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Maps, platss, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratioa. Thoae too large to be entirely included In one exposure ere filmad beginning In the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many framea as required. The following diagrama illustrate the method: Lea cartea, planchee, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fllmAs k des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul cliche, 11 est film* A partir de Tangle supArisur gauche, de gauche A drolte, et de haut en has, en prsnant le nombre d'Images nAcesselre. Les diagrammes suivants illustrsnt la mithoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Let T E R FROM L Thomas Lord Lytteltoh, T O Waiiam Pitt, Eirl of Chatham^ O N T H E Q^UEBEG BILL. f ^■ <3>1 n ^k^UKlm^^ N E W'' Y O R Ki Re-ptinted by James Rivinotoi*. M,Dcc,LXxir* \^ ■»' .. ? -^ M fl .1 .» ! ■la^.Jta..^-., . :^:i:ss:!:«(|:«:|}s(l)&' »ew3«N}>ows«A»aMMmeM34H«cMaeo»»«&»o» mA »co«e«W» )s>;j ment ; muft I then fay to you my Lord, " Vin- «' cere fcis, vidtoria ut nefcis." — If your abilities are confefled, who can excule your neglect ? Or, if in this bufmefs, cither inaccuracy of head, in- attentio|i of mind, incorrednefs of judgment, or inf^Aiciency of reafon, may be imputed to any maq, on whom can that charge fall more juftly than upon your Lordlhip ? Why then did you chobfe this peculiar moment to break forth from your retirement ? Surely, my Lord, your conde- fceijfion is not fuch as to lead you to become the mccr harbinger of my Lord Mayor, and his ad- drefs 'Jtfitbin the palace, and or his co-patriots wifhoifty who attended his Majefty from St^ Janies's to the parliament. ,, ,, i., 'yhe dcors of the houfe of Lords are fhut, but ^ II ( 5 } l.ord Chatham's exprefRons are not (nor are they . meant to be) confined. I mean not to comment on your afTortment of the epithets by which you defcribed the a£i of parliament — they were atroci- ettSi Jhallow^ inept. Popery, you faid, was efta- bliihed, the Proteftant church devoted, and the veil of its temple rent afunder -, and that the lCing*s minifters might us well begin to pull down all the proteftant fleeples ; and that thei'e xninifters had at length thrown off the mafque, ^d opened their plan of defpotifm. This plan of defpotifm, my Lord, is the fub- ftitution of an a6h of parliament in lieu of a go- vernment by proclamation % a proclamation which at firft was didated, has been often varied, 9nd till this time has fubfifted by the meer will and pleafure of the crown. It was ifttperium homi- nis that has governed the Canadians fmcc the peace ; it i? impmum kgis that is to govern them hereafter. Is it neceflary for me to explain to your Lordfl^ip which is a flate of liberty, and iVhich of tyranny ? Cpnverfant with the hiftory and fate or nations, you Lordfhip knows that all thole unhappy people who have lofl their liber- ties, haVe feen thofe liberties end precifely where the government of will began. But your Lord- fhip is pleafcd to reverfe this propofition j and you, who in your love of paradoxes formerly told us that Canada was conquered in Germany, now tell us tliat this fame Canada is enQaved, becaufc it is no longer to be governed by proclamation, but by law. Let us ftop for a moment, to fee what the go- vernment of Canada was, under the proclamation which i I' It ' ( 6 ) which you wifli to perpetuate, — it comprehended EaftFlorida, Weft Florida, and the Grenades, to- gether with Canada, countries as different in their tftablifliments as in their foil, and in their cli- mate ; various therefore were the inftruftions given to the feveral governors, and afterwards changed according as information and experience pointed out new fyftems. In Canada the French laws alone prevailed till 1764, then the Englifh laws got fome footing. The governors and offi- cers of juftice ahvays doubtful which to take for their guide, fometimes prcfcring the Englilh, fometimes the French laws, as each feemed ap- plicable to the cafe before them— One year a pro- clamation, another year an inftruftion to a go- vernor, another year a local ordinance, changed the principle, and varied the courfe of their jufti- ciary proceedings. —In this ftate of fluduation, no man knew by what right he could take, or give, inherit, or convey, pofTefs, or enjoy pro- perty J or by what mode or rule he could bring his right to a trial. One neceflary confequencc was a frequent refort to the crown for amend- ment, explanation, and