^aj %. ^>, ^x IMAGE EVALUATiON TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 II4S ^ 1^ 12.0 2.5 2.2 IIIIlM 1.4 IIIIII.6 V] signifie "A SUiVRE ', le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planchea. tableaux, etc.. pauvent 4tre filmte 4 dee taux de rMuction diff«rents. Lorsque le document ant trop grand pour dtre raproduit en un seul clichA. ii eat film* A partir de Tangle sup4rieur gauche, de gauche * droitn. et de haut en baa. mn prenant la nombra d'Images nicessaira. Las diagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 29 THE BAH. THE BEIS^OH, AMD THE AHOENEI GENERAL FOR LOWER CANADA. The Meeting of the Bar of Montreal, condemning tho conduct of the Attorney (Jenerol for Lower Canada, fa&t been miBrepreBented by a ^ortion of the press in this City. The objects to be attained were neither of a personal or political ohamofer. The Attorney- General, uo doubt, had acquired the habit of treating th«j opinions and sentiments of his con- freres with supercilious indifference and contempt, but injustice to him it must be admitted he merely continued fc practice established before his adreut to o^ce. His conduct, thai^w?, m this resoect excited no neraonal animrMitv. * I rf - In all coantriea, even countries where despotic iastitntions exist, men whose li*as are devoted to the study of the law, ami to the examination and advocacy of important questions affecting the reoipro' obligations of indi7iduals> »nd the duties 6f the governing and the gov Tued towards eacu other 'ave commanded the confidence and respect of their counttymen, anu nave respected each othei . If in some periods, that confidence and respect have betm im- paired, it has invariably been owing to the Members of the profession allowing tliemselvts to lose sight of the maxims and principles, which the welfare o.' society, no less than their own honor, required them to maintain, and thus falling into a condition of sordid subserviency. Whet'ier the Attorney-General of Jhe day believed that such was the present condition (d the Bar of Lower Canadn, it is immaterial to inquire. His conduct on many occasions in- dicated such a belief; it was high time, then, for the Bar todisabuse the mind of the Attorney- General of an error, so fatal to the profession of which he is a Member— so pernicious and dangerous in its con3<^uences to the country. Certainly the imperative necessity of this duty contributed to the late action of the B» ; but the more immediate cause of the Resolutions waa the unconcealed design of the Attorn^- Oeneral to substitute his will for the Law, and his daring attempt to browbeat the highest Judicial authority cf the country into subservient submission to this disgraceful, dangerous and unconstitutional proceeding. The Supreme or Appellate Court had declined proct- lOg with the important bcsinesa before it, becauss one of its Members had been disquali6ed to act as a Judge, by his acceptance of another and exceptional ofiSce. Tho Chief Justice and Mr. Aylwin declared the Judge so appointed, incompetent to sit. The Judge . appointed to this exceptional ofiSce declared in favor of his own competency, and was supported by Mr. Duval. The result was, that the business of the Court was disastrously interrupted, and the incompetency of Mr. Caron prac- tically declared and decided upon. It is unnecessary to discuss the reasons given in support of Mr. Oaron's competency to sit ; but the tendency and ulterior effect of the procedurt of the Attorney-Qeneral io curiously displayed by the weight attempted to be given to the letter of instructions sent to Mr. Caron, as a Commissionar, after his appointment and acceptance of that oflSoe. This letter was an order from the Minister of the day not to commence the work of codification until after the 1st of April, but to oontinue his duties as a Judge, — as if such an order could be properly addi«ssed to a Judge and have the effect of over-riding the provisions of Acts of the Legislature. To have found a Judge willing to receive and obey such an order was not the least extraordinary part of the proceeding. This procwlure tlien,excited the astonishment, and aroused the indignation of the Bar, aud these feelings wera still more exasperated by the manner in which the Attornej -General re- ceived the intelligence of the firm stand taken by the Chief Justice amd Mr. Aylwiu against this illegal uud unconstitutional course. The intention of the Attomey-Genetul to bring the administration of Justice into contempt could scnrcoly be doubted, and a belief amounting to certainty existed, that it was further designed to induce pnd encourage the Court at Quebec increased in number, to recede from the view taken by it at MoiAreal. The Attorney-General must have had in his poEsession the decision of the Court in Montreal before he used the objectionable language nisributa' to him, and when ho ventured to say that he shrugged his shoulders in pity for t! ,> men who could arrive at this conclusion. It is