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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely Included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s A des taux de reduction diffirents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul cliche, il est fllm6 A partir de Tangle sup6rieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nicessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 RkMARliS t*'- ,*:»■ ON THE % ■■:% PETITION OF THE CONVENTION, AND ON THE PETITION OF THE CONSTITUTIONALISTS. * tY ■) I ; llfl i^,^^ ANTI-IIURIIAUCRAT^ »' \ J i I', MONTREAL : m FRINTID AT THE HEaALD OFFICE. iTla)'9 183d. Ill / /» /-/4?? • %-;.• ■ i 2 1 * ( 1 S s • 1 J 1 \ 1 ■' m^^^ ' s K \ ( ;■'.-. . *. « t PREPACK ^^TT \ n The following^ articles were originally writ- ten for the Montreal Herald amid the multifa- rious occupations of the editor of a daily jour- nal. They are now republished in the form of a pamphlet, that they may be more extensive- ly and more usefully circulated on the other side of the Atlantic. For many of the facts, which illustrate and support my arguments, I am indebted to the Hon. George Moffatt, whose steady support has more than once presented a handsome and gratifying contrast with the burrowing envy of less distinguished men — to the Hon. Peter M*Gill, whose magnanimity in forgetting, what no other man could have forgotten, has nobly revenged an intemperate attack — and to James Charles Grant, Esq., whose unwavering friend- ship and unwearied generosity have surpassed the love of a brother. To Mr. Grant's research, also, I owe the whole of my quotations from republican jurists. On constitutional questions, Mr. Grant, so far as my experience goes, has but few equals in the province, and has, by his vast sacrifices of a2 ,i It '% II time aud money, earned the gratitude and the confidence of every ingenuous and intelligent mind. I would have sent forth this little work ano- nymously, had not the letter of" An Emigrant" to Mr. Secretary Stanley, which I sent home, last summer, in form of a pamphlet, lost moral weight, by being ascribed to some paid ser- vant or other of the provincial government. The signature of ** A nti- Bureaucrat" may require some explanation. The self-styled patriots of Lower Canada indiscriminately style every opponent a bureau- crat, or virtually an office holder. In spite of this definition, I feel in my own conscience, that a man may be the enemy of official corruption, without being the friend of revolutionary vio- lence. I extract a fuller explanation from my iirst editorial article in the Montreal Herald : " During the last twenty-five years, the British inhabitants of Lower Canada have occupied an awk-. ward and anomalous position. Placed between two factions, the democratic and the official, they have been compelled by circumstances to submit at once to the insolence of the former party and to the injustice of tlie latter. Feeling that democratic in- solence, bold in the consciousness of nnmerical su- periority, was more dangerous than official injustice, tempered by shame or by compunction, they mostly ranged themselves on the side of a vacillating and treacherous executive against the deadly enemies of British institutions, British feelings and British in- terests. — For want of a collective voice they could not, as a body, proclaim any intermediate and inde- |)«ndent opinion. tit Wliile tiic Canadians spoke tlirough tlieir Assem- bly, and xtIhIo the government used, as a mouth- piece, either of two subservient Councils, the Bri- tish inhabitants, powerless in the legislature, wanted the dramatic unities of time, place and action, and displayed only detached, desultory and discordant effbrts." — Herald of \ at Januanj, Such have been my avowed sentiments from the first moment of my public career in this colony; and such sentiments fully justify my assumption of " Anti-Bureaucrat" as a signa- ture, I have merely to add, that I have achieved my voluntary task without any other reward, than the gratification of having vindicated the cause of truth and order. ADAM THOM, A.M. Montreal, May 4, 1835. w i \ H ; s l\ 1 1 w t atl ON THE PETITION OF THE CONVENTION. No. T. INTRODUCTION. Tho revolutionists of Lower Canada display a most praiseworthy degree of industry. As a sup - plemrnt to ninety-two resolutions, which were too long even to be read by men of ordinary patience, they prepared a long and laborious petition to the House of Commons, and republished that respect- ful and temperate document in London with criti' cal and explanatory notes. Their unwearied per- severance is worthv of a better cause. -.■.■■■■■■ /■■■•I Their want of tact, however, sometimes neutral- izes their perseverance. Had they confined them- selves to simple and pathetic statements of griev- ances, real or imaginary, they could not have failed to interest in their favour credulous, kind-hearted John Bull ; but, by mingling threats with com- plaints, they have forfeited the sympathy, and rous- ed the indignation of all parties. Liberality has not yet made such progress, as to enable Britons to listen patiently to the menaces of Frenchmen. As the indiscretion of the patriots has roused such o Ji rcclinj; Minon;^ the people ot" Mii^^laiul, one c.miiot l)ut dread the possibih'ty of pus^ionate Ic/^islatlon on the affairs of Canada, and see tlie necessity of su!>- rnitting to the 13ritisli public a temperate review of the alleged grievances and a plain calculation of the chances of rebellion. When John Bull finds that he has been provoked by a tempest in a tea-pot, and that the lofty me- naces, which make so much noise on the other side of the water, excite here only ridicule and contempt, he will change his wrath into laughter, and mag- nanimously proceed, as if nothing had happened, to the investigation of complaints and the redress of grievances. As an individual, connected neither with the provincial government nor with the revolutionary party, I intend, with the permission of the editor of the Herald, to publish, in the columns of that journal, a series of communications, to be afterwards Hcnt home in form of a pamphlet, as an impartial sketch of the actual giievances, whether of Britons or Canadians. For this purpose, I shall take, as a text, the petitions of the respective parties. u ill :>(■ i: t i' Anti-Bureauckat. IMontical, "iOth April, 1835. ■ '■} a4 No. II. ON THE rUESUMKD NECESSITY Ol' CONCILIATION. In mv iiitioductorv coininuiiication, I endea- voured to shew that just views of Canadian affairs \rere much wanted at liome; and I now proceed to clear away the rubbish industriously ii.'.vd up by tho boastful patriots in the way of an efjuitable adjust- ment of the conflicting claims of Canadian parties. The patriots, conscious of the weakness of their cause, have attempted to make threats do the work of arguments, and to intimidate the liritish Gov- ernment into most unjust and most misckievous concessions. I am not now bound to prove that the demands of tlie patriots are unjust or mischiev- ous. My sok object in this communication is to shew the folly and emptiness of the menaces of re- bellion. Lower Canada contains about 400,000 French Canadians and about 1jO,0()0 inhabitants of British origin. The Germans and Dutchmen are not so numerous as to be distinguished fiom the two other races \ my summary classification. Mr. Papi- neau's '' people" comprehends a vast majority of Canadians and a very miserable minority of men of British origin. Such, I admit, are the compo. r.ent parts of Mr. Papineau's " people ;" but I do ,,,: Mut ad'uit, thai every individual, who shouts fur Mr. Tapiueau, is also willing to light for Itini. Talk- ing and fighting, as IVIr. Josypli Ilunic well knows, are very different things. But if figiiting weie in the abstract as easy as talking, Mr. Pnpinoau would meet one very for- midal)Ic obstacle in attempting to arm his followers against the Brilii^h Government. To say nothing of his want of courage, or his want of money, he would find that any proposal of insurrection would at once open the eyes of his deluded followers to the real nature of his designs, and hurl him for'jcver from his present bad eminence. Wire I qftt writ- ing for readers on the other side of the w^ter, I should be ashamed to discourse so gravely on the probabilities of a Canadian insurrection. Mr. Fa*^ pineau's followers, whether French or British, do not generally fathom his ulterior views ; but a di- rect summons to take up arms would lay open the man's real objects to the blindest of his admirers. Mr. Papineau's Canadian followers are general- ly well affected towards the Imperial Government; and his British tail, consisting chiefly of runaways from the United States, though not well afFectcd towards the British government or towards any go- vernment at all, would certainly not hazard their lives for the establishment of a French republic. The latter, who are equally a disgrace to Canada and to the American republic, are unworthy even of this passing notice ; and the loyalty of the former, if it has been shaken at all, has been shaken only by in- famous falsehoods. The patriots have actually en- a5 4 ji^ ilt'avouretl tt) ilfliidt' tlieir ignorant counliymen in- to tiic belief, tluit every enii/^rimt comes out to Ca^ nada with the view of robbing some native or other of his farm. Tlie partial success of so tiagrant a misrepresentation throws the keenest ridicule on the " public opinion" of Mr. Papineau's " people." But I admit, for the sake of argument, the pug- nacious and rebellious disposition of Mr. Papineau's " people," and create him, for the occasion, com- mander in chief of all his able-bodied adherents. What will the field-marshal attempt as his first ex- ploit? Whithersoever he may turn his eyes, he sees a bold front of British breasts ready to receive him. From Gaspe to Hull, the Canadians are surround- ed by men of British origin ; so that, without tak- ing into account the British inhabitants or the Bri tish garrisons of Montreal and Quebec, my l)rave field-marshal would be, in more tiian one respect, very like *' a scorpion girt by fire,'* and would, like the real scorpion, sting himself and all his gallant nrmy to death. As to the probability of success, 1 quote tiie He- rald : — " The patriots c.mningly, as they imagine, allude to the apparently analogous case of the American Revolution, and discharge a few pop-guns in the ears of his Majesty's Ministers, as a foretaste of an- other Saratoga. They shut their eyes to the many points of contrast between the American revolution, that has been, and the Canadian revolution, that is to be. In point of numbers, the Americans were to the inhabitants of the United Kingdom in the propor- tion of one to four ; the Crinadianf;, on tho contrary H arc in the proportion oi^ one injif'ff/. To make out the analogy, Mr. Papineau must prove that one Canadian is as formidable as twelve Americans and a half. After he has proved that an Atnerican blow is only 8 per cent., the seigneur's share as it were, of a Canadian whack, he has got a great deal to do before he gets the length of a Saratoga, or even of a Bunker's Hill. The Canadians live not in the woods, but in " a beautiful country and well clear- ed," like our own dear Scotland, and are more open to foreign attacks than perhaps any people in the world. Crowded as they are on the level banks of the St. Lawrence, and other navigable rivers, they could be reached almost in their most distant set- tlements by the long forty-eight pounder of a gun- boat, wheeling on a pivot and describing successive circles of fire and blood from one end of the seig- niories to the other. We cannot but smile at our own seriousness ; but, for the edification of the good folks at home, to whom impossibilities may seem possible, even ridiculous and empty threats must be dissected and exposed. Britain moreover, has stronger positions in regard to Lower Canada than what she had in regard to her American colonies. To say nothing of the loyal inhabitants of Lower Canada and of the neighboucing provinces, who would sweep, with the rapidity and force of an inun- dation, the banks of the St. Lawrence, Britain holds Quebec, the Gibraltar of North America, a fortress which is absolutely impregnable at least to a tumul- tuary rabble of militia, in the AmtTican colonies she had not a single stronghold. It miy be well also to remind Mr. Papineau that the Americans, though incomparably more power- ful than the Canadians, were at one time well beat- andj but for the hereditary spirit of the heroes on of Crcssy, Poictiers and Agincourt, would have ven up the contest in despair. 'I'ho French vorhially say of the English, that they fisT ♦lioy ought to surrender, and conquer. g>- pro- ght, M'licn wTici ICV i! M ,,.) I if i M i ^1 )P: Ml ^is^ Hi ought to be conquered. Can EnglanJ return the compliment? Is Louis Joseph Papineau a second George Washington ? Have his followers the mo- ral energy of the American insurgents? Ex ipso dncit opp.s animumque ferro is a motto, applicable ra- ther to Canada as a country, than to the Canadians as a people. The active valour of Frenchmen it would be idle either to depreciate or to praise; but in passive fortitude the fiery Frank must yield to the firm, stubborn, dogged spirit of his hereditary ri- val. An insurrection is awfully improbable ; a suc- cessful insurrection is absohitely impossible. The threats, as we have already hinted, are intended chiefly to frighten away emigrants from the hap- piest and most peaceful country in the world. The weapons of war are merely the tongue and the pen. The swords are still in the shape of plough-shares ; the fire-arms are used only for shooting sparrows or powder. " ■ I have said nothing about the share that the Bri- tish Isles and the other provinces of British Amer- ica would be disposed to take in the struggle. Bri- tain would, of course, assert her supremacy over her rebellious vassals ; while in Upper Canada and the Lower Provinces all parties tvould be cordially uni- ted to keep the command of the St. Lawrence out of the hands of an anti-commercial fiction. But the United States are to assist my field-mar- shal. The United States will not rashly quarrel with m empire which once already annihilated their commerce, and could, on the shortest notice, anni- hilate it again. Would the acquisition of Lo\ver Canada be an adequate compensation for the ine- vitable ruin of their foreign trade ? Sound policy, in truth^iwould make the American republic reject 8 Lower Canada as a free gift. The acquisition of the St. Lawrence would seriously injure the west- ern trade of New York, Philadelphia and Balti- more, and would, therefore, be by no means accept- able to the states of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The sectional jealousy, moreover, of the southern states would resist any addition to the already overwhelming power of the northern and the middle portions of the republic. The glittering prize of Lower Canada might dazzle superficial ob- servers ; but those, who look below the surface of tilings, would not be tempted by the dangerous and fatal bait. But I would wish to impress deeply on the mind of every member of the Imperial Parliament my own conviction, that the French Canadians would not, under any circumstances, call in the aid of the Americans against the British Government. Against the unwelcome tide of British immigra- tion, they are partially protected by the broad /it- lantic, the icy barriers of half the year, and Mr. Spring Rice's emigi ant-tax-law ; but against the torrent of American s war ins they could oppose no'^hing but the shadowy barrier of a parallel of la- titude, guarded neither by Mr. Spring Rice nor by Mr. Winter l^rost. An American majori- ty would soon give Mr. Pfuueau enough of his elective principle and his elective institutions. But the political degradation would be less sen- sibly felt by Mr. Papineau's *' people" than the financial oppression. The revenues, which at pre- sent defray or, to speak more correctly, ought to de- 1 1 •' 1 iJ-o ■i >- ■ )| } i 11 m lii .1 1 . 9 tViiy flic oiipctisos of tilt' provincial administration, would be swallowed up by the general government . and Mr. Papineau's ** people," when directly tax- ed for the support of the " State Government" of Lower Canada, would find the republican whistle rather expensive. From these premises 1 may venture to infer, that IVfr. Papineau will never don the warrior's habili- ments, in reliance either on his own strength or on American aid. The British population, however, labours under some real grieyances; and, if the Imperial Govern- ment IS willing to consult at once policy and jus- tice, I cannot too strongly recommend to its early and serious consideration the well founded com- plaints of the British and the Irish inhabitants of the province. Anti- Bureaucrat. Montreal, April '24, I8Ji3. No. in. i: ';. ON THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. I take the following passage from the commen- tary of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman on the bum- ble petition of the Convention. " The first grievance of wliich the people of Ca- nada complain — a grievance which, in point of mis- chievousness, by far exceeds all others^ which in fact is the parent of a host of complicated evils and abuses — is the vicious constitution of Legislative Councils. Theoretically, that body is said to be chosen by the Crown, (31 Geo. 3, chap. 31, sec, 3,) but practically it is self-elected. A very few words will explain this." For the sake of argument, I admit that the Le- gislative Council is ** self elected," and agree with Messis. Nelson and Chapman in denouncing its ** vicious constitution" as incurable by any " par- tial remedy." But my logic, to satisfy my con- science, must be even-handed, and must not be con- tented with merely the one-sided application of a general principle. If ' self-elected" bodies are mischievous and ought to be abolished, I must ex- tend the principle, with or without the consent of Messrs Nelson and Chapman, bothi to the legisla- tive assembly, that docs exist, and to the legislative council, which is to exist in the s]jolden aire of elec- J.;, i ^* i .■^( i » H i^i ■'■'4 if 11 tivu institutions, (^an any man, can even any pa- triot of common understanding, deny that the As- sembly of Lower Canada is, in tlie strictest sense fif tlie expression, virtually ** self-elected ?" Can any reasonable being doubt, that the liberal mem- bers, as they absurdly and dishonestly style them- selves, of the assembly are nominated and appoint- ed by the dominant majority ? Who made the ob- scure editor of the Vindicator a law-giver ? The electors of Yamaska ? No. The mandate of Mr. Papineau *' Elect the bearer" ? Yes. Mr. Papi- neau's desire to cover the real nature of the contest by the mask of a few English names, however worthless, induces him to force on his vassals can- didates entirely unknown and thus blindly to prove that the assembly is virtually "self-elected." I give the instance of Dr. O'Callaghan's nomination, rather to illustrate my meaning to readers on the other side of the water, than to establish on this side of it the palpable truth of my position. Mr. Papineau's faction, wh;ch was originally orga- nized to influence the e'ections in the Island of Montreal, has extended its ramifications over almost the whole province so as to com- mand the mass of the elections. Whether Mr. Papineau and his colleagues echo the real opinions of the ** people" of Lower Canada, T do not consider of any moment to riy present ar- gument. Whether they do so or not, I have prov- ed from stubborn facts, that a majority of the as- sembly is " self-olected." It may be necessary to apprise people at home, where majorities and mino- I -J 111 rities of the same liouse iluctuate, and, to a certain extent, amalgamate with eacli othc, that ''the ma- jority" of the assembly of Lower Canada is ** the HOUSE." It is factiously banded together for the embarrassment of the government, for the legal op- pression of the loyal population and for the illegal appropriation of the public revenue ; and, though, on trifling points, Mr. Vanfelson, leader of the Que- bec wing, and Mr. Papineau, commander of the Montreal wing, sometimes disagree and call each other ** liar" with the most amiable impunity, yet the two wings are always ready to present an un- bioken phalanx to a common enemy. If, then, the Assembly be "self-elected," it, ought, on the unkind showing of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, to be abolished. It is too bad in the emissaries of the Assembly to put it into " Sche- dule A." But this is not all their wickedness. If the assembly is " self-elected," a legislative council, returned by the nominal constituents of the assembly, must also, be ** self -elected." Now as a " self-elected" body ought to be abolished, Mr. Papineau may save some tiouble by not esta- blishing an elective council at all. J vr^^- The argument, therefore, of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman rids the country of both houses of the legislature, and revives the good old times of a go- vernor and council. Messrs. Nelson and Chapman abolish the present legislative council. Following kumbly in their wake, I have abolished the present assembly and stifled in the bud the proposed elec- tive council. '1 ^; I I 1 1^1 f I;l Such of my leacltTs, us have merely a vague no- tion of the American Constitutioni may require some explanation as to my presumed identity of the existing assembly and an elective council. These readers may think, that, because the two houses of Congress are not identical in opinions, the assembly and an elective council would not be so. Hefore I attempt to explain the several gror.nds x>f distinction between the two Houses of the Ame- rican Congress, I siiall quote the opinion of the great Jeffeison, in regard to the Constitution of his native state Virginia, That opinion will clearly show that even the leader of the democracy, pro- perly so V died, strongly disapproved such a despo- tism, as the identity of the Assembly and the Le- gislative Council could not fail to establish. " All the powers of government, legislative, executive and judiciary, result to the legislative body. The con- centration ot' these in the same hands is precisely the definition of a despotic government. It will be no alleviation, that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one. One hundred and seventy-three despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic of Venice. An elective despotism is not the government we fought for ; but one, which should not only be founded on free principles, but in which the powers of government should be so divided and balanced among several bodies of magistracy, as that no one could transcend their legal limits without being * ' "1 14 ellcftually chocked and reiilrained by the others."— At the date of these observations, Virginia had but one legislative body ; and experience proves that two identical legislative bodies in Lower Canada would, like the Assembly of Virginia, soon usurp ** all the powers of government, legislative, execu- tive and judiciary." But we hasten to consider the several grounds of distinction between the two houses of the American Congress. Circumstances, altogether unconnected with general principles, fortunately compelled the Ame- ricans to divide the national legislature into two iiouses. ' . The coiiflicting pretensions of the larger and the smaller states could not have been reconciled in one and the same legislative body. Had each state, according to the claims of the smaller states, returned the same number of representatives, a small minority of the people might have ruled a large majority. Had each s^ate, according to the clainis of the larger states, returned a number of members proportioned to its population, a small minority of tlie »tate.> might have ruled a large majority of them. The former scheme by fettering the popular will, would have been an oligarchy ; the latter, by undermining the independence of the respective states, would have been not a federal republic but a consolidated democracy. The conflicting claims,afccr much difficulty, were reconciled by giving the se- nate to the states and the house of representatives to the people. In the upper hou^e, therefore, the states arc equal, and have two members each j li M J .1 W 1^1 i i. ■ fl •?! U • 'I 1/) while, in the luwoi one, each stutc has a number o\ representative? proportioned to its population. In the senate, little Delaware is equal to New York ; in the house. New York is equal to forty Delaware^. The frameis of the constitution, not contented with this radical and unavoidable distinction be- tween the two branches of the national legislature, made these bodies in almost every respect as differ- ent as two elective bodies can be made. They en- acted, that every second year the senate should be dissolved to the amount of one third of its mem- bers, and the house of representatives wholly dis- solved. They provided, moreover, that the repre- sentatives should be elected by the people, and the senators by the legislatures of their respective states. By this last provision, they, in effect, readered the .•lection of senators independent of any momentary excitement, so that the two delegations of the same state to the respective houses of Congress might differ essentially in character. If my views of the predominant influence of the revolutionary faction be correct, all the ingenuity of man could not prevent the perfect identity of two elective houses of legislation in Lower Canada. I have hitherto argued on the assumption that the legislative council is virtually "self-elected.** In my ne.(t article, I shall prove that it is not so. A NTi- Bureaucrat. April 28, 1835. •ill No. IV. n OK TUB LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. In my last communication, I proved that the charge of being " self-elected" applied with more force to the Legislative Assembly than to the Le- gislative Council ; that an elective Council, how- ever constituted, would be a counterpart of the As- fienibly ; and that the admitted collisions between the two houses of the American Congress formed no argument against the alleged identity of two elective branches of the Legislature of Lower Ca- nada. I proved all these points on the assumption that the Legislative Council, as at present consti- tuted, is "self-elected." I now proceed to show, in answer to Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, the interpreters of the *' humble petition," that the Legislative Council is not, in any sense of the language, " self-elected. " — Listen to the interpreters : — One of the duties of the Executive Council is to advise the Governor. The Governor, on his first arrival, is presumed to be ignorant of the con* dition of the colony. The Executive Council is his board of instructors. When an office becomes vacant, the Governor applies to his " Privy Coun- cil" — their own class is naturally represented as con- taining the only persons ehgihle or qualified to fill tlie. 4 .* ■p % 17 office. From this nnxle of fillin^C up.all oflicos, the iwo Cuuiicils, tlie jiidicinry, and llio ofKce-liolders, li'ive lu'conie identical, not merely ii« point of inte- rest, but in point of fac*^. I'lie Kxecutive (-"oun- eil, for instance, consist** of ei^lit members : two are Legislative ('ounciiiors also — and all are lucra- tive place-holders, with the exception of two, and of these two, one enjoys the distinction of inde- pendence, only in consequence of having l>cen dis- missed from tiip oftice he did hold for malversation thereor. This passage is based on the tacit assumption, that the Executive (^ouncil, in regard to the dis- pcHking of executive patronage, is a council not merely of advice but of control. On this point, I derive my information from letters published by the ablest and most independent man in the colony^ under the signature of " A Citizen." By the Con- stitutional Act, the Executive Council ** is made a Council of Control, as to the erection of parsonages and the endowment thereof." " By the King's in- structions, it is also a Council of Control, so far as the granting ot lands is concerned. It is much to be lamented that it was not also made a Council of Control, as to the nominaticm to public offices, and as tc the removal from them." The last sentence of my quotation, by exhibiting the independent feeling of " A Citizen," must add weight to his statements. Since, then, the Executive Council docs not, either negatively or positively, dispense the execu- tive patronage, I can aflTord to concede the assumed identity of the two Councils, without assenting to the inference of Messrs. Nelson and Cl:apman, as 18 to tilt* ^'st'lt'-elcctcd" clKiracler uf the Legislative Cotincil. The constitutional cause is so strong;, that it can nflbrd to argue almost every point on the principles of its adversaries. As the Legislative Council is appointed not l)y the Executive Coun- cil but by the Governor, it cannot, by any per- version of lan(;uage, or by any extravagance of hy • pothcsis, be said to elect itself. Whether Messrs. Nelson and Chapman did, or did not, understan TIk' st:jlt'nic»nt ul' Messrs. Nelson and CliapiYKin disproves, without any argumentative exposure, tho alleged identity of the two Councils. A Legisla- tive Council of thirty-slv members contains two Executive Councillors ; an Executive Council ot* cicjht members. contains twc Legislative Councillors. Two compounds are identical, when the larger con- tains an eighteenth part of the ingredients of the smaller, and the smaller a fourth part of those of the larger. Oh chemistry I Oh mathematics I Oh common sense ! Oh Messrs. Nelson and Chapman! I have already shewn incidentally on the disin- terested testimony of " A Citizen." that the Le- gislative Council is independent of the govern- ment. . Of thirty-six members, only ten hold official si- tuations. Since 1829 have been appointed twenty- one legislative councillors, unpolluted by the name of a single officer of the government. So unvary- ing a course of liberal policy has not only rendered the legislative council substantially independent, but, what is perhaps equally important, clearly de- monstrates the disposition of the government not to avail itself improperly even of subservient votes. Such a disposition is often brought into play by the culpable listlessness of many independent members, who, by absenting themselvcs,enable the government to command a majority, & thus to shew in bold re- lief its disinterested forbearance. Public opinion, too, is more active and intelligent, than at onetime it was. Thus writes ** A Citizen" in 1832. ** It is not more than five years since strangers have Vi 'i i : Viih 2;) 'C^ been admitted to the debates of the legislative coun- cil, and it is only since the opening of the present session of the legislature that we can read them in the public newspapers. These are happy indica- tions, and shew a great and salutary change in the public opinion." , Having thus proved that the Legislative Coun- cil, as at present composed) is independent of the government, and that an elective council would be dependent on the assembly, or rather a counterpart of it, I close this communication with the opi- nions of two American writers in favour of a second branch of the legislature, independent as well of the lower branch as of the Executive. One of these republicans, in treating of the se- nate, thus eloquently expresses himself. " Another and most important advantage arising from this ingredient is, the great difference which it creates in the elements of the two branches of the Legislature; which constitutes a great desider- atum in every practical division of Legislative pow- er. In fact, this division (as has been already in- timated) is of little or no intrinsic value, unless it is so organised, that each can operate as a real check upon undue and rash legislation. If each branch is substantially framed upon the same plan, the ad- vantages of the division are shadowy and imagina- tive ; the visions and speculations of the brain, and not the wakmg thoughts of statesmen or patriots. It may be safely asserted, that for all the purposes of liberty, and security of stable laws, and of solid institutipns, of personal rights, and of the protec- tion of property, a single branch is quite as good as two, if their composition is the same, and their spirit and impulses the same. Each will act as the 124 otli'jr docs; and each uill be led by some common influence of ambition or intrigue or passion, to the same disregard of public interests and the same in- dilFerence to the prostration of private rights. It will only be a duplication of the evils of opptession and rashness with a duplicaton of obstruc ion to effective redress. In this view the organization of the Senate becomes of inestimable value" Again he says, ** The improbability of sinister combina- tion will always be in proportion to the dissimilar- ity of the goniu? of the two bodies • and therefore every circumstance consistent with harmony in all proper measures, which points out a distinct organ- ization of the component materials of each, is desi- rable." The other, treating of the necessity of placing the powers of government in different hands, says : ** The division of the Legislature into two sepa- rate and independent branches, is founded on such obvious principles of good policy, and is so strong- ly recommended by the unequivocal language cf experience, that it has obtained the general appro- bation of the people of this country. One great object of this separation of the Legislature into two houses acting separately, and with co-ordi- nate powers, is to destroy the evil effects of sudden and strong excitement and ot precipitate measures, springing from passion, caprice, prejudice, person- al influence, and party intrigue, and which have been found by sad experience, to exercise a potent and dangerous sway in single assemblies. A hasty decision is not so likely to arrive to the solemnities of a law when it is to be arrested in its course and made to undergo the deliberation, and probably the jtaalous and critical revision, of another and a rival body of men, silting in a different place, and under better advantages, to avoid the preposses- sions and correct the errors of the other branch. The I-.egislaturc of Pennsylvania and Georgis con- n ^'M •I I. r i '■ ' y ) i ' * ■1 • - • -4 \ ■2o si sisU'd oii^inallyot' u.'biii'^lc lionse. The in.