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THE
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MINISTERIAL CRISIS
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9
CONTENTS.
Notice , ...» . . .^^T V
Part the First. — Remarks on the Proceedings of the
Legislative Assembly, relative to the Resigna-
tion of the late Ministers 1
Part the Second. — A Summary of the remarks made
by Mr Viger, in the Legislative Assembly, and
more especially his Speech of the 2d Decem-
ber, 1843, relative to the motion for an Address
in favour of the late Ministry 20
Postscript 44
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NOTICE.
I have been reproached with more than bitterness, for
the part I took in the discussion of the question arising
cat of the resignation of the greater number of the Mem-
bers of our late Ministry.
While I felt the necessity of assigning the reasons of
the course I adopted on that occasion, I felt also certain
that 1 should not be condemned unheard. I did not de-
ceive myself in believing my fellow-countrymen incapa-
ble of such injustice.
They will now be able to satisfy themselves that 1
have not deserved to lose their confidence, of which an
attempt has been made to deprive me. I am proud to
say that I have, since the event alluded to, received from
many of them, and especially from those whose Repre-
sentative I have the honor to be, marks of esteem which
give them new claims upon my grathude.
In the Assembly I was under the necessity of repelling
more than one serious accusation. Many more have been
since made. One of the gravest among the latter is,
that my conduct is calculated to excite division among
the true friends of order and right government; and this
charge has been made on the ground that their union
alone forms their strength, and that dissensions would
weaken and might destroy them.
But the end does not justify the means to a party or
a government more than to individuals ; and a union
formed by freemen for the purpose of defending their
ri;?hts ought to be based upon justice and moraUty, its
object should be legal and constitutional, and should be
pursued by legal and constitutional means. I was con-
i 11
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'■TVT»T!r
VI
vinced that as the proceedings I opposed were not of
this character, their consequences could not be other
than disastrous.
« ^ ■
• I I
All the proceedings relative to the resignation of the
late Ministers were founded on the permission they sup-
posed they had received to enter into explanations with
regard to matters which they were bound by oath to
keep secret, and upon two documents too well known to
make it necessary to designate them more particularly
in this place. ' >
But this supposed permission had no existence : the
late Ministry had not taken the steps requisite for obtain-
ing it.
If it had been given even in writing, (;which no one pre-
tends it was) and without reservation, they could not
have used it without violating their duty; vbut instead of
such permission they had before them the answer of the
Governor, closing with a formal protest against the ex-
planation they proposed to offer.
The Assembly had no right to take cognizance of do-
cuments laid before it contrary to all rule and parliamen-
tary usage. Nor could these documents, under what-
ever point of view they are considered, furnish even
a plausible pretext for the address in favour of the late
Ministry, proposed by their partizans.
My firpt object was to shew that palpable errors
ought not to be set up as principles ; that the liberties of
the people could not be based upon a forgctfulness of
the most sacred and solemn obligations, that they could
have no true foundation but justice, and that immorality
could only prepare a people for servitude.
Could I do otherwise than believe that these senti-
ments would find an echo in the hearts of my country-
men?
, .-'i^....'.
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These were my motives for raising my voice against
the address. All may now judge whether I have failed to
prove the truth of my propositions. I believe that I
have carried that proof even to demonstration.
I have made it evident that with a system oT conduct
such as that proclaimed to be right on the occasion in
question, it would not only be impossible to carry Res-
ponsible Government into practice, but that no kind of
government would be possible.
I ask no favour with regard to my conduct in the
Assembly ; all I ask is justice, and I have a right to
believe that I shall obtain it. With regard to the ac-
count of that conduct which I now render, being, as it is,
the work of moments, stolen (as I may say) from labori-
ous duties, I claim for the faults of composition which
may be found in it, the indulgence of my countrymen.
As to the accusations heaped upon me, the sole
revenge I seek is, that their authors, seeing that I
deserved them not, may be sorry for having made them.
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D. B. VIGER.
Kingston, January, 1844.
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THE
MINISTERIAL CRISIS
AND
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MR. DENIS BENJAMIN VIGER, &c
PART THE FIRST.
REMARKS ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE LEGISLATIVE
ASSEMBLY RELATIVE TO THE RESIGNATION
OF THE LATE MINISTERS.
'! H
It frequently happens in political contests that an
earnest desire to support a principle in itself just, creates
illusion not only as to the means we possess of en-
forcing its adoption, but even as to the reasons which
can be insisted upon for ensuring its triumph.
Unexpected as the resignation of the Ministry during
the late Session was, it could hardly fail to give rise to
those keen and even angry feelings which trouble mens*
minds, and diminish for a time the chance of their com-
ing to perfectly correct conclusions.
This is not the first occasion on which men of talent
and information, actuated by the best intentions, have
allowed themselves to be carried away by the excitement
of the moment. — The wisdom of deliberative bodies has
more than once failed to guard them against this mis-
chance ; and it is sometimes beyond their power to
resist the impulse of the day, and to guard against those
misconceptions which are so much the more powerful
from having their rise in sentiments of the most generous
and lofty nature.
.11
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2
Such was truly the position of the Assembly on the
sudden and unexpected news of the resignation of the
Ministers, in the latter part of November, more especial-
ly when they announced it as the consequence of their
efforts in the cause of Responsible Government, which
was thence said to be lost without resource, if they did
not obtain from the Commons of Canada a vote of ap-
proval of their conduct, and an address to the Governor
in support of the principles enunciated in the resolutions
of the 3d Septenlber, 1841. -
This was the object of the steps taken by those who
supported the late Ministers, when they proposed the
first paragraph of the address subsequently voted on the
2d December last. '
If it could have been truly said, that all those who
held opinions different from those of the late Ministers
and their partisans in the House had repudiated the
doctrine of Responsible Government, or sought to undev-
mine it, if they had endeavored to bring back the old
slate of things under which the Province suffered so long
and so much, it would have been natural and right that
no time should be lost in exposing so grave and perilous
a fault, or in urging their Constituents to testify their dis-
approval of conduct so inexcusable* ' ' ' «
The doctrine of Responsible Government indeed,
cannot fail to be embraced as the political faith of the
people of this Province, throughout its length and breadth,
feeling as they do the value of those rights which are
the inheritance of all who live under a constitutional
government, and belong by the laws of the Empire to
every British Subject as his birthright; and nothing
does them greater honor than their atta'jhment to a system
which can alone practically ensure their enjoyment of
these rights.
The name ofMr. D. B. Viger and the consideration
of the part he took on the occasion of the resignation of
n^
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'
' „ . '
the late Ministers, are inseparable (torn the discussion
of the questions to which that event gave rise in the
Legislative Assembly. If the charge brought against
him of having voted against the system of Responsible
Government be proved, his fellow-countrymen must of
necessity pronounce sentence of condemnation against
him with regard to his conduc t on that occasion. *-' '"
Whatever may have been the merit or the services of
a public man, the wisdom of his conduct or his doctrine,
neither any consideration of these, nor any feeling of
gratitude to him, ought to turn the balance in his favor
when a vital principle essential to the preservation of
1:he liberties of the people is at stake. It will be soon
seen whether the conduct of Mr. Viger was of a nature
to excite indignation.
It will be su/^cient here to remark, that certain parties
have, from the first, shown an over-eagerness to condemn
him. In some of the papers in tl^e Upper Section of the
Province, he has been denounced as eaten up with am-
bition, as having covered himself with dishonor and as
a traitor to his country. It was called charitable, to
suppose him to be iallen into that species of childishness
which old age sometimes brings with it, or as being fit
only for the hospital of incurables.
In the Editors of some journals favorable to the late
Ministry, it was a mark of courage not to heap abuse
upon him : but there are some who have had the still
higher courage to do him justice, and to take up his de-
fence. He is proud of having found in the former gene-
rous opponents, whose censure was mingled with ex-
pressions of kindness and good-will.
It is also flattering to him to find that those of his
fellow-countrymen in Lower Canada, who ought to know
him best, do not seem generally to have suspected him
of vain ambition or of mercenary feelings, and have en-
deavoured to account for a conduct which was repre-
I i
sented as inexplicable, by attributing it to the weakness
of age, or to his being misled by a feeling of friendship
for the only one of the Ministers who had not resigned.
He has seen too, with satisfaction, that those who ap-
peared to wish to denounce him as actuated by corrupt
or criminal motives, have felt that they had chosen dan-
gerous ground for their attack; and that this manoeuvre
was, to say the least, unskilful. Nothing could tend more to
strengthen the affectionate feelings which bind him to his
country. i
But since the occasion in question, those who voted
in the Assembly against the first paragraph of the addres^
have been unceasingly denounced as the enemies of
Responsible Government; and the question arises
whether they who bring this charge against all who so
voted are sincere. We are bound to believe they are ;
but who does not see that on this point as on many others
connected with the same subject, they are in error.
Among those who refused to accede to the proposed
address, Mr. Viger more particularly never ceased to
insist in the most formal manner, that the course adopted
by the supporters of the late Ministry was without a pre-
cedent; that the measure they proposed, destitute
as it was of all foundation, was inconsistent with
constitutional principles, with the rules and usages of
Parliament, and with the most solemn duties attached to
the ministerial functions; that instead of supporting the
system of Responsible Government their proceedings
were only calculated to weaken or destroy it ; that with
such a system of conduct Responsible Government could
neither be established or maintained, and that neither it
nor any other system of government would be practica-
ble or possible.
