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Tb« following lettert, originally publith*! fai the MotUntd Herald, are now re- printed for sal* in the Canadas. and for gratuitous distribuliun in the Lower Provinces and the United Kingdom* For any inaeeuracies and inoonsisiencies, that may be diaeofered, the cireumstanees, under which th« ]ettera were almost necessarily written, may form ■ome apology. Witli two trifling exeeptiomi^ they were coroiosed amid the noise and confuaion of an oflSoe open to all comers ; and hardly one of them, unless as a proof, was ever read by ^i* writer either in manuscript or in pi int. ADAM THOM, A. M. 7.M ■■■ Hjbkald OrricB, \ let February, 1816. i i<;.; i*s|f.. ,M^ h.hn ANTUGALLIC LETTERS; ^ i U-'i M • T*>\ i -r.i'i' 1. i»K .'a ♦a<:i'"' ,'s ».~ .'|i« tj/'^'u.;«»' ,'t ^1 ■ tfiJ^if; »[ iL.; Jr .:' • . .,..{>» : ■'u ■-*•> ■:it:>Vlil'J jl Ui I- ' "= . . ' - :U..y.-i Ji.:"^^ -' SU r". - . ! • , J -itij f.ii # . • ■ : ■ '.jT ;•^..-p As GoYcrnor of Lower Cuiada, jour lordship may be eomctimM compelled to act with- out ««ifficient deliberation; as a Royal Commit- aioner, you are solemnly bound to collect on tvevjr l^int the fullest possible evidence. .. The very appointment of Royal Commissionen liecesMrily restricts your lordship's functions as Go- vernor within the narrowesi; possible limit% and Justifies the English population in expecting, that no executive measure, which can be postponed* shall be carried into effect either with or without the concurrence of your lordship's fellow- Comoiis- sionexs. 13ut for the prevalence of certain rumoun^ I should not have expected, that the slightest in- terference of the Junior Commissioners with your lordship's executive duties would have been either attempted or tolerated. These two functionariea aie only competent to inquire, and, even if compe- tent to act, can do so only withm their own sphere and after the most mhuite and most patient invca- tigation. ^or the acts of the executive, your lord- ship must, therefore, be alone held rcsponsiUt; And I eannot but infer from facts, without peying Any attention to mere rumours, that your toralU^ a3 I J, > 1 IL bM alrttdy Incurred th« very hcarj responsibility of effecting • secret eomptomis* with a part— « large pait, I sdmit, hut still only a part — not of the Assembly, as a legally constituted body, Lu^ of the members of the Assembly. 1'he tepoH of I lie Canadhn as to tlic intended elevation of Mr. Vigcr oi Mr. Lafontaine to the Judicial bench, followed up, as it was, by an unam- biguous confirmation in yeiur lordship's English organ, clearly justifies tiie strongest suspicions of a ■ecret compromise. M'hat that compromise sulv> stantially is, the most oidinary intellect cannot full to discover. The French enemies of Ihu English name, while they clamour, and perhaps sincerely, about anvlee* tive council, are mennwhile peculiarly enger fur a large share of the ptiblid^venue in the shape of illegal contingencies and offlcitil emoluments- Ttia English cabinet, on the other hind, from the very moment of Sir Robert Peel's mention of a Royal Commission, has been chiefly, if not solely, de- sirous of being extricated from pecuniary embar- rassments by the grant of a civil list. 1'he compromise, therefore, must be the barter of a civil list for illegal contingencies and official emoluments ; and Ihe intended promotion of Mr. Viger or Mr. I afontaine, proves, to n certain ex- tent, the tioture of tfe comprmnixe, as clearly as tha sources of the report prove it* txisietice. Had yt'Ur lordship resided lon^r enough in the province to form mnlurc opinions in legard to tha provincial politics. I might have been prevented by ignorance from combating your excellency's mo- tives for such acompromisf ; but,ns mailers do stand, I am fortunately able to refer your lordship's conduct to the fatal principle, if principle it can be called, of conciliation. I do not mean to say, that your lord- drip's conduct is not warranted by the letter of your inctructions ; but» as your lordship weUltnow^ that ?rflfui ess litth in t Btt of i cy'a tb« led Uit i»% that thoM instructions were dictated by fear*, wht'db {rour lordship must have already found to be ground- esl and ridiculous, you cannot fail to lee, that » little delay in waiting for other instructions is with- in the limits of sound and justiAable discretion. Ba this as it may, I shall only disehnrge the duty of :i good citizen, in submitting to your excellen- cy's consideiation a few strong objections ngainst th« contemplated arrangement of what m.iy be cal- led the ufficini gtievances of the Government and the French faction. ' ', / .V»* By granting the contingencies dn any gr6Q1\$M, bowever weak or however strong, your lordship xnanifeMly throws awny olmost the only peaceable means of inducing the assembly to giant Fngli»b e)aim% however just, and to redress Knglish jjrler- anees, however severe. 'Hic want of money dis« tressed tlie faction not less tiian it distressed the provincial eiecutivc ; while uis Majesty's govern- ment had, what the .isseml)ly had not, a direct re- medy at its own disposal in lesuming the crotin duties by an imperial statute. In negotiating with the loaders of tiic assembly, your iordship seems to have forgotten that there is a legislative council ; and ymr lurdsiitp can liaidly expict, that the members of that bo(!y will sanction a compromise, which is essentially cl>jection4l>le on principle, and is etfectid tty means (ieru>;alury to their own dignity and subversive of their own in- depeidence. The legislative council, therefore, will. OS a mnttek of cuutse, carry the rejection of any supply bill founded on a secret compromise, as the only mode of affording adequate protection to its virtual constituents. Thus will your loidship have surrendered the revenue and lowered the dig- nity of the bench without any equivalent whatever* Your lordship, moreover, will be exchanging • Iccscr evil for a greater, llie French faction may cafuae to appropriate any portion of the provincial !r ll! I' i I I 7 I- v«rtuu« to tb« raainUiuinc* of th* proviooMl go- vernment i but th« English population can, if it \m unantmoua, proctnu* tb« provinoial gotcnuncBt and the French faction, by cutting off the very aourcet of the public revmue. Your lordabip may have been led to believe, that Uie avowed deteimi- nation of the oonstitutionaliats, to resist the exten- sion of French domination, iras merely an entity threat ; but they have not forgotten, that the glo- rious fields of Cressy, Poictiers, Agincourt and Minden weie won by * miserable* minor iliea of Englishmen over vast minorities of Frenchmen. At present, however, milder weapons, than the sword and the musket, will be sufficient to disuesa the enemies of the English population, not by the artificiat poverty of an overflowing treasury, but by the real pressure of empty coffers. In my next letter, I shall convince your excel- lency of the practicability of suck a measure with« out the slightest violation of the law. , j . . i^^ ^ I have the honour to be, .^., , ,.4., .; . My Lord, Tour Lordship's most obedient bumble servani* Camillok No. II. 1 1 it ilovtmBAt, 29th Sept., 1835. m* In my letter of yesterday, I drew your excellency's attention to the fact, that the secret compromise, into which you appear to have enter- ed with the French faction of the provincial legia- lature, would, like every other conciliatory expe- dient, ultimately aggravate the malady, whioh il iMk !■ r 1.' • 'iaoUd go- ean, if it oTtnunait tht rwy dihip maj detttmi- iie exun- an empty t th« glo. court and oritiet of vnchmen. than tha to di»ue«i lot by tlia ry, but by >ur axeel- ura with- • MTTant, til/ , ... t( 1885. nw your be werec va enter- tial legia. ry evpa. whioii ii prufett to eurc. I stated to your lordship, what 1 doubt not wiH prove to be the fkct, that the Eng- llih niembert of the tegitlatite couneil, who are the virtual reprceentative* of the English popula- tion, will narer to far forget the just efailms of their eompatriota or so far sacrifice the constitutional privili^^ of their own body, as to become * patrons of seditious conventions and accomplices in publie robbery' by sanctioning the barter of illegal contin> geneies for a civil list. Should your lordship b« tempted to neutralise those virtual representatives of the English population by an infusion of FVencb revolutionists, your lordship will be pleased to ob- ■erve, *hat every -Englishman, as well as every French supporter of English connexion, would be literally an outlaw — always excepting the patriotic protection of a bending, cracking, breakini; reed of an executive. It is, my lord, the principle of liberals, so far as liberals have any permanent prin* eiple, that free-born men are bound to obey only those laws, which they have a voice in framing ; and, though T may not carry this principle to its full extent, yet 1 will carry it so far, as to admit, that, when a hundred thousand inhabitants of this colony, who possess far more than an average share both of property and of intelligence, are deprived of any and every share of legi:>lative power without their own consent, they may fairly avail themselves of the foregoing convenient principle of liberals. They may do so still more fairly, if they are outlaw- ed by the delegates of the very state, to which they are xealously and faithfully attached. If the old colonies were oppressed, they were at least spared the Insulting degradation of being oppressed through tha instrumentality of Frenchmen ; and yet it may be well for your lordship to reflect, that the dread of such degradation, excited by the eoncillatory act of 1774, was the very drop, that made the cup of Ameriean discontent overflow. May I presnma i r\ m I< I iH •liah* mant uf Prencli aupramaey in tliia proTinee, lad ta tha political iudep«ndcnce of tha old colon iaik What the LAff st«p may effect in tha miw colonial I shall leave to your lordship to conjeoUire mud U time to determine. As the secret compromise, which at present fonna tha main subject of tliese letters, aSects the dispo* sal of the provincial revenue, I shall proceed to slieif, that, according to the established doctrines of the most liberal radicals, it is cruelly unjust to* wards the English population of this province* You will agree with me, my lord, that thone who furnish the greater part of the public rcvenu«| ought to have some control over the public ezpen* diture. Granted, as a mutter of cuuise. AVith this concession, then, can your luidkbip reconcile the establialimcnt of a system, by which those, who pay bnrdly any part of the revenue, shall spend th» whole of it according to thvir will and pleasure and by which those, who fill the public treasury) shall tamely see it pillaged by traitors, equally beg- garly and greedy. Let me solemnly implore your lordship to believe, that such a system will not bm sufTered to exist. 1 shall reserve for my next letter thft detail of the peaceful means of overthrowing such a system* and close this communication by proving, that th* French inhabitants of Lower Canada pay hul % very scanty portion of the provincial revenua. On what does a French habitant pay duty ? la it on woollen stuffs of his own manufacture ? If it on #ooden shoes, the produce of his own bush 7 Is it on tobacco, the growtli of his own fields ? la it on sugar, tha juice of bis own mapla-grovea ? It it on wine, which he never tastes ? Is it on booka, which ha caonot read? la it on spirits, distilled Drom hia own gniu, and Ofelouwd aod invoondis* * '^ — — '- — jntion to wubltsh- ee, ltd to colonitik r eoloDM^ re tuid U lent fonm the dis|>o> roceed to >cirinc8 of injust to- pruvinoe* hose who rcTenu^ io ex pen* . nith reconcile !iose» who spend tho pleasure treasury, lally beg- lore your |l not bo letail of systcnot lat tho JO. [y? To ? li bush? U? Io I? U bookm liiUUed lis. 10 vtrj poktablo and ftry tytmlaiown rum? To all tho queuiont but tho last, I roust answer in tho ncgatfYo; and to tho last question I reply, that tho French habitant does pay on his rum a duly of ■bout one penny, Halifax currency, per gallon as a gallon of real rum, which pays 6d. sterling and 6d« eurreney per gallon, flaronrs almost any given quanti- ty of native spirits. If we reckon 80,000 families of French habitansand allow aach family half a gallon per week, we shall derive from them agross annual rt* venue of £8,066 13s. 4d., Halifax cuirenvy, being a trifle more or less than the annual conlingenciei of the assembly. That the compound of natlvo spirits and West India rum has already entirely supplanted the use of the latter ingredient in its inir* state, I do not mean to assert ; but I do assert that, before many vears shall have elapsed, tho aforesaid compound will be the rum of every French habitant An alarming decrease in the quantity of imported rum is gradually taking place. As to the cause of the decrease, wise men differ. Soma blame the stratagem of importing rum of doublo Itrength to evade the payment of full duty ; others very foolislily babble about vinee, whether as consumers or as importers. In behalf of my compatriots in their char»cter of oon- sumers, I have already appealed to your lordship'* sense of justice ; and 1 now beg to direct your lord- ship's sense of expediency to their power of affect* ing the amount of revenue in their character of iia- poiters. With the exception of the half-crazy delegate of the East Ward of Montreal, there is not a singl* English merchant in Lower Canada, who does not view the French faction* even in its present statt of weakness, as a deadening incubus on the spirit of commercial f?nterprise, and who has not reason* even on the selBsh ground of personal interest, to endure gladly any temporary sacrifice, that may humble the French demagogues and all the official patrons of the French demagogue? in the dust. The nature of the secret compromise, my lord, proves clearly, that an empty treasury is one mode, and perhaps the only mode, of compelling the go- vernment and the faction to surrender at discretion; for it would be uncharitable, my lord, to suppose, that either the government or the faction would re- quire stronger motives to act equitably, than what it may deem sufficient tJ justify secret pillage. That your lordship may estimate the readintn, with which enlightened merchants can submit to temporary sacrifices for the sake of ultimate advan- tages, I beg to apprise your lordship, that the mar- ehanu of New York have cordially approved tho scheme of enlarging the Erie r mid, cither at tho temporary sacrifice of the greater part of their west- ( I ISSA. \ ■ » '1 mt «xolu> f the pro- ten. In it of eon- lordship'* your lorcU of affeot- iter of ina- elegate of a a single o does not esent state the spirit lot reason* ntercst, to that naay the official the dust. , mj lord, one mode» ig the go- discretion ; ;o suppose* n would re- than what )illage. submit to oateadvan- st the mer- proved the ^er at the their irett- um trade ot at the espease of carrying en tfce pre •ent traffle by more circuitous and mote eoctly routes. These enlightened New Yorkers must suffer loss and inconvenience for scTcral years ; but one yeai's perseverance on the part of the English metchanis of Canada would compel the govern- ment and the faction to surrender at discretion. V^hst have they tc do ? To import from New York every thing which can be so imported. The par- tial Iocs of the tr^deof Upper Canada, which Mont- real must thus sustain, would be more than eoua* terbalianced, even in a commercial view, by the ra- pid influx of American settlers and American oapu taL True it is, that 'duties, and higher duties too, are payable on the boundary line than at Quebce or Montreal ; but it is not quite so easy, on an ar- tificial line of great length as it is at a single point* to ascertain, that duties payable are aetuMy paid. Reflect then, my lord, that outlaws, who are not protected by the law, are not themselves morally bound to prtUeet and hardly even to obey the lawf Reflect, my lord, on this, and be assured, that the English inhabitants of Lower Canada, if placed under the legislative and executive control of a French faction, will remain, and that only for • time, subjects of Great Britain rather from motive* of policy and affection, than from a sense of duty and allegiance. Permit me, however, to cxplaia to your lordship, that these oppressed subjects of his Majesty are devotedly attached to British con- nexion and British institutions, and that they anti- eipate any decisive change in their political rela- tions, a* a matter not of choice but of necessity, as an evil more tolerable than the combined insult and. injury of a French yoke. Such a yoke, your lord- ihip, I am sure, must confess to be truly intolera- ble. Let roe contrast with such a disposition the avowedly rebellious feelings of the Fr. noh faction. The Vindieator of yesterday quotes with approba- b i^ , r i! i'i-fi I ^^ .l«k Jtk, 10 tion an c<)it«riat article of |in Ameriean B»wtpap«r» published in the diftriet of Columbia, whiieh con- taint the fonoiring remark :— '* Almost to a man would the French Canadians rejoice to tliroir off the English yoke." Study this confession, mf lord, and compare it witii tlie Vtndicator*$ ** Sam- ples of constitutional Loyalty." Ask yourself then, whether of the two races in Lower Canada is tlie more likely to maintain the connexion of tlie mother country and the colony. By increasing the power of the French faction, you inevitably dismember the empire ; by shielding your compa- triots from oppression, you preserve British Ame- rica for many years to come as a happy and pros* perous appendage of the Brftish Isles. English- men, my lord, are neither stocks nor stones. Can Frenchmen love England, as men of British bloody however far removed by space or time, love her? The Frenchmen, my lord, confess, that they aim not at a redress of grievances, hut at the establisli* ment of national independence. Did ever an Eng- lish onbnin say so much? Did not Benjaania Franklin, in his quaint way, acknowledge, that England could have retained America for a century longer by the judicious use of a little pen, ink and paper ? The A mericans, even after the commenca- nent of the civil war, still yearned with affection for * Old England', and were willing and anxiotu to return to their allegiance under an adequate gu»> rantee against future oppression. On the 19lh April and 17th June, 1775, respectively, werf fought the battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill ; and yet on the 2d July, 1776, the colonists of New Jersey put forth the following declaration, which atlli forms part of the coustltuiion of tliat state :«» *' Provided always, that it is the true intent and mean- ing of this Congress, that. W a reconciliation between Oreat Britain and these colonies should take place, and the latter be again taken under the protection and go- vcrnment of Great Brittiin, this charter shaU be null and void, othcrwita to remain firm aad inviolable." It n ntwflpapw, irhiiBh COD- It to a man } throw off ''•ssion, mjr or*$ " Sam- k yourself, r Canada is Ixion of tlia increasing inevitably our compa- ritisb Ame- ^ and prof* English, ones. Can ritish blood, love her? iut they aim ho establisli* sver an Eng- t Benjaonin nrledge, that for a century len, ink and t commenoa- nth affection and anxious dequate gu»> On the 19th Btively, wera jnkvr*s Hill ; >nist8 of New ■ation, which hat state :— > Lent and mean- ation between ike place, and Bction and f o- all be null aad ible." The Englishmen of New Jersey, my lordl, dM not object to the * government' of Great Britain, but to the * absolute domination* of the BriUdi Parliament. Do the Frenchuaen of Lower Cana- da speak in an equally moderate tone ? No, my lord, they < would rejoice to throw off the English joke', not because they are oppressed by England, but because they hate English instil utions and the English name. They cannot, in justification of their conduct, point to the battle- Kelds stained with the blood of their fathers, brothers and sons, shed by English bullets and English bayonets — unless, in- deed, the ungrateful traitors attempt to make • grievance of the Plains cf Abraham, which a * ml- sciable minority" of Englisii foreigners drenched with the blood of a vast majority of true and faith- ful Frenchmen. Encourage their intimacy, my lord, and hear them style the heroic Wolfe a blood- thirsty ruffian. Such language would be quite in keeping with the character of a party, whose lead- er — the very being with whom your lordsiiip ap» peais to have held private communication— so often stigmatised Lord Aylmer as a murderous tyrant, and once styled Colonel Idackintosh a * fanatic biute'. The long digression, Into which I have lieen In- evitably led, has prevented me from showing in thia letter, that, when Upper Canada gets her fair share of the import duties, Lower Canada will not hate a sufficient revenue to defray the expenses of the If'^lnture and the executive. In my next letter 1 shall make this very clear, and thus point out to your lordship a third peaceful mode of prostrating both the executive government and the French fac- tion, it h ttetter, far better, for the loyal inhabi- tants of this province, that there should be a scanty revenue, than that an ample one should be employ- ed by greedy and diMionest revolutionista as an in- •trument of oppression and a feeder of rehellioa. n I If r I la I for ont beg to assure your lordship* that, if my suspicions of a secret compromise be confirmed by facts, I sliall incessantly devote my moral and phy- sical energies to unite Upper Canada as one man in the untiring demand of a fair share of the im- port duties, whether by a division of receipts or a distribution of ports of entry. This, my lordp is the declaration of e man , who has never sacrificed hiki political consistency and never faltered in hit political career, and who confidently antidpates the day, when the undying perseverance of true Eng- lishmen will make French factions and Freiwliified cabinets quail in terror and dismay. '4 Your lordship's course, so far as it can be ga- thered from the language of your lordship's organs, Knglish and FrencTi, tirUl doubtless accelerate that day. Here again I must allude to the American revolution. When the su|:render of Montreal had released the English colohists from the terror of their French neighbours, Mr. Jonathan Sewell, fa- ther of the present chief justice of the province, as also of the present speaker of the legislative council, and grand-father of many a junior servant of his Majesty, remarked to John Adams, that the Eng- lish government, unless resisted by a demonstration of force, would attempt to subdue the colonies to its arbitrary will. Mr. Sewell's sentiment was soun spread by the aid of unwise legislation on the part of Great Britain ; and the English government at last kindled discontent into rebellion by tha Frenchifying act of 1774. Whether England in- tended by that act to use the French Canadians as instruments for oppressing America. I do not know ; but I have made it evident, that the Ame- ricans pui such a construction on that statute and ACTED ACCORDINGLY. I hare the honour to be, my Lord, Your lordship's most obedient humble anvant, .,;■;." •. - ,, . .,^- ^. .-,-..-,..; -^■'■:l. Camillus. ' rp" .-t :h«t, if my nfirmcd by kl And phy- is one man t of tbe im- iceipu or • my lordf it it sacrificed ered in hit lidpales the ' true £ng- Frenchifieid can be ga- lip's organt^ eleraie that i American fontreal had le terror of { Sewell, fa- >rovince, aa 'ire council* rvant of hit ,t the Eng- monsttation coloniet to iiment waa Ktion on the government lion by tha •England in- lanadiant as I do not It the Ama- ttaluta and Drd, ible anvani, niLLVit ' 13 MoMTRBAt, h( October, 1836. , Mr Loan, Mr. Pitt't primary mistake in regard to tha provinea of Quebec was, that he divided it at all ; and hit secondary mistake was, that he di- vided it unfairly and unwisely. That statesman most strangely hoped, that the division would put an end to the competition be- tween tbe old Frenebinhabitantsand the new settlers from Britain— that any inconvenience to be appre- hended from aneient Canadians being included int one province or British settlers in the other, would be eured by the esublishment of n local legislaturt in each. Had Mr. Pitt compared the state of the revolted colonies of England with that of the con- quered colony of France, and reflected that the lat* ter had been settled many years before the oldest settlement in the former, he cotdd not have attempt- ed to do such violence to bountiful nature aa to surrender Lower Canada in all ita length and breadth into the hands of a torpid and illiterate people. But it is not yet too late. Do you, my lord, compare and reflect, as Mr. Pitt should have compared and reflected, for yourself. Compare Lower Canada with Upper Canada, or with the neweat of the neighbouring republics ; and, when you have done so, endeavour to imagine, how much farther Lower Canada would have been behind her rivals, had Mr. Pitt's scheme for the exclusion of Englishmen from her bosom been completely sue- oessfuU In the next place, my lord, reflect, that Lower Canada became a French colony nearly three hundred years ago— (Tell it not in Michigan, publish it not in Arkansas,)— and that the very oldest English settlement in this continent is near- ly a century younger. Ask yourself, my lord, b2 I i i I : in. 14 whether the French inhabitants of chMproTtneearv worthy of being entrusted with the political, the social and the commercial destinies of a fair and fertile country. Mr. Pitt seemed to think so; and your lordship, if I may judge from your secret compromise, thinks so too. If you do think so, my lord, you have an envialile opportunity of pre- serving the peace of these coloniej and maintaining the integrity of the empire hy pouring the oil of a similar sentiment into the festering wounds of every English spirit. Pour it quickly, my lord, for, if I mistake not, you will not lor;g have it to pour. In other wurds, my Jord, you will soon entertain very different opinions of your French allies. So long as your lordship obeys the demagogues, you will have kind and indulgent masters ; but when you refuse to obey them, you will fall, like your prede- cessor, from being a demigod to be the ol>jetft of fpublie execrations'. Sir George Prevost, for In- stance, was long the idol of the French Canadians; but having once presumed to have a will of his own, he speedily found, that * the house was ex- ceedingly dissniisfied by the answer of the govern* or, and finished by resolving, that his excellency the governor in chief, by his answer to the address of the house, had violated tire constitutional rights and privileges thereof." Of the fuction, my lord, I shall give you a sample. Ab una disce omnns. My sample is the politically worthless speaker, whom your lordship honoured with your personal attentions on Monday last, as lieing Icm of a poli- tical partisan, I presume, than a certain noble lady. The late Dr. Laierriere, wiio was in advance of the most uC his countrymen in the march of radi- calism, alluding to the Assembly's abandonment of tht impeachment of chief justice Sewell, thus speaks: "It has been attributed, tbougb I bope iac^rrecUy, to interested views on the part of the Speaker of the House #f Assembly, wbo, in sustaininf the accusations of Um 15 LI sproTineear* political, tht of a fair and Ihink so; and I your secret do tliink so, unity of pre- I m<«intaining g the oil of a lunds of every lord, for, if I L to pour. In Mitertain very let. So long lies, you will ut when you e your prede- the ohject of evost, for in- ;h Canadians ; a will of his ouse was ex* f the goTcrn- ils excellency to the address iitional rights ion, my lord) > diact omnts. iluss speaker, four personal ens of a poll* in nohlelady. in advance of natch of radi- indontnent of , thus speaks: ioc;.nrecUy, to >r of the Housa luations of tha CommoBs as*>n*t the Speaker of the Legislative Coiin~ cil, risked the loss of a salary of 4(1000 per annum, whick the House had voted to him, and which the Governor afreed to sanction, provided the same sum was voted to the Speaker of the Legislative Council. This the House could not refuse, unless the Speaker or the Lower House had been determined to sacrifice his private interest, and had requested the House to be firm in their determina- Uoa on a subject on which their own honour and the wel- fare of the country were concerned. Unfortunately the Speaker, Mr. Papineau, took an entirely different view of the subject, ^ivine the House to understand that, after the decision of the Privy Council in England, and the approbation of this decision by the Prince Kep-nt, it was dangerous to push matters further ; that any further pro- ceedings would cause a disvolution ; and that, in the critical situation in which the House stood, with respect to the Legislative Council, it would be wise to remit the question to another session. This eventually proved to be no more than a subterfuge, by which the House es- caped entirely all further discussi'oi: of the matter.'* But whether Mr. Pitt's opinion of French Ca- nadians, whicli|seenis to he the opinion also of your lordship, was correct or incorreet, Mr. Pitt was a fortiori bound by it to give Up|)er Canada, into which he pro|>osod to banish £n};lishmen, tha means of oommnnicating with the mother country without begging, as it « ere, a passport from tht local legislature of a French colony. Mr. Pitt, however, did not see matters in this light. I may ■ay. that he would not see them, for all the mis- chievous consequences which have lesulted from Mr. Pitt's unfair and unwise line of division, were predicted at the bar of tlie House of Commons by the venerable Adam l.yinburner of London. In- stead of appropriating the two sea-ports of Qtiebco and Montreal betweeo the two provinces, he com- mitte■■->-— : 1--v_ No. V. "^ ' . . •<< H i . MoMTRXAL, 2d October, 1885. My Loan, . , «#4 V ;ia ^«i^t There are varioua prineiplea, on which the import dutiea may be dirided between the two Canadaa. Some peraona would have theae dutiea to be divided in proportion to the respective expen- ditures on account of the legislature, the executive ond the judiciary ; others in proportion to popula- tion ; others in propoition to consumption of tax- ed articles. On each of these methoda I ab^iU oC* fer a few reroarka. .-••*.#• »h>>if,'&:54,rti,i„«*i .j^-sikvii'?:*3*^ So long as the crown duties, which were expreaa- ly destined for the support of the civil government and the administration of justice, were expended under the direction of the commissioners of the treasury, these duties at least ought to have been divided between the two provinces according to thv spirit, if not the letter, of the first method. I say the fcpirit, my lord, and not the letter, because the literal application of the prinoiple would have held out a premium to extravagance, and would have made ^ more euonomieal province contribute to ibe expenditure of her mote extravagant neighbor.' P Ic t dullM M ident i^ttt* the text of nbl* s*rTftnt» u '•_»{':<< ■ va^"* btr, 16d5. )le«, on whieh ween the two these dutiee >eciiTe expen- the executive on to popul«- ption of t«x- da I itudl of • were expn il government ere expended itonefs of the to have been cording to thv ithod. I my , beeeuse the »uld have held 1 would hav« eontribute to ;«nt neighbor.' 17 For inctance, my lord, whilr tlte ipeaker of the one anaembly rvoeivct only ^200 a year, the speaker of the other, by a oompromiae equally secret and die- graceful, robs the public of a salary five tUnee as large. So far, thercf(n«, as these salaries are concerned, the literal application of the first method uf division would reward the profligacy of the one legislature with a dollar, and punish the coo* homy of the other with a paltry shilling. But» since the conciliatory statute of his present Mi^jes- ty surrendered the crown duties to the provineial legislatures, the dominant faction in Lower Cana- da has so far diverted these duties from their origi- nal destination, by refusing to make any appropria- tion for the support of the civil government and the administration of justice, that it cannot, consis- tently at least, demand a division of the crown du- ties or of any other duties, according to the firsli method in proportion to the respective expendi- tures. It must, therefore, quietly submit to some more equitable method of division, even though that method may render necessary the imposition of direct taxes, for carrying on the government of the province of Lower CarMda. Would the Eng- lish outlaws, my lord, be bound, on moral or even on liberal principles, to pay taxes, to the imposing of which they could not have consented, and by the spending of which they would inevitably be oppres- sed ? Could the French faction compel the £ng- lisli outlaws to pay such taxes? Certainly not*, unless your lordship or some other advocate of eon- oiliation should disgrace English soldiers by rang- ing them on the side of dastardly and deadly ene- mies, for the destruction of friends, countrymen and brothers. English soldiers, my lord, would, of course, obey orders; but, in troops less carefully trained, nature might prove too powerful for diaei- plint. Strong feeling, my lord, must be my apo- logy for this or any other digression. *4i i" V ra ;\ k" ' i Tht method of dividing tb* Import dntivt bt* twftn the two provinces in propirtion to popuU- tion {• almost too absurd for discussion. Were both provinces inhabited by one and the same raee, the proposed method would be plausible, though not faultless ; but to assume, that a French Cana* dian contributes as much as an Englishman to IIm public revenue, is to confound indolence with en> terprise, barbarism with civilisation, contented ig- norance with ambitious intelligence. It is true* that the manufactured goods, which «re ohivfly consumed by the English inhabitants, pay a duty of only 2^ per cent, and that the rum, which tha French Canadians, like the red tn/uns dm tol. libe- rally qusflT, pays about a shillinga gallon, being equi- valent perhaps to 25 or 30 per ccjt. ; but tliis ar- gument in favour of the Canadians, as I have al- ready stated to your lordship, has t>een almost anni- hilated by a general substitution of a compound of native spirits and West India rum, so that 400,000 French hahitani will soon pay a smaller share of the import duties than 10,000 English ciiisens of Toronto. At tho date of the next adjustment* therefore, the principle of dividing in proportion to population will be utterly inadmissible. The division, therefore, roust be effected in pro- portion to the consumption of taxed articles. How is that consumption to be ascertained ? The prin- ciple of population may be here introduced, so far as to make the respective numbers of consumers tests of the respective consumptions. The Frcneh agitators estimate the French population of Lower Canada at 525,000 and the English at 75,000 ; but if I diminish the former so as to double th« latter, ? find only 150,000 such consumers as Up- ptt Canada contains. If I reckon the Freneh po- pulation as equivalent to 50,000 such oonsumers» I iod here alt<^ther 200,000 consumers, or little more than half the peculation of U|n>er Canada. Ai \ I att datiM bt* on to popular •ion. Wert iie same raec, sible, though French Cana* ishinan to tita snce with en- contented ig- It is truty h «re chivfly ts. pay A duty m, which tha If dH tai. liba« on, being equi- ; but tiiis ar« as I have al- n almost anni- I contpound of that 400»000 mailer share of lish eilitens of xt adjustment, 1 proportion to >le. >(fected in pro> articles. Hoar d? Theprin- roduced, so far of eunsumert The Frcneh ition of Lower ish at 75.000 ; to double tha isumers as Up- be French po* ;h consumers! I r«, or little more r Canada. Ai tkt dait of tha nail adJuatoieRii iliiitfcii» Upper Canada will hava a clear right to fully twoUurda of the import duties, for tn a4justxnent, that is to aontinue in force for four years, ought, in Juatiaa to tlia more rapidly inereaaing province of \2^^m Canada, to be fixed in reference rather to the pro> liable circumstances of the middle of the quadrien* nial period than to the actual circumstances of ita oommencement. Tlie adjustment ought either to ba fixed on this principle or to be fixed every year. It is Kufficicnily galling for Upper Canada to ba dependent on Lower . Canada ; but it is still mora galling for tha former to pay tribute as well as bo> maga to the latter. For many years, however, aueh has been the humiliating fiict. Tiie share of Upper Canada has risen from 20 per cent to 25, from 25 to 33^, and mtut, in two years, rise from 83^ to at least 50 per cent. During the first pcv riod, she sliould have received 22^ per cent. ; dur- ing tlie second, 29^ per cent ; and during the pre* aant period, 41 f per cent. Her least loss, tliera- fore, is equivalent to more than the difierenca ba- tween currency and sterling; while at present she loses precisely one fifth of her due, or, in other wwda, receives four shillings in place of a dollar. If one, my lord, takes a different view of the pre- sent loss of Upper Canada, one will find that Low. er Canada seizes, at the expense of her sister, eight and one-third per cent, on the whole of the divided dutiss, equal, by a singular enough coincidence, to a feudal fine. To- morrow, my lord, I shall resume the consi- deration of this subject ; and, in the meantime, I beg to assure you, that the English inh« ' .::aatf of Lower Canada have a direct interest in transfer- ring the import duties, which your lordship seems to have surrendered to an anti-eommercial faction, to their enterprising and intelligent oompaliiota of Iba upper provinu* ^ ,. ,, I u I 'f? .'!: ' \\ ^ n 1 U 90 '^'^Ltt i»« oact again imploic your lordship to n» 4cct and pause, era it be too late* The danger, though invisible, may yet be nearer than your lordship imagines. Revolution^ my lord, that afe intended to be permanent, are not effected in a day. Let me again allude to the American revolution. Sixteen years, my lord, elapsed between Mr. Jona« than Jewell's recommendation of physical resist* anee t(> oppression and the declaration of American independence ; biit each year contributed its mite towArds accelerating the catastrophe of a drama, in which foolish ministers were the principal aetonr £vjn between the 6rst instance of physical resist- anee and that catastrophe, there intervened the long period of three years, in each of which the p)ot gradually thickened. In 1773, the tea was thrown into the harbour of Boston ; in 1774 the 61st con- gress met at Philadelphia; in 1775, were fought the bettles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill ; in the winter of 177>'V 6, Canada was invaded and evacuated ; and on 4th July, 1776, was signed the declaration of American independence. ^ f^l^ t ' . I have the honour to be, . > . r jti.* My Lord, Tour Lordship*! moat obedient humble servant, Camiixus. No. VL ■:,: MoNfMAL, 3d Ootobefi 1635. Mtr Loan, I yesterday proved, that Upper Cani|>^ da, as she was admitted to have a right to one- third of the import duties at the dale of the last ad- justment and would certainly be admitted to have vbhip to r«- rh« danger, than your )rd, that nra :fed in a day. rcToiution. I Mr. Jona« sical reftiit* i American cd ita mita a drama, in ipal aatonr sical retisto led the long cli the plot nras thrown le first con- 'ere fought s Hill; in tvaded and signed th« ■ r'.j^a >le aanrant. r. 18S5. per Canat>^ t to one. he lastad- to hava a light to one-half at tha data of tha natt, vras ao< titltd to reeetve annually during tht whole of the qurdriennial period the arithmetical mean between the two quantities, or, in other words, 41 f instead of 83^ per cent. I, moreover, inferred, that, un- der the existing arrangement, she receives preoistlj four shillings in {Slace of a dollar. Your fordship must perceive, that either Lower Canada i> « bank- rupt cr that Upper Canada is a tributary. Docs your lordship think, that Upper Canada will sub« rait tamely to a system, which, besides being at present so galling and so iniquitous, becomes more oppressive every year.' During the first of ttie three enumerated periods. Upper Canada was rob- bed of a ninth of her just claim ; during the se- cond, of a tevenih ; during the third, of a fifth. Her definite losa during the first two periods I am neither able nor anxious to specify ; but during the last two yearst she lias been despoiled by Lower Canada of at least 100,000 dollars. In 1833 and 1834 respectively, she received, in round numbers, £60,000 and £40,000, whereas she ought to have leceived instead of these respective sums £75,000 and £50.000, or £25.000 more in all. This dif- ference, niy lord, would have paid more than half the interest on th(ii sum borrowed for the construc- tion of the St. Lavt'rence Canal. The iilluuon to that magnificent work, my lord, gives me an oppor- tunity of briefly proving, that the revenue of Up- per Canadi is more berieficitii than that of Lower Canada to the English mhabitants of the latter pro* vince. These iinhabitar.ts are chiefly engaged in commerce, and mor^ liksly to derive benefit from the improvement of our noble river than from the e7.travagantly remunerated services of your'person- »l iiiends, Mr. VigAr and Mr. Fapinea'i. Mark the contrast, my lord. The province, that rec'ves less than her share of the revenue, dojs every thing for the promotion of public prosperity, while the C ptofinntt that reccivet more than her due, doeeno* thing — absolutely nothing. Your lordship muic be aware, that you are doing as much, as in yon lies> to establish and perpetuate the despotism of an anti.eommercial and Anti- British faction. Let me call your lordship's special attention to a strik- ing event in Iloman history. A Gallic robber of the name of Brennus had driven the last hopes of Roman power within the wails of the capitol. The besieged Romans, though they were a * miserable minority*, yet long withstood the fierce assaults of their snvage foris ; but worn out at last by famine and fatigue, they appointed a deputy to effbet a compromise with the exulting ard insolent barba- rians. That deputy, my lord, did promise che barbarians gold. I admit, my lord, that he did so ; but in justice to him, m> lord of Gosford, I must add, that he stipulated for the salvation of the ca- pitol. Can eitlier of your organs say as much in justification of your lordship's compromise ? Have ycu stipulated for the salvation of the capitol? Ko. my to^d I The golden bribe, with which you have eonciliated the barbaiianf essentially involves the Sacrifice of the capitol, tlie extinction of the last hopes of British connexion. But, my lord, I must proceed with the historical passage. The gold, my lord, was in the scale ; irany a Gallic ruiRan was directing one eye in contempt on the abject deputy and another in eagerness on the glit- tering bribe ; the audacious and dishonest leader was already giving a foretaste of violated promises, broken treaties and trampled rightsi Suoh was the scene, my lord, when a man, whom the intend- ed victims of Gallic avarice and treachery had sus- pected and insulted and injured, put an end to the compromise, and ransornvd tlie capitol, not with gold but with iron. Tlua your lordship may hate leisure to pondsr I 5 « aVt9t 009990' nrdship mtnc eh, as in jroo despotism of action. L«t on to a strik- He robber of ast hopes of capitol. Th« a 'miserabia ce assaults of ist by fcmina J to effect a isolent barba- promise the hat he did so ; jsford, I must ton of the ea- ly as much in »mise? Have the capltoP ith which you tially invoWet inction of the It, my lord. I lassage. The irany a Galtie itempt on the >ts on the glit- shonest leader ated promtaca, ii Suci) was om the intend- shery had sus- : an end to fbe pitol, not with isur« to pondff oo this digrsssion, I shall eloaa thia letter and ml*- ••ribe myself* :t?