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Un des symboles suivants apparattra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols -^ signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols V signifie "FIN ". Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre fiim6s A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seui clich6, il est film6 A partir da I'angle supirieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 1 2 3 32X '■* 1 2 3 4 5 6 :bibik£ip iBia^Faifi^ OF THE FOLITICAL STATE OF LOWER CANADA, SINCE THE CONQUEST OF THE COLONY, TO THE PRESEJVT DAY. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, MEMOIRS OF THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE COLONIAL GOVERNMENT OF LOWER CANADA, Br SIR GORDON DRUMMOND, AND SIR JOHjV coape sherbrooke. BY ROBERT CHRIbllf NEW-YORK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BV Wr A, MERCEIN, vVo. 93 Gdd-Slreet. i8ia Southern District of JVew- York, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, t)mt on the twenty-eighth day of November, in (he forty-third year of the Independence of the United States of Americu, William A. MerCein, of the said District, hath deposited in thi« office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Proprietor, in the words following, to wit : '* A Brief Review of the Political State of Lower Canada, since the Conc^uest of the Colony to the Present Day. To which are added. Memoirs of the Administra* lions of the Colonial Government of Lower Canada, by Sir Gordon Dnimmond, and Sir John Coape Sherbrooke. By Robert Christie." In conformity to the Act of Congress of the United States, entitled " An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the time therein men- tioned." And also to an Act, entitled '* An Act, supplementary to ari Act, enti- tled an Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned, and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, en- graving, and etching historical and other prints." JAMES DILL, Clerk of the Southern District of New-York. Pac'C n line 22 for removes, read removerf. "21 , 2 for Law«, read Law. 30 11 for trucking, read truck/infj. 34 27 ,for advantage, read advanlaoje«- 41 2 'for Administration*, read Administration. 46 12 for Chief Justice, read, Chief Jrjsticc*. 50 3 for acquainted, read unacquainted. 53 4 for reserved, read preserved. 56 17 for Sir, read Mr. 59 6 for Fttoeti read Facet. NOTICE. signing, en- TiiE present publication, intended as a sequel to a small volume, which, some months since, was re- printed at New-York from a Quebec edition, un- der the title of " Military and Naval Operations in the Canadas during the late War, &c." may be interesting to the general reader, by the short re- view it contains of the political progress of Lower Canada, from the period of the conquest to the present day. Among the motives which have in- duced the author to publish this short but imper- fect, though he trusts impartial sketch, he acknow- ledges, that to remove the erroneous impressions which have prevailed abroad, with respect to Lower Canada, and which there is room to suspect, have sometimes been produced by wilful misrepresen- tation, has been his principal object. A sense of duty to the government of which he is a subject, and to the community of which he is a member, have equally prompted his endeavours to explain? as concisely as the subject would admit, those internal difficulties which strange rs have mistaken I iov evidences of a seditious spirit. To the people of both nations it must be gratifying to ascertain, as nearly as possible, the political state of a colo- ny, interesting to one as a neighbour, to the other as a possession of much importance. The former will find ample matter to account for the disap- pointment of those sanguine expectations of easy conquest, raised at the commencement of the late war with Great Britain; and in the fallacy of the past, will know what reliance to place in future appearances. That the latter may derive some advantage from a succinct statement of those oc- currences, which at certain periods may unneces- sarily have excited distrust against a peaceful, pa- tient, and loyal people, is the first wish, and will be the best recompense of the author. Quebec, 3 1 st October, 1810. Tsmsss ims^mw OF THE POLITICAL STATE OF CANADA SINCE THE CONQUEST OF THAT COLONY TO THE PRESENT DAY. Previous to the establishment of the present con- stitution of the Canadas, the government of the province of Quebec was vested in a governor and legislative council, by whom such ordinances as were occasionally found expedient for the local regulation of affairs were enacted. By an act* of the imperial parliament, the mem- bers of the legislative council were not to be less than fifteen, nor to exceed twenty-three in number. This body was restricted from imposing any taxes other than for the purpose of making roads, erect- ing and repairing public buildings, or respecting the local convenience of any town or district of the province. The Canadian noblesse, and such * 14 Geo. III. chap. 83. reputable characters in the province as were deemed worthy of distinction, were sometimes selected for a seat in the public councils ; but the government of the day appears to have placed more reliance upon the British emigrants, chiefly composed of commercial adventurers, who had followed the army at the period of the conquest, than upon the Canadian subjects, who were cau- tiously admitted to the ministerial confidence. The direction of affairs in the colony necessarily fell into hands little capable of impressing the new subjects with a sense of respect for their con- querors, or to conciliate their esteem and attach- ment ; and although the obedient habits of the Cane Jian submitted in silence to the abuses of the times, it was rather owing to a consciousness that remonstrance would excite injustice and per- secution, than from a real acquiescence in the or- der of things. , The courts of justice and the public offices were frequently occupied by persons of mean attain- ments, and sometimes of doubtful integrity : raised from mediocrity to power and importance, it can scarcely be supposed that they should have mani- fested that prudence and moderation, which in con- quest peculiarly characterize well-bred English- men, nor that such of the new subjects as might be associated with them in office, could be eminent 4 as were imetimes but the » placed B, chiefly vho had conquest, i^ere cau- »nfidence. jcessarily ssing the their con- d attach- its of the abuses of iciousness and per- il! the or- ices were m attain- |ty : raised le, it can lave mani- Ich in con- English- might be eminent If i lor talents ; and that the improvement of the moral and political concerns of their country, could have been the serious object of their care. In the midst of this dearth of virtue and patriotism, the disinterested exertions of a governor and other military characters, occasionally relieved the Bri- tish name from the level to which it had sunk in the opinion of the Canadians, who accustomed to warfare, and trained in the camp, had imbibed those high notions of honour which prevail in all armies, and which they had a right to expect in their conquerors. The endeavours of these, however honourable to their country and creditable to themselves, were often fruitless, as they were actively opposed by persons who aspired at colonial influence, and who from a community of interests soon combined into a party, which not only controlled the native interests, but have been known to influence the go- vernment itself, and when occasion required, to sa- crifice the governor. The establishment of this self- created oligarchy in the colony, thwarted the be- neficent views of the mother country, and checked the improvement of the internal state of the pro- vince. Canada might have flourished even under the absolute sway of a military governor, whose honour and reputation, ever dear to a soldier, must in a great measure have depended upon the pru- iF^ ' . II 1 ( / » dence of his conduct, and the lavourable impres- sion it produced upon the new subjects. Not so the trade, which, greedy and insatiate of dominion, were little scrupulous on points of national policy, and to secure a monopoly in the colonial com- merce, boldly trampled on tlic native and landed interests of the province. Hence the divisions which at various periods have agitated Lower Canada, and of which we shall, as clearly and concisely as we can, pursue the progress and trace the results. ToH^oid pro- lixity, and to be intelligible to the reader, we shall (however reluctantly), in future, denominate the combination of which we have marked the origin, the party ^ and those who were opposed to them, as they consisted principally of the new subjects, proprietors of the soil, the country. By the king's procJamation, shortly after the peace of 1763, the governor of this, as well as those of other colonies recently iacquired in North America, were empowered, with the advice of their respective councils, to summon general as- semblies for the purpose of enacting laws for the good government of their respective Provinces, so soon as their state and circumstances would admit thereof. But the party foresaw that the convoca- tion of a General Assembly would excite in the province a spirit of inquiry and resistance to the 9 system they had adopted, which must ultimately triumph ; and however liberal might have been the views of the chief of the colonial Government, his opinion necessarily yielded to that of his advisers, whose influence depended upon the existing state and circumstances of the province, and who, there- fore, could not be supposed favourably disposed to a change of the constitution. A policy so contracted, at once created a jea- lousy, and checked the growth of one of the most valuable possessions of the British empire, whose resources were capable of the most rapid and ex- tensive developement, had the native enterprise of the province met with suitable encouragement. The American revolution cast a multitude of refugees upon the world, and as Canada had not acceded to the union, a throng of loyalists crowd- ed into this and the neighbouring provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, where ample remuneration was provided for the losses which it was pretended they had experienced from their fidelity to the king, and the voluntary exile from their patrindonial possessions, to which they had submitted. These soon acquired weight in the colonial councils, and the country who saw them with an eye of distrust, were disposed to question their talents much less than their probity. The party ' I I, I t I ■>} Id were soon preposterously identified with the go- vernment itself. The refugee interest gave acti- vity to the whole, and with characteristic industry improved upon the system, fortifying more than ever the barriers which had insensibly been raised between the government and the people. The position which had been gained by artifice, was maintained by fraud, and frequently by violence. Every trivial symptom of dissatisfaction, or disap- proval of domestic occurrences, of little or no po- litical import, was evidence of a revolutionary spirit, which it appeared to be the peculiar pro- vince of the party to suppress. Inferences were drawn as destitute of probability, as they were unconnected with facts ; and to guard against con- spiracy and revolt among the peaceable tenantry of the province, constituted the principal anxiety of the party, who found this a convenient mode of imposing silence upon the country, their pohtical opponents. The patient and obedient habits of the colonists, and their steady adherence to Great Britain throughout her struggle with the United States in the "revolutionary war, refuted the sinister prog- nostics of the party, and emboldened the province to look forward to a constitution upon liberal prin- ciples, and analogous to that of the parent state. The party, after some unavailing efforts to mar the 11 viewB of the country, at length found it expedient to acquiesce with them in the attainment of their object ; and the connexions of the former in Qreat Britain, rendered it desirable to the latter to ob- tain their co-operation in accomplishing lus in- tended purpose. The foreign trade at