decilion-, " cujus eft con- •' dere, ejus eft interpretari." — And what lefs than defpotifm is the power of the crown, when it can create or interpret, eftablifh or deftroy laws, by virtue of its own mandates ? The condition of thefe wretched people under this government, is defcribed by Lord Coke in the very motto which he chofe for his works, " mifera eft fervitus ubi jus eft vagum aut incog- " nitum." I need not tell your Lordfhip that the parliament of Henry VIII. gave the King's pro- ( 7 ) proclamations the power of law ; it muft give lome comfort to all fober people to fee the parli- ament of this day annul the force of a proclama- tion, in order to eftabliih law, — If therefore I can agree with you, my Lord, in thinking the King's minifters are fo atrocious as to have form- ed any plan of defpotifm, I muft agree with you alfo, that they are more inept and fhallow in the execution, fmce they have let go the very power which you fay they grafp at j and if, my Lord, there could ever be a proper time to infult the King's perfon with a cry of arbitrary power, fure- ly, my Lord, there could have been no time lefs feafonable than that, when he was going to give his aflent in parliament to reftore to the Canadi- ans their birth-right in their laws, and to relin- quilh that very power which conqueil had put in his hands. This proclamation, however, we are told, with the treaty, and other a£ts of royal authority, was confidered as an engagement, under which the colonifts embarked their perfons, and the merchants their fortunes for Cana*k, and that the national faith was plighted to form a government as near as may, be agreeable to the laws of Eng- land •, for it is faid, that none would have em- barked or traded thither, without the profpeft of Englifh laws, and of Englifh juries. How far the real engagement has been kept, and whether any part of the laws of England, that could be executed, have been with-held, we Ihall enquire^^ bye and bye; but firft let me appeal to your Lordfhip's knowledge, and the kncv/lcdge of every man, whether it is necefTary there fhould ■ M^ ? "*v ■, ( 8 ) be a trial of jury, wherever our merchants export their manufadlurcs ? In all our great tbreicn mar- kets there are no juries : In /\merica there arc juries ; but if you will a(k the merchant whether he expeds a furer payment from Hamburgh, 6ff . or from Boflon, I don't believe he will anfwer for the Boftonians. It would be impertinent, my Lord, to introduce what 1 fhall take the liberty to fay upon juries, with any panegyric upon that blefled inilitution. — Its praifcs arc written in in our hearts : but the conftitution of juries may be compared t a fabric, where every mintitc ma- terial is eflentially neccffary to the wfety, ufeful- nefs, and beauty of the whole. Permit rnc then juft to mention what an Englilh jury w, before I aik what a Canadian jury mt^ be. In England, the iheriff in a public nnanner takes the names out of the lift of freeholders, as chance has placed them. He may return fix panels, whicli are leventy- two jurors, and he cannot xttyj^tzi Icfs than four, which are forty-eight at every aHiZCi and that thefe jurors may not become hackneyed in their office, or marked for Icdiidion, none are to be returned, but who have not ierved for two years before (except in Middlcfek, wliere the law has been altered, perhaps for the wor(e, for Middleiex juries though better praiEli led, are not better than other juries ;) and in Yorkfliire, bc- caufe of the largenels of the county, freeholders cannot be returned but once in four yeats. Ihiis, my Lord, the uncertainty of who fliall be jurors, and the nature of the office itfelf com- mencing inftantly, and ending inftantly in public court, g;ves no pofTibility of previous folicitation or f I . ( 9 ) cr fedu(5kioni but dill there follows a right of chaf- Icnge, to exclude every man again fl whom a fuf- picion hes of partiality or prejudice} whether from afFeftion, affinity, or interelt. Let us now, my Lord, fee what is the fund for an Englijh jury in Canada \ the number of freeholders (I do not fay there are none) is fmall in- deed \ there are about three hundred Englishmen, who are houfe-keepers, and of thefe, perhaps thirty or forty are of tlic rank of merchants and tradefmen ; the red are difbanded foldiers, mod of them futlers \ and it is a melancholy confide- ration that their chief traffick is in fpirituous li- quors, of which they fhare pretty largely with their cuftomers the common foldicr^. The courts of juftice fit