accomplished, might as well be worked in common between his compatriots and Canadians of British origin. By taking a part in the work of Government he would not only win an honourable position, but would be able to obtain many favours and concessions for Lower Canadians which he could not hope to obtain as a private indvidual. Actuated by some such motives as these, he in 1842 joined with Mr. Baldwin in forming the first Ministry which bears their joint names, he himself holding the portfolio of Attorney-General for the Lower Province. Having vacated his seat on accepting office on the 16th of September, he was on the 8th of October following reëlected for the Fourth Riding of York. He represented that constituency until November, 1844, when he was returned to the Second Parliament of United Canada by the electors of Terrebonne. He sat for Terrebonne until after his acceptance of office as Attorney-General for Lower Canada in the second Baldwin-Lafontaine Administration, formed in March, 1848, after which he was returned for the city of Montreal, which he thenceforward continued to represent in Parliament so long as he remained in public life. Soon after Mr. Lafontaine's acceptance of office, in the autumn of 1842, he proposed to Sir Charles Bagot, who was then Governor-General, that an amnesty should be granted to all persons who had taken part in the rebellion in 1837-8. To this proposal His Excellency was not disposed to assent without careful consideration, and probably until he could communicate with the Imperial Government. Mr. Lafontaine then urged that, if an amnesty was for the present considered unadvisable, the various prosecutions for high treason pending at Montreal might be abandoned. To this Sir Charles, after careful consideration, expressed his willingness to assent, except in the single case of the arch-conspirator, Louis Joseph Papineau. Mr. Lafontaine had long ceased to sympathize with Mr. Papineau's political views, but he was not disposed to acquiesce in the proposed exception, and for a time the negotiations fell through. It was subsequently renewed, but before any definite steps could be taken in the matter the Governor-General's health gave way, and he rapidly sank into his grave. After the accession of Sir Charles Metcalfe, Mr. Lafontaine urged his proposal upon the new Governor, and finally succeeded in carrying his point. Mr. Lafontaine, as Attorney-General, was instructed to file a _nolle prosequi_ to the indictments against Mr. Papineau, as well as to those against other political offenders. He obeyed his instructions with promptitude, and Mr. Papineau soon afterwards returned to this country. Erelong the "old man eloquent" found his way into Parliament, where he for several years made himself a thorn in the flesh to some of his old colleagues of the ante-Union days.