# I'otir iiordsUy'a most obediattt bumble aamal. -I* '■»'■■'•:. .,,.. V, fl- ■ .'-i- '• ■-re ' ■'» <" ii ■_. MoNTasAi^ 6th Ootober, 18S&. ■ ;> HV XovBy I have already proved to your lordship, that Upper Canada, tlirough the practical misa^ plieation of the professed principle of adjustment, has been annually deprived of part of her admitted sham of the import duties. But, my lord, that principle of adjustnent, however libeially applied, would be unjust towards Upper Canada, That provinoe is dearly entitled to a share, ptoportioncd not to what hf* consumption of taxed goods actu- ally is, but to what it would be m the event of her having a sea-board of her own. Suppose for a mo- ment, my lord, that the two Canada^ were as inde- pendent of eaeh other in regard to maritime irade aa are the states of Massachusetts and New York, and then ask yourself, how many Englislimen wou^ be restdenu of Lower Canada. About a titlie of their present number. Had Mr. Pitt been able to mould the faee of the country to his will, so as to make the Atlintio wave dash against both provinces, he would almost literally have ef- fected the desired separation of the French and tho Engliali, and would have rendered English Canada and Freooh Canada respectively the rivals of Maa- saebuaettt end the land of the Esquimaux. Mr. Fkt, it is true, was not able literally to do so ; but he «ighi have done almost the sam* thing by giv- 24 itif Monlrtal to Upper Caniinue are, with e and sharpen nmerce, hostila iterests of Up- lotion may tell \s a clear right T inhabitants, means of go- tory. So far, ountry is con> ious. When 1 see an unti- rharves, and a thing for d«» and repairs. Your lord- >e mud-bound Lake St. Pe- reich Mont- westerly por- lordsbip will T the publio >r the promo- dsbip proe«*d by the Ottawa, you will find that almoU •• eiy im- provement has been effected either by private indi- viduals or by the imperial govsrnment. Should you prefer the route by thp St. Lawrence, you may ascertain the boundary by the unaided glance of your own eye. The French rapids nf Lower Canada, so far as the provincial legislature is eon • cemed, have been left in a state of nature ; whilst the English rapids of Upper Canada lash the bank of the most magnidcent canal on this continent, constructed by the province at vast expense, but rendered comparatively useless by the anti-commer- cial prejudices of a sel6sh and greedy faction in Lower Canada. You, therefore, see, my lord, that Lower Cana- da cannot resist, at least on the alleged ground of improving the country, the just demand of Upper Canada for as much of the import duties, as she contributes, whether directly within her own limits or indirectly in Lower Canada. You also see, my lord, that, in this reasonable and just view, the English province is entitled to at least three-fourths of the import duties ; and I must again repeat to your lordship, that such a principle of division would be doubly agreeable to the English inimbi- tants of this country, inasmuch as it would cripple the revolutionary factions and the conciliatory go- vernments of the French province, and would lead to the more rapid and more efTectual improvement of the English one. If your lordship persevere in your intention of surrendering the contingencies, I solemnly assure your lordship, that I shall ^devote my power, such as it is, of stirring men's minds to tiie patriotia purpose of transferring the import duties ftom the French province of Lower Canada to the English province of Upper Canada. In so good a cause, my lord, I would even stoop to the baseness of oourting popularity. I would even becon:e a doma- in. -f^ M gcigilVf ** i thing 09il enwU In the Mtrt dt paitjp poliliet in these countries, and usually ilavtn llk« • fulsome toad the prey it gloats on, but whieh becomes, when it is hungry, unusually daring in its ferocity and reckless in its audacity— a thing, not like the crocodile, for it does possess the power of turning in all directions, and can twist and struggle with such facility as even to perform the Hibernian exploit of turning its back upon itself— a thing, not like the serpent of Jamaica, for it does possesi fangs, which are not destitute of venom—- a non- descript reptile, partaking of the nature of tlie bulU frog and the galley wasp." Before I pause for a day, permit me to draw your lordship's attention to the letter of " Coz", in this day's Courier, which professes to expose the fallacy of my views. It is but right, that your lordship should see both sides of the question. The man's letter J have abstained from reading, kst I should be diverted from a noble qaarrjf 'to the hunting; of a weasel. ' . «» 1 have the honour to be, ' ' '• My Lord, ^ * ' Tour Lordsliip's most obedient humble sarran^ J It"; -,' Camuxos. Na VIII. r^ MoMTRXAL, 7th October, 1685. Mt Lou>» «i]»: . ^ I have already attempted to preset that Upper Ctnada receives too small a share of tuoh import duties, as are divided between the two pre- viaeas ; but, ac if to shew, my lord* thAt bejrooi i inirt of ftij \y sIavOTtlik« >n, but ^hioh y daring in its -0 thing, not the power of St and struggk the Hibernian r~-a thing, not it does poasetf renom<— 41 non- ure of tlie bulU it roe to draw r of " Co*", ia ta to expose the right, tliat your the question. 1 from reading, noble quarry 'to bumble CAMIU.VS. >ctob«r, ld8&. )ted to prott, ^Mt II a share of auoh T—n the two pro- lord, that bcyooi the lowcifc depth there is • lom OUI, there art eer- tain import duties of which Upper Canada reeeivea no share at alL Import duties, for instance, col- lected under recently enacted i.-nperial statutes to the amount of upwards of £iO,000 during 1883 and iSaA have been eiclusively seis«d by Lower Canada. I admit, my lord, that tlie grievance ia to be ascribed, not to the legislature of Lower Ca- nada, but to the inadvertent haste of the imperial parliament. Tiiat body, when it placed certain du- ties at the disposal of *< tlie colony, in which the same shall be levied", did not take into account the peculiarly unhappy position of English Canada, aa the vassal, tlie tributary,' the victim of her French step-sister. But, if the letter of the law be unjust- ly favourable to Lowr Canada, the spirit of it manifestly entitles Upper Canada to the same shaie of the aforesaid duties as slie has or rather ought to have of the others. The defrauded pro- vince will certainly claim its just due and will as certainly obtain it. Your lordsliip must, therefore, perceive that, as soon as Upper Canada receives her fair share of the import duties, the permanent civil list, which your lordship appears to have purchased by the bribe of the contingencies, will exist only on parch- ment, after the fashion of the ' good laws* of the neighbouring ropublic. Hius will the secret com- promise only aggravate the malady, which it pro- fesses to cure. The starving servants of a conci- liatory goveinment may, at present, enjoy th?ir 'gammon of bacon, hung up for a show*, by turm- ing their eyes towards the provincial treasury ; but they will not, m" lord, enjoy such pleasures even of the imagination, when the universal indignation of your lordship's robbed and insulted countrymen fn both provinces shall have made the receiver genotal of Lower Canada the guardian of a beggarly ••- count of empty boxeai "n^ ■■" '^■^^^.i*' 1 ^ M Mi i i 1 i Your lordship mty, perhapt, tmagtne, tliit Up* per Canada will not luccecd in getting her just ffhare of the import dutiet. To this, iny lord, I have m short answer. She will obtain her right either on the ground of J justice from a cabinet of principle, or on tbe score of fear from a cabinet of expediency. That a cabinet of principle would act justly. I need not attempt to prove ; that a ca- binet of expediency may he influenced by fear, must have been discovered by your lordship on tht first perusal of your instructions. ^ May not the English Assembly of Upper Cana- da, as well as the French Assembly of Lower Ca- nada, stop the supplies, pass ninety.two resolutions and meet in treasonable convention ? What, my lord, would be the result of such conduct ? Tf the past be the mirror of the future, your lordship must be conscious, in the strictest sense of the word, that such conduct would be rewarded by unlimited eoncessions.of power and emolumeut. The legis- lature of Upper Canada, it is true, could not stop the supplies during the life of his present Majesty ; but the King, as well as the peasant, must die, even if not prematuiely worried out of existence by a ' cabinet, tyrannical to him, but truckling to all others. ',,,;/ • -- "■ "'''■ " '"" '"V . y Having thus, my lord, brought my argument to a close, I beg to offer a very brief recapitulation of it. I have attempted to convince your lordship, that your secret compromise may be immediately baf- fled by the legislative council, gradually blasted by the English inhabitants of this province, who are, in every sense of the words, the actual payers of the import duties, and uftimately destroyed by th« undeniably just claims of Upper Canada. ^^ On the last two heads of ray argument, I shall not ofl*er to your lordship any further remarks ; ■'-^' 39 but I am Unpt«d to rcsum« th« oontidaMtion ol Iht lint htad. Tb« Htraid of TuascUy alluded to an ocoasion» OD which the independent members of the legitla- tive council were prevented merely by an unwor- thy artifice, that cannot be repeated, and by an ab- furd claim, which has been recently annihilated, from rejecting a supply bill based on a secret and disgraceful compromise between the executive go- Tern ment and the demociatio faction. That, which has happened once, may happen again ; and its recurrence is rendered the less improbable by the fact, that the legislative council, since the occa- sion mentioned, has received a large accession of perfectly independent members. What, therefore, has happened once, is so much the more likely to happen sgain. Not only is the legislative council more independent ; but the crisis itself is such as to justify the boldest and most vigorous jdisplay of its independence. The question is not one of pounds shillings and pence. The success of your lordship's secret compromise essentially involves the tempo- rary establishment of French supremacy in thi% co- lony, the not very remote horrors of civil war, the dismemberment of the British empire, the decay of British influence, and the ruin of the British navy. So far as the hostility of the legislative council is concerned, your lordship may secure the success, of the secret compromise, by making twenty or thil'ty French demagogues * honorable*. Could your lord- ship make them honest also, I should have little ob- jection to the measure ; but even the most direct exercise of the royal prerogative could not achieve the miracle. -• .,; - -; rv e - ■• '. ■ n " The Kinf can make a belted knif ht, A marquis, duke and a' that. Ao hOQctt man is above bis might. e#e4 Auth, ike maoaaa fa' tkai." fi 7f ) No^ my lord t «n hoacst man !t not tbt work of rrgal or of ^ice-regal power, but the noblest work of God. But your lordship, though you may hav« » bushel of blank mandamuses In your possession, yet will not dare to transform your compatriots in* to desperate outlaws by filling them up. My Ian- cusge is bold ; and I can offer as a sound apology for its boldness, that I was born in an island, whose children ' never will be slaves*. Your lordship, perhaps, expects the support of at least such legls> laiive councillors as have a pecuniary Interest in the fate of the supply bill. Your lordship's expecta- tion, however, may be weakened by a knowledge of the somewhat unexpected facts, that (lie individual, who now addresses you, and the, proprietor of the JiwaJdt have each a pecuniary interest of some im* portance to a poor man, in the surrender of the contingencies. But should selfishness be more powerful than patriotism in the breasts of 'o£5cial members of the legislative council, I tell your lord* •hip, that I would proudly carry a begging-box IVom door to door to collect the amount of their unpaid salaries by public subscription. Whether my letters huve produced the intend- •d effect on your loidship, time alone can d«» termine ; but I may claim at least the merit of having convinced your lordship, that some of the opponents of the democratic faction are not the fer- tile worshii pers of power and placet . ^ _ 1 have the honour to be, ' , . ^ *y My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servaaCi #i^l4ii#'-''^i. '^i.*^^ Jrv'ifc'r^-v-i'/arj \vvi: ; -. s . ^ ,.: . t^AMIlLiris. 8l?-"V<. V I ct ll a Im work of Icttworkof naj havo » potseuion, putriots in* My Ian- id apolc^ Lnnd, whoM r lordship* such Iegi»> lerest in th« 's expecta- low ledge of individual, Btor of tbo >f some inu idrr of tht I be more ; of*offieial your lord* egglng-box It of their ie intend- le can dt* e merit of me of tht not the Mr- tie senranc, Miuya. 4'M>-'^';ixSi* f*«^f'*» 11^ 2X. »»*. j*»^p■ Ifr Loan, MowuAi, 8tli pttoMt iS^ ^ I mvtt address to jrour lordship a few saj^tertkimtary observations of a tolerably miscella- neous character. Having closed my main argument, T have read the crttioal letter of Cos, the correspondent of the Morning Couriert and find in it a characteristic combination of weakness, ignorance and disltonesty. An illiterate pretender, who writes as never man has written or will write, is unhappily prevented by the peculiarity of his style from writing anony* mously. 1 hat your lordship may understand, why a con- stitutional journal sometimes earns from the revo- lutionary Minervt the affectionate appellation of * notre confrere*, I must inform your lordship of the physical fuct, that, in the meridian of Montreal, gentlemen are firequently known to change sides at the season, at which leaves change colours. lo such mutations, October last was peculiarly fertile ; and the present October is naturally ambilioua of equalling the fame of its predecessor. This, my lord, is a digression ; but it will not be altogether useless, if it tend to encourage your lordship to fword, and inevitably compelled the ' foreigners', more particularly as those * foreigners* constituted a numerical minority, to raise a similar war.cry. Those, my lord, who act on the tual and hereditary trophy of Bri« tish heroism — the English inhabitants of this pro- vince have dldly and hourly lost ground before the happier staruf 'His Majesty's Canadian subjects*. The expression, which I have placed between in- verted commas, has been, in my opinion, the cause of nearly all the political difficulties of Lower Ca- nada. * His Majesty's Canadian subjects' have been the pets of every sovereign and of every cabi- do4« rMuir« 1 '**^ P'^^'y trough fuAr and partly Uirougli f«cliog« at once mora manly and more amiable. laint mtralf •hip, that it t, doubtleia, t tha fact of incc on the- gladly plead cillatory go- emoving tH« the neckto( f assure your mergenoy, I le Canadian idian dema- le Canadiana, al origin aa mpellfcd the i * foreignera* (ise a similar he defenaive^ only equal > stability of 3nger tevwa icir position^ malady to iroud day of > French sol- piled French ophy of Bri- I of this pro- id before the ian subjects'. between in- on, the cauae >f Lower Ca> ibjMta' have »f erery cabi- iDay were petted too, my lord, at the eipenxe not mere- ly of abstract principles but of the natural rights and the ooTenanted claims of Hl» Majesty's Eng- lish subjects. Of these English subjec b, my lord, there wore two clashes, the one class consfstin^ of immigrants from the United Kingdom and tha other of loyal exiles from the revolted colonies. For the gratification of ' His Majesty's Canadian subjects', these Englisli subjects were doomed to live under foreign laws, the former class ia viola- tion of the royal promise of George the I'hird, and the latter in return for tlieir patriotic sacrifices of private property and social connexions to the inte- rests of England. Every year, in short, has seen the vanquished become more and more able to dic- tate terms to thp victors. So long as the concilia* tory system is continued, its natural effect must continue to gain strength. THE CONCILIA- TORY SYSTEM, THEREFORE, MUST BE ABANDONED. As I was writing the foregoing sentence, the following truly appiopriate article of the MissUkoui Standard was. by a singu- lar coincidence, placed before me. It is well wor- thy of your lordship's attentive perusal. " Rumour, with her thousand busy tongues, is at work. One rumour is, that the plan of conciliation has been commenced by £ari Goalbrd. We sincerely trust, that his lordship ia Cully aware of the circumstances, into which he throws himself, if the rumour be true. Let us talk plainly ; let him understand xia ; we speak no vmin wordi. Hi8 lordship may us easily collect the winds in« to a napkin, or mete the ocean with a siieve, as he can, by conciliationj satisfy the two parties of this province. Nothing but strict and impartial justice will be of avail ; and that justice must be dealt with« view to the lasting interests of Canada, and the glory of tiie English name. His lordship must already know the utter real helpless* ness of the French faction, and the real strength of the British. We beseech him not to grant farther power in- to impotent hands, lest the hands of the strong be tempt- f] n t«. i .;*. ■ I Ml Ui iMr it aw»y- 1^ King of CnclAiul ia o^Ufed •• Mfl«ct mi ministers frocc the ptny which ii fro Uv^p«r$ tke itroofest in the nation; he cannot ibower tba *BWcct« ofofflce* on the weaker. The Earl Ooiford will look for the commentary on the maxim, in hi* preaent tievation to the governorship or Canada, by a party, Which ai present naa unlortunatelv the ascendancy w £nf land. Let bis lordiihip act on the same maxim and Canada is safe *, let liim act diffurently, and its destiny is in the unctrtain womb of time. li' lus lordship procted on the principle of conciliation to the French, merely b«t^us(> ?hcy demand it, we give bim solemn warnings let him take it as such—that he raises in these townahipe t'acUngs, which wilt breed a crisis in the colonv, of which it is teari\il to calculate the responsibility. We bef to deal plainly with him. We are a Scctcbman, imbued with titft devoted loyalty to our sovereign, under the id* lluencfe of which our fathers' blood hab flowed like wa> ter; towards our King, therefore, it is impossible C6 force us to entertain other than loyal feelinga. To th* King oi England we owe obedience, but to nu other maa on earth : and immeasurably kss do we owe it to a Frenehman. We in the townships wish to remain the futtjccu of England; if his excellency attempt to raiae ovff US the dominion of Frenchmen, let bim bewaro^ tat tuver will $ubmU. As fellow subjects, we can respect and esteem the French people ; we solicit, then, hit ex- Cellettcy not to convert that esteem into feelinga of a hostile kind. Au rulers we would detest tbtin, and we can point to a thousand tented fields to shew ho^v far our tubmiasion would go. Great Britain wishes not to raiso up a French power in the province, for his Mejcsty haa aaid| that ' the Canadas must not be lost nor given away.* If hit excellency wish to Tuster the French faction, we hope that he hat calculated befovehand the strength ne> oeasary for him to overcome the resistance of the firitiah. " We claim no exclusive privileges, hut on BritiSvH ground wa demand all nghu of British subjecto, and wm mtut have them. Wc^ cannot subrJ; to conquervd Frenchmen without an exiis not to raise I Msjcsty has r given away.' 1 foction, we strength ne* of the British. It on Britik?! jecto, and wf) o conquerrtl rradation *od iilsh couiitry let his exceK re have been { of England, d that of the ipecting Eng« it is booUess ve been made iir country, it cftbe Frcnc!i declared that JuBf of laws, } i -i and bare aAnasd their determinatiot to convert vu townships into seigniories. The next sup will b9 M force upon us the Cathr.iC religion. " His lotuahip wil> see that it is not without reasotc that we oppose all projects of conciUation. CoaciUatioa win not satisfy the French and it will raise titt rcaiai- iace Of every Englishman in Canada." I have the honour to be, Wy Lord, Ycut LordcLip'a naoit obedient hunoblt serruiV CxUttXML, No. t. MoMTAXAL, 9tk Oeuibor, \tiX I resume the eonaide ration of * CoaV oonaplaint against the epithet * Anti-Oaliio' aa ap<^ plied to the letters of * Camillus*. In dtroaiiding equal rights and equal irlvileget for all 9l» ses of his .Majesty's subjects in Lower Canada, the inhal>itants of Knglish blood advocAte the true interests not only of theMselves but of their CinaJian Brethren and of the British empire. Your lordship may have observed in some of the publioi print*, that the honourable D^^nnis Deuja* min Viger ^.^.tely expressed a very modest dvsire to get rid of every foreigner, whether French or Eng- lish, and to secure for himself and his compatriotf the exclusive possession of the ccutitry. I may, my lord, remark in passing, that the circiimstaneea* under which that desire was expressed, were »o ut* terly inconsistent with Uie proverbially exquisite politeness of the honorable diplomatist, as to prove most cleailj the national rather than the ptrsonaJ •eigto of the gratuitous insula Ka4 the other ai. I I I.. * ' S€ y pcctant of judicial honors been in Mr. Vigerlt place, I might have suspected a more special motiv* for the extraordinary rudeness. I1]e incident, my lord, shows most clearly the real aim of the French demagogues and is not very honourable either to their heads or to their hearts. It Ijetrrjs an equal ignorance of what is right and of what 15 practica- ble. Ihe patriotically exclusive scheme of the dema- gogues, if carried into effect, would reduce their de- luded compatriots of La Graiide Nation Canadienne wAo the miserable and helpless victims of a selfish oligarchy. In a race, to which commercial cntek' prise and tlje law of primogeniture, the tv/o fed of middle classes, the two conservators of . .i;:.., liberty, are equally unknown, there would soon be only two classes, the lawyers or professional oli- garchs and the peasants or illiterate slaves, ^\'rl) your lordship consign * His Majesty's Canadian subjects' to such a fate ? Your lordship, of course, abhors the supposition ; and yet, my lord, your se- cret compromise, unless its fruits be nipt in the bud by the desperate valour of English outlaws, will in- evitably pave the way for the bondage of the illite- rate and peaceful habitans. But I roust pause for a day ; and I hava the honour to be, ' ' ^^ My Lord, ■'■''^' Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant* CAMItLVf. P! ■ n Mr. Viger't e special rootiv* le incident, my 1 of the French rable either to )e*r?js an equal 'hat i$ practica- le of the dema • reduce their de- ion Canadienne ims of a selfish [imcrcial cntek' the tv/o f'eU ators at . .iilv. would soon be irofessional oli- B slaves. Will sty's Canadian ship, of course^ lord, vour se> nipt in the bud utlaws, will in* ;e of the illite> nust pause for ' '.! '■■■){.'' « r .i. ' I. imble servant, Camii.lit«. ^.".c.- 'i**« »7 No. XI. MoMTRiAL, 10th October, 1835. Mr Load, Having, in my las^ letter, proved that the views of the English inhabitants of this pro- vince are not more advantageous to themselves than to < His Majesty's Canadian subjects', I now pro* eeed to prove that the success of these views can alone secure the connexion between the mother country and the colony, and maintain the integtity of the empire. Every sentence of my letters must have tended to convince your lordship of so import- ant a fact ; but I shall now enter a little more mi- nutely and more formally into th« merits of the question. I yesterday heard, my lord, that an obscure man of the name of Malhiot, whom some freak or other some time ago elevated to the legislative council, boasts of having told your lordship at a private in* terview, thct, unless the demands of tlie French faction be conceded, Lower Canada will not belong to England more than t*:'rty years. Having never before heard of the man I take the report merely 95 1 imd it. The threat is supremely ridiculous, v'tf ' 'I ihe pse of thirty y 'urs will render the French Jv *>,ai n» a numerical tninority. Every year, wuii!/ .i, may legally strengthen the demagogues thrcugh he anti-national co-operation of a concili- atory government, will physically weaken them through the immigration of msn of English blood from the old country and the United States. But, my lord, when, in the deadly struggle, race closes with race, party with party and man with man, legal strength wi^, not atone for physical weakness ; tnd your lordship must, therefore, perceive, that ii-f dcms'^ogues, if they do intend to raiM the tti- if»c~«;cred standard or lebeliion, are wotse than insane l( M 38 \o defer th* tbrcauucd exploit fot (hiriy jeari or thirtj monthf. But, my lord, U)«y do not intend to do any such thing. Their thceats of physical resi«itance aie empty and false ; hut, for the credit of British statesmen, I an) sony to add, that they have not heen altogether fruitless. Past success, my lord, inspires future audncity. The first tnngi> hie threat of a French lehellion, tny lord, was em- 5 f^''--d. in Sonne of the ninety-two resolutions. The hi. J Rohadils, who framed the false and foolish t«rit> Jid not seem to have decided, wliether they would set up for themselves with France as a mo« del, or throw themselves into the arms of the Unit- cd States. Both schemes were equally ridiculous and were intended merely to produce an effect on weak nerves. Whether they did produce any such effect, your lordship must know mucli hetter than Camillus. The scheme of uniting two races, more distinct perhaps than any other two rnces in the world — of which the inferior repays tvith jealous hatred the irrepressihle contempt of the superior — elicited an almost universal hurst of incredulous ri- dicule. Demonstration followed demonstration in the English journals to the cff>ct, that the scheme^ if carried into operation, would ineviiahly and aU most instantly hhist the fondly cheriEhrd hopes of Canadian nationality. The revolutionary joumals were prudently silent in regard to these unanswer- able demonstrations; and yet they had the politic audacity occasionally to repeat the impracticable threat for the special hentfit of conciliatory states- men. Whither is the ffilsehood itself, my lord, more disgrnceful to the demagogues, or the success of the fa!«^ehcod to — others? Till- referencf to Fiance, T^hich was contained in the famous resolutions, displayed on the part of the rcsolutionists very little either of knowledge or of gratitude, lire creatures forgot, that, at Biitlsh lubjectt, they Wert the ftee grandsona of Praoeli ci i I jcari or t intend physical le credit hat they success, 1st tnngi* was em* Dns. The nd roolisli ither tliey e as a mo« the Unit- ridiculous 1 effect on e any such setter than races, more ices in the ith jealous superior— edislous ri- iisiration in he scheme^ )ly and aU d hopes of iry journals I unanswer- the politic tpraclicahle tory slates- r, my lord, the success lontuined in part of the ledge or of , as Biitish I of Preocli Mrfs i aod ihey were too dull ur tou prejudiced to understand, that any connexion with d««potto France would convert the English whip, which ex> isted only in their own crazy imaginations, into the hot and heaw reality of a French scorpion But, if, my lord, tiie resolutionists had really intended to hold out the right hand of fellowship to France, they would, most probably, have pauxed in their career, lest they might seem, in any respect, to imitate the liberal Gallomania of bated England. The Canadians, my lord, will never rise in arms against the British government. Your lordship's French organ, with characteristic want of tact, confessed, that the rural habiians neither felt any real grievances nor knew any of the imaginary ones. Can you, my lord, believe for a moment, that these hubitans can be goaded by niere words into rebellion? You cannot believe su. If then your lordship has the slightest reason to believe, that your instructions were at all affected by the notorious misapprehension of his Majesty's mfnis> ters, un the subject of the threatened insurrection, a^'e you not, my lord, bound, as a man of honour and a British sul ject, to demand from the cabinet fresh instructions belter adapted to the actual state of aifaifs. If, however, the French Canadians should be goaded into lebellion by the specious falsehoods of shameless traitors, such a rebellion would be speed- ily suppressed. If they should, in the first in- stance, sled the blood of every English inhabitant of the seigniories, they would pave the way not for ultimate success but fur most awful retribution. They would be hemmed in by a gradually closing circle of English breasts and Engliih bvvoncu, and would, in a few short months, become the hunted of all hunters, the enslaved of all enslavers, tho slain of all slayers. Their wretched leaders would wish, that they had never been born. if h 40 ill An English insurrection, howtrer, a conciliatory cabinet may wisely dread — an iasurrection not •gainst a British King but against a French Vice- roy. Such an insurrection is to be dreaded, not only as comparatively probable, but as absolutely certain of ultimate success. The probable conse- quences of such an insurrection I shall detail in my next letter ; and meanwhile I implore your lordship to remember your royal master's command to Sir Charles Grey — < Canada must not be lost.' I have the lionour to be. My Lord, Your Lordsliip's most obedient humble servant, Camillus. No. XII. MoMTRCAL, 1 2th October, 1835. Mr Lord, In my last letter I attempted to con* vinee your lordship, that an English insurrection against any French viceioy of Lower Canada would, moit certainly, be ultimately successful ; and I now pioceed to point out the results of the success of such an insurrection. The loss of Lower Canada would necessarily involve the loss of all British America. The loc. of British America would dC' prive England of her most productive fisheries, place her entirely ei the mercy of foreignen for the main element of her maritime power, and leave her not a single port on this continent for shelter- ing her navy to the northward of Bermuda. If the colonies, my lord, be the wings of the empire, what would £ngland, if deprived of her stronger wing, become among the nations of Europe? If, mi Plj arJ 41 Tf bnciliatory Btion not I Vic«- Jsadedy not [absolutely 1}le cons«- detail in plore your > command be lost.' ble servant, KXLLUS< ber, 183& ipted to con-r insurrection anada would, I ; and I now le success of unrer Canada f all British ca would de' ive fisheries^ breignero for cr, and leave t for ^helter- termuda. If * the empire, her stronger Buiope? If, my lord, I may borrow an equally rulgar and ap- propriate expression from the Stock Exchange, sti* would become a lame duck. I earnestly implore your lordship to reflect, thnt such must be the re- sult of a perseverance in tlie anti national scheme of conciliating a handful of battling and rebellious demagogues at the expense of tlie imperial dignity, in violation of sound principles and at the tempo- ral}' sacrifice of the intelligent and loyal minoritjr of English origin. Having thus, my lord, exhihitcd the influence of farther conciliation of the French faction on th* political peace of liower Canada, I must now in- quire, what influence such conciliation is likely to exercise on her agricultural and commercial pros- perity. Here again, my lord, the past is the best index of the future. Will the French faction, my lord, devote the public revenue to the improvement of the commer- cial facilities of the province? AViil the dema- gogues deepen Lake St. Peter ? Will they improve and extend the wharves of Montreal ? Will they complete the magniflcent line of commimication so nobly undertaken by their tributary victim of Up- per Canada ? Will they make one effort to render Montreal, what nature defined her to be, the rival of New York? No, my lord; they will not do any thing, that at all tends to inundate the sacred soil of a French province with British or Irish or American foreigners. Should any funds remain, after the two contracting parties to the secret com- promise are both satisfied, the French Assembly yf\\\ make the surplus an instrument of oppression, an engine for gagging the less patriotic portion of the outlawed minority. They will appropriate tt, my lord, to local objects, which ought to be accom- plished by local assessments, and thus buy the sup- port or at least the neutrality of individuals, wh are too sbort-stghted to see the fatal consequences r I I i 1 1 n r !l f If: 4i ot FMntk lupTciiMMy or Coo itlfish to »crifiii Um ItM good of Ui« present for tk» grtattr good of tbo futurt. Not many trecki, my lord, have tlaptod, •ineo professed constitutionalists condescended to wear the revolutionary mask in the hope of secur- ing • giant of public money for a projected rail* road. To gain their ends, they put a radical pau« per of the name of Dardy in the chair and ordered their resolutions to be inserted only in the radical Journals, St. Franeii Courier of Sherbrooke, VituH' tator, Minerva and looming Courier of Montreal. The sooner, my lord, that professed constitutional* ists are not tempted to perpetrate such absurdities* so much the Itetter ; and the temptation will bo taken away either when Upper Canada gets her fair share of the import duties, or when Frenoh inBuence ceases to be supreme in the provincial {•• gisUture. Thus, my lord, does every shilhng of •seess of revenue over and alKtve the reasonablo expenses of the legislature and the executive becomo • fatal obstacle to the ultimate prosperity of tlio pro7inee. Part of such excess, as I have Jtisl shewn, is dispensed in the shape of local bribes | while the other part of it is likely, with your lord* ship's (consent, to swell the contingencies as pen* aiont for lloebuck and his tail, the London eorrts^ pondents of the French Vindieaior. I'ermit rot* my lord, to remark in p.i8sing, that the secret oom* promise, which your lordsiiip seems to have sano* tioned, presents an Englinh nobleman in the cha* raeter of patron to the French Vindicator, in tbt character of paymaster of the miserable hirelings^ who have virtually recommended the assassination of British soldiers — who have stigmatised Lord Aylmer as a murderous tyrant — who have styled Mr. Spring Rice, who, according to the latest ad« eiees, was aill Chancellor of the Exchequer, • no- torious liar. Does your lordship remember Dean Swift's asreastie remark os King William's laotta, J9m rmpui §td rtetft-^*' Tht rccdvtr h M bad ■• th« thief**? Tb« tppHcatton, my lord, is too ob* viout ; and I can only hop*, for tht honour of my country, that your lordthip is innocent of the com- promise, and that I am miktakrn in my 8ut|ticions. I muat here pause for a day ; and meanwhile I have tl)e honour to be, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble scrraat, CAM1U.VS. No. XIIL MowTftSAi, Idth October, 188S. Mr Loiii», I closed my last letter with a digrce* sion on the contingencies, which I shall now pur* sue a little farther. Your lordship must be aware, that the eor.sSii* genciet, as demanded and expected by the assembly. Include the salary of the honourable Mr. Viger, aa ambassador plenipotentiary of La Grande Nation Canadienne at the court of London, and the wagce of Mr. Roebuck and the other London cor reap on* dents of the honest and veracious Vimdicutor. In rtferenee to the wages of these miserable liirelinga, I yesterday alluded to the effect, which the surren* der of the contingencies would have on your lord- ship's character, by making you a willing accessary after the fact to slander, asMucination and treason. The conclusion, my lord, inevitably follows from the premises ; but it is so absuid, so outragemia, so unnatural, as to prove, that the premisca must bt unsound, that ray infereacea from undeniable faeU m a ¥ m ii 44 «re crrooeous, thAt your lordship hat not proreifcd th« barbaiians gold. Yen, my lord, you will prov* before the end of ()ctol>er, that I liavc been foolish- ly beating the air, that I have been madly purtu- ing a phantom of my own creation. I would much rather, my lord, tliat one alternative should convict me of folly and madness, tlian that the other should exhibit • our iord&liip as the pation of a hired traitor, such as John Arthur lloebuclc. If the surrender of tlie contingencies would ine- vitably place your lordship in so painful a position, iiow much more is a conditional surrender of them to be deprecated? An unconditional surrender might be justified on the ground of right ; but what, my lord, could be said in defence of a secret bargain ? The contingencies, as demanded and expected by tlie assembly, are either reasonable or unreasonable. If reasonable, they ought to be paid ; if unreasonable, they ought to be withheld. In the former case, a compromise would b» unjust towards the assembly ; in the latter, it would sa- crifice the real interests of the country to the im3» ginary necessities of the government. Will your lordship be instrumental in ruining a British pro- vince, after the fashion of Turkey, iot the sake of a public revenue? The comparison, my lord, is unfair towards the Sultan's financial system ; for each of his provinces bleeds to death under the greedy fangs of only one bashaw, and is cheered at least by the hope of the avenging bow-string. Our bashaws are numberless, and, at the hands of the metropolitan government, meet not merited pun- ishment but unmerited reward. Dut your lordship cannot plead the same apology as the Sultan for sacrificing the interests of the people to the neces« sittes of the government. Your lordship has am- ple funds in your possession ; but you dare not ex- pend them without the sanction of law. Very good, my lord. If you cannot pay the well earned ■»laty of ft faithful servant of hit At«j«*ty, hew you eonsiitently pay tlie guilty rages of » traitor- ous teivant of tli«! assembly ? Pause here, my lord, and ask your own conscience, whetlier the sc^ cret compromise wilt not extricate you from a Ies« crime by invulving you in a greater. The impe* rial government, however, can legally relieve the embarrassments of the provincial executive without interfering, in any degiee, with the fundamental constitution of the province. It can ca&ily and speedily procure the repeal, so far as I^wer Cana- da is concerned, of the fatally conciliatory act, which surrendered the crown-du'.ics to the provin- cial le;;islature. The imperial parliament is surely competent to take away, what it gave under a hi« tlierto de«pised compromise; and I may, my lord, remark in passing, that your fulHlmentof your part of the secret compromise will, very probably, meet with t'le same kind of reciprocity. What would be your lordship's feelings, if, after having paid tb« bribe, you were to be told by the leader of the bar- barians, that his promises were intended only to deceive you ? Your lordship does not believe, that such a villain exists. He does exist, my lord ; h« has eaten your lordship's bread and salt ; he has been an object of vice- regal courtesy, flattering in proportion to its discriminating rarity. Yes, my lord, Louis Joseph Papineau did once boast before the face of the world for himself and his accom- plices in treason, that they had acted the hypocrite to gain an end. But your lordship may justify the surrender of Mr. Iloebuck's wages on the analogical ground, that the House of Commons can send representa> tivea of itself to any section of the empire, and pay them out of its own contingencies without thetanc- tion either of the King or the House of peers. For the sake of argument, my lord, I admit, that the House of Commons can do so ; but I must, at e \l If- 1 :■: t : ['.V «' III I 1 h ' iff Mm« Hm«, qtulify th« Admltdon bjr doubting, whtther it ever did perpetrate a e«M precisely »{• miUr to that of Mr. Uocbuck. But the supposed analojical argument, which, according to general rumour, was used in conversation by one of the Ju- nior commissioners, is based on a considerable num- ber of gratuitous assumptions. It assutnei, my lord, that London is as much a portion of I .ower Canada, as Lower Canada is of the British empire. It assumes, that the provincial assembly has a right to all the privileges of the House of Commona* though they are respectively branches of a subor- dinate and a supreme legislature, and though the other branches of the former legislature neither have nor pretend to have all the privileges of the corresponding branches of the latter. I shall dis> euss thi>! important subject ruore .'ully to-morrow ; and meanwhile I have the honour to be» ' My Lord, - Your Lordship's roost obedient humble lenrant. CaMiLLt/e. XIV. MovTMAL, 14th October, 1835. Mr Lord, I resume the consideration of the an«< I<^'ca1 argumeut, which is said to have lieen urged by one of the junior commissioners for including the wages of Mr. Roebuck and his satellites among the oontingenoies of the assembly. I yesterday enumerated several gratuitous assunptiona, on which auch an argunaent is bas^d ; and of th' imptiont 1 cbaU no** aturopt to giv« i what minute refutation. Tht adtnission, which for tbt uk« of argumtal I made, tliat the House of Commons may tend r«> pretentatives of itself to any section of tht Drlliab empire and pay them out of iti o*vn contingeneiea without either asking or receiving the sanction of any other branch of the imperial parliainent, dot» not necessarily concede to our assembly the pow«r of paying any individual for representing its dignity and interests beyond the limits of Lower Canada. But, my lord, the admission is utterly groundless. The House of Commons may appoint and remu- nerate commissioners for inquiring into any special matter or matters in any portion of the British crapire} or, perhaps, in any portion of any othcv state ; but it cannot, my lord, presume to send even to Quehec or to Calcutta any representativ of itself, as a separate branch of the imperial par* liament. No, my lord ; the House of Commons* amid all its vagaries, has not yet presumed to grec* the courts either of Europe or of America with its diplomatic delegates. Would not such presump* tion, my lord, imply an entiie disorgnnisation of the British Constitution ? Will your lordship, then, sanction a similar presumption in one branch of a sul>ordinato legislature? Your lordship must find some better argument, than that of analogy, or condescend to act in defiance of reason and under the influence of fear. But will you, my lotd, permit me to offer a few general remarks on the complete analogy, which IS believed by many to exist between the assembly of Lower Canada and the House of Commons of England ? I am the more anxious to offer such remarks as English statesmen generally seem too ready to sanction so monstrous an analogy. As two cases, my lord, cannot often be identical, analogical argumetits, when taken alone, can hardly II! ill : i -' . il K 'j t h I: ^f 48 evtr be conclusive They are merelj so many )o gical metaphors, and can serve only to illustrate whai is obscure or to corroborate what U doubtful. Tliey are fo?jnded, my lord, not on identify but on fesemblancu end that too not of things but of words. * The constitutional act, mv lord, invests the as- aembly merely witi « co-crdinate share of legisla- tive power ; and a^ 'ogy can entitle il to such privileges only as flow from the corresponding power of the House of Commons. Now the House of Commons, my lord, originally consented to the taxing of its constituents, and presented grievances; and it '.