once a week. The number of the better fort of Englifh will not affowi out, legal panel in the whole year, and infufficient to do the bufinefs of juries, even fuppofing them to give up their time, and every other occupation jto that iervicc only : Mr. Maieres therefore admits that the burthen of attendance would be intolerable without payi and he propofes five (hillings a head for every time they fcrve : thus the office of jury- men would become a trade, a trade indeed) that none of the better fort will follow, but nmft fall of courfe upon thofe veterans who ha^vc left the army for thegin-lhop: fuch muft be the Englilh jury in Canada, without freeholders, witihouc challenge, without cuane;e, and in jfhort without one attribute of an Englifh jury. Corruptio opti- mi fitpeffma^ is a true old aaage, and I fpeak it as a proof of the perfeftion of an Englilh jury, that in an imperfedt ftate it would be the worft C way M 11 i I I i 'if m v!ay of trial upon e^rth. But it may be faid^ therie are above an hundred thoufand Canadians., qualified to ferve upon juries ; why not take your, juries froni them? Becaufe your Lordfhip m\k hardly truft the property of your countrymen to, a jury of Canadians only. But the juries njay be mixed,— in what proportion ? If you take an equal. number of Englifh and of Canadians, how are they to decide at all? Or take an «»^^««/ number, and decide by vote, (as in courts martial) then if the majority of the jury be Canadians, the verdict will be the fame as if the whole was Canadian, or if you throw the majority on the fide of the En-, glilh, where is the impartiality, on which the Ca- nadian can depend ? Befides, the civil law of France, and the trial, by jury in England, are {q diflbnant, that the ' forms of one can never be blended into proceed-, ings of the other; the rules in reipedj: of tenures, alienations, dowers, and inheritances are quite different i — how could the law go dp in the two different languages ? If the Canadian /hould have --« caufe to try, how can his advocaiijprc^^re the procefsfor an Englijb jury? Ox if lie goes to an Englifh attorney, how is the latter to fettle a pro ^ ceeding according to the laws of Paris r- , But in crimtnal law the cafe is different; for to the faft of guilt or innocence, one man is as com- petent as another J and in our own courts, it is the aftual pradtice, where a foreigner is to be tried, to have a jury de medietate lingua ^ one half Englifh^ one half foreigners. I mean not, my liOrd, a general defence of the \^ cciminal. laws of England, as they are of Jate ycar% m i / w years multiplied and extended. Fbr if a moiety of thofe who are condemned were co luffer deatn, 'their blood would cry out for vengeance; and I ^ am perfuaded, that the frequency of pardons, even \vhere mercy is due, gives rife to nine in tea 'x)f the thefts and robberies that are committed. . But the French law of torture to procure confef- fion, is to us unknown. On the contrary, the accufed perfon is, or ought to be, warned from ' •injuring him (elf by his own confeflion. It is but modern law that any man could be convidled oh his own confefTion, and even nOw confcfTions ought not to be admitted without the greateft cau- tion. To us is unknown likevyife all cruelty of punifh- ment; no racks, or wheels, or inrtruments of barbarity nnd tyranny are to be leen in oar execu- tions. From thefe appendages of ddpotifm are the Canadians now delivered, and may live pro- teffled in their fortunes, their honours, and their, lives, under what I trull will Hand for ever, the impregnable forrrefs of an Englifh jury. In the courfe of all the evidence that has been laid before the public, we find that the Canadians have exprefled one conflant uniform wifh to be .governed by their own laws, and that the Englifh have as fervently dcfire^ to be governed by the laws of England. The Canadians are above one hundred thoufand, the Englifli not more than two thoufand men, women, and children. The legif- Jaturc was therefore to confider whether the law and government ought to be adfiotcd to t' »rthe/ There can be no rule for the compofing of laws, but the fentiments and inclinations of thofe who are to be governed by them. In a ftate of nature, liberty-knows no bound but that of fuperidr force. " Jura inventa niietu injutti," and that portion of liberty which each man is willing to give up tor the convenience, fafety, and protection of in- dividuals, of families, of Ib'cieties, and of dates, is the Htf. principle of law. It is true, the multi- tude do not compofe the form, but it mull be framed to TX^rrefpond with their genius ahd tem- per, fo that their underilandings may be prepared to meet, and their hearts ready to embrace it. — The hac^its, cufloms, and manners of a people, arb the mirror in which alone their general dilpofition may be feen 5 even regard muft be had to their prejudices and their weaknefs; for law muft be en- a£ied (as Grotius has expreii^d it) <* cum fenfli humanae imbecillitatis." When Solon was com- plimented on having given good laws to his coun- trymen, his reply was, *' They are only fiich as *' the Athenians are capable of receiving.