that period, (as indeed it is at the present day,) was almost exclusively in the hands of £ur-:>pean merchants, established in the cities of Quebec and Montreal. Upon these the country merchants and farmers depended for the sale of their produce and supplies of British manufacture, and this monopoly of trade gave the party an influence throughout the province little inferior to that even of the government. While this advantage could be maintained, the proposed constitution might be made subservient to their views, and secure them a sway in the government of the colony, provided the new constitution could be so modelled as to enable the party to maintain a decided majority in both branches of the intend- ed legislature. An eflfbrt was therefore made to procure a constitution qualified by the exclusion of persons professing the Roman Catholic faith, which, had it succeeded, would have totally ex- cluded the Canadian population from all partici- pation in the government of the province. The generous policy of the British government revolt- M in I; (' i 12 ed at the insidious proposal. The memorial afterwards submitted to the king, asked for a triennial parliament, composed of representatives to be freely and indiscriminately chosen by ♦he freeholders of the province; that the council should be composed of at least thirty members, to be appointed for life : that the criminal law of England should be maintained ; that the ancient civil laws of the province should be continued, liable, however, to such alterations as the new le- gislature might think proper to make; that the commercial laws of England might be established in the province ; that the habeas corpus should form part of the constitution, and in civil causes that juries be admitted at the option of either party ; that the sheriffs should be annually elected by the assembly, and confirmed by the governor, upon giving security for the faithful discharge of their duties ; that all offices be performed in person and not by deputy, unless in the case of leave of ab- sence ; that the appointment of judges should be for life, and during their residence in the province and good conduct; that in case of their being ac- cused by the governor of misconduct, the council should be consulted before any suspension could ensue; if accused by the people, the complaints should be heard by the council, with the right of appeal in favour of the accused to the king ; that I! 13 memorial ed for a sentatives 5n by ♦he 3 council imbers, to al law of e ancient continued, le new le- that the stablished lould form auses that ler party ; ed by the lor, upon ; of their erson and ve of ab- should be province being ac- e council ion could )mplaints J right of ng; that an ». ppeal should lie from the colonial courts of justice to a tribunal consisting of the lord chan- cellor, and the judges of Westmins er-H&ll, and finally that the provincial legislature should be empowered to regulate the inland trade with the United States, in order to levy such duties as might be necessary to defray the expenses of the civil government of the province. The petitioners ap- pealed with confidence to the imperial parliament for a deliverance from the confusion which pre- vailed in the actual state of the colonial govern- ment, and in the administration of justice. They prayed for a constitution upon a firm and liberal basis, and such as might correspond with the desire they professed of seeing the province become an ornament to the British crown. 1 iie government of Great Britain, actuated by a just regard for the respective advantages of the old and new subjects residing in Canada, pursued a course which it was hoped would extinguish the animosity that had inflamed the colony. The European emigrants and refugee popula- tion had principally established themselves upon the fertile lands on the north margin of the lakes Ontario and Erie, where the Canadians had not yet formed any settlements of consequence, it was, therefore, determined to divide the province of Quebec (it was then so called), into two pro- ' ^ ! ', 1 i 1 i 1 1-. 1 1 14 vinces, so as to afford to either description of sub- jects, a decided ascendency within the tracts of territory which they respectively occupied, and thus to confer upon both the full power, exclusively, to legislate for themselves. This plan was accord- ingly, at his majesty's special recommendation, adopted by the British parliament, and the province was divided into two separate governments, under the denomination of Lower Canada and Upper Canada. In each of these provinces, provincial legislatures were established, consisting of a house of assembly, of at least fifty members, for the lower province, and another for the upper province, of at least sixteen members, which with the legis- lative councils and governor for the time being, were empowered to legislate for their respective provinces. The members of the assemblies were to be freely elected by freeholders possessed of real properly to the yearly value of forty shillings, except in the towns or townships of either of the provinces; where to be entitled to a vote, it was requisite to be possessed of a dwelling-house and lot of ground to the yearly value of five pounds, or to have resided one year within such town or township, next before the date of the writ of sum- mons for the election, and to have paid one year's rent of a dwelling-house, at the rate of ten pounds per annum. The parliaments were declared 15 quadrennial, and were to meet at least once everj year for the despatch of business. The legislative councils were to consist of not fewer than fifleen in Lower Canada, nor less than se- ven members in Upper Canada; to be appointed by the crown, and to hold their seats for life. His majesty was authorized by the act to annex to he- reditary titles of honour, the right of being sum- moned to the legislative council, a power which, hitherto, it has not been deemed expedient to exercise. A new and enlarged constitution being provided for Lower Canada, (to which province, it is to be understood, the sequel will exclusively relate,) its limits were defined by the proclamation of the lieutenant-governor. Sir Alured Clarke, of the 18th November, 1791, and the 26th of December ensu- ing, was appointed as the day upon which the constitution was to take effect. On the 2d day of May following, the province was divided and sub- divided into counties, cities and towns, each of which were to choose their representatives for the assembly, amounting in all to (if\y, the lowest num- ber by law appointed for the provincial represen- tation in the popular branch of the legislature. The first elections were favourable to the party, and it must be owned, to the credit of tliose gen- tlemen of the trade who obtained seats in the as- 5i 'i ! * Hi li ; ; 16 aembly, that they were chiefly instrumental in in- troducing a system in the mode of conducting the public business of that body, the advantages whereof will be long and universally felt in ihe province. Their practical knowledge of the na- ture of the constitution recently conferred upon the province, gained them the confidence of the Ca- nadian members, which, if managed with discre- tion, might have secured a permanent influence. The party were, however, precipitate, and in their eagerness for dominion, they betrayed an unsea- sonable zeal for the introduction of the English language, exclusively, into all legislative proceed- ings and enactments; that roused the indignation of the country members, who were not acquainted with that language. They who were even versed in it, opposed the measure as an attempt to estab- lish a precedent, at once unnecessary, ungenerous, and impolitic. It was contended that such of the old subjects as had obtained seats in the assembly, understood French (the vulgar tongue), whereas few of the new subjects understood English. That the convenience of the few, ought necessarily to yield to that of the multitude. In vain was the example of the Conqueror William appealed to, who introduced the Norman dialect into the pro- ceedings of his councils and courts of justice in England, after the conquest. The abolition of 17 ental in in- iducting the advantages felt in ihe I of the na- ed upon the of the Ca- vith discre- it influence, and in their 1 an unsea- the English ve proceed- I indignation acquainted ven versed )t to estab- ungenerous, such of the e assembly, ), whereas ish. That 6ssarily to lin was the ppealed to, to the pro- f justice in bolition of that disgusting badge of slavery, and the opinion of a learned commentator* on the English laws, were retorted upon the advocates of the proposed measure. Some weeks were even exhausted in angry debate upon this subject, which ended in n compromise that the business should be carried on in either tongue, and that bills presented, should be put into both languages by the clerk or his as- sistants ; but that the text should be considered to be that of the language of the law, to which such bills might relate. A little caution at this juncture might have been of the utmost importance to the subsequent tran> quillity of the province, but the stubborn perse- verance of the party awoke the suspicion of the country, v/ho could not reconcile the overbearing spirit which the former had exhibited in the pre- sent instance, with the freedom of the new consti- tution. From this period, and probably from this circumstance, parties assumed ^udtstinct character. The diffident and respectful habits of the Cana- dian removes him from that easy intercourse, so necessary to a good understanding between the ruler and the people, and gave an advantage t6 the party, who, from their situations and connexion with the administration of the government, had *^ Sir William Blackstone. 3 i ^! i > 18 fair and frequent opportunities of influencing the governor in the political concerns of the province. The delirium of the French revolution had created a general alarm among the governments of Europe, and in this solitary corner of the world, it became fashionable to suspect the country of re- volutionary principles. The least objection, how- ever fair and unanswerable, to the ministerial mea- sures of the day, was attributed to the influence of these; and imprisonment and disgrace awaited those who dared to question the propriety of mea- sures, or to meddle with public affairs contrary to the sense of the party. The country felt the in- justice of the imputation, but silently strengthened under the indignity, while the power of their ad- versaries, built upon a sandy and shifting founda- tion, grew proportionally weaker, as the artifice became palpable. The floating capital of the pro- vince, and the refugee talents of New-England, were, however, formidable adversaries against the plain yeomanry of Canada, and their total discom- fiture cost the country many an arduous contest. As the assembly in reality represented the pro- vince, they, by analogy, were in Lower Canada, what the house of commons were in England. The legislative council, by a parity of reasoning, assimilated themselves to the house of lords, and accordingly assumed the etiquette and ceremonials 19 uencing the le province. Dlution had ^ernments of he world, it untry of re- action, how- isterial mea- influence of Lce awaited iety of mea- contrary to felt the in- trengthened of their ad- ing founda- the artifice I of the pro- w-England, against the )tal discom- 3 contest, ed the pro- ber Canada, n England, reasoning, lords, and eremonials 4 1 of that exalted body, in their proceedings and com- munications with the house of assembly. The creation of this branch of the Canadian le- gislature, originated, no doubt, in a just apprecia- tion of the nature of the British constitution, and of the advantage of those balances by which it is poised. But the comparison was futile. The re- semblance was that of the shadow to the sub- stance. Far from possessing the comparative in- fluence in the colony, which the wealth and exten- sive possessions of the British peerage command in the weighty concerns of the empire, the legisla- tive council were, as yet, rather unpopular than otherwise. Some of those who held seats in the legislative, were at the same time members of the executive council, and such members of this, as did not belong to the former body, had succeeded in obtaining seats in the assembly. The expenses of the civil government of the province was partially provided for, by certain du- ties imposed upon the trade of the colony in virtue of acts of the imperial parliament. The deficit was supplied by the British government. The moneys levied under acts of the colonial legislature were exclusively applied to local purposes, accord- ing to the directions of that body from time to time. The colonial administration, who appear to have had an illimitcd credit with the government at • '.' li !H 20 home, cautiously abstained from calling on the as- semblj for funds to relieve the mother country of the civil expenses of the province, sensible that such a demand vFould transfer to the popular branch of the legislature the influence which the executive were anxious to secure for themselves. A community of interests rendered the party unanimous, and therefore strong ; and this strength and that unaninuty were effectual, through the ad- vantages they derived from the disposal of the pub- lic means. To maintain the position assumed by the party, required all the talent and address of which they were possessed. On every occasion where a disposition was evinced in the assembly to exercise those undeniable privileges inherent in the consti- tution, the prerogative was endangered, or a revo- lutionary spirit was discovered ; and flimsy as these pretexts may appear at the present day, they pro- duced a delusion, which the perseverance of twen- ty-five years, interspersed with traits of persecu- tion and injustice, has scarcely brushed away. It was in the same domineering spirit to which we have alluded, that the enactment of a law sub- sequently productive of infinite mischief, took place in the first session of the second provincial parliament.