^as only gradually, my lordi that it acquired a co-ordinals power in legislation, properly so c.ilUd. The peculiar privileges, there- fore, of the House of Commons were not the chil- dren but the parents of its legislative power. But, my lord, if the British parliament had supposed, that a colonial assembly was, from the moment of its creation > the counterpart of tlie British Housij af Commons, why did it, by special clauses of the eonstitutional act, establish the resemblance to a oertain extent? Wliy did it decree, that a Speak- er should be elected? Why did it decree, tliat a majority should decide ? V/hy should the British parliament have legislated on points, that might have been taken for granted, and have omitted the eon«iideration of others, m and liaiory nn^ainst d pea« depcn- tnand in for Judieaa 51 of another. But, b« this, my lord, m it may, I am ablo triuropbantty to convinM your lorddiip, that the French leadem have not the slightest iiH tention of extin^iahing or modifying the fctidal burdens. Did not Mr. Roebuck, my lord, recent- ly move in *he imperial parliament for the abolition of the English tenure and the kiubstitution of the French one with all ha feudal enormities in th« Eastern Townsliips? Has not Mr. Papineau more recently dared to tell the English inhabitants of those townships, that he preferred the feudal system to the tenure of free and common soecage ? It is true, my Irrd, that ontf mcmb-;r of the assembly, duiing last session, proposed an impracticable bill for commuting the feudal burdens in the i^land of Itfootreal. It is, my lord, also true, that the Ft«- dicator has oflered to barter the feudal system for an elective council. But it is equally true, my lotd, that the impracticable bill was merely intend- ed to transfer the odium of feudal psactions fi om the assembly to the legislative council or the go- Teinor, and that the Vindicctor'$ generous oflVr was meant to entrap the unwary constitutio ^sia into tlie support of the elective principle. If, therefore, the French faction be permitted by . a conciliatory government to reign uncontrolled in this province, what peaceable means will be lellt of freeing commerce and agriculture from the odioiu weight. 'I he provincial parliament would rather be inclined to extend the barbarous code ; and tht imperial parliament, under the supposed eiisteneo of «i conciliatory cabinet, would not be likely to come to the rescue. What, then, would be done ? V>oes your lord- ship believe, that your counCvymen will submit for ever to pay a property tax of 8^ per cent, not for the malntenane* of a paternal government, but, in many instances, for objects, which they cannot oon'< ielrntioosi;' approve ? Will they, moreover, tab- .-.' tC 62 mit, through th« tv«nt of public registen of rtal mute, to pay not a property-Ux of one twelfth but the whole property itself. Will tliey, in one word, •ubnait, my lord, to the feudal system, which is bar- barous and oppressive and to its natural accompani- ment, which may be rendered twelve times more barbarous and more oppressive. ttij I have the honour to be, , , . ♦ T > - My Lord, ■i. Your lordship's most obedient humble servant, Camillus. ■•t'bt- ffVf -.>-. Jtfr No. XVI. ■.U- •»!«'■- MoMTHtAL, 1 7th Oct., 1836. Mr Loao, In my recent communications, I have attempted to point out to your lurdship the perni- oious fruits of even the existing power of the French faction ; and 1 sliall now endeavour to shew, that such power, if uncontrolled, wc^W al* most inevitably be doubled or tripled in a few sliort j^ears. t ludulgcnce, my lord, naturally engenders a de. mand (or indulgence. Concession generates con- cession. Every step in Hie march of conciliation leads to anotliei sti-|) still iiore fatal — smooth water is gr-idually quickened into a rapid ; '.nd the rapid again dashes itself into pieces in the foaming form of a cataract. To recede, my lord, is impossible. That I may, however, prevent misapprehension, permit me to explain to your lordship, that by con- ciliation I mean not the removal of practical abuse* but the time-serving concession of confessedly un> reaionable demsmds. The removal it praotiei^ V" ftbuwt, my Tord, ft true reform ; tht ooneitiatory i;r«tifieation of popular clamour prMtnt* tbt !»•• lancholy picture of puiillanhnity pandcritig to the •elfish ambition of demagogues. Will your lord- ship excuse a hackneyed quotation ? ,;r ' Justum et tenacem propositi viraair \' Non Cfviuin ardor ; rav a Jubcntium, Iton vultuv intiantit tyranni • < Mentequatitsoiida. .,. «,,! What, my lord, are Horace's tests o^ ih inflei{- biy Just patriot? A calm disregard of a despotic tyrant, and a sovereign contempt of a despotic mob. Wlio would not prefer, tliQ noble peril of such i' man to the debasing security of a servile courtier or of a truckling demagogue? Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, my lord, provrn up children may gather wisdom. King Charles >., fe.iring that the parliamt-ntarians wuuld place one of his younger sons as a puppet on tli«» throne, took the lit lie fellow on his knee and told him, in simple and afftcling language, that those, who were going to kill p»|)a, might attempt to make him King in brother Charley's stt ad. >Vould to God, that the noble boy's reply were engraven on ti.e heart of every British statesman — ' I'll be torn in pieces first*. For the man, who acts a conciliatory part in defiance of his better judgment, 1 cannot, my lord, imagine any adequate apology. Every pub- lic man, whether he may or may not have nerve for conscientious resistance, ought at least to harm honesty for conscientious resignation ; and who- ever has neither nerve for the one course nor ho- nesty for the other, degrades himself at once into the dishonest slave of his own fears, into the trem- bh'ng worshipper of a mob, into tho passive dema- gogue. Let such a man, my lord, make room for a successor, whose political creed may enable him. to act from conviction. If your lordship, for in- itanoe, begin to perceive, that your instructions en- 4 it join conoMtioufi which jou Mnool ooiMeitiitioiuly . grant, rtsif n your vicc>r«giil tecptrt into tht b«n(U of* etrtain colleague, who, if he is not much b«li«d by common rumour, could consistently convert. thb province into m French republic to-moiroir., lj»t not any man plead in defence of his own con- ciliatory conduct, that, if he docs not make tl>e re- quired concession, another will. Such a defence) my lord, 's a mere sophism, and that too of a most Jesuitical i jr ..:■• ,■■■■■: r-.:^*- CkUlVtA}9* VH J?^ i,j,,, ^i No. XVII. .•t ^r-''.' MoNTasAL, I9th October, 1835. ^V The concessions, which will be sucoea* ■Ively demanded by the French faction from a con- oiliatory government, are the gift of the waste landa of the crown, the surrender of all executive and Judicial offices and the republican bles&ing of an •leotive council. The demagogues, my lord, have ^ already demanded all these concessions. Whether ,' will the contemplated suitender of the illegal and ■^^ iniquitous eontingvneiet whet or eloy fho rt«nlii» tkmary appetito of an avaricious and ambitious fae* lion ? \Vhet it, certainly, is tlie answer of youir lor mand. llie secret compromise, therefore, drive* me to one of two conclusions — either that yout lordships conciliatory .disposition, in defiance of your general knowledge of human nature, givCt the French faction credit for a manrellomly largi share of moderation, or that your lordship is ready to give the waste lands to those, who will clos* them against settlers of English blood, to handi Over the executive authority to lliose, who have ad systematically perverted their legislative privileges into the oppressive instruments of sel6sb aggran- disement, and to double and more than doublt these legislative privileges by fitling the legislativ* council with the counterparts of those, who are aU ready supreme in the assembly. To one of these two conclusions, my lord, every man of discrimiiui* tion must come. If the former conclusion be correct, I shall con* tent myself with predicting, that your lordship*a favourable opinion of the demagogues will not last long — unless your lordship, like lord Melbourne, be so full of christian charity as to cherish in your bosom the very vipers, that may have stung you* But if, according to the latter conclusion, your lordship be prepared to grant all demands, I mult do the dutyof a good citizen of the British emplrt in pointing out to your lordship the inevitable tot* wquenoea of granting each or any of the thrc« tutu' merated conccuions ' ''• < - '" . • II ^1 1 m \i 1 m I ■PCTfliW M i lUfp waulA tbt Prtneb faeUon, my lord, ilu. fom of tbo wMte lands of the crown ? TIk avovr tr* retolution of the demagogues to excludt £ng«' 1^ settlers from tiie country and ta esiablish a ]|^rtnoli- Canadian nationalitj', may cnabia the most tup(rficial reasoner to return a true answer to the important question. The waste lands would be re? aerved in all the beautiful desolation of nature, un- til the seigniories should have been parcelled out into the potatoe gardens of starving myriads of a French population. This, my lord, would be bad enough ; but the Engiiith outlaws of the neigh- bouring townships might make matters worse by bursting into the sacred reserve, life in hand Aud rifle on shoulder. ' . « - , Without at all adverting to the legal obstacles, that stand in the way of the demanded transfer of the wild landj from the crown to the provincial legislature, I would draw your lordship's attention to the fact, that the system, which the demagoguei^ would introduce into a British colony, does not exist even m the United Status. In the American i^epublio, m/ loid, the waste Icwds, excepting those in the states, that were original parties to the na- tional compact, belong to the national government, npd are placed under the control of the national legislature. I admit, my lord, that the new states make a grievance of that arrangement ; but I beg your lordiliip to observe, that the old states refuse to surrender the broad lands, purchased in the re- volutionary war and subsequently by their treasure and their blood. Will the Britiiih government make a similar stand against the French dema- gogues, and point to the Plains of Abraham? But the cases, my lord, are not parallel. To make them so, the public lands of the Union should be claimed not by tlie new states but by the vanquish- ed proprieton, the King of England and the red kwdi fi^ the primeval ion»t, , . , , , ,,^ ,^,., ■Mi But, my bid, even if th« tjrftcoi, for whMi A* dcmagoguet eUmour, did nitt in tbt Uniltdl Suitet, it woiild not neetnarily be protrtd to bm proper for Lowei Canada, for if republiean imtittl» tiont were, as a matter of course, to be taken at * model without reference to their theoretical acciH racy or to their practical lesults, there would b% little either of room or of necessity for political dis* ausaion and political action. But, my lord, in the •pecial instance supposed, the cases could e&sily bt shewn to he by no means analogical. In every state or almost every state of the Union, in every country, in sliort, where, the population is homo* geneous, political parties fluctuate and mingle to such a degree, as alternately to meet defeat and victory, and thus bear the one witli hope and use the other with ptudence. Hence unequal laws are almost unknown, not merely liecause the ma- jority for the time heing has a selfish motive for moderation hut because it eannot draw any well defined boundary between itself and the existing minority. In Lower Canada, my lord, the ease U alarmingly different. A man's accent decides his politics; and the majority is so firmly knit toge- ther and numerically so independent of the minor* ity, that the former, even if the latter in a body were to join it and apparently extinguish all polili> oal differences, would be just as much a domineer- ing and exclusive faction as it is. To such a fac- tion, my lord, could the waste lands of the crown be entrusted ? The demagogues, my lord, claim the control of these lands not merely on abstract principle, but on the ground of abuses in the existing mode of oco- nagement. That such abuses exist, I am not pro* pared to deny ; but they may be remedied. That the waste lands have yielded but little revenue, I admit ; but they have been as productive of reve- ntle as the public lands of the American states. f i ■! }i .!! -il Mm mmA auMooetpdon Mitu oo tli« pcodnelivt* JMM oftlMM pablie l«ndt» p«roiit n* to mU ycm lordbbip't attention to tb« following osuact tnm % itlf publbbtd pMnphUt. " On 80th September, 1831, the public lands thv^t ptood in (he ledger of the United Stitce. Thejr had coat f4ti- 4rn,fftl 40 cents, and had yiehtod nn^ttli II oantv, Itaviof a clear tom of ) 10,808,838 9 cents. I now C0£ n to C0Qsi4«r the proceeds of the public lands, not of tna Whole union, but of the separate sutea, aai0nd #tated in the American atanasM for 1888. t PreeetU of Landt. Totol tUvenue. Dollars. Cents. Dollars. Cents. Maine, - - - - Massachusetts, New York, - > Pennsylvania, 3402 ITVSO TMMT 108820 16 81 80 18 3e»6401 10SSOB3 1740081 •088878 78 71 18 > Total, - • 190809 90 006S994 n Tit^-''^^ ■' ^ *»•▼• tbn honour to be, a --imimiAiiti-tti ijf # hi^-.■'t9ti^^ **%;«^*^ ■'.i'h-i- '■v^r'^'v*-.* ^6^. •Hi'* No. xvm. MoKT»iKAL, aOth OctoUr, VW' t^^ih,H I thnll now nttempt to point ottt ^ •«oniequenots, that must restUt from tbo Frenib '4wtlfa«;*s ponMsioa of executive or Judiolal P««Ptr« It ift mT lord* a fuadamental ma^Un of tha llri< ^itich oonetitutioo, that the Wgtskture, the /tRMUtife 'taad the Judieiary ahouU be to far indnpt^ikM of jaeh other, an that not one of the thfee nhouUI ft- ^1 aMsiai of t!Wr dontral Um otbtrt or W ooou«)M fhioh, in fac«» muil Im iIm AuiilMDinul Um mmUuiUm of «v«7 frto tuio, for tho tffMioo of all the |) wort of tho tUlo in Um ImmmIo of on individual or of • pnrtj it Ui« vory wttnco of doipotitm* But, mjr lord, though the povtrty of Itnguoge eompeb me to tpply the tome term to the tjraftn J of en Individual and to that of a party, yet the deepotitm of one man it far lata terrible than the detpotiem of a multitude An individual may be actuated by fear or pity or compunction ; party, at, according to the proverb, it Ium neit'^ier a body to be kicked nor a toul to be damned, it never known to temper itt telftihnctt by any better feel- ing* Dtftndit numeruM, juueUeqmt umhon% phaiang— . A party, my lord, will take every thing and give nothing but — promitea meant to be br liatory cabinet, by tlie desperate spirit of English outlaws. Similar occasions may occur again ; and your lordship may, by bartering offices and emolu> isents for the salce of a civil list, be instrumental in perpetrating the most appalling enormities under the sacred names of law and Justice. An insigni* flcant member of the faction has said that * Camil- lus* should be prosecuted for sedition and treason and all that kind of thing. What chance, mj lord, would ' Camillus* have of a fair trial, if ar^ raigned by a French attorney-general before French Judges and French Jurors ? Your lordsiiip has heard of Lynch law. Ac» eording to that law, my lord, the same individuals •re law.makers, witnesses, jurors, Judges and cxe- eutioners. According to your lordship's system of Conciliation, also, tite same individuals would vir* tually hi law-makers, witnesses, jurors, judges and executioners. Your lordship's system, therefore, will be doubly conciliatory. It will, of course, conciliate tlie French faction by gratifying at once its avarice, its ambition and its revenge; and it will, most probably, tickle the vanity of our Ame- rican neiglibouTS by adopting one of their practical deduclicns from * the elective piinciple*. In this age of innovation, my lord, it may be useless to recommend the preference of that sys- tem, which has been recently superseded in the United States by Judge I^ynch's code. That sya* tern, my lord, went perhaps too far in attempting to establish end maintain the mutual independence of the judiciary, the legislature and the executive ; but it certainly did not form a precedent for ybut **■!■ ^L3ii^:t^A;ii^ji^iLVi»iji>^fafciA^Mhftt^^-'/^i-T:^'^iki^ Ul lordsliipN conciliatory sclicmc of concrtrating th^ judicial, the executive and the legislative powers of the province in the hands of the French faction* I have the honour to be, . i ^„^^ My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant, . Camillus* 1- "•► • -■» ' .'i-*iri. ¥ J', . 1. r Mr LoRT), , No. XIX. ..:. •■ ;; v., Montreal, 21st October, 1835. '■;■ - i i'.i-fT iw -m It was on the 21st day of October, 1805, that Horatio Nelson, the pride of Britain and the dread of Gau), breathed his own patriotic and indomitable spirit into the humblest seaman in ills fleet by the electric exhortation, 'England c:ppti3 every man to do his duty'. Why not, my lord ? Could an English eye in vain see the proud legend streaming from England's noblest emblem, a living ship of wir, over England's ancient throne, the broad brer.st of the ocean, before England's hereditary enemies, the combined forces of France and Spain ? What, my lord, was the duty, that England expected every man to do ? Let the event answer. The combined fleets were swept from the ocean ; the naval power of France and Spain was annihilated ; and Horatio Nelson, having thus fulfilled his destiny and left no more fleets to be destroyed, met the envied death of a warrior in the full blaze jf what must have been his last and was certainly his most glorious triumph. A lapse of twenty or thirty years, my lord, works many changes. The narrow spirit of patriotism has given place to the diffusive principle of philan- thropy. England still expects every son to do his f2 £iii 89 4uty ; but— nh tb* march ct VibtaA prinoipliM <— i ibt no longtr cxp«ets htr tont to do thtt duty to htnclf— >tlie bat taken bar enemivs Modar bar pro* taction-— «ha instructi ber children to figlit tb« battle* of republican robber* and n:urderer* in Spain. In the barbour of Navarino, she tarnisb- cd her honour, squandered her treasure and abed her blood to make Tutkey a Russian province and to wipe off the disgrace of uninterrupted defeat from the Gallic navy. How narrowly, my lord, did the truly national day of Trafalgar escape tha pollution ofanti-natiunal Navaiino. There is, my lord. A fate in days. Cromwell had his lucky third of September; Protestant England has her twiea bonouted fifth of November ; Uepuhlican America has the almost miraculous coincidences of the fourth of July ; and every true patriot must rejoice, that fate, by an anticipatiun of twenty four hours, re- served the twenty-first of October for some nobler eoimterpait than the conciliatory piracy of Nava- rino. A true Englishman's motto, my lord, is ' Tra« faigar*; if there be a secret com|:''omise, your lordship's h * Navarino*- A true Englishman** day, my lord, is the twenty-first of Occober ; if there be a secret compromise, your lordship's is tha twentieth. There must, my lord, be some error in the reasoning or in the premises. May I flatter myself, that there is an error in the premises, that your lordship haa not entered into a secret compro* mise with the avowed enemies of English interaat** English power and English honour? Does your lordship doubt, that the French de- magogues are so ? 1 solemnly adjure your lordship to answer ihe question nut to me but to your own eonscience. Be not deceived, my lord, by tha ja- •uitical attempt of the mendacious hireling of tha Vindicator to convince your lordship— for it is to your lordship's preaunHtd ignoranaa of local naattaeB •^ iii'wiiiwi— mn« i }' (hat tl>9 fUMbood is spceUlly tddr fwd o f t)b« ptrftet noTcIty of th« atwurdljr exelusiva doctriiM of French nationality. The mendacious httcling refers the origin of that doctrine to * the comraence> ment of the montli of Septcmher', just a« if your lordship's French organ 4nd the Minerve end tht Seho dn Pay* had never before your lordship's ar- rival held up Uritons, as such, to tlie suspicion and tlie hatred and the indignation of the illiterate ha* bitans, as if the hymns of Napoleon's triumphs had never made AuAterlitz and Jena and Wagram fa* miliar to the recollection and dear to the pride of many a one of 'His Majesty's Canadian subjects'* as if the appearance of a French squadron in tha waters of Quebec, during the revolutionary nar* had not been alone wanting to inflame the disaf- fected neutrality of the Canadians into reb'llious violence. I have the honour to bfi My Lord, Tour Lordship's most obedient humble Mtraat, CaxaLtfa. No. XX. MovTRBAL, 22d October, 1835. Mr LoED, Permit me now to draw your lordshlp'a attention to a more minute analysis of the Jesuitical article of the Vindicator. The miserable hirsling confesses, that bis libtral disquisition was extorted by the Minenre's * direct mention' of the Vindicator. May not one, there- fore, Justifiably suspect a collusive understanding between the Vindicator and the Mlaervi^ fbiiadad (i4 1 on a desire of continuing to blind the English roa- cIpm of the former journal to the exclusive nation, nlity of the French faction, as advocated in the lat- ter print. The miserable hireling attempts to prove that the excluiiive doctrine is peculiar to the editor of the Minerve, who is said to be a native French- man. I shall give your lordship a few examples, some- what older than * the commencement of the month of September'. The first example is extracted from the Mlnerve of the 16th February, 1832. Ab una disee onnes. ' ** II existe ici deux partis entilrement opposes d'intcrcts et de rcoeurs, les Cs ^adiens et les An- glais. Ces premier" nes fran'^-:? en ont les habi- tudes et le caractere, et ont heri, -i de leurs peres de la haine pour les Anglais qui a K t tour voyant en eux des fils de la France, les detestent. Ces deux partis ne pourront jamais se rcunir, et ne resteront pas toujours tranquilles ; c'est un mauvais amal- game d'intcrcts, de moeurs, dc langue et dc reli- gion, qui tot ou tard produira une collision. On croit assez 4 la possibilite d'unc revolution, mais on la croit cloign6e, moi je pense qu'elle ne taidera pas. Qu'on m^dite bien ces paroles d'un grand ^erivain, et Ton nc traitera plus de chimeres une revolution et une separation de le mere patrie. Le plus giand malheur pour I'homme politique, dit-il, c'est d'obdir d une puissance ^trangdre, aucune humiliation, aucun tourment dc coeur nc peut etre compare a celui-la — Je le repete ime separation im- mediate d'aoec la mere-patrie c'est le seul moyen de conserver notre nationalite." _ -.; .-.. Permit roe to select another example from the writings of a monster, whom the blessed principle of conciliation made a legislative councillor. Your lordship has seen the monster. His name is De- bartsch. . >i,im ^,.iA.i^jtii,fti,»MjaBm^mA the iple four De- ; •• Naga^r* on • vtnA I« sang CMiadian. t no* cnntmie* so rijouinutnt d« voir l« d«mi«r dn Co* nadtrnt i son dem»or louplr. et VOUDB AlENT DANS LEUR DELIRE BARDaRE N£ FAIUE DE TOUS LES CANADIENS QU*UNE SEULE TETE. POUR AVOIR LE PLAISIR FEROCE DE L'ABATTRE D'UNSEULCOUP. Ma» il faut jeterle voilo cur oes sujels d'horreur et nous opposcr sans relacho k ramAtfto'v ''<■ ee$ morutrei avidei de plaea «< d'kon* nmret qui tow «n maltraitant les Canadians no vi< ▼ent que de leura siieurs et de leurs travnux. Oui» nous avons 4 nou« plaindre d'une infiniti de trtaux dont on veut nous aecabler. Vous connaisset lea ttfntativet des Hiireaucrates qui tentent de a'etnparer d» VM Urre» et de 90t bient. 'I'^moins cet ngiotago injuste, et dm etFurts de cette soci£t6 famuuse quo ]« Mire-Patrie vient d*autoriser i I'aehat de vot terrefc CETTE SOCIETE COMPOSEE DE PRO PHI ETA I RES AVI DES, ET AVARES, MEDITE LA RUINE DE3 CANADIENS EN VOULANT LES CHAS. SER DU SOL QUI LES A VUS NAITHE. Quui, ebers cumpatriotes louffrirez-vous que vot terres qui vienncnt de vos peres; que vcus aves cultiv^s evec tant de soin, et que votre courag« ▼ou^ a fait arroser si suuvent de vus sueur.t, souflfVi. rei vous, dis je qu'elles passent entre des mains ^trangdres ? et que vos enfans, objets de votre ten- dresse, aillent honteusement mendier dans un pays lointain, du pain que vous leur promelties de manger dan!« le leur ?" In justice to the bloodthirsty slanderer, I must say, that, inveterate liabbler as he is, lie had the Kood taste to absent himself during the session, that followed, from the legislative council. Time, how- cvar, extinguishes shame, as well as sorrow ; and the man, accordingly, recently had the ctirontery to ! M '1 1 f M , ' i 1 i jli«M»C hitimtU to tht K log's r«|»r«fcnUUT« i« Mm ClUitaeu of 8c Louis. Tbc ndRnbk hireling quote* • portJan of M*. PApinoaii't * opening speech' at tb« rcemt donioM for tbt west ward of Montreal, appatritlj in ctdM to proves that Mr. Papineau did not then cntonaln the absurdly ezelnsi? e tenet of French nationality. Mr. Papineau's remarks, even if sincere, are not very conclusive; but a ilight consideration of tbo circumstances, under which they were utteredf and of Mr. Papineau's public character and pre? iously Mpressed opinimask. But, my lord, the basest part of the miserable hirelin|,'j dishonesty has not yet been noticed. He will not permit his exclusive readers to know the full enormity of the faction's hatred of the BrI* tish name. No, my lord; he talks only of * aliens** and forgets to add, that, according to the standing rule of the Minerve, every * Briton' is an * alien'. The hired tool's version is, in fact, falsified by his own admission, that the editor of the Minerve is ' himself an alien*, for nothing could well be more improbable than that any public writer should wi)> fully and systematically attack himself. I have, my lord, quoted the extracts, as common fairness required, in the original French ; but if this letter does seem to have been written Canitf. M mart bUinffvit, I beg to offbr as an apology, that I did not know, wliether a French or an English uniformity would be more acceptable In the viiie> rtgal htSh. ShavHd your lordship maka the French 'the s^nAtmtf'jtz^^ of Lower Canada, your Eng- li*h suli|eefs may, perhaps, strive te become Fren^- M H bm tbtjr U9 Ukdf, my lorA» to pMt of. If I ■My nUt to Coadoroet's attirieal Muiljrtk dT Ml ova •ottotrjnufu, moit of Iho tifi^r thfn of Hm oioBkojr* ■ ' T :i: •'• ^ tfy-^fv ■ ? ^sssf^'t?-**^ I thall to-morraw elow thh atria of Ittttn vltli • g«n«ral rceapituUtion of my mmimvImu doniltory raourka, nwiving Uit diwuation of ' ibo tiaelivo prineiple' for uoihtr MriM to bo ■dHrimdl to tbO Sojrol ComnuMionats. r , i ^n* I havo the honour to bo. - « { m; My Lord, V Your Lordabqi'f aooat obadiuu buiablo nrvaai. >'iu « Camillva. 1 tfo. XXI. ■ ^ Mom^tAt, 93^ Octol>tr, IM?' i > ■■ ■, - - : ■ ■; ■ n' J- *t':' »1« Mt L0R2>t My fii]Kt eight Icttera «t^mpte4 to dj^ im>nfte«^ tha injustipe and the impolicy ojf yipljif L9r4j|hip> suapectjeci coinpromiM with tha lejlde^ oi :^p Firwi^ ikction ; the iyreUt othais w^ 4p^7|^ ^r^ |>y a radio«i Journal'a fiactiotii' and ilUt^iRflip oi^tloa to the epithet ' Anti-GfUic* aa ovpUjidf if .4^f lett^ra of < Camilloa*. X aha^ reeapi^iiii^ ^cn^ cvo aep^ona of tha aeriM in |heir uatui^ «|r- X p^eiumed, my lord, to impeat^h the S^$^}^ of tho Iporat oompromiaa on seTeral grounds. Any pompoct with a part of a l^inaturf T^* yinrfa, ao far u it goea^ the constitutional pr|vi2f|Mp cjf,^ fatsaiii^ig part ; so ^, if your mfir^mm* ^^gfjihugji wmY^th the whbla of fli^ |^r^ob''nMi'< ti;^ your l9r4slup ftoo^ In the iMMifiVifblp' u|;f^t ^f ^«!n«P^^tP» ag|innt the in^fp^nd^nc^ gf jjhe ^j. 'M '"*ilt^ II ■^■■^ I :) * ,:! f'i '[ 1^ '11 tkmitf of tbt AuMnbljr, anil of th« majority of Um laglsUitivc eouDcil. This conclusion, mjr lord, in«. vlUbly tpringt from my premises ; but it is ^ ut- terly inconsistent with the character of an English nobleman, as to make any man almost believe, that my premises are false. ' But the special nature of the secret compromise it still more repugnant to Justice, and renders your lordship's position still more unenviable. TIm nu- nority of the assembly and the majority of tho le- gitlative council are chiefly composed of men of .English blood, and are compelled by the exclusive natiutialily of tlie French faction to consider them< iilvcs as the sole representatives of the Englitih in- habitants. Keep this in view, my lord, and reflect that the revenue, which your lordship and the French faction arc said to linve divided between the aitsembly and the provincial government, is chiefly paid by the English constituents of the dia- franchised portions of the legislature- Is not the secret compromise, therefore, inconsistent with the assumed principles of all liberals, whether French or English or Anglo- Gal lie, that those, who pay the public revenue, should control the public ex- penditure? Thus, my lord, tlie strongest argu- ment of the enemy conveys the strongest condemina- tion of the secret compromise. IJow long does your lordship imagine, that freeborn Englishmen will patiently dig in the mines for the benefit of French taskmasters? Conciliation, my lord, is at least a .new principle in policy, for it compels the conquer- ors to pay tribute to the conquered. If your lord- ship can pardon a bitter Jest, I may compare the eonquest of Canada to a donkey-race, in which the most ignoble animal carries off the pri^e. If your lordship can pardon another, I may consider a eon* .eil|atory government as giving vindictire damages •gainst the heroic Wolfe, for having assaulted, with intent to murder, the hereditary hatera '1:^ «f (h« English nsDM ha Uni Plaint of Ahn^ hMa, and as entailing thi* original sin of tht dirad wanior wiili its result of vindictive damages on tho saoecwive generations of those, vrho may have (he misfortune of being his countrymen. If your lordship can pardon another, I may say that every oabinet, that has ruled England since the conquest c»f Canada, has, like a conclave of quakers asliamed of a temporary display of pugnacity, attempted to bury in oblivio«i General Wulf^'s ungentlenuinly violence, by not having allowed any one regiment of the conquering army to emblason * Quebec' oa ito banners. • ^'» But, my lord, T am forestalling the discussion of tlie impoKcy of tlie secret compromise. My argu* ments on this head were of two kinds — I waincd your lordship, that the ultimate result of any com- promise, that might place the English population under the hoofs of the French faction, would be the Indept^dence uf British America, and that tht immediate result of the suspected compromise would be a systematic attempt on the part of your lordship's countrymen in both provinces, to deprive the French assembly and the Frenchided govern- ment of Lower Canada, of the means of muttial corruption. I need not again detail the modes of carrying such an attempt into operation ; but I muM cursorily allude to tlie frivolous and vexatious objections of treacherous dastards. My proposals, sny lord, were based un the presumed neceshiiy of choosing between French domination and some strong measure or other, and were intended ai mill substitutes fur physici>l resistance; and the officious assailant of my positions should have •Iiewn, not merely that my proposals were objec- tionable, but that they were more objectionable than eiUier a Gallic yoke or a civil war. In answer to the mathematical calculations of tb* V J 1' tionary ftpnbUitii. I fubjoin a (ww editorial ^ .Biarkt from tha Upper Canada Herald, " A writer in tb« Montreal Cauritr quettions the accu- racy ortbe lUtemenu ccntained in the Montreal JVeroH, and copied into Uiii p«per, respecting the tight of thlt> Sovince to more than one third of the dutii-« levied at Utbec. The writer in the Couritr says, thai; the Lower Province is entitled to more than two thirds of the duties, b?catue she consumes by for the large at proportion of the imported articles on which the highest duties are paid, particular y " teas, coffjc, hif h priced win«s, orandy, &c.", b sidts the lum, of which all admit that Lower Canada consumes the {rreatest part. Some nther articUs are m utiont-d, but thi-y are of kss moment. From thess slatt menta we < utirtly dissent. Indeed i'. ia obvious that some of them nre contradictory ; for the flict that LowiT Canada consumes large ijuantitits of rum, gives ofitself presumptive tvidt iicu thnt she does not use much wine or brandy, unk-ss we mean to say that the Canadians are the grtatist dnmkards on the earth. And any portion who is acquainted vnth the Ca- nadians knows that they very seldom use either wine, brandy or tea. To speak of them as a U'.a drinking peo» pie argues rrcai ignoiance of their domtaiic habits and manners. We spent upwards of two yeople of Lower Canada, and from our own observatibii anei experience we cnn state that, with the exception iaf rum, and, perhaps of salt and tobacco, the pejects. as must lie beneficial lo the whole province* ^ I attempted to convince your lordship, that th« English inhabitants, so far from being able to sub* ^ mit to an increase of the power of the French fao*^; tlon, fe«l, that, t'ven under existing circumstance^,; they have not tlie sli^^htest reason to expect • ' peaceable redress of really oppressive grievance^ whether personal or agricultural or comniercial. Your loidship rememiiers the strikingly brief and expressive epitiiph on Sir Christophet Wfei|^r, within St. Paul's Cathedral, which he had erected. Circmmipicet Look around. I cannot close these letters more appropriately, than by solemnly im«,; pressing that motto on your lordship's heart, both^ as a maxiru of cautious prudence and as a mode of ;^ aseertaitiing the comparative value to the ptovinet _ of the two races of the population. — Look Aaoovp» - my lord. .. ,, ^, Jt have the honour to b^ J My Lord, your Iiordsbip's moet obedient humble serreat^ n of I ■ r : '", ' 1 ■ was i '*ip ';' '.;' : ■: m to 1 • >v,,-.:.' ->.;. ■ ueif 1 ,., Wi»j.t r-f •/- ■, .1 1 '< 'H , ..Si.-.A*S i ":*■■? I I \'l 7t No. XXIL %*.. iu t f r. • AtonatAt, SOth October, 1896^ lit ld&», . . t/. r- V J nm ||( length able to address your lord- ship !n the language of compliment. Your lord- ship's spi*ech is most impartially conciliatory, for ic promirct every thing to every body. Before I enti'r on the meihodicfti discussion of the successive paragraphs of the voluminous docu- ment, I st all give full «enl to my admiration of your lordship's marvellous impartiality : and, if my thnngc of tone is as gratifying to your lordbhip aa to myself, 1 feel assured, that your lurdUiip will pardon the length of this tetter. The twelfth paragraph nises to secure hj law * both the Knglrsh and i . inch inhabitants of this provmce against any disadvantages aritiingfrom an undue preference to either language.' Your lordship's impartiality is the more praiseworthy, in* asmuch as * the English inhabitants of this pro^ tince* have never petitioned for so inestimabre a boon, as the right of spenking and writing the lan- guage of Uritam in a Htitish colony. No, my lord, ihey have most unjustifiably t<9ken tlie law into their own hands and have presumed, a.<)our lordship knows and feels, to speak and write their vernacu- lar tongue. The promised lMU)n, therefore, is, for all practical purposes, entirely a work of superero- gation. But works of supererogation, my lurdi^are the onlcr of the (by. Hardly hsid the echo of your lordship's promise to pay Mr. llnebuck's salary notr and for ever died away in the Council chamlier, when the usscmhl} agieed to ' A Bill for an agent in England' — z measure, which your lordship's un- eonstltutional liberality had rendered wholly un-« jitoasMrjr. Xb« analogy will ba pUasiag ia pra> 1 / n portion to your tordthip'a rttptet for tbat iat«lU- gtnt and respcctahlv body. But your lunUiiip, p«rlia|:>^ may liavt intntionrd * the English inhabitant^ inervly for th« aNko of •ymmvtry or— from an ottvntation of hnpartiality in trMting the two races ahke. Wheiiivr your nifHive wa^ literary or politirat, I do not know ; but I do know from ilieKeneiai tenor of the paragraph, that your lordship was knowinfjly offtfring a boon onlv to the French faction. The rvciproctty, my lord, wa^ all on one side. Such reciptocity may be natuial to your lotd^hip ; hut would not )ou have displayed m«»re of the frank spirit of your na- tive land, had you profeMe *^^r* j" i '■ ' Your lordship's boon would he not a blessing hut a curst; even to the * French inhabitants of this province'. 'I'hey cannot always, my lord, maintain their numerical superiority ; and, if they do not gradually adopt the language of their English hre-> thren, they will virtually bear testimony against themselves, that thuy are the descendants of the French majority, that robbed and oppresseoth of true benevolence and of sound policy in assisting the ' French inhabitant* of this pro- vince* to become Englishmen with all convenient speed. I tind the next instance of impartiality in the sixteenth paragraph—.* To both bianches of the legislature 1 am authorised to offer my warrants for the payment of their contingent expenses'. With ■what a degree of ingenious iirpartiality docs your lordalup link together the assembly and the legts- g2 * i m til i iiii ■ 1 Mft «oiiMfl, M if th« 'Mmiagtac tspimet* of the on« body stood on the very nne footing m th« ' eontingvnt expenses' of the other. You did this, my lord* while jrou knew that the ' contingent ex- pcnuce' or the aMcrobly compreliended tlw eaUif iet > of Mr. Viger, Mr. Hoebuck and thf corre»pondents ' of the Vindicator for protnotiug exclusively tiie objects of the Frercli faction Iteyond the limits of Lower Canada. But your lordship toys that you are ' authorised' to put your hands into the pukJie .. obcst. * Autliorised', nay lord ! Who * authori- sed' you ? Does the public chrst of Lower Ca. nada belong to my lord Glenelg? If it docs, would it not have become that liberal nobleman to have satisfied elaims more equitable, more constitu- tionil and more urgent than those of Mfsara. Viger. Roebuck & Co., to have paid the faithful sei- vants of (he King and the Constitution rather than Jh9 treasonable enemies of both? If, again, the .public chest of Lower Canada does not belong to lord Glenelg, J refer y out lordship to the twenty- iiccond paragraph of yoiir own apeech. SliouJd youi lordship carry your impartiality so far as to aet on the advice, which you seem to have given toi ' the late receiver general', Loiver Canada would won have a new governoi^ in chief. The analogy, my lord, is of your own seeking. Tou rushed into the ftnare, with yuur eyes open, without any better Justi6aati()n than an appeal to your iiiftructions. Tlte letters of * Cumillbs' and the address of tlio fonBtitutional association of Quebec, however pre* matuie they seemed to your lordship, had at least the good fff'ect of convincing you, that ill obeying ^ your instructions you would violate not merely the constitutional act but the fundamental principles of civil liberty. In regard to the letters I shall wy nothii g more ; but the history of the addreu teema ■>!iriih TciAectloDS by no means bonotirablc orfruify* n TIm ooimicvtfonalbtt of Qutbco had tnbmitttd «la joor lordthip certain ictolutiom on the subject of th« contingencies, in one of which they declared ** Thnt the claim which haa recently been iniitted apon ky the houae of aaienably, and occaaionally acted upon by tlie lefislative council, to obtain, by a«p'arate addroa- aea to the governor, advances of unappropriatc'd money, under the plea of drt'raying contingent expenses, but in reality embracinff the payment of salaries or allowaaoea not legally eatabliahed, and moru particularly aa regarda tbe pretensions of the assembly for expenses, not incur* red or to be incurred for the business of the aeaaiont of that hou4e, ia altogether unfounded in law, unsupported by parliamentary usage^ and aubvecaive of the ri^ta and liberties of the Britiab subjecu." Your lordsl>ip returned the following answer : " I receive this addreaa with all the conaideration which ia due to the character of the wealthy, influential and enlightened gentlemen by whom it it* brought before me, .|Md to the value and uaefulneaa in the colony of those whoae wisbea it purports to convey. " But, as within twenty-four hourn, my course noon the matter to which your petition refers, rauat be declar- , ad to the li^gialaturef' I cannot think that any good cod (ould be obtained by anticipating the announcement. I Will only state that I am furnished with precise instruc- tioM on the subject from his Majesty 'a government, whose motives, I beg you to be aasured, are fuidtrd by ihe sole desire of advancing tbe happiness and welfare of til claaaes of his Majeaty's Canadian subjecUi.'' The first sentence has b^ien chuiacterised by !ha Minerve ds 'blarney', because your lordship paid tome well merited eomplinients to your petitioners. I also, my lord, must ttdopt the elegant criticism of the Minerve, because your avowed dntion to follow your * ptecise instructions on the sulijict' rendered it impossible fur you to ' receive this ad* dress' with any 'consideration' at all. 1 ara a plain man, my lord, and I unhesitatingly tell you, that you could not mean what you did say. But I am forgeting my complimentaTy strain : Natunm txpeltua furca , tamen uaque recur rti. ^:' ' The second sentence referred your petitioners to ^Our voluminotu speech for your opinion on ' tha BMtttr to which your petiUoo refers*. So far (hNB lit .'. i. 70 1 \ fining any opfnton on ' M« mattfr*, ywtr pcthTon- •n find tome resemblance of * the matter' contemp- tuously slut red over in thebriefint of all tiie tliirty* four pftragraplis. : r^it*?^ Tliat portion of the third »ertcnce,Tr1nc1i alludes to tJie * motives* of ' his Majestv's Governmvnl', xichly m fits the vlej^ani criii ism of the Afiftcrve, for notliiuf; can be more ridiculDUs, than to attempt to convince ' enlightened gcntlemifn* that tho unconstitutional seizure ot the public revenue for revDlutiiinary put poses couiii advance * the happi- ness and welfare of all classes uf his Majesty's sub* jeets*. Your lordship and ' his Mnjesty's govern, tncnt* teem to give ' Uh Majesty's Can.idTHn sub* j.