^tabilil y and passion which marked tlicir pioccedings, were very visible at the time, and tlie su!)ject of mucli public animadversion ; and in the subsequcr.t re- form of their constitutions, the people were so sen- sible of this defect, and of the inconvenience they had suffered from it, that in both States a Senate was introduced. No portion of the political history of mankind is more full of instructive lessons on this subject, or contains more striking proofs of the faction, instability, and misery of States under the dominion of a single, unchecked Assembly, than those of the Italian Republics of the middle ages, and which arose in great numbers, and with dazzling but transient splendour, in the interval between the fall of the Western and East- ern Empire of the Romans. They were all alike ill-constituted, with a single unbalanced Assembly. They were all alike miserable, [and ended in similar disgrace. Many speculative writers and theoretical politicians about the time of the commencement of the French revolution, were struck with the simplicity of a Legislature with a single Assembly, and concluded that more than one House was useless and expen- sive. This led the elder President Adams to write and publish his great work, entitled * A Defence of the constitutions of Govern- nient of the United States," in wliich he vindicated with much learning and ability the value and ne- cessity of the division of the Legislature into two branches, and of the distribution of the different powers of the Government into distinct depart- ments. He reviewed the history and examined the construction of all mixed and free Governments, which had ever existed, from tiie earliest records of time, in order to deduce with more certainty and foicc this great practical truth, that single assem- blies without check or balance, or a Government with all authority collected into one centre, accord- 26 in;* to tlie notion ot* jMr. Turgot, wcru visionary, violent, intriguing, corrupt, and tyrannical domin- ations of majorities over minorities, and uniformly and rapidly terminating their career in a profligate despotism." As this communication is already too long, I must postpone the farther consideration of the sub- ject till tomorrow. Anti-Bureaucrat, April 29, 1835. 'Vt -i :>,. '■ " ' i ( ^■i'^f < .■ II lil No. V. '''. 1 w ON THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. II Having proved, in my last communication, thai the Executive GoTcrnment does not apply to any sinister purpose its partial influence in the Legisla- tive Council, I now proceed to shew that the Exe- cutive Government ought to be represented in the Legislature. On this subject, I am happy to avail myself, for the sake both of myself and of my read- ers, of the opinion of an enlightened republican. An American Judge, in commenting on the prac- ticable means of preventing the encroachments of the legislature on the Executive and the Judi- ciary, says : — " On tlie other hand, if an appeal to the people, or a Convcntio 1, is to be called only at great distances of time, it will afford no redress for the most press- ing mischiefs. And if the measures which are sup- posed to be infractions of the Constitution, enjoy popular favour, or combine extensive private inte- rests, or have taken root in the habit of the Go- vernment, it is obvious that the chances of any ef- fectual redress will be essentially diminished. " But a more conclusive objection is, that the de- cisions upon any such appeal, would not answer the purpose of maintaining or restoring the Constitu- '28 \a\ tional equilibiiuin ut' tho Guvernindut. Tlie re- marks of a certain periodical on this subject aru so striking that they scau'ely admit of abridgement, without impairing their force : * We hava seen that the tendency of Republican Governments is to the aggrandizement of the Legislature, at the expense of the other departments. The appeals to the peo- ple, therefore, must usually be made by the executive and judiciary departments. But whether made by one or the other, would each side enjoy equal ad- vantages on the trial ? Let us view the difTerent situations. The members of the executive and ju- diciary departments are few in number, and can be personally known to a small part only of the people. The latter, by the mode of their appoint, ment, as well as by the nature and permanency of it, are too far removed from the people to share much in their proiessions. *' The former are generally objects of jealousy, and their administration is always liable to be dis- coloured and rendered unpopular. The members of the legislative department, on the other hand, are numerous. They are distributed and dwell among the people at large. Their connexions of blood, of friendship, and of acquaintance embrace a great proportion of the most influential part of the society. The nature of their public trust im- plies a personal weight with the people, and that they are more immediately the confidential guar- dians of their rights and liberties. With these ad- vantages it can hardly be supposed that the advetse party would have an equal chance of a f&vourablc •ill n ii ij ^ *i«, Hi' /■; 1^' dm i ■ m three ot the bills, as illustrations and proofs of my general remarks. , r I copy the tabular statement of Messrs. NcIscr and Chapman : — Statement of the number of bills, which, having originated in the House of Assembly, were cither rejected by the Legislative Council, or amended so as to procure iheir final rejection by the As. sembly — exhibiting the rb'itructive character of the said Council. '" • -^^ 1 Year, Rejected by the Council. Amended by Council. Total. 1822 8 8 1823 14 r 16 1824 12 5 17 1825 12 o 17 1826 19 8 27 1827 • No Session. No Session. No Session. 1828> 1829S 16 « 24 1830 16 , 8 24 !>^31 11 a 14 i832 14 8 22 J !j'.ALf 122 47 169 ;<■' ^'hc Council is disingenuously accused of having virtually rejected 169 bills. Now, even according to the table, what are the facts ? Of these bills the Assembly had rejected forty- spven, and ihe Council a hundred and tiventy-ttvo. Tho sxces? of "obstructive character," therefore, on the part of the Legislative Council was the re- jection, not of a hundred and sixty-nine but of seventy 'five bills. I may, moreover, ask, of what units the sum total is composed. Jn evciy session, '•> \ S 14- I III?" „,< 37 the rejected bills of the preceding one were again brought forward ; so that, instead of a hundred and sixty-nine bills, the sum total could not have ex- ceeded thirty or forty bills. By noticing the per- fect identity of 1824 and 1825, and of 1828—29, and 1830, an intelligent reader must have gathered the truth from the very table of Messrs. Nelson and Ciiapman. Tlie Asrombly, eager to accumulate charges against the Legisla i Council, has actually con- descended to pass confeit jdly pernicious bills, rely- ing on the " obstructive character" of the upper house. On this point I quote the words of " A Citizen," whose evidence is the more valuable, as the writer, with the natural indignation of an in- genuous mind, denounces the by-gone domination of the official party. / musty at the same timey say^ that the charge con- tained in the petitions to which this report applies y against the Legislative Councily for not having pas- sed useful hills sent up to them by the Assemhlyy wasy if not in ally at least in very many instancesy entirely lailhout fotmdation. To enter into the grounds of this opiniony would much exceed the limits of this pa- per, inasmuch as tt would neeessarily involve an inves- tigation and examination of the various public mea- sures, the rejection of which is complained of by the Assembly^ — Ab uno disce omnes. — A hlH for a new organization of the courts of justice, was introduced by the Honorable Dennis Benjamin Viger, then a mem- ber of the Assembly, and passed for several successive years by that body, and sent up to the Legislative Council, where it was rejected. Seeing the temper of mind in which the Legislative Council then was, the Assembly became afraid, that^ m 38 although the Couneil had oftentimes rejected it, (and I believe that no man ean read it without saying they rightly rejected it) they would now adopt ity and that the whole judicial system would he thrown into absolute and irretrievable covfusion ; they, therefore^ found themselves constrained to reject the bill in question, by a large majority, in the season immediately after the pulUcatiop of the Canada Repoi't* On the subject of tlie assembly's rejection of bills, which the council had amended, J must be a little more explicit. The assembly has, for many years, systematical- ly attempted to usurp the whole power of legisla- tion. With this view, it has embarrassed the go- vernment by refusing the supplies, obstinately maintained the absurd and pernicious system of tem- porary laws, and deemed any amendment, proposed by the council, in one bill, a just ground for rejecting any given number of bills. The last remark, how- ever incredible it may seem, is literally true. During the last session, a mass of temporary bills, which were to expire on 1st May, were huddled into one bill, with the view either of compelling the council to pass them all or of incurring the odium of causing the rejection of many useful bills. It will amuse and astonish my readers in England to know, that the council's dislike of the Jury Bill involved the rejection of the bill for collecting tolls on the Lachine canal. To illustrate my remarks as to the monopolis- ing ambition of t^e Assembly, I take the first of the bills, enumerated by Messrs. Nelson and Chap- man. 'i '0 rfs*. t ht'i >s ^iM ao " 1. — An Act to rcjTuIutc thc.oflico of Ruceivtu- Gcneral. ('I'lie people hud already been iol)l)ed by one Receiver- General, Sir J. Caldwell, and desired security for tlie future. )" One would suppose that the legislative council had refused to exact security from the Receiver- Genera\ Such a supposition, however, would be diametrically opposite to the facts. The bill, as it was sanctioned by the assembly, would virtually have prevented the Receiver- General from finding security ; an amendment, proposed by the council, would have enabled him to do so. The bill mortgaged to his Majesty the real pro- perty of thc» sureties fur ever ; the amendment re- leased the sureties at the expiration of eighteen months afttr the death or resignation of the Ile- ceiver-GeiiCral. The obligation of the bil! would not have been undertaken by any prudent man ; that of the amendment would have had a safe and definite limitation. Land subject to a perpetual mortgage could uot be sold, unless under very dis- advantageous circumstances ; and the efleet ^Jl the l)ill, in short, would have been to deter men from becoming sureties and to circumscribe His Majes- ty's prerogative. It may be strongly doubted, whether even tlie law for the ratification of titles would clear real property from his Majesty's mortgage, for his Ma- jesty, besides being generally a privileged creditor, never loses a right through prescription. Anti-Bukeauciiat. o, i i No. VII. if V 'Ml ON THE AI,l,i:(-I It ABIISr.S Ol TIIJ MCirNf-Ai IVE (OUN- ('II.. Ill rcsiiniiiig the conskleralion of the hill.-j, ve- jcoted or amended by the Legislative Coiineil, I must again express my intention, rather of expos- ing tlie (lisingenuoiisness of JVIessrs. Nelson and Cliapman, the emissaries of the revolutionary fac- tion, than of entering on a minute discussion of the several bills. If F can convict my opponents of (lisingenuousness, I shall spare myself and my rea- ders the necessity of wading through studied mis- representations of individual facts, for disingenuous- iiess is at once a proof of a bad disposition and a confession of a bad cause. Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, then, have been f^uilty of threefold disingenuousness. Firstly — In the list of enumerated bills, they confound those, tliat had been rejected, with those, that had been only amended, and, by prefacing the list with something about the laws *' thus rejected," manifestly wish to make the reader oelieve the council guilty of having rejected the whole of them. In my last letter 1 proved most satisfactorily, that the very first bill of the list, so far from having been " rejected" by the council, had been amended b5 ■.^!^ m "^ ■ 41 by that body in such a luay as practically to become what it theoretically professed to be, I proved that it had been amended not merely in a parliamentary but in a popular sense, and gave every intelligent reader reason to suspect, that the assembly rejected the amended bill, not on its special demerits, tit from the compound determination of malting a good grievance and of arrogating to itself the sole power of legislation. In illustration of my last re- mark I must invite the attention of my readers to the term " laws" in the expression " of the laws thus rejected." However ignorant Dr. Nelson may be of the English language, Mr. Chapman is too cau- tious a writer to speak unadvisedly of " bills" as be- ing " laws ;" and 1 cannot doubt that the ** bills'* were styled ** laws" from an innate contempt of the other branches of the legislature and a burning de- sixe of declaring them, as soon as possible, useless and dangerous. The following passage of the pamphlet I now quote as a text for farther observations. Of the laws thus rejected, some were deemed !)y the people of vital importance, and were of provi- sions so wise and salutary, that it would be difficult to comprehend in what respect they displeased the official party. The subject matter of a few will be sufficient to illustrate this observation : — 1. An act to regulate the office of Receiver Ge- neral. (The people had already been robbed by one Receiver-General, Sir J. Caldwell, and desired security for the future.) 2. Acts, without number, for the Extension of Education. 3. An act for taking a Cansus of the population. ■I 4-2 4. An act for establishing Local Courts. 5. An act for the relief of destitute Emigrants. (Afterwards obsequiously passed by order of the Colonial Office !) 6. Prisoners' Counsel Bill. 7. Acts for reprinting the Provincial Laws in force. 8. An act to incapacitate the Judges from sit- ting and voting in the Legislative and Executive Councils, and to secure the independence of the Judges. 9. An act for building County Court Houses and Gaols. 10. An act for vacating the Seats of Members of the Assembly accepting offices of profit, or becom- ing accountable for public money. 11. Numerous Dissenters' Relief Bills. 12. An act to erect a Marine Hospital. • 1.3. Acts for Incorporating the Cities of Quebec Djul Montreal. (Frequently rejected; but after- wards passed by breaking down the powers of the Corporation to those of mere street-sweepers.) 14. Acts for establishing an Agent of the Pro- vince in London. 15. A Bill for preventing the appearance of armed troops during elections, &c. &c. &c. The above list, taken almost at random out of upwards of 160, will fully shew the obstructive cha- racter of the Council, the justice of the people's complaints, and the utter uselessness of any reme- dy short of abolishing the Council or permitting the people to elect it. Secondly. The last clause of the prefatory pa- ragraph proves the disingcnuousness of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman. The honest course would be to quote the " title" of each bill ; but Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, preferring convenience to honesty, give only " the subject matter" in their P f. ,f ! • II . I, 3 t • : ; ^t lif 43 own distorted language. To establisli my charge of disingcnuousncss, I need only comparot the ** sub- ject matter" with the "title" of No. \5, The " title" was, *' An act for better insuring the free- dom of elections, by tlic removal of the troops from the places in wliich such elections arc held." The " subject matter," according to Messrs. Nelson and ('hapman, is *' \ bill fur pi eventing the appear- ance of armed troops during elections." Does the " title" bear out Messrs. Nelson and (Chapman's ** subject matter"? Does the former imply, with the latter, that "aimed troops" were in the habit of making their *' aj)pearance" during elections to overawe refractory patriots ? The discrepancy is too glaring not to be wilful. Thirdly. A cursory review of some of the bills will convince every reader of the disingenuousness of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman. The closing pa- ragraph of my last quotation insinuates that the enumerated bills not only were at one time reject- ed but have uniformly been rejected down to the present time, and that they must continue to be re- jected in all time coming. The truth, however, is somewhat inconsistent with the insinuations »)f Messrs. Nelson and Chapman. Most of the en- umerated bills have become laws ; and of the re- mainder some h.ave been rejected by His Majesty alter they had been sanctioned by both Houses of the Provincial liCgislaturc. No. 2 furnishes an illustration of both these remarks. During the i.csgion of 1832-3;3, all llic Education bills, but ^>nc, v'crc pa^jstMl lyy the T.c^islativc Council and l':i became laws. The ** rcjoctcd" one was passed in the session of 1834 in its original or almost in its original form, reserved by His Excellency the Go- vernor-in- Chief, and ** rejected" by His Majesty for the reasons assigned in a recent despatch of Lord Aberdeen. No. 'S and No. 4 were also pas- sed by the Legislative Council and became laws, long before the departure of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman on their patriotic mission. No. 5 may serve to prejudice intending emigrants against the provincial authorities in general and the Legislative Council in particular ; but Messrs. Nelson and Chapman might have had the honesty to state, that the Legislative Council objected, not to " the relief of destitute emigrants," but to the proposed means of affording that relief. The As- sembly proposed to tax the "destitute emigrants" for their own ** relief," thus violating at once the ft provisions of the constitutional act, and the laws of humanitv and common sense. The " title" of the bill, as distinguished from the "subject matter," will illustrate my remarks. Mr. Dewitt, according to the journals of the Assembly, brought in " A Bill to CREATE A FUND for defraying the expense of providing medical assistance for sick emigrants, and of enabling indigent persons of that description to proceed to the place of their destination." The special clauses of the bill proposed to create a FUND for the relief of sick or indigent emigrants, out of the very pockets of the sick and the indigent emigrants. But the crime of the Legislative Council, in my opinion, consisted not in amending: it V 5" ,V.I '1 ♦ I 45 or rojccling that bill, but in subsequently passing it. I t'ldmit tbat certain members of that body dis- graced themselves and rendered the Council ridicu- lous by their obsequious vacillation ; but, in mak- ing this admission, I must state, in defence of my former opinion as to the executive in- ]|lt; (luence in the 'Council, that the fickle gen- tlemen were but few, and that the executive was exerting its influence not for its own ends, but for those of the popular faction. With a few re- marks on No. 8, I shall close this part of my sub- ject. That bill, so far from having been rejected by the Legislative Council, was rejected by His Majesty, after it had been passed by both houses of the Provincial Legislature, for very excellent rea- sons. Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, doubtless, wished to produce an incpression, that the legisla- tive council and the executive were unfriendly to " the independence of the judges. " Now the Council, as 1 have already stated., passed the bill ; and His Majesty rejected it, because it provided for the payment of the salaries of the judges, not from funds under the control of the provincial legisla. lure, but from the provincial revenues of the Crown. From this calm review of the enumerated bills, every candid reader must admit, that the "obstruc- tive character," which 'is made the pretext for de- manding a second elective branch of the provin- cial parliament, is to be ascribed rather [to the legislative council, as it has been, than to the legisla- tiw? council, a-^ it is ; and that the *' obstructive 46 chiracter" of the government is just as sound a pie- text for demanding an elective governor or an elec- tive king. Anti-Burkauckat. Montreal, 12th May, 1835, > II 1 i»] 1 1 u n 1 \ k ill ■I li 'I ill No. VII f. ON THE ArLFr.FD APUSKS OF THK T.FGISLATIVE CCJN- CIL. ** II. — Another grievance complained of as aris- ing out of the compositioii of the Council, is the fostering of national animosities and distinctions to wijich their exclusive dealing gives rise. In an ad- dress to his Majesty, dated the first of April, 1833, the Legislative Council pretended to be specially appointed to protect one class and not the whole body of the people. In the wording of this address, such was the indecent language made use of, that the Secretary for the Colonies felt himself called upon to express "his regret that any word had been introduced which should have the appearance of ascribing to a class of his M^^jesty's subjects, of one o.igin, views at variance with the allegiance which they owe to his Majesty." One of the many modes in which this exclusive feeling shevs itself, is by the influence the Council exercises in appoint- ments to office — sons and cousins of the ruling fa- milies, without number, are recommended and re- ceived ; and the petition complains that it is sel- dom persons of French Canadian origin find their way into office under any circumstances — and when they are appointed, it is not until they have alien- ated themselves from the sympathies of the people, and have allied themselves to the factious minority opposed to the wishes and interests of the cou.-try." The foregoing quotation from the pamphlet of the two diplomatic commentators, charges the le- i • ! i 48 gislativc council with " the fostering of national animosities and distinctions," and appeals, in sup- port of the charge, to a certain address of that body to His Majest}^, and to th'e partial distribution of of- liclal emoluments. The oflensive address I quote at length, confident that its candid and manly tone will triumphantly refute the foul accusation of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, as to " indecent language," and demonstrate the slender nature of the grounds of Mr. Secietary Stanley's alleged re- proof. It is not, however, merely on these grounds that T quote the address. I am induced to give it, as a brief and comprehensive exposition of the real nature of the political struggles of the province. ADDRESS OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL OF LOWER CANADA. TO THE king's MOST KXCELLENT M* JESTY, Moat Gracious Sovereign , We, your Majesty's dutiful and loyal sid»jects, the Legislative Council of Lower Canada, in Pro- vincial Parliament assembled, having had under our serious consideration, the dangerous and uncon- stiUitional proceedings adopted by the Assembly, are impelled by a sense of duty to your Majesty, and your Majesty's faithful Canadian people, hum- bly to approach your Majesty's throriC; with a re- presentation of the alarming posture of the affairs of this Province, and our earnest supplication for immediate and effectual relief^ ; i . y ys From the enviable state of peace and prosperity to which we had attained under the Constitution, bp "towed upon us by your Majesty's Royal Father and the Imperial Parlian^.cnt, we are approaching to a state of anarchy and confusion — unceasinc^ at- ill •I I. H m A 49 tempts are made to destroy the confidence which has iiitherto suhsisied between the subjects of your Majesty, of different origin and language — the in- terests of agriculture and commerce, and tlie wants of tlie people are neglected, for the advancement of tlie cabals of party. Your Majesty's Representa- tive is falsely charged with partiality and injustice in the exercise of the powers confid^^d' to liim. Your Majesty's officers, both civil and military, are deliberately libelled, as a combined faction, actuat- ed by interest alone, to struggle for the support of a corrupt Government, adverse to the rights and wishes of the people — and this unmerited abuse has, for years past, been as frequent within the walls of the Assembly as without— nor can it be doubted that this system has been adopted and urged, with a wicked intention, to degrade the local authorities in the eyes of the people, and thereby ultimately to render them powerless and inefficient for the sup- port of your Majesty's Government in this Pro- vince. Every thing indicates a continuance, if not an increase, of the evils which we have briefly enume- rated^— for while your Majesty's officers, and parti- cularly the Judges of your Majesty's Courts of Law, are accused and defamed, a competent tribunal within the Colony, to which they might appeal for trial and vindication, is refused — whereby a timid, instead of a fearless and independent exercise of their functions is to be apprehended : and with a view to the completion of its designs, the Assembly lias ventured on the daring step of addressing your Majesty to render the Legislative Council elective. The crisis at which we have arrived, is pregnant with consequences of the deepest interest to the happiness and welfare of your Majesty's subjects in this province — and, at siich a mornent, it would be criminal in the Legislative Council to withhold from your Majesty the frank and candid avowal of *ls sentiments. 50 The efforts of the Assembly have been obviously directed for several ye^irs past to tht ctiainment of power and influence, at the expense of the Crown, and in direct violation of the constitutional rights and privileges of the Legislative Council. In il- lustration of this, we respectfully advert to the per- severing endeavours of that House to obtain the ientire controul and diFipos&l of all the provincial revenue and income, refusing, at the same time, to make any adequate permanent provision for the ex- penses of the Civil Government, and to provide for the independence of the Judiciary, — to the condi- tions and instructions annexed to the votes of cer - tain sums contained in the Bill of Supply sent up during the present session, which strike at the ex- istence of your Majesty's prerogative to appoint to all offices of honour or proiit in the colony, — to the claim advanced by the Assembly to preserve this extensive and important part of your Majesty's do- minions, (in which there is room for millions of in- habitants) as a colony to be settled only by Cana- dians of French origin and descent, contrary to the just and manifest rights of your Majesty's native- born subjects,.^w*and lastly, in the a mpt to induce your Majesty to adopt a measure winch would de- stroy the equilibrium of the Constitution, ^ , sub- stituting an elective Council for the interme<^iate branch established by law. In reference to the pretension last noticed, we humbly entreat your Majesty's attention to the undeniable fact, that in proportion as your Majesty has graciously been pleased to increase the constitutional weight and efficiency of the Legislative Council, by the addi- tion of members, unconnected with the local ad- ministration, and largely taken from the Assembly itself, the efforts of that House for its entire aboli- tion, have become more and more violent and daring. That the Constitution of Government, established ;ji this province, under the Act passed in the 31st 'i' >n '^'1 I \ ;l '\ 1- , t '1 *i m II !' I wl {*♦■ ,,.