* This was termed " An Act for the * 2d May, 1797. !l 21 on the as- country of risible that ve popular which the jraselves. the party lis strength igh the ad- )f the pub- med by the ss of which an where a to exercise the consti- or a revo- sy as these they pro- ;e of twen- f persecu- away. to which a law sub- lief, took provincial ct for the € better preservation of His Majesty^s Government as by Laws happily established in this Province,^* commonly termed the '^ Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act/' By this law the governor was au- thorized to confine without bail or mainprize, by warrant under the hand of three members of the executive council, any person guilty of high trea- son, misprision of high treason, or upon suspicion of high treason, or treasonab.i.' practices^ Though the country knew the extent and danger of the power thus conferred upon their adversaries, who had only to suspect them of treasonable practices, (and nothing was easier, as all opposition to the measures of the party was in their opinion a mis- prision at least,) to furnish a pretext to put into ac- tion this engine of despotism, they submitted to the sacrifice. To have refused would have in- volved the country in groundless imputations of disaffection towards the government ; and it was, therefore, deemed more expedient to hazard the experiment of furnishing the party with a weapon, which, if used with imprudence, would at the end defeat their purpose, than to incur the risk of be- ing considered reluctant to secure the government against remote, or even imaginary dangers. The criminal laws of the province were at all times adequate to the support and security of his majesty's government against intestine commotion 1^-7 it i!'! Hi 22 or foreign influence, and the history of Lower Ca- nada affords but a solitary instance of a convic- tion for treason, and that, not of a native nor inhabi- tant of the province. A sorry adventurer from the United States, had conceived the chimerical pro- ject of seizing the fortifications of Quebec, and effecting a revolution in the province, under the patronage, an4 with promises of protection from the French minister then in the United States oi America. A total stranger in Canada, and alike destitute of adherents and resources, his plans were so foreign from those which denote a sane un- derstanding, that we may be pardoned in believing him far less deserving of the vengeance of the law than of compassion, and confinement as a lunatic. He was, however, legally tried, condemned, and executed as a traitor.* The example of this sorry individual was favourable to the views of the party, as it tended to promote the opinion abroad, that the province contained materials prone to combustion, which although totally untrue, present- ed the country in an odious light to those who had not the means of ascertaining the real state of things. The courts of judicature were, by an act passed in the first session of the first provincial parlia- * His name was M'Lean. He was executed at Quebec, in the year 1796. 23 ment, regenerated, and tribunals of original juris- diction (termed courts of king's bench) were established in the districts of Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers. The court at Quebec was to con- sist of the chief justice of the province, and three puisne judges; that of Montreal was to consist of a district chief justice, and three puisne judges. The court of king's bench at Three Rivers was to consist of a provincial judge (to be resident at Three Rivers), and any two judges of either of the other districts. From these courts an appeal lies to the executive council of the province, or to a quorum consisting of five members of that body, and from thence in certain cases to the king in council. The vices of this system of judicature, however uprightly and ably it may have been conducted as far as its functionaries are concerned, have created much disgust, as well as from its peculiar organi- zation as from the exorbitant expense of maintain- ing it. Upwards of twenty thousand pounds are annually absorbed, to defray the administration of justice in Lower Canada alone. Gentlemen se- lected either from among the landholders or the trade of the province, however respectable in other attainments, can scarcely be considered capable of forming correct opinions in a court of the high- est authority in the colony, on those legal questions T U li which in the inferior courts have perplexed men of professional education. The judges of these courts alternately preside in appeal to revise each others judgments, and their influence must be great with such of their colleagues in that tribunal, who have not the advantages of professional attainments. Concerned at once in the legislature, in the coun- cil and in the judicature, the public could not be {)ersuaded of their disinterestedness and impar- tiality in many instances, particularly in those po- litical points which they were known to have main- tained in one capacity, and which, to be con- sistent, they could nqt relinquish in the other. We shall not soil our pages with a relation of the disgraceful occurrences springing from this anomaly, in which the dignity of the bench and the freedom of elections have been vio- lated. Such, in the intemperance of party heat, was the perversion of public justice, that a reso- lute and persevering assembly, rather than submit to the flagrant abuses which destroyed the public confidence in the king's courts, chose to incur the hazardous experiment of two successive dissolu- tions. The intrigues carried on, and the animosi- ties created at a contested election, were rightly thought derogatory to the elevated rank of persons clothed with the judicial character. Arguments were exhausted, and incontestable facts were pro- 25 i animoBi- duced and recorded of the serious inconveniences resulting from the interference of a judge at elec- tions ; yet, never was a virtuous cause supported by more anxiety and solicitude than the party exhibit- ed in opposing the honourable views of the coun- try, in removing obstructions to the pure and im- partial dispensation of justice. The efforts of the assembly to accomplish this desirable purpose, were contemplated in the most unfavourable light, their motives were wilfully misrepresented, and finally an unsuspecting viceroy was involved in a contest, that might easily have been avoided by a manly and dignified concession, which by procras- tination lost its merit and lowered oven the ad- ministration of the government in the opinion of the people. In the struggle to which we allude the party were worsted, and their influence was at once annihilai<;d. Men eminent for their talents, their probity, and their loyalty, who had frankly avowed their senti- ments on the subject, were, in some instances, pub- licly insulted and reviled, and in others wantonly cast into prison, under a fictious suspicion of trea- sonable practices. The administration, as if con- scious of the injustice, did not, in a single instance, though earnestly solicited by the individuals who groaned under its displeasure, presume to hazard I * 26 U ! I ni ^inii 1 f i Vif.: : ■ t,. ill I: -hi .. :!" Ill 11 .i ill the trial of their imputed g"Ut by the verdict of a jury- The party had at this juncture reached the ze- nith of a baleful career, from which it was preci- pitated by the stubborn zeal it displayed in oppos- ing measures, evidently wholesome, and in slander- ing the country at this unpropitious season. The exclusion of judges from a seat in the assembly, and the acquisition of the civil list, were the main objects of a decided majority of the assembly and of the province at large, and these were concerns in which the prerogative was seriously interested, and offences little short of misprision of treason. What in specious argument was wanting, was sup- plied in mysterious inferences by the party, whose boldness in assertion and superiority in cabal, checked the timid progress of the country in the pursuit of these objects, which by a steady perseve- rance they ultimately obtained, and which, indeed, were at length spontaneously conceded, nay, recom- mended by the crown. The general circulation of a free though perhaps a licentious paper in the French language, gave the people an idea of the subjects agitated in the legislature, and of the dif- ferent views in which they were considered by the party and the country. The people, alive to the arguments of the press in support of the measures for which the assembly had been dissolved, une- 27 qiiivocally expressed their sense on the conduct of that branch of the legislature, by a re-election of the old members. The leading men of the party, finding their influence ebbing, for the most part de- clined their elections to save the disgrace of a de- feat, and such as entered the lists of candidates were unsuccessful. The arbitrary measures of the Craig administra- tion were the effect of the party spirit prevalent at that period. Men of temperate counseis may have disapproved of the means sometimes employ- ed, though they could not reasonably condemn the ends proposed by the assembly in this season of difficulty. But in the whole tenor of their pro- ceedings, the most scrupulous bigot in politics can trace no real symptoms of disaflfection to the go- vernment, nor conceive any plausible vindication for the severity which the viceroy exercised to- wards individuals whose probity was unquestiona- ble. That he acted, however, with sincerity, and upon a mistaken conviction that his measures were indispensable, is, at the present day, as certain as that it is owing to the personal virtues of this me- ritorious though deluded officer, that his admini- stration has not been stained with innocent blood. Strange as it must appear, it is nevertheless true, that the odious law under which these arbitrary imprisonments were made, was, after a continu- *i» ,'h: i is ;:!'