-cts* credit for an inexhaustible fund of good-naturtt and contentment. %. Your sixteenth paragrnph, my lord, not only surrenders tite contingencies but, by doing so with* out note or comment, unequivocally concedes to the assembly the right of seizing ns much of tht public moaey, as its uncontrolled wisdom may lierenfrer deem nccessiry fur any purpose what- ever, provided it employs the mysterious screen of 'contingent ex|.'enscs'. Your lordship is awarci that the leinporary act tor paying to each member of the ntsinmbiy t\vo dollars n day, duiing the ses* tion. has recently expired ; and your lordship must ftlso be awur?, tost the assembly, previously to the pauing of tliat net, lesolved to include the pay of its members among the ' contingenl expenses'. The ^ainc thing, my lord, may happen again ; and *the English inhabitants of this province' will have great reason (o be thankful, if they are not taxed for a daily pay of two pounds instead of two dollars. Permit me to draw your lordship's atten- tion to a resolution, passed by the legislative coun* cilin 1831. " Raioiucrf—That the epplicstion by any person or perions, &f any sum oi public money wliatev«r, to ai)/ n pvrpoM whatever, othfr thtin the parment of the orMwf ry continf ent expense* of one or other of the houses of provincial parliament, without the consent of the lefisla* tive council, distinctly expreiised in writing, by bill or otherwise, would be a contempt of the privilrfes of tha house, subversive of the constitution of this province and a manifest violaiiou of the imperial statute of tha flat Geo. III. rap. 31." So far from having obtained or askcnl ' the consent of the legislative council', your lordship did not even condescend to apprise lluit b( dy of the aurren- der of the contingencies. Your sixteeni'tparagtapii was addressed only to ' Genlletnen uf ti;^ House of Aascmbly'. .Does your lordship doubt, that the legislative council will f«llow tip its onn resolution by im« peaching your Ioid.shi|S uf having subverted * the constitution of this ptuvince', cr«l intentiont of hit Miijesty'* government. Tiie exeetitive govern*" ment deems U«eircom|>eieDt to grant ining the pro^^ vineini treasury. Legislative action, on tlie coi)tra« ry« being neeesMn- for the removal of the most cry*^ ing grievances of the constitutional ints. tlx;* vxecu* !^ tive governmi^nt maintains the seinhlnnce of imoar** tiality by {mmiifiing to inquire, to review, to leport^' and so on throngh all the synonymis of the infinl.- tive to hotniiein A. ,,^llovr cun *the review of iht Coitimissioners*, my lutd, lead to any practical re* suit? Does yon r lordship imagine, that the pro**' vincial legislature will estalilish register ufRces or'' alndish the feudal system? No. Does your lord* ship, then, imaj^ine, that a cabinet, which will not' relieve itself by proposing the repeal of the concilia^'' tory act of William the Fourth, will relieve * tht English inhabitants of this province* by the fir bolder step of recommending to the imperial parlia*" ment an interference in the internal legislation of this * neral observations on your loidsiiip't speech, hefori 1 enter on the spvcial discussion of the separate pa* ragraphs. In my letter of yesterday's date, I strove to giv* your loidiihip credit for the most impartial spirit of conciliation ; and I am now somewhat disappointed to 6nd in a journul, wliich most generally esiiouaea your lordship's cause, a most serious charge of par* tiality a^THinst your lordship's speech. " But \.o what party does his excellency's speech con-" ced^ the niC)»t of 'svhnv was demnndedl Some foolishly !mafiD<; to t.^c revoiutior'sts. We 8»y, no; but to the constUutionKt reformers. The ' contingencies* is a boon w^i:h is involved in considerable niyatery, and which we stv.ll not, thevefore, take into our present calculation.— Motiiing Courier. The . wtite and perspietious writer prefers againsi your lordship the somewhat oiiginal charge of par* liiility to " \hv Constitutional Keformers" — Agamst sueh charge Ite it my task to defend your lordship. In )our lordship's justitrication, tlu'refore, I am able 10 state, that the only boon, which your lord* ship's speech can l>e said actually to * ccmcide*, hat been eon r^f red not on ' the constitutional reform* er»' hut on ' the revolutionists'. 80 far, my loid, my refutation of the Murt inp Cotirier'a imputation ofpaitialiiy against > our lordship is triumphantly unauhwerahle. If my refutation of one chargs ihould subject your lordship to the graver imputa* tion of p:ir tiality to 'the revolutionists', your lord* shit Will be pleased to reflect, that an honest advo* eate, however scslous, must take facts, as he find« tlicm.«>I may, farther, add, that I have acted on iIm bomeKop»thic prineiplt of tb« Gcinum dootOf% II il i iir i I / ■ > i I ' who rtmore any dimae by engtndcring it, on th« homceopatliic principle of modern liberals, who ft* mady tha evils of one concession by the evils of another. Having thus discussed the question of your lord- •hip's sjrrender of the ' mysterious' boon of the contingencies, I now proceed to demonstrate, that the Coun'er'$ charge of partiality to * the constitu- tional reformers' in regard to the potential conces- •ions of the speecli is altogether groundless. De- fore I »nter fully into details, permit me, my lord* to futtify my position by the following observations of the Quebec Mercury, " Nevertheless, on a second and more attentive peru* sal of that document, than we Wf^re enabled to give it on the dnv of our last publication, that on which it was de« livered, wci still hod it to be one of 'concession on aU most all thn material points which have b^en demanded by th9 populHr pirtv— and we will now add, to an extent thai otiffht to Baiisfy all reasonable men, and Tar bjyond, we b'lievf^, what even the most sanguine of that party expected." , , > The editor of the Sfereury, my lord, seems aI»o to act on the hoinoeupaihic principle of removing one charge by another ; but then, my loid, he, at well us * Cainillus', must take facts, as he finda them. Your lordship's first paragraph alludes to the va- rious rewiudies of the various grievances in the fol- lowing words : — " There are some cases in which the executive power of the governor will of itself b-* sufficient to apply a re- medy : in others, though he cannot act by hims-lf, yet. with the help of one or both l>ranch(» of the provinrial legislature, he may efTt^ctually accomplish what is rtquir- e cunstitutionnl lefoimers', unle.-.s I am to lulieve with your lord- ship, that the unconstitutional feizuro of the puhlio funds for revoluiionaiy | ur|)ose& promoics * the happiness and welfare of all classes of his .AI:ijesiy*8 Cnnalinn «ul>ji.>ct.s'. iJut, if 1 did believe this, I shoidd still Bnii in your lordhhip's surrender of tlio contingencies an evidence of absolute inipanialiiy, III re^itrd to the second of the two ' cases', I am able to make your lordship your own interpieter: Your fifth parugraph contains the following intima- tion of the principles, on which ' the executive power of the governor' is to fill ' public sations'. '* Fitnpss Tor the trust is the criterion to which main- ly, it not entirely,! tini to look, and do not hesitate to avow the opinion, thai, in every coun'ry, to be acceplabU to the great body of the jieople in one of tlie most essential elements of fi'ness for public stations.'^ Do the words, which I have printed in italiest justify the Courier'» charge? No, my lord; they display a partiality not to * the constitutional re' formers' but to ' tiie revolutionists'. Mere, again, I must apologise for the honia>opathic nature of my defi.>nee, on lhi> groinid, that I uuial lake JailA, HI I find them. \\y * the gicat body of the peopU' your lordship, of course, means the French Cans- diaup ; so that henceforwuid the provincial patron- age of the ciown is virtually to be vested in the French dumn^jogues, as the organs of ' the great body of the people'. Who can hesitate to acquit your lordship of partiality to Mbe constitutional reformers'? Permit me to dissect your iordsbip*fl language uritli critical minuteneat. Any quality* '« 'ianj lord, it nid to bo ' ossential* Cd any •atnUiiet^ when without it that substance cannot vjht. The precise meaning of * most e-si^ential' 1 do not undet- stand ; but the adverb, if it cdds nothing to th« adjective, cannot take any thing from it. Your lordship, therefore, cWarly declares, that tlie favour of * the great body of the people', or, in other words, the favour of the French demagogues is an indis> pensable requisite in every candidate for any public station of honour or emolument. Hereafter, there- fore, your lordship is, by your onrn declaration, bound to place * the revolutionists', and < the revo- lutionists* only, in executive offices, on the Judicial bench and in the legislative council. In one of my latest letters, I pointed out to your lordship, that any addition to the judicial or the executive or the le- gislative power of the French faction would tend to vest a concentrated despotism in that revolution- ary body. Little did I imagine, little did tht Fiencli demagogues themselves expect, that your lordship would so soon enunciate a piinciple, which not only tends to produce that result, but does ac- tually produce it. Your lordship has, by *the executive power of the governor*, introduced * the elective principle* not merely into the legislative council but into all the departments of the judi- ciary anJ the executive. In regard to the judi- ciary and the executive, the French demagogues themselves, my lord, never demanded more than a division of judicial and executive offices, propor- tioned to the respective numbers of the two races* Your lordship, however, has most liberally estab- lished the democratic principle, that the majority is every thing and the minority nothing, thnt ' the great body of the people' is omnipotent and the smalt body of the people powerless. May I anti- cipate from your lordship*s patronage of * the elec- tive principle*, that the inquiry into the 'constitu- doo* of the legislative eouneii, into which, aooord- ing to the twenty •Mrcnth paragraph, ' tht eoimn!»^ tioncra are not precluded from entering', is to end in the warm recommendation of an elective coun- cil ? IlercaAer, my loid, no Englishman, with the eiception of two rene^rades in a certain assembly. Is to hold office in an Knglifh colonj. The Eng* lish are still to pay taxes; hut the French are to enjoy them. 'I he Knglish are to be permitted by law to speak and wiite their vernacular language; but that vernacular language is to make them tri- butaries and outlaws. Your lordship may have heard, that Pope, in his prologue to Cato, softened * Hritons arise' into * Urit6ns attend'. Your lotd- ship compels me to prcftr the original rending. I now come, my lord, to the second class of ' cases', in which your lordship requites * the help of one or both branches of ihe provincial legislature.* I am utterly at a loss to discover any 'case', which your lordship can remedy ' with the help of one* branch of the provincial legislature, with the excep- tion of the * case' of the contingencies, which your Icrdship did remed> * with the help' of the assem- bly alone. Your lordship surely cannot mean, that, in the settlement of the financial difficulties, the legislative council is to have no voice ; and yet^ at the close of the nineteenth paragraph, addiessed exclusively to 'gcnllemen of the house of assem- bly', your lordship does seem to consider ' your assent* as alone sufficient in regard to the tempora- ry disposal of the *:ereditary revenue. But let me now enumerate the f a civil list is not a boon either to * thi conaUtuttwnal reformers* or to ' the rcTolutioniate'* . 5 III'' *-4 n. ill' 4' ■■f*- H 11! I , unless in to far as members of either of these par- ties may hold offices of emolument under the pro- Tincial government. If ' the constitutional refoim- ers* have, wlint I do not admit that they liave, a majority of offices at piesent, your lordsliip's re- spect for • the great body of the people' will turn the opposite scale in favour of ' the revolutionists'. Thus far, my lord. I have been able triumph/intly to acquit you of the Morning Courier's charge of * partiality to tlie constitutional reformers* ; and I doubt not, that my review of ilie third class of ' cases' will equally tend toesial>lisli your lordship's entire innocerce — at least of thcit imputation. I come, therefore, to the 'cases' of the third class, which require ' the enactments or sanction of the authorities in England'. Tliese are the ' cases* on which the commissioners are to report; and they comprehend, as I learn from the tweniy-sixth pa- ragiapli and the thirty second, all the demands of *the cojistitutional reformers'. But as the twenty- seventh paragrapl) brings also the constitution of the le;i;islative council within the review of the commissioners, such * constitutional reformets', as consider inqtu'ry as concission, are in consistency bound to believe that an elective council is conced- ed to ' the revolutionists' ms well as that register offices and the al)olitinn of the reud flgHinst your loidsltip? Hns rot my gene- ral retivw of your lurdsliip's fi|H'rcli sansfactorily proved the tiiiili of my Dft lepentcd asserlion, that the main oltjict of all the succcfisive cnldnets of Kn);laiid Itan lieen to relieve the piovii.cial executive from financiid emharrassments hy any piece of tem- porary patchwork ? I^, my lord, they had done it without any sacrifice of principle, they might Ktili have heen accused of weakness ; hut liy a sacrifice of principle they have added dishonesty to weak- ness, nnd have, without even the plea of necesNit]r« acted on the damnable maxim of doing evil that good may come. I have the honour to be, >■ ' " ' •/;<*'*» My I.oid, ■ ' J Your lordship's most obedient humble sei vMit* Camillcs. 1 -■ r. f '; 1 i ■ " i 1 i ' 1 ;■ .• No. XXIV. lative the per- MoMTRiAL, 2d November, 1695. My Loftr» The first paragraph of your lordship's speech opens with the following sentence : — •' It is in no ordinary circumstances, that I meet you ; and consequences of vast importance depend on the im» presttlon you may receive Irom my words." The last paragraph of your lordship's speech closes with the follo»ving sentence:— • ' " There are two paths open to you : by the one you may advaace to tiie enjoyment of all the advaatate* wMeh H« in protpect before yon ; bv the other, I win sot s^ more liian that you will atop Miort of these mwA will engage youmelves and thoee who have no other ob- ject than your prosperity, in darker and more difficult courses." Tlie alpha and the omega of your lordship's tpeech are wry counterparts uf each other ; and. if there be a diflfrrence i>etween tSiem, it it merely that the ome};a it more pHriicularly wortlty of th« •legant criticism of the Mintroe. They are both founded on two fatal misapptehcntions, a dread of A Fiencli insurrection and a liope of conciliating the contending parties. Your lordship must have derived your dread of a Frvneh inturrectiun, not from your own powers of uliiervittion, but from your 'precise instructiuns*. Your lonlship, in fact, had been told by the Canw dien, a common organ of your lordship and tb* assembly, that 'the great l>ody of tlu people* en> tettained no opinions, knew no abuses, felt no op* pression ; but then, my lord, you were in duty bound to obey your ' precise instructions' in defi- ance of any and every practical reason to tlie con* tr£ry. You had found, that every individual, ac- quainted with the character and temf er of the Ca- nadian habitant, reckoned a French insurrection not only improbable but morally impossible ; but then, my lord, you were in duty bound to obey your * preciscT instructions' in deflance of any and every practical reason to the contraty. You had perceived, that every Englishman wasted on the absurd supposition no other feeling than that of contemptuous scorn ; but then, my lord, you wetr* in duly bound to obey your ' precise inttruetions* in defiance of any and every practical reason to tba eontrary. 1 must now offer a few remarks on your lord* ship's bopo of conciliating the contending parties. Whatcvtr I may tbink of the iMsonablenesi ol •ueh a hoptt 1 rtjoioe, that an imperial cabioct hat at last diteovercd, that ' Lower Canada is diridtd by two parties', comprising not the government and tbff assembly but * the great body of the people* and the little Ixxiy of the people. Yes, my lord, this discovery is equally new and important It is new, for Sir Ilobert Peel, when prime minister, spoke as if Lower Canada contained only the Bri- tish government and the French faction. It is im« portaiit, for it cnnnot fail to have weight with the slaves of public expediency and political cowaidice< May I presume to hope, 'that your lordship and his Majesty's ministers will strive to temember a discovery, which, if ever forgotten in Downing, street, will be recalled to the most treacherous me- moiy in a Transatlantic voice of thunder. But thi^ is a digression. Your lordsh'pV hope of con* ciliating the 'two parties' I must ascril>e to your comparative ignorance of the real feelings and real ohjrcts of the respective races. Were any indivi* dual, who iiad long resided in tlie province, to ex- piess a similar hope, he would be icenerally consi- dered either as isane or as dishon> and f , there* fore, feel contidi '. that your lordsi^ > will see the value of your ai; tuble hope before the close of the impending winter. If your lordship has any -elish fur a comparatively easy (ask, try to effect a pertna« nent mixture of oil and water, rather than to pro- duce a social union of two races oi dISerent Iangua« ges. buch a union, my lord, is inipossible ; and, that it may always be so, your lordship proposes to make both languages 'flourish in immortal youth* under the nursing hand of a conciliatory law. The contradictory character of your loiJship's views does not surprise me. t' ^ \he natural fruit of the conciliatory system of pt^nising every thing to •very body; and the ^^. >t instance is quite in keeping with your conflici^ug declarations, that the feudal s]rstem man ^ abolished fier the gratiUcaliott r 4 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I ■ 30 *^™ "* 140 1^ 12.2 1.8 1.25 1.4 J4 < 6" — ► p /i /I /: ^? ••» o 7 w Hiotographic Sciences Corporation % ■^ f\ ^> V \\ ^V °'«^>. O^ ?S Vt'SST 'iAIN STREET WEBSTr«,N.Y. ^4580 (716) f ■'2.4503 '^'^- .;^ .<^ '4^^ I 68 '^ of the little bmly of the people hut thst it shall be retained tor ti.e hvnefit of ■ ihe great Inxly of th« people*. n»c only iiKKle, in which jour lor.ixhip can cmciliale the two ricvs, is to ns>iinilate the one of them to thv other. In my next letter I hUhW oITw'r H fi.*\v ruMiarkt tm the suhjtct of assitnilatiorit nnd sh ill hIho cndeavoui to shetv from reison and cxpeiieitcc, that no other mode will ever be eflfee- tuul. I have the honour to be, ^ ' .>ry ImtU Your I^ordsliip's most obedient humble tervanty -^ - -^ CaMILLUS. No. XXV. Montreal, 3d November, 1835. Mr Loan, Sin^'c I yesterday hnd the honour of a;^1re.{ungef I have hevn credibly infiirmed, tiiat the Assemltly will lorthwiih pass a bit! to declare the French Ian* gua^je the dominant language of this province. It would hardly be prudent strictly to interpret the Yeiy words even of an authentic rumour ; but :iuch a measure, as the most "iiict interpretation of 'do- minant' could render the proposed bill, would be quite in keeping with the general character of the French demagogues and would not go fir beyond tlie gracious views of your hndship's tweltllh para* graph. The difference, in truth, between the as- •vmbfy's bill and your lordship's views would be ra- tlier apparent than real, fur, m every public servant nMMt bereeficr be 'acceptable to the great bodj of f^l 'i 'ti tbt peopiv', nil *efiiciii1 aet«' will rtrj noon evaanMrn from ' (lie French inhabitniits of this province' and will, of course, be written in the French langunge, An nppnrently equal law, therefore, w&uld, 'by th« executive power of the governor', became ns une* qudl as po8sil>ie anr! render the Fiench- Canadian potois the * dominant' langnnge of the province. Perinii ?ne, my lo!d, to predict the praeiicul nork- ing of the system. As it is the opinion both of your lordship, and of the French demagoguea, that * the great body* is every thing and l^at the small body is nothing, the lanjiua^^e ofihe mBJoriiy, whe- ther in the assembly ur in the legislative council or in iheexecutil« of cvvry provin«U) law rt* ••pliuUtM, M lh« •uihority uiuUr wUM\ ili* pro- vtnoM) i«|iUUiur« •till* nnd not** lh« tillt of lli9 •Oitsliluiioiial art of I7l)l. Oit« of two llitii|{«i tlMtrttfcMTtf. mull hAvnol) titit^ or evvry provin- •ial •tnitiitf mutt )««vi* Ihhmi tli»H)(ur«4l tiy « ininiur* of two lNngUN|*«t> Th* Knriioii UciuNgttgtiri, how. •vtr. mt^ht liMVtf orUvrvii tiiv imp«riMl pnrliiimvnt to am^ ti)« roiistituiional act in a Frvnoh ilrt'M { and |Mst eipi'ri«?ncis iity lord, iMtlitlvii m« to inlVrt that auoii an ordvr woujil liave l)««n oboyvd. The WMkntfikii of almost every F.n|iliMi cabinet liaa im» pjiateil on ilie luvirig of the Frencti (lemnijogncv, * Ask ant' y« thrtll recvive', luui lia« done mi too in tli« vain, the fuoliali. (he intimi-hopeof lulling avn- tioa and ambition by gratification What, my hird* will l»e tlie condition of every Fngliihman in Lo\r» tr Canada, if the li>f(isiiaiivtf council and your lord« alitp lanciiun tho pruposiHl measure of (h«i auembly. Tbtiituation of every Kngliithman, my lord, would I'eoome ( I use iho vroidn advisedly) ahsoi.utkly in- roiKKABLK. What, my lord? Shall thn Karl of Guftfurd and thirty or forty traitorous demagoguta aehiave over Englishmen of the nineteenth century a victory, which iho Duke of Normandy and forty thousand of the first warriors of Euiope failed to aehiava over Englishmen of the eleventh ? Ncs my lord, the Earl of Gosfurd and the French de- magogues siiAiL NOT mnko Norman- Frencli the, * ofBciar language of this province. Urcathes there a wretch of English blootl in Lower Canada that would submit to the insulting oppression for a tin- gle day ? No, my lord; your lordship and the ai« etmbly will 6nd it safer, if not more honourablei to vk>Ute a principle by putting your conjoined handi* trtthout the sanction of law, into the publio ebait« I Ihrni 10 Infllft • ptrtonAl Injury of daily oMurroM* nn eviry EnKllthm«n by lying tiii lunffuc and t>fOo Mrilttn;; lh« l«ngii«i(« of liis fallitrt. I cannot, mf loiil, tnvy your iurdtlii)) tiia v*ry iluliiou* lionour of afrtfttiiig tlt« iirogrvM of • language, wiiicti liaaa fairar {>ru«ptot, tiiau had avtr tli« languagt of Orvaea oi of Uoint, of baooming univartal in avtry Itglon aouvMible to an Kn^livb tliip. I liava tha honour (o b«i My Lord, Tour Lordihip'a most obaditnt humble ictvittt, CaMiLtva. '!:'i DuM IN- of ury )rty to Nc de- the »frt hat in- ai' .to di. No. XXVI. MoMTRiAL, 4th KoTembtr, 1835. ' Mr Loifo» I ihall postpone my rrmetlct on tfie ne» oeMlty of aMimilating the * two portiirt' to each other, till I ihttll come to the formal discuuion bf the twtflAh paragraph of your lordship's ipaeeh ;— and 1 shall, therefore, immediately proctfed with the review of your lordship's opening paragraph* *' DissenNions have almost srrestcd the course of Oo« vernmer.t." Yea, my lord, ' dissensions' have done so, Juat aa daggers assassinated Canar, and bulleta felled Mar- ahal Ney like an ox. What, my lord, enabled th* * distensions* to arrest ' the oourse of GovemmMit' 7 What, my lord, but the government itself. Tb« ' diistnaiona', to which your lordship aUudei^ ate 02 th« ' dUssntiont* not of the ' two parties* but of the government and the a^nemhly, and have affVeted merely the question of the civil list. For twenty* five years, my lord, these * dissensions' have eviHted ; but. until the crown-duties were surrendered to the proviiicttd legislature, they IlkI not much more prac« tisai efT.'Ct on 'the cotir• imperi«1 ttatut* mif(ht b* nrptal. cH by the imperial |>nrliamcnt nriiliout the vialaiion ofany conMiiiitionu! priiicipttf. sotinJ or tiiKuuod { (he |irovineitu raising up the elirnal l>tear alwiit the uticonstitutionulity of any inicrfcreiice of tlie im|>erinl piirliaM>«>ni wit i the provincial U'gisia* ture. In fine, my lotd. ' the couim.' of^^uvcrnmcnt, has iiieen * arresied' not hy * dis-vusiona' hut hy nb« surd and pet niciotit conciliation. The 'disscneiona' may l>e a \i\iet ; hut it is conciliation that waitna the viper into life. Km concilixtion, my lord, has not only cheriftli«>d the viper hut wvn enjrendered it \vi, my lord* concilintion it the parent as well as the nurse of th« special * di«sunsi<>n*:', which ' have almost arrested tiie course of ;;overn men i'. 'J'lie*>e ' dissensiins\at the French demagogues have tiiemselve:: uvowedf have not an exclusive reference to the merits or the demerits of 'the supplies requited for carrying into esecnlion the laws'. Tlie avowed object of the 'dissensions' is to coerce the government into a compliance with demnn:!", whicii, whether reason* aide or unren;;onah e, have at lenst nothing to do with the civil list. In the twentieth paragraph, your lordship seems to he most nmiahly ignorant of this import'int fact. 'I'liai paragraph speaks of the advance of ^£3 1,000 out of the imperial fundi of the military chest. To that advance the French demagogues olijeeted on the ground of its indirect- ly defeating the intended coercion of the provincial autlioriiics: while your lordahip's amiahle misaiu prehension of the leal policy of the faction aasigned the veiy crime as its own apology hy confessing that the advance had heen * desigiied fur no other purpose than to prevent a highly inconvenient in- tetruption of the general business of th» piovince'. The imperial parliament might have reasonably complained, that * British funds' had been misap- propriated * for tlie purpose of avoiding any undue ) i i i IM H if' tottrfinrmc*' with the house of ewiably of Low ii - Oinada. But the iinfterial perlimnent, my lord^ did no fuch thing. It Itean ita dignities roueh more meekly than thdr high mightineasce of the protia* cial asaembly bear theirs. Under these circumstances, my lord, you ramat- dearlj perceive, that, unless you have determined' to grant all tlie demands of the French faction, tlw^ aunender of the hereditary revenue will only arm the assembly with additional means of arreating *the course of government* through ooereive vicwf* ]0ut even if you did, my lord, grant all the preaent demands of the French iWtion, you would soon be requiredtogrant other demands still moreestrava* Snt, such as the abolition of the legislative vti» ot t executive and the transfer of the appointOMmt of governor from his Majesty to * the great body oi the people*. But my memory fails me, for your lordship haa already anticipated the latter denumd* You have declared, tliat * public stations', without cieeption, should be filled only by men * acceptabl* to the great body of the people*. Your lordriiip waa too impartial even to except the highest of all th* *publie stations' of the colony from the operaiionof your own republican rule. It is, my lord, tli* go* neral opinion of those, who have studied human na<> tort, that your lordship's own rule will very mom pms heavily on your lordship. I have the honour to b^ My Lord, Tour Lordtbip'k most obedient hwnbl» m i wi t. CAMBtltVit *.ci ard. ■♦j«*i>''>* {r- ^ '* No. XXVII. IfoMCABAi., 5th Kor., 1095. I quote the fourth sentenet tad tt|o jUih of your lordship's first paragraph. .1 " Tlie most urgent and conflictiof ststeneats ofaiH iaerout grievances by adverse parlies have been borne to the throne of His Majesty ; but accontpanied with ecipiea* aions of an apprehension, that the ministers of the crewn iBkifht not have that practical knowledge of the province Sfrluch is necessary for the discerr«nient of the most ap* 'yroprlate remedies. I am amongst you, thereibre, net only as your covemor, but as the head of a commission upon wh'ch the task is imposed of inquiring fully, and on the spot, into the complainti which nave been made, mid of offering to the King and to the councils, by which the throne is Hurrounded, the deliberate conclusions of the commissioners." The ' advene parties*, to which your lordship fefors, are the assembly and * the great body of tli« people* on the one hand, and the l^ialativt (sooneil and the little body of the people on the other. Tho •eeond roembe)^ of the first of the quoted senteneea implies an erroneous belief on the part of your lordship, that all the ' adveise parties* were equally ansious for a thorough investigation into t'tie *nu* metous grievances*. Such a belief ia directly op- poaed to the facts. The French dtfm8g<^uea. to far from courting inquiry, have uniformly spoken and written of the royal commission in the nKset contemptuous terms ; whereas the constitutionalists* tven such of them as do not deem any tuquiry ab> aolutely necessary, have uniformly ailmitted, that an inquiry, if impartially conducted, would be ra- ther beneficial than injurloiu tojlhe constitutional cauje. The second of the quoted sentences, my lord, implies, that the commission was appointed tbrovgb an impartial desire of meeting the desire ■for inquiry of every one of the * adverse partica.* ~ Tharaara two lesu by which one nay Judga^ V I ! i -1 :1 ij M tfitr or not tht commttston wit aetualTy nppofnted through such a muiivc. Ihc Hr^t uC ilu'9« u>iil« is to btf fuiiiul in ilic {▼eni'rni cliAmcter uf lUv cuinmii- ■iofUTii; ilic second, in iluir spi'cial iirocvi'tlings ■* gatiivri'd frum )uur luidsliiii's^pevclianit Iruin oilier sourci'i. The fr^t tent, my loid. involves some considera* tiling uf delicAcy ; iiut the |HTsonnl rch'ng into efli-ct as well in the colonial as in the donui«iic empire. They were, also, spec'nily bound liy their own doctrine, nf de- veloped in your iuidship's fifili pnrngtaph, to ap- point to 'public stations' only such commissionert» as miijht l)t: deemed 'acceptable to the great bcdy of the people' }f Lower Cunnda, or, In other words, only such commissioners, as might be known to l>« favorable to the propagation of demociutio princi- ples. As a nittjority, however, binds a minority, his Majesty's ministers could affi/fd to be contented with two sueh commissioners. Having thus endeavored to dissect the motives uf the cal>iiut on the general principles of human na- ture and the avowed feelings of the ministers, I muKt now consider, whethei or not the special ap- pointments justify the result of uiy dissections of those motives. Your lordship, having lieen favorably known in Iieland as a staunch supporter of 'the great body of the people' agitinsl the little liody of I lie people, was of course predisposed to display similar sympa- thies in Lower Canada ; and every individual, who has studied the London correspondence of th« Montreal Vindicator, must he convinced, that your loidsbip's known attachment to * the great body of 97 tolM ii'icU y, his ivntud vcs uf 11 na- rs« I il op- lis of i>n in Ibotly |op»*, >])«. |who th« ruur of tht pMple*, as ecrtifitd by Mr. Daniel 0*Conn«ll, was reckoned the main qualificaJon of your lordship for heading the commission. Tlie annals of the country do not Itesr testimony to your lordship's experience 'n civil affVirs of momentous import. IVlierv civil power and military command are coti- Joined in the same functionary, it may be unreason* able to expect the highest qualificattotrs whether military or civil ; liut where a purely civil governor Is appointed in the most important and the most tuihulent of bII the English colonies, the cabinet* that does not regard civil experience in the selection, incurs a very heavy responsibility. I do not, my lord, mean to insinuate, that your lordship does not por.es8 political talvnts ; I mean, merel^, that your lordship had not, previously to your appointment* displayrd them in any ccnspicuous or vmini nt d«« grce, and that his Majesty's ministers preferred your lordship rather for a known bias than fot known capacity. T beg, my lord, again to assure you, that this language, if it should seem rude, is directed not against the qualificniions of your lord&hip but against the motive;; of the cabinet. In the appointment of Sir Charles Grey, a man of learning, of legal habits, of well tried judgment and of moderate views in politics, the cabinet seems to have displayed real impnrtiality-i- on the probable gruund, that, ns a minority, he would be overpowered by the skilfully selected majority. In regard to your li rdship's other colleague, I need not say much. If report does not very much belie him, he must have been known to the cabinet, as a man too violently democrntic to give any chance of a report unfivurable ' to the great body of the people'; — while, at the same time, his comparative obscurity rendered his futally ol jectiunablebiascom- paratively unknown. His Majesty's minister)*, my lord, could not have the testimony of expeiienee in i2 ii >k ^ 'tii Ufot of Umc indiTidtuU'i capacity for ditobarging • d*llui» and difficult trust } whila tb« peauliar n^ turt of his professional pursuits eminently disqua- lified hina for political investigations. The lilerarj standard for entering Woolwich acadcnay, where that individual roust have received his professional education, hat always been so low, and the estab- lished course of education so exclusively mathcnD*> Ileal, as to entitle roe to assert, that every diligent and distinguished student, as your colleague coiu fesRedly was, must almost un6t himself for probable reasoning by the contemplatiun of necessary ttuths. A mathematician, as such, is bound to believe that every assertion, for which any irrefragable reasoa can be urged, is necessarily true, and, in proportion to the extent of his mathematical knowledge, virtu- mlly smothers the natural talent for weighing fact against fact, argument against argument, testimony •gamst testimony. Hence, my lord, a mathemati« clan, as such, is liable to be the slave of first politi- eal Impressions, which, as almost every man's own youthful experience tells him, are those of demo- cratic liberality. This disquisition, my lord, may appear finely spun, ill'timed and absurd ; but my views arc supported by the fact, that the distin- guished ineji of Oxford are generally conservatives and those uf Cambridge mostly liberal innovators. So much, my lord, as to the first test. 1 have the honour to be, My Lord, . Your Lordship's oao&t obedient bumble servantf -. V Camiuvs. I ( \1 Vo. XXVIIL ,"?• MonTAiAi* 6tb NoTtmbtr, 183$* Mr Lomo, Permit int now to cuunine the teeond test of the cabinet** honesty in the selection of tb« Royal Coministionerc for X^wer Canada, by eon> aidering their special proceedings, as gatlieied from your lordship's speech or from other sources. For these special proceedings, my lord, the cabinet ia iiwt less responsible than are the commissioncrt themselves, inasmuch as your lordship professes to have been guided by full and precise instructions. The second sentence of my yesterday's quotation from the first paragraph, my lord, distinctly stated* that the commissioners were to enquire * fully, and upon the spot, into the complaints' of the adverse parties. Hov can this statement, my lord, be re- eonciled with the admitted fact, that your lordship had ' preci&e instructions' to decide on certain points without inquiry < fully, and upon the spot*, such aa the payment of illegal and unconstitutional contingencies, the surrender of the hereditary reve- nue, and the proscription of the English language ? Your loidship distinctly confesses, that these points were conceded not in consequence of a full inquiry on the spot, but in compliance with * precise in* •tructinns'. How can these contradictions, my lord, be reconciled witl* each other ? A plain raanf my lord, cannot pretend to reconcile them, but by supposing, that the ' instructions', on which your lordship has founded the general expression of your first paragraph abouc * inquiry' into * thk com* plaints', were meant merely to delude the intended victims of ' the great body of the pe<^le'. Such « •uppo^Jtion, my lord, is amply justified by the coo- duct of the same cabinet in regard to other eona- miniona of inquiry. Whig-radical commiaaiootnv loa :i \ M tny lord, ire not Judges but advoeatct. The muni- cipal eomminionen, for instance, were appointed nominally to inqnire into the proceedings of muni* cipal corporations, hut reaUy to condemn those ob- noxioiu bodies. The words of the commission, my lord, were that < you or any one of you may be sl< lowed to transmit your rvpoit*. Now what 'ap- penvd ? One commissioner uf the name of Hogg transmitted a report unfKvorable to the democra- tic views of the ministers, and was informed. • that Lord John Hussell entertained some doubts, wlic* thet he should be justified in presenting such a do- cument to his Majesty as a report in connexion with the municipal corporation commission'. Per- mit me to lay a detailed statement of the disgraceful and ominous facts before your lordship and * th« English inhabitants of this province*. " Mr. Hogg was less rortunate, • not beiujr prepared', like 8ir Francis Palgravc, • to roncur in the general con- clusions'. It did appear to be a most e.(traCTrdinary thing, that the very same authority under which the other commissioners acted, rounded upon these words in the commission, that ' you or any one or you may be al- lowed to transmit your rpport','A.c., was pfreniiptortly denied to Mr. Hogg. The correspondence which had consequently ta-ken place between that genlhman and the home office had been printed, and the first was a let- ter which he wrote to the home office on the SSd of March la JustiflL-d in prtscntinf surli n docuinrnt to Hia Majeity as a report in couocxion with thci Auni- cipft) corporation commitaion." » • • » -- .,m,,-, l)oc« not this, my lord, look very lllce chicniwry •nd wilful sii|i])re<(siuii oi' drcadv.i triilli on tlic part of your Kirdsiiip's nol?lc and ri;ilit lion«»ral.le cin- ployt-rs? Yi't your loriUlti|) will l>v fqually stjr» prised nud glad to Icnrn, that tliL're UivHtSiv in (hit colony nrelchi'S lilind or (li^hon«.'St vuougli to cen- lure as tdtru-ioryish nn-.l illiiH>rul nn hoiu'St inuu's contempt and scorn of the existing aiiminist ration. I'or the s>tke ol' those nuhle and ri^ht honorahle individiuds, I am sorry, that neithet the trflentsnor tlie attainments of tin ir apologists can affect the opinion of any man. whose cpiniou has any value. Such persons, my loid ate the plague spots of the political virorld. They are the heings, whom So- lon's siigacions law against the cowardly or the dis- honest hahhiers ahout neutrality would have han<;- cd in the foruiM of Athens or driven into thegulpli of Salamis at tlie point of t!ie * red pursuing spear*. ])ut such persons, my lord, will considerably mo- derate their admiration of whigs and radicals, if they do find by experience, which can alone teach a eei tain class of human l.eings, that the commissioners are not destined to he judges between ' two parties' but advocates of * the great Inxly of the people*. But even then, when too lute, they will know no* thing more, thin what an intelligent and honest man can conHdently predict fiom the unilbim dis> ciepancy l)etween the general and the special ex* pressions of your lordirhip's speech, from the known selfishness an'^ irresolutencss of his Majes- ty's liberal advisers, and more purticularly from the analogous case i/f the municipal corpoiation cr.nmission. Tn regard to the corsimission, of wliich your Iord> Khip is the bead, lord Glenelg will not be troubled, 1 if ,i I m i I. If 1 M-i^l'; ■ -l It;? 1 H ■ '4 . 1 m^ 1 ft ' 2 Its 1 I ■■■ I, i i lord John RumcII, with th« ant rtport of a minority, not that a minority of tht eoromisdon may not be difpoiad to roako cuah • report, but because a minority is not entitled ao to do. Tlie report mutt emanate from the commla* •loners as a body,— not from ' any on« of you* bttt from * you* only. Bat even if the commissioners, my lord, were to make an unanimous report, unfavourable to * the great body of the people'— a supposition, whieh •hocks me from its very absurdity, and which I make merely for the sake of argument— would his Majesty's present ministers act on snoh a report. Your lordsliip's admiration of their * magnanimity and wisdom* must be powerful indeed, if you can answer my question in the affirmative. Yes, my lord, that short question puts the fact in tlie strong- est possible liglit, for the puppets of two democrat- ic factions dare not propose any thing oflfensivo to ' the great body' of any people on earth, British or Irish or Canadian or Spanish or Portuguese, or 9ven to * the great bodv' of the Homines Vesper* tiliones of the moon. Permit me again to refer to the municipal commis&icn. Out of eue hundr^ and tighty-fiv* corporations, that were comprised in the ministerial bill, no fewer than nindjf'nx had not been censured in the slightest degree even by the commissioners, %hat had been appointed to con- demn tlicm. Thus, my lord, the report even of sa- laried enemies was favourable to more than half of the obnoxious corpoiations ; but instead of punish- ing only the guilty, or pardoning the guilty minor- ity for the sake of the innocent majority, his Ma- jesty's ministers sacrificed the whole of them on the altar of * tlie great body of the people'. Is not this, my lord, ominous? I fervently trust, m;' lord, that ray anticipations may not be realised ; out I •annot cUmo my woaas and my mind agaiaat •illMr fMli or raalogkc, thai auy mU iM i^49«fi «f «oauog •▼•ntt bvibre then. . ^^ iJwTtt the b» F ** ThsN arc other cases, ia which the laws and iaatl* tutioiM of the truited Kingdom make it impoesible for x»x without the enactmeats or sanction of the aufhpritiM iA Enflaad, to eflTect what Is asked ; so that if we wtora to act. we should be actin| unlawftilly j if w« were ti| m»|ie laws, they would be binding on no one." Tlie doctrine, which your lordship here laid down, is unquestionably sound ; but I would ee* uouely draw the attention of your lordship and oi the eommissioncrc to the fact, that there existt ao ■MkU of enforcing so sound a doctrine. II, need not prove, that the provincial l«r!slaturt has erer passed an tinconstitutional act. It ia wuir Aeitot for my present purpose to state, that it maj pase such an act ; and, thotigh I agree with youf Wdship, that it * would be binding on no one* in thaory, yet I ai9 unable to see any well dt6nad moda of abrading its obligations in practice. Tba provincial oouru would recognise the Tali4it^ of 9lim tha most unconstitutional aet, until it mfg t Im npqilwl «jth0r by the provincial legislature or hff. tjbif , impaiial paylianyant* No^w naitlier of thcaa k9dk§t mj l0fd« ociulid pronouncf a Judicial deetl 'i 1 > I I ^m Ifif mt *ny provfnetat ttadita a« tmiraliitfrff. tional, to as to have a rvirospeciive cffi'ct on real or pvrtoiul ri^ltii — wi iiotit. ni Jcast. renul>> og- rlf* .en- gine irol der ■rioniiti and tht nad«ubud prtrof ativM of iht {«• pcruil authorities. Without lueh a tribunal, my lord, the Imptrial parliament may be tr«m|t)ed under foct by tba provincial 1tf({lt1aturc ; and, though it may nuhteii! qnently vindieate it« own prero;;ut'Tet, it cannot, without establishing a mmt dan^verous precedent, retrospectively «aiictfl any past ti^uries of the col«* Such a tribunal, my lord, is not the ereattire of my imigination. It exisu in some of the neigh- bouring states; and« dufing hist winter, the su- preme court of the state of Missouri, denounced at unconstitutional a certain enactment of the local legislature. Such a tribunal, my lord, is demanded by th« fundamental principle, that all formally delegati?d power should be carefully watched and strictly checked. Thus at last, my lord, I have closed the Jtseua^ tion of the first paragraph of your lordship's speech } and ':i^ i Ki^ im ■ . ^ -'i I have the honour to bi, ^| My Lord, ' Your Lordship's most (rfiedient bumble servanl^ CaMitLvs. • «.' i I *, •» r. J ^i^:.- Ko. XXX. r.-..