■! b\ year of the reign of his IVIajcsty, King George tlie Third, chapter til, has hee?i efficacious in promot- ing the welfare and happiness of the inhabitants thereof, and in confining their attachment to the British Throne, are facts powerfully attested by tlie peaceable submission of the people to the laws, and the readiness with which they have on all occcisions defended the province against foreiL^i aggression, e.s well as by the petitions laid at the foot of the I'iirone in the years 1814 and 1828, and the ad- dresses at those periods, of the Assembly itself, in which they entreated his late Majesty and the Im- perial Parliament * to maintain the inhabitants of Canada in the full enjoyment of the Constitution as established by law, without any change what- ever." It was in the Year 1831, after the general elec- tion for the Assembly, now in session, and when some grounds of complaint against the local admi- nistration were in course of being redresj^ed by the interposition of the Irr»perial Governmeiit, that a desire for a change in the Constitution was first openly avowed in that body, and it is a matter of astonishment that a violent, and reckless party in tliat House should be able to induce a majority of its members into an attempt to destroy a form of Government, under which your Majesty's Canadi- an people have enjoyed a state of peace, security and contentment, scarcely exceeded by any part of the world and against which no considerable por- tion of the people have yet formally complained. While, therefore, the Legislative Council desire not to conceal from Your Majesty, the actual state of the Province, they are far from believing that the great body of the people yet participate in the views and wishes of the majority of the Assemblx, hut in a community in which education lias made so little progress even the well disposed, the happy And contented, are so liable to be misled by th*? IVvClious and dcsii>;ning. 52 ■'•] The C<)n>>titiilion cnahlc:; your ^lajcsty to up- hold an independent branch of the Legislature by d judicious selection of the Members chosen to com- pose it, and \re venture, vHth all humility, to state to your Majesty, that a branch so chosen if. essen- tial to sustain your Royal Prerogative, to maintain the connection, which happily subsists between this Colony and the mother country, and to give security to a numerous class of your Majesty's sub- jects of British origin, now numbering about one hundred and fifty thousand soids, scattered over this Province, whose interests cannot be adequately re- presented in the Assembly, seven eighths of the . members whereof are of French origin, and speak the French language. It is under the circumstances above described thiat the Assembly have proposed to 5'our Majesty to abolish this House, and to substitute in its place, a Council to be elected by proprietors of estates of ten pounds annual value; a measure well conceived to further the desired object of ob- taining a legislative body, in all respects, the counterpart of the Assembly, in as much as that would virtually embrace the whole constitu- ency of the country. - ' - ^ -m Having maturely considered, we trust with no improper bias, the nature of the alterations in the Constitution, proposed by the Assembly, we en- treat your Majesty duly to weigh the opinion which we now humbly submit, as to the fatal consequences which may be expected to result from such a change. Its more immediate effects would be to render all offices in the colony elective — to unsettle the minds of your Majesty's subjects of British origin respect- ing; the security of life and property, which they n^w enjoy — to prevent their further increase through emigration, and to sever the ties which bind the colony to the parent state ; virhile its ulti- mate result would bring into collision the people of Upper and Lower Canada, and drench the country \ 1I I I; m 53 Trith blood ; for it is our solemn conviction that the inhabitants of Upper Canada will never quietly permit the interposition of a French republic be- tween them and the ocean. When the leaders of the Assembly, In the year 1831, first openly declared themselves against the Constitution, they found means of inducing a member of this House to proceed to England, for the sole avowed purpose of supporting '. he petitions of the Assembly to your Majesty, anu they have since, from year to year, procured the prolongation of his mission. We humbly, submit that the repre- sentations made by this gentleman to your Majesty's government, ought to be received with extreme cau- tion, because the Legislative Council have never as- sented to the mission — have never had official com- munication of any instructions given to him, or of despatches from him — and he has committed a gross breach of the constitutional rights of the house, by receiving a large annual salary from the Assembly, knowing the same to be without the sanction of the law, paid to him out of the public money, ad- vanced upon the simple votes of that House, for defraying its ordinary expenses. Upon all these circumstances, the Legislative Council earnestly beseech your Majesty to take in*- to your most serious consideration the present alarming posture of affairs in your Majesty's once happy province of Lower Canada — to be gracious- ly pleased to adopt such measures as in your wis- dom will tend to tranquillize the minds, to maintain the coiistitutional rights and liberties of all your Majesty's subjects therein, and thus guarantee the permanence of the existing connexion between the colony and the parent state. .. ^ .. The several paragraphs of the address were una- %imou$ly agreed to by the Council. ; i::^ That I may put the reader fully in possession of tb9 circumstances, under which the address was. 54 passed, I subjoin the names of the members who were present, and unanimously agreed to every pa- ragraph, The Honourable the Chief Justice, Speaker, The Honble. Messrs. Hale, Sir John Caldwell, Bart. RVLAND, Bell, Stewart, MorrATT, M'GiLL, Molsok, couillard, Gates, Jones, Baxter. Of these thirteen, seven, constituting^ of c6urse, a majority, were entirely independent bf the local executive; and I may mention incidentally that, being the last names of the list in order of senior- ity, they strongly corroborate my previous state- ments as to the gradually and steadily improving character of the legislative council. <«« u H 4t it «r H it Anti- Bureaucrat. Montreal, ISth May, 1835. ^ •? k i ^1 A [■Ktt U^ K^ IX. ON THE ALt-EGED ABUSES OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. In my last communication, 1 defended the legis- lative council against Messrs. Nelson and Chap- man's charge of" fostering national animosities and distinctions." If, however, the alleged crime of the legislative council was, in the eyes of the pa- triots, sufficient to justify the annihilation of that body, I shall be entitled, if I can make good a si- milar charge against the leaders of the patriotic faction, to clamour for the political extinction of the assembly. . , , Every unprejudiced reader must perceive that the address of the legislative council to his Majes- ty was intended as a defensifc measure against an attempt of the assembly to " foster national ani- mosities and distinctions." But for the develope- ment of such an attempt, the legislative council's address would be an audacious and unprincipled fiction from beginning to end. What, in short, has been the uniform policy of the assembly for many years, but a systematic scfiemc for "foster- ing national animosities and distinctions" ? I ex- tract some ])assages from a French pamphlet rccent- jv published in Montreal under the sanction of the .Jfi n: patriotic leaders, circulated only in the country, and exclusively intended for ** the most illiterate and most credulous portion of the community." " A swarm of Britons hastened to the shores of the new British colony, to avail themselves of its advantages, to improve their own condition." " In consequence of the facilities afforded by the administration for the settlement of Britorts vithin OUR colony, they came in shoals to our shores to push their fortunes." "Others of them established themselves in OUR cities ; they were encouraged and supported by tbcir fellow-countrymen, and made tliemselves ma':ters of all the trade, as well foreign as domes- tic." *' They have established a system of paper money, based solely upon their own oredit, and which our habit nis Iwive had the folly to receive as ready mo- ney, alihough it is not hard cash, current among all nations^ but on the contrary, which is of no value, and, without the limits of the province, would not be received by any person." These extracts arc quite conclusive as to the *' fostering of national animosities and distinctions." The last charge, brought against the legislative council by Messrs. Nelson and Chapman, is that of a partial distribution of oflicial emoluments. This charge might be satisfactofily met by a bare statement of the notorious facts, that the legislative council does not dispense, either directly or indi- rectly, any portion of the oflicial patronage, and that it is prevented by the prescriptive u-surpation of its own speaker, of wlu.sc oflicial sins it is guilt- less, from dispensing even its own patronngp, in the ;ippointiiirnt of rleiks and doorkocpcrs, 1 may. r Xt ; .1 i' V U'i I 57 also, refer my readers to my remarks on the alleg- ed identity of the two councils, as proving that the legislative council, as a body, cannot be said to in- fluence the executive council, and that the executive council cannot exercise any control on the gover- nor's dispensation of oflficial patronage. Of all these facts Messrs. Nelson and Chapman were well aware ; and, whatever corruptions may exist in the disperisiug of oflicial patronage, I am justified in charging Messrs. Nelson and Chapman with disingenuousness for imputing such corrup- tions to the legislative council. Though the subject of official patronage would more naturally be classed among the alleged abuses of the exectftive, yet I may here prosecute the dis- cussion of the grievance, in compliance with the disingenuous classification of Messrs. "PJfelson ant^ Chapman. The grievance can rest only on the alleged fact^, that Britons hold a majority of provincial offices. The truth or falsehood of this alleged fact is to me perfectly indifferent, on any other than political grounds. The grovelling lamentations of disap- pointed avarice or ambition meet not my sympa- thies. Discarding, therefore, the distinction be- tween paid and unpaid offices, I maintain that the Canadians hold a majority of public appointments, political, military and judicial. In almost all the seigniorial parishes, they possess a preponderance, fearfully subversive of British interests — a prepon- *dorancc, wliich is based on provincial laws, extorted 68 by importunate threats from a timid executive and subservient majorities of the liCgislative Council. By substituting a qualification of real property, which Canadians generally hold, for the more ra- tional one of educated intelligence, which more ge- nerally falls to the lot of Britons, our antagonists have covered the province with Canadian Justices of the Peace and Canadian OfTiccrs of IMilitia — entrusting public aftliiis to the management of incompetent persons, and degrading many of the most intelligent and most respectable Britons, for want of a certain quantity of land or houses. V ere the alleged fact correct, it would prove neither the partiality of Jhe present government, nor the injustice of former go- vernments. The present government cannot dis- card a faithful Briton merely to make room for an untried Canadian ; and, in the dispensation of its own patronage, it has been peculiarly indulgent to men of French origin. Any government, hjwever, that knows its duty, will withhold executive power from a party, that wields its legislative preponder- ance for the oppressio?'^ of Britons and the overthrow of British supremacy. Such a precaution on the part of the executive is tne more necessary, as the obvious aim of the revolutionary party is not to ob- tain a fair proportion of offices for individual com- patriots, but to bring, within the grasp of the whole party, the whole of the executive departments of the colony. While the patriots clamour for a more equitable distribution of offices, they denounce, as a traitor, every Canadian, who accepts an office of honour or emolument. Their complaints about the . I < Ml ¥■' • n J9 numcilcal MiiU'iiiiril V of Mrilish juil^'i- rest on par- ticiilaily weak, ^^roiiiiils, wla'tlior of ;i |)r(*rc'ssiiiiuil oror.i political kind. ('anaiiiaii lawyers, i;^iioraiU ^^i' I^ritisli habits and failings, aiul (jjoiirally limiU'il ill thoir practice to the French b\v, arc utterly ii\ competent to dispense the criminal laws ot* En;^- lanil ; and were juries, which from the qualilicatioii of real proi-erty were almost exclusively Canadian, to be backed by a majority of Canadian judges, one would speedily find the law, as a handmaid of sedi- tion, systematically prostituted to political ends. Public appointments I personally wish to see in the hands of able and independent men of either race ; and I must own, that family interest has more than once overlooked a plentiful lack of ability and an utter want of independence. The hostile feeling, which our antagonists enter- tain towards British functionaries, is directed ra- ther against their persons than their oflices ; for what can be more absurd than to suppose, that a faction, w!iich already grasps all oHices by anticipa- tion, is really and permanently interested in the correction of olHcial abuses ? The Romans found by exjwriencc, that the plebeian tribunes, consid- ering the trii)uneship as a step to the higher dig- nities of the republic, deemed it more convenient to amuse the populace with empty declamation tban to propose any practical and eHicient remedies of oHicial usurpations. Under the elective system, every ambitious man, holding as it were in rever- sion all the emoUunents and all the honors of the *;tate, is peisojially interested in the accumulation oi ii!iflcss oHicc:) and in liic iiiainK'iiiiiict.' ol < orniiH practices. In Luwcr C'aiuula, neither the piibhc opinion of tlic constituents, nor the moral princi- |)les of the leaders, u'onM present any harrier to tiie universal triumph of the f;eneral temptation. But facts speak volumes. The most dagiant of the provincial abuses, the extravagant salaries of liiu Speakers of the two houses, sj)ran;4 frt>m a (lis • fjraeeful compromise between the leaders of tiie respective factions, the democratic and i!ie oHitial. Here 1 close my somcwhnt protracted remaiks on the legislative council. ANTI-nUREAlMltAI', nih May, 18^'}. ^}i ■ • I lj • i- ♦ No. X. ON THE ALLEGED ABUSES OF THF JirDICIAIlY. The first of the alleged abuses of the Judiciary is that 'Hhe Judges are appointed to hold office, not during good behaviour, but during the pleasure of the Crown, which practically means during the plea- sure of the official parti/ to which they heloug." In answer to this complaint, I may merely re- mind the reader, tliat, in my seventh article, I prov- ed that the alleged abuse owes its continued exis- tence to the encroaching ambition of the Assembly. A bill, by which the judges were to hold office " during good behaviour" was passed by the Legis- lative Council, and very properly rejected by His Majesty, because it assumed that the territorial re- venue and all the other crown revenues belonged to the provincial legislature. Not only were the le- gislative council and Plis Majesty innocent of the charge, but the assembly itself was guilty of it. That illustrious body well knew, that its usurpation of the crown revenues must prevent the bill from leceiving His Majesty's sanction and doom the judges to continue to hold office " during pleasure." The financial provision; f the bill were most ludi- crously inconsistent with its professed object. Un- der the pretext of securing the independence of the judiciary, the assembly aimed at subverting tlie in- dependence of the executive by usurping the con- trol of every shilling of the public revenue. What- ever opinion any reader may entertain as to the as- sembly's claim of the entire revenue, he cannot but reprobate its disingenuous and tortuous mode of enforcing its claim. The second of the alleged abuses is, that " The Judges are selected out of the official class or their partisans, and not from among those members of the bar, in whom the people have confidence." The Judges, I may venture to assert, have been gene- rally selected from among the most respectable members of the legal profession without reference to national origin ; and Canadians have been appointed in a fair proportion to the number of Canadian lawyers of competent qualifications. 1 f I exclude the inferior districts of Gaspe and St. Francis, which are almost exclusively occupied by an English population, I find that out of nine judges of the three districts of Quebec, Three Ri- vers and Montreal, three are of Canadian origin, " selected from among those members of the bar, in whom the people have confidence." One third of the whole is as high a proportion, as he moral and intellectual standing of Canadian lawyers can justly demand. It should, moreover, be considered, that Canadi- an lawyers, whose practice, as I have already hint- ed, is generally confined to the civil law of the pro- vince, are not by any means fitted to dispense the ^English criminal law, and that, if they were fitted ,11 , 1 ^ 63 lo do so, the sat'cty of the En;^)i.sh population, \\n- rlcr llic working of the Jury Law recently expired, demanded the neutralising of Canadian jurors by Enj^lish Judges. In using this language, I do not impute partiality either to jurors or to judges. I argue, that, on Messrs. Nelson and Chapman's sus- picions of national jiartiality, tlio English inhfihi- tants are not less entitled than the Canadians to the assumed partiality of compatriots. If, however, I admit that the alleged grievance has a real existence, I am prepared to shew, that tlic grievance is not peculiar to liOwer Canada. I am happy in being able to quote the authority of Lord Brougham, the chosen champion and deluded dupe of Messrs, Nelson and Chapman. That li- beral lord, when he was Henry Brougham, made the following observations in his celebrated speech " On the present state of the law." But there is a custom above the law — a custom, in my mind, " more honoured in the breach than the observance," — that party, as well as merit, must be studied in these appointments. One half of the Bar is thus excluded from the competition ; for no man can be a Judge who is not of a particular par- ty. Unless he be the known adherent of a certain system of government, — unless he profess himself devoted to one scheme of policy, — unless his party happen to be the party connected with the C-own, or allied with the Ministry of the day, there is no chance for him ; that man issurelv excluded. Men must be on one side of the great political question to become judges ; and no one may hope to fill that dignified office, unless he belongs to the side on which courtly favour shines; his seat on the bench must depend, generally speaking, on his support injr 04 tlie leadinf^ pi incijjles of the existin^^ aLlniinistration. But perliaps. Sir, I u)ay be carrying this distinc* lion too far, aiul it may be said, lliat the IMiiiisters do not expoct the opinions of a Judge should ex- actly coincide with theirs in political] matters. Be it so ; I stop not to cavil about trifles; but, at all events, it must be admitted that, if a man belongs to a party opposed to the views of Government ; if, which the best and ablest of men, and the fittest for the bench, may well be, he is known for opinions hostile to the IVIinistry, He can expect no promo, tion — rathe, ^^t me say, the Country has no chance of his elevation to the bench, whatever be his talents, or how conspicuously soever he may shine in all the most important departments of his profession. No one, I think, will venture to deny this ; or, if he do, I defy him to show me any instance in the course of the last hundred years, of a man, in party fettris, and opposed to the principles of Govern- ment, being raised to the bench. No such thing has taken place that 1 know of. Never have I heard of such a thing, at least in England ; though we Iiave, perhaps, known instances of men who have dianged theii party, to arrive at the heights of their profession. But on this subject, desirous through- out of avoiding all olfence, I will not press — well — I do not wish to say a word about it. In Scotland, it is true, a more liberal policy has been adopted, and the ilight Hon. Gentleman op- posite has done himself great honour by recom- mending Mr. Gillies, Mr. Cranstoun, (now I^ords Gillies and Corehouse,) and Mr. Clerk, (Lord El- din,) all as well known for party-men there as Lord Eldon is here ; though, unfortunately, t'.ieir pat ty has been what is now once mere termed- the wrong- side ; but all men of the very highest eminence among the professors of the law. Now, when 1 quote these instances iu Scotland, I want to see ex- amples of the same sort in England ; for, however great my respect for the law and the people of tlu' J * II ' il i *» . »jtfm ' i."tfji r j. ';! tf '* " « K.'j^ymii i ^•* 'A Gj Korih may be, I cannot liclp thinking, that wc of tlie South too, and our jurisprudence, are of some Jiule importance, and that the administration of justice here may fairly call for some portion of at- tention. Ijut, Sir, wiiat is our system? Tf, at the present moment, the wliole of Westminster Hall were to he called upon, in the event of any vacancy unfortunately occurring among the Chief Justices, to name the man best suited to fill it, to point out the individual whose talents and integrity best de- served the situation — v/hose judicial exertions were the most likely to shed blessings on liis country — can any one doubt for a moment whose name would be echoed on every side ? No ; there could be no question as to the individual to whom would point the conmion consent of those most competent to judge ; but then, he is known as a party man, and all his meiits, were tlioy even greater than they are, would be in vain extolled bv his profession, and in vain desiderated by his country. I reprobate this mis- chievous system, by which the empire loses the ser- vices of some o^ the ablest, the most learned, and most honest men, within its bounds. But here let me not be supposed to blame one party more than another ; I speak of the practice of ail governments in this country ; and, I believe, when the Whigs were in office, in 1806, they did not promote to the bench any of their political op- ponents ; they had no vacancies in Westminster Hall to fill up, but in the Welsh judicature they pursued the accustomed course. In pursuing the second alleged abuse of the Ju- diciary, Messrs. Nelson and Chapman object to Mr, Gale's recent elevation to the bench, as '* a man, who was a violent and decided partisan of the ad- ministration of ihe Eail of Dalhousie, and the de- clared enemy of the laws he is sworj to adminis- ter." 06 \j The two charges agahist IMr. Gale are hoth con- nected with liis mission to England in 1828. Mr. Gale was at once political agent of the local govern- ment and legal agent of the eastern townships. If Mr. Gale was to be exelnded from the bench on acconnt of violent and decided partisanship, which, however, is gratuitously ascribed to him, every other lawyer, who is guihy of a similar charge, ought to be doomed to a similar exclusion. How would such a rule afiect the province ? It would inevitably disqualify the leading lawyers of cither party, and would fill the bench with men either of inferior talents or of supple meanness of spirit. But, if I admit the charge of violent and decided partisanship in its fullest force, Mr. Gale has, dur- ing the last seven years, atoned for his alleged of- fence by abstaining entirely from political strife, and absenting himself from political meetings. The absurd charge, in truth, was never urged but as a convenient giievance; and every respectable Cana- dian was as much surprised as every respectable Englishman was ashamed, to find, that IMr. Spring Rice had entertained serious intentions of dismis- sing Mr. Gale without inquiry and without a hear- ing. It was in Mr. Gale's capacity, as legal agent of the eastern townships, that he was " the declared enemy of the laws he was sworn to administer.' Desirous as he was of procuring the introdnction of registers of real property into the English portions of the province, Mr. Gale could not fail to attack nnd expose the insecurity of tlie Tanndian law of ■4 ! t 'f ! !. ■f 1 1, I . t 'I m ♦»7 I, real property ; and all his liostile remarks arc lo l)C interpreted in reference to his special object. It those only, wlio consider the laws of a country per- fect, are to be permitted to dispense them, where shall a judge be found cither in Lower Canada or in England? Did any one assign Mr. Brougham's speech of six hours against the laws of England, as a stumbling-block in his ascent to the wool-sack ? Neither Mr. Dennis Benjamin Viger nor his fami- liar friend, Mr. Spring Rice, Avas ever guilty of such an absurdity. But the assembly itself, the very faction that urges the charge of enmity against Mr. Gale, has, by introducing registers of leal pro- perty into the townships, acknowledged the imper- fection of the Canadian law, and the justice of Mr. Gale's hostile strictures. As the subject grows under my pen, and threat- ens to be almost interminable, I shall pass over the remaining " abuses of the judiciary," and all the ** abuses of the executive," and come to the " abuses of the interference of the imperial parliament." 1 take this long leap, because the intermediate mat- ters affect not the constitution of the government, hut merely the political position of an individual ; and as all the complaints were pronounced by a li- beral committee of a liberal parliament absolutely groundless, I need not waste my time, when no constitutional principla is involved, in doing that which has been done already. I do not, by any means, deny that abuses exist in the executive go- vemmcnl of Lower Canada ; but I feel that most of tlicm -prang fiom a system now entirely cxplo- 68 <^ed, and that some abuses exist in every govern- ment. So far as practical affairs are concerned, ' one should rather consider what the future is likely to be, than what the past has been ; and my quota- tions from the letters of " A Citizen," who was himself a steady assailar ^ of official abuses, prove that the blighting influence of the official faction has passed away for ever. Anti-Buueauckat. imi Montreal, 1 8th JNIav, 1835. t\ J: No. \I. t)N THK '^ AUUSliS OF THE INTKRFtUKNC fc 01' HiE IM PERIAL PARLIAMENT. 11 . i r ' Tlie leainecl and loyal coinmeiitaiors on tit " humble petition" of the convention deniar J **Tlie recognition of the principle of non-intervention, to prevent future misunderstandings." The context seems to apply this non-interference only to the in- ternal afTairs (>f the province; but I shall be able Ic shew, that the spirit, from which the demand pr6- cceds, is hostile to any and every species of impe- rial control. In support of their doctrine, the commentators appeal to history. " The people of Canada do not hesitate to ask from a prince of the House of Brunswick, and a Reformed Parliament, all the freedom and political powers, which the princes of the House of Stuart and their Parliaments grant- ed to the most favoured of the Plantations, formed in a period vvlien such grants must have been less favourably regarded than they would now be." One cannot but admire the extreme liberalitv of those, who identify the reigns of the Stuarts with the golden age of political liberty ; and I will not rlistuib the happy current of a political eommenla- U}\\. [hnvixhi^ l>v unienvonphlv dcm-uidini: the » ^ I i 70 grounds ul' Ills very liberal opinion. 1 sliull con- tent myself v.'itli adiiing, that there cannot be any sound analogy between the English colonies of thi' seventeenth century and those of the nineteenth. The following passage, which I copy from an editorial article of the Herald of 20th January last, mqy throw some light on the truth. '* An historical sketch of the nature of colonial subordination may not be out of place — a sketch, of which we draw most of the materials from the * Colonial Representation" of our friend Mr. Chisholm of Three Rivers. *The constitution of the government of England,' says Pownal, *as it stood at that time, founded upon,-v**built up with the feudal system, could not extend beyond the realm. There was nothing in the nature of the constitution providing for such things as colonies or provinces. Lands without — beyond the limits of the realm, could not be the property of the realm, unless by being united to the realm. But the people, who settled upon these lands iti parti- hus exteris, being the King's liege subjects, the King, as sovereign lord, assumed the right of pro- perty and of government ! — Originally, therefore, the colonies stood in the same relation to the En- glish parliament, as did Normandy and other French provinces in days of yore, or as Hanover does at the present day, or as Ireland will (?) af- ter the repeal of the legislative union. The colonies were subject to the King, and to the King onlyj between them and the mother country, the sovereign was the only political bond of union. till * I i 71 TVliere parliaments arc feeble and Kings silmosf Jespotic, such a political union, loose as it appears, might sufficiently consolidate an empire; but where parliaments are strong, and sovereigns only nomi- nally powerful, such a political union ^vouldbe the fertile source of civil discord, or, perhaps, of civil war. It was the latter relation of sovereigns and parliaments, that rendered the legislative unions of England and Scotland, and of Great Britain and Ireland, indispensably necessary. The original form of colonial subordinat'oncon. tinned, as long as the continuance was possible, down to the overthrow of regal power in the per- son of Charles I, After that period, the parliament necessarily be- came the sovereign of the colonies ; and as most of the continental colonies had been peopled by dis- contented and disaffected men, the change was, perhaps, not very painful to the feelings of the co- lonists* Under the military despotism, which trampled parliament itself under foot, the sovereignty of the colonies was in a great measure vested in the coun- cil of state. On the restoration of the royal family, the con- nexion between the colonies and the mother coun- try was placed pretty nearly on its present foot- ing." I now proceed to inquire, what is meant by *^ present footing*' in this passage of the Herald. I cannot quote better authority, than that oi Mr. Burke. That great statesman's testimony is r "^ 11 iUc muve valuable, inasiuuuli as his very ur^uiiiciUs, wliile opposed to the taxation of America, admit the general principle of imperial interference. 1 cannot deny myself the pleasure of specially quoting one singularly apposite sentiment. Impe- rial control " is necessary to coerce the negligent, to restrain the violent, and to aid the weak and deficient, by the overruling plenitude of her pow- er. AMliKlCAN TAXATION. Again, and again, revert to your old principle*. Seek peace and en»ue it — leave America, if ^he has taxable matter in her, to tax herself. I am not here going into the distinctions of rights, nor at- tempting to mark their boundaries. I do not enter into these metaphysical distinctions — I hate the very sound of them. Leave the Americans as they anciently stood, and these distinctions, born of our unhappy contest, will die along with it. They and we and their and our ancestors, have been happy undef that system. Let the memory of all actions, in contradiction to that good old mode, on botii sides, be extinguished for ever. Be content to bind America by laws of trade; you have always- d(me it. Let this be your reason for binding their trade. Do not burthen them by taxes ; you were not used to do so from the beginning. Let this be your rcrtson for not taxing. These are the argu- ments of states and kingdoms~-leave the rest to the schools ; for there only they may be discussed with safety. But if intemperately, unwisely, fatally, you sophisticate and poison the very source of go- vernment, by urging subtle deductions, and conse- quences odious to those you govern, from the un- limited and illimitable nature of supreme sover- eignty, you will teach them, by these means, to c2 i. V I I it \ i # f«y ^l^'V 7a cjtll llial sovcnigiiiy iImIF iiMjuosliun. Wlioii yoi. drive liiin Imrtl, the boar will surely iiini upon llu' liunlcrs, &c. IJelbro I sit down I must sny soinetldiig to an- other point with which f^entlenien nige us. What is to becouie of the declaratory act, asserting the entireness of JJritish legislative authority, if wc abandon the practice of taxation ? For my part, 1 look upon the rights stated in that act exnctly in the manner in which I viewed them on its very iirst j)roposition, and which I have often taken the liberty, with great humility, to lay before you. I look, I say, on the imperial riglits of Great Britain, and the j)rivilegcs which the colonists ought to enjoy under these rights, to l)e just the most rcconcileable things in the world. ' The Parliament of Great Britain sits at the head of her extensive empire in two capacities ; one as 'f the local legislature of this island, providing for all things at home, immediately, and by no other in- strument than the executive power, 'I he other, and I think lier nobler capacity, is what 1 call her imperial charccier ; in which, as from the throne of Heaven, she superintends all the several inferior legislatur#.'s, and guides and controuls them all without annihilating any. As all these provincial legislatures are only co-ordinate to each other, they ought all to be subordinate to her; else they can neither preserve mutual peace nor hope for mutual justice, nor effectually afford mutual assistance. ^ Jt is necessary to coerce the negligent, to restrain the violent, and to aid the weak and deficient, by ihc over-ruling plenitude of her power. But in order to enable parliament to answer all these ends of provident and beneficent superintendence, her powers must be boundless. 