It is not less strange that some persons should have
allowed themselves to heap abuse beforehand on those
who perceiving their error, might have the courage to
leave the wrong path for the right one. \ et this has
Is
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been done in more than one instance. Is this fair 1
Is it politic 7 Can any well informed man doubt, that
the people, and therefore, those who represent the
people, are bound even more strictly than those at the
head of governments, to observe the laws of justice and
of truth, in order to acquire, or to preserve their
liberties.
It was necessary to make these remarks in ord^r to
show the danger of falling into error, in forming opinions
beforehand upon the conduct of one whose means of
defence are as yet unknown. When he had reason to
believe himself on the point of being censured by those
who had chosen him to represent them in the Assembly,
he had determined to beg them to hear him before pro-
nouncing an opinion on his conduct; but he is bound thus
publicly to declare, that before he could do so they had
come to a resolution not to condemn him without giving
him an opportunity of defending himself. He expected
nothing less from honorable men.
One most remarkable fact, with reference to the subject
before us, is that scarcely a word of Mr. Viger's three
first speeches on this important question, are to be found
in the newspapers, either of the Upper or of the Lower
Section of the Province. It is proposed to supply this
omission by a summary of the remarks he thc^n made,
for the purpose of enabling the reader to form a just
idea of the reasons on which he acted, and to un ierstand
correctly the principles on which he resisted the motion
relative to the first paragraph of the address in approval
of the Ministers, voted on the 2nd of December.
In the summary of these speeches there will be found
some remarks intended to illustrate, more clearly, the
principles of Responsible Government, which is, in fact,
nothing more than the theory of Constitutional Govern-
ment reduced to practice. All that need be observed
here is, that under any form of Government whatsoever,
even under that Oriental Despotism where the Sub-
6
ject knows no other rule of conduct but the sabre and
the bowstring, there is no governing without a Council.
Those who form this Council are always bound to
secrecy as to what passes or is communicated to or
among them as Councillors, and this obligation is en-
forced by the sanction of an oath : the practice is univer-
sal. Such was the position of our late Ministers, the
Councillors of the Queen, who is represented by the
Governor.
To this obligation of secrecy there is, under a Con-
stitutional Government, no exception, unless when the
Ministers, or any of them, may be under the necessity of
retiring, because they differ in opinion from the head of
the Government, with regard to measures for which their
office makes them responsible. They may then, accord-
ing to circumstances, obtain permission to make known
to the two Houses of the Legislature the points upon
which the difference may hive arisen. They can other-
wise offer no explanation, except such as may be founded
on facts already publicly notorious ; of this, the history
of the last forty years furnishes some examples. It is
needless to add, that these are fundamental principles.
Let us now observe, that up to Monday, the 27th
November, our Ministers had exercised in the Assembly
an influence which could hardly be surpassed. Scarcely
any one of their measures had encountered any serious
opposition. The number of those which they had already
carried through the House was considerable, and many
others of great importance were on the point of being so.
It was difficult to imagine that any thing could occur to
induce them to abandon their post under circumstances
so favorable to them. This is not the place to hazard
conjectures as to the motives which produced such preci-
pitation on their part, at a time when it seems as if they
might easily have borne, for a few weeks more, with that
antagonism, (to use their own expression) which they
had managed to bear with for nearly a year.- It is not
our business either to censure or to praise them on this
Vl
point, and we shall be content with observing, that such
was the state of things, when on the 27th of November,
they suddenly announced their resignation, and their
resolution to assign their reasons for it ; this they did
under circumstances which render necessary some pre-
vious remarks, in order to enable us to form just ideas
of the nature of the principles and facts upon which
Mr. Viger insisted in opposing that motion of the sup-
porters of the late Ministry, on which the first paragraph
of the address of the 2nd December, in approval of
their conduct, is founded.
There is every reason to believe that it was on Sun-
day, the day before the announcement of their having
retired from office, that they determined to tender their
resignation, which the Governor accepted, and hence
arises, in the very outset, a circumstance attending the
conduct of the late Ministers, which forms what appears
to be a problem incapable of solution.
There is no written document proving that permission
was either asked or given, to enter into any explanations
in the House on the subject of the step adopted by the
Ministers, — on this point we can do no more than form
conjectures ; but what is not doubtful is, that the
Governor required them to lay before him, in wiiting,
the points on which they intended to enter into explana-
tions in the Assembly.
Mr. Lafontaine, in the name of his colleagues, as it
afterwards appeared, laid betore His Excellency a state-
ment which, though in other respects skilfully drawn up,
contained, with the exception of that portion which
related to the Secret Societies Billy nothing of that clear
and distinct statement of precise facts which was essen-
tially requisite under such circumstances. Even as
touching the said Bill it was faulty, containing, as it did,
several assertions with regard to the correctness of
which it is clear that the Ministers did not agree with
the Governor, who, consequently, could not give them,
i 3
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1 1
8
on this point more than on the rest, permission to explain
to the House ; not to mention that with regard to this
Bill His Excellency might, and indeed must, have held
himself bound by his instructions from the British Gov-
ernment, which were known to the Ministers, and which
did not permit him to give the Royal Sanction to the
measure, but made it his express duty to reserve it for
the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure.
From all this, it is, as will be shewn, certain that the
Governor's proper course was simply to forbid them to
enter into any explanation ; but he found himself in this
critical position, without a Council, and without any
Minister except the Provincial Secretary, who remained
alone out of nine Councillors, having seats in the Assem-
bly, (of whom four were Law Officers of the Crown,) and
who was, by his oath of office, bound to silence on the
subject of the explanations in question. Pressed as the
Governor was by the current of events, and impossible
as it was for him to foresee by what proceedings his late
Ministers would, in the Assembly, follow up the step
they had taken, it is not much to be wondered at that he
should, in this conjuncture, lose sight of what he owed to
himself as Governor ; and, that following the example set
by those whose business it was to enlighten him by their
counsels, he should follow the impulse of the feelings
natural to an individual under such circumstances, by
answering in an argumentative form, instead of simply
forbidding all explanations on a document like that which
had been laid before him.
It would not be right to leave this subject without
remarking that, independently of the many other decisive
reasons which ought to have induced the Ministers
(who still remained Councillors) to resist the demand
for the documents in question, there is one which ought
to have sufficed alone. It is part of the syst( .a ot
Responsible Government that the sentiments «^f the Per-
sonage at the head of the administration ought never
9
to be made the subject of discussion, and that all commu-
nications concerning them ought to be confined to the
simplest statements possible. JV'^t only is this the sole
means by which it is possible to avoid those slight errors
of expression which will almost always escape in the
heat of composition ; but it is also the only method of
guarding agaL.it those erroneous interpretations arising,
as they too frequently do, from some association of ideas
which, having become very general by the force of pecu-
liar circumstances, may, for a time, mislead men other-
wise clearsighted and well informed. Such, for instance,
was the effect produced, to the Author's certain know-
ledge, on many persons, by that passage in the reply of
Sir Charles, which relates to the Secret Societies BUI.
By such persons he has been suspected of favoring
Orcwgeismy an institution, of which the effect is to
detach those who embrace it from the political commu-
nity ,and to imbue them with separate views and interests,
which may, and by the very nature of the thing, are
likely to become opposed to those of their fellow-sub-
jects, and which binds them to mutual support by an
oath, which has lu it something more than illegality,
since it so qualifies even their allegiance, that it may
at any moment become illusory. We say, boldly, that
the Governor is very far from entertaining any such feel-
ing; we believe ourselves authorized to add, that he
formally condemns any institution of the nature of that
above mentioned.*
But whatever be the state of the case, if in consider-
ing it we leave out of the question a document which
ought never to have appeared before the House, it is
necessary to remark that that very document closed with
* The consideiulion stated in the text with regard to the nature of this Associa-
t'lon, ought to open the eyes of all those Orangemen who to a knowledge of the
principles of Government, unite an acquaintance with those of public morauty, and
with tneir duties as members of the body politic.
It may be well to remind the reader in this place, that Mr. Viger, in his place in
the Assembly, supported the Bill by a multitude of arguments, of which no report
is to be found in the papers of the day.
B
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10
a protest of the most formal kind against the explana-
tion which the Ministers proposed to offer to Parliament.
If, up to the time when they received the Governor's
answer, they believed themselves permitted to give their
explanations, or even if they had really Tjeceived a verbal
permission to do so, without any specification of the
precise facts as to which alone it could be allowed, it is
still scarcely possible to imagine that they should not have
perceived that this document, which implied necessarily
the revocation of the supposed permission, ought to bind
them to silence, saving always their right to obtain there-
after, by constitutional means, His Excellency's leave to
explain.
They ought to have regarded the Governor's answer
as being what it really was, his protest against a pro-
ceeding which nothing could justify ; and as a document
besides, which was not of a nature to be laid before the
House. If His Excellency did, ns there is reason to
believe, give his orders or his permission that it should
be read, it could only be, because having no Ministry in
the technical sense of the word, nor any person in the
Assembly in a position to take up his defence, he deem-
ed it expedient that his view of the question should be
made known, if the Ministers should, notwithstanding
his solemn protest, persist in giving explanations in the
House of the nature of those implied in the document
they had submitted to him.