! f\ ance of fifteen years of profound tranquillity in North America, discontinued at a moment, when Tvar was on the point of bursting out with the United States. Yet his majesty's government ne- ver had cause to regret its extinction; nor do the courts in Lower Canada furnish a single instance of a conviction for treason during the late war. A groundless belief had been propagated abroad, which, unhappily, influenced the councils of the neighbouring states, and accelerated a wasteful and unnecessary war, that a seditious disposition prevailed in Canada. The broils excited by the overbearing insolence of party, were mistaken for disaffection to the government, and as the error was congenial to the views of the party, it was ra- ther cherished than corrected. The experiment of a war, undertaken with the avowed intention of conquering the Canadas, removed the impres- sion, and as it refuted the calumnious imputations of disloyalty which hua been cast upon the colony, achieved also the downfal of its internal adversa- ries. The country having gained a decided ascen- dency, conducted the public affairs with unanimity and despatch, and the governor, on the declara- tion of war, finding them fully disposed to afford him the utmost assistance of which the province was capable, generously reposed his confidence in 29 their zeal for the public service. Liberated from the habitual constraint, under which they had la- boured, it is not surprising that reaction should have sprung from the resentment of the country, who now asserted the right of the commons of the province, to inquire into, and impeach the conduct of those, who, above the ordinary reach of the laws, might, without this salutary control, trample upon the liberties of the people. The novelty of this measure of the assembly, rendered it expe- dient to refer to the government at home for ad- vice on so delicate a subject, and the latent re- mains of the partj finding the turn which afTairs had taken, in the bitterness of disappointment, conspired at the ruin of the governor. Accident alone has cast a ray of light on a dark and unwor- thy transaction, in which the conduct of that offi- cer, and the loyal exertions of the country have been slandered and misrepresented.* The pro- * The paper, here alluded to, was put into the hands of one of the superior servants of the castle, at Q,uebec, during the absence of the governor, while at Montreal, with directions to carry it round to the different persons concerned in the trausac- tion for their signatures. This poor, though honest, individual, suspecting something clandestine, from the charge of secresy which had been enjoined him, had the curiosity to look into the paper. Upon finding its contents to be of so pointed a na- ture against the governor, he took it to a gentleman of Sir George's family, requesting that he would peruse it, saying that ■5 ■ i' I) ■■■ !f ; '■' .; -.1 ; ■ ' ri 'I' i lii i il i;' 1' ■ jii'i ;;l'! ■il ■i' >n than to the public weal. Here- ditary honours upheld by extensive patrimonial estates, alike independent of the sovereign and the subject, may in Europe be the support of the former, and the protection of the latter, and are, therefore, essentially connected with the existence of the state. The creation of an hereditary colonial noblesse, destitute of hereditary possessions, would entail a needy progeny of dependants upon the provincial government, and by closing, against plebeian merit, the avenues to the royal patronage, necessarily tend to destroy the popular influence of the crown. The narrow policy of checking the develope- ment of the colonial constitution, heretofore preva- lent in the province of Lower Canada, as it has no doubt been contrary to the intention, will also be found contrary to the interests of the British government. This province, accustomed to derive all its political and commercial advantage from Great Britain, will, if admitted to a fair participa- stablish- ,erials of onferred rtant pri- iment by jign will, igenial to I Here- itrimonial reign and ort of the , and are, existence noblesse, Id entail a provincial eian merit, lecessarily the crown, develope- bre preva- as it has will also the British d to derive itage from • participa- 35 tion of them, in common with other subjects of the empire, find no motive to seek a change of govern- ment ; on the contrary, many inducements will con- cur to resist a political connexion with the adja- cent republic in case of a rupture. The stale conjecture that the mother country would abandon her North American possessions, as a load too onerous and unprofitable to be main- tained, is now exploded. The military occupation of Canada is, at present, the only charge sustain- ed for its preservation, and the advantages of the trade alone, exclusive of the means, which an ex- tent of fertile territory greater than all Europe, affords to Great Britain of providing for her sur- plus population, and thus strengthening her empire, vastly outweighs the momentary consideration of the actual expense. Here we may be indulged in some observations, on colonising the unsettled parts of the province, for which the present emigration from Europe offers a favourable opportunity. The present sys- tem of granting lands in Canada, is attended with such serious inconveniences to settlers, as abso- lutely to prevent the clearing and establishment of many of the most valuable tracts of land in North America. By the act of parliament establishing the present constitution of the Canadas, it is pro- vided, that a proportion equal to one-seventh of all t 'I 36 iii;^!j l''|i }i': m crown lands which should thereafter be granted, be reserved for the support of a protestant clergy. A further proportion of one-seventh, is in like manner reserved in virtue of the king^s instructions, for the future disposition of the crown. These reserves are, as nearly as circumstances will admit, of the same quality as the lands in respect of which they are allotted and reserved, and extend in all direc- tions over the several townships in the province. The settlers who enter the forest and clear their lands, arc, by these crown and clergy reserves, wliicfi remain in a state of nature, every where surrounded by an impenetrable wood, which at once serves as a resort for beasts of prey, and shade the adjacent land so as to prevent it from re- ceiving, sufficiently, the warmth of the sun to ripen the grain. The opening and maintenance of roads over these reserves, which exclusively fall upon the neighboui '"-5 settlers, if they are desirous of keeping open an easy communication with either of the markets of Quebec or Montreal, is, also, another very serious burden upon the farmers re- sident in the townships. This, however, is a grievance which it is competent for the provincial legislature to remove, and as the subject has al- ready been taken into consideration, it is probable that measures for that purpose will, at an early period, be adopted by the legislature. The former 37 is an evil which can only be removed by the go- vernment at home, and until the grievance be en- tirely removed, the improvement of the townships must linger, to the disadvantage and disgust of the population established in those parts of the pro- vince. The proportion of lands reserved in each township for the crown and clergy, if comprehended within a single area or lot, instead of spreading over the face of the country, in lots of two hundred acres each, one should imagine, would fully answer the purpose for which the reserves were intended by the government, without causing any inconvenience to the settlers. The uncultivated or wood lands in Lower Ca- nada, east of the Saint Lawrence, are generally of an excellent £oil,,^and alone are more than ade- quate for the reception of all the emigrants from the United Kingdom for a century to come. The climate is mild and favourable, far beyond what it has generally, though erroneously, been under- stood in Europe; and judging from the productive nature of the ground, in places where infant settle- ments have been already formed, this section of the country will, at no very remote period, become the granary of Lower Canada. The liberal ap- propriations of the legislature of the province for the improvement of the internal communications, if the moneys have been judiciously laid out, will !?■ .'• !'f 38 iHfci r 1- i! mater) Ally facilitate the settlement of these town- ships. To colonise these invaluable lands, is an object worthy of the serious attention of the mother country. The government by incurring a very inconsiderable expense in providing implements of husbandry, and a subsistence for British emigrants to Canada, until a crop could be obtained from the new lands assigned to them, would induce thou- sands of valuable farmers to settle in Canada, in preference to the United States. The children and descendants of these people, instead of owing their allegiance to a foreign government, would form a sturdy and loyal yeomanry along the Cana- dian frontier; and the weak policy of securing those possessions by an impenetrable wilderness, would be replaced by the sounder method of de- fending them by a robust population. To hazard any fliglity speculations on the future destiny of the British North American dominions, is not our intention ; but it must be admitted by those who will examine their geographical posi- tion, with the advantages of their soil and climate in most places, that they are susceptible of becom- ing a most important and powerful appendage of the empire. Although amidst the busy and bril- liant concerns in which the attention of the British government has since some years been engaged, the 39 intrinsic value of these possessions has unavoida- bly been overlooked, the period is at length, pro- bably, arrived, when they are considered of great national importance, and a subject of the earnest solicitude of the parent state. The overflowing abundance of the British population, and the large and disposable capital of the nobility and princi- pal land owners in Great Britain, cannot be more usefully and profitably employed, than in colonis- ing the new and productive soil of the British North American territories. The national re- sources would thereby be infinitely multiplied, while the situations of the emigrating tenantry, and the private fortunes of those proprietors, who should invest a capital in the purchase and clear- ing of lands, would be essentially promoted. Among other considerations, not the least interest- ing, would be that of preventing a valuable portion of the British population from forsaking their native government, and incorporating themselves with a nation, with whom, from the ties of their common origin, their language, religion, and customs, they will soon be identified ; whose principles they will easily imbibe, and whose interests, becoming their own, they will not scruple to promote, by assisting them to dh possess us, at some future day, of those lands, the value whereof the United States are per- fectly acquainted with. ill n' The recent appointment of an illustrious person- age to the vice-royalty of British North America, and the cheering prospect of a permanent peace with the United States, must be subjects of real gratification to all who take an interest in the ge- neral prosperity of this portion of the British em- pire. The attention of the wealthy and enterpris- ing from home, will, probably, be turned to the Canadas, where an immense field is displayed for th^ improvements, and a certain recompense awaits the industry of the husbandman. A copious mi- gration of English yeomanry, under the patronage of the British government, or of some of the higher classes of the British people, would, in a short time, materially improve the political and agricul- tural aspect of Lower Canada. The exotic pre- judices, which have shot up with such luxuriance as to overshadow the genuine growth of the land, would languish under the healthy shade of the British oak; while a cummunity of interests among all denominations of the king's subjects in Lower Canada, preserved and maintained by the wisdom of government, would bring about an unity in sentiment and interest, which would, at once, render the province happy within and respected abroad, prosperous in peace, and doubly secure in the event of war. " (I'll 41 [1815. MEMOIRS, &c. XilEUTENANT-GENERAL SiR GoRDON DrUMMOND had ierved in the Canadas during the administrations of Sir James Henry Craig, and from his intercourse with those who were thought to have heen in the confidence of that governor, apprehensions were entertained that he might have imhihed the preju- dices of his reign. The only occurrence, however, of any moment, to which the attention of the reader may be turn- ed in the course of his short administration, is the result of the impeachments preferred by the house of assembly against the chief justices. The arti- cles of complaint had been transmitted to England by Sir George Prevost. The misunderstanding between the legislative council and assembly, which sprung from these measures, as already no- ticed, deprived the latter of the means of deputing an agent to prosecute the complaints in England. The legislative council denied the right of the assembly to impeach, unless with their concur- 6 ii^2/^ h 1815.] 