{ ^,-i!r%V i ju, MowrarAL, 10th Koeembcr, 1835. ^ Mt Loan,' "^ '. The second, third and fourth paragraphs of your lordship's speech contain merely barren g«- neralltits. The ftftb paragraph, however, is eu&- k III?: I ' I 1 / i6f •ifflUf fp«ci«l Ml Um •objMt of jrovr lonbNp'aiA* eUl patronage. A filer having alluded to the complaint, *that the French origin of the mi^oritjr of the inhabit* ante of Lower Canada hai been nade a pretext for fxcluding them from oiBco and employment, and for retaining lliem in a state of political inferiority', your lordship ttu'y states, that ' The eircumstancei, which first united this country with the Biitish Empire* must ne filled only by men of well tried and well known fidelity, and that the public safety may acmetimes be justifiably preferred to the momentary taprioe of * the great body of the people*. The real queation, therefore, between your lordsliip and * the English inhabitants of this province* is, whether equally powerful ' circumstances* do not still exist for * an exclusion of its prior inhabitants from offi- ces pf government' ; and I can easily prove to the satisfaction of every unprejudiced person, that * cir* cumstances' actually more powerful now exist for tuch 'exclusion*. Tlia French demagogues, my lord, have long professed the most rebellious repug- nance to British authority and the most deadly hat- red of the British name ; and, within the last two years, they have repeatedly threatened to throw tliemselves into the arms of France or of the United States, unless tho imperial parliament should for- mally relinquish ita supremacy and establish s French republic in Lower Canada by *.he exten- lion of the elective principle. Tlie ungrateful traitors have substantially said to the imperial au* tboritiea, * If you do not by law render ua inda- pendtnt of Great Britain, waahall render oursclvca ao by foroe*. Your lordship kno«ra, the oabteat kito«r% tltt Kbig knowBf that my ctatcment of ^a lot fbtfUni^ of th« mlMnibl* md dnpieiM* wreteh«| U eofrecu Are such beings, my lord, to be truitc4 wiUi * offieet of government* ? Certainly not, my lord, unlets by those, who are themselTCs ready l6 sacrifice the empire on the accursed altar of theif own avarice and ambition. Are not your lutdship^ iif^le and right honourable employers ready to do so ? Is not one of your lordship's colleagues, ao- oording to the petty measure of his ability, ready to do so? Are you not, my lord of Cosford, ready to do something of a very similar kind ? Undoubt- edly, my lord, you are so,— and I entreat your lord- Ihip solemnly to weigh my words — if you obey 'precise instructions*, which were, confessedly, founded on the grossest misapprehensions of the real feelings of the French>Canadian people. DOf my lord, do ask your conscience, why do you not rather resign your honours and your emolumenti iluin obey so absurd, so pernicious instructions. But, my lord, a more general reason, than thai founded on an avowal oJP disloyalty and treason, would Justify the * exclusion of its prior inhabitant! from offieei of government*. This reason is, that the ooncentiation of executive power and legislative authority in the hands of the same faction is an ab^ solute despotism. Before I attempt tc pourtray the inevitable tyranny of the uncontrolled French ma* jority of this province, I shall lay before your lordship the opinions of one of the fathers of the American republic in regard to the headlong reck* lessness of uncontrolled majorities in general. John Adams, my lord, says : " Marchamont Needham lays it down as a ruadamen- lal prioeiple, and undeniable rule, < That the people, that is, auek «fl ahatt be $uece»nvely ehoien to repreient tke pt»pl€f are the bett keepere of their own itfrertiet, andfthat fir mtthi rea*on$ : Firit,'becau$e they never think of •twrping over other men't righttf but mind which way t»»r»$€rM their own.» • " Our first atteotion shonid be turned to the proporf* tkMl or< 7^ people ore the beet keepert of their own flM^ I u? ■ti ' I il'i 106 i i Met*. lttt«rfra«ntlw peoi>taY ' Inch as ihaO b« rae- cetuolly chosen to represent them*. Here is a coofosion both or words and ideas, which, though it may pass with tha geaeralitj of readers in a figurative pamphlet, or with a minority of auditors in a popular harangue, ought, for that very reason, to b as carefully avoidtd in pontics as It is in philosophy or maibematics. If by the people is meant tne whole body of a great nation, it shou'd never be forgott(>n, that they can never act, consult, or reason together, because th^y cannot march Ave hundred milfs, nor spare the time, nor And a apace to meet ; and, there- fore, the proposition, that they are the best keepers of their own lib jrtiea^ is not true. They are the worst con* ceivable } they are no keepers at all ; they can neither act, Judge, think nor will, ns a body politic or corporation* If by the people is meant all the inhabitants of a s.^sgle City» they are not in a general assembly, the btst keep* en of their own liberties, nor perhaps ai any time, un- less you separate from them the executive and Judicial power, and temper their authority in legislation with the maturer councils of the one and the few. If it is meant by the people, as our author explains himself, a re pre* sent'itive assembly, * meh aa thall he succeasiveiy cho$en to tipreatnt the peopU\ they are not still the best heep* ers of the people's liberties, or their own, il you give them all the power, legislative, executive and Judicial ; they would invade the liberties of the people, at least the majority of them would invade the liberties ot the minor- ity, sooner and oftener than an abso ute monarchy, such as that of France, Spain, or Russia, or than a well checked aristocracy, like Venice, Bern, or Holland. An excellent writer has said, incautiously, that 'a feoptt wUl never opfreaa themselves, cr invade' their ou n rtgh'$*. This compliment, if applied to human nature, or to man- kind, or to any nation or people ia being or in memory, ia more than has been merited. * " If it should be admitted, that a people will not ana- nimous'y agree to oppress themselves, it is as much as is ever, and more than is arwaya true. All kinds of expe- rience shew, that great nunibers of individuals do op- press great numbers of other individuals; that parties often, if not always, opprisa other parties ; and mi^ori- ti'. s almost universally minorities. All that this observa- tion can mean, then, consistenUy with any colour of ftu:t, is, that the people will not unanimously agree to oppress themselves; but if one patty agrees to oppress another, or the majority the minority, the people stm op- press themselves, for one part of them oppress another. ' T%» ptpple never think of tMurptng over other mem's right$*. what can this mean 1 Does it mean that the people never u$ianinu>utly think of tuurping over other aiMi's linhts 1 This would be trifling, for there wotild. 100 ,iuch n. well id. An veofU by the rappotition, be no other mea'a rif^.te to ut«rp. Bat if the people never, jointly or eeveraUy, think of near ping the rirhtt of others, what occMion can there bo for any government at all i are there no robberiet, bur- glaries, murdeni. adulteries, thefM nor cheaui t Is not a great part, I will not say th>: greatest part, of men de* tectsd every day in eoms disposition or other, stronger or wjaker,' more or Itsii, to usurp other men's riglitet There ar; sorn» few, indeed, whose whole livis and conv^frsHtion show, ihat, in every thought, word andac* tion, they conscientiously respect the rights of others} thi^ra ii a larger body still, who, in the gener.U ttnor or their thoughts and actions, discover similar principles and fe jling.-«, yet frequently err. If we should extend oor candour so far as to own that th? majority of men ar« generally under the dominion of beavvo e'nce and good inteiittoni, yet it must bs confessed that a A'ast majority frequently transgress ; end what is moru d rjctly to th« point, not only a majority, but ulmo.ft all confine their benevolence to their families, relations, personal friends, parish, villag:;, city, county, province, and that very bw inJ.!id extend to the whole' community. Now grant but this truth, and ths question is decided : if a majority are capibic! of piefv'Tring their own private interest, or that of their families, counties and party, to that of the nition collectivelv, some provision must be made in the consti- tutioR, in favour of justice, to compel all to respect the eonumjn right, the public good, the universal law, in preferd together; not more than one or two million:) will have lands, houses, or any personiU propjrty ; if wj takj into account th3 women and child- ren, or even if wj leave th^m out of the question, agr. at majoriiy of every nation is wtioliy destitute of property, excjpt a small quantity of cloth(^s, and a f w tr.fles of O'Jur moveables. Would Mr. Netdhara hi responsible, that, if all wera to be decided by a vole of the mujoritv, the eight or nine millions who have no prop^^rty, woum not think of uiurpiag over thi righu of the one or two millions who have 1 Property is surely a right of man- kind as raally as liberty. Perhaps, at first, prejud ce, habit, sham J or fear, principleor religion, would restrain thi poor from attacking the rich, and the idle from usurp- ing on the indu.strious ; but the time would not be ItUff befora courajje and enterprise would come, and pretexts ba invented by degrees to countenance the majority in dividing all the property among them, or at least insbar- Wff it sqiMUy with the present possessors. Debu wo«M k2 ^f ¥i ilO i: H • fc»l i t hdd flrm i tmtm laM hMvy on tfee rich, «ad mm •^ all oa tke othen t tml tt test a doworlc ht caval divi> uoa of every thine be demanded, and voted. W'.«t WMikt ke tlie cooaequence of this t The idle, the vicioui , the uitaBQMrate, would ruah into the utoioat extravBg aoea •T debauchery, hell and spend all their ahare, and then demand a new division of those who purchased from them. " The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of Ood, and that there is aot a I'urce of law and public justice to protect it, anarchv and tyranny commence. If ' Thtu iMt itot ceael', and * Thou thalt not iteal>, were not command* meau of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepta ia every society before it can be civilised or made flree. " If the flnt part of the proposition, via : that ' thg pei>ple never think of uturping over othrr men^t rif[Kt9* cannot be admitted, is the second, vk: * tkeg mind which nmy to preterve thetr own*, better founded t There is in every nation and people under Heaven, a larfe proper^ tioa of persons who take no rational and prudent pre> cautions to preserve what they have, much less to ae- Suire more. Indolence is the natural character of maa, > such a degree, that nothing but the necessities of hun- ET, thirst and other wants equally pressing, can stimu* te him to action, until edttcation is introduced in civi- lised societies, and that the strongest motives of ambition to excel in arts, trades and professions, are established in the minds of men ; until this emulation is introduced, the laxy savage holds property in too little estimation to ^ive himself trouble for the preservation or acquisition oi' at. In societies the most cultivated and polished, vanity, ftahion and folly, prevail over every thought of ways to preserve their own ; they seem rather chiefly to study what means of luxury, dissipation and extravagance, they can invent to get rid of it. ** ♦ The ca$e it far otherwise among Kinge and Orandoea*, ■ays our author, ' at all nationt in the world have felt to tome purpate* ; that is, in other words, Kings and'gran- dees think of usurping other men's rights, but do not mind which way to preserve their own. It is very easy to flatter the democratical portion of society by making fettch distinctions between them and the monarrhical an4 aristocratical ; but flattery is as base an artifice, and as p-raicious a vice, when offered to the people, as whea given to the others. There is no reason for believing the one much honester or wiser than the other ; they are all or the same clay, their minds and bodies are alike. The two latter have more knowledge and sagacity deriva^ horn education, and more advantages for acquiring wis*> dom and virtue. As to usurping others' righta, they are hU three equally guilty, when unlimited Tn power t feo in Iran- Q not eavy aking land nd as wbea agthe re all The riva^ wja- ara wlaa maa win trnat eithar with an oppartaaity i aM avery tudicieoa teffislator will Mt all three to watcB and control each other. ** We may appeal to every page of Kiatory, we kaifo hhharto (limed over for prooia irrefragable, that the peo- ple, when they have been unchecked, have been aa un- Jttat, tyrannical, brutal, barbarouii and cruel, aa any King or Senate poaaesned of iinconiroUable power. Tho ■U^ority hat eternally, and without one eiceptiOAf wrurpea over the righu of the minority." J7 ''''-'' I have the honour to b«, '-' '-(Uii'^ if My L^rd, >^.^, r Your Lordaltip's most obedient humble fenrinl. *v , ... . '■' -1 ■- ' ' CaHtiLtfa. ■' ai,iN^-4' ■-;.... - ' i'***'**^* W:--p»>t, No. XXXI. g'.ffli fUkM* _. • ^ .A^IM f:^,^r '^r> i« MonTasAi, Uth November, 1685.^ >•(.' '^ ^(^ f-i-^i Your lordship't fifth paragrafib affbick ■ iti^Bg; inatanoe of the eontradictiont, which iIm iphit of liberal coneillation never fails to produot. After having stated, that, * in the distribution of poliiioal oflSces, my instructions enjoin upon mo the utnnost impartiality, and an entire disregard of dietinetiona derived fiom difierenee of origin*, your lordibip atates * tliat, in every country, to bo ao> e«ptable to the great body oi the people, is ono of the most essential elements of fitness fur publieala* tions*. How ingeniously your lordship flatters your French allies — firstly, you sympathise with tht previotu *exciiuton of its prior inhabitants from ofices of government' on account of their national origin ; secondly, you assure the hungry cxpcotanta of oflioo, that a Frenchman will stand on the samo footing as an Englishman ; thirdly, you phuo tho loroser'a boof on the latter'* neck, by intimatlag h '. il /• 112 tlMtt though an Englishman, as sueh, Ft not to ba doomed to ' a state of political inferiority*, yet ha must b« doomed to such a state, unless he be ' ac- ceptable to the great body uf the people', or. In other words, unless he become a traitor to his naiD« anwl to his country. To which of the contradictory statements d(K>s your lordship adhere? Without any great l>oast of sagacity, I may reply for your lordship, that the special statement about * the great body of the people' was sincere, and that tha general flourish about ' impattiality* was meant merely to deceive * the English inhabitants of this province*. Were this equivocation a solitary one of the kind, I might asctilie it to * inadvertence,* the standing apology of liberal blunders and liberal crimes; but I cannot, my lord, refrain from class- ing it with your lordship's similar equivocations in regard to tlie feudal system. Onb swmIIow doi>8 not make summer ; but farther the proverb siiih not. What, my loid, are * the English inhahitanta of this province' to think of your lordship's Ian* guage, whether as it atTects their opinion of your lordship's sincerity or as it indicutes your lordship'a opinion uf their understandings ? Uo, my loid, do» for the sake of your own iionour — which ought to be dearer to every man than any thing else— throw off the mask and surrender the ship to the Gallic shark without throwing a tub to the English whale. Unif'irmiiy, my lord, is the great aim of your lordship's noltle and right honourable employ* ers ; and I must congratulate them on the uniform eha*aottfr of their viceroys. Lord Mulgravc and Lord Gosford respectively govern Ireland and Lower Canada with * impartiality' oi their lipa* and on tlieir lips only. Re.id, my lord, the folloar* ing aketch of Lord Mulgrave, and say, whether I might not say to your lordship, aa Nathao laid ta David, ' Hioo art the inan*» . •• •!.-»l»«- v-'o-'. -rv ->/.•.. • u. > w ._ a". - *,*. J Wa i.» . Ill *."*i .iL»S9a no til* lish of loy- jrin and and \\nt loir* r I to ** For wtea th« eoaBtqr witowied M> lordship^ ( t«aaBC« of iUecal proe«MiOD» favourable to the riewe of otte partjr, and hit denooacemcot and pertecation of the leftf aatembliet of another— when they brhold him pro* coediOf on a tour of ilMisaembled afitation, rfcririof the boroafe, and courting the M>cietv, and flatteriof IM pn^todicea of thoee who nave been the chief diaturbcra of the public peace — when thf y behold hia rice-regal throiM surrounded by the crraturea and partiaans of af itatioa. and the faroijra and rewards of hit f overnment beatowca exclusively on the leader* of the movement partv— and when, moreover, this pariiaan exhibition of preference was not balanced by a ainfle word or act of Jottice, not to aay of fkvour, towards thoie whv^>«e loyalty to tb« throne and attarhment to ths Briti h connexion hava never been called in oueetion ; when the whole countrf. we aa", witneased Uio^e thinfa, waa not the favoured party Justified in claiming him as their own 1 and waa not the diacountenanced portion of i*ie community (tilly warranted in the diatrtut which they ao unqualifiedly maintained 1" Your lordsliip has not literally eountenaneed * il« legal processions' of one party ; but you have coun- tenanced its ' illef^al* agents, you have countenanced ita * illegal' eotnpromises, you have countenanced Ita * illegal' conventions. Your lordship has not denounced and per«eeuted the * legnl assembliea* of ■nothei party ; but you did, in spirit if not in let* ter, absent yourself from one * legal' assembly at the instigation of an officious place-hunler— you did, in violation of established custom and of com* mon couitesy, refuse to accompany your prrdecet* aor and a * legal' assemblage of constitutionalists to the place of your pre(lece8Si>r's emiiarkation — you did slight the legislative council, which is still m ^ legal assembly', by omitting to nnme it, as well at *the representatives of the people,' in yotir /bttrtb paragraph, and by withholding the customary epithet of * honourable' fiom * gentlemen of the legislative eonncil' in the opening of your speech. Your lordsliip has not proceeded on * a tout of ill-dissem- bled agitation*, but your loiJship *iaa been eageriy 'receiving the homage, and courting the aocicty, •ad flattering the prejudiets of thoee, who luivs ■ I I 1= 114 Nta tht tfhltf au.UTben «f the pobtio | i l «cif*, fom bsT* surrounded jour vice-regal thront vith * tht ereatureg aod partisans of agitation*, «ad, if you have not * bestowed exclusively on the leaders of the movement party* * the favours and rewards' of government, you have publicly and solemnly pto* miscd to (* ? so. I leave the completion of the pa* vallei to your lordship's own conscience ; but I must, in randour^ add, that your lordship has b»* lanecd * this partisan exhibition of preference** bj more than *• Mngle word of justice* — words of jostiee being very much at your lordahip'a eom* Permit me now to resume the consideraiiloii of your lordship's democratic doctrine about the eie* eutive power of 'the great body of the people*. Suppose for a roomen% my lord, your doctrine to be s&und, and apply it to the case of the royal com* mitsloners. Has not Mr. Papineau, as the reoeg* nised organ of ' the great body of the people', cbt* clared* that the appointment of a royal commission of 'nquiry is an insult to * the great body of the people'? Are not the commissioners, thereforet bound to retire from their * public stations', and to Mve John Bull their monthly draft for ^£2,000 st«rling? Under these circumstances, your lord- sliip's double capacity, as commissioiiei and as go< veinor, compels your lordship to draw som^ vecy fine distinctirns in your icttercourse with your French allies. As governor, your lordship thanks the assembly (or * the flattering and kind manner In which you have spoken of myself. As commis- sioner, your lordship would display a vast deal ei* tber of forbearance or of perspicacity, if you disco* vered in the assembly's proceedings much either of flattery or of kindnees. These very fine distino- tldos, however, ooncern ncbody bu: your lordship* If your lordship will- eondcsoend to borrow an •^fumeet from a private individi»l, I can mtk/f lU IS go* vety jour lankt yovff lordhhip, lh«c erta your adaiMioas m io * lh« grMt body of th« people* do not nee«MMrily oomptl tbt royal eommisMoners to rttire from their ' pub* lie ttetic M* What does your lordship mcen hf * eouotry*. If you mean Lower Canadat you vir* tually proclaim, that Great Britain is not to Ita^e • single representative in the eiecutive governmenl of tliis colony — that Lower Canada is praclioa!./ independeRt~-thAt * the Frenc'.. Inhabitants of thia province* are * La Grande Nation Canadienna** But these absurd conclusions prove, that by * coun* try't your lordship must have meant, not Lower Canada but the British Empire or the Unite4 Kingdom and Canada takon together. Tliin in* terpreution, if more absurd than tlte other, has at least the merit of being less treasonable ; and, if it be the true one, it may still permit the royal eon* mission to exist If, my lord, the democratic ab* surdity about the ^great body of the people' be sat aside, the more extensive meaning of *eountiy' furnislies the true test of fitness for *' public statioiu^ and presents the executive funotionarlu not OMfftly aa provineial but as imperial offioers* > v. ^ ^ u.< -«?« ^-„ ,. 1 have the honour to bCf < >< r^ r. $» My Loifd, Your Lordship^ roost nbedient humble asrwanl* Camiixus. No. XXXD. i ■>.■;,> ■-.■■T.4 11 itMy MoaiviixAbj I9%b November* 103*^ > ^l Lo»^, \ jrcaterday atttmpted to prove, that your lordslitp's democratic doctrine aiMMtt *la« graat body of the pac^le' was utterly iaeonipattbla with tbt niniiiiry subordiaetion of a eolosy ( a«d i ii 116 i i li: I ihill now attempt to provt, that It is tntalUlly ioeontistcfit with monarchical Institution*. Su^ a dooirint virtually invests the tnsjority of tha re« prtMntntiva body with all the powers of the exveu* tive govvrnnufnl anc^ of th'* judiciary. It, ther«> ft re, tends lo establisli, not merely a duspoiism. iiut ademotratic despotism, or, in other wordm the un« eontrollvd domination of * the gieat liody of tha people*. Such a d«ietrine, my lord, may he chc* risi.ed hy His Majesty's ministers and His MajM* ty's viceroys ; hut it is more easily reconciled with their interest than with their honour or their duty. Yes, my loid, your * precise inntruclions* seem to plant Mr. Hoehuck's ' pure democracy* ; and a majority of the commissioners will doubtless nur- ture it into maturity. Why not, my lord ? Is li not their interest to recotnmend themselves to a da- mocratic cabinet hy the |>ropa};ation of democratie doctrines? One member cf tliat majority, though placed above the temptations of avarice, may still ba misled by ambition ; the other, my lord, it known to be the sel^sh slave of the meaner as well as of the nobler vice, is known to have exchanged an honourable profession, for which his countrv educated him, for a place-hunting subserviency ko the ruling powers of the day. To place on a com- mission of inquiry a man, who ncitlier can nor will aflTurd to he impartial, was indeed an insult to this colony, an insult to his colleagues, and an insult to common justice. That man—his name, my lord, shall never pollute the leUers of Camillu?— has been so indiscreet as to express, with all tha dogmatism of self-sufficient vunitv, preconceived opinions on the very subjects, on which he is liound to inquire^ Though I will not name the man in either of your lordship's languages, yet, to give your lordship an instance of the connexion between namea and things, I beg to add, that, in the lan- gtuge of ancient Graaoe, hit name is VuLxuaa. in well langcd ountrv ncy kO a com* or will to this insult I, my illU9^ all iha ceived bound nan in o giv« twecn • Un- This tninsUcion, my lord, lupenwdM thw mniiity 6f introducing • third languag* into a proTin«#« which hat already one too many. In th« l«it elAuse, my lord, vou will cordially concur; bat you may not adopt my interpretation of it. It It the French languajre, that I deem su pet fluou«; it it the English, that is the object of your lordship'a proscription. Has not your lordship, m I hava already sliewn, threatened virtually to banish tha English language from every public depaitmvut, by law ? Has not your lords!) ip, so far as * the exe- cutive power of the governor' can go, already ba* nished that langunge by answering the assembly'a * flattering and kind' address in a French oiiginal and an English translation ? 'Die force of weak* nest can no further go. Would your lordship deem it a compliment or an insult, were * the Eng- lish inhabitants of this province' to speak only th« French language within the vice-regal halls? If a compliment, who would not pity your weakness ? If an insult, |who would regret your eha%tit«- ment ? But this, my lord, is a digression from m digression. The original digression was intended to call your lordship's most serious attention to tha almost universal suspicion, that the bird of prey haa rooted his talons in your lordship's mind, and draws it hither and thither with every flap of his ominous wings — or, in plain terms, that one of your col- leagues exerts over your lordship an influence) equally dishonourable and unconstitutional. Such « suspicion, my lord, must materially diminish your usefulness, whether as governor or as commit- siv>ner ; and your lordship cannot too speedily re- fute the suspicion by resolutely casting off the liv- ing incubus. Your lordship cannot prevent the bit d of prey from continuing a commi$tioner ; but your lordship will incur a heavy responsibility, if your too easy reliance on his superior wisdom vir- tually renderi him tht eommiiaion. I 5 'F 118 lo rtfftrd Ko the piactic*! result of your lord- •hip't democratic doctrine as to 'the great body ot the people,* I need not aay much. It would man> ifeatly enable the French demagoguea to oppress * the English inhabitants of this province' ; and any individual, who doubts that they would be willing to do so, possesses much more of charity than of knowledge. s;«< ' The latter part of the fifth paragraph, my lord, suggests some important considerations. It seems to reserve the more important share of the ufHcial patronage to the imperial cabinet, and is quite in keeping with the proverbially grasping selfishness of modern liberals. This view of the case, my lord, enables me to reconcile the apparently contra- dictory promises of the preceding part of the para- graph. Your lordship promised * an entire disre- gard of distinctions derived from the difference of origin' ; and your lordship promised also to appoint only men ' acceptable to the great body of the peo- ple*. The promised reference to the imperial ca- binet reconciles those apparent contradictions In a manner not very gratifying to 'the English inhabi- tants of this province*. The imperial cabinet will dispense the official patronage with ' the utmost impartiality' amongst Englishmen and Frenchmen; but that it may not violate your lordship's second promise, it will select the Englishmen not from 'the English Inhabitants of this province', who want the ' most essential* qualificatioti, but from the place-hunting dependants on Downing street, who, for the sake of office and emoluments, would make themselves ' acceptable to the great body* of the Esquimaux or the Hottentots. Thus, my lord, will ' the English inhabitants of this province* be doomed to ' a state of political inferiority,' be brand- ed as unworthy of serving his Maj3sty in any capa- -.ii :%t ».."'?•> '-i :r llf) ■r ,tf city, be opprtiied M lh« eomraoti Ytetim* of Frenchmen and Frenchified Eoglitbmen. I have the honour to be, ,,...^- »c- iviy Lord, .-.yvvvr;^- -^.^'^ Your lordship's most obedient humble tetvant, Camjllus* . .--.,. ,. ^ ' ,, . , • •-» -iji No. XXXIII. MoNTRiAL, I3ih November, 1895. My LoRn, . . ,^,i;i b» ^'' Instead of proceeding with the considera • tion of the sixth paragraph of your lordship's speech, I must, like the Roman £mpcror Titus, lose a day in noticing this morning's effusion of your old champion Cos, in regard to the fifth paragraph. Cos, my lord, has a wonderful versatility of talent. He writes one thing to-day and another to-morrow. But he has at last surpassed himself by pouring out both the one thing and the other thing on the same day. That Cos is dishonest as well as versatile, I will not venture to assert, for there is not the slightest reason to believe, that, while he $ny» one thing, he mean$ another or any thing at all, Aga' i, my lord, as if to multiply elegant varieties, wkiile Cos writes one thing in chambers, Coz's associ- ate says another thing in the streets^ 1 shall take the liberty, my lord, of proving these assertions with the view of enabling your lordsliip justly to ap- preciate the opinions of a certain radical journal. Firstly that journal gave your lordship's speech the credit of " apparent temper, manliness and imp«r> tiality" and, under the double screen of an if and a ytt, passed a kind of negative censure on *' the grafting of the Assembly's contingencies". Se- £ i Ji I \' :■ J ! u mt 120 «ondl]r, thai journal threw the eontlngeneiit, as be* ing awfully mysterious, entirely out of its ealcula* tion and lauded your lordship for )Our partiality to *' the constitutional reformers", ntirdi y. that jour- nal has discovered, tliat, in addition to the myste- rious contingencies, your lordship's democratic doctrine about ' the great body of the people*, though ' ns a general principle*, ' incontestably correct*, will yet, ' if applied without extreme cau- tion to Canada in her present circumstances', * b« productive of lamentable consequences'. Fourthly, that journal quotes as 'sensible remarks* an articltf from the New York Albion, in which the dema- gogues are termed your lordship's ' French allies*, and :!•«• constitutionalists are advised to * Let Lord Soscord make his conctniont and try his tytltm of paUiationM\ Have I not, my lord, sufficiently proved the versatility of your old champion Coz? While Cut, my lord, was writing all tlvese silly contradictions, Coz's associate was declaiming al- most in the very languageofCamillus, against your lordship's democratic subserviency to ' the great body of the people* and was honest enough to praise the letter of Camillus on the French language. I have, my lord, treated this matter in a jocular «ti a in, because the actors in thecunninf^ly managed farce arc unworthy of serious indignation. T now proceed to discuss the special merits of this moi n- Jng's effusion. Ccz tries to be fearfully sarcastic on all toryish persons, while he praises your lordship's ' monstroua innovation' about tlie indispensable test of ' fitness* in holders of 'public stations'. Cos lias most un- accountably made a disinterested mistake in praise ing a test, which dooms liiraself for ever to an ex- elusion ' from ofliceand employment'. Coz might have been of some use in ancient times, for.accord- •ng to Horace, any useless log was then good Mw natwial for a god ; but, under the raign of ;, asbr* calcult* iality to lat jour- f mystc- nocratie people', itestably me cau- res', 'b* ourihly, n artieltf e dema- h allies', ^et Lord ty$lem of Hiciently an Cos? ese silljr ming al- instyour le gieat ,0 praise lage. I jocular iiaged T nowr s iTioin- toryitU tnsttoua fitness* ost un- praise an ex- might iccord- good jgn of Pa ISl na tb« iww principle of ' fitneei*. he b compefent oolj^^. to damn your lordship with false, feint and fluetuai unfit fur fulfilling the necessary duties of their trust*. '1 his, my loid, is a pretty severe character . of those, whom the 'sensible remaiks* of the AW bion style your lordship's * French Allies', and with whom you are trying * a system of palliation' at the expense of the obsolete parchment of the eon* stitution, at the expense of sound principles, at thC'^ expense of the corpus vile of * the English inhabi* tants of this province'. Your lordship may well pray to be saved from your friends. if our old champion Coz must know more trtu^-' than Camillus of your lordship's personal feelinir%'^' for he has discovered, that tlie democratic doctrine ' about * the ^leat body ofthv people' ' has evidently been uttered with considerable cfTort on the part of hie Excellency'. VI hat Coz seemed to himself to mean, I cannot say; and, however dignified maybe an interpreter of nature, ', I must beg to elude the task of interpreting a natural. Coz, after having pronounced your lordship's doctrine, *as a general principle* * incontei>tably correct', endeavours to prove by a sne«r at * some persons', that it is not ne* cttssarily an emanation of pure dcmoeraer. Hieftfii^ ' tome prisons* arc, in a subsequent article, stated to be ' Mr. Viger and tbe minority party* on tli» « IS I ! \n onii lid* Mid * Metsri. Moflktt «nd M'OHl* on tbv' otbir^ ' Some persons' have again "o endure th#'' * unendurable' sarcasm of Cox as ' these people* \n the following sentence, *' We know not which to lament the more', the horri> fvtng picture which these people draw or the Tuture, or their vanity in detailing to others their sinister and nio bid feelinga." Finding that ' some persons* and * these people* oomprehended the Honourable George AToffatt and the Honourable Peter M*Gill, who have nobly dene thciir duty in the Council against a majority of FreiTchmen and trucklers, Coa impertinently and gmtuitously frames an impertinent and gratuitotit ' apology for these two gentlemen in answer to hie own impertinent and gratuitous charge. , " Messrs. Moflatt and M'QIH appear to have eombaU ted tlie doctrine more in consequence or the interpretation wMch mny be given to it by the Democrats, than of that which it legitimately beam in tlie connexion in whick it stands in the speech." ^ Cos displays a most plentiful^^laek of knowledge u well of words as of things. He seems to be very much puzzled as to the meaning of * one of the most essential elements of fitness" and tries to shew that ' some persons' and * these people' eonsi* der * one of the most essential elements' as ' the ■ole element' of * fitness'. The fact, that tliat qtia* lifleation is 'essential' or indispensable, is quite •uflkie .t to justify * the horrifying picture* in tb§ eyes' of all but those, who pay your lordship the questionable compliment of waiting to gather the meaning of your lordship's < vague and general language' from ' deeds done'. Cos, my lord, will find it diflRoult to reconcile this compliment with hia deetaration, that he feels ' quite at liberty to eaneasa freely the principles by which the head or other members of that commission may piolaat to be 'guided'; ■■»*(» fi.fyw.^ifin^u. »it~-^ vif^* »i»-^'-- #• « laa Wfictt Cox sajg, tiist 'RMBe peraons* and ' ^kii0^[ pcopW styled yoor lordthip a * wratch', your lord^'/ •hip must be rather Tcxed tbiHi turpruad at yumf*^ old champion'* falwliogd. ' ^-^^V ' '"»^^ ^ ^^a I have the honour to be, ** '* '^ ' • *^^^ My Lord, " -"'* ^^ Your Lordship's taost obedient humUa Mrvaol^''' CAkiinw M ■;. ''. :.i\ i-M Plf^ -5,. ■'t- I No. XXXIV. tj ' r»' < MonaBAt, 14th NoTcmbti) IK8S. ^ ,,-,3 v;j ,.j.;t-^ I must once more recur to the fifth pilj^' ragraph of your lordship's speech. ' ' It is credibly reported, my lord, that an indfa^- crttt member of the royal commission reeentlj^'^ stated, that every demand of the French faetkmf ' which would not interfere with the constitutioi^^ would be granted, but that every other demand-' would be resisted by an appeal to the sword. The '' ' rumour may be falM ; but commissioners of inquiry should shield themselves against false reports of' their language by a religious silence. Though th*"* rumour may be false, yet the indiscreet individuare'- general habits justify the supposition, that it majf'-' be true. The rumour, supported as it is both by" eiternal and by internal evidence, is at least wofi^t tby of a brief discussion. ^ So, my lord, the • two parties', which your lordi' ship is commanded by your * precise instructions* to recognise, are * the great body of the people' an#^ the musty parchment of the constitutional aet-ta''' ' the English inhabitanu of this province* being ii adthiag in the eyas of liberal nriaisten and libtral W \\' Mi lU m U v.: victroys. Ercry demand of th« Frtnch denMgoguc* If to bt diseussed by the powers, that be, not in r«> ferenee to its practical influence on either ' th« great' or the little ' body of the people', but in re» ferenee to the inanimate words of a British atatute. If these inanimate wcis present ye$ to your lord* ahip's eye, the demand is to be granted ; if no, the demand is to be rejected. Do tliese inanimato words permit his Majesty to invest the French de- magogues with all executive and judicial appoint- ments ? Your lordship will lie able to readyet, even with- out the aid of a liberal microscope. When, there- fore, the French demagogues sliall demand all ex- ecutive and judicial appointments, your lordship will, of course, receive ' piecise instructions' to make Mr. Papineau your successor, as the last in a scale descending fiom Dalhousie downwards, to make Mr. Viger Speaker of the legislative council, to make Mr. Lafuntaiue chief justice of the pro- viooe, to make Mr. Debartatch deputy post-master general. In the dismissal of lord Gosfurd, in the degradation of Mr. Sewell, in the punishment of Mr. Stavner, there is nut the slightest violation of the eonstitutionnl act. ■ . - . 11,": , Your lordship will excuse me for not recom- mending to your notice * fit' successors fur all the other executive or judicial officers, who hold office merely during pleasure. Could your indiscreet colleague have reflected on the meaning of his own words? So mucii, my lord, as to executive and judicial offices. But there is something more, my lord, that you may, so far as tlie government ia eonoerned, surrender without any violation of tho constitutional act. You may feeil the hungry de- magogues with the waste lands of the crown, pro- vided you can obtain the sanction of the provincial legislature and the imperial parliament. Of tb* luwaayi —s h a m e to • few t , ..-J ,;;.,i^ ..; . ,.;, ^.-.^iv " Every political object In Ampricii it eflfected hy art and duplicity. Poluiciaiu proceed upon the principle that the peopl>; are roola, that they are a great huge mats or ignorance and stupidity, and can be moulded to any purpose, however weak or wicked, that is calculated to promote their telSah views; and it is a melancholy re- flection that there is too much truth in the estimate they have put upon the intelligence of thit people. For the illustration of the forei^oing, let Mr. Van Buren*8 accept- ance of the Baltimore nuiiiinalion be duly cou«idered. Weak indeed muai be that mind— lost to every thing like common discernment— deatitute or the slightest senne of sel^respeet, if it doet not discover, in the very com- mencement of the article, the moat ahallow-witted, ser- vile and contemptible disaimulation that ever passed the lips of uian. •• I put it to the candour of the best friend Van Buren has, whether he beliuves that nouiinHtion ol him by a con- vention of the democratic republicans of the Union was the only contingency upon which he would consent to become a candidate for the hi^h office of President? Such a barefaced instance of insincerity, to call it by no worse name, admits of no argument. It atrikes the senset, without the aid of reason ; and yet the weak and delud- ed portion of thin great community, who never think for themselves, but are entirely directed by the cry of Huz- za for Jackson"— will gulp it down and march up to the polls and vote for Van Buren, as if he were as sincere as Washington^ and as virtuous as Wirt. Every man that can read will perceive that Van Bureu relies upon no merit of his own, but is vaulting upou iht back of Jack- son's popularity, full well knowing thyii among a blind and unthinking people this is enough tor his purpose; and hence he so meanly talks about hi!i.being the * ho- noured instrument selected by the friends of the present administration, to carry out its principles and policy; and tha't, as well from inclination as from du)y. I shall, if honoured with the choice of the American people, en- deavour to tread generally in the footutept of General Jackion ; happy if I shall be able* to perfect the work which he has so gloriously begun*. Can language be more degrading— can sentiments be more menial 1 "Would Washington, Jefferson, Madison or Monroe, have been guilty of such humiliating sycophancy for xht urpoae ; he 'ho- present policy ; I shall, pic, en- General \e work uage be 1 Vlonroe, lor thr 137 sake of an offlcc T Would any high-niiniird man, rape- cialljr for ihe office of Prrtideni of ihr* United State*, which impliea eTery thing that ii noble, mtunaniraotM and virttiouB T Mean, low nnd ahject, hownvt-r, aa he it, with shainr bet it npokm, it ix ndilrcmed to thr people, a great portion of whom will swnlluw the whole of it. and thert'Core nuhject the morality and diNrernnu-nt of them- ■elvet and country to the wont of imputations. Depend upon it, that government is approarhing a crisis of fcar« All portent, when such open and tiasrant duplicity on the part of politicians, is not considered too gross for either the credulity or integrity of the people, if they are too if norant to discover that thcv are the dupes of a crafty ' ambition, that they are the daily subjects of imposition, bad indeetl is their condition '- but infinitely worse, if possible, if understanding the vile discipline, they are nevertheless willinf to become the instruments of its hol- low-hearted purposes.' " I have the honour to be, '^ "' "' r My Lord, . .t ; /! Your Lordship's most obedient humble wrvimt, No. XXXV. Mt Lord, I must still defer for a day the consid- eration of the sixth paragraph of your lordship's speeeh. The envious bhinderers, who have nothing else to say against Camillus, accuse him of precipitate haste in inferring your future deeds from your past eipressions. Such fawning time-servers, my lord, pay a very bad compliment either to your head or to your heart or to both. They must mean that your language, if intelligible, is dishonest, or that, if honest, it is unintelligible. Your lordship may well pray to be protected ngainst such flatterers; CAMaLUt. ;rf;' u i..i\*ii%ln;.:' 1 .,'.>tr.r*>«.-.f .■.•■■ .-. ' fci- .:'.i:i i ' . ■ ' : .■ >i ttiiti ' '■■■'' ' ^ - -: 'f!>t-A "/ ember, 18dd. . <. - .iS . :!: I i :1 I J ! )i8 iai y«t your lotdsliip't dlseoTery of a " flkitering and kind manner" in the assembly's address may lead one to fuspecc, that your lordship may bail irith pleasure the gross insults of the fawning time- iiC7vers. My mode of ctilicism, my lord, is widely di(t«rent. ] first end^^voui to understand your words ; and I then believe that your lordshijp will second your words by your actions. Common sense enables me to io the former ; common ciia> rity compels me to do the latter. I trust, my lord* that you are not yet so far corrupted by foolish * instructions* or by your intercourse with bigotted demagogues as to c;..isidcr either common ncaye or common charity as a crime. ; , Permit me, my ^rd, to select a few instances, in which the fawning time servers seem to have been determined neither to believe nor to understand your lordship's 'anguage. Firstly, there was your lordship's declaTation, not less 'precise' than your remarkably * precise instructions*, which, till it should be justified by ' deeds done', the fawning time-servers were determined to consider as ambi> guous or false- Sec:>,, ^^.i. •j^fiyj;^!