later he says:—"Never had I been engaged in a service the duties of which so completely engrossed my mind. Rightly or wrongly, it now matters not, I fancied that, against prejudice and clamour I should eventually succeed in the noblest, and to my mind the most interesting, of all services, that of reviving the character and condition of the English labourer; and as, notwithstanding the unpopularity of the new Act, I had, thanks to the magistrates, yeomanry, and farmers of the county of Kent, carried it into effect by acclamation, the pleasure as well as the interest of the task was daily increasing. It was while he was thus occupied that, towards the close of 1835, he received from Lord Glenelg, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, the offer of the Lieutenant-Governorship of Upper Canada, as successor to General Sir John Colborne, afterwards Lord Seaton. How such an extraordinary offer came to be made is shrouded in mystery, and is one of those official secrets which will probably never be disclosed. It was an insoluble riddle to the Major himself, and has since puzzled many wiser heads than his. Whispers have been heard to the effect that the offer was due to an official mistake, and that the person for whom the appointment was intended was his kinsman, afterwards Sir Edmund Walker Head, Governor-General of Canada. It is said that at a meeting of Cabinet Ministers the question was asked, "Who shall we send out as Lieutenant-Governor to conciliate the discontented inhabitants of Tipper Canada?" To this question it is said some one replied, "You cannot do. better than send out young Head"—the person meant being Edmund Walker Head. Lord Glenelg being slightly acquainted with Major Head, the Poor Law Commissioner, and believing him to be the person meant, acted on the suggestion, and the mistake was never discovered until after the offer has been made to the gallant Major. Such is the story, for the truth of which the historian cannot vouch. If true, it certainly proves that high appointments are sometimes made with culpable want of care. The only thing certain about the whole affair is that the appointment was actually offered to, and after mature deliberation accepted by the Major.