'J lie gentlemen who think the powers of parliament limited, may please themselves to talk of requisitions. But suppose the requisitions aie not obeyed? What! shall ihcrc l)e no rcsw . fci> i^ .-. t lb ing courts of King's Bench and Common I'leas, in tiie islands of St. Cliristopher and Nevis, expressly reserve the jurisdiction of the court of King'y Bencli in England." I now come to acts of parliament. When some of the American plantations, after the death of Charles I., had declared for Ciiailes n., the Long Parliament unceremoniously enact- ed, " That in Virginia, and the islands of Barba- does, Antigua, St. Christopher's, Nevis, Montser- rat, Bermudas, and diveis other islands and places in America, there have been and are colonies and plantations, which were planted at the cost, and settled by this people, and by the authority of this fiafion, which are and ought to be subordinate to, and dependent upon, England ; and have, ever since the planting thereof, been, and ought to be, subject to such laws, orders and regulations as are or shall be made by the Parliament of Eng- land." The statute G, Geo. III.,c. 12, provides, *' That all h:s Majesty's colonies and plantations in Ame- rica have been, and are, and of right ought to be, dependent upon the Imperial Crown and Parlia- ment of Great Britain ; who have full power and authority to make laws and statutes of sufficient validity to bind the colonies and people of Ame- rica, subjects of the crown of Great Britain, in all ca«?es whatsoever." In the following session, the Gtatuie 7, Geo. III., e, 59, suspended the legisla- cure of New York. We might add innumerablr other acts of a siiijilar kind. 7G As this communication is already somewhat long, I shall close it by remarking, that every co- lony of any consolidated empire must actually, in external affairs, and potentially in internal, be sub" ject to one and the same general legislature. A NTi- Bureaucrat. 21 St May, 1835. i^l I < I i ( •I! I r .1 ii wmss^BmmmmmmmBmmsmmBmm. No. xn. OS iirt: •'ahijsf.s or the intfiifkrenlt!: or thk m- rF.lUAI, rARLIAMENT. 1 now come to consider the alleged abuses in detail. The first is, that '' The act of last session of the Imperial Legislature, granting a charter to a com- pan^^ of speculators styled the Britisji American Land Company, is objected to, as a violation of the articles of capitulation and of the declaratory act of 1778, and as a measure in itself repugnant to the institutions of the country, and odious to the people thereof." Again, '* Thus in two ways is the act of 18 Geo, IIL violated : first, by taxation against the -statute, aixl, second, by placing the proceeds of the tax out of the reach of the local legislature.'' Before 1 attemjit to discuss the real merits ol these quotations, 1 may do well to point out the disingenuousncss of the commentator. As Dr. Nelson is notoriously unable to write English, I have a right lo consider Mr. Henry S. Chapman as really the sole author of the pamphlet ; and I quote the following proof of that gentleman's con- sistency and honesfy from the editoiial columns of his own journal, the Daily Advertiser of Montreal, In August, 1833, Mr. Henry S. Chapman thus expressed himself: — " We have not forgotten the transmission of profits ou( of the eounfrv, but wo 7r^ (lu nol coiioitk'i Jl an cvil^ al i^aol nol Uiorc sc iluin being obliged to i)ay I'oi your qiiaUeni loaf is an evil. It irmst be borne in mind, that for every profit remitted, there is a capital brought into tlic country. Capital is especially wanted in Ca- nada, and the profit h the inducement — the bail held out, without which the required capital will not be forthcoming. The remitted profits arc ge- nerated by the price paid for the lands ; that price will be regulated by competition ; for, however much the Land Company may be called a mono- poly, it is a clear case of misnomer so long as other sellers of land are to be found al hand. The company can only receive a high price for their lands by expending labour (money's worth) upon them ; and if in iividuals can be found to pay to I he company more than to the other land-owners, it is because the coioi)anv has increased the value of its land by the said expenditure. Tf, therefore, tfie profits reniiMcd be considered an evil, it is an evil borne for the sake of a gteal good; but is only an evil in so far as the burthens imposed on society for the sake of mutual protection are evils. A 8 long as the introduction of capital into the coiuitry be considered useful — as long as the labours of the compariy in opening roads, &c. be considered useful,..^ we will nol cavil iil)out the remission ot a profit. If the company fails t> fulfil its trust, (hen will be the time to crv out. VV^e should think ihe desiie to conciliate customers will be its ruling ;>as3ion, wliich 'jannot l)o done by exorbitant de- jnnnds. The r-orrpanv " "uld v(RL, 183.5. !i d2 i Jill', ill No. Mil. ON THt " ABUS1<:S Ol" THK IN TKKFKKKNC 1 Ol iHf; IMPEUIAL rARLIAlMENT." ^I now come to consiilcr " Tlic Canada Tenures Act;" for wliicU I undertake to establish, botii morally and legally, a triumplianl jusliticatlon. " This nefarious act,/' say the commentators, '* for such it must be called, disturbed rights which had been in existence upwards of forty years — mi- nors' rights, the rights of dowered women, sheriff's titles, hf/pothequcs executed upon hind, all these have been swept away by the act of the 6th of the late king." This passage establishes one proof more of tiie disingenuousness, or ratiier dishonesty, of the patri- otic eommentators. Tiie latter part of the passage is obviously intended to convince the I3ritish pub- lic, that " The Canada Tenures Act" arbitrarily extinguished "minors' rights," &c.. at one fell swoop. Before quoting the clause, on which this romance is founded, I may state in my own lan- guage the general object of the enactment. The commutation of tenure was to be accompanied, not by the extinction, but by the registration or satis- faction of " minors' rights, &c-," and was to extin- guish only those Haim'- that wcrr noi <« made or r-i(i ii^iuliid" after due iioficc giM n (lunn;; ti ocilain pt'fiofl ill tlu* OfUc'ial Ga/.i'lto, juui in two olhei pjipers ri'spci'tivi'ly publislicil in Quc!)ef and IVTont- real. Persmiri app^i/uif/ fur suc/t vcnniutaliou, to t/ive pub- lic Nodce lo Mt)rf(/t(i/ies tind olhcra liavhiy Clabns on such Lands. VII. Provided nevertheless, and be it further enacted, That in all cases where such application lor a Commutation, Ueleas or implied, Oi mder ;iny other Title, or by any o iier means whaisoever, m or upon (he Lands in respect of which such C innuitation, Ue- lease and ExtinguishiiKnt of Feudal and Seignorial Rights, dues or burthen shall be •;«) apj)lied for, to siijrnifv in Writ infi; with ui three Calendar Aionths from the Date of such Notification, their assent to or dissent from the surrender, re-giant and change of Tenure of such Lands, ind the Commutation, Uelease and KxiinTruishment of the Feudal and Seignorial Dues, j lights and Inirthens so applied for; which Con T.;t or Dissent in Writing shall, in case of an Application made by Petition to Ilij, Majesty, as hereinbefore mentioned, be lodged with- in the said ku^t-montioned period of Three Cnlen- dar Months (and Access shall be by all Persons; W\ ? * ' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k A ■*' -.'^ 4s. <- ^• .V % / 1.0 Jri^ I I.I il! [4 5 ■ 50 la 112 2.5 1.8 L25 1 1.4 yiJ4 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation f\ I i , I }' } by tlie autlioiily aforesaid, that nothing herein -ho - fore containetl, shall extend or be construed to ex- tend to take away, diminish, alter or any way flflect the rights or hypothecs of women during marriage, upon the immoveables of their husbands, or of chil- dren upon the immoveables of their fathers in rela- tion to dower not yet open, nor in any manner or way to affect substitutions. The reader, by comparing these sections of the provincial act with tlie section of the imperial sta- tute, Hvust perceive that, to a certain extent, the former is not less " nefarious" than the latter. I shall now proceed to prove, tliat " The Cana- da Tenures Act," as it stands, could not have been constitutionally passed by the provincial legisla- ture, and that the merits of the imperial interfe- rence, therefore, rest entirely on the merits of the proposed commutation. If the proposed commu- tation was wrong, the imperial parliament was wrong; if the proposed commutation was right, the imperial parliament was right. The question, in short, becomes not a special but a general one, not merely a legal but partly a moral one. As I shall treat this subject at greater length, when I come to discuss the claims of the constitu- tionalists as embodied in their petition, T shall, at present, merely remark, that, whatever opinions may be entertained as to the propriety or the im- propriety of a compulsoiy commutation, there can be but one opinion as to the harmlossness, or ra- ther as to the benefits, of a voluntary on6. Now the '* nefarious act" provides only for a volun tary commutation, whether of the seigneur in re- 90 latiuii to the sovereign, oi ol tl>e va.^sal in iciatioii to the seigneur. Having thus established the propriety of th^^ pro- posed commutation of tenure, I now proceed to j)rovc, that such commutation could not have been rendered safe, but by the imperial parliament. The commutation must be cfTected by a surrcn der to his Majesty, and a fresh grant. Now, the constitutional act of 1791 provides, in the 3Gih 'jcction, "That whenever any grant of lands within cither of the said provinces shall hereafter be made, by or under the authority of his Majesty, his heirs or successors, tliere shall at the same time be made, hi respect of the same, a proportionable allotment and appropriation of lands, for the above mention- ed purpose, (the support and maintenance of a Protestant clergy) within the township or parish to which such lands so to be granted sliall ap- pertain or be annexed, or as nearly adjacent there- to as circumstances will admit : and that no such grant shall be valid or efficient, unless the same shall contain specifications of the lands so allotted and appropriated, in respect to the lands to be thereby granted ; and that such lands so allotted And appropriated, shall be, as nearly as the circum- itances and nature of the case will admit, of the like quality as the lands in respect of which the uime are so allotted and appropriated, and shall be, as nearly as the same can be estimated at thi; time of making swih grant, equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted." I dc not prcume lo decide v.helhf?r thi; fore- Hi M : [ I ! ) I! ■f yj I'' 1 1- : f i ) \ i 1 \ ( i - -I I r f)I p^oing clause of tlic constitutional act wouki or would not give the *' Protestant Clergy" any claim on the lands granted after a surrender; but, where any doubt exists, common prudence demands that a clause, releasing liis Majesty from the obli- gation imposed by an imperial act, of allotting and appropriating clergy reserves, should form part of any act of commutation, whether opt^^nal or com- pulsory. Such a claui^e the provincial legislature is incompetent to i)ass. Such a clause the imperial parliament has introduced into *' The Canada Tenures Act" — " without its being necessary for the validity of such grant, that any allotment or a})propriation of lands for tho support and main- tenance of a Protestant clergy, should be therein made, any law or statute to the contrary thereof liot withstanding. " One section of *• The Canada Tenures Act" I to admit to be faulty. 1 allude to the section, es- lublishing the En^H^^h law of descent, of the com- muted lands; but I am able to state, on the very- best authority, that thai section was surreptitiously engrafted, at the suggestion of two suboidinatc and irresponsible functionaries of Lower Canada, on the official draft of the Attorney General of the pro- vince. AMI-15uRliAUCKAT. 2M May, 1835, S I No. XIV . 1 ON THK ii ABUSES OF THE INTEllFKKZNCK OF Till: IMVEUIAL rAllLIAMENT," ^ '} I ^'\ Jiefore 1 proceed to consider the ' Canada Trade Act," 1 must recur to the " Canada Tenures Act." Messrs. Nelson and Cliapman say, " The feeling of insecurity of property generated by this act im- periously demands its immediate repeal, for which the people of Canada have repeatedly prayed." — Now I do not believe that '*the people of Canada" are aware of the existence of the ** nefarious act." It has hitherto been, witli one exception, a dead letter ? and even that one exception did not bring into play its *' nefarious" provisions. The Right Honourable Edward EUice, as seig- nior of Beauharnois, is the only man that has availed himself of the commutation of tenure ; and can even a solitary unit of ** the people of Canada" complain, that, through Mr. Ellice's proceeding, his or her "rights" iiave been " swept awijy" ? In my last letter, I })roved, on general and theo- retical grounds, that the provincial act for tiie rati- fication of titles was, to a certain extentj as " neta- rious" as the " Canada Tenures Act ;" and 1 may now add, on special and practical grounds, that it ha'j been iiiUnitclv more " ncHnious." — "While the el -^,( »' 1 . ^ '•I ! I I i J, |- ! ) f j ii n f I! 93 jaltcr act; a:, T liavc shewn, has not '• swept auay'' a single right, the former, wliieh is potentially ex- tinguishing mortgages every term, may have "swept away" the lights of hundreds of '* the people of Canada." During the year 1834, fifty-three titles were ratified ; and each of tlic fifty-three judgments may have posslhly " swept away" an indefinite nam* ber of dormant claims. — So much for " the feeling of insecurity of property generated" by the " Ca- nada Tenures Act." I now proceed to discuss the merits of the "Ca- nada Trade Act." Tlic latter part of the 46th section of the consti- tutional act of 1791, which 1 subjoin, specially re- served to the Imperial Parliament the power of reeulatinc: " the commerce to be carried on be- twecn the said two provinces, between cillicr of the said provinces and any other part of his Ma- jesty's dominions, or between either of the said provinces and any foreign country or state." ^* And whereas it is necessary, for the general l>enefit of the British Empire, that such power of regulation of commerce should continue to be ex- ercised by his Majesty, his heirs or successors, and the Parliament of Great Britain, subject neverthe- less to the condition herein before recited, with re- spect to the cvpplication of any Duties which may be imposed for that purpose-. Be it therefore enacted by the authority aforesaid, That nothing in iU'isi act contained shall extend, or be construed \o extend, to prevent or all'ect the execution of any Law which hath been or shall at any time be made by his Majesty, his heirs or successors, and the par- liament of Great Britain, for establishing regula- tions 01 prohibitions or foi in^posing.. levying or 94 collcctiut^ tlutit'fi for tlu.' logul.ilioii oi Navi«.;ati\>ij, or for the lleguUlion of the commerce to be car rietl on between the saiii two provinces, or between either of the said provinces and any otiier part of his Majesty's dominions, or between cither of the !«»aid provinces and any Foreign country or state or for appointing and directing the ptiyuient of drawbacks of such duties so imposed, or to give to his Majesty, liis heirs or successors, any power or authority, with the advice and consent of sucli Le- gislative Councils, and Assemblies rcspectivvly, to vaiy or repeal any sucli Law or liaws, or any part thereof, or in any manner to prevent or obstruct the execution thereof." The constitutional act, therefore, whicii, while it is in force, is equally bindiug on the imperial parliament and on the provincial legislature, re- stricts the mercantile sway of the latter, by reserv- ing to the former the power, i f circumstances call for its exercise, of regulating all external commerce. The only ground, therefore, of inquiry, is, whe- ther the " Canada Trade Act" interferes with the internal commerce of Lower Canada. The commentators very vaguely say ** The Can- ada Trade Act is also objected to partly on the same grounds as the above," namely, the " Canada Te- nures Act." The commentators, I suppose, here refer to certain sections, which imperfectly provided for a commu- tation of the feudal tenure, and which, I candidly admit, were disingenuously introduced into the bill without any connexion with its title and ostensible As the commentate obj< say ing I K special clauses on trade, I may fairly presume, that u f).J I- > !• ihcy had nolliing (o siiy ; Iml I sliall volmiU'ci a few roniarks on two Mpparciitly i)l)jcctional)K' •iections. 1 subjoin Ihcsi' sections. XXVI 1 1. And whereas the division of tlie pro- vince of Quebec into the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, was intended for tlie common benefit of his Majesty's subjects residing within both of the newly constituted provinces, and not in any manner to obstruct tlie intercourse or preju- dice the trade to be carried on by the inhabitants of any part of the said late province of Quebec with Great Britain, or with other countries ; and it has accordingly been made a subject of mutual stipida- lion between the said two provinces, in the several agreements which have heretofore subsisted, that the province of Upper Canada should not impose any duties upon articles imported from Lower Canada, but would permit and allow the province of Low^jr Canada to impose such duties as they might think fit, upon articles imported into the said province of Lower Canada ; of which duties a certain proportion was by the said agrecmewts ap- pointed to be paid to the province of Upper Canada : And whereas in consequence of the inconvenience arising from the cessation of such agreements as above cited, it has been found expedient to remedy the evils now experienced in the province of Upper Canada, and to guard against such as might in fu- ture arise from the exercise of an exclusive control, by the Legislature of Lower Canada, over the im- ports and exports into and out of the port of Que- bec ; and it is further expedient, in order to enable the said province of Upper Canada to meet the ne- cessary charges upon its ordinary revenue, and to provide with sufficient certainty for the support of its civil government, to establish such control as may prevent the evils which have arisen or may arise from the Legislature of Lower Canada suffering to expire unexpectedly, or repeal- f)() I ing su'ldcnly, and without rillbrdiu^ to Upper Can.'ulii an opportunity of rcmonstranct*, cx- istin;5 duties, upon which the principal part of its revenue, and the necessary mainten- ance of its government may depend ; be it; there- fore enacted, 'I'hat all and every the duties whicli, at the time of the expiiation of tiie hist agreement between the said provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, were ])ayable under any act or acts of the Province of Lower Canada, on the importation of any goods, wares, or commodities into the said Province of Lower Canada (except such as may have been imposed for the regulation of the trade by land or inland navigation, between the said Pro- vince and the United States of America), shall be payable and shall be levied according to the provi- sions contained in any such acts until any such act or acts for repealing or altering the said duties, or any part thereof respectively, shall be passed by the Legislative Council and Assembly of the said Pro- vince of Lower Canada, and until such act or acts, repealing or altering such duties, shall, after a copy thereof has been transmitted to the Governor, Lieu- tenant Governor or person administering the Gov- ernment of the Province of Upper Canada, be laid before both Houses of the Imperial Parliament, ac- cording to the forms and provisions contained in a certain act of the Parliament of Great Ilritain, pas- sed in the thirty-first year of the reign of his said late Majesty, intituled, An Set to repeal certain parts of an act passed in the fourteenth year of his Majesty's reign, intituled, * An act for making more effectual provision for the Government of fhe Province of Quebec, in North America,' and to !nake further provision for the Government of the said Province, and the Royal Assent thereto pro- claimed within the Province of Lower Canada, ac-- cording to the provisions of the said last-mentioned act. ' . . ■ . - ., ^ , ,„,: XXIX, And be R further enacted, That frotr?. c2 ri I •ll ; , i»/ II, > I, a. f: and .ittiM lliL p.issiii;; oi' lliis dct, no act of* ilic 1 t- i;ishituiu <»i' llic province of Lowt'i* Canjiaa, vlicrc- b/aiiv atldilional or ollici diilics shall or inav be imposed on ai tides imported by sea into the said province of Lower Canada, and whereby tlic pro- vince tjf Upper Canada sliall or may in any res])ect be directly or indirectly ailected, shall have the force of law luitil the same shall have been laid be- fore the Imperial Parliament, as provided in certain cases by the said act passed in thethirty-iirst year oi' his said late Majesty's rei^n, and the royal assent thereto ])ublished by proclamation in the said pro- vince of Lower Canada, a copy of such act having, witlnn one month from the time of presenting the same for the royal assent in the said province, been transmitted ()y the Governor, Lieutenant- Governor, or person administerinj^ the Government of the province of J^ower Canada, to the Governor, I^ieu- tenant-Governor, or person administering the Go- venunent of the province of Upper Canada: Pro- vided always nevertheless, that it shall not be ne- cessary to transmit any such act to be laid before the lmi)erial Parliament, if, before the same shall have been presented for the royal assent within the uiid province of Lower Canada, the Legislative Council and House of Assembly of the said pro- vince of Upper Canada shall, by address to the Go- vernor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person adminis- tering the Govermnent of the said province of Up per Canada, |)ray that their concurrence in the im- position of the duties intended to be imposed by jucli act, may be signified to the Governor, Lieu tenant- Governor, or person administering the Go- vernment of the said i)rovincc oi Lower Canada. Tiic latter section, being only prospective, comes clearly within the special reservation of the consti uitionalact ; and the former as it rendered pcrma- jient merely tliose provincial duties, vhich the im I 08 , .iial pailiaiuLUl iiiiglil h.ivc i(::i.ir mipo-Ail, coined also within tlic special rciicrvatioii ol' the cunslitu- tional act. The 'JBili section niighl have l)ccn sc wortlcd, as not lo leave the least room lor doubt or favil. Having thus disposed of the abstract merits of the '* Canada; 'J'rade Act,' 1 shall add a few re- marks on the comparative burdens of foreign trade in Lower Canada and in the United States. I take a few articles from an alphabetically ar- ranged tariff of the import-duties of the United States, and give the corresponding duties of Lower Canada. Articles. American Duty. Bed-ticking, 25 ^ cent. Bolting Cloths, 25 do. Bombazines, 10 do. Boots, Brandy, Canadian Duty. 2^ ^ cent. 2J i\o. do. 2i 1 dl. 50 c. ^ pair 2 J do, 53, 57, or 03 c. F g- 32 2-9 c. J^ g . 2i ^ cent. hd. Halifax. 2i F cent. 2i do. 2i do. Brass, manuf. 25 ^ cent. Brown Sugar, 2^ cents ^ lb. Cabinet-ware, 30 ^ cent. Caps, fur, 30 do. Caps, women's, 25 do. Clothing, ready made, 50 do. 2^ do. In most of these instances, the American duties arc ten times the Canadian duties ; in brandy they are nearly double and in sugar precisely triple. The following statement will shew, that these in- stances do not exceed the average of American duty. 'J'hc Taj iff, which I quote, came into operation i I ' I \ I i ' '^ i 99 i; on 4tli March, 1833. Since that dale I have nut sufHcient data for my purpose ; but as the reduc- tion of duties, whicli it effected, was but trifling, the data of the preceding year will affcrd a sufli- ciently accurate result. In 1832, the customs yielded 28,465,237 dollars 24 cents. In 1833, the imports amounted to 108,1 18,31 1 dollars ; and, as they annually increase, they must have been somewhat less in 1832. But if they were equal in both years, there would re- sult an average duty of more than 25 per cent, on the whole of the importations. My next article will recapitulate my arguments and close my remarks on the Petition of the Con- ventiont ) M I I A NTI- B UREA UC RAT, 26th May, 1835. No. XV. RECAPiTULATION* No. I. pointed out the necessity ** of submitting to the British public a temperate review of the al- leged grievances, and a plain calculation of the chances of rebellion." No. II. proved, while it ridiculed the idea of proving such a truism, that Mr. Papineau would never dare to accomplish his threats of rebellion, " in reliance either on his own strength or on Ame- rican aid," and inferred the absurdity of legislating, at home for Lower Canada on any other grounds than those of the most Impartial justice. No. III. admitted, for the sake of argument, Messrs. Nelson and Chapman's asset tion, that the Legislative Council is " self elected," — proved, that the Assembly is, in the strictest sense of the word, " self-elected," and inferred, merely to expose the absurdity of Messrs. Nelson and Chapman's con- cflusion, that the Assembly, as well as the Legisla- tive Council, ought to be abolished. It, also, proved, that the Legislative Council, if appointed by "the people," would be "self-elected," and would merely echo the decisions of the Assem- bly. In support of the latter position, it pointed out ** the several grounds of distinction between the r"i; ■? H 1 i 1 ; ,' ■ - / H ;. *:. % tJT 101 • ^ ■ It V ' |i ) I 111 Hi y two Houses of the American Congress," and main- tained that siicli grounds of distinction could not exist to " prevent the perfect identity of two elec- tive houses of legislation in Lower Canada." No. IV. proved, that the Legislative Council is not, in any sense of the word, '* self-elected." To prove that position, it shewed, that the alleged identity of the two councils did not exist, as the Legislative Council contained only a fourth part of the Executive Council, and the Executive Council only an eighteenth part of the Legislative Council — and that the alleged identity, if it did exist, would not prove the charge of self-election, as neither of the councils is '' a council of control as to the no- mination to puhlic offices, and as to the removal from them." No. V. attempted, on various grounds, to show, that the partial connexion between the executive and the legislature, which No. IV. had ad- mitted, is necessary to secure the highest possible respectability of the legislature, and to maintain th.c balance of the constitution. It quoted the full and decisive opinion of a re- publican jurist of distinguished character, — demon- strated that the offensive identity of the two coun- cils exists in the American constitution, which the patriots of Lower Canada admire as a model of perfection — and stated, that an absolute separation of the three great departments of civil government would necessarily commit the fearful power of le gislation to second-rate lawyers and statesmen. No. VL and No. VI L exposed the disingenu- / 10-2 ousncss and di.slioncc>ty of Mcb^i^. Nelson and Chapman's assertions as to the ''obstt uctlvc charac- ter" of the legislative council — proving that the language of these gentlemen was wilfully distorted, that their statements were exaggerated and false, and that, in regard to many of the rejected bills, they had imputed to the legislative council the "obstructive character" of the Colonial Secrttarv and even of the Assembly itself. No. VIII. and No. IX cleared the Legislative Council of the groundless charges of " fostering na- tional animosities and distinctions" and of making improper appointments to office. The former charge they triumphantly hurled back on the as- sembly itself; the latter they ridiculed, inasmuch as the legislative council has not the power of appoint- ing even its own officers. They, moreover, demon- rArated, that the Canadians hold the larger share of public appointments, military, political and judi- cial. No. X. successfully shewed, that the dependent position of the Judges is to be ascribed neither to the government nor to the legislative council, but to the assembly alone — defended Mr. Justice Gale against the silly attacks of the patriots and Mr. Spring Rice, and stated that the practice of eleva- ing politicians to the bench was more prevalent in England than in Lower Caii .da. No. XI. established the universality of the Itgiblativc supremacy of the mother-country, and uiaintained hoi abstract right to interfere, in case orncccsiiiy, even >vjth the internal Mffair<. of any colon V. i^iii 1 if i. .M ( h I H « i -4 103 I it If r i I ? 1 ^ !« No. XII. exposed the utter fallac) and cnlif4. dishonesty of the objections, urged by Messrs. Nelson and Chapinan,against tlie British American Land Company.-— —It proved, that tlie public lands of the American Union, so far from yielding a direct revenue, had absorbed more than ten mil- lions of dollars of the public money — that the pub- lic lands of individual states, so far from super- seding taxation, produced a most paltry fraction of their respective revenues, — and that the alleged misappropriation of the wild lands of Lower Canada does not impose the necessity, as Messrs. Nelson and Chapman assert, of direct taxation* No. XIII. proved that the " Canada Tenures Act" does not merit Messrs. Nelson and Chapman's epithet of "nefarious," — that a provincial act for the ratification of tides, which emduated from the pa- triots themselves, is "nefarious" on the same un- tenable ground of " sweeping away" private rights, — and that the provincial legislature was incompetent to pass any act lor commuting tenures, equally safe and satisfactory with the ** Canada Tenures Act." No. XIV. compared the practical efftcts of the imperial statute for the commutation of tenuie.s and of the provincial act for the ratification of titles, and established the conclusion, that the latter has been, in reality, mnch more " nefarious" than the former. It, moreover, proved, that the " Canada Trade Act" did not violate the constitutional act of 1791, and bhewcd, thai the duties on imports are faT 104 liighcr in the United Statc;^ than in Lower Ca- nada. To give my labours greater weight at home, I may add, that not one sentence of these communi- cations has beeni directly or indirectly, refuted or assailed by any writer of the patriotic faction. If silence implies consent, my lucubrations have been sanctioned even by the champions of Mr. Papineau and elective institutions ; and if any of my i^ate- ments arc questioned on the other side of the water, the intelligent reader will easily isppreciatc the honesty and veracity of so indirect a reply. The patriotic writers are^ in truth, better armed for attack than for defence. The}/ shun controversy^ as being likely to elicit truth and expose ignorance and dishonesty. AntI- BuRJiAUCRAIt If ■> f. 