The object of these remarks is to state the probable
cause of the step adopted by His Excellency, and not
to assert that it was the correct one ; it will be seen that
Mr. Viger expressed his opinion decidedly on this
point.
On the 29th November, after receiving this communi-
cation from the Governor, the Honorable the Attorney
General for Upper Canada thought proper, neverthe-
less, to enter into long explanations as to the conduct of
the Ministers, their relations with the head of the Govern-
il
vplana-
lament.
ernor's
ve their
\ verbal
of the
ed, it is
lot have
essarily
to bind
1 there-
eave to
answer
a pro-
icument
fore the
ason to
should
nistry in
a in the
i deem-
ould be
anding
in the
cument
robable
and not
en that
ion this
nmuni-
ttorney
verthe-
duct of
Jovern-
ment in the Executive Council, and the subjects which
had been dispussed there since he assumed the reins of
Government. ' • - /^ '
It is difficult to imagine Mr. Viger's astonishment
when he heard the Honorable Member commence by
explanations of this nature. Notwithstanding his per-
sonal respect for him he could not help interrupting him
(as under such circumstances he was, by an exception
to the usual rule, entitled to do) for the purpose of in-
quiring whether he had the Governor's permission for
entering upon such explanations. Mr. Viger's surprise
was increased when Her Majesty's Attorney General,
in the most formal terms, replied in the affirmative. After
some attempts to make known his reasons for entertain-
ing doubts on this point, at the same time that he did the
Honorable Attorney General the justice to believe him
perfectly sincere and in good faith though under an
error, Mr. Viger found himself compelled to remain
silent, while the Honorable Attorney General continued
to dwell upon numerous subjects of the nature of those
abovementioned.
At the conclusion of this scene which must now seem
so strange, Mr. Viger rose and expressed his profound
regret at his inability to agree in opinion with his Hon.
friend, as to his supposed permission to enter into expla-
nations which appeared to him more than extraordinary,
since they had no precedent under like circumstances ;
he remarked that it was essentially necessary in such
cases that the permission given should be not only for-
mal but Special, confined to a distinct statement agreed
to on both sides, of points with regard to which there
could be no dispute ; that the explanations could relate
only to the tacts so ascertained, to the conclusions
drawn from them on either side, and to the different
views which might be taken of them and of the conse-
quences to be deduced from them. No such permission
had been given.
B 2
f'li
il iB
'
12
Mr. Viger afterwards took occasion to remark upon
the contradiction there appeared to be in supposing the
Ministers to have received permission to explain from
the Governor (who had not even the right to give such
permission in general terms and unconditionally) when
their communication with him on the subject was fol-
lowed by his request that the Ministers would furnish him
with a statement of the nature of the explanations they
intended to offer, and when they had before them the an-
swer of His Excellency, which closed with a formal pro-
test against that very form of explanation which they had
submitted for his approval ; this answer ought of neces-
sity to have made them silent.
Mr. Viger appealed to principles applicable to every
species of discussion of this nature, to constitutional
law and to the practice of the British Parliament. He
Insisted earnestly upon the proceedings in the House of
Commons in 1839, when Sir Robert Peel having been
called upon to form a new administration, had conceived
u necessary to make it a condition that Her Majesty should
tlismiss the Ladies of the Bed Chamber, on the ground that
their husbands, being in the opposition, might avail them-
';elves of their influence with Her Majesty to impede the
^neasures of the administration. The Queen having declin-
ed to accede to these conditions. Sir Robert Peel declar-
ed it impossible that he should assume the reins of Go-
vernment. Such was the fact upon which the differ-
ence of opinion between Her Majesty and Sir Robert
Peel turned, and the consequence of which was that the
new Ministers retired and the former administration re-
turned to power.
Under these circumstances it became necessary that
Sir Robert Peel should give such explanations in the
House of Commons as should be requisite to justify the
course he had taken ; it is clear, that it was neither upon
mere conversations or on a special pleading that he could
ground them.
13
He laid before Her Majesty a clear and succinct state-
ment of the object of the negociation, and the Queen an-
swered, in few words and in writing, that she could not
consent to the proposed conditions. There was nothing
doubtful in these communications.
It was after these steps had been taken, that Sir Robert
Peel asked leave to give his explanation in the House.
He received permission by a letter from the Minister.
The whole of this correspondence was read before the
House and the facts stated in it were commented upon
by Sir Robert Peel and by the Minister, without any
shadow of a difference of opinion as to the fact itself, but
solely with regard to the manner o( looking at it, and
che consequences to be drawn from it. It is right to ob-
serve, that with the exception of Sir Robert Peel and the
Minister no person in the Hou«e took upon himself to
muke the slightest remark, and the last words of the latter
were, Ikat he had not the slightest ground to complain of
tlie statement made by Sir Robert Peel.
In the two speeches made by Mr. Viger during the
sitting of that >day, he repeatedly challenged the Ministers
and those who supported them in the House, to cite from
the whole range of Parliamentary History any parallel to
the course they w^re then adopting. This appeal was
unanswered.
It must now appear singular, that although Mr. Viger
insisted on these and numerous other arguments of
equal weight, as proving that the Ministers ought to ab-
stain from persisting in what he held to be a serious vio-
lation of their duty, no one Member attempted to refute
him. What is yet more singular is, that his observations
were scarcely alluded to in the many speeches of the
Ministers and their partisans.
It is further necessary to observe that the communica-
tions which passed between the Queen, Sir Robert Peel
and the Ministers, although read by the two latter, were
t ■•
H
14
not transmitted to the House of Commons, and there is
not the slightest allusion to them in the Journals. It
never entered into the mind of any Member to ask that
they might be laid belore the House by Message, and
still less to order as our Assembly did, that they should
be printed for the use of Members or distributed among
the public. In what manner would the Members of che
House of Commons, to whatever party they might belong,
have treated the motion of a Member who should have
risen to ask for communication of any correspmidence he*
tween the Queen and Her Responsible Minister s^ and
thus to cause the words and actions of his Sovereign to
become the subject of comment and discussion. Not a
man among them but would have spurned so extravagant
a proposition.
In the Legislative Assembly of Canada, on the contra-
ry, the discussion of that day ended in a proceeding
which like the rest of those adopted on that memorable
occasion, is without a parallel in Parliamentary history.
One of the Members of the opposition moved an Ad-
dress to the Governor, praying him to lay before the
House, copies of any communications which might have
passed between him and the Members of the late Executive
Council relative to their resignation. The Ministers
with their powerful majority remained silent !
Mr. Viger, who perceived all the irregularity and un-
constitutionality of this proceeding, endeavoured vainly
to raise his voice in opposition to it '• finding it impossi-
ble to obtain an hearing, he was forced to resume his
seat, and the motion passed without a division.
It is difficult to conceive that the Governor was right
in consenting to lay these documents before the House ;
but he was induced to do so by motives which may be
supposed to have actuated him as an individual, and
which are easily understood and in this point of view
were laudable, whatever opinion may be held with re-
w
gard to the proceeding when viewed as a Constitu-
tional question. The documents were laid before the
House on the first of December, on which day Mr. Price
made his motion for an Address to the Governor approv-
ing the conduct of the Ministers, the consideration of
which was postponed till the next day, the 2nd of Decern-
On that day instead of explanations we had, as on the
former occasion, debates which may be characterized as
vague, and in the course of which more than forty *
Members spoke, many of them repeatedly. The
speeches were filled with incriminations and recrimina-
tions on the part of the Ministers and their partizans on
the one hand, and the Members of the opposition on the
other, with reference to the subjects oi deliberations
held under an oath of secrecy, not on any one matter; at
any one moment, or on any one day, but with regard to
facts without number, and of divers dates, but having oc-
curred weeks, months, or even nearly a year before, under
a preceding administration. One of the Members of the
Ministry went so far as to talk of things which had hap-
pened under the administration of Sir Charles Bagot, on
whom the gates of the tomb had so long closed.
Who then can blame Mr Viger for having interrupted
the Honorable Attorney General for Upper Canada ?
Who can say that he had not the best reasons for calling
upon those against whose proceedings he raised his
voice, to cite some instance of similar proceedings in the
House of Commons of England or even any where else,
some parallel to the line of conduct they had chosen ?
In his speech, on that day, Mr. Viger touched ' 'ain
upon the subject he had before treated, and shewed u ?
inconsistent the proceedings then before the House, as
well as those which had preceded it, were with the duty
!f
i :
* Tn proportion to the number of Mcmbem in both Houses reupcctively, ih'.fl
wooid be tAreeUunchcd for the Htuse of Commons.
^p
of theMinistcrs under their oath of office, with the rules
and usages of Parliament, and with justice and public
morality.
He nsisted strongly on the mutual forbearance which
ought to be shown with regard to any mistake which
might be made in the first working of a system so new
to all parties ; and upon the didicuhy of not falling into
some errors, destitute as the House was of the light
of experience to guide it in carrying out a system, with
which it might still be said to be only acquainted in
theory.