42 i ■'ii ■!■ '1 lij, I; ; s tlUtill I 'I' il ''' rence,* and, although this doctrine could not be constitutionally maintained, yet as the colonial laws were silent on the subject, it was apprehend- ed that sufficient influence might be exerted at home, to discountenance this new pretension of the assembly, which if acceded to, would establish & serious, though salutary, restraint upon the con- duct of public men, and few gentlemen of the for- mer body, at the period to which we allude, could be considered a^ personally disinterested in thie respect. The inability of the assembly, from this circum- stance, to urge their pretensions by means of an agent, gave cause to expect that in the absence of any person for that purpose, the impeachments would be overlooked as a concern of little import- ance. As, however, one of the gentlemen impli- cated had proceeded to England for the purpose of repelling the accusations brought against him, there was some prospect that the government at home would, were it only in justice to these gen- tlemen, admit the principle, in order to enable them to justify their conduct. The decision of this preliminary question, on which a difference subsisted between *He two branches of the colonial legislature, seemed indie- * See Appendix, letter A. 4- 43 £1815. pensable, before any inquiry could properly be in- stituted, as well from the novelty of the question itself, as to enable the assembly to appoint an agent; a measure from which the legislative coun- cil, after the admission of such a principle on tlie part of the British government, could not plausibly withhold its consent. It was not until after the lapse of a twelvemonth fr m the transmission of the impeachments to Eng- land, and soon after the recall and arrival of Sir George Prevost in Britain, that any serious atten- tion appears to have been bestowed upon them by government. On the 29th June, 1815, a report from a committee of the lords of his majesty's most honourable privy council, dated the 24th of the same month, pursuant to a reference concerning the impeachments, was read and confirmed in council by his royal highness the prince regent. Those charges against the chief justices, which re- lated to the rules of practice in their respective courts, were alone taken into consideration ; and it was by an order in council, declared that these rules were made under authority of the legislative ordinances and laws of the province, and conse- quently that neither of the chief justices, nor the courts in which they respectively presided, had exceeded their jurisdiction, nor been guilty of any assumption of legislative power. Mm' f ■ ■ • 'U •■Mil ¥i.. ,1 I . i, i I'll' lt?15.] 44 The charges against the chief justice of the pro- vince, which related to advice alleged to have been given to Sir James Henry Craig, were altogether excluded from consideration, because the admis- sion of such a principle, would place it in the power of a governor of a province, to divest him- self of all responsibility on points of political go- vernment. The dismissal of the complaints was published at Quebec, late in November, by the circulation of a printed pamphlet, containing a copy of the order in council, with a partial correspondence between Lords Bathurst and Chetwynd, and the chief jus- tice of Lower Canada, then in London.* The sudden termination of an affair in which the province had taken a lively interest created a gene- ral sensation, and it was surmised that the assem- bly would not consider any acquittal of the chief justices as satisfactory, until heard in support of the complaints. Others contended that the deci- sion of the prince regent must be taken by the as- sembly as definitive, and that to call it in question would amount to a high contempt of the imperial government, and the royal authority. The legislature met on the 26th January. On the 2d February, the administrator in chief sent a * See Appendix, B. m 45 [181.J. message by his civil secretary to the house of as- sembly, which was read at the bar, acquainting that body with the dismissal of their complaints against the chief justices, and the opinion of the prince regent relative to the conduct of the assem- bly in impeaching these persons, little tlattering to the members, who had, in the preceding parlia- ment, supported the impeachments.* The assembly, indignant at the fate which their complaints had received, immediately after the messenger had retired from their bar, ordered a call of the house for the J 4th of the same month. The message was at the same time referred to a committee of the whole, and it was unanimously resolved that the house would, on the fourteenth, resolve itself into a general committee on the mes- sage. The subject was on the fourteenth referred to the consideration of a special committee of seven members, to whom two others were afterwards added, with directions to report their opinion on the most expedient manner of proceeding on the same. On the twenty-third this committee report- ed .0 the house, that having maturely deliberated upon the order of reference, they were of opinion that the matters disclosed in his excellency's mes- 'V 3 * Se2 Appendix, G. !^ '■''.' m vW- Q \f. jj.,. ,.. [1815. 46 sage, would render necessary an humble represen- tation and petition to his royal highness the prince regent, and that the great importance of the mat- ters involved in the said message, made it advise- able that the wisdom of the house should be con- sulted, and its sense taken preparatory to such re- presentation and petition. On the twenty-fourth the assembly accordingly came to some resolutions od the subject. By these were expressed, a sense of the public duty under which the house had acted in impeaching the chief justice ; its opinions of the right of the com- mons of Lower Canada to be heard, and of hav- ing an opportunity of adducing evidence in sup- port of their charges ; the causes which had pre- vented them from maintaining those charges; their desire of having an opportunity so to do; and final- ly, that an humble representation and petition, on behalf of the commons of Lower Canada, to his royal highness the prince regent be prepared, ap- pealing to the justice of his majesty's government, and praying that an opportunity might be afforded to his majesty's most dutiful commons of Lower Canada, to be heard upon, and to maintain their complaints.* A special committee was then ap- pointed, for preparing an humble representation * See Appendix, D. Hfi ' i 47 [iai5. and petition, in conformity with the la. )f these resolutions. Whether Sir Gordon Drummond was impelled by his instructions from home, to resort to a disso- lution in the event that the assembly should re- sume this subject, or whether he spontaneously ex- ercised the prerogative on the occasion, we cannot with certainty assert. On the twenty-sixth, before any" of the measn-^^s which had been resolr'^d were brought to . aturity, his arrival at the coun- cil chamber was announced by a discharge of ar- tillery. The assembly being summoned to attend, he, in a very short speech, expressed his regret that they should have allowed any consideration to overbear the respect due to the decision of his royal highness the prince regent, and announced his determination to prorogue the present parlia- ment, and to recur to the sense of the people by an immediate dissolution. Several subjects of the utmost importance were before the assembly in this session, but no more than a single act* received the royal sanction. The expediency of having an agent in England to at- tend to the interests of the province, whenever it might be requisite, was again considered ; but, the dissolution prevented a perseverance in the mea- m An act to regulate the trial of controverted elections, &c. « f i \\ 1815.] 48 sure. The assembly, in pursuance of a resolution made in the last session, passed a bill "to appro- priate a sum of money therein mentioned, to the purchase of a service of plate to be presented to Sir George Prevost, late governor-in-chief of the province, as a mark of respect for his character, and of gratitude for the services which he had ren- dered to the province."* This bill being sent up for the concurrence of the legislative council, was rejected by that body. The elections for the new assembly took place in the month of March, and few alterations in the representation were made throughout the province. In the meantime, the administrator in chief re- ceived notification of the appointment of Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, to the chief command in Bri- tish North America; and on the twenty-first day of May he sailed for England, having on the day of his departure received a valedictory address from the citizens of Quebec. The temporary admini- stration of the government devolved upon Major- General Wilson, until the arrival of Sir John Coape Sherbrooke. The merit of Sir Gordon Drummond, in defend- ing Upper Canada against a greatly superior force of the enemy, stands already recorded, and justly * The sum appropriated by the bill was £5000. 49 [1815. entitles him to an exalted station among the sol- diers of his country. The shortness and untoward circumstanceswhich accidentally intervened during his reign in Lower Canada, place his civil admini^ stration in a less favourable light than might reason- ably have been expected, under less perplexing oc- currences from a person of his acknowledged worth. His popularity somewhat abated after he had dissolved the assembly, and this indeed, al- though others have been urged, is the only objec- tion raised against his administration, which is susceptible of any plausible reasoning. On ex- amining the pretensions of the assembly, they will be found compatible with the freedom of the con- stitution, and one can scarcely avoid thinking that a compromise might have been made without re- curring to a dissolution, an experiment which on former occasions had been tried with so little ad- vantage. On the merits of the impeachments themselves we hazard nothing, but as they profess- ed to be the grievances and complaints of an entire province acting by its representatives, it seems but reasonable that a hearing should have been grant- ed, and the s"bject maturely discussed in the pre- sence of all the parties concerned, or of their ac- credited agents. The legislative council having denied the right of the assembly to impeach, had therefore refused its assent to a money appropria- "> '.' fi. f-'a >! if i4 i]l ■ /V.'-I I . i . ,!'• I'i, I:;;".; 1 f , : 1815.] M tion for the mission of an agent to England on be- half of the commons of Lower Canada. The go- vernment at home could not have been acquainted with the controversy which existed on this subject between these two branches of the colonial legis- lature, and might, therefore, easily have accounted for the absence of an accredited agent to urge the pretensions of the assembly. Had a formal deci- sion on the right asserted by that body, of im- peaching persons in office, suspected of high crimes and misdemeanors, been pronounced, and a subsequent hearing of all parties ensued, after a reasonable delay and notification to that effect, whatever might have been the result of the com- plaints in question, the government by this course of procedure would have afforded a valuable in- stance of its disposition to attend to the real or imaginary grievances of the colony, which, in such a case, could not but have been satisfied with the justice of the former. In justification, however, of the conduct of the administrator in chief, whose disposition has universally been acknowledged as easy and conciliating, it may very fairly be infer- red, that his instructions on the present occasion were such as to leave him no discretionary means of compromising the subject with the assembly. The wisdom of these instructions (if any such were given), we are not at all disposed to call in ques- 51 [1815. tion, for although some dissatisfaction may have resulted from them, it would be rash to decide where opinions are widely divided, and where a government is concerned whose decisions even in error are respectable; whose honour is proverbial among the nations, and will prove, wc trust, as durable as the world itself. r m m •Fit- i! ! Jt ■' u [1816. 