'ii 28th May, i^lj. >adc 791, .r.--.' ri In ■•i, I» APPENDIX, NO. I. t « 5 Dc la Minervct gazette publie a MontreaU BaS'Canada. i< Toutes les protestations d'amour pa- i< terncl pour los colons, &c. ne sont que '< de vaines parades do Ibrmes, vides do ^^ sens, aux quelles nous ne croyons pas. » Numdro 101, 9 fevrier 1S32, notes ddito- riales de la Mmerve, « Le pouple iachera d'obtcnir le dresse- '< ment dc ses » * II fuut qu'un ministere soil bien an 108 duciciix cl i^jjioulc poui vciiii* cncoic unc fois proposer h. noUc chambrc cl\asscinblde il*accorder un« listc civile pour la vie du ioi.» ^Minervt! du 6 Fivricr^ 1832. « II no s'agit pcur leur rriornont que do niohtrer notre m6pris pour la ddmarcho du conseil.'. Avantqu^il soit peu lepctip/c sera appcld k prendre iWmlrcs mesures.... 11 tachera d'obtenir le redressement do ses griefs par les moyens constilulionnels dont il s'est servi, quoiqu'avec peu de rdus^ito jusqu'k present ; ct si ces moyens ne rdus- sissent point, il verra cnsuite ce qiCil aura ri/a*Vc....Un etat bien policd doit-i1 pcrrtict- tro que quelques ihdividus ignorans^ obs- iUrSf meprise ge'cdralement, apportent des obstacles au bonhcur de cinq cent jMiLLE habitans quHls venleni rendrc escla- t;e5.... Convient*'il k des hommes Hires de so laisser tranquilloment etichainer etpiller^ JVous attgurons Irop favor ablement dc l^es- pril de nos compatriotcs pour les croire capable dc cetlc bassesse,^^ — Minerve du 9 jPcuricr, 1832, / . Fjxirait de PEcho du Pays^ public au Vil- lage Debartzch, BaS'Canada* uOui vous le savez, mes amis, vos droits les plus sherds, on tonte de vous les arra- cher. On radprise ct on n^ecoute plus vos plaintcs. On veut reprdsenter les Ca- nadiens comme des Sauvagcs barbarcsqu'il faut plongcr dans les fers du plus dur es- f2 , 1 -\ : ,1 ^-A.. T 109 (i I > O \' L ciavu^e. Nugueio on a vei!>c le sang Caiiadien, et nos ennemii) se rdjouiraient de voir le dernier des CanadienH h sou dernier soupir,et VOUDRAIENT DANS LEUR DELIRE BARBARE NE FAIRE DE TOUS LES CANAOIENS QU»UNE SEULE TETE, FOUR A- VOIR LE PLAISIR FEROCE DE L'ABATRE D'UN SEUL COUP. Mais il faut Jeter le voile sur cessujeis d'horreur et nous opposer sans relache a Pambition de ces monstres avides de place et d^honneur et qui tout en maitraitant les Canadiens no vivent que de leurs sueurs et de leurs tra- vaux. Oui, nous avons h nous plaindre d'une infinite de nnaux dont on veut nous accabler. Yous connaissez les tentaiives des Bureaucrates qui tentent de s^emparer de vos terres et de vos biens. Tdmoins cet agiotage injuste, et les eflforts de cette so- ciety fameuse que la M^re-Patrie vient d'autoriser ^ t'achat de vos terres.CETTE SOCIETE COMPOSEE DE PROPRt- ETAIRES AVIDES, ET AVARES, MEDITE LA RUINE DES CANADI- ENS EN VOULANT LES CHASSER DU SOL QUI LES A VUS NAITRE. Quoi, chers compatriotes souffrirez-vous que vos terres qui viennent do vos p^res ; que vous avez cultivdes avec tant de soin, ct que votre courage vous a fait arroser si souvent de vos sueurs, souflrirez vous, dis* ie qu'elles passent cnlre des mains ^tran- geres ? ct quo vos cnfans, objets de votrc Ill) lendrcsse, aillettt hoiitcuscmciit monclier dans un pays lointuin, du pain quo vou« leur promettiez de tnunger dans le Icur ? Je vois se peindro sur vos visages Tex- pression de la douleur, lorsque vous pen- sez aux trames de nos ennemis, qui vuu- draient vous chaster de ce beuu pays, que vous ch^issez : de ce pays ou nos pre- miers rnissionnaires ont perdu la vie et vers^ leur sang pour y planter la foi de vos p^res.» « Les Canadiens comprennent que s'lL Y A DES INCONVENIENS A TIRER l'e- p£e,IL Y en a de BIEN PLUS GRAVES A LE REDOUTER, ET DE NUISIBLES A LEUR NA- TiONALITlfi, EN LA LAISANT DANS LE FOUR- RE A U. Puissent les horreurs de la guerre civile ne pas precider le retour necessaire de la liber IS ! Helas ! en pronongant ce v(eu dujond de noire cceur^ il ne nous paratl pas possible quHlsoii exauce.n Peu satisfait de cetie ^nonciation do principes, dans I'ivresse de sa phrenesio patriotique, il adresse I'exhortation suivante au gouverncment et ^ ceux qui le souticn-* nenl. . : « Dcs champs d^sol^s dc nos percs, « Fuyez barbarcs oppresseurs ; . u Recoil naissez les traits sdvcrcs '■ n D'un Dieu juslCj d*uti Dicu vci)gcur.« ■ ? IJ ! . \ 1 „ ! ♦ I -i iii Kt b il anivait que Ic ^ouvciiicnitiii it uos atnis iiosc iciklisioiit pas, a I'iuvitati- u(j> los consdqucnccj cu soiit prdvucs ci Ics ( htiiiccs calculdcs . u Dcs Hots do saii<^ coulcraieiit ; mais :iu prix do co sang les Canadicns gagne* laiont ils la libcrtd ct la force ? Pourquoi non ? Scraieiit-ils avoiiglcs pour ne pas voir lu lumiero qui brillo aux £(ats-Unis.» f(if- 5» i ■- , IJiNION PATRIOTIQUE. DL -jT. BENOIT, COMTE DES DEUX JMO^- TAGNES. A unc asscmblee des habilatis dc la Pa- loisso St. Benoit, tcnuc h la Porto do I'E- ^lise du lieu, Jcudi, lo dix-huit juin mit iuiit cent trente cinq, il a 6i6. Rcsolu, 1. Que Ics habilans de ccttc paroissc voiont avec satisfaction la forma « tion on cetto Province, sous le titre d'C/- nion Palrioiique^ d'une association nation- ale dcstin^e a assurer au Peuplc unc pro- tection mutuolle^ ct h fournir dansMob temps do ciisea politiqucs, au moyen de Idg^rcs contributions volontaires, les moyens de luttcr centre ['oppression militaire, admi- nistrative ct judiciaire. Rcsolu, 2. Que ce moyen, heurcusc- incnt adopte en Irlande, a rdussi h assurer k la population de ccttc lie opprimde, le r-ospccf, ct Vinjlnmcc k laquellc clle ^ droit 112 t ' utqu^une uiiioti da ni^me gome, ciincnlec elroilcment ontro tons lod int<5rCt9 popu- laires, (ant en cctto Province que dans Ics colonics voisincs, est de nature a promct- tre le mOmo rdsultat. R^solu, 3. Que la formation d'uno as- sociation do cetto nature, commo moycn de protection pcrsonnelle et individuello est devenue d'autant plus n(fccssairc, que les habitans du Pays qui n*ont pas courbd i^- nominieuscment la t^to sous le despotismo Europecn et Colonial, ne peuvent cspCter des autoritdd administrativcs et judiciaires ou d^aucuno autre eri ce pays, une protec- tion suffisante pour Icur vie, leur libertd ct leur honneur ; et que les meurtrcs, les as- sassinats ct les violences impunies dont ils sent tons les jours victimcs, nccessiferont do la part des menibres do V Union Fatri* o/t(]fUc,la determination de rcpousserindivi- duellcmont'et collecti vemont par la force des agressions de cogcnre,et de prCter mains- forte dans les mCmes cas aux autres par- ties de la population quiy seront soumiscs. Alors les Articles d' Association de VU- nion Patrioiiqite adoptes cl Montreal, et approuv63 par la comite de correspondance ie deux Mai derrjcr,ayant 6i6 lus,ilsont<^td adoptes unanimement, ct on a commencd ^ recevoir les signatures et les souscriptions. II a aqssi dte r6solu que jusqu'h re quo V^lection gdndralc ait lieu le second iundi do Juin, mil huit cent trente six, les? oHl- ciers dti bureau de St. Bonoit seront. i: : I'm i( hm^ Lieut Col. Ignace Raizenne, ^cr., Pre- sident. J. J. Girouard, ^cr., M. P. P, ler Vice President. J. Bareelo, ^ci. er» 2me Vice President. L. 11. Masson, €cr., Secretaire Corres- pond. M. F. H. Lennaire, Secretaire. Jean Bapti^^te Dumouchel, ecr., Tr^s. •< . ■ v\ ■ <*f s? ? ^^ ?, t !-J-\ i- ; i. ■J',f^'> t . .y „., ':^!-:.. '-;- *.; APi»ENDIX, NO. n. 7(1 the Editor of the Montuzal Herald. * Montreal Uth May, 1835. SiR,.^w«Will you do myself and the country the favour to insert in the Herald the following singu- lar document ? It is the translation of part of a French pamphlet, printed in Montreal, but circulat- ed only in the country. It. is, in truth, intended only for the most illiterate and most credulous por- tion of the community. ' ' From the elaborate vulgarity of the language, and the unblushing effrontery of the sentiments, I have little hesitation in ascribing the pamphlet to the p^n of Mr. Papineau, • ,.■; I remain, „••„■ '^ i,;..! .■,,:., '<,v::rv..-;:.. 1 ;-* *-^ ■> ' ..-;.->■ - i Sir, ^ ■ Your humble servant, A NTi- Cliquocrax. ^j., » t,\ '-A ' *• INTRODUCTION. ' ' Since 179*2, Canada has enjoyed the advantage of a Constitution, which permits her to paiticipate in the legislation of the country, by the means of a House of Assembly, elected by a nijtjoiity of votes, in each of the towns and counties. The friends of • I R ■ In U » i; 115 i^ ■ f •Ml I, t V ' • '»' . power extol this ^jift very liislily, under pretext thai wc arc indebted for it to the magnanimous philan* thropy of the English Government. The truth is, that Constitution was granted to us by England only from necessity. She gave it with regret ; and her Governors arc but too successful in following up the intentions of tho Metropolitan State, by endeavouring daily to cripple the exercise of con- stitutional rights, either by a blind adherence to the orders which they receive or yielding to the impulse of their own propensity towards an abso- lute administration. In order to arrive at the proof of what is here asserted, viz., that the Con- stitution was only granted to us by England from sheer necessity, it will suffice to review that period of our history : — In 1774, the American coloniest after having for a long time, and in vain, solicited the mother country to grant them liberal institu- tions, adopted the resolution to resist oppression and to conquer their independence. War was kindled in that land, until then peaceable, and two years were sufficient, for the brave Americans re- quired no more than two years, with the assistance of the French, to establish within their country a free and constitutional government. Such a ncigli^ bourhood was highly dangerous for Canada, whose inhabitants had for neighbours, a nation, which had just formed itself, which had burst the chains oL' bondage with which the mother country had at- tempted to overburden it, and which was already advancing in prosperity. Such an example might stimulate the Canadian people, and inspire then^ with the v/i&h of becoming a part of the American confederation, wliich was prepared to receive them with open arms. It might the more rcadil have done so, because its French spirit was far from har- monising with that of the English, and that British sway might have ofTended its pride of origin, even if the religious principles of the rulers had not been fhamctrically opposed to those o( the dcsccid^mts of no thai ilan- til is, ;land ; and ►wing I. by con- Lce to ;o the abso- \t the Con- l from period tloniest )Iicitcd institu- iTCSSion ir was nd two ans re- sistance miry a neigh- wbost ich had lains ot had at- Already I might re thcnv mcrican vc them 1 have om har- X British in, even not been d-mls of the Catholici). Nevertheless, the Canadians, pur suing a conscientious aud straight- for ward line of conduct, removed from any subterfuge unworthy of their ancestry, continued to remain faithful to £ng« land, and resisted the instigations made to them by the United States, at that period. It wished to be indebted for a Constitution to the equity of its protectors,~-it presumed that £ngland, so proud of her constitutional liberty at home, would not hesi- tate to extend the advantages of that constitution to the important colony which had been subjected to her sway for twenty years. In 1784 the colony began to petition the mother country for a Consti- tution. During six years the latter was deaf to the prayers af the Canadian people ; but at last, sensi- ble that a longer refusal would bring about the loss of Canada, and an annexation of it to the American Union, she determined upon yielding that, which, under other circumstances, she never would have granted. Another circumstance, also, doubtlessly tended to influence the decision of England. From 1787, a revolution had taken place in France; the people had resumed their rights, the constitutional system had extended its empire over that country, and the common origin of Frenchmen and Canadians ought to h~ ^ caused to vibrate in the hearts of the latter the funeral chime of absoliite power. In 1791, the British Parliament passed the Constitutional Act of Lower Canada, and a Constitutional chatter was published in the province. But in granting this favour the spirit of British domination was made manifest ; the English Legislators took c^rc to establish such an equipondernnce as would enable tliera, at will, to destroy the favour which they seemed to giant- Tliercforc, the powers of (he Canadian House of Commons were so ambiguously' defined as to be susceptible of different interpretations ; so that its privileges mi^ht be curtailed Therefore, a species 'if ?>n;:torrp<^v xras created by nn nppor house, call- I'll i 1 ? .\ (tv J i I i ' S I ? ■;. } i 1 i . '■ ' 1 i. - ' M m : llii IK-,?: \ \ 117 I -} vH the Legislative Cuunci), in sucii a nianiiui' ai> (o frustrate every measure originating in the Lower House, which might be ijii opposition to the views of the administration. The Constitution was granted merely to propitiate the people, and to wheedle them in the name of liberty ; but not to recognise any portion of sovereignty which belongs to the people ; nor to secure to the country the good efiects winch it ought to derive from so noble an institution. Notwithstanding, the country ex- perienced, during a long period, the right of elec- tion, without molestation ; for a long time it was enabled to follow the bent of its own inclination in sending to the house men who could firmly main- tain popular rights, and stiui^gle successfully against the snares incessantly laid by the administration, with a view to shelter itself from a control which thwarted it, and claimed the right of re- ducing it within the limits assigned by the Consti- tution. The protection, or to speak more plainly, Eng- lish sovereignty over Canada, brought other evils in its train. A swarm of Britons hastened to the shores of the new British colony, to avail them- selves of Its advantages to improve their own con- dition. The lucrative offices of the administration were profusely distributed among them, and they conti- nued to hold them, to the exclusion of the ancient inhabitants of the country, who were removed as far as possible from all the positions which they might have occupied for the advantage of their fellow countrymen, for their protection .igaiust the abuses of the judiciary or the administration. The Government seized upon all the waste lanuh of the Crown. Those invaluable estates, and which are becoming more so every year, ought to have been left, or the greater part thereof, to the country: they would have proved instrumental in amcUor:iting every branch-— in making new rond^^, US building new bridges, opening porLi, establishing institutions, embellishing the cities, erecJng Ko« man Catholic churches, founding a school in every village, endowing colleges — in a word, a number t;f things of which we are at present deprived, and which the want of capital compels us to neglect, would have been accomplished by the proceeds of the public lands, and would have produced to the province those improvements by which the civiliza- tion of nations is advanced. /^A neighbouring na-' tion affords us an example of what might have been accomplished in our own country, if a constitution- al system had been rigidly followed, and the Go- vernment had left the control and disposal of the national domain to us. The United States, within the time that we are compelled to remain station- ary, have introduced among them improvements without nuniber, which have laised them nearly to the rank of the oldest European nations. To what are they indebted for so much glory and such advantages? To a constitutional system firmly established, and followed up with good faith ; to Ihe territorial riches which the country {Pays) can dispose of daily, and Mhich, instead of being the booty of a paltry number, constitute the treasure of the country at large. ' ' It is unheard of, that a monarch should seize up- on all the lands of a state nnd convert the same to his own sole use. In all kingdoms the ungranted lands become national property ! they form the common treasure, they are managed for the gene- ral advantage, and are only sold in the name of the nation* and each citizen receives a portion of the purchase-money, by the amelioration which the pro- ceeds are the means of introducing into the country. Here it is quite the contrary; these rich tei.ito- i:jes have been wrested from Canada, 'i'he men in power have squandered them in a most scandalous manner, by distributing a great portion of them amongst their dependants, who, for the most part; 'I I 41 ._,... -»ii-, H^U w 119 I \ lit Ik I { - a i I are persons born without the colony. NineLy-foui' individuals have, in this way, obtained, gratuitous ly, grants to the amount of 2,080,679 arpents; and the men ivhothns fattened on public property, have not, in consequence, become better friends of the people. The remainder of those lands, so wrongfully cal • led " Crown Lands," has been lately conceded to :i Company of Speculators in England, who will re- alize immense profits from them, while the Cana- dian people will be shut out from participating in those advahtages ; as the proceeds arising from the sale of those lands, will not be expended in the Pro- vince, no benefit can result therefrom to the people of this countryi>yBut this measure is accompanied by a political object on the part of the Colonial ad- ministration. The growing knowledge of the Ca- nadians and their inclination towards right havo alarmed the Critons ; they wish ^to settle our soil with their own children, in order to obtain a majo- rity sufficient to balance the elections in Canada ; and afterwards by force of oppression, to compel the descendants of the French nien, who profess a religion different from theirs, to abandon the place of their birth, the place where the bones of their fathers repose^ a land to which thay cling as their sacred Home. //The Canadian population is too nu- merous to admit of the Britons inflicting upon them the horrors and desolation with which they visited the Acadians ; but with time, skilfulness, and patience, they will accomplish the same result, and before long, the title of Canadian, which' bears with it so n^any honourable recollections derived from that grand European nation the French, will be obliterated from the history of contemporary na- tions. .' /In consequence of the facilities afforded by the administration, for the settlement of Britons with- in our colony, they came in shoals to our shores, to push their fortune; ; every «?pecie5 of office was 120 place their bheir nu- upon they ncss, esultj jears rived will was injiYicdialely (illetl wHli ihcic new i;i)uicio, but Uia "as not sufficient for Hiititsh cupidity : others ol ihcin established themselves in our cities, they were ' j encouraged and supported by their fellow country- men, and secretly extending tlicir schemes, they ' blipt into every profession, and made themselves masters of all the trade as well foreign as domestic. I f The Canadians by their indolence, contributed to- wards the fortunes of the British, they retired from trade satisfied with the moderate competence they had acquired, they did not support the young be- ginners in trade ; and gradually all the Canadian merchants weie supplanted by Britons. For many years, we welre not aware of these se- cret practices,because the Britons were occupied in accumulating wealth, and not considering themselves sufliciently numerous, took but a small share iu our political affairs ; the elections remained free from their intrigues ; because they could have had no chance of practising any amongst a population nine times more numerous tlian themselves. But with- in these five or six years past they go about boldly seeking to bow down the neck of every child of the soil, [en fans du sol] What is it then, which inspires them with such audacity, for they are ilot equal in numbers witli the Canadians? It is altogether to the power ofof- lice, which they hold from a Government obliging towards them alone; the power of wealth, not cash- but a fictitious credit ; and, finally, to our own in- difference to the interests of the country. jjl, With the offices, our enemies became masters of those who hold them under their authority, the lat- ter findingjtheir conscience placed in the scale against famine, and the fate of their families put in Jeopar- dy, yield to the cruel necessity of a blind submission to the orders of the Cleikarchy, [fiyircawcrac^/.J- Money, that sinew of everything and too frequent- ly of every action^ is one of the most powerful aux- iliaries the Britisli possess. They have established g2 ^rm 121 ^1 a syRteinoipapiTinoiuy, based solely upon tlieirowu credit, and which our Au6iV»n«have liad the folly to receive as ready money, although it is not haid cash current amongst all nations, but on the contrary which is of no value, and without the limits of the province, would not be received by any person — They can at their pleasure, with tliese banking in- stitutions which they direct, favour their friends, by procuring them capital for all their undertakings, and crush their opponents in refusing them dis« count. Our personal indifference in the first instance, lent a helping hand to the scourge which now as- sails uSt If at the outset we had made common cause as we now do, the Britons would never have reached the apogee of their prosperity, they would not this day wield the arms which we have allowed them to pick up to enslave us, and to insist upon our great majority succumbing to their small mino- rity. British arrogance was never carried to such a pitch as during the last election. In 1832 they had already begun to try their strength, aided by the magistrates whom they hiid under their control they endeavoured to bring about a conflict between the Canadians and their opponents, in order to af- ford a pretext to call out British troops, who ought to have respected the sanctuary of the poll, and who ought not to have appeared there except at the re- quest of the returning officer, but who, nevertheless, came ai d used their arms against defenceless citizens in the streets of a peaceable town. The assassination of three of our countrymen is due to their infernal plots, and thanks to the partia- lity of the creatures placed in power by the Govern- ment, that blood has not yet been revenged, the guil- ty have not yet been brought to justice. The events which occurred after that lime, the firmness displayed by the Canadian Depu- ties the resolution;!! which they passed at the |n IS Irtia- rern- juil- lime, the commrncein(/iit ol' I8»)4, which wvic approved of by loo 000 KJ^natures of the most pure Ari/>77a/t« of this piovince, made tiie British feel that no etTbrt should he spared to sec ic a triumph at the elections in 1834. It was an important period for the Clerkarchy (Bureaucracy); if they could succeed in returning their candidates, they would have a pliant house of assembly tvhich would harmonize with the Legis- lative Council, in seconding the views of the Exe- cutive. It would then have been an easy matter to alter the law of election, and to adopt resolutions subversive of every measure which had been previ- viously accomplished for the benefit of the prorLR ; aud to establish such an order of things as would for ever exclude the Canadians from possessing in public affairs, that influence which had always be- longed to their numbers, their ancient possessions, and their inviolable attachment to their native land. A single session of a house of assembly com- posed of the Clerkarchy, would suffice to destroy the advantages which must result from a struggle which has lasted so many years, and which is about drawing to a close./df, as there was little doubt, the patriotic party could maintain tits ground ; if the progress of reform could continue ; if the firmness of the Canadian representatives shewed itself well worthy of the continued confidence of their consti- tuents ; if Britain should see herself forced to yield to all the demands of the Colony, not only would the Clerkarchy ( Bureaucracy) lose all their offices, which would be then distiibutcd according to po- pular justice and common sense ; not only would the British see their favours, honors and profits eclipsed, and the preponderance of that aris- tocracy of which they are so proud ; but they would still further be compelled to assist in the act of equity, calculated to wound most deeply their jealous supremacy. They ought to be compelled io bend under the will of the majority. These 1 ) t ) C ! ;■'? .■Sl < / / fmr 1 •2a 1)/ ' i ' hicn whoprclcinl, notv. illiilcimlm;' lliou piilv'/.iur bir, to (lictatc to aiitl cominainl powciliil bo(!ics, (luasscs) In a worili tlicy would iti despair l»o ( ompelled to .s(ic the government yielding to the ;.'eneral voice — restore power to the *' cnfans du sol," Avhom they liatc as much from political rancour, as from the difllrcnce which exists between their ori« ^in, their religion, their character and habits.// ''»*^^lirec months before the election they were busy in erecting their batteries, and in agitating the minds of the electors. Their newspapers scattered every where doubt and mistrust. They endeavor- ed to excite the patriotic Irish catholicsi and to persuade them that the Canadians were their most mortal enemies. At Montreal, they made up the fa- mous subscription of eleven hundred [>ounds, which was to be made use of in seducing the greedy, or in paying the wretches which they induced to enlist, lor the purpose of alarming the electors, or giving battle to the patriots, or of destroying peaceable ci- tizens ; and strange to tell, tlmre were to be found> on this Immoral subscription hst, the names of men who contributed to a large amount, and who a few days after became scandalous bankrupts. Thus these imprudent agitators employed against the country the money, which the confidence of our fellow citizens had put into their hands. Little did the latter foresee to what bad use that money would be applied. Other subscriptions took place at Quebec ; and wherever a Clerkarchy could be found in sufficient numbers to attempt a struggle, every where were to be seen infamous associations, for the collection of money to support projects hos- tile to the colony. Their forces were at first concentrated at the West Ward of Montreal : they gave a preference to this Ward for two reasons — first, their partisans were in greater numbers there, and there it was, ;»gain, that was to become a candidate, the man *rhom thov hate the most : because it is he vrho has i-2l '! { the rcncc tisans was, man lo hn'i manllcbtcil tlio most aiJour for the sui>prossion oi abuses — lie wlio hail never shewn a pale cheek — ne- ver retreated a step — ncvar bent before power — he Avho liad with the most undinchin^r courage de- nounced the ambitious pretensions of tlic British — he who'jc eloquence was the most persuasive and irresistible — in a word, he upon wloni the people looked as their head .ind safest guide. It is not for us to describe the scenes which took place during the first days of this election ; tho knock down system which had been acted upon when the Canadians were off their guard ; the evo- lutions of the Clcrkarchy, whp during nearly a whole month, kept a whole city in dread and con- fusion. It is not for us to speak of the attempt made at Quebec, for in doing so we would have to congratulate our compatriots of that city upon the courage which they have shewn, and the noble ex- ample they have given. Still less shall we speak of what toojc place at Sorel ; for there, we would only have to present the picture of a crime consum- mated — we would only have to drop a tear on the grave of Marcoux, that new martyr of patriotism — we could only find woids to call for the sword of justice to transfix his assassins no matter who they may be. But of all the prowess displayed by the anti-po- jmlar party — that which was exhibited at the elec- tion of the Lake of Two Mountains, does not ])ossess the least interest. There it is that one may form an idea of all that wickedness, that presided over the plots of the Clerkarchy — their perfidy, their infamous efforts, their revolting provocations, and their cowardly attacks ; those are the events which it has been our wish, more particularly, to trace, not to bring home to our fellow citizens, the knowledge, which they already possess, but that this narrative may remain among our annals, that it may he transmitted to our children, that it may remain as an eternal monument to the disgrace oi our enemies and to the glory of the patriots, I t ■\ h ; 1 1 li 1 I- From the Montreal Herald df 1 ^th May. We now beg to ofTer a few observations on llii; pamphlet, translated by <^ Anti-CIiquocrat." The first portion of the pamphl'»t attempts to era- dicate from the breasts of the people any and every sentiment of gratitude for the constitutional act of 1791, by affirming that that act was extorted from a reluctant government by the dread of physical force. Such an affirmation is meant to serve the double purpose of seducing the Canadians from tlieir allegiance and of representing insurrectionary violence as the only means of obtaining a redress of grievances. The affirmation, whether true or false, is so utterly at variance with the oft repeated senti- ments of the patriotic faction, and, in particular, with the petition of 1827, that it demands not the slightest notice. We mcy, however, mention, that the references to the Americans and the French of 1791 are perfectly ridiculous. The Americans, as the Latin grammar says, had their hands full at home ; and the French, however anxious to propa- gate their new-fangled theoiies or to cripple Great Britain, could not have lanf^.ed a single soldier in Canada in the face of a resistless navy. The pamphlet eloquently expounds as a convenient grievance, that " a swarm of Britons hastened to the shores of the new British colony, to avail themselves of its advantages to improve their own condition.*' The grievance would have appeared much more plausible, had not the writer confessed, that Cana- da became by conquest a " British*' colony. Th^t lihougtuless admission knocks the grievance on the ih^ )ropa- I Great ier in ?nient I to the ^selves Ition." more ICana- That In tlu' \9S h4!uii| iur who had a belter right than ** Britons" to hasten even in ** a swarm" to a *'' British" colony ? The fatal mistake of the patriots has uniformly been that of considering the Canadians not as the part of a mighty nation but as the whole of a petty one.