tes
he passed away. He had not quite completed his seventieth year. His
death evoked expressions of regret and sympathy from every part of the
province, and tributes of respect and admiration from many who resided
in other parts of Canada and in the United States.

Judge Wilmot was twice married. His first wife, whom he married in 1832,
was Jane, daughter of Mr. James Balloch, of St. John. She died very soon
after their marriage, and in 1834 he married Miss Elizabeth Black,
daughter of the Hon. William Black, of Halifax, and granddaughter of the
Rev. William Black, who is regarded as the apostle of Wesleyan Methodism
in the Maritime Provinces.

In estimating the character and achievements of L. A. Wilmot, regard
must be had to the conditions under which the battle for responsible
government was fought, and the peculiar difficulties he had to face. He
had not only to contend against governors determined to use their power
to the utmost, an immovable legislative council and a reactionary
executive, but he had to attempt to inspire with something of his own
spirit a House of Assembly which had but little sympathy with his views.
That he did not accomplish more is less a matter of surprise than that
he accomplished so much. With heavy odds against him, he contended for
the rights of the people and the improvement of the constitution, and he
lived to see the principles for which he had fought so firmly
established in his native province that they can never be disturbed.

{A CHAMPION OF THE PEOPLE}

It was never his good fortune to be the leader and master of a
government or to have a free hand in the work of legislation. We are
therefore left in the dark as to what he might have accomplished under
more favourable conditions. Yet there is but little doubt that, had he
remained in public life, the progress of Reform would have been greatly
accelerated, and that such important measures as the establishing of
free schools would have been brought about much earlier than was the
case without his vigorous support. The faults of Wilmot were those that
belong to an ardent, enthusiastic and liberty-loving temperament. He
hated injustice in every form, and in his denunciation of evil he was
sometimes led to use stronger language than men of cooler feelings
approved. In this way he aroused opposition and left himself open to
attack. Yet it is doubtful whether the censure of his enemies was as
injurious as the flattery of some who pr