^^ Tliis, my lord, was sufficiently 'precis . ; but yat the fawning time-servers either could not under- stand it or would not believe it. Understanding it and believing it, I considered the ' mysterioufi* question of the oontir.jenoies settled, aud anttol- pated th/3 actual robbery of the treasuiy as a m«r« matter of course ; but the fawning time-Mnrera •lalt your lordship's actual grani into a ' roost im- portant piece of intelligence'. I subjoin yow Ictd' ship's words :—- .» v, . , , , . . ^ ISI *' Oentl'nneD^lB conformity with what I ttrtfd in my •peecb at tbe opening or the KMiou, on tbe sublet m tJie cootiagcr<'(et. 1 chcerrMly mcmIv to tte prsyer ot this address." •«,••■■' ■ - -...,, , Tour lordship's first clause, by proving tbat you •ometimet act ' in conrormity' with what you statVf must be a severe blow to the funrnini; lime- servers, who had resolved not to ^{ive your lordship credit for so vulgar, «o plebeian a viiriue as veracity* But your lordship's brief reply does contact one 'piece of intelligence', certainty *most important* to your iofdiihip, as an English nobleman, as a pru- dent governor, as a man of honour. For the SHk« of argument I shall admit, that your ' precise in- structions* compelled you to * accede to the prayer of this addres!*' ; hot surely, my lord, your nubl« and right honorable musters were not so unreason- ably cruel as to command you, * cheerfully' to put your hand into the public ch«^st, 'cheerrutly' to violate the very constitution, which your gallant colleague is to derend with the sword, 'cheerrutly' to ' ;;come the accomplice of Uoebuck and i&he |)4« tron of revolutionary conventions. Good hea>i:ns, nriy lord of <'^o.''*ord, are you mad enough to gloiy ia your shame, hardened enoagh to rejoice in a de- legated opportunity of doing evil, degraded enough to be ' cheerful' under ttie double Insa of a French- i6ed cabinet and a French faction ? Do not, my lord, suppose, that 1 have lust my temper. Ho, my lord ; with he pen as with the knife, it is tein* ptr that cuts keenly, deeply, fatally. It is not, my lord, for a humble individual, wlio has neither he- reditary title to disgrace nor official digni y to pros- titute, to eipect, tliAt your lordship will answer th«se letters ; hot I do expect, that your lordship. M u, commissioner of inquiry, will either yield to my arguments or elude their force to the satisfactioit of your own intellect, your own conMlence, your own honour* m r: 4 ft 9 I I. 1 i im 1 lao ; * Cheerfully', my lord i That accuncd word, which almost concentrates in iUelf the whole force of * Smile and sniile and be, &c/, shall be handed down, if Camillus should write a history of Canada for the purpose, to an indignant, a contemptuous, a scornful posterity. Whether Camillus may or may not write such a history, your lordship may rest assured, th«t, notwithstanding your lordship's at- tempt to make the French at once the official and the fashionable language of this colony, any future history of Lower Canada will be written only in the English language, only with an English pen, only with English feelings. If your lordship's am- bition eitends to posthumous reputation, I sincere* ly pity your lordahip. But this, my lord, is a di- gression. If, my lord, the fawning time-servers were con- tented with patiently and silently waiting for * deeds done', I should not condescend to notice their treacherous imbecility | but when I find them calling uprn ' all loyal men' to * give him their sup- portp because he comes in the king's name, clothed with royal authority and with good intentions', and in the same ' sensible remarks' admitting, that the French demagogues are * his French allies', I must, my lord, boldly expose their ignorance, their nreak- ncss, their dishonesty. Have the fawning time- servers the audacity to advise 'all loyal men' to sup- port the executive ally of the demagogues, because, forsooth, he is < clothed with royal authority and with good intentions' ? The language may be cri- tically correct, for the * royal authority' end thm * good intentions* are fully as superficial, and fully as easily laid aside as an unbuttoned cloak. No, my lord, so long as the French demagogues are yoirr lordship's ' French allies', I shall consider it the solemn duty of myself and every man of Eng- lish blood to oppose, io|obstruct, to embarrass every niovctutfut of the unholy coalition. 131 Your lor^Jsliip it said to be a clusical schotar ; and I pretent you with a passage from Deinosthe- nes's oration Dt Corona^ whidi will convince your lordship, that the precipitate haste of Camillus, if censured by the fawning time-servers, has at leairt the warm approbation of the prince of orators. ^ " The adviser and the sycophant, Uiough the^ do not{re- semble each other in any one respect, differ chiefly in this. The former anticipates probable results from actual appearances, and renderv himself morally rt-xpousible to the believers in his anticipations. The tatter, aftrr hav« ing been silent, when he ought, like the former, to have aroken, brawls away furiously, when he sees ' deeds ' 'r»e'. • • ♦ The end, indeed, when the Deity shall determined it, is within the knowledge of every sy- '. jptiant ; but the anticipation itself displays the wisdom of the adviser." In Montreal, ray loidi who is the adviser and who is tlie sycophant ? r , I have the honour to be, m. . ***^,^ My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humbla servant, ■" ^J^... No. XXX VL Ca MiM.t;s. f!KX ' ■ ■ i' ,,aru,.i'i i '•'■ ',', 'J'fS ■' ' ' . i'j ■iiA- ^/oyTRKAL, 18th Nov., 1B35. Mt Lo»»» ■!,,- ,■ ,.,^, ^, .,.,|^/,^.„ llie 6r8t two sentences of your lord- ship's sixth paragraph are ' Complaint is also made that incompatible offices are, in some 4:ase8, held by the same persons. In whatever degree this griov. anoe may be found to exist, his Majesty has signified to me his expectation, that it should be completely reroc ■ ed.* How naturully, my lord, the • complairt' of t^ . tn«t sentence slidrj into the ' grievanee* of the fceoot ^'-. vyoat lordship, doubtless, believing with =^ ^1^1 H; r: 1 y It. ^ . I \ i I 132 tht most liberal good nature, that every complaint of the reYututioniiry fiction is well grnunded.«M. Whether tlii« ainiable doctrine he iounk?ur not, your lordship, ns an impartial fimctioiiniy, if bound to give tlie benefit ol it to the constituiiunL\ist& as well aour.* Oh happy day, my lord, wbeu :. edress of every * grievance* shall have extinp;uished every * complaint*. Oh happier iJaron of Worlingham, the conciliatory harbinger of so auspicious a period. Oh the golden age of Lower Cannda. Oh the Saturn of mo(4ern tinnes. Rtdeunt Saturnia regna. What a contrast between your lordship's scythe and your gallant colleague** sword. Uctween the old and the new era, Itow- ever, thrre will most probably lite one point of dis- tinction. Under your lonlship's prototype, the rivers rolled tides of milk and nectar ; under your lordship, they are far more likely to roll tides of blood. Ctrno ipnum itpnmantem sanguine Thi/brim» In another respect, also, the modern copy resembles the ancient original. Saturn devoured his own off- spring ; the Earl of Gosford insults, oppresses and pillaces his own countrymen. 13ut this, my lord, is a digression. What does your lordsliip mean by * incompatible offices? • Offices* may be ' incompatil)le' in two ways. Tliey are ' incompatible*, if they require the labour of ' the same person' at the same time ; and they ate ' incompatible', if the possession of the one enables ' the same person* to be negligent or faithless in the discharge of the other. Under the former head might come the chief justiceship of the provinee and the speakership of the leglslatitre eouDcii { and if so, your lurdsbip is bound to leave 133 thff prcaent incumbent of tbcce two appointintiil^ th« choice of rctigning one or both of them. Un» dcr th« second head certainty come our mayoralty and our surveyorsi 'p of roads ; and your lordship, therefore, is imperatively bound to give Mr. Jacques Viger the hint to secure the richer appointment by the resignation of the poorer onr*. Kemerobcr, my lord, that it is not Camillus but ' his Majesty*, tliat ' has signified to me his expectation, that it should ' be completely remedied'. Your lordsliip is unlucky in your advertis. * Completely* has been almost aa rashlf enunciated as * cheerfully*, because it prevents your lordship from displaying a liberal impaitiality by carr}ing the rule into operation only against the little budy of the people. The ill timed adverb will compel you to mete out the same measure ei* ther of justice or of indulgence to the English chief justice of the province and the French mayor of ]if!ontreal. * Completely', my lord, is a tiro edged rrord. Why ' his Majesty* should have presumed to denounce ' incompatible offices* in the face of « trhiggish cabinet, and in the ear of your lordship, I cannot undirstand. Was not the whiggisii cal)inet of* all the talenU*. in 1806, headed by lord Gren* ville, who at once controlled the 6nancial expend!* ture and audited the financial accounts? Is not your lordship at once bound to inquire into every * complaint* as Commissioner, and authryi-ised to de» '•idt on many n * complaint* as Governor ? Did not lord Grenville hold, does not lord Go«furd hold, ' incompatible offices'? The utter incapacity of * all the talents' to suiti^m either the political rrputatfon or the military renown of the British Empire very toon 'completely remedied' lord Grenville's 'griev* snce';and, if like causes always produce like tffvct% lord Gosford's *,'gricvance' will be ' completely re* laedied' in a few short rooritha. When it is so, my Wrd, your lordbbip will havt a more honoisbto '^lf ^If i \ 1 1 Id4 traiot Uiaa your prtdeoeMor had» to tho pUw of •abtrkation. Baron Ajlmn was accompanied only by your gallant colleague'* * paltry merchant**; but Baron Worlingham will be closely attended by a coronetted earl. To make the contrast mora * flattering and kind', the ' paltry merchants' will not obtiude their plebeian attendance on a fallen ▼ietim's solitary grandeur. At Point Levi, my lord, your last look will rest on Cape Diamond ; and when your glance crosses the monument erect* td by the Ead of Dalhousie to one English con- queror of Lower Can?:'da, you may safely give tha ISarl of Gosford credit for having opened an equally brilliant career to another. Permit me to assura your lordship, that the second conquest shsll not ba characterized, like the shock of nations at Friedlandf aa a battle won but a victory lost. The dearly bought lesson of conciliatoiy experience will notba thrown away. But on perusing the third sentence of the sixth paragraph, my lordc 1 find that yonr lordship's defi- nition of * incompatible offices', according to tha favourite fashion of liberals, is not practical but the* oreticaL I subjoin the sentence. " Commencing with the highest, I have formed the opinion that it is neither right nor consistent with the wholesome separaUon and independence or the principal bodies of the government, and with the dignity of their members, that out of the limited number of executive councillors in this province, several hold offlces under tha Legislative Council and House of Assembly." It if to me, my lord, a matter ot perfect indiflRtr* tnee, whetlier these gentlemen resign their seats in the executive council or their 'offices under tha lagiflativa council and house of assembly'; but I aonfats, mylord, that the governor, who can ' cheer- fully ' violate the constitution and feel shocked by an imaginary evil, does strain at a gnat and swallow t cameL >\ hat does your lordship mean by * right' as distinguished from ' consistent, itc. 7 Your lotd' "W-WSW*^ il5 ship nutt Answer t^ question youmlf, for I cennoi •tttmpt to do so. I cordjdiy agreo with your lordship that there ahouid be a * wholesome separa'> tion and independence of the principal bodies of the government'; but 'separation and independence* may be * wholesome' without being complete. Tlite not only ^may be, i'ut actually is, the ease, for the more intelligent ilmericans hare discovered, that the complete * separation' is not ' wholesome* and regret that a partial mixture is prevented by that theoretical obstacle " tlie genius of their govern* ment.' As to the phrase * dignity of their mem- bers,' I do not profess to understand it. 1 shall rerame this subject to morrow. ^•'v^ I have the honour to be, ^^^'' ' ' My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant 1 Camillvs. No. xxxvir. *^.*?W "^ MoNYftiAt, 19lh November, 18S5. Mt LoKDf '*- At the close of my yesterday*s tetter, I stated to your lordship, that intelligent Amerieans do not consider the complete separation of all the de* partments of government as wholesonu ; and I now beg *o lay before your lordship the opinion of one of the most distinguislied jurists of the union on the subject. ** If, then, occasional or periodical appeals would not aflbrd an etrectual barrier against the inroads of tha lc» fialature upon the other departments or the coveromcBt, It is manifest that resort must ba bad to some eoatrlvss* ! 'f \% k li )8e CM. in the interior structure or the government itself, tvhich •hull exert a constant check, and prceeive the mu- tual relations with each other. Upon a thorough exami« nation of the Rubjcct, it will be found that this ran be best accompliiihcd by an occasional mixture of the pow- ers of each department with those of the others, while the separate existence; and constitutional independence of each are fully provided for. Each department should bave a will of its own, and the members of each should have but a limited aijency in the acts and appointments of the others. Kuch should have its own in(iependence secured beyond the power of being taken away by cither, or both of the others. But, at the same time, the rela- tions of each to the other should be so strong that there should be a mutual interest to sustain and protect each other. There should not only be constitutional means, but personal motives, to resist encroachments of one oa either of the others. j '* Thus ambition would be made to counteract am- bitioti ; the desire of power to check power ; and the pressure of interest to balance an opposing interest " There seems no adequate method of producin/r this result, but by a partial participation of each in the pow- ers of the others ; and by introducing into every opera- tion of the government In all its branches a system of checks and balancfs, on which the t^afety office institu- tions has ever been found essentially to depend. Thus, for instance, a guard against ranhness and violence in le- gislation has often been found by distributing the power among different branches, and each having a negative upon the other. A guard against the inroads of the ie- gis'ative power upon the executive, has been in like manner ap^jlied by giving the latter a qunlificd negative upon the former ; and a guard against executive in- fluence and patronage or unlawful exercise of autho- rity by requiring the concurrence of a select coun- cil or a branch of the legislature in appointments to of* flee and in the discharge of other high functions, as well as by placing the command of the revenue in other hands. " The usual guard, applied for the security of the Judi- cial department has b( en in the tenure of office o? the {udges, who commonly are to hold office during good tehaviour. But this is obvious'y an inadequate provi- sion, while the legislature is entrusted with a complete Jower over the salaries of the Judges and over the Juris- iction of the courts, so that t}:ey can alter or d'minish them at pleasure. Indeed the judiciary is naturally and almost necessarily (as has been already said) the weak- est department. It can have no means of influence bv psitroasfe. Its powers can never be wielded for itselu U has ao command over the purse or the sword of tba »' lirt*. .» No. XXXVJII. >.^ Montreal, 20tli November, Ib35. -t^ Tsvy My Loec, , . . , V. Permit me now, my l.)nl, to offer • few special remarks on your lordship's declaration, that it is improper ' that out of the limited number of Executive Councillors in this Frovince, s«veral should hold offices under the legislative council and the house ok' assembly*. In this declaration, my lord, there is a good deal of vagueness. If the possession of ' office' alleged to be 'incompatible' be inconsistent ' with the dignity of the members* of the principal bodies of the Government, I cannot understand, why the limited, or the unlimited num- ber of executive councillors has even the most re- mote bearing on the Question. Does your lordship mean, that every one of * the principal bodies* has a fixed amount of * dignity' and that every one of ' their members' has a share of * dignity' inversely proportioned to the number of his colleagues ? If so, my lord, your 'dignity' as governor must far exceed your ' dignity' as commissioner^ and this mathematical theory explains and justifies the dit- fer«nt degrees of respect paid by the ' flattering and kind' assembly to your lordship in your diffif^^nt ca- pacities, t Felix, qui potutt rerum cognoseerc causas. If, my lord, ' the limited number' were the onl} circumstance, that rendered ' incompatible offices' inconsistent ' with the dignity' of executive coun- cillors, your lordship might have remedied the al- leged evil by enlarging the number of executive councillors without adopting the absurdly republi- can doctrine of a complete separation of * the prin- cipal bodies of the government*. If the executive councillors bo iucuinpetetit to distlurgc their tlu- ■ i Hi" i I wm M 1/ 1 w i.ii 140 tiM, fupcncde chem, my lord, without fear and without compassion ; but do not, tny lord, act on a mtfely theoretical principle oT a very questionabia application. 1 he best way, my lord, uf testing the propriety of the merely theoretical principle, as such, is to apply it in its fullest extent to vwrj possible olijt!Ct, and thus to give an indirect d«« mon&tration of its practical falsehood. Now, my lord, the principle of complete separation of the principal bodies of the government is inconsistent with your lordship's tenure of two * offices'— more particulnrly as tlicy aic ' incompatibl. '—in iconsist- ent with any governor's possession buiii oi iegisla^ tivti authority aiul executive power, is ifC'^mir.t- cnt with your lordship's tenure ol office ' under tho house of assembly' ns Mr. Piipineau's viceroy. If, however, ono may judge from certain di&cre« pancies between words and actions, your lordship does not consider your lordship bound by your lordship's own tules. Some people, my lord, make rules, as bees make honey and Frenchmen build ships not for themselves but fur others. But your lordship seems determined to punish the whole of 'the limited numi>er* for even he theoretical fault of only 'several* of them. Am I to su.«peet your lordship of condescending to assign an untrne mo* five for your dismissal of the executive couivcillors or am I to give your lordship credit for biing can- did enough, on your present footing with regard to the anti-national demagoguVs, to admit, that * Evil communications conupt good manners'? How classical, how pious, how humble to pay a 'flat- tering and kind' compliment to Menander and St* Paul, at the expense of your own reputation for loyalty and honor. But, my lord, does any one of the ' executive eouncillors in this province' hold an office * under the house of assembly'? The honorable Mr. Ho- ney, my lord* holda the offio^ of law clerk in the p and on a mablt ?stinf( pltft *s every cl cl«- r, my uf tlie sisunt - more lonsi&l- ider the .iceToy. (ii&cre« lordslnp >y youT d, make >n build Jut your whole of cal faul^ ,cei your ir»ie mo • lUiciHors liiig can- regard to nit, that nannera'? ;ay a 'flat- er and •'^ itatton for » exe«uU»« ice *und€r B Mr. He- krk in tb« MuM Af umnMy, ^4Ar hti Majesty. Hd ««f1»l inaeeunwy might have been excusable, ay lord, had it not tended literally to Justify the mi eembly's preaumption of last scsMon, in hating eaa- eelicd his Mi^esty's eommission by the dismissal ot Mr. Heney, on the ground of hb being an eieeti* tive couneillor. During the present session, * tho eommons of Lower Canada* have taken the saitt means of shewing tlicmselres ' his Majesty's faith* ful and loyal subjects* by nomiruitin^ the revolu* tionary editor of tiie Canadien in Mr. Heney*t stead. It ia difficult, my lord, to say, whether too dismisaal uf (he one or the nomination^f the othtr be the grosser insult to the majesty of the Euglish sovereign, of the Englisli people and of the Englldl name, "^our lordship is re[ ./rtcd to have eipre«f^ td or .8 great body of the people' ? But it is, ray lord, conaolatory to all ' the English inhabi* Cants of this province*, with the exception of a feir blind or dishonest advocates of fair play, that your lordship bogins to be galled by the chains of youf faction. A worm, my lord, when trampled under foot, will turn upon ita oppressor. Will your lor4" ship do less? No, my lord ; and I venture to pre* diet, that you will soon be shielded by CamiUus ae» cording to his feeble power, from the onveoomed darta of cowardly, ungrateful and didoyal traitors. But to return to Mr. Heney*s case, my lord, your lordship dismisses him from tht Executive Coancil beeaii9t bf wlaw^derkof ^ihe asaeiAbly, I ; i 1 . >i^ 1 1 In w T. .■ • 1 - i ! v ■ fl ;* . »' ;i ■fliii I" Hf ^ i^ a^^OBlilydifauiiitfiuiii ffom lbs, offot oC tf^pmihfy^ not vnatchih* blfcx; lh« tasemM^, Efiilis oul Ui« bI«elr,bwnibeQaun tbey do noti^MUlp ((^ grf|. Ludiff.'oiM m w *he procr?dingy tbiftl^ ]^ trutt, St IcMi'oiw iikUvMu ' in U»provioe«, tbft ciDnot * ehMrfulIy* smile at st« Your lofiUiipf hpwever, tatj s^U pornpit Mr. UfPfiv to retain hfs commiMion, and may iM^dfk ]^^sa|aiy in the cifi! list to be submitted t'^ tb« bpus(^ M apsembly. Tbe d«initgpg^es,^ rty UftAp. wltt not grant bis salary; ^4 your IprtUhip vUl aJBli dfire ddM mk ^v^h foM ibUMk^d mudy, arf lovil, ti ktal^ ftbit you Witflad Co nibl^a raom fot men ' kdMi»tid»le to the great tiody of die peMle*? Voiirlordthip'fe apfieii to fwa * pf eobb iiisirai^ tibif^* thtred the iHtkttv of tobbiitt the M^itkM umiory between ydUr idrdbblp kod your l<»rili&ti|% idble im right iMmorsbl^ meetett ; bat your fonU ahip't conteiDpUted eurrender of all exeentite ett> ttusfity to * F^xeelleney'e heUSotC emeiuitet ftom the Hbenl Justi«e and the Impartid wfedoito of yoortelt tfloHe. You ny, < 1 felt it ny duty to iaitMfft t» tbtai the eolicltidon to Which my mind had eonie* Mfd f I iball eommunieala the lame opinton te ilAi pM^ authoritiM at hdme*. MThen yoilr lord4iip wfole theae pamgee you m^ hste forgotieti, tht^t ftd* ifitte a eodnmlti^oiietr df iiiquiry m welt aa t ic^ercor-iii-ehief. ' My mind', foiriooth I 80 yo . lit V 144 m I •M Um Mood of your ooantryara ? Tb« Briilab ookUtn «n4 tho mUitw of * th« gmt body of tU l^oopioV Tl)0 lotur, my lord, would titbtr rtp#2n •I iMNnt or spttdily Mtut n homo with tlitir mrtfttctt iMds. Tbo furtntr, my lord, art not Mnnibob; Ihty havo tyM to r««di lieatU to fctl and htadc to vndtntaod j and wbai muit b« unaoeountablo to jon? lordabip, thty ar« mora dupoaad to symiMtbiaa with Engtislimen tlwn arhh Franobmcn. Dots your lord^ip imagine, that ' iba Englisli inhabitants of tbif provinea* know not tha influence of pan, ink wdpapar? But tbia la a digrcMton. Your lordship lubtcqucntiy adda intuit to Injuiy by apaaking of * the wiali ihey bave axpresaad to ftUmittisb their scata*. Richly, my lord, doea such on •sprcasion deserve the elegant criticism of tba MiMrvf. It is true, my lord, that you merely im- parted to the executive councilloia * the conalusbn to which my mind had coma' in regard to ' incom* patible oflBcea' and left tbem to chooae between * their seau' and their ' offieea under the Isgislatlvo founcil and house of assembly*. Tlieir very natural ]MPtf«recce of the more lucrative appointments, your loidship somewhat oddly represents as ** the wish they have oxpteased to relinquish their seaU*. But let me test your lordship's sincerity by asking, whe« tbor « these gentlemen', if they had pieferred 'their seau' to their * cfiices' would have been permitted to remain in the executive council. This, my lord, is a question, which your own conscience will not peimit you to elude; and your lordahip's futuro proceedings in regard to Mr. Heney will be a praa- tioal answer from your loidsiiip to the public You will stand convicted of an evasive statement on your own testimony, if you do not either conrpel the m- aambly to receive Mr. Heney aa kw clerk or retain bim in the exeeutive oounoil. ^ Yout lordship prooeeds to say, ' My views are 146 not Umitad to thoce msw ; do union of ineomp^ tibi* or incongruous officct will Im willingl; acqi^* eseed In by me*. Your lordship's distinetion of * ineompatibU' and 'inoongruous' I do not prtcisaly apprehend ; nor do I fully understand the foret of * willingly*. If you zl all acquiesce in a ' union of incompatible or incongruous oiBces', it cannot ott- terially affect the Interests of the public, whether you do so ' willingly' or not. What consolation;, Ibr instance, can any place-hunter derive from your lordship's unwilling acquiescence in a * union of In- compatible or Incongruous offices' in the person of Mr. Mayor Vigerorof Mr. Chief Justice SewtU or of my lord Gosford ? So far from deriving con* eolation, he would be distressed by the violence dona to your lordship's feelings. * Willingly', my lord, is a far more convenient adverb than * cheerfut]y'» because it will enable your lordsliip to enforce or suspend the rule against ' incompatible offices* ae* cording to the convenience of yourself and your * flattering and kind* friends, lleaily, my lord» the wilier of vour speech must have been labour- ing under Bacon's * first distemper of learning*, which < is when men study words and not mat* ««r.* I have the honour to be, • , ' ;' My Lord, Y«ttr Lprdsbip't most obedient humbla aenraot. CAMAtdf. ■•ii^ 1 1 ]\ 1 .': ,..'J 1 • . . ,>*)•• * .( \' •/■ lii mf t^ I It I. p •||«Jr!.HJOit. hi f^^UtaXi .,i'>:.mti Mr Load, %.K ^ #JlkB .r» (qfyour lord^ip'f six(h paragraph with a few cene^ Ifll ^marJcs. Your lordship's argument against thjp sa^ne ^er«on'fi tenure of * incorapatii^le ofl^tes', in 89 i«^ ^1 yqur Jordahip has condescended to iHustrate yff^T yi^yn by i^e iiutances of certaiQ meinjiers 0^ th« exj^^iye cpu^ciii as^un^ the necessity of * th6 vfjjiq^Ii^pie sep^ratipn and independence of the p|i;^\cipa\l i)q^ics of tljte govern iqeiit* ^nd the propri- ety pfcops^ltinff * the dignity of their members^i— Th^ ^VUfT fippnaation of your lordship's argument ifftooj^i^pwy j^r a logician's grasp ; ahd theformer. though undeniably $ound in itself, receives a fetal 9na!f« f^oni your lordship's ingeniously assumi^ ^epMty pf whotesomp and complete. But, my lord; t s^ldl t^ke the foundations of your lordship's argu- nuQt, a« I ^nd ^hein, and sholl attempt to prove, that they are more competent to support an argu- ment against your lordship's new reign of professed liberality than against the established system of ^ll^ged eurruption. Your lordship's fifth paragraph pledges your lordship to confer ' office And employ- ment* only on men * accepuble to the great body of the people,' orj in other words, only on the members or the tools of 'excellency's faction*' What will then, my lord, become of the * wholesome separation and independence of the principal bodies of the go- vernment'? Instead of whoUsorM aeparation and independeHcet my lord, your new system will estab- lish compkU connexion and dependencct a perfect iden' tittf of purpoact an undivided unity of action. In this conclusion, your lordship must inevitabi) un- curl unless your lordshij^ is so singular as to doubt, 147 tliat your French alKes, in the strictest sense of lan^age, constitute a regularly organized faction. On any individual, who may doubt that they are 90, reasoning may be lost ; and yet duty, my lord, may sometimes compel a public writer to offer even fk'uitless reasoning. Has not the majcrity of the asfembly reputedly formed conventions of a virtu- ally legislative character ? l^d not the edict of the despot force on the electors of Yamaska a represent' tf tiv^ of whom they had never heard ? Did not h« Irterally tk d practically force his haW-leamed tool on his imlettered dupes? If your lordship cannot Answer these questions in regard to Dr. 0'Callagh« an^ election, the honorable member for L'Aasomp* tion, who has the reputation of being honest and candid, can answer them for you. But, ray lord, I can prove from a more recent fact, that your French allien are a faot|on. Your lordship may have ob- served i^ the public journals the names of three candidates for the representation of the county of IffontreaJ,— «Mr. Brown, Mr. Evans, and Mr* ^obin. In great Britain or Ireland, my lord, suoh a show of candidates for a vacant seat would certain ty produce a most glorious contest ; but, in Lower Canada, electioneering matters are very difieientty managed. The election took place not in th«i county of Montreal but in the county of Quebec. 'H^he neued tenders of the three aspirants were for- warded to head-quarters, and submitted to Uie ho* aorable conclave ; and a verdict was given, as your lordship ought to expect, in favor of the French fiame and to the prejudice of the English names.—- The only duty of the free and independent electors was to register the decree of the demagogues. Do not these instances, mjr lord, prove, that your Iprd- ship's French allies are a banded faction, not repre* senting but ruling * the great body of the people' ? Pots your lordkUp, then, require fartlier demon- stration, that, by surreaderiog < office and employ r ,] ni: III! i^ ■ I I If ill I Jl f '■ : i 1 . 1 V 'i in ii n 'M (,: I!: 148 ' ment* on\y lo men ' acccptabl* to the great ImmIj of th« people', you wonld absolutely preTent *tb« wholesome leparation and independence of the prin- cipal bodiefl of the government*. Neither a aenae of duty nor a feeling of shame would restrain the £m- tious disposition of a revolutionary councillor or a revolutionary judge. Then as to < dignity', my lord, would it be quit* conaisfent with v * dignity* of a judge or of an executive councK.' 3T to be the slave of a majority even of his own faction ? Certainly not, your lord- ship replies; and I now, confidently, ask your lordship, whether your own argument against ' in* compatible offices' is not more repugnant to the new reign of piofessed lil>erality than to the eata- blislied system of alleged corruption. Your lordship, moreover, seems to forget, that place-hunters are fully more likely than place- holders to be influenced by interested motives in the discharge of public duties. Has your lordship, for instance, ever heard, that Mr. Vanfvlson exchanged the loyal for the revolutionary ranks, that he might punish the government for not having appreciated and rewarded his superior merit ? If you have not heard so, I must ascribe your lack of knowledge on this interesting subject to your almost exclusive preference of the society of Mr. Vanfelson's honest and gentlemanly friends. The province, my lord, must be revolutionized, because Mr. Vanfelson ia not his Majesty*s attorney general. Tlie folloiring apposite passage from Hutchinson*8 history of the eolony of Massachusett's Bay, will show that Mr. Vanfelson's patriotism has not the merit even of originality. ' The oppcBition to rovernment which resulted in the loss ot the colonies to Great Britain took its rise from the disappointment of an ambitious spirit. Upon the death •f Stephen Sewell, Esquire, chief Justice of the province of M«ss«chusett*s Bay, in September, 1'760, James Otis, fisquire, of Barnstable, selicited fovernor Bernard f9€ "^ dM tltoMloa { Qm fovemor, lM>w«ver, thought flt to ooa« (br It, witittrat Mticiutioa, upon Mr. HatclUBftoa, tiM 4Maty fQfT«raor of ite province ; tad from ikat tlato Mr. OtM aiia hi* toa (autlior of the first poUiice) pamphlet apoB the rifbti of American»,) ' were at the heaa ofcverr neaenre in opposition, not merely in those poinia ^f&tea coaeemed the governor in his administration, but in svdi aa conoeraed the authority of Parliament, the oppositioi to which flnt began in this colony, and was moved and conducted by one of them, both in the assembly and towh ofBoatoa*. The younger Otia was the osteasibie, whUat the elder, being speaker of the assembly, was the actaal leadierofihe opposition*. Th« aequel of the storjr may be interesting and iMcful to your lordship. It will, I trtut, ba well dJgMtcd by yotur loidal^iip. ' The governor flattered himself that he should be ahl# to reconcile to him both father end son. By the demise of the king, all civil as well as military commissions must be renewed. This was the only opportunity whicii a Massachusetts governor could have of nominating per- eons to ofllce, at pleasure. When he came to settle the county of Barnstable, where the speaker lived, he mada Mm an oflTer of taking to himself the urincipal ofloes 'it the county, and of naming many or his relations and iHends to other offices : and the whole county was settlea to his mind. He took for himttlfthe place of Jirttjuttiet tf the county court of common piemt^ and ulto that qf jiMfge •f prtbattf which gives him much weight and inlluenca in the county*. * Mr. Otis, the son, soon after appeared in favour of a grant, made by the assembly to the governor, of the island of Mount Desert ; and then was the appearance of recon* ciliation. It lasted but a short time.' But why, my lord, should your lordship be at all anxious to be surrounded bv executive councillora 7 • If rumour tell truth, your lordship already haa • aufficient body-guard of tolerably ready advisers, which, iit tha vulgar but expressive bnguage of American writers, would br; styled your lordshtp'a * Kitchen Cabinet*. Had your lordship ever die* played any practical regard for constitutional prin- ciplM, I might say something about the uneonstitu* Uonal obaraeter of aeerctand inraapoiuibla adviscra; but tha ipcefal fiMt,that your ofiSeioua frienda aro iMrt Itetignoranl^ than k your lordahip, of tb« Uuf ' in ' •■■ 8 i:'i f; 1 ;- U ' 1 i \i |« : ■ ') - 1 i ^ '} i u «s ■ i Iff !ii flu iiiiii ,^ Mi i ! : I lip' % 1 1 fF if. la i nil i si ' m ittci y pnr 'ii«lil tflbln, it » pmeiieal dt^ibn t» iuqr uaiur^Meit^ on ih«fr ptrt widi jrour kinlilu|P^ '^Ile cooduet; ind your lordihip't poIHe tifttfil (p kocoinpany your tioble prtdeeenbr to thejplMe !»• n-'i*' y"' 1 1^ .*- So. xl'i. %/ M^!caj^i, 25th Novecobcr, The seierith paragraph of ^our loi^» shipli speech opens with ibe following zemarlcs. , * h la stated as a crisTiace, that (h* f ovemiUent. l»s, at various tjmes, renised |p giv^ th«lcgial»ture mtp/cmMjQ account and other d6<»iinta(ii wtiicb were neeeai&iy for One proa^cutiok ofitt ihquttie* ; ind thai the Ateeutlvs m iUMJMM. is.tU cpacf > conmuAicktedy whep rcqmtttd, tb* dBftetoMc whick nave ptMed between the c«ioiM« <•• putMeateadtlielocftlfOvtniiBeat. His Mfije«ty*s fO» vwa^Mfit ^3*t tM4 tlie sflMunlHy may have been expcwM uie^ft^^if^co^r^nUin^fhMO Uufaoitrce'. With what • bMutlfuI aimplteity does your lord* •bip sweep aside the upper house bj identifying * this legislature' of the first scnUnee with *the aa>' sembly* of the second. Unless your lordship b«- Ueves with tha satirist, that words are intended to conceal thoughts, I must infer from your lordship*a language, that your lordship hid>itually eonsideff Hft a^mMy as tht Ugialatur: 1 must either draw suefa ui inference or suspect your lordship of hav- ing, in the first sentence, didngenuously wished to impute the complaint as well to the legislative o(Hineil as to the assembly, and of having, in your second, been thrown oflTyour guard by the naturid and irresistibly force of truth. Totur lorddiip has unfortunately furnished too many instances both of unconstitutional feelings and of Jesuitical languagf to enable me to decide betweeu the two explana- tions of your lordship's obvious confusion of &f m- hiiurt and ossemi/jr* A thought strikes me, my loid^ May not your lordsliip, in imitation of the liberal fathers of the reform bill, throw the blame ojT your owi^ wjlful blunder on the * inadvertence' or this bad taste or the * firs^ distea^per of learning' of your own scribe ? "' ' Aj^^n, mjf lord, how ingeniously you eoqtras^ ' the goveniQjent* of Lower Cft^ada ip the firsj^se^. tf pM, w|.th ( hi^ Mi^esty's govc^nim^t' of £n|()an4 ill tnci s^nd. Ifpu ccwfesst that the provincial * govct nini^Qt' is not ' his Miu«*^y *<*. W|iy did ng^ y<>ur Iprdshi||,c<|inplete tb« Antithesis by styling it * Mt., Pft^incfiiV ? Ho^ piovo^^gfy yotw; ^m'^ * fi^ diftft;i|apf|t of le|rning*, does reveal the A^gj^ ing ff^lfty of the deij!ii^||if iie's (^c^ottsm over 6oUh ' the govcmroenl' an4 the pi^Tc. .; 11 '.-. '^ ■■ i ' 1 if , f- 1 * ',* t -^ ) ^ ^' .i ' " 't ! J' ; ii if ; I . r- 1 t > !. '' i i : 1 '. '■ 1 ' , 'j H! . M t Mv |»rotttd to ooosidcr tht tahiUiMM «l tfit i|iapt«cl MnunoM. Tht tceond tenlMMt, nijr loni, pmut A gmtnil vott of eenturo on tonit of jro«7 lordship** predeectrais. Would it not, my lord, bavo botn mort manly, more eandid and mora cqui- tablt to ipceify rame of the instances, in which * the assembly may have been eiposed to some inconve* nience from this source*? Had your lordship at- tempted to specify such instances, you would, most protiably, have found, that, like your lordship's own exeeptlons from your own general rule, the rtft^uired documents oould not have been communicated * without violation of confidence, or a special detri- ment to the publie service*. That your lordship will be less scrupulous, than any of your predccea- aora ever was, about ' violation of confidence* and * detriment to the public service', I am reluctantly compelled to believe. Your lordship seems to labour under an errono- ous impression as to the powers of the assembly. You allude to 'accounts and other documents which were necessary for the prosecution of its inquirica' without deigning to qualify inquhiu by the epithet eomttitutioneJ. The constitutional power of the aa« teml>ly is merely to co-operate with the legislative council and tlie governor in making laws not repug* Mmt to any imperial statute ; and your lordship will admit, that the French demagogues overstep the li- mits of the constitutional act, when they erect them- selves into a judicial tribunal. When Colonel Eden, my lord, was required to surrender certath * docu- ments, which were necessary for the prosecution* of the unconstitutional inquiry into the riots of May, 1882, he was amply justified In refusing such * do- cuments* without any reference to * violation of con- fidence' or ' special detriment to the public service*. When Mr. Collector Jcssopp was required to exhl* Mt certain * accounts*, * which were iteoessary for the prosecution' oi a measure intended to take »A^, :i.: 159 io the poiU of Great liriuin and Ir«Und, h« tlid was amply justified in refusing such ' Accounts' witliout any referencv to 'violaiion of eonfiderea* or * special detriment to tlie pu!)lic service*'. If I ann not very much mi«tii' en, it is to those 'accounts' and tliose ' documents', thaf jour lordship specially refers ; and, if hy its inqnirita^ your lordship means U$ constitutional inquiries, I maintain, that even oa your own admission, the assemhiy had no right of * accevi' to juch * accounts' and such * documents*. Your lordship, moreover, seems to luhour under an erroneous impression as to the assembly's mode of proceeding. That illustrious hody, when it wi«hes * access to accounts and other documents' does iiot always request ' the government* strictly so called, to make its subordinate agents give such ' access*. It rather attacks the latter than the former, becausa it believes that it can imprison the subordinate functionaries and admits that it cannot impri! nion has been expressed by a loading member in his place, that so far from thesp gentlemen having the power to inquire into the proceeding:!