The reports in disparagement of Wilmot originated in the freedom of his address--perfectly innocent in itself, but liable to misconstruction. The credit they received depended entirely on the party sympathies of the listener, and they grew as they went. No one, however, attached much importance to them on the spot. Mr. Gladstone was condemned for entertaining them. He seems more worthy of censure for his indefinite method of stating their nature and the authority on which they rested. The moral character of a governor is of moment to a colony, and a just consideration in his appointment; but when assailed it should certainly have all the protection of a full and open enquiry. No governor ever was more unfortunate in his political position. He could only tax and restrain. There was nothing in his gift. To the substantial difficulties of the people around him he was unable to offer more than those general assurances which often exasperate rather than console. The state of religious parties increased his disquiet. He had to adjust the claims of churches to spiritual authority. In declining to erect ecclesiastical courts Wilmot not only gratified many, but he followed the direction of his legal advisers. Sir Eardley Wilmot, like most governors, considered himself the servant of the crown, restrained in his discretion by absolute and specific instructions. Had Lord Stanley acted with prudence he would have left much to Wilmot's judgment; but just before he had dilated with vast perspicacity on the tendency of governors to act in behalf of the colonists, to forget imperial interests, to misapply the funds and pervert the labor belonging to the crown. The precision of his injunctions left no alternative but to obey. Had Wilmot at once declared the impracticability of Lord Stanley's schemes he might have been recalled, but the responsibility of an utter failure would have rested with his chief. The interested reports of his subordinate officers unfortunately enabled him to hold out hopes of success which were never realised and to furnish an excuse for his condemnation. The governor was impatient of contradiction. He had been accustomed to debate; but the sarcasm which falls harmless on the floor of St. Stephen's Chapel, in a colony cuts to the bone. He forgot that the head of a government can hardly say too little of men or measures. In a conflict of words, to an executive chief victory and defeat are alike pernicious.