-— That Canada, which British valour and British ge~ ncrosity had rescued from hereditary thraldom, should be closed against the influx of Britons, was an idea, that certainly never entered the brain of any Canadian previously to the last seven years of open ingratitude and threatened insurrection. With equally silly passages of the same Anti- Bri- tish tendency, the pamphlet abounds. ^' In consc- quencc of the facilities afforded by the administra- tion, for the settlement of Britons within our colo- ny, they came in shoals to our shores, to push their fortunes." " Our" colony and " our" shores arc bold and clear illustrations of tho deadly hatred of the British name and of the puerile assudnption of a petty nationality. " Our" colony ! " our" shores ! "our" waste lands! "our" army 1 "our" licet! (t bur" treasury ! " our" Townships ! " our" St. Lawrence! "our" canals! "our" cahots! "our" everything but common sense, common honesty and common gratitude. Again "others of them established themselves in our cities ; they were encouraged and suppoited by tlicir fellow countrymen, and made themselves mas- ters of all the trade, as well foreign as domestic." — What a heavy charge ! What an awful amount of wickedness in a Briton peculators." " As the proceeds arising from the sale of these lands will not be expended in the pro- vince, no benefit can result therefrom to the people of the country/' The fdsehood in the first of these two passages is too obvious to be pointed out. If it were true, there would not be a square foot of un- granted land in the province ; but we need not mention that the lands, granted to the '* company of speculators," were but a small portion of ** the remainder of those lands." The second paragraph is false in premises, and fallacious in conclusion. Iialf of the purchase-money of the company's lands WILL be expended wit!an the province, as the pro- ceeds of waste lands, according to the pamphleteer, ought to be expended, " in making new roads, and building new bridges." Whether the other half of (he proceeds be expended in Lower Canada or in Van Dicman's Land, the pamphleteer and hi*^ friends have little right to complain, for according fo the fashion of the often quoted and mucli ad- mired republic, the angrantcd Kinds were the na- tural means of repaying the ex^icnscs of the war. In America, llicy ^vcre clainicil by congress for »liii purpo^:c ;. and, in liny eo!]n<>cvcd prc^'incc- they hi : ) .. \ :s I'io ri i'A ^ < I ! :i I! .ii ought, therefore, to have been << seized*' by his most jTtacious majesty, not '^ for liis own sole use" but for the benefit of the empire. ' ' The patriotic pamphleteer, in speaking of the comparative strength of the two races, states, that, for many years, the Britons rarely attempted to in- terfere in elections, but that ** within these ive or six years they go about boldly and seek to bow down the neck of every child of the soil." Such is the statement of the pamphleteer. Now the facts are the very reverse of that statement. The ** Britons" had at one time, far greater influence over the elections than what they now have ; and it was *;o counteract their apparently undue influence that the faction of Mr. Louis Joseph Paplneau was organized. During ** these five or six years," the Csinadian demagogues may be said to *' go about boldly, and se«;k to bow down the neck" of every '* foieign Briton.'* It is with the view ef bowing down the neck of every Briton, that the patriots clamour for purely elective institutions, because, through their operation, the British minority, ac- cording to the pamphleteer '* must be compelled to beiid under the will of the majority." Such a de- claration is, at least, sufficiently explicit. The means by which the Britons strive to *< bow down the neck*' of every child of the soil, arc two- fold. They issue pa|jer-money, and shoot rioters. Tliesc two ofibnccs arc expanded by the pamphlet- eer into the following two sentences : " They have pstablished a system of paper- money, based soSely upon their own credit^ and ^'hicH our habUans have 130 k. Iiad the folly to receive as ready money, altliougii it is not hard cash, current among all nations, but, on the contrary, which is of no value, and, without the limits of the province, would not be received by any person."—-** The assassination of three of out countrymen is due to these infernal plots» and, thanks to the partiality of the creatures placed in power by the government, that blood has not yet been revenged ; the guilty have not yet been * brought to justice.'*-— The first of these sentences is equally severe on all paper* money, whether is- sued by the Bank of England or the Bank of Mon« treal, or by the countless banks of the often quoted and much praised republic. It is the production of a most ignorant bigot. The second sentence is Mr. Papineau's hundredth repetition of a charge of murder against the military, the judiciary and the executive. We are sick, and so are our readers, of the in* famou* pamphlet. ^ * . i ■ ■V..;.T«.= .,t?'^ .. A t ■ ■ U- \ '. >• ''-<':' ,^,». •■ ■>TV »i-., ■ •; ON THE lf:TITION OF THE CONSTITUTIOXALISTS . .; ; INTRODUCTION. vv ;;■:,: ;:■•{ I have postpontv* he execution of tlie second part of my proposed ta^k, till the final decision of the new cabinet in regard to the mode of investi- gating and adjusting the provincial didiculties should fix, with some degree of certainty, the rela- tive position of the constitutional party with respect to the British government and the French faction. The mandate of Lord Aylmer*s recal and the mi- nistcrial intention of appointing three commission- ers for collecting information within the province itself are almost my only means of ascertaining the Canadian policy of Lord Melbourne's administra- tion. Without entering into a very minute analy- sis either of odicial despatches or of parliamentary conversations, T can confidently appeal to the al- most universal impression of all pav:ics, that all the sayings and all the doings of the present ministry ipring from r\ desire of conciliating the stubborn majority of the assembly. In my second article on ^' Tlii? Petition of the Coiivcjition," 1 pointed out the ab-jiadity of conci Jiatnif^ IMr. Papiiicau'i; party througlj a dread of the physical resistance of tlic French Canadians; and I must now attempt to slicw that any further extension of conciliatory kindness towards that man's party will be not less dangerous than absurd. As I am not in the secrets of Lord Melbourne's rabincti I cannot know the nature or extent of any meditated concessions ; but I do know, that almost any farther concession, whether of legislative au- - thority or of executive power, would render the predominance of the French faction intolerable to the English population of the province and incon- ' sistent v/ith the integrity of the empire. What ^ other proof of this assertion need I oITcr, than that, for the last two years, Mr. Papineau, through the abuse even of his existing privileges, has had his ? foot on the neck of every member of the executive - and the judicial departments ? The assembly has, fur a long time, tiled to subject to its irresponsible ' will the legislative council and the executive go- > vernment, the bulwarks of the unrepresented or misrepresented minority of the population ; and, if its insane ambition of exclusive influence be in any degree gratified by the conciliatory concessions of ' the imperial government, the unrepresented or • misrepresented minority will be as grievously op- pressed as is at present almost every provin- cial functionary. The patriots do not hesitate to avow that the majority is every thing and that tlic minority is nothing ; so that the uncon- trolled domination of the majority would deprive h2 U .;j A \ i i t S^, !' II ( i? w t i ( tl M !)■ H the iiiinbiity oi' any and every guarantee tor pro- perty, liberty or lite. What remedy would the minority have but physical resistance or an appeal to the imperial authorities ? The imperial autho- rities, however, must, according to our supposition, have previously abandoned the provincial constitu'^ tionalists ; and physical resistance must be t1i6 only means of rescuing the countrymen of Wolfe from th^ oppression and the dishonour of a French yoke. A defeat is sufficiently galling to national pride ; but the oppression of the victors by tire vanquished is infinitely more so. I have said that physical re- sistance would be the only reniedy. Of physical resistance, however, very little would be called into action. The influx of Englishmen from tlppcir Canada and the United States would soon turn the scale even of numbers in favour of the constitution- al minority. Let not these renAarks be construed into a threat of rebellion against the mother coun- try. Physical resistance will not be attempted, until the feats and misconceptions of imperial Ca- binets have rendered the patriots the .virtual rulers of Lower Canada. An* Englishman cannot be ex- pected conscientiously to feel obedience to Frenoh- incn as a sacred duty ; and 1 can state positively, that any form of government under rulers of Eng- lish blood would be preferred, even by the most ardent admirers of monarchical institutions, to a no- minal connexion with Britain under the iriespon- siblu despotism of French democrats. Though the acknowledged weakness of argument iii matters of feeling may seem to preclude (he ne- timcnt he ne« cer.sity of juf>lirying, on praciical grounds the p^ne- ral determination of the English races, yet I r^iay offer some observations on the comparative advan- tages of French domination and American con- nexion. "- ' > The admitted *' indolence" of the Canadians and the freezing influence of the feudal laiv, Virdtild, un- der the uncontrolled domination of the patriotic faction, more than neulralisie all the soicial, agricul- tural and commercial advantages of the merely no- minal connexion with the United Kingdom* and would place all the advantages of a real union witii th^ United States as so much clear gain on the safe side of the ledger. I limit myself to the pecuniary advantages of such a union , as being most likely to influence the great majority of any community or any party. The staple commodities of CiiiNula, which, under the existing tariff of the United States, are subject to heavy and, in some crises, to prohibi-^ tory duties, would have a free and open market in any slate from Maine to Louisiana and from Geor- gia to Missouri. I si^bjoin the existing duties on importation Into the United States :-•— Wheat, 25 cents r bushel. " Flour, 50 " " cwt. Barley, 15^ cent, Oats, 10 cents ^ bushel, Potatoes* 10 '* If ({ Beef, 2 « Jb Bacon, 3 " <« « I-.ard, 3 « ' lt> It i% ll u It (( (t i( t'iietne, Tallow Ciiiullcr, Mecr, 15 (jrain-bpiritrj, o7 to 90 Maple Sugar, 'iobacco, unmanrd Cordage, tarred *• untarrcd Hemp, raw Paper, Vlanks, Wool, Animals, not fox breed 15 '< . Leather, 30 " i'he duties on most of the enumerated articles are such as absolutely to exclude the staple commo- dities of Canada from the nearest and best market ir\ the world. How many of the enumerated articles does the foreign trade of Canada at present absorb ? Hard- ' )y any others than wheat, flour and timber. ««•«>• Wheat and flour are exported more frequently at a loss than at a profit ; and the exportation of timber depends on the will of Mr. Poulett Tliorapson, a man deeply interested in the encouragement of the Baltic trade. For almost every one of the enumc rated articles there is a ready and profitable sale in (he neighbouring states; and, notwithstanding the heavy duty, wheat and flour, during this summer^ have been exported in considerable quantities to the ''tates of New York and Vermont, The want »»f 13G icgul.ii miuket so far paralyses the eiU'rgio>. of Ca- nadian farmer'; as lo circumscribe the proJiichou within the h'mits even of tiie provincial consump- tion and thuR often to bring the ngricultural pro. dace of the neighbouring states into the duty-free Canadian market. What a wondoiful impulse would be given to the agriculture and the manu- factures of Canada, if they could produce grain, beer, cider, leather, spirits, hemp and wool for mil- iions instead of h^nndreds of thousands of cousum- •ers. The in^uenco of such an Impulse would be paiticulatly felt along Uie borders from Stanstead io Amherstburgh. The last two articles, hemp and wool, might be grown to such an extent, as to coun- terbalance tbe certainly approaching failure of the staple commodities, ashes and lumber. In lumber, 400, a profitable trade znighi be opened with New York and other cities. In Canada, at present, tim- ber is a mere weed and rather deteriorates than en- hances the marketable value of land ; while, in the ^tatc of M^une, land is more valuable when wild than when cleared- The following extract from .i Maine journal speaks volumes .«,v^ " Among the private sales of land nt Bangor last week, was that of a township, owned by Benjamin Brown, Esq. of Vassalborougb, for D.IO an acre, of 22,040 acres, amounting to D.220,400. His son Albert G. Brown bought the township a few years ago for less than D.7000. After Mr. Brown sold it at Bangor last week, for ten dollars per acre, it was sold again to an Aibany Compamj for D. 12 per acre ; making it amount to D. 261,480, or j, greater sum by more than D. 100)000 than wai: a'sked by Maq^iarhusetts, af the time of neparatinr?, M ■ '■{ V::\ 1l ^ m 137 tor her half of ihe whole undivided public hinds of Maine t" The advantages of a ready market for wool de- serve a fuller notice. Vermont^ which produces niore wool than any other state in the republic, bears a close resemblance in soil, surface and cli- mate to the Eastern Townships of Lower Canada ; and nothing but the prohibitory duty prevents the unlimited production of wool amid the hills and valleys of that most beautiful portion of British America. I earnestly implore His Majesty *s IVIinisters to reflect that the Eastern Townships contain many Americans, and are separated merely by an artifi- cial boundary from the state of Vermont. His Majesty's Ministers, if they do reflect on these two points, cannot fail to discover that, by an Ameri- can connexion, these townships would purchase very great advantages without sacrificing many preju- dices or encountering many dangers. I have not urged these pecuniary considerations, as in themselves likely to shake the loyalty of tl>e English |K)pulation. I have compared American cMinexion not with subordination to Britain but with svibjectioE\ to a French faction. I do not be- lieve that the English races prefer republicanism to monarchical institutions; but I do most flrmlv believe that they prefer the most objectionable form of freedom to the mildest form of slavery. I have said nothing of the less direct and more problematical advantages of American connexion, haying found the direct and certain advantages su^- 138 ds of \ de- ducei ublic, id cli- nada; its the Is and Jritish ters to 1 many I artifi- . His ese two AmerU se very preju- rations, of tl>e lerican dnbut lotUe- Icanism firmly lonable more lexion, ticient for my purpose. But 1 may now add a few remarks on the former. According to the unwilling testimony of Ame- rican witnesses, Montreal, from its geographical position, ought to have commanded the whole of the western trade. A committee of the legisla- ture of the state of New York, the too successful rival of Canada, admits, that " When the Weiland Canal shall be completed, and the St. Lawrence improved as designed, goods may be delivered at Cleveland, (Ohio,) from Lon- don, for less than half what it now costs by the way of New York and Erie Canal.*' — ** Make the Erie Canal a public highway^ and the Canadian route will be preferable by one fouiUi in point of exj)ense." Judge White, late chief engineer of the New York canals, speaks still more positively. *< It is certain, to my mind> that with such a canal as t have projected, along the St. Lawrence, and the Weiland canal in good order, that all the products of the soil from all the upper Lakes can be carried to tide water a great deal cheaper by this route than ever can be done by the £rie Canal, or any other work." He also states, that the Weiland canal may be navigated nearly one month earlier than the New York canals. How hai^pens it, then, that the city of Montreal, one of the oldest cities on the continent of North America, is inferior in population and wealth to ma- ny cities of yesterday, such as Pittsburgh and Cin- cinanti, and has tamely surrendered the western trade to the cities of New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore ? These confesbedl)' mortifying resulu it . V 13f)' ; t irc uwiii^ tc llir anli Lommcrcial spiril butU of Hh; ancient law-) and of the muJcrn legislature oi Luwcr Canada. 1 tiliull nut anticipate the discus- sion of these admitted giicvances of the English population ; but I can safely appeal to public opinion for the accuracy of my assertion, that the ancient la\»8 and the modern kgialature of Lower Canada have wofully retarded the agricultural and lommcrcial prosperity of the province. These >;iievances would soon bo swept away by the untir- ing ahd sometimes imscrtipulous energy of the American chai'aeter. In the foregoing remarks, I have occasionally rpoken of Upper Canada as well as of Lower Canada, for with Lower Canada, the backbone of British America, the empire must lose not only Upper Canada but every one of the Lower Provinces. Geographical position would decide the fate of Upper' Canada ; and the Lower Provinces, like Canada, would find commercial advantages suflici- rnt to reconcile them to an inevitable change. It will be a fatal day for the maritime supremacy of Britain, on which a conciliatory cabinet, by sur- icndciing Lower Canada to a French faction, may 1 ompcl the English population to raise the stan- dard of independence without cither the guilt or the danger of rebellion. The patriots, as I am well aware, have threaten- ed to tlirow themselves into the arms of the United States. It is very easy to convince any unpreju- rliccd ciibinut, that they have more reason, than l^riudn hcucU^ to dicad ihe uniuii of Criiadu o.iiu uo th oi irc oi iscuii- iglibh at ihc Lower il and These untit- ok* Uic kionally [panada, British > Upper ices. fate ot" cs, like suflici- 2C. It nacy of by sur- n, may c Stan- guilt or I r eaten- United inpreju- In, than Am«iica. Tlie following extract from the Herald of 1 1th ultimo will sufficiently prove this Asser- tion ;— The American and the Canadian are diametri- cally opposed to each other. Neither in religion, nor in education, nor in industry is there any thing common to them both. On the delicate and dan- gerous ground of religion, we do not offer any illus- trations. On the subject of education we need on- ly repeat the notorious facts, that very few of th« heads of families in the country can either read or write, and that trustees of schools are exempted by a provincial statute from the disagreeable necessity of subscribing their names to their reports. On the head of industry, we must be a little more pre- cise. While the Americans have C( ^ered a conti- nent with the smiling monuments of their agricul- tural industry, the Canadians have literally squeezed their rapidly and regularly growing numbers al- most within the original settlements of 1763. We extract the following paragraph from the report of a committee of the Assembly in 1824. ** The ex- treme denseness of the population of Lower Cana- da, which appears to your Committee to have in- creased and to continue to increase, in a much high-- er ratio than that in which the clearings extend in- to the forest, and the productive powers of the earth are brought forth, rendered it a matter of anxious inquiry, &c." We extract a few moic minute statements from evidence given before the same committee. " There is moreover a large number of young men who would have taken some lands, and who have been disgust- ed by the high rate of the rent required, and they have thereby been discouraged from taking them. The rent demanded is four dollars for three arpents in front by thirty in depth." The " high rate," if we reckon interest at 6 per cent per annum, would correspond with a price of Sn RJd Halifax currency il < |w^ ?^ "■ •I ]4i per acre ; and so paltry a barrier, for tlio prospec- tive dread of a mut?t»un-fine could not Iiav? enter- ed into ths heads of *he *' young men," "disgusted" tlic'* young men" more than the most ej^quisile misciies of clieap " indolence" and star>c4iioii. The iollowing scraps of the evidence will show, that the ** young men" had not sufficient ingenuity to try their fortunes in another seigniory. The "young men" had loo much respect lor the decrees of fate. Ilaring been horn to be hahitans, they would not rebel against their destiny by pre- suming to migrate. On the local patriotism of the ** young men " even hunger and cold exerted no in- fluence. There was not a * banal mill' in tha seigniory, and " It was necessary to go very far to have our corn ground." There was a scarcity of fuel, and " I have been myself obliged to go three quarters of a league oflffor my fire wood." The following portion of the evidence speaks volumes for the local patriotism of the *• young men," in de- fiarre of all the foregoing disadvantages. " Q. How do the young people of this parish proceed in order to obtain settlements? A. They are retarded ; they wait until the lands shall be conceded ; some of them have cnen grown old while waiting for lands, but they continue to wait, and, according to what people say, if the un- conccdrd lands were granted many ^iersons would take some of them. Q. Do the oid lands begin to be subdivided ? A. Some of them do. Q,. Why do they make tliose subdivisions r A. Because they do not find an opportunity of settling their children elsewhere. Q. What is the effect of those subdivisions ? J} Some of them are much injured thereby, be- rause wlien the land is old, and no rc^rc new land remains for cultivation, the soil is not sufficiently productive to suppvTjt tv/o fi^milics, and they are both riMlnccd to -vnnt." U'2 We are almost ashamed to proceed with the me- lancholy proof; but we have, perhaps, convinced every reader that, on the head of industry, an A - merican and a Canadian are as difterent as fire and water. Can any person, in fine, suppose that the revo- luiionury spirits of the Vindicator sincerely desire the union of Canada and the neighbouring republic- We have repeatedly exposed the empty threats of the Vindicator ou different grounds, and have never yet drawn a single word from that journal in its own defence on this subject. The somewhat different line of argument, which we have notv at- tempted, will most probably meet with just the same amount of attention. The science of defence has not a place in the tactics of the Vindicator. It finds that knowledge and honesty are far less re- quisite in attacking a strong position than in de- fending a weak one. The Vindicator, moreover, deems it impolitic to let its exclusive students sup- pose, that any of its own positions can be success- fully or even safely assailed. Anti-Burcauchat. Montreal^ 1st July, 1835. i^ -• .^ ; .\, ^'i *■(■,. ■v-v »». . ' '•>. /■■<- ' i 4,--.^j, , : - i.:--i n ■i .■ f .. ' No. II. ON TUB CIVIL LIST. 1 I v .1 n 1 f ! ll ■ ' w I The public income of Lower Canada is derived from three source8,^the crown-duties, the provin- cial duties, and the King's casual and territdrial revenue. The crown-duties are those tevied under the British Statute of the 14th of Geo. III., or the Imperial Act of the dd of Geo. IV. The provin- cial duties are those payable in virtue of any provin- cial lav/, whether proceeding immediately Arom the provincial legislature or rendered permanent, with- out the consent of that legislature, by the imperial act of the Sd of Geo. IV. The casual and territo- rial revenue arises from his Majesty's landed pro- perty — the Jesuits* Estates, the King's Fosts, the Forges of St. Maurice, the King's Wharf, Proit de Quint, Lods et Ventcs, Land- Fund and Timber- Fund. The crown-duties levied under the aforesaid im- perial law, commonly called <' The Canada Trade Act," and all the provincial duties have always been controlled and dispensed by the provincial le- gislature ; while the crown-duties, imposed by the aforesaid British statute, commonly styled " The Quebec Act," and the whole of the casual and ter> 8 derived B provin- erritdrial nder the [., or the 8 provin- y provin- firom the nt, with- imperial: d teriito- ided pro- •osts, the Droit de Timber- esaid im- da Trade e always incial le* id by the jd " The I and teit- 144 ritorial revenue were, down to the 23d Fel)ruary, 1831, controlled and dispensed by his lVI«ije6ty'i responsible servants. On the day just mentioned, bis Excellency Lord Aylnier communicated to the Assembly a despatch, beginning as follows : " His Majesty, taking into consideration the best mode of contributing to the prosperity and contentment of bis faithful subjects of tlie province of Lower Ca- nada, places at tlie disposal of the Legislature all his Majesty's intciest in those taxes, which are now levied in the province by virtue of difforent act'> of the British Parliament, and which are appropnated by the treasury, under his Majesty's commaiids, together with all fines and forfeitures levied under the authority of such acts." On 2jth February, 1831, the second day after the communication of Lord Goderich's despatch, his Excellency trans- mitted to the Assembly a kind of declaratory mes- sage, stating, what inevitably flowed from the Co- lonial Secretary's language, that it was " deemed expedient to exempt" " the casual and tci ritorial revenues" " from the operation of the proposed ar- rangement," but intimating tijat the reserved reve- nues would continue to be " applied, not to undue purposes of mere patronage, but to objects which are closely connected with the public interests of the proviuce." The royal gift of the crown-duties was ilniost immediately confirmed by an imperial act of the Ut and 2d of the present King. The ambitious o!>ject, which had, for many years, been pursued by the Assembly, was now nccom- i2 Jl.J plislicd. Tlj.1t illustrious body had tlio executive f^overnment at its feet — the whole of the resources of that government being the King's casual and territorial revenue, virtually appropriated to other purposes than the direct support of the civil govern- ment) and a permanent grant of five thousand pounds a year, under a provincial act of the d5tl) of Geo. III. For the fatal step o^T surrendciing the crown-du- ties, Lord Goderich is not solely responsible. His lordship acted in obedience to the recommendation ot Mic Canada Committee of 1828, as embodied in its report, that "imperishable monument" of libe- ral folly. The report says, " Although from the opinion given by the Law Officvfs of the Crown, your Committee must conclude that the legal right of appropriating the revenues arising from the act ot' 1774, is vested in the Crown, they arc prepared to say that the real interests of the province would be best promoted by placing the receipt and expen- diture of the whole public revenue under the su- perintendence and control of Ihc House of Assem- bly." That *' the real interests of the province" have not been promoted by the surrender of the crown-duties, T need not attempt to prove. Every person knows too well that the sanguine anticipa- tions of the committee have been miserably disap- pointed — that, through the Assembly's obstinate refusal of a civil list, anarchy has been potentially, if not actually, established on the ruins o^ regular government. It is, in truth, the personal interest of the public functionaries, that a civil li>t i .'i? is: :l! M«i sliouKi l>c bou''l»i \tv ar.v conccssioDS, lion-cvcv hostile to sound Mrinciplcs. or fatal to llic prosper- ity of the empire. It is unreasonable to suppose that any individuars patriotism can triumph over the starvation of years. I could cite instances in which the official members of the legislative coun- cil sanctioned an obnoxious supply-bill for the sake of their salaries ; and for such a dereliction of pub- lic duty I must blame them less iV .,"i the imperial authorities. Such is the state of things, that the very judges of the land, who have not private pro- perty, arc obliged to borrow money at exorbitant interest and contract debts on verv ruinous terms with every good-natured tradesman — their station unhappily precluding them from the cheaper reme- dies of begging and stealing. The imperial authorities ouglit to have foreseen this state of things ; but the Duke of Wellington, with characteristic sagacity, seems alone to have anticipated so fatal a result of the conciliatory act of the 1st and 2nd of the present King. I sub- join the closing paragraph of His Grace's protest. " These persons will thus become dependent upon the continued favour of the Legislative Assembly for the reward of their labours and services; the administration within the province of Lower Can- ada can no longer be deemed independent ; and His Majesty's subjects will have justice adminis- tered to them by judges, and will be governed by officers situated as above described." But even His Grace seems to reason rather on the general principles of human nature than on the notoriously 117 iinpriiictpUil ambition ot* tlit Lcrji:>lative Assembly of Lower Canada. As tlie ptfrinanenl grant of five thousand pounds a year and the ciown-duties levied under tl»e act of 1774 had generally, ifnot always, been inadequate to tho support of the civil govern- ment and the administration of justice, the crown had necessarily requested the assembly to appro- priate out of the provincial duties a sum equal to the annual deficiency; and it was the assembly's systematic resistance to so reasonable a request that gave occasion to the recommendation of the Canada Committee, to the despatch of Lord Goderich, and to the conciliatory statute of the Imperial Parlia- ment. The real motive of that systematic resis- tance was to make the provincial representatives of the empire the slaves of the assembly. I am aware that the leaders of the assembly professed to claim the disposal of the crown duties as a matter of right on various pretexts. Some of them pretended, that the imperial act of the 18th of Gea. Ill had transferred the control of the proceeds of the act of 1774 from His Majesty's responsible servants to the provincial legislature* Others maintained ihat the constitutional act of 1701 had effected the alleged change. Others, with more plausibility and less impud,eiicc, claimed for the assembly the right of superintending the expenditure of the whole of the crown-revenues, before it could constitutionally be required to supply any deficien- cy. The last argument would have been inappli- cable, had the government been able to defray all the expenses of the civil government and the ad' m r. i ft »;) ^^p i. «Bi 148 minifitratiou of justice from its own funds. But •ach of tlie three claims was merely a flimsy pre- text for an insatiable ambition. What is the remedy of this state of things ?