52 if,, i i ' ! Sir John Coape Sherbrooke arrived at Quebec on the 12th July, 1816, from Halifax, Nova Scotia, where his administration had given universal satis- faction. This officer, from his residence in that colony, must not have been unacquainted vi^ith the public affairs in Canada, an advantage of which he judiciously availed himself by adopting a line of policy suited to the complexion of the times. Easy of access to all men, frank towards those who came to him on public business, diligent and earnest in the accomplishment of those purposes which he considered as essential to the welfare of the province, he won the coi (idence of the people, from whom, in the course of his administration, he experienced no opposition, as he adopted no mea- sures that wore the appearance of mystery, ad- hered to no party, nor entertained any policy that was not obviously calculated for the advancement of the public welfare. The first act of his administration of any import, was that of a benevolent mind. Owing to the failure of the harvest in the lower parts of the district of Quebec, by early frosts, several of the parishes were threatened with famine. The go- vernor, upon his own responsibility, threw open the king^s stores, and advanced a very considera- ble sum of money for the purchase of such supplies W). .a 5$ [1816. as were not in store. Provisions were forwarded before the commencement of winter to the distress- ed parishes, which by this seasonable relief, were reserved from the horrors of impending hunger. The legislature met earlier in the season than usual, and the governor called their immediate at- tention to this subject, recommending such further measures as the nature of the evil complained of might require. Engaged in this and other concerns of moment, the assembly postponed the consideration of the impeachments until towards the close of the ses- sion. A reluctance to enter upon this subject was indeed visible from the commencement, probably from a persuasion prevalent among the members, that the peremptory nature of tiie governor's in- structions were such, as to leave him no discre- tionary power in case the assembly should resume the question. A judge of the court of king's bench for the dis- trict of Montreal, was impeached in this session by Mr. Cuvillier, for divers alleged high crimes and misdemeanors, committed in his official capacity. The assembly, after instituting an inquiry into the grounds upon which the charges preferred against him were laid, adopted certain resolutions, and drew up an address to the prince regent, which, together with the articles of complaint, they re- f. '? % I ^i., nV: 'U r ' 1-1 i-";! ij^i'i !■:( it [1816. iri quested the governor to transmit to his royal highness. The house also requested the governor to suspend the accused from his functions vrhile the charges were pending against him. His exeel- lency, on receiving the address of the assembly, in- formed them that he would not fail to transmit their address, with the articles of complaint, and the documents accompanying the same, to the prince regent. He also acquainted them that ha- ving previously perused the evidence adduced in the course of the investigation, he had already communicated to the judge in question, his desire that he should abstain from the exercise of his ju- dicial functions, until the determination of the prince regent, with respect to any further proceed- ings on the accusations, should be made known. By this prudent anticipation of the desires of the house of assembly, the governor gratified that body, without in the least compromitting the pre- tensions of the legislative council, who still, as on •d former occasion, denied the right of the assembly to impeach* without their concurrence. The proceedings of the assembly being commu- nicated hy message to the legislative council, this body came to certain resolutions, and framed an address in like manner to the regent, stating that * See Appendix, E. ■. t 55 [1816. governor they had in no wise participated in the charges preferred against the judge, and remonstrated against the right of the assembly to impeach, which they observed would thenceforth, if admitted, place every public officer at the mercy of the as- sembly, and thereby disqualify them from a faith- ful and indepeiiaent discharge of official duty ; they therefore besought his royal highness not to inflict any punishment on the accused until the articles of complaint should have been submitted to, and met with their coficurrence, or until such articles of complaint, in the event that their con- currence should not be deemed necessary, should be heard and determined by them under such com- mission as his roy&i highness should see fit to issue for that purpose. These proceedings were communicated by mes- sage to the house of assembly, where, in reply to them, it was resolved, " That the claims of the le- gislative council touching the complaints brought by the assembly, were not founded on the constitu- tional law, or any analogy thereto ; that they tended to prevent offenders out of the reach of the ordi- nary tribunals of the country from being brought to justice, and to maintain, perpetuate, and encourage an arbitrary, illegal, tyrannical, and oppressive power over the people of the province." A petition was presented to the assembly from st|i £'■? »!; [1816- 56 m ^r\ 7A the orphan children of the late Francois Corbeil, who had died in consequence of his imprisonment at Montreal, during the administration of Sir James Henry Craig, principally complaining against the chief justice of the district of Montreal, in issuing a warrant for the imprisonment of their deceabed father, and praying the assembly to adopt such measures thereupon as might appear proper. Another petition concen^ing the conduct of the same gentleman, towards a member of the assem- bly (Mr. Sherwood) was also presented. Some time after the appearance in print ol the letters, and order in council, which we have already had occasion to mention, relative to the dismissal of the complaints against the chief justices, a printed travesty, turning these into burlesque, was circula- ted. A groundless suspicion that Sir S. was the author, obtained some credit, and that gentleman, who by his sturdy opposition to certain measures in the legislature, where he recently had obtained a seat, had become obnoxious to a party, was singled out for a criminal prosecution for a libel upon the king's government. The chief justice of Montreal had, during the time that the court of king's bench for criminal pleas ought to have sat in that city, absented himself while attending the legislative council, where the assembly in the pre- ceding session were expected to resume the con- :,: ;ii 57 [1816. sideration of the complaints in which he was per- sonally concerned. As the court of king^s bench could not legally be held without his presence, the term was lost. To obviate this inconvenience, a commission of oyer and terminer for the district of Montreal was issued after the dissolution of the parliament. The chief justice presided in that court where a bill of indictment for a libel upon his majesty's government was found against Mr. Sher- wood. It was with a view of exposing and seeking redress for the proceedings connected with this prosecution, that the present petition was laid be- fore the house. The conduct of the chief justice, in absenting himself from his official duties, and thereby causing the laws of the land to be sus- pended and dispensed with, contrary to the bill of rights, were complained of. The grand jury, who had found this bill of indictment, instead of being summoned from the body of the district, had, as it was asserted, been packed from the city of Mon- treal. They were represented as partisans and persons inclined to second the measures of the chief justice, whose conduct in the present in- stance, while presiding in his court, was placed m an unfavourable Ifght. The petition was referred to a special committee of five members, who imme- diately instituted an inquiry into the subject. The chief justice, in the mean time, hearing of this new '" '(ill m I!;- ! il-.v ■■ ■■/I l.'^'l , ; " , r. ^11 [1816. 58 complaint against him before the assembly, wrote a letter concerning it to the governor in chief, which his excellency transmitted to the speaker, hy whom it was submitted to the house, where it was received with disregard.* The committee made some progress in the inquiry, but from the unusual pressure of business in this session, it was found impossible to complete it, and leave 'vas therefore given to continue the subject until the ensuing session. Soon after the governor's arrival at Quebec, a bill, granting a salary to the speaker of the assem- bly, passed on the 25th March, 1815, received, after upwards of a year's delay, the royal sanction. By this act a salary for the speaker of the existing assembly only, which expired with that session, was provided. On the eleventh of March, the assembly pre- aented addresses to the governor, requesting that * For this document see Appendix. This letter was proba- bly intended as a confidential communication with the governor. That officer, averse to every thing like underhand dealing, openly communicated its contents to the assembly, who, from this circumstance, were convinced of his determination to act with candour and justice, whatever might be the intrigues of party; and from thenceforth placed the strongest confidence in the prudence of his administration, and cheerfully co-ope- rated with his measures. 59 [1816. his excellency would allow their speaker, during that parliament, such adequate salary as might be though suitable to the dignity of his office, and that he would also be pleased to confer some sig- nal mark of the royal favour on the widow of Mr. Punet, the late speaker, in testimony of his ser- vices as such, during twenty years and upwards, without any recompense or remuneration. To the former of these addresses the governor made an- swer, that " the legislative council having, by their address of the 4th of March, 1815, stated that that house was impressed with the expediency of remunerating their speaker, also by an annual sala- ry, for the arduous and important duties attached to his high office, and having prayed that such measures might be adopted for that purpose as should seem meet, he should readily comply with the wishes of the assembly, and make an adequate and proper remuneration for the services and du- ties of the speaker of that house from the com- mencement of that parliament to the end thereof, upon being enabled to make a similar provision for the speaker of the legislative council for the same period." In answer to the latter, he ac- quainted them, that in compliance with their re- quest, and in consideration of the sense he enter- tained for the long service and great merit of the late speaker, he had, in his majesty's behalf, con- w 'a 'I ! i • . 