nected with the executive government than they have included in their recommendation, they have no hesitation in expressing their opinion, that it was unnecessary to include so large a number'; and if the officers above enumerated are placed on the footing recommended, they are of opinion that all the revenues of the province (except territorial and hereditary revenues) should be placed under the control and direction of the Legislative Assembly; that the committee could not close their observations on this branch of their enquiry, without calling the attention of the House to the important circumstance, that in the progress of these disputes the local government has thought it necessary, through a long series of years, to have recourse to a measure (which nothing but the most extreme necessity could justify) of annually appropriating, by its_own authority, large sums of the money of the province, amounting to no less than 140,000l. without the consent of the representatives of the people, under whose control the appropriation of these monies is placed by the constitution. Oil(1499万19 patoh v tole

"The committee cannot but express their deep regret that such a state of things should have been allowed to exist for so many years in a British colony, without any communication or reference having been made to Parliament on the subject."

The Earl of Dalhousie soon after returned from • Canada. His Majesty's ministers at the time declaring in Parliament their approbation of his lordship's conduct; and his appointment, soon after, to a high command in India, impressed the colonists with a belief that his lordship only acted in Canada according to instructions he received from England. That

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the Earl of Dalhousie's "heart was in the right place," I have no doubt; that he felt anxious to promote the prosperity of the great country of which he was governor, I am fully convinced. Its agriculture, its trade, and the education of its youth, though the measures adopted in regard to the latter were illiberal to the Canadians in respect to their religion and language, he was ardently bent on encouraging and fostering; but he failed, and that most unfortunately and most egregiously, either in making the experiment of bringing the representatives of the inhabitants to act agreeably to his own wishes or ideas, or, more likely, those of his advisers; or, probably, as is more generally believed, in forcing the instructions of the Colonial Office into impracticable operation. That he should have persisted in such measures is to be regretted.* Such men as Sir Howard Douglas and Sir James Kempt would have acted otherwise; the former, I know, and the latter, I believe, would have immediately resigned, sooner than remain administering the government of a British colony under similar circumstances to those of Canada previous to the departure of the Earl of Dalhousie.

* " On ne doit juger les hommes public que d'après leur conduite publique,” said a member of the legislative council of Canada to me; " and in this light only, and not as private gentlemen, do we regard our governors and other public officers." The interference of Lord Dalhousie with the Quebec Gazette, merely on account of its editor, Mr. Neilson, having always honestly advocated the constitutional rights of the Canadians, and his Lordship establishing another Gazette, formed a measure as objectionable and ill-advised as it was impolitic and unjust.

CHAP. IX.

ADMINISTRATION OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR JAMES KEMPT.

SIR JAMES KEMPT entered upon the duties of the administration of Canada under peculiarly delicate circumstances; yet, on calling a meeting of the legislature, and formally accepting the election of Mr. Papineau as speaker*, his speech, at the opening of the session, was conciliatory, mild and wise. "Placed,” said his Excellency, " in a situation of so much importance at a period of peculiar difficulty, I cannot but feel that very arduous duties are imposed upón me; duties, indeed, which I should despair of being able to discharge to the satisfaction of his Majesty, and his faithful and loyal subjects the inhabitants of this province, if I did not look forward, with a sanguine hope, to the enjoyment of your confidence, and your cordial co-operation in my administration of the government.

" Without a good understanding between the different branches of the legislature, the public affairs of the colony cannot prosper; the evils which are now experienced cannot be effectually cured; the prosperity and welfare of his Majesty's Canadian subjects cannot be promoted; and you may therefore believe that no exertions will be spared on my part to promote conciliation, by measures in which the undoubted prerogatives of the crown and your constitutional privileges are equally respected.

"His Majesty's government has, however, relieved me from the responsibility attendant upon any measures to be adopted for the adjustment of the financial difficulties that have unfortunately occurred, and I shall take an early opportunity of conveying to you, by message, a communication from his Majesty, which I have been especially commanded to make to you upon the subject of the appropriation of the provincial revenue."

After stating that he would direct the public accounts to be laid before the House, he continued; "Possessing, as yet, but an imperfect knowledge of the great interests of the province, and the wants of its inhabitants, I refrain, at the present time, from recommending to you measures of public improvement, which it will be my duty to bring under your consideration at a future day. In all countries, however, good roads, and other internal communications, - a general system of education, established upon sound principles, - and a well-organised militia force, are found to be so conducive to the prosperity, the happiness, and the security of their inhabitants, that I may be permitted to mention them at present, as objects of prominent utility.

" But an oblivion of all past jealousies and dissensions is the first great step towards improvement of any kind; and, when that is happily accomplished, and the undivided attention of the executive government and the legislature shall be given to the advancement of the general interests of the province, in a spirit of cordial co-operation, there is no reason to doubt that Lower Canada will rapidly advance in prosperity; and emulate, ere long, the most opulent and flourishing portions of the North American continent."

The message which his Excellency conveyed, by the command of his Majesty's government, intimated, however, a perseverance in the finance measures which had caused such difficulties during Lord Dalhousie's government. It stated, that "his Excellency was commanded to say, that the statutes passed in the fourteenth and thirty-first years of the reign of his late Majesty have imposed upon the lords-commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury the duty of appropriating the produce of the revenue granted to his Majesty by these statutes; and that, whilst the law shall continue unaltered by the same authority by which it was framed, his Majesty is not authorised to place the revenue under the control of the legislature of this province."

Every other part of the message contained nothing but what was calculated to maintain harmony in the province. The old "bone of contention" was, how