— The repeal of the Ist and 2d of William IV., and the appropriation of any possible deficiency out of the general revenues of the province. The former step, by itself, would work but a partial cure, and might still revive the very noisy troubles of Lord !Dalhousie*8 day, A firm government, however, might make that single remedy effectual by retali- ating in kind on the Assembly itself. That econo- mical body uniformly outruns the amount perma- nent!) appropriated for its expenses ; and it would, tiierefore, be as dependent on the will of the Go- vernor for the supply of one deficiency as the Go- vernor would be on the caprice of the Assembly for the supply of another. In the first place, there- fore, the repeal of the present King*s conciliatory statute might be practically sufificient* On the general merits of this important ques- jtioD, I subjoin the admirable observation/s of *' A Citizen," a writer, whom it is a pleasure even for the self-styled patriots to praise and honour. ** An abundant source of error as to all Colonial affairs, is too servile a reference to the proceedings of the government in England, as a model, without bearing in mind the marked difference which exists between the society there and here. We do so in Eugland say many people, and thence infer, per saltumt that the same thing ought to be done in this remote colony. Now, there ate so many points of difference between the condition of a colony and that of a Metropolitan State, that the legitimate in- \ li 'I <{[ i •1 ., W «i- 149 flf ir- » mi ference is exactly the other way, if it be made per saltum at aU. Tliey do so in England, it is then probable that the same thing will not answer here. Let us come somewhat closer to the subject in hand. England is a metropolitan and independent State. Canada is a Colony dependent on England. There are then certain conditions growing out of that relation, the non-existence whereof would im- ply the destruction of the relation. One of these is, that it shall not be in the power of the colony, so long as she remains a colony^ legally to break the link that binds her to the parent state, nor, which is the same proposition in another form, can the metropolitan State put herself or be put into such a position that she cannot maintain her supre- macy without violating the law. The officers of the Civil government of the colony are, at once, of- ficers of the Empire and officers of the colony ; they require, therefore, to be placed in a degree of inde- pendence of the Colonial authorities, which is not requisite or advisable in a metropolitan state. Their dependence should be alone on the metropolitan state, subject, however, to trial and judgement with- in the colony for any offences there committed by them in the discharge of their public du)ies. If their salaries depended upon annual votes within the colony, they would cease to be officers of the Empire, and become, exclusively, officers of the co- lony. Thus the Provincial Legislature comes to have the power of withholding some or all of these salaries, that is, of depriving the metropolitan state of all officers within its colony, indeed of legiti- mately annihilating supremacy. It may be said that this would never be done. In consideiing po- litical rights we should measure the power, not weigh future contingencies of facts. Again, supposing the contingency to happen, the parent state is dri- ven to one of three measures; either to pay its pub- lic colonial officers out of the general cotlers of the empire, or to apply the public revenues of the co. 150 lony io ilie purpose, witlioiil any law to sanction itj or to pass a law in the Imperial Legislature making the required appropriation. And as to this contingency never happening, let it be recollected that the colonial legislature pur- sued a measure of a still more outrageous character ' when they refused to renew any of the temporary nets imposing duties within the colony, and drove the Imperial Parliament to the necessity of conti- nuing the then and now subsisting duties by pass- ing the act commonly called the Canada Trade Act (3 Geo. IV, c. 119.) Is it not manifest, that granting an exclusive power to the colonial legislature of appropriating all the sums necessary for the Civil expenditure of the colony gives them absolute control over the officers of the empire and of the colony, makes the latter exclusively officers of the colony, and annihilates potentially, if not actually, the imperium of Great Eritain over her colony ? The error into which men on this and on the other side of the water have fallen upon this sub- ject, has arisen from their looking at the benefits (not unmixed) which have arisen from the power of the Commons over the public purse ; but observe the violence of this check ; see the convulsions it produijed before it wa? established. In a Colony this is a contradiction In terms ; a checking power must always be greater than the power checked ; it involves nothing less than the absurdity, that a smaller power should counteract a greater one . then besides, it is supported by no reason of expediency if it were possible. There is nothing ma colony to prevent or restrain the vio- lence of popular faction. In independent States, the fear of external violence operates as a check ; men feel that, without contributing some portion of their property to the support of armies and navies, the whole might be taken from them by foreign jnvai'rrv. So (00, in old countries, snch is the di*- ('' m-- m ! I II llnction uf ranks and incqimlicy of Ibrtune, that the paralysis of the powers of government for one day, would in most of them create vast destruction of life and property : that neither of these conditions obtains in Colonies, is any proof in point of fact wanting ? When the Legislature refused to renew temporary acts of subsidy, were there any apprehen- sions felt in any quarter, or was any deep sensation excited in any breasts, save perhaps, in those of the persons holding office, who saw their means of subsistence jeopardised by this measure? What would be the effect in England or in France, of a refusal on the part of the representative body to continue the subsisting subsidies, and of its being known that the government would at a given period be left naked and without resources? A- gain, the control in these old countries is expe- dient, because the persons to be controlled, are the highest administrative officers of the Empire, who may be interested in levying and in spending larger sums of money than are necessary or supportable, and in screening members of their own body from punishment for abuses. But the high administra- tive officers of the Metropolitan Government never can have an interest in screening a public officer from punishment in the Colonies ; all that they could fail in would be the want of knowledge of the delinquency; but this could not exist if the proper tribunal were provided within the Colony for the trial of public delinquents. It is further to be ob- served that, in the small societies whereof Col- onies are composed, men in official power come into more close contact than with their fellow subjects in the large States of Europe. The interests are smaller it is true, but the acrimony is not less. A village society when compared with that of a metropolis, forms the exact counterpart of a colony and a metropolitan state. I apprehend, therefore, that the necessary expenses for the payment of all the officers of government, 16-2 should be provided for out ot* a permantnt fund* and tlieir allowances should be fixed and settled to be reduced only, cama cognitot upon an address of the two branches of the Legislature, and to be aug- mented only by an act of the Provincial Legislature." A2., - V; . . I. „■«•;.'> •■ K • n 1 ■•. - •- -' ' ., M -'»*',•, '■iv , %i , ■'. ,. !■ I' V • kl Ko. III. ON A COURT OF IMPEACHJUfiN^iS. My last communication attempted to demonstrate Uie necessity of imperial legislation on the subject of the civil list of Lower Canada ; and my quota- tion from the letters of ** A Citizen" clearly shew- ed, that the provincial legislature was entitled not to a positive control of the colonial ofFicers by hold- iug the public pnrse, but to a negative check on them by means of a competent tribunal for punish- ing their delinquencies. ** The official men," says " A Citizen," " who in colonies constitute a peculiar class, having been en- tirely uncontrolled, had obtained a degree of pow- er, which overshadowed all the other classes of so- ciety." The assembly, that it might counteract so overwhelming an amount of unconstitutional influ- ence, offered, in 1810, to defray the whole of the expenses of the civil government — expecting, as af- terwards appeared, the exclusive control of all the branches of the public revenue. " The main object," contmues " A Citizen," "of the highly patriotic in- dividual, who introduced this measure in 1810, the late Honorable Mr. Justice Bedard, then advocate at the bar ** Quebec, was to obtain n check npoi-* t])C oflicial class." 164 Tliat ihe provincial legislature is entitled to check His Majesty's provincial servants, I most cordially admit : but Mr. Bcdard's measure, as dearly bought experience has proved, tended as surely to weaken or subvert the supremacy of the empire as to punish the guilt of individual officers. As the cause should always be proportioned to the effect, Mr. Bedard ought rather to have proposed the establishment of a court of impeachments than desirea the alteration of the financial arrangements of the Province. I cannot too often repeat, that the former measure is neither more nor less than sufficient, and that the latter, by confounding the innocent with the guilty and by attacking the em- pire instead of its representative^, transgresses the limits of private justice and public duty. In the establishment of such a tribunal, the pub- lic functionaries, whether civil or judicial, are them- selves deeply interested. They are at present the victims of the assembly's slanderous falsehoods, without being permitted to enjoy the common right of the lowest felons, — the right of confronting the hostile witnesses or of offering positive testimony of innocence. Accusation itself is certainly a moral, and perhaps a pecuniary, punishment of a most severe kind. The law, it is true, says, that a man is to be deemed innocent, till he is proved to be guilty ; but public opinion is too apt to say, that an accused person is guilty, till he is proved to be innocent. So certain is the moral punishment of accusation in the absence of a competent tribunal; and the p& 1 iV >■' r* -^"f^m. 155 f '' K • rii cuniary punishment, though perhaps mofc rftmote, IS not less certain. Has not the late Attorney Genera], after having been once declared innocent by Lord Goderich, and subsequently by Mr. Stan • ley, borne more than the severity of a Turkish fine in attempting to obtain acquittal and redress ?— Has not Mr. Justice Kerr, without being tried be- fore any tribunal, been convicted by Mr. Spring Rice of corruption, and degraded from the Bench ? In regard to these individuals, I venture to assert, that, even if guilty, tliey could not have been pun- ished more severely by a court of impeachments. Having thus demonstrated the necessity of a court of impeachments, I must now say something on the mode of constituting it. The most obvious mode, if one were to reason from analogy, would be to arm the Legislative Council, as the counterpart of the House of Peers, with the requisite powers ; but the analogy loses most of its apparent force from the historical fact, that th€ judicial powers of the House of Peers were less the result of reason than of usurpation. I object to such a measure, also, on more positive grounds. - ,^ . ; . It would tend to justify the Assembly's claim to ALL the privileges of the British House of Com- mons. It would multiply the grounds of conten- tion, already too numerous, between the two houses of the Provincial Legislature, for the Assembly would certainly impeach individuals, whom the Legislative Council would not convict. It would, on the arv, if the Council should be made 160 flcstlve, or be sn'iimpcd by an infufion of radicals, lead to the conviction ol'every executive officer, for the common leaders of both bodies would system- atically persecute as well the innocent as the guilty, merely for being servants of bated England. Common justice, moreover^ requires, that an er post facto law, such as every decision of a court of impeachments must be considered, should be en- acted with more than ordinary caution and solem- nity, and ratified witli at least all the customary sanct*>..')s. ^ To give the governor, as the head of the execu- tive government, his ordinary voice on such an occasion would be liable to many objections ; but I think that all the demands of justice and policy might be satisfied by authorising the Executive Council purified and remodelled, to decide on the concurring charges of the two legislative bodies, acting each of its own proper motion. The existing system in Britain is not liable to my last objection, for the united voices of the two houses virtually imply the sanction of the ICing ; so that any judicial decision of the House of Peers, based on the charges of the House of Commons, is virtually sanctioned by the three branches of th« Jegislature. AntI' Bureaucrat. Montreal, 8th cfuly, 1 8b^. k2 'i?'*?! ^^mm 'I Ko. IV. ON THE INADEQUATE REPRESENTATION OF THE EN- GUSH INHABITANTS OF LOWER CANADA, THE FEUDAL TENURE, &C. &C. The fundamental maxim of democrats is, that the smallest possible majority has an absolute right to domineer over the largest possible minority. I shall apply this maxim to the existing state of Ca> nadian politics, and take Mr. Papmeau's address to the electors of the West Ward of Montreal as the genuine confession of a Canadian democrat's faith. The political principles of Mr. Papineau's party, as a party, are contained in these two passages of the address, '* Let those who are so presumptuous as to prefer their own opinions and will to that of the public, learn that whatsoever be their titles to favors from the administration, they have no claim to the con6dcnce of the people" — and " A local, responsi- h\e and national government to decide on peace and war, and commercial relations with the Strang- er.-w„that is what Ireland and British America de- inand..v.^and this is what, before a very few years, they will be sufficiently strong to take, if others are not sufficiently just to give it to them." The first passage, as it implies the moral obliga- tion of the minority to surrender ** opinions and loS will" to the majority, virtually proFtrates the Jki- tish population at the feet of a few unprincipled agi. tators ; the second, as it demands not merely an independent legislature, but a purely provincial exe- cutive, tramples under foot the British government and dismembers the British empire. It is presumptuous, says Mr. Papineau, in the few to prefer their own *' opinions and will" to the opinions and will of the many. We are not mere- ly to surrender our " will" so as to produce unity of action, but even to surrender our *' opinions" so as to produce unanimity of thought. The man who proclaims this extravagant modification of pas^ sive obedience, styles himself, and (such is the self- delusion of a weak mind,) perhaps imagines himself, a LiB![RAL. Words, which are the servants of wise men, are the masters of fools. Let me compare this opinion of the liberals with their fundamental tenet, that a man should be go • verned only by laws of his own manufacture. Can any two things be more inconsistent with each other? The disciple of a liberal is theoretically taught to believe that he shall be in every respect liis own master. Soon, however, he practically dis- covers that, if he be in a minority of forty nine, he is the helpless slave of a majority of fifty, and that, if the two bodies be distinct and irreconci- lable, he can vindicate his freedom only by apos- tacy or by physical force. In Poland the funda- mental principle of the liberals was carried fully into effect ; and Poland was blotted from the map of Europe. ^ In the republics of ancient Greece i f( and modern Italy, llie will ol' the inajoiily was di- rectly the law of* the land ; nrul the republics ol ancient Greece and modern Italy were merely the temporary strongholds ol' alternately victorious factionSf Either of the two principles, taken by itself, is subversive of civil liberty and national independ- cnce ; and in any government, which professes at once to be just and practically efficient, both prin- ciples must be thoroughly blended and accurately poised. The error of the liberals is, that they draw practical conclusions from a metaphysical view, as the case may require, of either the one or the other. Two principles, so different from each other, can- not both be true in the abstract; so that if the li- berals adopt both as abstractly true, they are gross 1y inconsistent : and, if they wilfully adopt contra- dictory tenets from practical necessity, they come over to the opinion of every rational statesman, from Moses down to Montesquieu, that general principles must be niodlBed by an infinite variety of circumstances. The unavoidable predominance of a majority over a minority, if all legislative and executive pow- ers were vested in the people or in a single popular assembly, would be to make the governors physi- cally stronger, and, in all probability, morally weak- er than the governed, and to establish Mr. Papi- neau's execrable doctrine of passive obedience. The British Constitution, on the contrary, besides checking popular impulses by two hereditary branches of the legislature, prevents, by the nicest lb 160 adjustment of dissimilar constituencieH, the majori- ty of the people from returning the mnjority of re- presentatlves. ... : . In Lower Canada, in particular, the uncontrol- led domination of the majority would be fatal to the welfare of the proscribed and calumniated minority. Thi» result springs from the peculiar character of the populati n of Lower Canada. That the population is heterogeneous, I need not inform the compatriots of the immortal Wolfe ; that it is generally uneducated, is obviou& from the notorious facts, that trustees of schools are specially permitted by statute to affix their crosses to their scholastic reports, and that, within the last two years, in each of two Grand Juries of the Court of King's Bench for the district of Montreal, selected under a provincial law from among the wealthiest inhabitants of the rural parishes, there was found only one person competent to write his own name. Of the heterogeneous population, the inhabitants of British origin form one-fourth, and the French Canadians the remaining three-fourths. For fifty years after the cession of the province, the two races, if diey did not harmonise in social intercourse, were in some degree blended on politi- cal occasions, and, but for the haughty domination of an official faction, which indiscriminately op- pressed Britons and Canadians, and but for the sel- fish ambition of a few agitators, who, after hum- bling the common enemy, transferred their hatred from the British executive to the British nam e, they might ere now have forgotten or neglected national distinctions. 1 11 «.. 5 ll ». ^- M IGl About twenty-five years ago commenced a strug- gle between a knot of hereditary placemen and in- dependent individuals of either origin«»»^a struggle not for power but for liberty.«^a struggle, which ended, as the battles of freedom generally do end^ in the exposure of official corruption, and in the prostration of usurped power. . •- v > ' Flushed with success, and unfettered by honesty or policy, the Canadian agitators cruelly deceived their uneducated constituents into a belief, that the British inhabitants of the province, and Britons generally, were the bitter and persevering enemies of Canadians ; and thus divided the provincial po- pulation into two distinct and irreconcilable masses, the French majority ad the British minority. To perpetuate this numerical supremacy, the patriots have systematically attempted to deter Britons from settling in Lower Canada. They hate taxed British emigrants, and British emigrants only, in defiance of constitutional princi- ples, in defiance of national gratitude, in defiance of common sense. They have met with silent con- tempt his Excellency's repeated and urgent requests that they would establish an efficient quaran- tine for the benefit at once of the emigrant and of the province. They have refused aid for the im- provement of our harbour, unless the Governor should sacrifice the present faithful, zealous and in- telligent Commijfsioners, and virtually relinquish to the Assembly the nomination of others. They have absurdly stigmatised, as a mischievous mono- ' 'y, a Land Company, which holds only a com- - ' 162 paratively small portion of the waste lands of tire Crown, and whose capital can only yield a return by being expended on the improvement of the pro- vince. They have recently strained every nerve to ruin the banks of the colony, and thus to strike, ■with fatal aim, the very vitals of commerce. They cherish, with obstinate tenacity, the most petty vexations of the feudal tenure, not because such vexations are profitable to any one, but because they possess the recommendation of being hateful to JBritons. , . . ... Such IS the Seignior^s right of fishery and chace ; such is his power of calling for the title-deeds of every vassal. The patriots may, on more intel- ligible grounds, defend the mutation-fine and the seignior's exclusive privilege of grinding the grain of the seigniory. It is not to be supposed, that the seigniors will voluntarily relinquish lucrative claims without being adequately remuncated by law ; but, in the course of forty-two years of industrious le- gislation, one might reasonably have expected some attempt to remove or ameliorate so absurd, so gal- ling, so impolitic burdens. To such of my readers, as may happily be unacquainted with the feudal sys- tem, I offer a brief detail of its nature and its ef- fects. A vassal may have a mill at his door; but, if it be not his lord's, he may be obliged to carry his wheat several leagues to the legitimate machinery of his feudal master. Throughout the seigniories of Lower Canada, within the limits of which are unfortunately comprised the cities of Montreal and Qncl)rc, the ft?\jflal lorrl is logally entitled to the 1 ■I f: f . ( ir 1G3 i I , 1 ' a ■f; twclftli part of the price of any real properly that may be sold within his jurisdiction. The evils that spring directly from the mutation fine, are threefold. '^t prevents the free transfer of property ; it gives the seignior an interest in driving an embarrassed vassal to a sale ; and being levied on all improve- ments. It is virtually a tax on industry, and serious- ly diminishes the demand for manual labour and mechanical skill. In fine, it checks the growth of cities, thus crippling at once commerce and agricuU lure ; it carries the emigrant, whether labourer or mechanic, to a more open market ; and, by damp- ing the enterprize of capitalists, depresses below the just level the value of real property. From feudal prejudices our antagonists, also, jpposu the regis- tration of real property, and thus strive to perpe- tuate a host of practical grievances of an intolerable character««..«^ccrct and general mortgages, forced sales from the difficulty of borrowing money, inter- minable litigation, and the expense, if not the im- possibility, of procuring an unexceptionable title. This last remark tends to explain the more intelli- gible grounds of attachment to the feudal law. The seignior's motives are obvious and natural ; and the legal circumstances, to which I have just alluded, sufficiently account for the feudal predilections of lawyers and notaries of French extraction, who, as they form a majority of the educated laymen, have unbounded influence as well in the country as in the Assembly. Such are a few of the means adopted by the patriots to exclude Englishmen from this fair 164 and tertilti province, with the view of inaiu- taining their relative numbers, and of ultimately estabh'shing a French republic. Wherever the population is mixed in the general ratio of three Canadians to one Briton, the Biiton is virtually the victim of civil disabilities and po- litical degradation ; and were all the Britons no dis- tributed into masses as to command majorities in the greatest possible nnmber of constituencies, their representatives would still be a minority, rendered powerless and virtually annihilated by the unbro- ken and unbending majority. Not contented with a resistless majority, the liberals strain every nerve to increase it by pro- scribing the ablest members of the late Assembly and by depriving the province of the public servi. ces of its most distinguished citizens* On a simi- lar principle they long refused to divide the coun- ties on the southern side of the St. Lawrence, and to enable the British inhabitants of the Eastern Townships to elect their own representatives. AVhen they did yield to the just demands of vir- tually disfranchised Britons, they divided the town- ships into councies according to the actual popula- tion, without making any provision for its future growth ; so that were the respective sections of the province peopled in proportion to their productive powers, a British majority of constituents would still return a paltry minority of representatives. To deprive us even of our natural weight, our an- tagonists have disfranchised co-tenants and co-pro- prietors, as being grnerally Brilons, and conferred a 1 16,'i r I >\ i I , ! a vote on every co*heir,as being generally a Cana- Under any possible circuoistances, therefore, the representative principle«v«#»tbe best legacy of our fBthers^ww^confers, so far as it extends, absolute power on our avowed and implacable enemies, and degrades its natural heirs into the political vassals of adopted aliens. • .. . .>>. . ' While our opponents openly profess to separate their interests from ours, we must not, we cannot, we will not be satisfied with any thing less than an equal share of legislative influence. The vacillating and timid policy of successive Colonial Secretaries shakes our confidence in the veto of the Executive and points to an intermediate branch of the Legis- lature as our only safeguard. But this intermed- iate branch must be perfectly independent. While identified with the Executive, the Legislative Council was a superfluous curse : if identified with the Assembly, it would offer to us the melancholy alternative of submitting to the factious leaders of a petty republic, or of vindicating our hereditary freedom by an appeal to arms. Our antagonists, while checked by an independent Council, have not any Unqualified power of legislation ; were that check removed, they would wield a legal des_ potism. Their present influence, pernicious and fatal as it has been, would be to their future power an nothing to infinity. Their acknowledged and unavoidable majority in the Assembly, to which Lord Glenelg may rashly or timidly yield, is the strongest nrgumcnt in favour of an independent 166 Coiincil^.>^evincing, as it does, our utter help- lessness in the stronghold of our enemies. Feeling that our own interests and those of our Canadian brethren are identical, we disclaim any and every desire of exclusive privileges or exclusive ' power — we wish not to oppress others, but to de- fend ourselves. So long as our opponents control the decisions of the Assembly, an independent Council, however composed, cannot do any thing injurious to the French majority ; so long as inde- pendent Britons control the decisions of the Coun- cil, the Assembly, however composed, cannot do any thipg injurious to the British minority — while the two legislative bodies may cordially co-operate in all measures of general utility. It is, moreover, unfortunately true, that elective bodies, unless overawed into moderation by public opinion, are peculiarly apt tq transgress the legiti- mate limits of their delegated authority, and to throw themselves on the physical force of superior numbers. That public opinion is unknown among the deluded followers of the revolutionary agita- tors of Lower Canada, I need not attempt to prove. Where a grand juror can seldom read or write, what must be the intellectual state of a voter, whose pecuniary qualification is about a fifth ' of that of a grand juror ? , What, for instance, has been the conduct of the elective Assembly ? It has more than once appropriated, by its own resolution, large sums to " defray the expenses'* of ITS OWN agent in London. So disproportionate to 1 f i- wmmmf I I ■ I r [; r. > 167 the expenses of the agent, and to the possible value of any agent's services, have been those grants, as to excite a reasonable suspicion that the agent's ex- penses and the agent himself were convenient pie- texts for the secret misapplication of the public money. The original grant of -£1,000 a year was gradually increased to ^G 1,700. The same body condemned) without a hearing, the Honourable James Stuart, late Attorney General of this pro. vince — a proceeding, which, to do the Assembly justice, viras subsequently thrown into the shade by the still more flagrant partiality of Viscount God- ericli. The same body repeatedly expelled from successive parliaments Mr. Christie, member of Assembly fo»' the county of Gaspe, in defiance of law and equitj", in defiance of the indignation of the disfranchised electors and of the remonstrances of the Colonial Secretary. The same body ex- pelled the Honourable Dominique Mondelet, mem- ber for the county of INIontreal, by a forced inter- pretation of an illegal resolution ; and, as if to dis- play at once inconsistency and iniquity, permitted Mr. Panel, who was similarly circumstanced, to retain his seat — the difference of parliamentary fate having probably arisen from the difference of parliamentary opinion. The same body, having instituted an inquiry into the melancholy riots of 2 1st May, 1832, prejudged the question before the examination of a single witness, and in vio- lalion as well of its own solemn pledge as of com- mon justice, published the evidence for the pro- secution, without even having hcnrd the fvi- ir3B ilence for the (icrcnce. Tlie same body dislVan- cliised, for two years, llie West Ward of Montreal — thus trampling under foot the dearest rights of freemen. Thus has tiiui elective body, regardless of the provisions of the constitutional act, which established the Assembly as one of three co-ordi- nate branches of the Legislature^ arrogated to its own resolutions the authority of laws — usurping the powers of the other branches, and violating the sound parliamentary rule of three readings of any important proposition. Bui 'his is not all. The Assembly, by adopting the system of temporary laws — a system, which, were it less pernicious, would be supremely ludicrous — so far has the legal security of the colony at its mercy, and may, by a steady perseverance in factious tyranny, gradually render Lower Canada the prey of lawless anarchy. The adventitious power, which this system confers on any one branch of the Legislature, has been more than once abused by the Assembly, and is more than ever likely to be abused again. As the Assembly has thus acquired, to a certain extent, absolute power over the law, so has it endeavoured, by the factious refusal of a civil list, to drag the provincial government at the glowing wheels of its revolutionary chariot. It has avowedly attempted to make the imperial servants and the provincial judges — the representatives of the Mother Country, and the interpreters of our laws — the puppets of its reckless leader. The same body has almost uni- versally impeded the exercise of his Majesty's pre- rogative of selecting executive functionaries by in- 12 f( rv- 109 <*' [I I h fl y troducing the absurd and uncongenial system of pecuniary qualifications ; while, so far from impos- ing any such restraint on its uneducated constitu- entS) it has conferred a stipend on the objects, however poor or ignorant or unprincipled, of their unfettered choice. Our opponents, while they glory in the hatred of the British name, and in the oppression of Bri- tish interests^ have, by intrigue and misrepresenta- tion, commanded the sympathies of many a Briton both in Europe and America ; while relying on the majesty of the empire, and on the memory of past a- chievements,theBritons have long slumbered, and at last awaked to !see the tricoloured banner darkening the Heights of Abraham. Thus has it ever been. In the wars of England and France, England has gained the most brilliant victories, and France has reaped the most solid advantages. In the boasted days of our Edwards and our Henrys, England achieved the miracles of Cressv, Poictiers and Azin- cour ; while France — beaten, discomfited and dis- graced France — wrested from the victorious island- ers provinces extending from the mouth of the Seine to the Pyrenees, and gained, iu the extension and consolidation of her territory, advantages far more than equivalent to the glories of three empty triumphs. To descend to more modern times, the hard -won fields of S?' imanca and Vittoria are vir- tually part of a French province ; and the plains of Waterloo, which made Britain a house of blend- ed mourning and exaltation, are prostituted as the appanage of a daughter of the king of France. 