118 LEAVES THEY HAVE TOUCHED. 



person wliolly in liis own free, dashing, gubernatorial handwriting. 

 He speaks therein of the Reciprocity Treaty, names Monklands, the 

 Governor-in-Chief s temporary residence near Montreal, and asks for 

 the draft of a dispatch. " Lord Elgin would wish the Act for the 

 establishment of reciprocal Free Trade with the United States, and 

 the Minute of Council with reference thereto, to be sent to Monk 

 lands this evening or to-morrow, Saturday ; also the draft of Lord 

 Elgin's dispatch sent a fortnight ago, covei-ing a letter from Mr. 

 Merritt." 



Apropos of drafts of dispatches : — I venture to give, from the 

 original, a specimen of the irreverent way in which Secretaries at 

 head-quarters sometimes speak of such things, one to the other 

 The following is from Mr. Governor's Secretary to Mr. Provin- 

 cial Secretary of Lord Sydenham's period, I think ; and relates 



possibly to some great State Docviment which, after due manipulation, 

 influenced subsequently perhaps the destinies of the v^hole country. 



" My dear ; I went to your room to ask you to read the 



enclosed and found you just gone. I wish you would look it over, if 

 it is not too much trouble, and let me have it, if not to-night, early 

 to-morrow. One point I assume, but you will correct me if I am 

 wrong — that the surplus of £274,000 on the Loan was to go in aid 

 of the Public Works Loan : indeed if it was not, I do not know 

 where it should have gone. The enclosed is a rough draft, so pray 

 have no hesitation in altering or adding to it. It wants a concluding 

 sentence, wJiich I will write afterwards — something about speaking 

 strongly and public duty, &c. &c., and that kind of official balderdash. 

 Yours ever truly, . -Monday. P.S. — I have added the balder- 

 dash." — ^When we are thus admitted behind the scenes and learn 

 some of the secrets of State, we can enter better ints the spirit of 

 old Oxenstiern's observation to his son : — " You are not awai-e, my 

 child, with how little wisdom the world is governed !" 



Of this era is a note which I produce, of Dominick Daly's, after- 

 wards Sir Dominick, and Governor of Prince Edward's Island. He 

 salutes in the following amiable manner his own successor in the post 

 of Provincial Secretary under Lord Elgin, Mr. Sullivan : "My dear 

 Sullivan," he says, "if I may not congratulate yo%i, I certainly can 

 the Public, upon your having waived your objections, and consenting 

 to fill my late office. Should it happen that my knowledge of the 

 details in any matter can be made available to you, I hope I need 