The debates of that day were followed by several mo-
tions in amendment of the main one, and among other«
by that of Mr. Vigor, the object of which was to declare,
that the House adhered firmly to the principles embodied
in the resolutions on Responsible Government passed
on the 3rd September, 1841, but that there was not then
before it any document which according to Parliamenta-
ry usage and practice could serve as the basis of an Ad-
dress to the Governor on that subject.
How has it happened that after this frank expression
of his sentiments, Mr. Viger has since that time been per-
severingly accused of having voted against Responsible
Government?
It is now evident., and we hope to show (if possible)
still more clearly, that there was no Jact before the
House on which it could pronounce an opinion of the
nature of that required of it on the occasion in question.
It is unnecessary to press this point further for the
present, since it formed the principal subject discussed
by Mr. Viger, in his speeches of the 29th November and
2nd December, and of some remarks he made on the
7th of the month last named. The summary which it is
proposed to give of these speches will enable the public
to judge, whether he has Reserved the more than bitter
17
Jhe
jed
md
[he
is
lie
ler
leproaches which have been heaped upon him unceas-
ingly since the period in question.
Mr. Price's motion was modelled on a motion ot the
same kind made in the British Parliament on an oc-
casion when the Ministry of the day had determined to
resign.
But even upon the supposition, that the doctrine of
Responsible Government could at that time be con-
stitutionally brought under discussion in the House, it is
scarcely possible to perceive any necessity for the
second motion introduced by Mr. Boulton. This motion
was carried by a great majority composed of Members from
both sides of the House, and the same majority subse-
quently voted in like manner tho address founded on the
two motions jointly : yet the fair inference to be drawn
from it is, that some stipulation was really demanded of
the Governor relative to the exercise of the Royal
Prerogative, or that there was something else wrong in
the conduct or in the demands of the Ministers, which
it was deemed expedient to disavow by this resolutior.
The correctness of this conclusion cannot fail to strike
all those who are in the least degree versed in con-
stitutional law, and who cannot be ignorant of the
maxim, that to govern is to select the instruments oj
Government ; which being the case, it is difficult to
conceive it possible that any difference of opinion
could have arisen as to the right claimed by the late
Ministers.
They ought to have felt, '.hat no attempt should be
made to appeal to general principles on subjects of the
kind in question, except in cases of urgent necessity
and with reference to undisputed facts.
On this head, it will suffice to rema.k here, that the
mere theory does not agree with the practice. The
doctrine of the independence of the Crown in the
i ':
■ f
'i .1
■I
18
exercise of its prerogative cannot be questioned, but is on
the contrary formally acknowledged, while in practice
the Ministers are consulted by the Head of the Govern-
ment, on all measures which are supposed to be adopted
only after they have been considered in Council, and
for which the Ministers become responsible for this
very reason. ' .
The matter is one, which by prudent management on
both sides, seldom leads to difficulty, except in cases as
extraordinary as that in which Sir -Robert Peel found
himself involved with regard to Her Majesty's Ladies of
the Bedchamber.
From the word antagonism, used by Mr. Lafontah e,
when speaking in the name of his Colleagues, it might
be inferred that some difference of opinion had occurred
between the Governor and his Ministers in their views
of the system of Responsible Government, or as to the
consequences to be deduced from it in practice.
But those who are capable of appreciating the value of
a principle enunciated as clearly and proclaimed as
solemnly as that embodied in the Resolutions adopted
by the Assembly on the 3rd September, 1H41, cannot
deceive themselves as to the importanc*.e, under existin<j;
circumstances, of His Excellency's Ti-ank and hearty
declaration, that he considers any other system of Go-
vernment but that which recognizes responsibility fo the
Peopk and to the Representative Assembly, as impracti-
cable in this Province.
If the Ministers thought they perceived in the senti-
ments of the Governor any danger to the system, this
declaration ought to have reassured them. And e: en
supposing that some difference of opinion or even error
existed in this respect, it could never become of
much importance or be of long duration, since it wouldl3e
easy to turn to account here the experience of more
than a century and a half, during whicii the most difficult
19
hearty
Go-
fo the
\racii-
senti-
,, this
H e- en
error
ime of
]uld1)e
more
lifficult
questions relative to the system have received their
solution in the Mother Country.
The Ministers would have done wisely, on the receipt
of the Governor's answer, to have held a conference in
order to deliberate on the course to be adopted, in con-
sequence of the variety as well as the importance of the
considerations involved in that document, and for that
purpose to have postponed their final determination until
the following day at least. We may not hazard any con-
jecture as to their motives lor having come to anothen
decision.
Whatever difficulty there may be in approaching a
subject so delicate, we may be allowed to inquire,
whether by adopting this wise precaution, it would not
have been possible to find matter for new explanations,
means of coming to some mutual understanding or
even to a reconciliation ; while the precipitate course
taken by the Ministers could have no other result than
to make them lose sight of their most solemn obligations
and most imperative duties, to lead theln into that
series of errors pointed out by Mr. Viger, and thereby
to widen the breach into an abyss.
II
THE
MINISTERIAL CRISIS
AND
MR. DENIS BENJAMIN VIGER, &c.
PART THE SECOND.
A SUMMARY OF THE REMARKS MADE BY MR. VIGER IN THE
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY, AND MORE ESPECIALLY IN HIS
SPEECH OF THE 2nD DECEMBER, 1843, RELATIVE TO
THE MOTION FOR AN ADDRESS IN FAVOR OF THE LATE
MINISTRY.
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS.
It becomes again requisite to solicit the indulgence of
the public with regard to the following summary of the
remarks made by Mr. Viger, in his third speech in the
Legislative Assembly, on the question arising out of the
resignation of the late Ministry.
It was scarcely possible to avoid repetition, particularly
with reference to the system of Responsible Government,
which, as it has been before observed, is but the theory
of Constitutional Government, reduced to practice. It
was indispensable that Mr.Viger should dwell particularly
on the principles connected with it, and should develope
them at considerable length. Leisure has been wanting
to introduce into the work that degree of order and
perspicuity of style which would have been desirable ;
and there are some omissions in it, which, however, the
remarks contained in the first part will in a great measure
afford the means of supplying.
SUMMARY OF THE REMARKS, fic.
MR. SPli;,(^KER,
The title of the late Ministers to obtain, and the
arguments advanced by their partisans in favor of their
obtaining an Address in approval of their conduct, must
rest in the first place, on their right to enter into explana-
tions in this House as to their reasons for r'^signing, and
next, supposing them to have that right, • ^ on the facts
which they may lay before the House in support of the
step they propose, one of the most solemn and important
which we can adopt. I have already shewn and I intend
again to shew, that they had obtained no right to enter
into explanations ; that they have laid nothing before
this House, and that there exists no document which
can serve as the basis of an Address to the Governor
on this subject. I shall carry the proof of the truth of
these propositions to the extent of demonstration.
But as I have become the object of bitter reproach
for the part I have taken in this discussion, and have been
threatened wnth public indignation and even with the
loss of the confidence of those I have the honor to repre-
sent, it becomes ray first duty to myself, to this House, and
to my fellow subjects, to prove that this reproach is
destitute of any just foundation, and that my duty to my
country compels me to brave the threat, whatever may
be the consequence to myself.
I hope thus to obtain the advantage of removing a
prejudice which might engender false notions upon the
subject under discussion, upon which it is of the last
importance to form no ideas but such as are rigorously
correct.
In the midst of the noise, confusion and excitement
which prevailed in this House, when I spoke for the first
time, I could perceive that Honorable Members had per-
1 1\
.■:,t
J I
-
22
suaded themselves, that I was invoking principles and
supporting doctrines contrary to those upon which I was
really insisting; and that many among them had entirely
mistaken the nature of my sentiments on what they con-
sidered, erroneously as far as I was concerned, to be the
prinoipal subject of the discussion.
Honorable Members will recollect, that on repeated oc-
casions and with regard to divers matters, which to me
appeared to be of extreme importance, I tried in vain to
make my voice heard against what I conceived to be a
deviation from, and even a flagrant violation of the rules
which ought to guide us in our deliberations. I was
thus forced to remain silent.
I could perceive that I was supposed to be myself in
a state of extreme excitement, and led away by a spe-
cies of hallucination on the one hand, while on the other
I was misled by a feeling of lively friendship towards
the only one of the Ministers who had not abandoned
his post; in fact that I was in a state of complete illusion.
I must acknowledge that I was in the most painful
position passible ; forced as I was to endeavour to stem
the current of the feeling of the day, to separate myself
from those whose measures I had hitherto thought it
my duty to support, to contend against a majority com-
posed of men, whose sentiments, principles and conduct
in the House f respect, to run the risk even of losing
the esteem of my countrymen, purchased by long vigils,
unremitting efforts and severe toils borne in defending
their cause and supporting their dearest interests, to lose
in fact the most precious reward to which the public
man can aspire.
One of the heaviest blows I could have been called
upon to sustain, would have been loss of the affection of my
countrymen, the source of the purest delight I have
lasted in the course of a life devoted wholly to their ser-
vice; but I have never sacrificed and never will sacrifice
23
my principles for the sake either of preserving, or of
gaining that affection ;— my first duty is to deserve it. If
I ceased to adopt this maxim as my rule of conduct,
what could I expect of any honest man, but his contempt
as the reward of my baseness.