* of the assembly, it would btr competent to that body to cause them to appear at the bar of the house, for the purpose of being examined as to their own proceedings under the commit>sion. I would feel obliged if some of your correspondents, conversant with constitutioniil law, would instruct us upon the sub* }eci ; for, if such be the ciisc. the impolicy of the measure must be apparent to all : and it would be well that those who would be di»poseu to give information should ba awaru of the paramount power of the asseriibly over them. This difficulty would seem to arise (rom the cir- v'umstance of three commissioners being named, one of whom W8H protected by his office of ggvernor-in-chief, and would not have obtained under the commission as origmally proposed to be conferred upon the earl of Can- terbury or upon lord Amherst. Nor would this difficulty H., lll:\ |;p I* II I Mi ijs ^f >8< >; IM I hnH wtacli a^pa the cAmmmi«iioa propoaed to be |i*ta U> Um doke of York in the year 17^6, u mantioo«d la the communicfttiOD or your correepondent under the vlfumtur^ of* A CoMtitutioBsUat'. Aa the qoeartioa now stands it is one fUll ofimporunce whether looked at theoretically «r in its practical coosequcncet. Qushitr. Suppate the deinagoguM» my lord, to call tht membcn of your lordship's ' kitchen cabinet' before them« Mid, in default of attendance or of return* iiig civil answert to civil questions, to send theni all to eondttct the grand inquiry in the common pttAf what irould your lordship do ? Should your lordihip d«re to thick or say or do any thing at all on the subject, you would be piactically divided into two characters, sent to the common gaol as bead of the commission, and permitted, if you should feel so inclined, to remain in the Cha- teau as head of * the government*. Seriously, my lord, there is nothing so absurd or so «tid«* tibtu, that it will not be attempted by your French alllce. Your lordship hta most successfully contrived to place yourself between two fires ; and I think that I know, whether of the two you iM to be the hot- ter. I would recommend to your lordship to forget your English, that you may at once escape the hot- ter Are and become more 'aoeepteUe to the greak body of the people*. I have the honour to be, My Lord, Tour Lord^ip's ihosi obedient humble $etnint, 1&& Na XLII. MoitTMiAL, S6th Non,1885. In ray last letter I pointed oot te your lord«hIp the neecuity of conflaing the * in^ttirieaT of the usembly to the objeete of conttitutioael legislation, and of refusing to aid it with * aeeounta* and * documents* for the prosecution of any other 'inquiries*. From the neglect of the nuuiina Frin- €ipH$ 6b$ta .ny lord, very much mischief has ariaen in this colony. Under the constitutional act, the ' inquiries* of either branch of the legislature are Ktrietly limited to such objects, as come within the legisIat'Tc power of the whole legislature ; and yet the assembly has been quieUy permitted to erect it- self into a judicial tribunal under the imposing title of the * grand inquest of the country*. As reason- ably, my lor , might the legislative council have erected its 'f i. >o a high court of impeachments, or the governor have usurped any prerogative of the king of England. But the assembly*s usurpation of judicial power is not only uaconstitutionl but in- iquitous—for nothing: 'oy lord, can be more glar- ingly unjust than to eommenee an inquiry In wpad to any man's public or private charactei , which, far want of a court »>f impeaehmentd, can never be brought to any ss-tisfactoty co'^ elusion. The us- urped power of the demag<^es exposes every one of their victims to tlie certain injury of an aceusa- tion without granting them the probable benefit of a trial. Until a high court of impeachments be cstabli^ed, your ^ordship commits a crime against the constitution and against the sacred laws of jus- tice, as often as you acknowledge the aasembly to be the * grand inquest of the country*. Tbert does* to be sure, exist a tribunal, before which the char- ges of the assembly can be investigated and decid- i , i ■ 156 fl'l ii «d. Tht judges of that tribunni, roy lord, Art hi* Majesty's colonial secretary artd the law-of!i<:er9 of the croirn. Of the impartiaiitj, learning and in« telligencc of such a tribunal, the case of the late attorney general of Lower Canada af/ords ample proof. That gentleman, my lord, had been ttus* pendcd hy vcur lordship's predecessor in a bitterly regretted hour of conciliation. He was acquitted by lord Ooderich of the assembly's charges, con- demned unheard by the same nobleman on nfw charges invented by Denman and Home, and tub* tequently declared innocent both of the charges of the assembly and those of lord Goderich, by Mr. Stanley. But the merits of the tribunal, niy Iord» are not all told. Air. Stuart, after having been ae- qnitted, condemned and acquitted again, was virtu- • ly puniihed for crimes, of which he was innocent, by those who acknowledged his innocence. Such, my lord, is the appropriate tribunal for investigat- ing and deciding the charges of the assembly. Permit me, my lord, to state, in brief and undenia- ble language, that Mr. Stuart was condemned, not because he was guilty hut because the assembly wra his accuser. Does the recent progress of concilia- tory principles, my lord, promise a moie -equitable decision from my lord Glenelg ? No, my lord ; your lordship's conscience tells you, that any simi- lar accusntion will meet a similar fate. This long digression, my lord, at last brings me to review your ccnciiiatury ^sanction oCthe assembly's uncon- stitutional and iniquitous inquiry into Mr. Judge Gale's appointments Having already seen your lordship, on untenable ground, dismiss the execu- tive councillors to make room for men ' acceptable to tli3 grer.t body of the people', am I, my lord, uncharitable in suspecting your lordship of the aamt paltry motive for aiding in the persecution of Mr. Gale. But your lordship, as head of the go- vernment, is not less interested in defending Mr. II* i 157 Gale, Uian Mi. Gal« himself, in this respect, Mr. Oal«*s case, my lord, differs very widely from Mr. Stuart's. In prowwuting a public officer for alleged malversation in his office, there may have been much malice, much injustice, and a glaring viola- taon of the constitution; hut in persecuting a judga on the score of anto-judicial conduct, vhich, what- ever may be its merits or demerits, was known to the government at the time of oppointment, is a di- rect and daring encroachment on ' the executiva power of the governor'. But I forget, my lord* ' tliat you have introduced the elective principle into the system of dispensing '- office and employment'* Does not your lordship's suicidal conduct in thia matter justify my prediction, that your lordship would even make vacancies for hungry knaves ' ac- ceptable to the great body of the people' ? But, in Mr. Gale's case, your lordship may peibaps find It difficult to ascertain the opinion of * the great body of the people.' If the demagogues, who profeu to b« the organs of the people, hate and envy Mr. Gale, among the people themselves he is rematkably popular. What * great body of the people' will your lordship prefer ? * The great body' of course, that recommends a vacancy for some of the hungry and illiterate demagogues. Your lordship should exhibit your peculiar kind of impartiality with a little more caution, if you wish to escape the pity of your countrymen and tho •ontempt of your French allies. . The demagogues, my lord, begin to be seriously afiaid, lest, under the indulgent reign of your lord- ship's impartiality, some of them may cease to b« patriots. Of patriots they entertain nearly tha opinion of Sir lloberi VValpole. • rstriots', said Sir Robert Walpole • spring up lik* ■uiIirooiBi : I could raiie liAy of tliein withia tlit four> ' o2 Ml, 3' CM : 1 t; ii I' :i 1 158 snd-iwenty hourt. I have railed many ol th«m in ooa niglit. It ia but relustnc to gratify an uoreaaoaable and iosolcnt demand, aud upataru a patriot!' I b»ve the honour to bt^ My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble lerfMit, . . , Camillus. Vo. XLIIL iM Iff MoNTftXAX^ 1st December, 1895. Mt Loft»» The city of Montreal >^^s;fday exbi* bited a spirit-stirring sight. Your lo Hship's op> pressed and insulted countrymen peac.ubly and proudly «ralked in procession through the streets of this city to the sound ofmartial music. Before I explain the nature and the objects of the proces&ion, permit me to carry your lordsliip hack to a previous procession of I5th November, 1834. On tliatday, ny lord, * the English inhabitants of this' city, in order to testify their sense of tlie illegal conduct of the returning officer for the WestWurd ot Mont- real — a miserable creature of the name of lAisignan —marched in peaceful triumph thiuugh the city, and literally paralysed the more than equally nume- rous dupes of the Fiench demagogues. Nothing, my lord, but a reliance 6n the very soldiers, whom the demagogues had repeatedly recommended to the tender mercies of the assassin^ and whom they seemingly wished to remove from the scene of every election, prevented the loyal and faithful descend- ants of the traitors of 1775 from abandoning their hones in the extremity of their ttm r. AA Mr* Papineau, my lord, wliat would have happened— > 159 but for the presence of the British troops. Push the iron of the question, jnj lord, into the very nurrow of the dasterd's soul* The coward's red blood, injr lord, will become white on his eheek and bis brow; and, without giving your lordship a di- rect ansT7er to your) question,) he will clasp your knees, lick your feet, promis<) you a civil list, pro- vided your lordship wilt reject the bill for the re- moval of troops from the scenes of parliamentary ttleetiont. Your ^'^rdship will, of course, reject the bill, uot because it 15 onconstitutional and impracti- cable, but because it aflfects the nerves of your great- est and best friend. The appearance of yesterday'a band of brothers convinces me, my lord, tlut the provisions of that hill, if they ever con^<^ into oper- ation, will, in less than three years, give your lord- ship's (^pressed and insulted countrymen the exclu- sive possession of the island of Montreal ^nd of all the comnunicationswith Upper Canada, both on the Ottawa and on the bt- Lawrence. How can your lordship prevent such a result? Your French al- lies wuuld run without being driven. '1 his, my lord, is a course to be strongly deprecated. But of two evils, my lord, the least must be chosen ; and on the unhappy author of the greater evil the te- sponsibility must rest. Ask your conscience, while it is yet comparatively unworn and tender, who that author is. Yesterday's procession, my lord, was composed of •11 classes of the citizens, with the exception of your French allies. The day, my lord, was sacred to St. Andrew; and your Scotch victims, aid^d by your English, your Irish and your German victims, had met to revive]) the tender recollections of their native land, to refresh the proud associations of na- tional glory and to strengthen each other in the re- solution of being worthy of their fathers. Against cueh a band of brothers would your lordship. eo«- mit the crime, enormous e^en in its very expression*, 11 M m. V V: n i ■ leo ofotdtriog Briiish troops to point UiedcadJy iub«? Could British M>ldi«rs withstand th» effect of na- tional music? Would the gallant sons of St. Geoifn attack 'The Roast Beef of Old England'? Would the gallant sons of Sc Patrick direct their aim against * St. Patrick's day in the Morning*? Would the gallant sons of St. Andiew charge with fixed bayonets the sacred tune of * Tullochgorum ? No* my lord; *the English inhabitants of this pn>» Tinet' laugh your lordship and your lordship's French myrmidons to scorn. Yocr oppressed and insulted countrymen despise your allies more hear» tily than they despise any one, but the miserable trucklers that dread them. In the foregoing re- marks, the place-tiunting gladiator will doubtless find a justi Ration of his inditcreet charge of Or- iM?ge!sm, against the inhabitants of Montreal. That man, though almost unworthy of notice, is not unworthy uf "hastisement ; and I shall per« secute him, wherever he may hide his head, if there the English language is spoken, if there an English newspaper is published. Dis« honest enough to come to Canada with his opin- ions formed on the very subjects of local inquiry and indiscreet enough to avow such dishonesty, h« can make no other atonement to the province for his conduct, tluin by immediately retiring be- yond its limits. On these grounds, my lord, 'the English inhabitants of this province' will undoubt- edly demand the man's official degradation. The place-hunting gladiator, my lord, knows nothing of the real feelings of the loval population of Mont- real. The societies, which have been here formed, are absolutely necessary for the relief of the poor and the sick ' English inhabitants of this pro- vince'. Your lordship's French allies, having the publia purse i:> their h«'*'?3, can relieve their poor or sick dupes, after the ingenious fashioa af tbtaua. 161 Wlio, out of hit great bounty, Built a bridge at tlte expeuBe or ihe coanty- Yes, my lord, th« dein?goguet hare granted money to a French hospiltil and have refused aid to an English one. Thus do they make extremes meet, by promoting the uncongenial union of cliarity and spoliation. Like Uohin Hood, they take money from one cla.^ to give it to anoiher. Tliis, my lord, is a true specimen of liberal Jus- tice. In the evening, my lord, about one hun- dred ond fifty .nembers of St. AndrewV Society, with the office-bearers of the other societies as guests, sat down to dinner. The tiemendous cheers for the first six too&ts sufiBciently evinced the unshaken loyalty of the party. The seventh toast, my lord, was admirably received. Every glass was empty ; every hand was motionless ; every tongue was mute. Contrast this, my lord, with the enthusiastic eheering at the name of Lord Dalhousie. ] have the honor to be, My Lord, You7 Lordship^s most oltedt. humble servant^ Camillus. No. XLIV. ' Montreal, 2d December, 1835. Mt LoftB, Afler my yesterday's episode, 1 now resume the consideration of your lordship's speech. Your lordship's seventh paragraph closes withtbf following sentence :_ i " There is scarcely any document within the power of til* f ovcrnmect which it will not always b« willing t« 162 Uv before you, except thone confUential communicauon* with the aathoritien at home, or with in own officer* here, which it is obvious could not be made public in l41 case*, and at all «ca«ons without cxtreiac inconve- aience." lo my qainute critielsoM on iht style of your loidship'a speech, my object has be«n not to aoi the pedittU at your lordship's eypensfi ^ut to break through the misty veil of your lordship's language into your lordship's breast< With the same view, I now as)c your lordship to give a sft^ciic interprf- tion of * scarcely*, wliicb irapliea a general ex* ccption from the rule of submitting ' accounts ^nd other dociunents' to tlie assembly in addition to t^e special exception stated by your lordship. Your lordship either tises unmeaning words or shel- ter yourself under a general expression gainst future contingencies. When any document, thai 4p?s not fjMl within tlie range of * those confiden- tial communications', is demanded by the assem- bly, it may, if such a course should be convenient, be refused by your lordship on the admirably strong, Uberal and honest ground, that you had not pro- mised to submit every other document without qualification or reserve. So far, as your lordsliip's apparent want of candour may affect the French assembly, I entertain' the most callous indiffer- ence ; but I cannot but feel an honest indignation that your lordship, after having censured the con- duct of preceding governors for withholding ' ac* counts and other documents' from the assembly, has adopted their very rule of action as your own guide. But how can your lordship carry into ef- fiwt your own speeial exception ? How can you prevent the assembly from having access to * those conAdential communicfitions with the authorities at home or with its own oflieers here'? Have you not retained Mr. Roebuck as a spy on ' the •iktliorilies at home' as a biurowing ferret, for in • 169 fUU vAligatiag * thOM c rider that only two patties, the government and the legislature, are intetested in the production of ' accounts and other documents*. In this, my lord, you entirely forget, that there are such parties •s the law and the people and the sacred principles of justice and other countries hvsides Lower Cana- da. Is your lordship prepared to neglect Hndfpurn and trample in the dust all these parties in your intercourse with the French assembly ? Oh no, repli«*s vour lordship. I shall give these parties the benefit of the general exception of '^scarcely'. Has your lordship done so? Did you respect the law or the people or the sacred principles of justice* when you supplied the assembly with documents for the prosecution of Mr. Gale and the virtual an- nihilation of executive patronngc? Did you re- spect rights of Britain or of the neiglibouring oulunies, when you encouraged the republican de- magogues to interfere with an imperial cstablislt- ment, such as the post office ? Tiie po<:t offi oe, my lord, is placed, even in republican America, under the control of the general government ; nor can the entire continuity of the British system be broken into disjointed pieces with impunity. It is thtt duty of every man to refuse to give the assem- bly any information on the subject. Whether your lordship do your duty or not, others may do theirs rather than adopt the servile maxim regis ad erem» plar. Let your French allies, if they dare, send to Montreal fur an unwilling witness. Let liiem try to And a messenger Iiirdy enough to attempt the •cuure of a single citizen of English blood. I have the honour to be, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant, Camiixos. T^- 165 Wo. XLV. MoMTKKAL, 8d Dcccmbtr, 18S& Mt LoftD. Your lordship's ci^^hth paragraph* which tmu of some * Blue 15ook' cr other, 1 pass without remark. 1 quote the first sentence of your ainth para- graph. '* The too fVequent reserration or bills, for the Mgnift- cation ofhiH Majesty's plcntture, and the delay in com* municating the King's decision upon them, is a griev« ance of which his Majesty's government are solicitous to prevent the recurrence". , This conciliatory passage, my lord, differs so widely from the cabinet's notorious desire of con- centrating all power in its own hands, that I must either suspect the cabinet's sincerity or consider such an instance of self-denial as a measure of its entire subserviency to the French faction. Is not my view of the grasping selfishness of the existing administration amply justified by the arrangements, -which are mentioned in your fifth paragraph, in regard to the disposal of all oflRces, * of which the emoluments sh«U cxoeed a stated sum' ? Is it not amply justified by the provisions of the municipal bill, which refer almost every thing to Downing Street, as a court of last resort? Is it not con- sistent witii the almost universal proceedings of the bawling liberals — whether of France or of Eng- land or of the United States ? With the afTairs of France And England your lordship ought to be well acquainted ; but you may not be aware, that Andrew Jackson, who professes to be more liberally democratic! than any former president, has done more than a11 his^predecessors to concentrate all 'Jefialatt've power and all executive authority in the P : u 1 c 1^^ i;l U6 '1 h & hdiiuls of the chief aiagratrate of the rcpubh'c. In one word, my lord, tlic concentration of all |H)wcr in one and Ihe same point is part and parcel of the pure democr?~y of your lordship and the imperial cabinet, as it is the only thing that can render the numerical majority of a people wholly independent •nd akqgether unoontrollahle. But, my lord, 1 can offer a special proof of the insincerity of your lordship's noble and right ho- norable masters. While my lord Glenelg was ac- tually sketching the very sentence, which I am now considering, he had. for months, been guilty of flhamefal and fatal * delay in communicating the King's decision upon' two measure*; of vital import- ance to Upper Canada — the bill for estabiishing a bank in the Gore district, and the bill for cntvrgmg the capital of the commercial bank of K'ngston. But, my lord, even after 'communi \g the King's decision upnn them', the indolent baron was guilty of still farther delay in transmitting the sanc- tioned bills as authorities for actual operations. It 18 Just passible tluit the indolent baron's feats of the assembly of Lower Canada may spur him on to more vigilant activity and more 'flattering and kind' oourtesy ; and, if he entertaias your lordship's pe- culiar admiration ef Frenchmen, the ciscumitancc, that that assembly is French, will doubtless enlist his aflfections en the side of hi« feaii. * Oh, for Ho;!ar(h's magic power', my 'ovd, to ropresent yeur lordsJiip and your lordship's noble and right honor able masters in the attitude of kissing the rod of a despieable deraagc^ue. I will not, my lord, inveigh againat sudi slaves ; I shall reserve my searing seorn for tliose, who can feel shaoae. I must, bow» ever, add, that, if the moderate and conciliatory course, whidi your lordship publicly and privately recommends lo the ' two parties', is to be found iu your lordship's own conduct, every man of £)nglisli blood in the colony * would rather be a dog aiul or da thatJ ledgj moci the croad liamj tionJ JMdgl judie second sentence of the ninth paragraph. " I shall coiuidor the power of rbMur^iu^ bills, aa n right to bo employed not without much caution, nor vx> ccpt oato^lc evi4eat necessity". In this remark I cordially agree yriih your lord- ship ; hut I must, in candour, add, tliat I do not consider your lordship remarkably competent to carry your own view into operation. How is your lordahip, after having discarded the executive council, to decide on the existence of < evident necessity' ? W ill your kitchen cabinet counsel your lordship and realise the picture of < The lame leading the blind'? Will your loidship rather prefer, as a ground for reserving any bill, the ob> jections of • the great body of the people' ? I have, my lord, hit the truth at last; and your lord- ship, therefore, will not often have occasion to exert tbe rtglH of reservation. It is impossible for any bill, that is not ' acceptable to the great body of the people', ever to reach your lordsbip. Ih every thing, that your loidship lias cither said or done, you have seemed to consider Lower C«na> da as an independent state ; and I am much afraid, that, were your judgment sound and your luiow. ledge of constitutional piinciples correct, your do- raocrati prejudices in favour of 'the great body of the people' would blind you to any aud every en- croacbmetU on the supremacy of the imperial par- liament. The danger of unconstitutional legisla- tion, which arises from your lotdsbip's weakness of judgment, want of knowledge, and democratic pre- judices, is alarmingly increased by the anti^natioual and republican avowals of the assembly, and tlie almost entire corruption of a majority of the legia- iative council. I venture to assert, ihtH, should 111 li n 'i lit' t I m 160 the two houses pass four unconstitutioiul bills* your lordship, in your present helpless condition, would sanction three of them. I have the honour to be. My Lord, Tour Lordship's most. obedient humble scrvaat, . 'tf ■ Cakiuvs. No. XLVL \\ lIoMTaBAt, 5th December, 1835^ Mt Lord> I subjoin the second sentence of your ninth paragraph. " His Majesty's government also undertake on their part, to bestow the most prompt atientton on every ques- tion of this nature which may be brought under their oo- tice, and especially, that no measure, having for iti ob^ jtcttke inttitution in this province of any colleges or schools for the advancement of Christian knowledge or sound learning, shall hereafter be unnecessarily defer- red". The * flattering and kind* generality, which I have printed in tlie ordinary characters, amply me- rits the elegant criticism of the Minerve, more par- ticularly when illustrated by the special boon held out in the remainder of the sentence to your French allien. The passage, as a whole, exhibits your lordship and your lordship's noble and right hono- rable masters, as unbecomingly eager to propitiate the hungry, ambitious and anti-national demago- gues of the assembly. Well might the fiee and independent republicans of the Burlington Free Press say of your lordship's speech, . , _. ^^ " Wbiis reading this speech, w« were ajnuaed at ani P" •ni 169 -ff»^ JiMuatcd with th« covru^ly afArit, which •eeiii«d to p«r« vM^.snd cbAractetiH- the whwie uHt". ' At the Kaxard of offering tn uuple«Mnt digre»- ^lonj I submit the reioainder of the article from the Free Press, that your lordship may see how far even foreigners of English origin sympathise with your lordship's proscription of 'the English itiha- bUants of this province". ** His excellency Kems lot to be aware of the real state •f affairii as tJiey now exist in Uie province. The posi* tioD which the earl has assumed wc think he will flod it difllcult to maintain, conjointly with his delegated autho- rity. A candid unbiaMMed mind cannot but come to the coociu^ion that he has takan i^r ||rant«d, withoot any investigation, that the ("rench are in the right, and that nothing more is required of him than to comply with their requests, and peace and harmony will be restored. He ia careful to say nothing contrary to the wiahes of the French part of the popiuation ; while those of Bri- tish origin are spumed in contempt iVom the (boi of the throne. We very much mistake the spirit of Beitons, or his lordship will And he has his hands full to effect his unhallowed designs. In his speech the French are the flrst named in defiance of an precedent, they are held up aa the bone and sinew oi the nation, aa the inUHigence i and, therefore, as those fit to rule. He sayg, as governor, he ' will execute with alacrity, impar- HaHtif and firmness, whatever he is competent to do of hiraaelP. What security, we ask, have the people of British origin that he will execute any thing with im- Eartiality when thelwhole tenor of his speech showt that e is a partizcnl With how muchflrmness he will act when called upon to oppose a Pa|Hneau measure) we leave time to determine". The letter part of the sentence, which I hire printed in italic characters, deserres a more parti- cular discussion. I do not precisely know the meaning which your lordship attached to your words ; but I do know, thar they must have been generally understood to convey a censure on Lord Aberdeen's rejection of a bill for erecting into cor- porations the French Canadian institutions * tbr the advancement of Christian knowledge or sound learn- ing* and to imply a promise, that my lord'Glenelg p2 1' ' . i 170 wotiU 'cheerfully* toMtioa tnf tinular btii uad m« tuAlly r«liQquMh his Mt^HlfH chltoM to tb« ■•Ig. nioriM of the MtninMy of Montreal In defiance of tlve British atamte of iHi, 1 am afraid, nay lord, tWi ' the moat prompt attention', wbich the iti6io» lent tiaton promises to pay to all reserved blti% may soiceumtc interfere with tht due consideration of such bills, for Lord Glerelg is notoriolialy incap^- ble cf doing auy ihfng both] promptly and well. Tlwa, ny lonl, Bwy * the most prompt MtemURi' be 'n s«(»i6ee, dffffed at the vhrine cH* dHpkublr demt^fl^ue, at the elpeiiSi of * the £loglUh Ihhi^ «ao'.« of Ihie •nMrincc', of Ifae provi«iottsof the eon* stitution, df the juft rights of th« itnperial altth«. Hties. Sudi an etui, if at do oc6ut, Will hi ftlaxtit irreanrdiaUe, for, as i] already apprised yeiir lok^* thi)^, %n«ie doM ^.ot «xist an/ jadkhil itibtmal fat* rwvtewlngi and. ilT* neresasary, revel:.tihg the acts iH ookAikd legislktureh. But what, my lord, b the tendency of the itpe- cial 5>romise about * colleges or seho<^« for the ad- ^lane^inent cf Christram knowledge or socad hMti*- ing* ? lu tendency, my lord, is to eneoutngfe tht «sa«mbiy to squander such portion oif the piiblie IrvvMiue, as a greedy faetion and acdnruftt govern > tnent tffay not pillage, on the dissemination of dn^ lur.d of 'Christian knowledge*, and of one kind of 'sound Icaaming', on tlie propagation of the rei%ion and the language of 'the great body of the people*. Yontr lordship inMt be highly deiighted to fnd, that your demooratfs Icheaie for pillaging et»d oip* pressing your countryancn, beb&use they Arc fbw and, on aoeount of th^r Hewmess, entitled to yoye genifrosity and protecu'o.i, may be ektendcd as weU to ralifiousmr literary privileges as tCeivil and po» Uiiaal right*. But the democratic ssbeme, My iordi not only may be extended, but eciujril^ baa been lo^ Inquito, my lord, how «mob monc^» withia tiifee Irv years, has beea expended or 171 Ff«aab-C«aadMa colI«gc«» and bow iiul* on M'Gill c«ll«9t or any £i»gUsbiiuiiUiiMn 'fur tfatadiraAoo* oMot of CbrisUui knowle^fa or ■Niiad kettning'. Hit nsuUofpuch an inguiKy mil bigU? delight Ml ioa^rdel cbMopion of * tb*KTcat body of tilt p««|»}«'. Yoo mil bad^ that 4lu.gntU lod^ haa got •vacjr thing and lA« iJMik Aotfjr nothing* Your-aa*- tiafaetioa raax» al«o^ ba enhansad by tha oorm^ eratitm, that, the liuU bo demasoguet display an un- due partiality towards instftutious ' for the advanee- meut' of the relifl}ioB and the language of ' the great body of the people'. They have, my lord, attempted by unequal legislation to attMOt f\spVk to these institutions at the expense of the interests of IBn^i^Hsh seminaries of sarer prinaiplea "ind oS higher pretensions, litis venr day, my lC>r^, I have seen a petition, that is to be preiented to tb4 l^islative council, against a bill for shortening the p<9rlod of a law-student*s clerkship from five to four yeara» iTOoidod ht kaa ttnditii at u freneli- Canadian Cd^kgt. 1*0 nave petitioned the assembly wottl4 have been a waste of tidne and kbour. The friun* ers of the petition, my lord, seem to be apprehcn- sr^", thet thct legislative eouiHsi), in order to remove a vhecvetteat anonMly, Miay aggravate a preetieal grievatm* by extitadt^tlie itavidiouii ptfvHe^ C# tlite graduates of uiy British uaiveraity. Shotdd ii VU .1 !• :: 172 I the legralativt couiieil adopt lucb an iTMndinent, your lordditp may soon h^vt » glorfoiu oppolttmity of teourging wttli both huid«one«Iatt of * thte Eng. lish inhaUtants of this (woirinoe** The scheme of the d^iiMgoguet, ray lord, it glaringly iniqattont, for it it not eten pretended, that Fr^ch- Canadian oollegetgtvea better education than the EngUah schools of tlie province. SerlousTy and solemnly, my lord, you canhot sanction such a measure whe> thcr the bill be vitiated or not by the damning blot •f rttroqpective legislation. ^ I have the honour to pe. . . , My Lord. • • Your Lordship's most obedient humbli scr'vant, -siiir.I vdt i> i::'\hmtrhn -j.'/j' CaMILLVS* '-r'; h '. » '" '\i"\f'.v s ' "":'■ ' •!■'* \ . ;* ,nf.\ '.v-n ,..i. Ko. XLVU. •1) . i ; .1 ■ d'. '' ' MoMTRSAt, 14th December, 1695. MT Loan, . i>< ;i.i..'f.i«i-^ -. .•^mi^i'l . J' T During the past week, whfcb was so erually fertile in hostile deeds as to open wi'h the project of a political congress, und to close wlUi the formation of a military brigade, I deemed it chari- table and humane to give your lordship a respite from the infliction of hostile words. Youi lordship's tenth paragraph is remarkable only for obsequious eeivility. llie latter part is most amusingly obliging. ■: . '; ' ' ' His Majeity takes so derp, ana if / rhay use the ex- pression, 80 penonal an interest in the aflairt or this country, that '<• ministers have received ibe moat nn- auulifled commands to lay before his Majesty, ioune- diately on its arrival in England^ every eommunication wluch either branch of the legislature may iddrMS t« 179 rtM Ifee Throne, nod to ire that hia Majesty*! tmtttt b« conveyed to the province with the utmoet poeeibto .ge, my lord, may be couitly ; bat it is not consiitutionaU These renuirks, my lord, will appear trifling to none but the illiterata •lid tlic superRelal, for I cannot too often repeat to your lordship that words are things. T^ie writer of the despatnh, whoever he may be, is rianiftstly eiiher destitute of eoiistitutional knowledge or ig« norant of the meaning of language. He certainly ft not both a statesman and a scholar. Ttie follow- ing letter of ' Philo and of auch ncknowli'dffHl ability as lord Glrneig, could tiave been the. iVuD^fii- of tEii p«p^r. The prcnt peculiarity of tbe Kpctch in (iqestioii ia, thdt It haa nothing ofthc tone and m&noer ^icll b)i|0Bf (0 auch p»»irs. Itiit evidently th»work oT inore UiVMi OAp iMuad' You have, in aoinc parta of il, t)i» alior^ ipjlit^ry a«nt«oce,— to others, tbe long, involve^ pftrentnema «ei(itencfc of the la wyer— and some other scn- u»nets thM are «<*« f encru, and of which may be iMkid t|»ba& rone B^d of moat w but we mttst not fasten ui)on him a sin against taste, which this production exhibits. PllILO>-CAMILLVSk Cflccmber ft, ISM. To the best of my recollection I never sUted^ that your ]ordship*s speech had been ' written or sketched by lord Glenclg*. I merely asserted on very good authority, that it had beet) manufactured in Downing-street; and my assertion is quite oon- si^tent with the supposition of < Philo-Camillus', for the military man and the lawyer and the indi- vidual who writers in * the circulating library style' may have tried their 'prcntice-haiids' at the docu- ment under the eye of the noblo and right honour- able secretary. It is certain, howeveri that the do- cun^ent, m a whole, waa imported in the Pique, and that it was slightly altered merely by way of acclimMiou. The improvements, however, wcro not very sredltable to the discretion or the tact of your lordship and your lordship's colleagues, for one of them was the famous promulgation of ' pirre de- mocracy' in virtually surrendering the executive potroii3g« to ' th« great body of the people'. Your ' picciae instructioas!» my lord, ordered you to act on M> damnable a principle ; btit they (lid not au- l7o ■> H lliorise you lo prttoUiiu it. Yuur lotdaiMp knows, tiul tay &tatcn)«iu i% true ; and you alto know thu y«ur motive for ' oliefrfully ' going beyoml your * preciM inaruclions' was tbe wo§k d«slr« of oo«Mrt> ing ft temporary popularity. How it muat glaMcn tbe heart of every true pstrlol, of every indep«nd- •nt EUiglishman, of every Itonett man to reflee^ that your lordship's iodisoreetavowAi of a prinoipio, which the more crafiy secretary mcttiU, that ' tbe Engliih inhabitants of this province should disoo- ver ouly by tiM painful and tedious process of in- ihietion, has signally baffled its ptacticall tpplieatiion. If your lordship do not now einbraoe the earliest opportunity of practically disavowing tlie aati-na> tiooal principle, your lordship is cither somelbinfg more or soraethmg less than man. Your lordship's eleventh paragraph presents Ml incongruous mixture of petty complaints, on whicii even your desiie of concilhitiog tbe demagogues of the self-constittttod Assembly shooid not ha^t in- duced you to * make any specific observations'. The ^.welf^h paragraph, my lord, sets grave diS' cMssiun at defiance. What a contrast bet^veen your lordsiiip's anxiety to reconcile the ' two parties' and your lordship's deii.re of tcgallt perpetuating the distinction of language ! It is to l)e regretted* that your lordship's dislike of < inootupatible or in- congruous offices' docs not extend to incompatible or incongruous sentiments. Differenfce Of lMi« guage must pioduec diffeienoe of feeling. The luiity of the former is the only tJiinf that o«ii tii* gender the unity of the latter. Would it not bttve bees more staHMmanlike to have advised ' tlte Eng- lish inhabitants • ''^ this province' to speak French or your Gallic fiiends to speak English ? fiither language would fioliticaUy be preferable to both; and yet I fear thvt even the influe«c« of your lord-, ship's cy unplc would not induce ^^our oountryiDcu ' cl»ecf fully' to «Hitintt themselves lo a lauguagi*. h i'i :•! nil mm which caaoot txprcsi comfitrtt wliich knowt AoC th« tnditniog term hoau, wbicb requirts crery rouadc and •teiy limb to act m an interpreter of tha tongue, and wbieh, tliough \9Xt not leait, i» laid to harden and distort the features of youtli and beauty. But seriously, my lord, the ineascte will be as fatal as it is ridiculous. It is a lever, my lord, with which I shall vigorously attempt to raise the national and patriotic feelings of every nnn of British blood in British America. The French faction's rashness and your lordship*s weakness havto rendered the struggle no longer political but purely aad exclusively national. A Fiencli state shall nut be permitted to exist on this English continent. Five hundred thousand determined men will speedily repeat that declaration in voices of thun* der. I have the honour to b^ My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant, Camxllvs. No. XLVIIL lloNTasAL, 16tb December, 1835. Mt Lokd* Thfi neit twelve paragtaphs of your lordship's speech either require no comment or have already bt^en incidentally considered. The next three, respectively numbeted 25, 26 and 27, may perhaps form the subject of a series of didactic let- ters for the information of the Royal Commission- ars. The remaining seven paragiaphs ar« wot thy of a brief discussion. In the commenoemant of your twcnty-eighth paragraph, your lordship says, ' This moment, as it !' 3 eighth it, ui« 177 %9etm to mc, t« a graat opportunity fur good or for evil'. I very Rtrongly doubt, whether your lordship attached any definite meaning to tlie quoted words ; and 1 cannot gather any other meaning from them, than that your lordship's conciliatory course, as it seemed to yourself, was destined cither to narrow or to widen the breadi between the * two parties*. So safe a prediction displayed at least as much of a cautious temper as of a prophetic spirit. I do not know, whether your lordship and myself attaeii the same significance to 'good' and ' evii'.~>If your lordship, according to your avowed principle of arli8m«-at united. This I proclaim as my 1: I n 178 opinioo : in the support of thia principle 1 will live mmd die. • * * • I spefik of the connexion which ought totubtiat between the military and the rcat of their coun- trymen. Upon thin point I nm indeed proud to ditfrr from the right honourable gentleman. Because, aays he, there are bad men and bad principles abroad in the coun- try, the military must be secluded Irom (he society of their fellow-flubjecta. He then moat aptly introducen the iaocuage of the Mock Doctor, and aaya, 'If I cannot make othera dumb, I can make them dual''. I will place them entirely out of reach, where no such doctrine shall assail their ears. What la the full meaning and extent of this doctrine 1 Can the right honourable iKentleman make hia troops partially deaf. Can he prevent them from listening to the voice of sedition, without, at the same time, shutting them out from the knowledfe of those principles of rational liberty, whose animating influence, 1 say, ought to inspire the soldiers of a free country 1 They ou^ht not, says he. to be taught disobedience. Ood forbid, that they should ; but, i» it not a plain pro- position, that indiscriminale obedience it not the duty of an En^tUhman, whether Ac be a soldier or any other ci- tizen f Where commands are illegal, it is his duty to re' sist them. The right honourable gentleman surely does not intend to say, that his troops should be altogether deaf; if he does it will be in vain for him to look for an army in this country, possessed of that physical advan- tage ; he must call in foreign aid ; he must at once intro- duce into the bosom of our island an army of foreign mercenaries'. IVill your lordship condescend to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest the foregoing sentiments of Mr. Fox— with particular reference to the state of affairs in Lower Canada ? Will you also con- descend to remember the very peculiar circum- stance, which extorted Catholic Emancipation from the Duke of Wellington's cabinet ? Has not your lordship, has not the Royal Commission, has not the French faction so treated 'the English inhabi- tants of this province' as to justify their acting on your idol's doctrine of resistance ? But let not the coming storm, my lord, bo misunderstood. ' The English inhabitants of this province' wage war not with the British people but with the British cabinet, not with hi* Majesty but with his Mi^esty's Minis- twf, not with the law but with its dishonest and III 179 t tun mark* ments state con- Ircuin- from your not habi- ngon ot the ♦The 9r not binet, ini»- t and * cheerful* violator*- For myself, my lord, and most of ' the Englisli inhabitants of this province', I confidently declare that they would, even after a completely successful resistance to the anti.national measures of temporarily misguided rulers, rather return into the bosom of Uieir mother than attempt the establishment of a precarious independence or become part and parcel of the American republic* Flatter not yourself, my lord, that ' the English inhabitants of Uiis province* will halt between two opinions. Why, my lord, the only English jour- nal, that supports the anti-national faction, boa&t* a French proprietor, and, during the temporary absence of your privy councillor Dr. O'Callaghan, glories in a French editor. The French gentleman's anti-national lucubrations are translated into the English language ; ^but they are not translated so accurately as to conceal the fraud. What English- man, my lord, could have used the expression ' in our midst*, which adorned an anti-national article in yesterday's Vindicator ? But I am too hasty, my lord, for the writer, though an Englishman, may yet have been actuated at once by the ambi- tion of following a noble example and by the con- ciliatory desire of blending the two languages into one harmonious whole. After this long digression about physical resist- ance, permit me, my lord, to resume the considera- tion of the 'good' or 'evil' results of your lord- ship's conciliatory course. In the first place, my lord, ask your own conscience, whether your course has been impartially conciliatory. Have you not made every one of the * paltry concessions' to one of the ' two parties' ? Have you not, on every pos- sible opportunity, violated the rules of etiquette and the decencies of polished society, that you might shew partiality to 'the great body of the people'? Have you not accompanied your official answers to one of the ' two paiUcs' with private notes to ia- ^il ' Is 1 li 11' ^i : ■i !.• ii! 160 (lividujil demagogues, while the Uoyal Commiuion, of which you arc the head, sufleied an official letter from the other of the ' two patties' to remain for eight or nine days without even an official reply ? Whether, my lord, was so partial a mode of carry, ing your conciliatory principle into effect more likely to produce ' good* or * evil' ? < £vil\ my lord, in the first instance ; but if that * evil' has roused the indignation and stiffened the sinews of *the English inhabitants of this province', I ven* ture to console your lordship with the assurance, that such 'evil' will be productive of 'good* as well to this colony as to the whole empire. In the fore- going estimate of your lordship's impartiality, I liave purposely omitted any mention of those pub- lic acts, which flowed from your ' precise instruc- tions', as my main object was to demonstrate the purely personal feelings of your lordship. Is your lordship happy? The question is a startling one ; but ic must often force itself on your lordship's mind. In Ireland, my lord, the violent opposition of one party of your countrymen was more than neutralised by the cordial support of another. Tn Lower Canada, however, the almost universal suspicion of your lordship's motives, and the universal opposition to your lordship's mea- sures, which your countrymen display, cannot be rendered much more palatable to your lorddiip by the cold applause of a few revolutionary and illi- tarate Frenchmen. I have the honour to be, My Lord, Your lordship's most obedient humble servant, Camillus. defi^ nc my nadl luion. I letter lin for reply ? carry- more ir, my rir hM lews of I ven. iiiranee, ' as well he fore- iality, I 3«epul>- instruc- ;rate the ion is » f on your le violent men was ipport of le almost ives, and ip's mea- :annot be fdahip by and illi- le servant, LLUS. 181 No. XLIX. MoKTaiAL, 19th December, 1686, ■ |Ht Lord, * ' . Your twenty ninth paragti^ih opens with the following sentence : — ** To the Canadians of French ori^n I would say. do not fear that there ii any design to disturb the I'orti oi bo« ciety under which you have so lonf been contented and prosperous." In thifl sentence and in all the succeeding sen- tences of your speech, your lordship seenu to have forgotten, that you were addressing ' Gentlemcii of the Legislative Council, Gentlemen of the House of Assembly', and not * the English and French inhabitants of this province* from Dan to Beershe- ba. What a melancholy want <)f that dignified gravity, that ought to characterise diplomatic docu- roents, particularly if appearing * in no ordinary ciroumstanoes' and afford lug < a great t^porttuiity for good or for evil' I Did not )our lordship's in- direct address to the people, as distinguished from the legislature, almost degrade you to the level of an < ectioneering rhetorician ? What would - -nur lord&iiip think, had President Jackson's message o congress apostrophised the lawless murderers of Vicksburgh, or were King William's next speech to apostrophise the white boys of Ireland What would your lordship, what could your kitdihip think of such a mixture of bad taste and piniHinl* mous condescension ? But the quoted sentence, moreover, is not more, deficient in manliness and taste than it is in sound- ness of policy and veracity of assertion. So far, my lord, as I understand the words ' form of socie- ty', your lordship gravely recommr:n«i> vti * the Ca- nadians of French origin* a bigr^fA ' and eternal attachment to their peculiar custoh^, p^ culiar pre- q2 I , n ii 1 IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) k /. {./ ^ .<.% <• tnoal oanattiMitl^ ^ro. pOMf to aggfavato 'dimanaiona' and ^Nmdtr' *fm- fimf nora •adverse* by perpetnating' the dlstine- tloM of fengnago, of eualoms and of l*wi. Will yonrtordsMp grteioiMly exteiMl the vfiteat ao Ut m to gim OMh of the * two paKiea* a le|^UMttiw and an executive government of if « own f Yitir brdatip lays, that the * Canadiansof French origin* * have lo long been contented and proiper* one.* The nfieaninc of 'contented* ia luffileiently de6nite $ but I am at a locc to undcietand what ia your lbidchip% * precise* interprecalion of ' prespe- ou^. In * no mdinary' lence can tlie epithet bo ap. plied to 'the Canadiana of French origin*. Ora» dual improvement, my lord* is cesential to the very idea of prosperity ( and prosperity, therefbro, Is * in« compatible or incongruous' with the long continved dttiMion of any ondlcturbed < Ibrm of sociciy*.— > The colony, a* a whole» may be ' pracperoue* ; but to speak of the French race as ' prosperous* can on« ly oieita the ridicule even of the objcete of your ktrddiip'i* lettering and kmd* compliment. 