70 OUR ISLAND STORY Mr. Pope replied as follows: Ravenwood 16th April, 1873. My Dear Lieutenant Governor :— In your letter of today's date, referring to former communi¬ cations on the question of Confederation you say that my idea of "just terms/' and that of the Legislature might be so wide apart as to be practically irreconcilable, and therefore you re¬ quire an assurance that, in the event of my being entrusted with the formation of a Government, I will be prepared personally to acquiesce in the possible decision of the Legislature in favor of the terms proposed. As a matter of course, if I were to fail to acquiesce in the decision of the Legislature upon this or any other question, I would at once cease to be one of Your Honor's constitutional advisers. In my note of yesterday evening I informed you that I am deeply impressed with the importance of the question of Con¬ federation, and am prepared to advocate the immediate entry of the Island into the Dominion upon just terms;—further than this I am not prepared to give Your Honor any assurance, be¬ lieving that, if I were to do so, I would be placed in a wrong posi¬ tion in ashing for more equitable terms. I have, etc., JAMES C. POPE Government House, 16 April, 1873. Dear Mr. Pope :— As it now appears that your disinclination to pledge your¬ self personally to acquiesce in the possible decision of the Legis¬ lature in favor of the terms proposed is based on the belief that such an assurance on your part would place you in a wrong position in asking for more equitable terms, and as it is far from my wish to hamper you on this point, but rather, as I told you in my first letter, to assist you, I am happy to say that the ex¬ planation contained in your letter of this day's date, coupled with BBBj