I cannot believe the respected friends to whom I
even now owe the honor of a seat in this House, in-
competent to examine or unable to appreciate the mo-
tives of my conduct. But, if it were possible that their
refusal to support me with their votes should force m*^
to abandon public life, I should at least have the satis-
faction of not having sacrificed the rights I was sent
here to defend. In my retirement I should have the
consolation of knowing, that I had done all in my power
to support the edifice of Responsible Government,
against the attempt to force us to a step, which far from
ensuring its safety can only tend to shake it to its foun-
dations. I confide in the justice of my countrymen.
For the vivacity of my manner, I have frequently craved
the indulgence of Honorable Members, who must have
remarked that my warmth of expression springs not from
passion, but from a deep conviction that I am in the
right : I now appeal to them to say, whether from my
general conduct in the House or from that I have held
on this occasion, they can bring themselves to believe
that my feelings have bewildered my judgment, or
whether in any thiug I have said I have infringed the
rules of justice, morality or courtesy.
I have next to repel a charge of the gravest kind.
Being compelled, by a sense of duty which I dared not
disobey, to interrupt the Honorable Attorney General
for Upper Canada for the purpose of inquiring whether
he had permission to make certain explanations, I was
believed guilty of insulting a man whose friendship I
esteem an honor to me, and of having, by that inquiry,
proclaimed to the country that I more than doubted his
sincerity. I am entitled to ask, whether those w^ho
:m
Ml
I i
24
must bear me witness that I have never, in address-
ing this House, violated the rules of politeness, ought to
have believed me capable of intending to insult the
Honorable Member, for whom my conduct here must
have furnished indubitable proof that I entertain the
most sincere respect ? He whose discourse is confined
within the boundaries of logic, is not guilty of insult to
any one. As I cannot sacrifice the welfare of my
country to friendship, so neither can I risk its fate upon
the opinion of any individual, however profound my
respect for him, or whatever my confidence in his in-
tegrity or in his ability.
Seeing the Honorable Attorney General in error,
could I refrain from doing all in my power to prevent
the House itself from partaking it ?
I must say that afterwards, when I recollected the
confidence with which I had been told that the Honora-
ble Member had received the requisite permission in a
letter from the Governor, I could not help fearing that I
had been more than usually vvanting in prudence, in
testifying in the House a doubt which might appear
offensive. I could not too much regret it. I do not
know how I was able to conceal the profound emotion
these disclosures excited in me, or the deep pain with
which I heard them
m
¥■'•■
I saw clearly how unfortunate this occurrence was,
not only for me, but for the Province. The respective
position of the Governor, of the Ministers, of the House,
became, as did my own, so many problems incapable of
solution. All pre-conceived opinions were about to be
confounded. Things seemed to be involved in a
labyrinth to which there was no outlet. My own ideas
became confused.
The supposed permission seemed to me something
inconceivable. It was neither legally nor constitutionally
possible that it could have conferred the right of entering
m
25
into explanations such as I had heard ; hut 1 felt tliat
such a document might furnish pretexts at least plausi-,
ble, for treating any objections however grave, to the
motion made by the supporters of the Ministers, as
worse than puerile.
'It was inipossible for me to close my eyes during that
night of suffering. The first thing I did on the follow-
ing morning, was to adopt the necessary means for re-
considering all the circumstances upon which I had
formed the opinion that I had expressed in tl^e House
on the preceding evening. Never was my heart re-
lieved of a heavier load, than when the result of this
re-consideration was, that this supposed permission to
explain had no existence.
As regards the assertion, that I have been misled by
my friendship for the Honorable Member who has
alone remained in the Administration, I am bound to
say, that he deserves that friendship ; for he remained
faithful to that noble sentiment towards me, when his
doing so might have been looked upon as a crime, and
have cost both him and his family their means of sub-
sistence : and he has yet more solid claims to my grati-
tude, for he rendered to my country, at more than one
such period of danger, services for which he might have
paid a similar penalty. But neither to friendship nor
to gratitude, am I capable of sacrificing either the
dictates of justice and truth, or the liberties of my
country.
The maxim of an honest man is— duty before all else.
But if I were capable of being blinded by feelings of
this nature, to which side is it likely that the balance
would incline 7 Who sees not the number of friends I
CDunt among the Members of the late Administration 7
Who can mistake my sentiments towards the Honora-
ble Attorney General, whom I am accused, on so sin-
gular a pretext, of having designed to insult 1 Another
f'l
'■ ft
II,.;
' ' ■■'.\
: : '■•*
I
i'
96
of the Members of the late Ministry is among the num-
ber of my pupils : can I do otherwise than be proud of
him 7 A third knows well how fully I appreciate his
talents, which do honor to my country ? All too are,
independently of their claims upon my private friend-
ship, entitled to my respect fur their conduct in this
House. Have I been backward in giving them proofs
of if?
With regard to the Honorable the Attorney General
for Lower Canada, more especially, who is there that
will not do me justice? I have, among other things, sa>
criiiced to his wishes my opinions with respect to his
Bills for the administration of Justice, several parts of
which I disapproved. If I spoke against some of their
provisions, it was because I was compelled to do so by
anhimperative sense of duty. This was the case, mors
particularly, with regard to those by which it was pro-
posed to allow the Judges to sit in Court, on appeals
from judgments which they had rendered in the Infe-
rior Term.
I had long before taken all possible means to avoid
this contest, by making the Honorable Member ac-
quainted with my views on the questions which this
enactment could not fail to raise. I had, at a later
period during his stay at Montreal, taken the precau-
tion of informing him that it was impossible for me to
do otherwise than oppose, in the most formal manner,
this portion of his plan. I made it my duty shortly after,
my own arrival at Kingston, to observe to him and to
four other Members of the administration, that the pro-
position was contrary to every principle of legislation,
and to the ordinary rules of jurisprudence ; that it had
a tendency so evidently immoral, that an English Author
had maintained, that a provision of this kind in an Act
of Parliament would, for that reason, fail to be binding.
I insisted more especially on the fact, that such an enact-
27
ment could not but have the effect of lowering, in the
public estimation, the Administration which should
propose, or even the Legislature which should adopt it.
The same consideration ought to forbid the adoption
of the proposed Address, since it would have the same
tendency as the enactment I opposed in these Bills. It
would, as I shall show, have the same effect upon the
character of this House. It might, under the circum-
stances, have results of a still more pernicious conse-
quence, since it might furnish a pretext for asserting
that the system of Responsible Government could never
be reduced to practice among us, and that we have
neither that calmness of thought or that moderation in
our opinions, without which it is not possible for any
people to exercise the rights which are the essential
concomitants of this system of Government.
The proceeding demanded by the Ministers, and the
arguments upon which iheir supporters claim from this
House an Address in approval of their conduct, must,
under existing circumstances, rest solely on that permis-
sion to enter into explanations, which they solemnly as-
sert that they have received from His Excellency.
What must be thought of this demand, and of all that
has passed on the subject in this House since the 27th
of November, if it be true that this permission is a mere
creature of the imagination, that it has no existence, that
the very arguments which have been urged to give it
some appearance of reality are pure chimeras.
All the discussions which have been raised in this
House by the resignation of the Ministers resolve them-
selves into the simple questions, whether they received
this permission from the Governor, and whether, if
they did, there is anything before us which can serve as
a basis for the Address we are asked to vote in their
favour. I shall demonstrate that these two questions can
only be answered in the negative.
. . - c 2
i
II
ri .1
28
i I shall likewise, while I disavow all idea of imputing
any unworthy intention to the late Ministers, show that
they have in this instance lost sight of their solemn obli-
gations and imperative duty.
r I shall, in fine, show that the step this House is called
upon to take under existing circumstances is without ex-
ample; that it is inconsistent alike wiih Parliamentary
usages and Constitutional principles, with the rules of
morality and with public justice : and that the inevitable
result oi such a proceeding would be, that not only Res-
ponsible Government, but Government of any kind, would
become impossible in this Province, i- , » _ .('.,;
As the individual who holds the reins of Government
in any political community is neilher endowed with ubi-
quity nor with that universal knowledge which belongsi
only to the Supreme Being, it is indispensable that he
should surround himself with men able to enlighten him
by their advice as to the measures to be adopted in the
exercise of his authority. Hence the majtim, thai it is,
impossible to govern without a Council,
But the soul of all great affairs, and above all of those
which relate to the exercise of the powers of the State,
is secrecy, which is subject to the same laws as any
other trust. It is the imperative duty of those who form
such Council, to keep this trust with regard to all that
may pass in the course of their deliberations; and with-
out this no Government would be possible. The Coun-
cillors are therefore under a moral o))ligation to keep
silence on these matters ; and this obligation is always
enforced by the solemnity of an oath, which they are
bound to take before eiitei'ing upon the exercise of their
functions. What Gove-nment could exist if this obliga-
tion were not strictly observed ? Who would consent
to form part of any Administration ? What confidence
could subsist between its Members and the Head of the
Government, if each had to fear that those confidential
communications upon men and things which are matters
of daily necessity might be made public ?
!!.„_
«
To this rule there are, as I have before remarked,
some exceptions, particularly under governments truly
constitutional, or if you will, under Responsible Govern-
ment, which is only the theory of the former reduced to
practice. The Ministers being responsible to the le-
gislative authority and to the two Houses of Parliament
in particular, for the measures which they are supposed
to direct by their councils, may find it out of their power
to agree on all points with the individual who holds the
reins of Government, they may differ or even be op-
posed to hira on some points in their views, sentiments,
or principles, with regard to measures upon which the
facts known to the public may be insufficient to justify
them.
