdeacon made me the bearer 

 of Lord Glenelg's dispatch on the subject of the Bectories, and sent it 

 open that Sir John might see it. It is a bulky document, but I believe 

 it will reach you without subjecting you to the necessity of con- 

 tributing to the Post Office revenue. I promised Dr. Strachan to se& 

 that it was sent to you from hence. Of course you are aware that 

 both in 1817 and in 1825 instructions were sent by the Secretary of 

 State, the latter formally and carefully framed on the Statute 

 authorizing the Lieut. -Governor and Council to erect parsonages, &c., 

 and to endow them ; so that the Crown Ofiicers have given their 

 opinion upon a defective, or rather upon an erroneous statement of 

 the case. I am. My dear Lord Bishop, most faithfully yours, 

 J. B. Robinson." 



Another epistolary relic which I have of the Governor last named, 

 is dated at Deer Park, near Honiton, Devon, May 24, 1852, written 

 after he had become Lord Seaton. It shows the minute interest 

 still taken in the afiairs of the Province formerly under his charge. " I 

 beg to acquaint you," he says to a Canadian correspondent, " with 

 reference to your letter of the 3rd, that I have made Lord Hardinge 

 acquainted with my opinion as to the expediency of the title of the 

 Ordnance Department to the Niagara Reserve being relinquished, to ^ 



