Stationers School
Bolt Court, Fleet Street, E.C.
13th Jany 1870

My dear Chesson,

I was sorry to learn on my return from Brighton that you had had the trouble of calling here without finding me at home.

I have not had any memorial from R.R.. I am afraid the time for memorializing has gone by. I have had sent me, however, a very long and interesting letter from Mrs Kennedy addressed to her mother, but intended for me, giving a complete history of the ‘Revolution’ down to the middle of December. It puts matters in a very different light from anything we have seen in the papers, I am very sorry to find that Rielle and his party are not the only opponents of Canada. I am very much afraid that all hope of Canada being able to carry out the scheme of annexing the H.B. territories to the dominion is at an end, at least for some time to come. The only salvation for the country is for us to send a governor from England, to hold the territory in the Queen’s name for a short time, until the present almost universal exasperation against Canada has abided.

I saw your letter to the Times. Nothing could be better either in tone or language. It will be well perhaps if you are writing again either here or to Canada to reserve your opinion about Rielle and his party. In all but that farcical declaration of ‘[undefendeasre?]’ which I suspect will be found to be merely ‘independence’ of Canada, and not of the imperial government, they appear to have acted, as far as I can gather from the somewhat unwilling testimony of Mrs K., just as the people of Newfoundland or British Columbia, or Prince Edward Island would have done, if an attempt had been made to force a governor and a lot of needy and rapacious office seekers upon them. I shall be at home this evening about …, if you would like to see Mrs K’s letter.

Yours very truly
A.K. Isbister

F.W. Chesson Esq