If, under such circumstances, they think it their duty
to retire from the Council, they apply to the Head of
the Executive for permission to state in the Houses of
which they are respectively Members, the facts they
deem necessary for explaining their conduct, or if need
be, for obtaining a vote of approval. • ; / . r
It ought, I think, to be unnecessary to observe that a
permission of this nature can only be given upon the
most grave considerations ; and that above all it is indis- \
pensable for those who solicii it, to state clearly and
precisely the facts upon which they propose to ground
their explanations, in order to afford the Head of the
Government the means of judging, first, whether such
permission ought to be gianted, and, secondly, to what
points it shall extend.
Who is there capable of imagining, that it is not
necessary to have some document to evidence such
permission 1 What set of Ministers ought to be able to
persuade themselves, that a mere verbal permission
would be sufficient for them under any circumstances,
but more especially when there should be some com- '
plication in the facts and points on which the disagree-
ment arose, or some difference of opinion as to the in-
f t
lii
,11
fj.
30
:
IMlli!
ference to be deduced from the facts themselves, and as
to the point of viei » which they ought to be presented,
in order that a correct judgment may be formed with
regaiJ to them?
I may ask, whether it be possible to believe that a
verbal permission from the Governor, or even a per-
mission given in writing, unconditional and in general
terms, to Mini*:ters tendering their resignation, but
having been and being in fact still the legal Councillors
of th*^ Governor, can authorize them to unveil to an
indefinite e^'.tcat transactions occurring at their secret
deliberations, without first coming to an understanding
with him upon the nature of the facts to be thus made
puHic, but above all upon the facts themselves ?
What an idea, — that tb^y can be warranted by a mere
conversation, as to ^'le bearing of which it is always so
difficult for two parties to agree even when no kind of
contestation has occurred, in believing themselves en-
titled to explain to the House, to the country, and to the
world, the.r conduct with respect to deliberations, secret
in their very nature as well as by a moral obligation
strengthened by the solemnity of an oath, not only upon
the events of any given instant or day, but upon number-
less facts of divers dates, occurring in the course oi
weeks, months, of almost a year ! What man possessing
the slightest acquaintance with the principles not merely
of a constitutional Government, but of any kind of
Government ;vhatever, could fail to see sometliing ano-
malous in the principles which led iO consequences of
such nature.
The late Ministers insist, nevertheless, that they have
received the required perinisaioii. I belicvf^ them to he
in good faith when they make this assertion. I am far
from wishing to raise the slightest doubt as to their sin-
cerity ; but I ask, where is this permission io he found ?
I am entitled to say that it hn.s no existence. They do
inot pretend that it exists in writing, and their mere
31
and as
senled,
Jd with
that a
per-
eneral
but
cillors
to ao
secret
mding
made
assertion most assjredly cannot, urder the circum-
stances, constitute their own safeguard or that of the
Assembly. . , i , .
What an idea, that a verbal permission the existence
of which, on I'le one hand, is supported by no voucher,
even indirectly, and which, on the other hand, has no
determinate or distinct object, should appear to theiti
sufficient to authorize them to reveal the secret things
connected with their deliberations, or this Houi'e to
pronounce a judgment on their conduct.
It is impossible they could infer such permission from j
the remarks made by the Governor on their Memoran- ^
dum ; for those remarks contain a general denial of its
correctness, and close with a formal protest against
the explanation they proposed to offer to Parliament,
" as omitting entirely the actual and prominent circum-
" stances which led to their resignation, and as con-
" veying to Parliament a misapprehension of his senti-
" ments and intentions
" and as being calculated to injure him without just
" cause in the opinion of the Parliament and of the
" people, on whose confidence he places his sole
" reliance for the successful administration of the
" Government."
I ask by. what subtlety of logic it would be possible to
infer such permission from His Excellency's denial of
the very facts set forth in the statement of the late Minis-
ters ; not to speak of what he says with regc^rd to them,
of tie circumstances by which they were necessarily
qualified, or of his formal protest agamst the explanation
they proposed to give with regard to them?
The Honorable Member who insisted most strongly
on this supposed permission, did not see that he W'ds
about suddenly to plunge li'uiself into the most palpable
(tontradictions. All that the Honorable Member has
stated on this subject is repugnant to the very nature
I
M
.M,!ii
32
of things; supposing that a pcrmiscion was given, what
reason can be assigned for believing that he understood
it as other than conditional, after theGavernor's request
that the substance of the proposed explanation should,
in the very first place, be communicated to him ?
♦
, . Supposing even, that up to the time when they re-
ceived the Governor's reply, the late Ministers were
jiot bound to consider His Excellency's permission as
conditional, how is it possible to avoid seeing,thatit was
in fact revoked by that part of his reply in which he
protests against their explanation 7
I shall content myself on this occasion with request-
ing Honorable Members to call to mind theprecedent
I appealed to, and which our Ministers ought to have
taken as their model, in the conduct of Sir Robert Pe^^l
under analogous circumstances in 1839, w/i'^n c
adopted means for obtaining permission to give, j l..w
House of Copimons, an explanation of his reasons for
declining to form an Administration, after the refusal
of Her Majesty to accede to the conditions he proposed.
Among the documents produced on that occasion we
find Sir Robert Peel's letter to the Queen, stating in the
clearest possible manner the reasons of his determina-
tion, with Her Majesty's answer in which she declines
to accede to the conditions he proposed, and then the
letter written at Her Majesty's command. by Lord Mel-
bourne, wMio had again becoirie the Minister, giving Sir
Robert permission to explain his conduct to the House.
It was upon these doci. .lents that Sir Robert Peel
gave his explanations, which were followed by those of
Lord Melbourne. I think unnecessary to enter into
new details on this subject, but shall content myself
with saying, that (as may be seen by reference to the
published accounts of what passed in the House of
Commons on that occasion,) there could be no possibi-
lity of dispute as to the points and facts on which the
ai
n^
sil
wl
la
fill
th
tel
ofl
pel
wlT
33
il.l i!
reel
of
I to
Belf
ihe
of
Ibi-
Ihe
explanations were to be founded ; tliat they were clearly
and precisely defined by these letters, and that the per-
mission given by the Queen was formal and ii^ no wise
susceptible of the slightest doubt. I Jigain inquire
"whether it can be pretended, that the proceedings of our
late Ministers are founded upon documents equally de-
finite 1 What would the British House of Commons
think of proceedings such as theirs ? But our Minis-
ters did not even try tiie only possible means
of obtaining from the Head of the Executive, that
permission upon the supposed existence of which the
whole fabric of their ''cmplaintp, and the demand of the
partizans for an Address in approval of their conduct,
absolutely depend. The pretended permission is utterly
chimerical. , ,
If the Ministers really thought they had subjects of
complaint against the Governor sufficiently grave to
compel them to resign, there was no dilliculty in their
adopting the steps requisite to entitle them to explain
their conduct. They lost sight of the necessity of ap-
plying in a proper manner ibr permission to explain.
Am I to blame, because they did not adopt tJie means
requisite to obtain it l
Who cannot now perceive the full force of the
objections founded on the absence not only of all right
on the part of the Ministers to give their explanations,
but of any documents which can serve as a basis for
the Address we are called upon to vote in their favor 1
But Honorable Members pretend that these are
jVit high sounding words, mere objections on a
p:int of form, and that the considerations I urge
ought to have no weight with this House; they
treat them as worthy of their contempt ! What lan-
guage is this in the mouths of Representatives of the
people, so lately Ministers, and among whom are found
Her Majesty's Attornies and Solicitors General, deep
pII
i!
m
m
hm
to
34
3f 'tl
constitutional lawyers doubtless, and whose special duty
it is to enlighten the Head of the Executive by their
opinions on these matters !
Honorable Members are doubtless aware what care
ought to be used in the choice of words, more especially
when they have reference to proceedings of this nature.
Yes and JVo, are words of which one is composed
of three and the other of two letters ; who will say
that the selection of the one or the other is a matter of
no importance '? According to certain writers of anti-
quity, it was because the nations of Asia Minor were
unable to pronounce the latter of these two words, that
bee the yoke of servitude. •
ii. '•3 Address which by this motion is demanded
in favc. of the Ministers, would have no foundation but
in proceedings utterly inconsistent with their solemn
obligation to secrecy with regard to the subjects of
their deliberations in Council, and contrary to their first
duty to the Head of the Government. What an idea,
to treat considerations of so grave an import, as mere
objections of form !
Yet Honorable Members can see nothing else in them,
and treat them as not deserving the slightest attention,
as deserving only of their contempt !
If I were not persuaded of the rectitude of their in-
tentions, in what manner could I myself regard the more
than strange, unhesitating confidence with which they
decide upon this subject ? The solemn, religious sanc-
tion of an oath is certainly not in their eyes a mere
vain formality.
I repeat it, I am far from entertaining the I'lightest
suspicion of the sincerity of the late Ministers ; I make
no charge against their intentions. I believe them clear
of all that could render them culpable in point of con-
science ; but who can deny, that their many disclosures
upon the subject of their deliberations, involve the sub-
m
ot
il duty
their
it care
pcially
lature.