manifest he struck a blow at tho indepondeii= of the Bench, which the Bar were bound to resent To allow such an outrage to pass without rebuke, might have been considered an approval of a course placing the Judiciary completely in the hands of the Executive, and the inevitable result would have been the degradation of the order, and that the country would have been cursed with si" lie Judges entirely subordinste to the caprices of the Executive Government, The resoJulion charging the Attorney liencrftl with intending to bring the Adiministration of Justice into contempt was not meant to imply, as hireling scribes have said, that the At. tomey-General left hit own house with that ol^ect, but that the condition of his mind was 1 f -^i V 30 that of cQQtiimpt fi^ tliq Bench, uiui that L^ie pivof rliureof \va$ established by the lanju^ used on that occasion. It waa an assortitn of superiority, inconsistent with anJ dan- gerous to fitie'instituf >ns. Fleming dM ot leave his boarding-house with the intention of iflayinj his viptim, but tbfi pofsesston of (^anj^ri^tts weapons was coosidered evidence of inten- tion. So also, Mr. Gartier, by iuis bearing towartU the Bar and the Bench, excluded any othe^ interpretation than that of malicious intent. As he d(%lt out justice to that boy, so he nooiv ed it lit the hands of hie order. Mr. Gartier, it may be admitted, may havq been L\isled by the at^dade of some Members of the Bar and Bench towards hint, an attidude inoonsihtent with the independence and spirit which ought to t^nimt^te the members pf a liberal and homrable profession. The Legislature, in an unguarded moment, had placed in the hands of the Attoi uoy-General thi power of selecting members of the Bench for Commissioners, with incr^^ned emoluments, and of promot- ing them from an inferior to a superior grade. It had enablecJ J>im also to name Advocates to new and lucrative appointments. The result was, that the exptctftats, with f«w and honorable exceptiuiis, iiiateou of qualifying tbtoiaelveti for uuch distinctions, occupied thei. time not in the performan>'« of professional duties, but in following the movements and executing with servile alacrity the wishes and directions of the dispenser of so much and valuable patronage. In some respects Mr. Gartier is to be admii-ed. His word is his loud. If ho says he will do a thing, you inay consider it accomplished. The parasites which surround him he treats with disdain. He orders and ho pays. Tjwy obey and receiye their wages, but he does not condescend to terms of friendship with them. The Bar, in their support of the Chief Justice and Mr. Ayl^in, were not influenced by private motives. They did hdi examine the names of the individuals ; they merely considered the principle at stake. They protest against the view taken by one of the newspaper corres- pondents, who coolly admits that if he had thought the language fipplied fo a particular Member of the Bench he would have concurred in the action of the Bar. Such views are not shared in by the Bar. They are not the slaves of the Bench, and they are not disposed for any consideration to agenoutller themselves to any Member of • 3 Beu/'h. The Resolutions complaining of the delay in making Judicial appointments, and pointing out the danger to the independence of the Bench of converting Judges into Gommissioners, were rendeied necessary in consequence of the evil repults attending the power thus conferred on the Attorney-Qeneral, and the delay pe' itted to elapse for itc fixercise. Painful suspicioijs were prevalent, and universal fear and dou! . occupied the minds of those who oughi to have been filled with confidence and trust. The case of the Ministerial shuffle having been decided in Upper Canada in an unsatisfactory manner, the pr">priety of trying the question in Lower Canada was entertained ; but anxieties were felt as to the Bench before whom the question must have been tried. The Shuffler-in-Chief, the Minister responsible for the flagrant evasion of the Law, could appoint tu other and more valuable offices, and it was determined that a question involving his political existence could not safely be trigd by persons who had been reduced into subjection by the improvidence 0^ the Legislature. To avoid the criticisms which the failure of the prosecution would ^lave evoked, the trial of the question was abandoned th** preservation of the ermine from the suspicion of polijcal bias and sabservienoy was paramount — the Bar then could only denounce the pr^^ctices as unwise and unconstitutional destructive alike to the respectability of the Ju(lges and the interests and libeirties of the country. The Resolution declaring tbp"^ thq office of Attorney-General had been degraded into a mere political employment, w,£° A^nded to mark: the condemnation of the Bar of the system of appointing persons as Crown Omcers not (juolified by their legal attainments to discharge the duties of the office. The Attorney -General should be found in Court, and