1'^ •■ U., tH* tV^if I I 1816.] (30 ferred an annuity on his widow of three hundred pounds currency during her life. The assembly could not reasonably withhold from the speaker of the upper house, the advan- tages which they intended to confer on their own. They, therefore, resolved to make good the sums which the governor might cause to be expended for the payment of the salary of the speaker of the legislative council. This resolution being for- mally communicated to the governor, he sent a message to the assembly to inform them that, in consequence of their addresses, he had conferred, on the speak'^rs of both houses, an annual salary of one thousand pounds from the commencement until the conclusion of that parliament. Fourteen thousand two hundred and sixteen pounds were granted to make good the advances which the governor had made for the relief of the parishes in distress from the failure of the late harvest. The further sum of fifteen thousand five hundred pounds were advr.nced for the same pur- pose. Twenty thousand pounds were granted for the purchase of seed wheat, and other grain, and potatoes, for the more indigent husbandmen, on their giving security to repay the amount advanced. Fifty-five thousand f ^unds were appropriated for the improvement of the internal communications of the province, and two thousand two hundred 61 [181G. ir own. and fifty pounds were granted for the promotion of vaccine inoculation. Various annual acts which had expired, owing to the late dissolution of the provincial parliament, were now renewed. After these affairs had been despatched, Mr. Jpmes Stuart again brought forward the considera- tion of adopting further measures with respect to the impeachments. He maintained the right of the commons of Lower Canada to petition the re- gent on the decision which had been given, and respectfully to remonstrate upon the wrongs which the province might ultimately experience in con- sequence of it. Though his reasoning on the sub- ject was sound and irresistible, the members, at once, fatigued with the labours of the session, and disgusted with the late dissolution, and the hourly reports that a similar event would ensue, should any resolution tending to revive the question be adopted, were desirous of leaving it at rest until the ensuing sessioij, in the expectation that some measures would in the meantime be adopted by the government to appease the public ferment. The consideration of the subject was, therefore, postponed by a great majority of votes u\\i}\ the following session. It was not, however, rasumed as proposed in that session, and there is cause to suspect that the present course was purposely adopted as the easiest mode of totally relinquish- :^K k 4 1817.] 62 kttk iiig the oubject. On the twenty-second of March the provincial parUament was prorogued. The liberal supplies which the assembly had laid at the disposal of the governor, enabled him to direct his attention with effect to the improve- ment of the colony, and soaie new roads were opened through the unsettled parts of Lower Ca- nada, the most susceptible of immediate establish- ments. From the prorogation to the ensuing session no incident of any moment occurred. The governor, in opening the session, recommended to the con- sideration of the legislature, the propriety of hold- ing out somr inducement to a few good farmers and labourers to settle in the province, for the pur- pose of introducing, by their example, a more im- proved system of agriculture. He also informed the house of assembly, that he had received the commands of his royal highness the prince regent to call upon the legislature to vote the sums neces- sary for the ordinary annual expenditure of the province; that in pursuance of these directions from his majesty's government, he would order to be laid befoi 8 them an estimate of the sums which would be necessary to defray the expense of the civil government of the province for the year 1818, and that he anticipated a ready execution of the offer, which they (the assembly) had made on a ^1 5 63 ^ [Um, former occasion, to defray the expenses of Lis ma- jesty's provincial government, with a liberality that did them honour. This information was received by the public with much gratification, as it gave to the assembly that weight in the colonial constitution which pro- perly belonged to it, and the seeking whereof had, in 1810, created so much heat and animadversion. The event was, however, as might be expected, received with far other sensations by those who, heretofore, had controlled tl e public concerns of the province. These, ft cm a state of supreme pow- er, were by the new order of things to descend to a level with the common class of their fellow sub- jects, if not into a state something verging upon dependence. Before the public accounts and estimates were sent down to the assembly, ihe governor was at- tacked with a paralytic stroke, which deprived him of the use of his left side. This untoward cir- cumstance opened a glimmering of hope to those whose interests were likely to be affected, and who were therefore averse to the measure which the British government had recently adopted, in charg- ing the province with the payment of its own civil list. If by any means a prorogation of the session could have been brought about, before the esti- mates were submitted to the assembly, and that :J .1 ».'ii M /T(*l I' ■.»■;. i- 8'Ki iii; ■V. '•• it ■ 1 ; , '. - ;'i i: ■!, f, .i . 76 office, is by the law and constitution of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, vested in the entire community of the people of the said United Kingdom, but is exercised on their be- half, and in their right by the house of commons alone, to the exclusion of the house of lords. Resolved, That the right of hearing and deter- mining all impeachments exhibited in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by the peo- ple of the said United Kingdom, by the ministry of the house of commons, is by the law and con- stitution of the said United Kingdom vested in the house of lords, to the exclusion of the house of commons and of every other tribunal. Resolved, That the exclusive right of hearing and determining all impeachments exhibited in the Uni- ted Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, by the people of the said United Kingdom, by the ministry of the house of commons, being vested in the house of lords, the house of lords is thereby, and thereby only, excluded from all participation in voting or exhibiting any such impeachments. The offices of accuser and judge being totally incompatible. Rbsolved, That the right of hearing and deter- mining impeachments exhibited in this province by the people of this province, is not vested in the legi.-.itive council of this province, and that the 77 legislative council is not, therefore, excluded from a participation in voting or exhibiting any such impeachment. Resolved^ That the impeachrient of the honour- able Jonathan Sewell, his ruajesty's chief justice of this province, by the assembly alone, is an ille- gal and alarming assumption of power on the part of the assembly. Resolved^ That the impeachment of the honoura- ble James Monk, chief justice of his majesty's court of king's bench, 'for the district of Montreal, by the assembly alone, is an illegal and alarming as- sumption of power on the part of the assembly. Resolved^ That the said impeachments of the honourable Jonathan Sewell, and of the honour- able James Monk, by the assembly alone, tend, in their immediate consequences, to deprive this house of its lawful rights and privileges; to give to the assembly an ascendency and control over thia house, which is entirely incompatible with the due exercise of its legislative powers; and to render the judges of this province, and all other officers of the crown, in this province, dependant on the as- sembly, and thereby endanger, not only the right administration of justice in this province, but the right administration of his majesty's provincial go- vernment in general. Resolved, That this house doth solemnly protest it ' 1 r M 78 against the said impeachments of the honourable Jonathan Sewell, and the honourable James Monk, by the assembly alone, and against all pro- ceedings whatever, which have been and shall be had on the said impeachments, or on either of them. ':tmt ml :i '■■■ -''iri, (B.) The ordei* of his royal highness the prince re- gent in council, upon the complaints of the house of assembly of Lower Canada, against the chief justice of the province, the chief justice of the court of king's bench for the district of Montreal, the executive council (judges in the court of ap- peal) and the puisne justices of the courts of king's bench for the district of Quebec, and Montreal, in the same province, respecting the rules of prac- tice established in those courts, with other docu- ments respecting the decision of his royal highness upon the remainder of the complaints by the said assembly. ' No. 1. (For this, see the order in council under the let- ler C. in this appendix. 79 No. 2. Downing-Street^ Juii/ 23, IS\§. Sir, His royal highness the prince regent, having been pleased to refer to the consideration of a committee of the most honourable privy council, certain articles of complaint against you and Mr. Monk, so far as related to the rules of practice es- tablished b;' vou in the courts in which you respec- tively preside, it now becomes my duty to communi- cate to you the result of that inquiry, which naving received the entire approbation of his royal high- ness, is expressed in the order of which the en- closed is a copy. (No. 1.) The officer at present administering the govern- ment of Canada, has received his royal highness's commands to communicate this decision to the house of assembly ; and in making this communi- cation, to state the grounds upon which his royal highness has declined considering, as articles of complaint against you, the advice which you are at different times stated to have given to the prece- ding governors of the province. It is highly satis- factory to me to assure you, that although his royal highness felt compelled upon general principles to exclude those particular charges from coiiside- ration, and thus to preclude you from entering upon your justification, yet his royal highness en- • -v 1 I ■ 1 ■4 80 tertains no doubt as to the general propriety of your and Mr. Monk's conduct, or as to your being able to offer, with respect to them, a full and satis- factory explanation. 1 am, Sir, Your most obedient, humble servant, (Signed) BATHURST. To J. Sewell, Esq. Chief Justice of Lower Canada. No. 3. ii!!' Downing-Street, July 2Tth, 1815. Sir, I have had the honour of receiving your letter of the 24th instant, expressing your apprehension, that as the instructions transmitted to the officer administering the government of Canada, do not em- brace any other charges brought against you and Mr. Monk, than those which relate to advice given by you to the governor, and the rules of practice es- tablished in your respective courts, the house of assembly may be induced to consider you as not free from blame on the other points of charge, not strictly falling within that description. As the letter addressed to the officer adminis- tering the government of Canada, bears testimony to the uniform propriety of your's and Mr. Monk's conduct, I do not conceive that there can be any ground for the house of assembly to doubt that your justification is complete : but, I am glad to have an opportunity of stating that the charges not spe- cifically adverted to in my letter, appeared to be, with one exception, of too little importance to re- quire consideration, and that (the one against Mr* Monk, which charges him with having refused a writ o{ habeas corpus) was, as well as all the other charges, which are not founded on the rules of practice, totally unsupported by any evidence whatever. i have the honour to be. Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, (Signed) BATHURST. J. Sewell, Esq. Chief Justice of Lower Canada. • '1! i\ 1 If! 1 No. 4. Council Office^ Whitehall, August 11 th, 1815. Sir, i^ greeablj to the request, signified in your let- ter of the 30th ultimo, I have the honour to enclose you a copy of the order in council, dismissing the complaints of the house of assembly of Lower Cana da, so far as they relate to the rules of practice, &c. with the names of the lords present in council, 11 * t r.i'- m a2 when the report of the lords of the committee re- specting those complaints was approved. The report of the lords of the committee is entered at length in the copy of the order ; but it is not the practice to insert the names of the lords who make the report ; yet, as it is important that it should be known in Canada, by what high legal authority the said report was made, I have it in command from the lord president to communicate their names to you, and they are as follows : The Lord President, Earl Bathurst, Lord Ellenborough, Sir William Scott, Master op the Rolls, Sir John Nictioll, Lord Chief Justice Gibbs, Lord Chief Baron. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient humble servant, (Signed) CHETURJUD. J. Sewell, Esq. Chief Justice of Lower Canada. 