** EveA the law of God, as propofed by Moies, was lub- initted to the judgment of the people before it was adopted by them.* But it ihefe rules are indifpenfable in thtfortna^ tiotty they apply much more forcibly to the adlual eftablifhment of law. If nothing but violence can impofe law, it would be flill greater tyranny to rob a nation of that law which they approve upon experience, and which is endeared by habit. Allowing then that the Canadians prefer a worfe law • Exodus, ~ it ■■■X ( 13 ) ^aw to a better, even that bad choice is decifive ^ upon the condudl of Great-Britain. They yielded themfelves up to our protedion and our faith. How then can we deprive them of the fird; rights of human nature ? We are now come to that part of the bill which relates to their religion ; and knowing, my Lord» how much you are an admirer of civil liberty, and can repreient it with fb many graces and ad- vantages, I fhould have been glad to have heard that your Lordlhip, with equal grace and dignity, had fupported the caufe of religious liberty. But it feems you declared that no true Proteflant could ' fupport this bill. — No true Proteftant, my Lord, < can be a periecutor ; no true Proteftant can har- bour any fuch idea as that of eftablifhing religion by force. Is the Spaniard in Mexico to be an example for a Proteftant legiflature i Religious liberty is nearer to the heart and con- science than at;// liberty i for why are Roman Ca- , tholics deemed enemies to our conftitution ? Not becaule they don't love liberty, (we owe Magna Charta to them) but becaufe, without fubverting the conftitution and the law, the Romifh religion can never be reftored. The reformation was not* the work of force.— Science had begun to dawn, and to dilpel fuper- „ ftition. The tyranny of Rome was become hate- ful, and her authprity contemptible, when that great event took place. The defires and opinions of the people co-incided with the humours of the King: and the moment parliament had efta- blifhed the Proteftaht religion, it became not the vbice only, but the aft of the whole nation. The cafe ^f; 14 .1 I, .1- f I ii H : t Hi r' ' J, . { H ) - cafe of Canada is totally different. The peopie fbere adhere to their religion^ and did not furrender without a ftipulation and folemn engagement tor ^he free cxercife of it. Your Lordfliip was Mini- H^rwhen the capitulation was granted by Sir Jef- fcry Amherft, and you found no fault with that able General for that prudent and hun^ane con- t:efrion. This freedom was again infurea at the peace, approved and confirmed b; parliament j nor did your Lordfhip, in your long dilplay of eloquence** on that occafion, once blame thai part of the treaty. But you are now pleafed to ■call the meafure atrocious^ Jballow^ and inept ^ be- caufe it has fecured to the clergy their propertyp and becaule it has fubilituted an oath of allegiance inftead of that of fupremacy as required by tlie ift of Elizabeth. The beft diftindtion I know •between eftablifhment and toleration is, that the greater number has a right to the one, and th;: •lefler to the other. The public maintenance of a clergy is inherent X.o eJiahUJhment\ at the Refor- mation, therefore, as much of the church eftatcs as were thought neceflary for its fupport, were transferred to the Proteftant church as by law cftabli-Oied. Surely then, when the free excrcife of the national religion was given to the Canadian nation, it could never be underftood that they were to be deprived of their clergy -, and if not, a national provifion for that clergy^ follows of courfe. • •" It has alfo been aflerted, that the Proteftant religion has been rooted out of Canada by this * Lord Chatham Tpoke three hours and a half dgainft the peri.ce. ' ^^ . bill ivi5 ) ^-'i ..i.U T. bill. The rcverfe is the truth ; for no man who 2j, or may become a Frotcflant, is to pay tythes or any church dues to the