[) posed
ill say
itter of
►f ap*i-
r were
is, that
nanded
;ion but
solemn
ccts of
jeir first
an idea,
as mere
in them,
ttention,
their in-
he more
ich they
lus sanc-
a mere
L'lightest
I make
lem clear
; of con-
sclosures
5 the sub-
y^fsr
35
stantive fact of forgetfulness of iheir oath ot office and
of their duty, in this respect, towards the Head ol the
Government ?
There are rules of proceeding which ought to be held
sacred by deliberative bodies as well as by every other
species of tribunal. Honorable Members sit as
Judges on this occasion. I appeal to them, as such,
whether they can pronounce a judgment without evi-
dence, or upon documents made up wholly of assertion
on the one hand and denial on the other, utterly insus-
ceptible of coming properly before this Honse, and
stamped with every mark of the most hopeless irregu-
larity.
The Legislative Assembly can no more than a Court,
or even an individual who pretends to form an opinion,
not merely on a question of accusation or defence but
upon any action whatever, be justified in pronouncing
a decision, except upon facts proved or acknowledged
by those for or against whom they are alleged.
In what a position have the late Ministry placed
themselves ! In the case before us, any more than in
any other, no judgment can be pronounced except upon
substantive facts : who can pretend that it is not neces-
sary that such facts should be evidenced to us, if not by
irrefragable proofs, then by the mutual assent of the
Head of the Government, on the one hand, and of those
who demand of us an approval of their conduct, on the
other?
Instead of a simple statement of facts, and the pro-
duction of documents which should render them indis-
putable, such as an English Ministry would have adopted
under analogous circumstances, the document produced
by our late Ministers is but a piece of pleading from one '
end to the other.
il
m
\4f
'■im
III
i
i
i
I
I
III
§1
' i
Mi!
i "I
IM!
S6
Although it might have done honor to the Attorney
who prepared it^ if it had been a paper to be filed in
Court, who will venture to call it a straight forward
statement of facts, set forth in a clear, distinct and pre-
cise manner, as it was essentially necessary that it should
have been ? And yet this document is really the sole
foundation on which we are to rest the judgment we
are invited to pronounce by the late Ministers, and their
paftizans. '- \i i
For the second of these documents, supposing for the
moment that this House could take cognizance of it, and
that we had jurisdiction over the Head of the Adminis-
tration ; who can aver, that there is in this paper, more
than in the other, an acknowledgement of any distinct
fact, so stated and specified as to make it impossible to
mistake its nature or the circumstances on which its
character depends 1 Where is any such fact to be
found in these documents 1
There is nothing in either of them, but reciprocal
argumentation, reasonings upon a case as to the facts
of which the parties have been unable to agree.
And besides, who will pretend that this House is not
on this occasion subject to all the obligations which
bind the Members of a Court of Justice ; that we are
not under the necessity of following the essential rules
of judicial proceedings ? The very reverse is true,; the
Assembly is, by the common law, part of the High Pro-
vincial Court, the Parliament. In the present case too,
we are required to pronounce a sort of judgment, which,
as the Ministers have managed matters, must necessarily
relate to the Head of the Government, although we have
no kind of jurisdiction over him. either for approval or
condemnation.
Vainly have Honorable Members contended that ti>ey
do not act in this judicial capacity, while the proposed
Address implies a solemn judgment. Is not the question
37
•I M
before us, whether we shall approve the conduct of the
Ministers, and therefore of necessity, under the extraor-
dinary circumstances in which we are placed by their
unprecedented proceedings, pronounce sentence on
the conduct of the Personage who holds the reins of
Government? > .; ;• ,i , i*
No one has expressed his opinion more strongly than
I have done, on the document produced before this
Hous? as the Governor's answer to what may be termed
the pleading of his Ministers ; but if there be any irregu-
larity in it, where should the blame of having provoked
it rest, if not upon the course adopted by the late Minis-
ters, deserving as it is of censure, while it cannot (as
it is impossible too often to repeat) serve as a ground
for our pronouncing a decision on the grave questions
before us.
The first rule of justice, legally as well as morally-
speaking, is never to discuss the conduct or the rights
of any party and still less to decide upon them, without
giving him an opportunity of delending himself. What :
injustice then, to proceed, as it were, to the trial of one
who neither is nor can be before this House, who is
without Ministers to explain or defend his conduct
here, or to guide him by their counsels elsewhere. ^
I cannot leave this subject without remarking, that the
duty of the Members of this House is not confined to
establishing rules of conduct for their fellow subjects,
the first conditions as to which are, that in order to be
binding they shall be consistent with the rules of moral-
ity. As the natural guardians of the public liberties,
they are also bound to ascertain and inquire into the
grievances ot which the people they represent may have
reason to complain. They are more especially bound
to watch carefully the proceedings of the Tribunals of
the Country, that they may raise their voice against any
thing in the conduct of those who compose them, which
is inconsistent with the rules of justice on which
m
'' '
VI
S
il
m
m
M
w
I
I
38
the fabric of political society is based, and may adopt
means of restoring the equilibrium whenever it is inter-
rupted by any stretch of arbitrary power.
With what grace can we complain of the faults of
other Tribunals, if we ourselves set them an example of
the violation of the fundamental rules of equity, without
which there ^is no more security for a people than for a
Government.
Would this be to strengthen the cause of Responsible
Government ? How is it possible not to perceive that
such conduct can only tend to render it impracticable, —
to destroy it ?
Upon wnat, then, is all this discussion based, if there
be no fact before the House on which it can decide for
or against the Ministers 1 I say nothing of the Governor ;
under the present system the rule is, that his conduct
cannot be the subject of discussion in this House. The
necessary consequence of the Resolutions of 1841, is
to withdraw him h'om all danger of a contest with the
other branches of the Legislature, and to throw on his
Councillors alone the responsibility, praise, or blame of
the measures adopted by the Executive. Those of the
late Ministers who are Members of this House, have
conducted themselves in a manner directly contrary to
these principles ; they have adopted a contrivance for
keeping themselves out of sight, while they drag the
Governor himself before this House, so as to make the
decision they demand in approval of their conduct, in
reality, a vote of censure upon him. Setting aside these
documents, what have we before us on which to found
the Address demanded in their favor ?
No one, I must repeat, has objected, or even now ob-
jects, more formally than I do, against the production of
the two documents laid before the House in compliance
with the address voted on the motion of the Honorable
Member for Hamilton. Who, upon reflection, does not
see that we did wrong in asking for them ? -
poj
39
T^«=-
:n
IS
On the day when that motion was made, the Ministers
resigning were, as they even yet are, considered to be
the Councillors of the Governor. They ought to have
seen at once, that it was wrong to require of him com-
munication of documents which concerned themselves
alone, and which were to be their guide with regard to
their ulterior proceedings. The paper signed by His
Excellency was his answer to the Memorandum pre-
pared by a Member of the late Ministry in the name of
his Colleagues, and would doubtless, (as I have before
remarked) never have been read in the House, if they
had not taken upon themselves to give their explanations,
notwithstanding the protest with which it closes. It left
them no alternative, and ought to have reduced them to
silence.
They should, therefore, have immediately perceived
that it was their duty to oppose the proposition of the
Honorable Member for Hamilton, and to throw it out.
Their majority would have enabled them to do this.
They were under an imperative obligation to take that
course, because they ought to have known that even if
the document were before the House, the conduct of the
Governor on this occasion could never properly be
made the subject of comment or discussion.
1 felt deeply all the inconsistency of this demancj, with
constitutional principles and with parliamentary usage ;
and it will be remembered that I vainly strove to op-
pose it.
The Governor's answer (the remark cannot be too
strongly insisted upon) could concern the Ministers
alone ; but he thought he had reason to fear (and the
event has proved him right) that they would give their
explanations in the House, notwithstanding the protest
with which it concluded. It was intended to be used in
his defence in this case only, which, it would seem, must
have appeared so unlikely to occur. His Excellency's
foresight, however, did not deceive him. He had no
iii
m
ti
m
m
;,
Uf
i
If
u
I
40
organ in the House. He was, besides, without a Council,
and had only one out of the ten Ministers whose duty it
had been to enhghten him with their advice. Among
those resigning were the four Law Officers of the Crown,
a contest with whom was made still more difficult by
the fact, that the lips of the only remaining Minister in
this House were sealed by hid oath of office, while his
former Colleagues conceived, and may, perhaps, still con-
ceive themselves at liberty to enter into explanations to
any extent.
Doubtless, I repeat, the honorable Secretary would
never have read this answer, — it would never have been
made public, but for this conduct on the part of the late
Ministers ; but this circumstance cannot change the
nature of the documents before us. Who can defend
the attempt of the Ministers to take advantage of their
own wrong, if i\ot for the purpose of making evidence for
themselves, at least to form the colour of a pretext for
this Address 7 Have I gone too far in applying the
epithet of monstrous to this attempt ?