170 The Canadians, in like manner, have, by persever- ing intrigues, conquered tlieir conquerors, and in the short space of seventy-five years have risen from a state of feudal degradation to be the legislative oppressors df their open and generous deliverers. AWTI-BUREAUCRAT. July 9, 1835. ,( fl' No. V. 11 y FKUDAL TENURE AS IT AFFECTS MONTllKAr.— HEGISTKR OFFICES — CENERAl, MORTGAGES. Ill my previous articles, I have, cursorily, allud- ed more than once to the generally pernicious ef- fects of the feudal tenure; and I nonr proceed to redeem my promise of giving a more full discussion of that most important of all the questions agitated in the province. The following extract from tlio editorial coUunns of this morning's Herald leaves nothing to be said on the mischievous oppression of the feudal tenure, properly so called. *^ That the most valuable and commercial part of Lower Canada, comprehending a city whose situa- tion and natural advantages for trade, if left unob- structed, would be second to none in North Ameri- ca, should be fettered in its progress and injured in its prosperity, not merely by the burthens of a feu- dal tenure, but also by those of a tenure in mort- main, is an evil of the greatest magnitude not only directly to the city and island itself, but indirectly to other Provinces and parts of His Majesty's Do- minions, which cannot be materially connected in intercourse with Montreal, without also participat- ing in the bt'nefit of its prosperity or siuflfering by ♦!je cl.ceks to its advancement. 172 To allow the exercise of seigniorial rights over a city destined by its situation, to become a great commercial emporium, is not merely to give a fatal wound to the progress of the city itself, but it is weakly, impolitically and unjustly to sacrifice the interests of trade and of future generations, through- out a large portion of both provinces, to which the extended commerce of Montreal under happier aus- pices might be capable of giving prosperity and comfort. The lods et vente» or mutation-fines, amounting by law to one twelfth of the price upon every sale, consiitii|te one of the greatest grievances, but by no means the only one arising from the present tenure, and which could not be removed while the Seignio- ry should continue to be held in mortmain. Supposing a manufactory or building, worth <^12«000, to be elected upon a lot not worth ^100, if the proprietor has occasion to sell and could even fmd a purchaser willing to give in all the sum paid by the proprietor for the erection of the edifice, the proprietor is nevertheless liable to lose ^1000, as a punishment for having had the industry, the means and the enterprise to build ; beoiniso the claim of the Seigniors is not the twelfth of the original value of the ground merely but the twelfth of the amount of the money and labor of others laid out upon the building also. This under our feudal system becomes a privi- leged debt to the Sei^;nior.s who have not expend- ed a farthing — but this is not all — the next and the next vendor ad 'uifDutum must eacli in turn lose to 1 U % 17.1 1 the Seigniors a twelfth of the purchase money. — So that if by inevitable misfortunes the building should change hands a certain number of times, the Seig- niors will benefit by these evils to the amount of the Jei2,000, the full cost of the edifice to which they have contributed nothing, being one hundred and twenty times the original value of the lot. Ins- tances are known where the claim for lods et venter, deferred until the occurrence of several sales, has swept away at once the whole price for ^hich dljie lot J buildings and all have been sold. But the Seigniors* claim docs not even end here, for when they have obtained, for once the ^12,000 of the money of others, being one hundred and twenty times the original value of the lot in the case supposed, their claims proceed again in the same manner without end. It has been asserted and the assertion seems not to be void of foundation that the entire value of all the real Estate and Buildings in the city, (the pro- perty of and erected at the cost of many thousands of individuals) must every forty years or less be paid into the hands of the Seigniors ; and this is exclusive of the rents of the Seigniorv- Thus the value of all the teal estate, and buiiu«ngs existing f(^rty years ago when the buildings were much few- er and the value of the real estate far les^ than at present, has certainly within the last forty years passed into their hands : in like manner the number of buildings and value of real estate will ef necessi- ty be so much aug»^nented during tine next forty years, that at the end of that period it is likely that 174 the present value of all the real estate and buildings will also have passed into their hands should the feudal tenure be allowed by sufferance still to retain its possession. It is to be remarked that this enormous contiibution, this appalling and blighting exaction, is principally raised from improvements of which Englishmen and English commerce are the creators and cause. For the prosperity of a com- mercial place, it is important that no impediments be thrown in the way of improvements, nor any unnecessary obstacles be opposed to the transfer of real, any more than of personal, estate. But such burthens and obstructions as those above mentioned and other that might be stated, which prevent the natural growth of a most promising and advantage- ously situated commercial city, are most truly la- mentable and might perhaps be justly styled iniqui- tous; and when it is considered that all these bur- thens go to the support of institutions wherein not even an English education is g\\e<\ and whose claim rests not upon law, but upon the injudicious sufferance of the Home Government, and are hall the time derived from buildings erected with Bri~ tish capital, and are also half the time taken from the miserable dividend, which the English creditor, whose money has been converted into stone and mortar, ought to receive from his Bankrupt debtor in Canada, it rendeis the inj rUise greater and causes the evil to be more sensibly felt. The right of /oafs et ventes constitutes a tax. New it has been always held that there are but few rea- sons rxcrpt tiio -npport of ^ovpriimont M'])ic)\ ^:\r. 7 I" » n j- •il , T justify tuics. But (a}(cs even for tbtt siippoit of government are seMom actviseable, if they material- Jy and directly operate to diminish industry and check the improvement of real estate. But this is the operation oNods et venies parti- cularly in 3 commercial town, and these injurious and oppressive taxes are not levied for the support of government, but of institutions of foreign cha- racter and origin and are employed in bestowing a foreign education, perpetuatiug distinctions produc- tive of hostile dispositions or appropriated to other purposes equally adverse to the interests and feel- ings of the enlightened English, Irish, and com- mercial portion of the community, from whom they are already chiefly drawn and upon whom they will hereafter almost wholly fall, since it cannot but be evident that English commerce and English enterprise must be the sources whence multi- plied intiprovements and frequent transfers will be continually flowing. """ * ' Mutation- fines or lods et venies must be eVery where an evil — but the evil is far less in the coun- try than in a town ; for in the country the value of the land itself forms the principal part of the amount, but in town it is less the land than the edifices that constitute the value of the property. _ Were the land held here under the free soccage- tenure, it would remove the chief obstacles to free- dom of enterprise in attempting the highest im- provements, because in such a case, the time, labor and money of the proprietor would be laid out for himself and not H>v others, ', 176 Would it be too much to expect that Govern mcnt sliould do something in this Seigniory to- wards removing the double evils of mortmain and of feudal burthens ; first for the purpose of giving more scope to commercial activity and general improvement as well as for the advantage of our Sister Province of Upper Canada which must bo deeply interested in the advancement of Montreal, and secondly in order to relieve the inhabitants from the payment of a tribute for purposes which many of them may conr>ider as far as they are con- cerned to be at once impolitic and unjust. That those who have been in the habit of taking to themselves large portions of the labor and capi> tal of others without any consideration, should 'Hnd fault with the establishment of a more equita- ble system, is probably to be expected, for what urgent measure of public right or public improve- ■mcnt was ever without its detractors or opponents'-' Continued complaints and opposition were made even against every measure for the suppression of the slave trade. 15ut could the Govcrnmenl long expect to escape complaints even if it should remain quiescent in this matter, a« heretofore ? It is presumed not, be- cause those who suffer from what they consider an unjust and illegal subjection to mortuiain and other disadvantages (and the luimber of these Aiflferers is continually increasing,) will not always be likely to lament in silence, if no course be taken by which relief can be hoped for, upon any terms. That T. Government in inv country ^vherc much m A • .'I i# Hi i 177 icinaiin to be cdectod in orilcr to placo the inter- ests of tliecommuiuly and of the empire on n pro- per foundation, should be able entirely to prevent. llij clamors of the interested or the factious, il ; would be idle to imagine — and seeing that these cannot be prevented, it would seem that the only imputations to be averted would be those which should justly accuse the Government of supineness in asserting its own rights or indiiVerence to objects of permanent and general good lest some partial and temporary complaints should be excited — com- plaints which must of necessity be powerless against the continued voice of sober reason and the sense of extensive and lasting benefit." To this denunciation of the feudal tenure, pro- perly so called, 1 shall add a few remaiks on the collateral subject of insecurity of title. The self-styled reformers, on the most frivolous pretexts, gratify their hatred of the "foreigners" by opposing the establishment of registers of real pro- perty in the seigniories of Lower Canada ; while the system of gknekai, mortgages aggravates to a tenfold degree the inevitable evils of skcret obliga- tions. ... ., , . If a man take to himself a wife with or without .« special contract, he grants a mortgage to the amount . of the lady's dower over all the real property, whi* li he either does then or may tliereafter possess. IJiil this is a conjpardtively feeble illustration, for a man ( .m hardiv take to hiuisi.-ir a wife without a toleta- hly ^;c'nejal ijoloiitty of tlio I'act. llie dcscendauLs ui" a deceased wife inhciit all her claims, and ni^s •po*:sil>Iy I'xist ahrond in (li** lliinl or fdiirth ;^oneiA- lion williOMt tlio kiiowIodfTo or suspicion of a sinjLjIc inlmbitant of the province. Sonic years »i'^o, a nu»- nial servant of tlio Kinjj; of Havaviu made j^cod a claim, forty years old, on real property situated in the town of Montreal, This claim of dower is nei- ther dissipated nor weakened hy time. It is, in truth, practically strengthened by the lapse of year?:, for every year necessarily weakens the evidence, by which the claim might be defeated. Some years ago, a large claim for dower was demanded fiom the ostensible owner of a certain tenement in the city of Montreal. The claim, being indelible, was, per !fp, as valid as on the day of its creation ; and the owner could ward off the claim only by proving that, so far as the law required, the claim had been satisfied Alter a singularly patient investigation of many bufihels of private papers, the ostensible owner discovered, thai, when the properly had been sold at SherifTs s» a few years after tiiedate of the claim, the dower had been rendered null and ' void by tlie existence of previou mortgages to the full amount of the proceeds of sale. In thi« in- stance, the lapse of time had negatively strengthen- ed the long dormant claim by weakening the adver- sary's evidence. Mortgages are created in various other ways, tliaii by marriage, 'v^ en v rustic proprietor owes mo- ney to his groci r ofv* his baker or his butcher or his haberdasher, he is generally compelled to pay him by a notarial obligation on all his real property, ac- 3*.i!al or contingent ; and he sometimes grajiits a si- « .ii i IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 5. {./ .% V^. J :/- I/. m i 1.0 1.1 1^ IM 12.5 |50 '■^" M^^ 1. ^ IL25 lllll 1.4 IIU 1.6 V] <^ /^ % > ¥%^ > "-^^ c> •>^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 T 5? . W yj ^ 179 t ' ii niilor mortgage i>» Tavour oi' soin in any degree, to diminish the number of mortgages. Where mortgages spring from such a variety of circumstances, and are created in such a variety o^ ways,, their secrecy^ even if they were special) would be sufficiently pernicious ; but their generality en- genders evils absolutely iutolerable and altogether incredible. Through that geiMralUy of mortgages, a man cannot hold real property for an hour with- out vitiating its title to the a^nount of all his pre- viously 'granted notarial obligations. In this way» a man may pollute the title even of real property, 4hat virtually never belonged to him. He may have bought ;i I'arm or t\ house on credit, may haw* lieen obliged bj- want of funds to restore it to the seller and may thus liave burdened it with a hun- dred previously contracted debts of indefinite amount. To make this more clear, 1 suppose the following case. A sells a farm to B and receives in payment B's notarial obligation ; but being unablo to exact from B either principal or interest, he receives back the farm in exchange for B's notarial ob- ligation. B had, previously to the purchase, granted to C a general mortgage to any given amount. While B holds the property, C's claim is neutralised by A's claim ; but no sooner is A's claim extinguished by the transfer of the farm from B to A, than C, in virtue of B's general mortgage, seizes the farm as having once belonged to B. Thus may the collusion of B and C deprive A of his farm. B may grant a notarial obligation in C's favour to any given amount with or without any valuable consideration. Soon after, B buys from A a farm worth about that amount, and manages, as insinu- ating ruffians know how, to become proprietor in tha eye of the world and the law, without paying a single farthing of the price — A, of course, holding his notarial obligation for the covenanted price. B, as a matter of course, pays neither principal nor interest, that he may induce A to take back the farm itself in lieu of payment. A may possi- bly, by proving the circumstances in court at consi- derable trouble and expense, recover his farm, ex erapted from the mutation-fines on both tran5.fors m2 h WT • I 181 i •< :i ! ! n ,, 1 i; w:! ; n : It ^nJ as clear of mortgages as ii was wLeti Ite noinl^ iially sold it. To avoid trouble and expense, liow- ever, a seller is often induced to take back Ids pro- perty by private contract ; and if A do so, be h immediately robbed of liis property in virtue of C's daim on any piece of real property, tbat may bave belonged to B for an hour subsequently to the date of the collusive obligation. In this way a disho- nest notary, particularly if leagued with a disho- nest lawyer, may rob every second kahilant of his farm. Such a pair could always aiiurd to offer a man his own priee. Such is the law that the self* styled reformers support with desperate resolution. The self-styled reformers, instead of providing the natural and simple remedy of such grievances by the introduction of public registers, have intro- duced an act for the ratification of titles. That act is ruinously expensive, retrospectively imperfect and prospectively worthless* It is ruinously expensive, for the cost even of the unsatisfaxrtorj ratification costs about ten pounds currency '-about thirty or forty times as much as the ordinary cost of registration, and equal in amount on small properties to a second mutation -fme for the benefit of the lawyers and the officers of court. . • : ^ It is retrospectively imperfect, for it does not relieve the property from a living wife's or a mi- nor's claim for dower. A few years ago, a citizen of Montreal purchased, at Sheriff's sale, a hc^use, be- longing to a man who was then living with his Ib2 he wiie and iheii JuitgliU'i. In procos'; oi nine, llie lather and the mother ditd ; and the daughter le» gaily defrauded the purchaser ol' liie amount of her mamma's dower with alUhe costs of suit. Such is the law, that our self-styled reformers support with desperate resolution. At the date of the pur- chase, I believe that the act of ratification did not exist ; but if it had existed, it could not have pro- tected the purchaser against the premeditated fraud. It is prospectively worthless ; for the properly, as soon as it passes into the hands of the purchaser under a comparatively pure title, is potentially pol« luted by that purchaser's previous notarial obliga- tions. So slovenly and worthless an act places the self- styled reformers morally in a worse position than that in which they previously stoodi It confesses the evil ; but^ so far from removing that evil, it only tempts purchasers to squander fees in the Court of King's Bench— fees, which, like the mu. tation-Hne, must be renewed on every successive sale. „ . . .... ... ....:. ,:: .-. ,_ ...;,„,. Anti- Bureaucrat. o 4lh July, 183.1 I. T^ ' f No. vr. e: (w riTrjr.ATiviv — ■ coxcr.iJSKiV. No. I. aiiompted to shew that the French Cana' dians would gain less and lose more, than the in- habitants of English origin, by the revolt of Lower Canada from Great Britain ; and it, of course, in- ferred that the Imperial authoiities might more safely neglect the theoretical complaints of the former than the practical grievances of the latter. It de- f ' precated the immediate and prospective tendency of Lord Aylmer's recal. ........ No. II. discussed the long agitated question of the civil list. It enumerated the various sources of public revenue, and endeavoured to prove, that practical necessity and sound principles combined to demand from the imperial parliament a perma- nent appropriation of a sufficient portion of the provincial revenue for the support of the provincial government. It shewed that such appropriation might be made, without any violation of the consti- tutional act, by repealing the imperial statute of 1st and 2d of the present king and thereby replacing the crown-duties under the control of the Commis- sioners of the Treasury for the support of the civil ^ and judicial establishments of the colony. It clos- ed with an admirable extract from the letters of '' A Citizen." itt4 No. HI. lulvocaled ihe esiubliOiment of a court ol' impeachments, that the guilty servants of the public might be condemned ; and that the innocent might be solemnly acquitted of the slanderous cliargcs of the factious majority of the Assembly. It oflored several strong reasons against the erection of tlie legislative council into a judicial tribunal. No. IV. proved, that the English inhabitants of Lower Canada are as )iowerlcss in the house of as- sembly, as if they were disfranchised ; and that, but for their virtual representation in the legislative council, they would be the legitimate slaves of the unbroken and unbending majority. It also proved that the self-styled reformers are the conservators of all practical abuses and of all antiquated laws, and tended to convince every intelligent reader, that their unbalanced despotism would not only subject the English population to legal tyranny, but would also fatally retard the prosperity of Lower Canada and consequently of all BriUsh America. No. v. offered a special discussion of the most grievous of all tlie abuses mentioned generally in No. IV,— the feudal tenure, general mortgages and the want of registers of real property. To make the oppressive influence of the feudal tenure more obvious, it selected the city of Montreal as an indi> vidual victim, whose advantageous situation for commerce is confessedly neutralised by th€ blight- ing shade of feudal institutions to the direct injury of Lower Canada and to the indirect detriment of all countries trading with Lower Canada. It, moreover, showed that the M\int of public ie- e t { ■ \ A I. Iftj gHltfrb iind the system t^f ^oiicval mortgages ioin bine to weaken the valiJitv of every title in tljt» seigniories and to place the greater part of the real property of the French Canadians at the mercy of dishonest notaries, pettifogging lawyers and otiier designing knaves. To what I have already written, T eannot add much without being guilty of repetition ; and I shall close the pamphlet with a brief exposition of my motives for devoting so large a share of my time and attention to a voluntary task. My peculiar occupation, which I have mentioned in the preface, will doubtless be a pretext for stig- matizing me as a tool, receiving opinions from others, and as a hireling, deserving but little credit. The True Sun will repeat its groundless assertion of 29th May, that " The secret of the Herald's hostility to Canada is easily explained. It is un- der the thumb of the Land Company jobbers, whom the Canadians oppose, and whose charter the House of Assembly will never sanction. Thus the Herald is an interested, and, pro tanto, an incom- petent witness." That the Herald is the only in- dependent journal in Montreal, I can assert here without fear of contradiction, or even of doubt :;. and I solemnly declare, that, with the exception of a few facts in regard to the proceedings of the Le- gislative Council, communicated at my own request by two members of that body, I have not been influ- enced in the composition of these articles by any one of the individuals, so elegantly designated by tho True Sun as " Land Company jobbers." So far tVom 186 having t'xpeclcd any reniuiiciatiuii in the shape either oi' fame or of profit, 1 Iiive kept my secret at the liazard of seeing my anonymous labours appro- priated, as they once already were, by a general plunderer, and I do not at this moment know whe- ther the expense of printing for gratuitous distri- bution two thousand copies of a pamphlet of two lumdred pages may not fall exclusively on myself. ]\]y object has been, not to promote the views of individuals but to maintain and illustrate sound principles. To sound principles every honest man must be attached; but of those individuals, who style themselves constitutionalists, there are not very many, whom I have reason either to love or to admire. 1 have merely to add, that, in the matter of style, I have aimed throughout at nothing higher than simplicity, perspicuity and precision. Anti-Bureaucrat. 2b\h July, 183^. '''f'\ - '*}^- f:/-'i >" rr T APPENDIX, NO, 1. I ' H 1 i ^ a a g ei of Tlic recall of Lord Aylmcr lias opened prospect'^ to tlic Caiiiidas of tlic most mournful kind ; mourns ful (if that recall is followed by concession,) to the inhabitants of thu Townships, and others the truly English in politicsi mournful to the French habi' taut, the vegetable of the Seigniory, who has no po- litical opinion, and mournful to the republican Anti-British faction of the House of Assembly. We say the prospects arc mournful to all, because we are members of the same human family ; and if concessions are granted, if the claims of the British inhabitants of a British province, if the claims of those who have been born British subjects, or arc the descendants of British subjects, whose whole pride has been to look to Britain as the land of their common birth, whose every thought has been formed under the Britisii constitution, and whoso every eflbrt has been to preserve that constitution, if the claims of such are sacrificed to quiet the trea- sonable ravings of a British -hating faction, to thai faction we say the prospects are truly deplorable. These arc not the times for men to lull themselves by hopcis ; in the emphatic language of Sir llobcrt Peel, * there is danger to the empire,' and it seems that Lower Canada has been selected a;i the fitting place for its first developemcnt 'I'he liberties of the Townjliipii have been openly Ihrcatened, the design of invading them, and, if possible, o( ^'rushing them is fast maturing Let the Town- ':, Uic pbn o( 16S prospect'. ; moiirii" n,) to the the truly ?ncli habi- lias no po- cpublican mbly. We jcausc we y ; and il lie British claims of ts, or arc ose whole ic land ol* t has been md whose nsliliition, •t the trca- n, to that Icplorabic. themselves Sir Robert d it seems the fitting iberties ol tcned, tin* lisible, o( the Town- m, but let ; prepared. lie pl-»n ^f Vrcnch supremacy by an elective T.egislaiive Coun- cil ; they %vill resist to the uttermost the imposition of the aboirinable feudal tenure of the Seigniory. In recai up; Lord Aylmer the Melbourne minis- try have acted most rashly. For u at wrong act has he been recalled ? For none ; his conduct has been solemnly approved, not only by the present ministry, but also by a previous ministry, and by the House of Commons. For what, then, has he been recalled? Merely to silence the clamours o( the Papineau faction. But it will be gratification siifKcient for Eis Ex- cellency to know that, in his retirement, he will carry with him the admiration and thanks of every liriton in the colony, for his statesmanlike conduct in the government. He has been recalled for hav- ing done his duty, this is in keeping with the cha- racter of the present cabinet, but it establishes a precedent which must be alarming to liis successor. The province has been hitherto falsely represent- ed as being in nn agitated state; but now there is a certainty that it soon will be so in reality. The one side is composed of British ; they have always professed their attachment to Britain, and arc de • termined to maintain while they can, her suprema- cy in Canada, and the integrity of the empire. The other is composed of Frenchmen, men who do not hesitate to declare their hatred to everv thin£r English, who have declared their intention of over- throwing the government, and of establishing a re- public on its ruins — and they have declared it not only in newspapers in their pay, but in the resolu- tions of the majority of the Assembly. ' • The present ministry have taken part with the revolutionists, and the consequences must be dread- ful if their system be followed up. If the ^18,000 tlemanded by the Assembly, to pay the men em- ployed by it, last summer, to agitate the province, be granted, if the Canada Tenures Act be repealed, and the detested feudal !)urdens of the Sei*^ni<>ties: JU!) be tliiowii uytow the Townships, I he English par' of the proviiicc» if the Legislative Council be nvidc elective^ and tlius the government thrown into the liands of a French democracy, — tlien let us be pre- pared for ail hazards. If the Dritisli government give us up, we must rise for life and liberty ; and we are possessed of power enough to secure both. It is the interest of the Freuch leaders that the pre- sent government be continued, and it is the interest of the present government, to yield no further con- cessions. The French leaders know that they are powerless except in the fears of the British ministry. We possess the strength to make a rising effectual in our own favor, if wc shall be diiven to such n dreadful alternative, and we hold the power to crush any attempts at rebellion, on the part of the French leaders, if they shall proceed to put into execution the threats, to that effect, expressed in the resolu- tions of the Assembly. Wc possess the wealth of the provinco,— the sinews of war,— wc hold all the military positions, and all the ammunition in the province, and the struggle would scarcely have com menced before wc would be numerically superior. The French party are powerless to agitate the province, since every attempt that they have made to do so has failed, and the British government has only to follow the course pointed out by justice and policy, to deny any further concesfiions, to main-* tain inviolate the iionor of the British monarch, solemnly pledged to the Townships at their firsL settlement, to despise the factious clamors and empty boastings of the I'apineau faction, and all will yet bo well. But of this the French faction may be assured that never avii.l we suniMrr to hi GOVERNEn KY A UEl'UBF.K 01 FrENTH ?SKN,— 'iV/^.v/s- Z^O'/t Standard, ,, tbut, i !il be made n into the U3 be prc- )vcrnmcnt criy ; aiul !urc both, at the prc- !io interest rther con- t they arc ministry, J effectual lo such n r to crush ic French cxccutioi^ e rcsolu- wcalth of •Id all the n in the lave com upcrior. ;ilate the ivc made men t has isticc and .0 main^ nonarcI», leir first, lors and and ail I faction IT TO III' APPENDIX, NO. II. Translation of versos sung at the festival of St. Jean IBaptiste by Mr. Luilger Duvernay, proprie- tor and publisher of *« La Minerve" with ont? vorse in the original language. Fair Canada — our country dear, See thy children here united — 'Tis hope alone has brought us here, To be by success requited. We all feel, by zeal inspired, AVe all repeat, with proved sincerity, 'J'hat nought is by us required* But Peace raid Libeutv. Tn future deeds our hopes must lie But more than hope our ills require ; Let us join prudence to audacity An odious power let us despise ; And siiould our enemies arise, We'll conquer them by unanimity ; We've but one wish — but one desire 'Tis Peace and Liberty. One day, perhaps, tired of a King, And of his tyranric sway— A voice throughout the land may ring And with thund'ring loudness say This soil is mine — begone — away. Though martyrdom should be our fate, We'll spurn the laws of those we hate, And then together well repeat. Peace and Libekty. ■ ' ; : i *;1, i ; ( r' ! IDi ' . Peut-eUe UM jour, noire li.ibitanl paisibls Se lassera du pesant joug d'un roi, 11 s*ticria, mais de sa voix terrible : *^ Sortez d*ici ; cette terre est a moi ! " Du Canada, je puis etre un martyre, Je n*obels qu*aux lois que j*ai dicte : '* Pour son pays> un Canadien desire, . « La paix ! la liberie !" {bis. ) Oh, ye the idols oF your country's pride, Whom Heaven, with all its gifts may bless, Cease not, pause not, but with rapid strides Lead to the goal of happiness. VIGEU& PAPINEAU, the great and wise. Behold the incense of our love arise-^ These words you're written in our history, Peace and Liberty. We trust we have of means sufficient, Of this, our country well may boast ; ^ Among our youth are sprigs efficient, Whom danger will rally to their post. Their prowess proves, that on our cold plains Laurels are reaped by sons of bravery — That true Canadians scorn all other chains, Than Peace and Liberty. Peace and Liberty, our motto be, Oh ! holy Saint, draw close the chain That binds our hearts in amity; Should discord rage, oh ! let thy name Bring back sweet peace and harmony — And inspire us to chaunt again That our only wish, our only aim, Is Pface and Liberty. I I Vl I ERRATA. On the 22(1 page, 7tli line—For " when the larger contains an eighteenth part of the ingredients of the sma^hr, and the smaller a fourth part of those of the larger'* read " when the smaller contains ah eighteenth part of the ingredients of the larger, and the larger a fourth part of those of the smaller,'' On the 138th page, 17th line— For Hhite read bright ,,