Romifli eftablilhment, but the money is ftill to be colledled, in order to conftitute a fund tor the raifing and fupportingof a Proteflant church in Canada. Some have doubted whether thole claufes of the I Eliz. which eftablifli the oath of Iwpremacy, extend to any of his Majcfty's prefent dominions, but fuch as belonged to the crown when that me- morable flatute was made. If this conftraflion is a true one, the Canadians were not obliged ta. - take the oath of ilipremacy; and the new oath which the Quebec bill has eftablilhed, is fo far an acqoifition, and advantageous to the caufe of pro- teftandfm, as it adds to the common oath of alle- giance, and obliges every Catholic of Canada,, who fiiall henceforth exercife any fundion, civil or religions to renounce all pardons and dijpenfations. from any power or per [on wbcmfoever contrary to that oath. But if we are to fuppofe the above- mennoncd conftrudion to be falfe, and that every part of the ifl of Eliz. extends to all his Majefty's prefent dominions, I* will venture then to affert, that the Roman Catholic religion would not have had. , in Canada even the advantage of a toleration, if ^ the oath of fupremacy had not been repealed. For re honeft Roman Catholic Prieft could have takea that oath in the true lenfe of the words in which it is expreflfed ; and if he ventured to exercife any ecclefiaftical fundion without having taken it, he would have been fubjeft to all the penalties and difabilities which the law has in fuch cafe indicted ; ^nd that there arc perfops in Cai^^da ready to com- i^ience m'^ » . "J I if t III r ( 16 ) mence profecutions flgainft every offender of thii kind» we can haiuiy doubt, when we recolledt that one grand jury thought it their duty to make a public prefentment of every Roman Catholic of the province; and muft therefore have confidered them not only as perfons not under the protefbioa of the law, but as offenders againfl it. But tho' the legiflature has thought fit to repeal the oath eflabliihed by the id of Eliz.. aad to fubdicute another oath in the place of it> which in truth is no more than what has been frequently done be- fore ; yet the King's fupremacy is not on that account in any danger, as has been isnorancly and abfurdly fuppofed. The Quebec bill, inftead of giving up his Majefty's fupremacy, afierts it as cflablifhed by the lil of Elizabeth; that is,, in all cafes, ecclefiaflical as well as civil; no eccle- fiaflical ofHcer or minifter can exercife in Canada any authority or jurifciiftion that is not derived from the crown : and if any man fhall hereafter prefume to exercife therein any powers derived from any foreign authority, or jurifdidtion what- foever, or fhall malicioufly and unadvifedly endea- vour to advance or fupporc the claims or preten- fions of the Pope, or of any foreign prince or flate, he will flill be fubjefb to the fame pen^ties to which he would have been liable if the Quebec bill had never pafTed; and the law of England has flill in flore pi^nifhments fully fufficient to deter the molt zealous Catholic of Canada from the commiffion of fuch an offence. Since then your Lordfhip has been fb very fc- vere in your flridtures on this part of the Que- bec bill, let me again implore you to tell us what plan i> h I ( '7 ) iplan you yourfelf would recommend : "Would •you now conilrue ihcfrec exercife of religion to be icfs than the Canadians thought it w'lcn they threw thomfelves upon your faith ? Would you now become their perfecutor? Or would you fbill fufi'er them to enjoy their religion, with its con- iequential property ; but enjoy it not by the con- ftitutional authority of an acl of parliament, but •by virtue of an a£tual exercife of a difpentlng power in the crown ? Your Lordiliip is faid to have aQlrted thele two things •, that the bill was intended to raife a Itrength in Canada, in order to intimidate other ;parts of America i and then, that the bill was in- jurious to the Canadians. The imputfd injury is, that the law of France which is delpotifm, is entailedy and the law of England which is freedom, annulled. There is a dillindtion to be made between the law of France, and the government of France. The one /j, the other is not defpoLlc. Th* law of France originated in freedom. The Franks •%vere a people of Germany, who came and fet- tled in Gaul : their Kings were eledive, and their power (b limited, that all their authority was Je-. rived from their merit and virtue*. They pre- ierved their liberties till the 13th century, when they