Yet these two documents form the sole groi' id npon
which this House is urged to pronounce its judgment*
The very men who ought to have felt it their imperative
duty to resist the motion that they should be laid befpre
the House, held their peace. But recently, or indeed
still, the Councillors cf the Governor, it was their duty
to warn him against the dangers which might result
from such a step : Yet they could allow this House to
become an instrument for obtaining from bim documents,
which have become public solely through this proceed-
ing ; and on these they urge the House Xq pronounce a
kind of sentence in their favour, which must imply a
censure on one whose conduct we have no power to
canvass! , , ,
But allowing that these' documents could of right be-
come the sijbject of comment and of discussion in this
House, what, 1 ask, could be the result, since they contain
\
41
only assertions on the one part and denial on the other,
and there is in them (so to speak) nothing tangible
upon which a judgment can be formed 1
I may ask also, on the same grounds, how it is that
Honorable Members do not see that this conduct is repug-
nant to every principle of equity, — that it implies a vio-
lation of the clearest rules of constitutional law and of
Responsible Government, while it is utterly inconsistent
with parliamentary practice. Who will dare to say, that
proceedings of this nature can be regarded as the result
of an enlightened sense of duty, of in accordance with
sound principles of justice and' of public morality 1
I flatter myself that I have not, in the course of this
discussion, exceeded the limits of energetic expression ;
I speak the language of profound conviction, because
I feel that the subject I am treating is one of vital
moment. But I think it ri^\t to sa^, that I should
deeply regret to have imputed to me any feeling of
bitterness with regard to the errors it has been my
bounden duty to point out. Who could expect, that in
carrying into practice a system wholly new in this Pro-
vince, it would be possible to avoid falling into some
mistakes 1
Far from permhting ourselves to be under the domi-
nation of angry feelings, it is our duty to come with all
possible calmness to the examination of this important
question. Can any one fail to see that all parties de-
serve indulgence 1 This is but fair to the Ministers and
to those who declare themselves their approvers, who
are, however, bound to render the same justice to the
Head of the Government, when they remember that the
m^n who ought to have guided him by their counsels,
were themselves the first to lose their way in this laby-
rinth.
m
f
ff
w
1
D
'■i\
42
t'
I have shewn, that the permission to which the late
Ministers appealed, as entitling them to give their ex-
planations, had no existence ; that in this respect they
had not even the colour of a pretention to the right they
claimed.
I have likewise shewn, with respect to the only docu-
ments which are relied upon as affording grounds for
an Address in their favour, that, (apart from all conside-
ration of the inconsistency of the steps taken to bring
them before this House, with the usages of Parliament
and the principles of justice,) they could only have the
effect oi making the late Ministers appear suddenly dis-
charged from all responsibility, in order to throw the
whole weight of it upon the Governor who had no mode
p{ defending himself A strange fashion this of under-
standing Responsible Government ! It would be a con-
tradiction in terms if applied to a government of any
kind, and would overset all received notions of the princi-
ples on which alone a government can be suppor d.
The proceeding which Honorable Members are urgmg
this House to adopt, far from strengthening the system
which they admire and think they are supporting, can
only tend to shake it to its foundations ; their carrying
it would only be a proof that the people of this Pro-
vince may lose sight of the most elementary principles,
not only of Responsible Government, but of Government
of any other kind, upon whatever system it may be or-
ganized.
One of the greatest dangers a people can run, is to
lower its character by acts at variance with those essen-
tial principles which are the true safeguard of its rights,
while they assure the stability of its Government. If it
were true, that the resolution before us, and the speeches
of Honorable Members on this occasion, breathe the
•f A- "
• ^'t
I
I F^ipWII h '
lie late
;ir ex-
t they
It they
y docu-
ids for
onside-
I bring
iament
lave the
inly dis-
•ow the
10 mode
' under-
le a con-
t of any
e princi-
or d.
re urging
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carrying
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inciples,
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ly be or-
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It. If it
speeches
iathe the
48
sentiments of the great body of the people, they might
produce this unhappy effect. How, then, does it hap-
pen, that the partizans of the proposed address in favour
of the Ministers, do not recoil before this terrible res-
ponsibility.
What must be thought of the attempt to erect not only
palpable errors, but a forgetfulness of the most solemn
obligations and, — setting aside the intention which is of
course innocent, — I may say, the substantive fact of a
violation of the most sacred of duties, into a sort of
principle which is to serve as a basis for the liberties of
the people.
Those who are called to the exercise of authority,
even when hey seek to convert it into arbitraiy power,
and thereby gradually deepen the abyss in which such
power is always in the end engulfed, may yet for a time
maintain their sway even among the ruins of the edifice
of political society. They have, on their side, the ad-
vantage of an organization formed with careful foresight,
of the concentration of the physical lorce which they
command, and of the habit of obedience on the part of
the people, who are naturally the friends of order,
through which alone they are enabled to exercise th^'ir
talents, for their private interest or for their mutual bene-
fit. But, on the other hand, a people can neither ac-
quire or maintain a title to those rights which are the
heritage of freedom, save by justice alone. A disregard
for the rules which she prescribes, entails on them the
total loss of their importance and moral force ; they
forge their own chains, and habitual immorality prepares
them to be slaves.
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It will be seen, that Mr. Viger did not think it his duty
to enter into an examination of the contents of the
Governor's answer, or of the Memorandum of the Min-
isters. A discussion of that nature must have been with-
out aim as without resuh. How can any judgmtnt be
formed on contested points wnen there is no evidence 1
How can we tell to which side the balance iiiclines ?
The partizans of the late Ministry have, however,
never since ceased to insist, uS they then did, exclusively
upon what they thought they perceived of blameworthy
in the answer of His Excellency. There was, never-
theless, matter in it tending much to show that the late
Ministers were themselves to blame, more especially
with regard lO certain intentions which they have since
disavowed.
f The error was, in the Members of the Assembly con-
stituting themselves judges, and (not to speak of the
want of jurisdiction on the part of the House) pro-
nouncing a decision on documents which were contra-
dictory, and upon a multitude of allegations neither ^sup-
ported by proof nor acknowledged by the other party,
and upon which it was, therefore, not allowable to ground
a vote either of approval or censure.
Mr. Viger was unwilling, even, to insist on a circum-
stance which still remains an enigma. The appoint-
ments which afterwards formed the subject of the
complaints of the late Ministers, were all of dates
anterior to their communication with the Governor in
the latter part of Novem.ber. They did not think proper
to resign when these appointments were made; and
there was nothing in their explanations to afford reason
for believing, tliat the Governor subsequently offered to
^i,^r^
45
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make any appointment or to adopt any measure what-
soever, of a mature to furnish grounds for their sudden
resolution to abandon their posts.
On the other hand, supposing the late Ministers to
have been guihy of errors, the Governor certainly could
not suddenly and before these errors were proved,
make any changes among them, while they appeared to
him to possess the confidence of the other branches of
the Legislature. He must first have raised some definite
point on which a judgment could be formed, in order
to justify his appealing to the sense of the people by
dissolving the Parliament.
And besides, under whatever point of view we may
look at this question, who will be willing to blame the
Governor, who, indeed, will not feel thankful to him, for
Laving declined to adopt this violent course, and for having
thereby afforded to the people as well as to their repre-
sentatives, time for refiection upon the facts discussed
in the preceding summary.
With regard to what occurred in the Assembly on the
satne day, the reader is referred to the first Part, which
contains a statement of the proceedings relative to the
subjects discussed by Mr. Viger. The Journals of the
House are, moreover, before the public.
We should think it wrong to close, without calling at-
tention to the difference between the conduct of our
Ministers during the last Session, and that of the Exe-
cutive Councillors who lately resigned in Nova Scotia.
There, as it is easy to see, the question turned upon a
fact clear, definite and patent, on the nature and cir-
cumstances of which all parties wer«» agreed. It was
only on the manner of looking at it, and the results it
was Of a nature to produce, that any discussion could
arise.
We deem it our duty to embrace this opportunity to
remark, thdt the almost simultaneousness of the resigna-
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tion of certain of the Ministers in the two Provinces,
respectively, has. caused it to be supposed that there
was something more than mere coincidence between
some of the proceedings of Lord Falkland and of the
Governor General. \' ^*' ••■■'^V • *V'-h;.^:.^p,? ►,. ^
The declaration of the latter, with regard to the princi-
ples of Responsible Government which are embodied in
the Resolutions of our Legislative Assembly, and which
appear to be less formally recognized in JVova Scotia,
ought to have sufficed to dissipate the suspicions to
which this seeming coincidence gave rise. With what
eager activity were the new spapers made use of to cir-
culate in the Province, on this subject, rumours in which
these suspicions assumed the shape of frightful realities,
and were treated as indisputable facts ! According to the
Editors, ihe proceedings of the two Governors were the
result of a plan concerted beforehand with the Colonial
Office. The Author has the most lively satisfaction in
being able to declare openly, that with the exception of
the mere fact of coincidence, these rumours are without
a shadow of foundation. There was not the slightest
communication of the nature in question between the
Governor General and the Lieutenant Governor of Nova
Scotia or the Colonial Office, before the resignation of
our Ministers. There has not been any, even since that
time, between Lord Falkland and the Governor General.
Who indeed, having the slightest acquaintance with or
expenence in public affairs, can imagine that the Governor
could have made his reiterated declarations relative to
the principles embodied in the Resolutions of the As-
sembly in 1841, if he had received from Her Majesty's
Government in England such communications as the
articles inserted in the Newspapers would led the pub-
lic to suppose ?
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