83 (C.) (Signed) Gordon Drummond, Administrator in Chief. The administrator-in-chief has received the commands of his royal highness the prince regent, to make known to the house of assembly of this province, his pleasure on the subject of certain charges preferred by that house against the chief justice of the province, and the chief justice of the court of king's bench for the district of Montreal. With respect to such of those charges as relate to acts done by a former governor of the province, which the assembly assuming to be improper or illegal, imputed by a similar assumption to advice given by the chief justice to that governor, his royal highness has deemed that no inquiry could be necessary; inasmuch as none could be insti- tuted without the admission of the principle, that the governor of a province might, at his own discretion, divest himself of all responsibility on points of political government. With a view, therefore, to the general interests of the province, his royal highness was pleased to refer for consideration to the lords of the privy council, such only of the charges brought by the assembly as related to the rules of practice estab- i M w lished by the judges in their respective courts, those being points upon which if any impropriety had existed, the judges themselves were solely re- sponsible. By the annexed copy of his royal highness's order in council, dated the 29th June, 1815, the administrator-in-chief conveys to the assembly the result of this investigation, which has been con- ducted with all that attention and solemnity which the importance of the subject required. In making this communication to the assembly, it now becomes the duty of the administrator-in- chief in obedience to the commands of his royal highness the prince regent, to expi'ss the regret with which his royal highness has vie>ved their late proceedings against two persons who have so long and so ably filled the highest judkk«l offices in the colony, a circumstance the n ;>. e to hv. deplored as tending to disparage, in the eyes of the inconside- rate and igno'' M heir character and services, and thus to dimi li^h iiie influence to which, from their situation and their uniform propriety of conduct, they are justly entitled. The above communication embracing such only of the charges preferred against the said chief justices as relate to the rules of practice, and as are grounded on advice assumed to have been given by the chief justice of the province to the f 85 late Sir James Craig, the administrator-in-chief lias been further commanded to signify to the assembly, that the other charges appeared to his majesty's government to be, with one exception, too incon- siderable to require investigation, and that that^ (namely the one against the chief justice of the court of king's bench, for the district of Montreal, which states him to have refused a writ of habeas corpus,) was, in common with all the charges which do not relate to the rules of practice, totally un- supported by any evidence whatever. (Signed) G. D. [|. !' v^t the Court of Carlton-House^ the 2dfhJtme, WA^, present: Hr. Royal Highness the Prince Regent in Cou .cil . Whereas there was this day read at the bo'?vd. a report from a committee of the lords )f his majesty's most honourable privy countil, dated die 24th of this instant, in the wo , following, viz: "Your royal highness l.aA.ig been pleased by your order in council of the 1 0th December last, in the name and on the behp^t of his majesty, to refer unto this committee a letter Irom Earl Bathurst, one of his majesty's principal secretaries of state, to the lord president of the council, transmitting a copy \'; 86 m 1 of a letter from Sir George Prevost, dated Quebec, the 18th of March, 1814, forwarding an address of the house of assemoly of Lower Canada, to your royal highness, with certain articles of complaint therein referred to, against Jonathan Sewell, Esq. his majesty's chief justice of the province of Lower Canada, and James Monk, Esq. chief justice of the court of king's bench for the district of Montreal, and also transmitting a memorial from the execu- tive council, judges in the court of appeals, and of the puisne judges of the court ( f king's bench for the district of Quebec, and of the court of king's bench for the district of Montreal, in the said pro- vince of Lower Canada, praying to be included in the examination and decision of the said articles of complaint, together with a petition from the said Jonathan Sewell, Esq.; in which letter the said Earl Bathurst requests that so much of the said complaints of the house of assembly, as relate to the rules of practice, stated to have been intro- duced by the said chief justices into their re- spective courts, may be submitted to your royal highness in council, in order that, if such rules shall be found to have been introduced, it may be de- cided whether in so doing, the said chief justices have exceeded their authority. The lords of the committee in obedience to your royal highness's said order of reference, have 87 taken the said letter and its enclosures into con- sideration, and having received the opinion of his majesty's attorney and solicitor-general, and been attended by them thereon, and having maturely deliberated upon the complaints of the said house of assembly, so far as they relate to the said rules of practice, their lordships do agree humbly to re- port as their opinion to your royal highness, that the rules which are made the subject of such com- plaint of the said house of assembly of Lower Canada, against the said chief justices Jonathan Sewell, Esq. and James Monk, Esq. which their lordships observe were not made by the said chief justices, respectively upon their own sole authority, but by them in conjunction with the other judges of the respective courts, are all rules for the regu- lations of the practice of their respective courts, and within the scope of that power and jurisdic- tion with which, by the rules of law, and by the colonial ordinances and acts of legislation these courts are invested, and consequently that neither the said chief justices nor the courts in which they preside have, in making such rules, exceeded their authority, nor have been guilty of any assumption of legislative power." His royal highness the prince regent having taken the said report into consideration, was pleased in the name and on the behalf of his ma- i «8 jestj, and^by and with the advice of his majesty's privy council, to approve thereof, and to order, as it is hereby ordered, that the said complaints, so far as they relate to the said rules of practice, be and they are hereby dismissed this board. (Signed) J AS. BULLER. (Signed) G. D. Resolved, As the opinion of this committee, that the resistance and opposition of the legislative council of which the said Jonathan Sewell and James Monk, were, and are members, to the rights of the commons of Lower Canada, to exhibit the said charges, and the obstructions subsequently interposed to the prosecution of them, prevented this house from being represented by an agent to maintain and support the said charges. Resolved, As the opinion of this committee, that this house has always been, and is desirous of an opportunity of being heard on the said charges, and of supporting them by evidence, and hath reason to lament that no such opportunity hath hitherto been offered to them. Resolved, As the opinion of this committee, that an humble representation and petition, on the be- half of the commons of this province, to his royal highness the prince regent, be prepared, appeal- ing to the justice of hie majesty^s government, and praying that an opportunity may be afforded to his majesty's dutiful commons of this province, to be heard upon and maintain the said charges. (E.) Legislative Council^ Saturday^ \st March, liil7. Resolved, That an humble address be presented to his royal highness the prince regent, humbly beseeching his royal highness not to inflict any punishment upon the honourable Louis Charles Foucher, Esq. one of the puisne justices of the court of king's bench for the district of Montreal, in consequence of the articles of complaint ex- hibited against him by the assembly of this pro- vince, until such articles of complaint shall have been submitted to the consideration of this house, and this house shall have concurred therein, and such articles of complaint after such submission and concurrence shall have been heard and de- termined in such tribunal as his roval iiiofhness shall be pleased to appoint for that purpose; or, until such articles of complaint, without such sub- mission and concurrence, shall have been heard and determined in due course of justice in this house, under such commission as liis royal high- ness shall see fit to issue for that purpose, with 12 90 y « »t such powers and limitations as to his royal highness shall seem meet. (F.) Castle of Si. Louis, Quebec, 19 th February, 1817. Sir, The chief justice of the court of king's bench, for the district of Montreal, having address- ed to me a letter explanatory .of the cause of his absence from Montreal, in March, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, at the period wh-en the court is by law appointed to sit ther~ for the trial of criminal causes, for which absence, a charge has been brought against him in the house of as- sembly, I think it proper to transmit you a copy of this communication, and of the enclosure which accompanied it, in order that in any further pro- ceedings of the assembly on this subject, they may be informed o** the circumstances represented by the chief justice. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most obedient Humble servant, (Signed) J. C. SHERBROOKE, Governor in Chief T. L. Papineau, Esq. Speaker of the House of Assembly. m^ n by (COPY.) Montreal, February lith, 1817. Sir, As I find that the house of assembly is pro- ceeding under a committee, upon a petition pre- sented to that house, by Samuel Sherwood, one of the members thereof, made early in tlie session of the present legislature, wherein he has stated, " that I had absented myself from sitting in and ^>olding a court of king's bench for the district of Montreal, on the first ten days of the month of March last past, whereby the said court was not held, and the law of the land was dispensed with contrary to the bill of rights," and as this assertion may improvidently be brought forth as a charge against my official character and duties; in a case where the prerogative of the crown has been le- gally exercised, and when the conduct of its officers is not culpable, I am impressed with the duty of presenting to your excellency my conduct, and the exercise of the prerogative in respect to my duties upon holding the said court in the month of March last. Your excellency will perceive by the en- closed letter, the express injunctions of his excel- lency the administrator-in-chief, and may be a bet- ter judge than I can presume, of the reasons that occasioned his exercise of the rights of the sove- reign in respect to my duties; and your excellency will justly appreciate how far the assembly should ^1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) *%^ ^4' ^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 Iii|2j8 |25 ■^ lii 12.2 2.0 Kt U ■ 41 U |,.6 HiotDgrapinc Sciences Corporation ^ ^^ ^ :\ \ 23 WIST MAIN STtllT WMSTM.N.Y. USIO (7l6)t73-4S03 <^, <^, ,.v ^A 4^ ^ 92 be permitted to proceed in a formal charge, which I submit could not take place, were that house officially apprized of the circumstances attending the conduct that had superinduced a supposed culpability in a servant of the crown. I have the honour to be, &c. ^c. (Signed) J. MONK. His Excellency Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, K. C. B. &c. &c. &c. (COPY.) Castle of Saint Lewis, Quebec, I5th February, 1816. Sir, With reference to the representation you have made to his excellency the administrator-in- chief, of your intention of proceeding shortly to Montreal, to attend there the approaching session of the king^s bench, for the trial of criminal causes, I am commanded by his excellency to acquaiiit you, that he conceives your presence here indis- pensably necessary, to preside as speaker in the legislative council. 1 have the honour to be, &c. &c. &c. (Signed) ROBERT R. LORING, Secretarif. The Hon. Chief Justice Monk.