were deftroyed by th^e contrivances of Enge- raurd deMarigny, the minuier of Phiiip t! c Fair. At this period the delpotifm of France began ; from thence may be dated the lluftuations in the * Reges fx nobllitate ; duces ex virtute farriunt ; nee rr- gibus infiniti vel libtra poteftas. Et duces cxemplo potius ^uam impeiio pra-lunt. Tac, ;!'r I M' i ( i8 ) / adminiftration of their jiifticc, the iniVability of property, the b»inillimehts of tlieir parliaments, together with their Icttres de cachet, none of which, my Lord, are the inftitutions (^ the law, but the exceflcs of that power, which has arifen upon the demolition of law.. What a glorious and happy revoliltion would France experience, could you at this moment reftore her ancient laws free from the controul 6f power ! •" ' ••' ' This is the very bleffing : which the Quebec bill inflates the Canadians, not tor7t from the church, but feparated from the ftate of Rome ; they are in poflefTion of the law which they love, under a government that muft take that law for its guide, where the miniflers of the crown can neither iflue a general warrant, nor imprifon by a lettre de cachet^ but every illegal or opprelTive a6l that would be impeachable and punifliablc againft an Englifhman, will be equally criminal, in refped of the Canadians. One word to the policy of this bill, and I have done. I do not mean to confider the general po- licy, whether England had better have refted up- on her natural innate ftrength, or have become the head of a divided empire, over different na- tions of different faith. Her former ftate, as in the days of Queen Elizabeth, was the theme of poetical rapture. \^ » Oh England model of tJ^inv^ard greatnefs^ i^'-" '• - Like little body with a highty heart. Shakespeare. - Was the fame poet to celebrate your admini- ftration, he would fpeak of England as, Beftriding the world .Uki. a Colojfus. — - ' ^ But ( ":. i ( 19 ) I But, my Lord, whomever we pretend to go- vern, whether natural-born fubjeas or adopted ones, this is certain, that that policy is beft, which is bed calculated to unite them all in one com- mon bond of intereft, affeftion, and duty. * Here, my Lord, let me aik, what was your objed in acquiring^ what in retaining Canada, but that France might not have at her command a body of men, either to attack our American fet- tlements in time of war, or harafs them in time of peace, by inciting the native Indians to invade them ? Would you wilh, my Lord, to fpoil the fruits of your own conqueft in the word manner poflible ? Which would be, to keep the hearts of the Canadians devoted to France, whenever Hie might call them to arms. But there is another confideration which makes the afFcdtion of the Canadians dill more defire- able. — I Ihould be afraid to mention it if your Lordlhip had not proclaimed it already ; it is the prefent ftate of Bofton : Should, my Lord, (which God avert) a fatal necefllty arife, (as your Lordlhip has has been too apt both to prognofti- cate, and toadvife) to coerce America-, do you wifh in that melancholy event, to combine the heart of the Canadian with that of the Boftonian ? Was Canada now in the pofleffion of France, and Ihould the Boftonian relolve upon rebellion, there can be no doubt whither he would- look for fup- port, and for encouragement. But the lofs of that hope may happily difpofe him to better thoughts. If then, my Lord, the Quebec bill is founded in that firft principle of all law, the concurrence and and approbation of the people:^ and if its end is that, for which all government ought to be inilituted, the happinefs of the governed^ tlien will this bill which your Lordihip thought atrocious, Jballow^ and inept, appear confonant to juftice, wifdom, benevolence, and poKcy •, and the legiflature of this country will have followed an illuilrious ex- ample of antiquil^;- in making fuch regulations for the Canadian/i, " ^'^ in fua ripa legibufquc ** fviis, meiite animoque nobifcum agant.'* If Nr ' S- * - -J • - ' 1 •- ' A I V N I % . l fTi J^^vv no!" ■ ■• ■•■• , f •■■■'...; J ■■■' ' s. '•T';^'- : ■-. • -^ f\ «»« n* -1 •' * ■■-» • ■ • t ;- \ jj:^-' /« a feixj days iviU he puhlijhejy in tscvo 'volumes, price tnvo dollars hounds or tnxielve Jhillings Jfitched and covered nuith papery •The late VOYAGE roukd t.he WORLD, in tke Jhip Endeavour, performed hy Captain C.ooic, rxiith Mr, Banks end Dr. Solanper; and puhitJJjed by his Mcijejly^s command, hy Dr. Hawksworth. — Adoffied nvith a map, and other copper-plates,- •-■* * •1W«I ■^•"■/c* *4J '«