if he were, he would be made to respect his oi;der by the Members of the Bar he wojild encounter ; but the running about corridors and lobbies, and whipping in absentees by telegraphs are now the important duties devolving upon Her Majesty's Attorney-General fijr Lpwer Canada. The course adopted by the Bar, will not be considered by the Bench as adulatory ; but, on the contrary, v.ill be recognised a^ a manly and independent movement, calculated to check the encroachments of tiie Executire, and to impose upon the Bench, the necessity of so com- porting tiiemselves as to obtain the approval of the order to \ybich they belong. It will prevent any tripotage between the Atiorney-General and any Member of the Bench, and save us and the country from political influences in the disposal of the Judicial patronage of the Grown. There were other Resolutions proposed at tha preliminaty meeting, which did not meet with unanimous approval, and in consequence were withdrawn. Thg object of them was to condemn the majority of the House of Assembly who supported Mr. Gartier on the occasion m question, and by that raenns it waa intended to warn th< Members of the profession, in Parliament that tljey had responsibilities towards their order which no selfish personal ad* vantage should induce them to forget. It was also contejnplate^ to convey to the Govemor-Gengral, ttiat he had certain duties Government of this country he might find that he had beeij n)^ af^ accomplice in a state of things in Canada similar to that in the Ionian Islands. I I m I 31 h— tn tlbi liber Homo et BeKU conviTs riderU ; Osptnm ta nldort aon paut ille ouUoib ; Neo Mkid coDJeotat. O0B attention waidb iorests of those whoso wages he receives. The Mp^>ing of the Bar did not consist of fourth, fifth and sixdi rate Advocates. No one knew better than the writer that, in making such an assertion, he would ho nnt^fcau^jpteft by every person having regard for veracity. Whether such misrepresentation was desirable at a distance, where alons it could be credited, we cannot say ; but if such were the instruc- tions received, the party performed his task with no niggard hand-^like Fag in " The Bivals," when be drew die Bill without authority, he hesitated not to affix the endorsements. The B&r of Montreal, no doubt, has great reason to regret the want of unanimity heratoiore prevaUing among them in matters affecting their general interests. The absence of which has en- oonra^ unscrupulous writers to address and speak of them '.n terms of undisguised or '"mpt. In no country where the Bar is depreciated and held in contempt can true libortj exist. When citizens are oppressed and attempted to be enslaved by despticau'^^hority, to whom are confided their intwesu and safety I To lawyers. In every emergency, they have always been in ad- vance, resisting and defying the arbitrary exactions of power. Mbntalembert and the Press itself, looked not in vain for support and defence, when attacked by the most powerful tmd despotic of modern governments. Bewyer and Pufaure nobly fulfilled their calling ; they were not prevented by selfish or personal considerations, from assuming the conduct of the de- fence. Their brilliant and powerful efforts on that occasion have minctified their celebrity ; unbounded respect hallows their name in the hearts of the lovers of freedom in all parts vi the civilised world. In Franco itself, the paid writers of that dynasty were silent. It re- mained for us in Canada to produce writers without decency or shame, who attempt to de{»miate an order, which, if really powerless and degraded, liberty itself would be bnt.a mockery. The slavish horror affected at the irreverent mention of the Goveruor-General would pro- voke a smile, if it were not another ovidence of the determined and painful servility of the writer. The Governor-General, as the Representative of Imperial authority, ought to recollect that his acts, in a private capacity, interest no one beyond his private friends, but that in his public capacity, his -usts are of universal interest, and that the public havn a right to scan them, and to declare that his complete subserviency to the Ministry is beyond even that which responsible Government requires, and, that his sanction of and participation in the scheme by which men vere preserved in their places without going through the ordeal of re- election, low««d the staitdard of regard for English Institutions, and contributed to a diminu- tion of respect f<» Impewal authority — aptly illustrated, by one of his favorite Ministers, no of Indepandence of this Colony. 32 Time, inclination and ability are wanting to follow iliia writer in hii hygterical bursts of anger at the traitment of his idol, no doubt become bo, in consequence of his insolent as< sumption and contemptuous treatment of the Law and the Bench. The Attornoy-Gen< ral, despite the praise lavished upon him by uiiprincipled men, must bo satisfied that the conduct complained of cannot be repeate