4iMiof ¥!ifadiori^'vtfo'€9itt«ni«r? HadMt Umm dcoMMNfliMi sikl BCia B oobt M il u th* t o on n i BH iT off F^web ^km^ft^d « Frwobliid j^ovftvomt in imndly doclavMl to the liiip«ri«l eafaintl mmI tbo imptriid pwrliwrcnt, that * the Canadi«ii« ^f Frfn«h origin* wcrt diaoontentedt were miserablet were re> MAiocMf What €ODld iMve templed yerir lonbhip to eerttradliot yourinnre dear and Ttry true Ariendi^ * TIm Canadtana of nenoh origin' are eMier eon- Mttted or ditoontentad? If tlie taKer/your lordahip bat made ft mbtaiie; if tbe former, jocr lordibip baa ebaiged yom FiencSi allica witfi a wmt of i w c Jl y and ditqplayed a not eery itatennanlilte degree of aniieua abrm. Wby abould your lordthip» or the noble and Tight honourable francrt of yenr lord' ihipis * prcewe iMtiuetiom*, or your lordth)p% tn- quiiitorial colleagues, deprive yourseWca of the only picuaible apology foe a tru«kling eoune of illegal and oneonttitudboal eonoaMiont? lliat apology^ my lord, was fear; but what Engliihnan eould be to daMardly as to entertain a §mi of a *co n lanta d ' po- pulaiioQ ? Waa it Kkely, my lord, that a theoretical peerion fbr the electiTO princij^ would drive * eon- tented^ People to an armed ineurreeiion 7 No» my lord ; and on thb point, I am happy in twing able 10 h^ before you the opinion of a weH known cham- pion of eiiremely liberal prineiplee^ the editor of the Leeds Mercury. Speaking of the Impossibility of subverting the constitution of the House of Lords^ he says *< Wc tcsrcsly need point out to Itty ittaB of rslleedon, disitbe pwposed alMmion of Mis Hohm of Peers could not be carried without • revolution. The Pecn wcdld^ to a man, resist it ; snd the Conetitution sflbrda no mesne •f OverCOBsinc ibst resietsnce. if overoime at all, Ikere- fere, it aiiiat be, as ia the daya of Croamell, by thsarbi> trary assumption of the Hosao ol Commona. No smb esn Imsf ine that such an act of revohitioeary violsaco peniae the capiult, which imply the justifiable and kuflkient grounds of popular insurrection, and tben^ my lord of Gosford, ask your eon8oience» whether, your short career in the misgoremmeot of this o atigmatise the constitutionalists as rebels. But I. tell your lordship, that the estsence of rebellion con- sists rather in * cheerfully' violating the law thania ' reluctantly' vindicating it with arms and ammuni- tion. WhO) my lord, ate the rebels ? While I can wield a pen, my lord, I shall not cease to proclaim, that Lower Canada is oppressed by the d«q>otisiD of an illegally constitutcM) executive and a self con- stituted Assembly, and ought systematically to re- sist such despotism by all means, that may be justi- fied by expediency and a r^ard to the coanexion of the mother country and the colony. That I do not stand alone* your lordship may learn from the fol- lowing remarks of the editor of the Montreal Ga- sette:— " We undentand (Vom a respectable lourre, thatfSet- lers have been traneinitted to ccruia law ofllcert ci Uie Crown, and to certain of the Military authoritiea, iu thia city, by orden of his Excellency the Governor in Ch^ef, •squiring into the nature and object of an advi>rtiaement 186 ivhrcli appeared lately in the CoiMUiMthiDftl journMi* oi ihia place, relative tu the organizatiuii ot eight huiulreU men ait a Ride Corps." So xaya the Vindicator o( \tint evcniiTg. We rertainly hope that Lord Goaford haa laken this atep, and that ho will make every neccaaary enquiry and examination into the object and nature not only of this Rifle CorpN, but of every Aaaooiation in the province, now forming, or in operation. He will then aaoertain the atate of public feeling— he will flmt that he haa excited the public mind to a higher pitch than any of his predeceasoia— that by hia open violation «f the Constitution, he haa rendered resutaRce to an tiaurped authority, a aeceaaary atep for the preaervation of our righta aaOeemen— that he haa en- liated in our cause the aympathies of thouaanda of Dritona throughout the adjoining woviacea— ltiatrod and the fowling piece, and actually required to be bribed by the government into matrimony. Your lordship hazards the compliment of 'a cheer* ful endurance of labour and privation*. Patience, my lord, is undoubtedly a virtue ; but ore part of your lordship's compliment seems to be ' ineompati> ble or incongruous* with tht other. In Lower Ca- nada, my lord, * a cheerful endurance' of ' labour' renders physical * privation' almost impossible ; and physical * privation', when it is 'elt, is generally the result of bodily indolence and mental stupor. While a man of English blood invades and subdues the forest with his axe in his hand, * the Canadians of French origin* subdivide their patrimonial farms into miserable patches of badly tilled soil, preferring indolence and * privation* to * labour' and plenty.—- It is true, my lord, that their seigniors sometimes produced this state of things by refuung to concede land on the legal conditions ; but it is only * the Canadians of French origin', that would rather lin- ger out their lives of penury in their native seignio* ries than try.their fortimee in more favourable posi« tiona. As to the ' alertness and bravery in war* of your French allies, the past has oontradicted, as the fu- ture will contradict, your lordship. Reeaot arti- cles in the public journals liave latisfietorily settled i i '^ 1 'i- \^ r 188 tlM question AS to * brsTery* ; and tlie value of '«• lerinew', my lord, varies considcMbly, aocofding m that military virtue is displayed in tiM retreat or in the advance. When your lordship eomeato Moiil> real, pray don't compliment our first ekisca on * a- lertness*, and all that kind of tiling. So mueli, my lord, for the past Now, my lord, contmnplale the prob«bilities cf the future. AlMut two years ago* the honourable proprietor of L^Eclio du Pays fero* ciously and seditiously attempted to make ' tke Ga> nadians of French origin* rise and manacre titeir English brethren. So fenecal and so loud was the burst of indignation, that even the dog*faced impu- dence of the monster gave way. During the ses- lion, that followed, the honourable Mr. Debartzch had not the audacity to take his seat in the Legis- lative CouneiL Now, my lord, mark the sincerity of the Hessian mercenary's bravado. He is almost frigliiened into fits by the organisation of the * Bri- tish Rifle Corps' and raves not about organizing a Canadian Rifle Corps as a counterpoise but aboui the necessity of inquiries and proclamations. Is there much reason hereafter to expect ' alertness and bravery in war* frcrni * the Ccnadians of French ori- gin' ? Does not the paralytic terEor, with which the * British Rifl^a Corps' has inspired your lordship's French allies, dearly evince the holiowness of all the vaunting threats of insurrection ? How ingeniously Uie writer of your lordship*s speech does ring all the changes on language. In the flsst sentence of the twenty-ninth paragraph, sometliing or other is styled ' the form of society* ; in the second, 'the social arrangements'; in the Ihird * a system*- You extol 'a system' as something * which sustains a dense rural population, without the existence of any class of poor.* WEiat your lordship understands by * poor' I do not know ; but siircly>land-hoIdcrs, who annually require seed corn at the expcn:>c uf the country, cannot but be ' pooi,' 189 ■ ri i . ' I even in your loidthip'i Mtimaiion. There ate, toy lord, myriadi of * poor' in Lower Canada, nyrtacU of individual*, Ibat do not Uv2 to well as tht ' data of poor' in England. 1 have the honour to b% « '4 , ^ .. -. My Lord, .■ * iL - ■ , Your Lorddiip't moat ob^ltent humble aervaot* ■-'. K't '■i , . > / '-V' '■'u No. LL ■'■ ■.•■■• ■ V '^''•^' MoMTHiAL, 2dd December, 1095. Mr Lord, Your lordship's twenty -ninth paragraph closes with the following mixture of tb« sublim* and the ridiculous. * *>^* *ii;; »a s^f^n^ ** England will protect and Totter the benevolent, active and pioiu Prietthood. under whoM care and b^ w)i«n examplcw, ao much or order, of good conduct and tranquU bliM tf created, preserved and handed down from gene- ration to generation." Tell me» my lord, in what way ' England will protect and foster the benevolent, active ind pious priesthood*. Against whom do the French Cana- dian priests reqtilre to be protected by ' England' ? Against Uieir flocks ? No, for that would be * in- compatible or incongruous' with ' so much of order, of good conduct and of tranquil bliss.' Against ' the English inhabitants of this province' ? No, my lord, for they have no interest in removing or alleviating the buiden of the tithes, which sustain * the bene- volent, active and pious psriesthood.' Against your lordship's dear friends of the self-constituted Assem- bly ? That, my lord, is not only possible but pro- bable, for the priests themskilvcs will tell your lord- sliip ttmt they dread the unbelieving demagogue i as r f!:l ; m i "W ' II l!),") their most virulent and most dangerous tncmies.— •• But would not the seif-constilutcd AawmMy't at- lack on th» '* •:- - .< .•■■. ■•«• A governor, who profeascs to be vronderfuUy im- partial, ought to have displayed some regard as well (or the Protest«nt clergy as for the Romish priest- hood ; butr in this instance, as in almost every other, your lordship's impartiality is all on one side. The peculiar character of your lordship's impartiality is the more wonderful, as the former stand mora in need of fostering protection than the latter. On this point, I cannot do better than quote the fol- lowing remarks from a pamphlet leoen' ^ v publislied : Oa the subdeot of the rcMrved lands, the Committee re- marks, that it '' entertaioi no doubt tnat the reservation ol' these lands in mortmain ia a aerious obstacle to the improvement of the colony,*' aad aubsequently adds, tbat it is ^' fully perauaded that (be landa thus reserved ou^bt to be permanently disposed of." It mi«ht be difleult to And any impartial person acquainted with the situation of the colony, who would not concur in these sentiments of the Committee. But if it be right, that these re<«^) of St. Jean, (Unul. of Three Rivers) of St. Aiifuatin, (RelifietiM* de I 'hop. of Quebec) - - - - - Do. D'Oraanville, (Rolifieuaea) - 04 to MO 10 10 11 4 16S3 Beside* all the above mentioned ettatei, amountinc to nearly a million of acre*, theee and other ercleeiaittcal bodies possess property of great value in Quebec and Montreal and elsewhere. If it would be proper and beneficial to the community, and it probably would be so, that the Protestant clergy, who have no tythes, should be divested of the lands, to which tht law has entitled them, would it not likewise be proper that the Romish clerg\r, who have tythes, should cease to reuin the estates, which the law has declarr^d that they shall not hold t Or while the laws are to be re- pealed in order to reduce the rights of the former, ought they to be violated to increase the righu of the latter! K ^ :-f,:. I have Uie honour to be, » -' My Lord, Yotir Lordship's moat obedient humble servant, . ii •■i.«,»{ Cahillos. ,, i.. No. LIL 7 ,,-, , MoNTRiAt, 24th December, 1835. Mr LoKD, Your lordship's thirtieth paragraph is a most extraordinary production. I subjoin its first sentence. ysfi' to to pli is f first 196 ' ■* 0( tlwt British, nod rtpecially of ihf ronmrrcial rli e«, I would uk, ia it poiuiible that thcrv should be «ny de* •If n to Mcrillcc your interettn, whm it it clesr to •11 thr worM, th^t commerce is one or the main •npporta of the British •yatcm oiflnanee, that without it the wonderful fabric of British power and domioioa would crumble into dust, and that it is especially the object and purpose, fbr which, at a vast expense, the mighty colonies of Eof laftd •re maintained in every quarter of the globe. In the name * of th« British, and etpceUlly of the comniercinl eUuses*, I boldly tell your lonbhip, that tueh a * design, ia not only * poMible* but probeble ; and I do not hesitate to add, that the framcra of the sentenoe must have been actuated rather by a weak love of eoneiliation than by a strict rc^ud for truth. In enunciating such a tissue of wilful blunders, your lordship must either have been ac- tuated by a singular degree of hardihood or have formed a very bumble opinion of the intdleetual aeutenesB of * the English inhiU>itants of this pro- vince*. ,n Does your lordship imaghie, that the * commer- e!a] cbsses*, have never heard of the crusade of Sir Henry Pamell and other liberal suppor*en of Lord Melbourne's cabinet against the wh(>le of the colo- nial empire of Great Britain ? Does your lordship inugine» that * the commercial classes* are ignorant of the liberal party's hostility to the timber trade of British America ? Does your iordship imagine^ that * the commercial cUttses* forget* that your lordship has yourself displayed so strong a feeling against them^ as to have * cheerfully' violated the law in order to retain a gang of tmprineipled hirelings at the seat of the imperial government as their bitter- est enemies? Does your lordship dare to inMgine, that all the sentimental verlnage, that was ever ut- tered from a vice-regal throne, can overcome the in- fluence of the damning Awts, to which I have allud* cd, even on the weakest members of ' the commer- ciel classes' ? Do not, my lord, again insinuate the impassibility of a * dengn* which actually eiiitSi-* r2 u i t I; -a f ii -.JIB^ 194 Hn jour lordihlp dipt so slightly into the profouod mysteries of nttsphjrsies as not to know tb*t ' What* evtr is, is* ? Your lordship has board tba maxim Cndot qtda iwipOBsiblle t§t, IbdUce itt Asemst Uit impogdUe, Your lordship** doctrine about tht * de- sign* almost realises the paradox, for that, wbieh ie impossible, exists, and that, which exists, is impos- iH>tt4 Plirmft mo, rojr lord, to add, that fiMts are too at jbbom to be denied by words. But fkrther, my lord, ' the oomonrsial elasses* havt a right to expect from * Englsad' something mora than tfie mere absence of * any design to sa« eriioe your interests* by positive aeu of the impe* rial parliament. They call on * England' to * foe- tei* them rather than foreigners, and to * protect* them from the deadening grasp of an anti-oommar* cial fiction. Your lordship must know, that orery one of the * paltry concessions* augments the roia- chievous power of that faction without checking in the slightest degree its mischievous inclination. It is true, my lord, that the faction, which you have hiboured to render omnipotent, cannot alone im- pose pecuniary burdens on the commerce of the co- lony ; but it can, my lord, negatively inflict eviki more fatal than the augmentation of a tax. Tho fkotion can and does refuse to improve the internal communications in the colony. It has, as your lordship knows, rejected every bill for opening rail- toads through tho English Townships of the pro^ vinoe, and has clogged the solitary measure of in- ternal improvement, which it did sanction, with in* practicable conditions. I allude, my lord, to tho Quebec and Portland rail road. If the faction has ofl^red aid for the improvement of tbo Harbour of Montreal, it has placed or at least intended ta plaeO thar aid under the virtual control of a few petti- fogging m^tnbers of the self-oonstituted Assembly. Before you venture to sanctiod the Montreal Har- bour bill, read, naark, learn and inwardly digest the in ha thirtieth ptu^nph of jour own tpMoh, and itfloct, t^tat * th« comntcreUl cIsmm' will ooniidfr yourcUo cition in regard to that bill at a tctt of ihat p«M* grapbli truth or falsehood. Bat the worat, my iordt ia still to come. The anti-eommereial pro* ocedinga of the Freneh faetton, my loid, bavyi dri- ven the inhabitants of Upper Canada to oontemplsta a scheme, whieh, if sueeessfbl, must be fatal to ' tho eomniercial classes' of Lower Canada. Our bfe- thren, my lord, have been compelled to diiiik ft* riottsly of making New YoHt the sca>porl of Up^ per Ginada. If they ^ould carry their design In- to eflbct. Lower Canada will then eonttibute terjr little to the support of ' the British system of Pl- nance' or of * the wonderful fabric of British power and dominion.* Then too. of course, will keepers» feels th« noble impulse of ambitior as well as the mean hankering of avarice, and does not cherish hetr colonial empire merely through a grovelling love of money. But is there not some eonftision in your lordship'w remark about lunies of England', my lord» are politically as well as commeieially useful. They bind the terresttbl globe in her grasp, and render her, more truly «;han ever ancient Rome wns, lb* mistress of tiie world. England commands every cbaanel of comraaree whether ancient at modern. Ml 196 .- GiKnlUr and Malu on the one hand, Borobcy and ita dcpenden«ics on tlie other, make her more deeidedlj the mistress of the ancient routes of In- dian tiaflie than ever was Tyre or Alexandria or Constantinople or Venice. Ceylon and Sinoapore* rnqMotively situated at the southern extremities of the two peninsulas of India* complete a line of pos- sible or, to .«peak leamedlyt of potential monopdy along the wbde of the southern boimdary of £u- rope and Asia* England's domestie territory, reach- ing in an almost unbii^ken line from the coast of Brittany to the Shetland Islands, physically block* ades all tha western outlets from the Loire to the Baltle ; while her natural and almost inevitable connexion with Portugal indirectly subjecis to her power the more southerly portion of the western coast of Europe, and completes a chain of commer- cial superiority from the aoast of Norway to that of China. Her settlements on the western coast of Afriea, the Cape of Good Hope and tlra Mauritius give her the entire trade of eastern Asia, and bring the whole of Aftioa witltin the sphere of her com- mercial supremacy. *■ Englishmen, my lord, may well be proud of Uie use which England has made of her widely ramified and absolutely resistless influence. By clearing the Mediterranean of pirates, who chased from that rich channel of traflic every flag but that of the United Kingdom, she sacrificed a commercial mo- nopoly on the altar ot humanity. Her 'possession of western Africa, which might secure to her the undisturbed monopoly of the slave trade, is consi- dered valuable ehiefly as the means of annihilating that odious traffic. Hiougli she be absolute mis- Cress of India, she permits the existence of indepen- dent French and Danish settlements in the very heart of her territory, and actually gives more ex- tensive privileges to foreigners than to her native fubjccts. Iff On th« eastern coast ufth* New World, England hat an almost conlinuuua line of posts from the roouth of the Orinoeo to Baffin** Bay. flcwfound- land, Nova Scotia, tlie Bermudas and the Baha> mas are thorns in the breast of the American re- public ; while Canada and the West Indict, core-' manding the two eitremitics of the basin of the Mississippi are equally sharp thorns in Che back of the republican giant. But the West India It. lands have a prospcttiTe value, far greater than their present influence. Forming an impenetrable arch in front of the Gulph of Mexico, they command the whole isthmus betw e en the broader masses of the two Americas, and roust secure to England the mastery of any canal or any raiUroad. that may hereafter connect the Atlantic and the Pacific o> eeans and as a matter of course, the mastery of the trade of die western coast of America. ' ;-" '' I have the honor to be, ' "^ ^ - ' ' My Lord, Your I.ordship*s moat ohedt. humble acnrant. ■I n ;■ I, Camillus. No. LIII. MoNTRBAL, 90th December, 18S5. ' Mt Loab, - ;. . ../.,) M, . ,..^,- The second and last sentence of your thirtieth paragraph is neither less ridiculous nor less sublime Uian the first. *' Rely upon it, thst the freat and powerful country from whence you have removed youmelvefl to theee thoree will not abandon there the policy, which h«« establiahed the proepeiity of her people in every refion, ai ' that • government, or which constancy and good faith are the main eTemratn of power, will not fail to •umain in thi* 198 (ortion of tb« cmpir<>, tlie !>(«irit of iliat rotutitution ^vliirh M been no lonji held out as a boon to itH nativo*, and an induoMiMat to the aetiiera who have embarked in it tirair catorpfiae, their wealth anU their hopes of iu<4ividual hap- pinna." However much, my lord, * lb* Brituli and espe- «UUj the coratnefcuil olaswa* may \f diapoawl to «h«nr a * flattering aod kind' deference (or the com* niaods oC a ooronetted representative of Majeaty, tlity eaimot, they will not, they must not, they ahtM. not ' rely iipuo' the assitnmoes of a < cheerftil' viola- tor of the constitutioa, of a ' cheerftil' traitor to tha very langitage of bis fathers, of a ' ebeerfur builder of French democracy on the rtiins of £nglish mo- narchy. Yet, my lord, the time has come, when ' tha English inhabitanta of this pravince' must place reliance only on themselves and on those of thfir own blood in the neighbouring provinces.— Would it not, my lord, be a cruel sarcasm to hint the bare possibility of their relying on your lord- ship, or on the Assembly, or even on the Legisla> tive Council ? They have to thank French traitors and Frenchified trucklers for havingcompelled them to tlirow llieir sole reliance on their own moral determination — the only prop that was never known to prove a broken reed. Should they rely on the Legislative Council, they would probably fall vic- tims to the active treachery of present or the passive treachery of absent members. Should they rely on the unholy coalition of your lordship and the self- eonatituted assembly, th'ty would inevitably become the slaves of men, to whom the elegant Chateau- briand's description of «ility ? Whatever, my lord, be the cause, I am glad, that your lordship does nM, by a shew of misery, exchange universal contempt (HtC cipression, my lord, is strong but true) for general compassion. Answer the fbllovHng qu«Hion, my loid :— Breathes there a man, with soul so dead,. Who never to himselthath nald "This nmy own, my native tand," ' '• ' • Whose heart kan ne'er within Uim burned <<^ >-•';> As home his rootetepa he bath turned. ^ -,■. , , From wandering on a foreign strand T Yes, my lord, theie breathes an Englishman, wb» ' cheerfully' prefers a French lepitblio to an Eng- lish monarchy. Of that £nglisbnuu}» my lord, the heart sliall quail but the cheeks shall burn, , ,^ , Aa home hi* footst«ps he ahall turn i <- ^; "» From truckling on a foreign siraad.. !>-> •>• ' t « < ■- '■ < Do, my lord, act on themnhn, * Hegftestwice,. who^ves quickly*, that you may at once evince some remains of national feeling, and may bbey » French ally's modest address to every * Brtton\ This land is mine, begone, away. ^ , For the wilM blunders, that lilrve bwii (JdHMIllw ted, neither your lordship nor the commfsstonefs ever can atone; and were I to ask any and every constitutiondist whether he believed the emissaries of Lord MellMurnc's cabinet hofh willing andabk to arrive at sound cotidustons on any point of provin> cial polic/, I should receive an unliesitating answer in the negative. Were I then, my lord, to ask any ant! every constittitionalist, wliethcr he believed tliem either ahh or willinff, I should licar three nays lor one aye. !l ;i- 'J ! 20O .t.^YeSfiny lord, 'the Englinii iiihabiUnU of this prorinoe' have at latt d«t«rnuned not mtrtly to r«- •Ut the preratHog •yitem of iniquity and opprca- •ion, but to resist it at the hazard of their fortunes and their lives, till they have sufficient and irrevo> cable guarantees for the full and free enjoyment of equal rights, for the inviolability of eonstitntional principles, for the steady march of commercial and agricultural prosperity. They have determined, that the French faction and its Frenchified abettors shall 4>e prostrate at their feet* Your lordship speaks of ' the policy which has established the prosperity of her people in every o- ther region', and assures * the commercial classes', that England * will not abandon' that policy in Lower Canada. As that policy, my lord, is £ng«> lish, I must agree with your lordship, that EngUnd cannot now abandon here, what she abandoned more than sixty years ago. Had * the policy, which has established the prosperity of her people in every other region' been permitted to direct the affiurs of Lower Canada, that province, so extensive, so fertile, so advantageously situated for commerce, would not have been at this moment inferior in * the prosperi- ty of her people' to * every other region' of the Bri- tish Empire. In 1774, my lord, What does your lordship mean by * a government, of which constancy and good faith are the main ele- ments of power' ? The English government, 1 pre- sume. Why did not your lordship briefly and perspicuously say so ? Was it not 'bad taste, my lord, * to consider the main elements of pow- er', which are common to every government, pecu- liar to that of t^e British empire? Can there be revi * power' in any * government', which is desti- tute of * constancy and good faith', which is true neither to itself nor to others? Without ' constancy S 1 .1 202 1'^ ' and good faith*, my loid, * a govarnmcnt' may axiat, but eannoc be said to poaiess ' powcf ', however pow. erful may be the nation, which it profetaes to rule. But your lordship'i language violates historioal truth as well as good taste. So far as Lower Ca* nada, my lord, is coneerned, the English govern^ ment has displayed not eoMtancy andgood faith but vacillation and dUception, Your lutdship must know that, in 1763, a royal proclamation invited Englishmen to settle in the newly conquered province of Quebec and there to live under the protection of the laws of England. In this, my lord, there was no want of ' constancy' or 'good faith', for England, by introducing her own laws, was true to herself without violating a single line of the capitulation of Montreal or of the definitive treaty of peace. Your lordship must, also, know, that« in 1774, a British Statute annulled the royal proclanution of 1 763, placing ' the settlers' under the feudal law and depriving the ' natives' of the benefits of a trial by jury. In this, my lord, there was a want of ' oon> stancy and good faith* towards both the old subjects and the new. < ; From time to lime, my Tor J, successive cabindts, so far from atoning for the deception practised on ' the settlers', have made concession after concession for the exclusive gratification of French ambition at the expense of * the English inhabitants of this pro- vince' and of the imperial authorities. Has so sui- cidal a course, my lord, savoured of the English go- vernment's 'constancy' to itself or of its * good faith' to the deluded ' settlers' ? So flagrant violations of ' constancy and good faith' were doubtless justified by that necessity, which acknowledges no law. That they were not so justified, every Enelishman must blush to con- fess. The act of 1774 was confessedly intended tu render the French Canadiam* instrumental in op* 20| prHaing the English colonln ; and I may, without being verj uncharitable, »uipeet, that the nibae • quent course of conciliation was r^eant to render the same foreign people a political non-conductor in the chain of English population throughout Bri- tish America. As surely as the first scheme acce- lerated the eventf which it proposed to retard, so stirely will the second produce a similar result- When the English inhabitants of British America shall be goaded into physical resistance by the un- due preference of conquered foreigneri, then will the imperial government find, that, in relying on the French Canadians, it has leaned on a broken reed. The notorious result of all these concessions, my lord, Amply proves that < constancy and good faith are the main elenrtents of power* of any government, for what has Great Britain gained by vacillation and deception? What, but the contempt of her pampered step-children and the distrust of her slighted and deluded sons? As surely as pouier re- sults from eonttancy and good faith, so surely does wtukneat result from vacillalion and deception. Vour lordship will admits that an English cabinet dis- plays more of weahne»$ than of power, when it fan- cies itself compelled to prostrate the letter and the spirit of the constitution, its own dignity and the character of its emissaries under the hoofs of a petty faction of illiterate, unprincipled and treacherous Frenchmen. Do, my lord, do, I implore you, say nothing more of ' power' or of ' constancy' or of ' good faith'. But if, my lord, I descend to more minute in- stances of the want of * constancy and good faith', I must say, that it is the part of infatuation to as- cribe ' constancy and good faith' to a perpetually fluctuating government more particularly in regard to the comparatively trifling aflairs of a remote co- lony. Has not every colonial Secretary his own peouliar views ? Did not one secretary approve and n| ; ;,i 1 . 204 another disapprove the elevation of Mr. Gale to tlie judicial bench ? Did not Lord Olenelg give your lordship * precise insttuctioos' to pay the salaries of agents, whom his predecessors had refused to rec(^- nise in any official capacity ? Did noc the same in- dolent statesman give your lordship < precise instruc- tions' to violate the very constitution, which Mv. Pitt had ' held out as a boon to its natives, and an inducement to the settlers* ? MHiat a humiliating contrast, my lord, does the inevitable answer to the preceding question present with your lordship's puerile bombast about sustain • !ng, * in this portion of the empire, the spirit of that consUtution, &c.' Really, my lord, I am some- times compelled by an Ignominious compound of dishonesty and weakness in a certain speech to be- lieve, that my perseverance in addressing your lord- ship is more foolish than St. Antl.ony's homily to the fishes. Had your lordship regaled the legiskture with four or five columns ofcross readings from a newspaper or with a few pages of Johnson's Dic- tionary, you would given your hearers some amuse- ment aid instruction without sacrificing your own character for judgement, honesty and knowledge. Your lordship must have given great offence to your French allies in styling the constitution *a boon to its natives and an inducement to the settlers'— a matter of grace to the former and a matter of right to the latter. The demagogues, my lord, maintain, that the constitution was extorted as a right from the fears of the British authorities. Does your lordship gravely imagine, that the ' constitution,' which, according to your lordship's liberal interpretation of its * spirit,' vests all power, executive, judicial and legislative, in the anti>Bri- tish hands of ' its natives,' either is or can be ^ an inducement to the settlers* to embark in Lower 205 C«iad« * their enterpri«e, their wealtli and their hopes of individual happinees* ? - I have the honour to be, r ^•-. i <> ■■•■ My Lord, Your Lordahip's most obedient hunrf>le senrtnt, Camillus. -- i f^i *■: 1 •■■<■.■• i . ^ .... -,.. , . - , V .-W No. LV. ,r » MoMTftSAL, 4tb January, 1835. Mr Loftr, The thirty-first paragraph oi your lord- ship's speech surpasses the twenty-ninth and the thiitieth in the want of dignified gravity. While addressing f Oentlemen of Uie Legislative Council, Gentlemen of the House of Assembly/ your lovd-> ship condescended to apostrophise ' the Canadians of French origin' in the twenty-ninth paragraph, and * the British and especially the commercial ehiases' in the thirtieth ; and, by way of capping the eUmax of indeeorous puerility, your loidship gra- ciously directs your attention to *■ many among you who inhabit this city* in the thirty-first. Had your loidship made the third of these paragraphs a con* tinuation of the second, the term *you' would have referred to * the British and especially the commercial classes* ; but the enigmaticid pronoun, standing, as it does, in the beginning of a separate paragraph, must, according to all the laws of good taste, refer both to these * daises* and to * the Ca- nadians of French origin.* As a correspondent of the Quebec Mercury, who, under the signature of * A Non-Combatant* and « The Goose that saved the Capitol', seems to espouse your lordship's cause in the most disinterested manner, attacks me for 82 i N \ 206 bavittf ctitieiMd Ui« ' tfyU^ctyout Imtdnkip'* speedi^ I must Uk« this opportuaitjr of rtmitidia§ jqqk lordship and your lorddiip'i truly dbintcrtttcd eharapioiif that I have itudiwlalf abstained from ■ottaiiiig the ' ttyl^ of the voluminoua- doomntont, unlet* where the inaccuracy of language clearly affected the * nioet cesential' virtue of penpieui- ty. Permit tne, my lord, to add, that moral ho- nesty and literary taste equally demand a perfect harmony between an invisible idea and its visible symbol. Yourilordship'tf elevated station may ena- ble you to preserve a language by the force of < a law'; but so obscure an individual ai myself must resort to the more humble, though perhaps not lesa effective, shield of verbal criticism. I may- presume, my l6rd, tHat by * tnany among fim who inhabit this o(ty,* y(Mir lordship meant thip ilgnefs of the Quebee Petitions, whieh Mr. Neit^ sen eirrled to London ; and I would re^Motfully •si! your lordship whether it was not * inconapatU Vto or inoongrnous* with politenea and good testii to cscliide from the benefit of your oondctoensioiir 'many awiong you whj inhabit' Montreal. lit short, my lord; I ctinnct better characterise the puerile blunders, whether of omission or t/ti doraihission, in your lordship'* dcsing paragraph*^ than by repeating the description of a oorrespemdent of the Qodbeo Oasette» that those j>aragiBph» a» written * in the ciroulistitig library styles* Eefbre I can enter on the discussion of the Ma^ ty.flrst pan^mph, I must quote it in eonnexioo with the succeeding one. " Th a declaration put Ibrth by many amonf yoo who i-nhabit thin city, I have seen the tolldwin^ objects enu- merated : &ntf to obtain Tor p^^ous or British and IrisU origin, and others, his Majesty's subjecta labouring under the same privation of common rights, a fliir and rMnom- aMe protiortioo of the mprteseatation in the Provinciat Assembly ; secondly, to obtain such n reform inlthe syptem of Judicature and the administration of justice, as maji adapt tTiT>m to ttte present stair of thePrwrim*e; thftrdiv. 207 ! iOV to obuia auch a rompotMon of dl ExrcuUve Council, u may import to it the eflkiency aad wetf ht which xi oUf ht to possesa ; fourthly, to rcaiat any appointment or memhen'of tho L^alative Council otherwiae than by tha Crown, but aul^ect to luch ref ulationa aa may inaure th« appointment orflr. persona: fifthly, to use every efl)>r! ;« maintain the connexion ortnia colony to the PwMM ttM*^ and a juat aubordinatton to its authority ^ and aixthly, to •MiaiiA preMTViBff «tad maiitaininff PMca and food or- der throoffbout th« province, inauhnctha equal rifjit* at hi»MiUMty'a aul^epui of all claaaes." It tbeae objects are indeed air, that are deair«d bjr thb w1iol<^ co m iBeT a aV iMereat, I traat it will boantiaticKiry to thoae^ who aim t, ihfo^ to know tKat th«re ia no^ ona of them which it i« not atnctly wlthia the Ivie of duty oi the King'a Commili>ioneni to take into confetd^rathHi, t* i«eeivof«ap«ctlnt tlte«>«fe»nMlc<^tevklene»nndiattilii&- tiad which may beo0es^i nn^'^f^'^ *^ aulMpit t« our> Qraciouii, SQvereif n an<) hia Miniatera their impnrtiaXwid xf^tir WCi^lted concmaiotn.'* Hw int olatiM oi the tbitty-Mtood p«rag)i4p)w ta, •ly nothing of itt.tmcourteotu doubt at.to.Uw.ciuik* dor of I* mnox tmongyoii, who Inhabit this «i^f/b trays, your lordtblp'a usual dsgree of logical inaiMUf rac^f fpr it obviotuly confounds ' many among ypu who inhabit thik.city* with * the Hrhol^ eommiireial interest.* Tour lordship ought to. have.known» that ^cre are * paltry traders* in Montreal as ^ell as. Ill Q^eb^Q ; and you ought, alS9, to have knoirn* that- more objects* ' are desired*^ by the ' paltry trad^k* of the former city. Thus, my lord, to logical inacctt* racy is added ignorance of notorl<>ua fitots* t have the honour, to b^, . Uf Lord, Ykw t0rdship*k moit oltfdlitot kvaahlk Mtntd, OAMtlUB^ .: * f ■ -, iat • >'."■< / , . .' ' 1 ■ ■-,'■ ". '' ' \ VX)8 No. LVl. MoMTKiAL, 6th January, 1836 *i Hr Loav, The thirty second paragriq)h of your lordship's speech promises, that the * objects enu- merator ia the thir'.y- first shall be investigated by * the King's Commissioners'. Here again, my lord, I am ' cheerfully' compelled to point out the flagrant partiality of his Mt jesty's ministers. While almott all the demands of the French Am- tlon are gnnted, every demand of ' the English in- habitants of this province* is met wSth a promise of inquiiy. To the French faction are surrendered the eontingenciest'the h(^j«ditary revenues, and all officea of power and emolument ; to * the English inhabit- ants of this province* are generously offered the in- qulsltorl&l services of the Royal Commissioners. The partiality of his Majesty's ministers appears to be more flagrant from the fact, that they had dis- tinctly stated to the agents of the constitutional as- sociations, that they would decide nothing, till they shoitid have received the report of the Royal Com-' missioners. But his Majesty's ministers, my lord, have gone even beyond their own intentions of par- tiality, for they do not seem to have reflected, that, in granting Jie demands of the French faction, they were reducing the investigation of many grievances of the English population to a mere matte* of the- oretical-speculation. In other words, my lord^ the coneessiciis, which have been made to the self-con- stituted Assembly, have not only aggravated the grievances of its constitutional opponents but have rendered impracticable any adequate remedy for those grievances. Feranit me, my lord, to corroborate this assertion by considering the * objects enumerated' in order. 209 "*' KirHt, to obtain Tor pfrnonit oi Britinh and IriitU oriKtii, iin*l othfn*, hi« MajeMly'ii subjertii labouring und«ir thf* «iimp privation of ronitnnn ri^fhts, a fair and rt'asonabit; uroportiou uf thu rfpre»tniiitiun in the Hoiue of Asscm* My". For the sake of argument, my lord, I shall sup- pose; that the Royal Commissioners will recom- mend some scheme as favourable as possible to the little body of the people. In what way can hi» MajestyVi ministers cairry such a scheme into (A«ct? Through the instrumentality either of the Imperial Parliament or of the Provincial Legislature. Will those, my lord, who dread to resume the control of the crownower uf * the great bo- dy of the people' ? Every French demagogue knows, as ^ell as your lordsliip, that a majority is every- thing and that a minority h nothing, and doubtless thinks that * the grtat body of the people* ought to appoint all the legislators! as well as all the executive officers and all the judges. Yes, my lord, your French al'ies might refute your lordship's reoom> mendatr ns, as a Commissioner, by a simple refe- rence to your democratic doctrine, as the Oover- r.or-in- Chief, 210 " Secondly, to obtain such « reform in the •yntem ofjo- dicature, and the adminiatraiion ofjutiice, as may adapt Uiein to the present state of the province." Here again your lordship's dcmoeiratic doctrine hM rendered inquiry an absurdity and a delualon, for what can * a reform in the system of judicature' do for constitutionalists, if all the judges are to be Tir- tually appointed by ' the great body of the peopla* ? The value of machinery, my lord, roust depend'on the instruments for keeping it in motion. If al* lowed to stand still, it is U8 tare of ]jy[r< Papineau, holds his Majesty's oom* mission? "Fifthly, to use every effort to maintain the connexioa of this colony to the Parent State, and a Just subordina- lion to its authority". Here again, my lord, your conciliatory eoncc>< sions have tended to weaken the very connexion, which the promised inquiries of the Hoyal Commis- sioners are ostensibly meant to strengthen, for they have emboldened its enemies and alienated Its friends. But might not I Justi6ably infer, that the individual, who delights to honour the avowed enemies of monarchical institutions and British su* premacy, is himself hostile to < the connexion of this colony to the Parent State', and to *a just Bubordmation to its authority*. 1 must infer that your lordship is either thus hostile or weak, blind and inconsistent. I leave to your lordship to choose between the moral crime and the intellectual mis- fortune. "Sixthly, to asaitt in preserving and maintaining peace and good order throughout the province, and insuring the equal rights of his Majesty's suojects of all classeji". I am surprised, my lord of Go&foxd, that the ' oheerful' violator of the law sltould profess to be friendly to ' good order', which he has dhturbed, and to ' equal rights', which he has trodden under foot. But of what avail, my lord, will be the pro mised inquiries of the Royal Commis^iQnern, in i 212 If regard to 'peace and good order*, after your lord- ship hac attempted to perpetuate the distinctions of languagii, or in regard to ' equal rights', after your lordship has proclaimed tlie absolute despotism of * the great body of the people'? In fijie» my lord, your lordship's special decisi- ons are utterly ' incompatible and incongruous' with youB lovdship's general promises ; and J may, with- out being very uncharitable, infer, that such promis- es are meant only to deceive. But, my lord^ if I admit the perfect sincerity of the Royal Commis- Kionersandof his Majesty's Ministers, the recommen- dations of the former cannot, in all cases, be carried into effect by the latter without the consent of third parties, so that, while the French fiaction has got ac- tual concessions, the English population has got only promises from those^^ who are not competent to per- form them. I have the honour to be, My Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant^ Camxllus* No. LVIL MoNTKXAL 7th January, 1836. My Lord, Your lordship's thiity.second paragraph slates that it is * within the line of duty of tlic King's Commissioners', * to receive respecting them (the * objects enumerated') the fullest evidence and information which may be offered, and finally to .submit to our Gracious Sovereign and his Miuiaters their impartial and well weighed conclusions'. rer»Ti'> me, mj lord, to inquire, whether *tljc 213 )6. raph If the then^ le and lly to Ja^tcrs « the Ktng*s Commlnioner^ hat e« so far as lliay bar* hitherto proeaedadi adhered to ' the line of duty*. Have they reeeiTod < the ftillest erldcnee and infor- mation*, which have been offinred ? Hara they not refined * eridenoe and inlivrmatloii* on aome of the ' objects enumerated* without condescending to ap- prise the public of such other * objects*, as thev were then carrying forward to * impartial and well waited conclusions*? Have they not confessed, that, for the convenienee of witnessss, they are to remove their sittings firom Montreal to Quebec and yet have they not sent, or determined to send, a report to Downing Street on a most important pdnt without enabling any inhabitant of Montreal to gife evidenM^ unless at aconsiJcmble sacrifice of time and money ? They bear a stronger resem- bhmce, my lord, to a Si^ialsh Inquisition, than to an English Comuiission. If they !^ave surpassed the former body in honesty apd mercy, they have fisllen equally short of it |n tact and ability. So much, my lord, as to the Royal Commisnon^ modo of obtaining < the fullest evidence and information.* Does any man of competent knowledge and sound judgment believe, that ' the King's CommiSidoners' are likely to form * conclusions' either ' impartial* or ' well weig'aed*. The former epithet is * incom- patible or incongruous* with the avowed prejudices of at least one of the Commissioners in favour of the domocralic faction; the latter is larot itably ' incompatible or incongruous* with every thing, that has directly or indirectly emanated firom * the King's Conunissionen'. I shall never cease, mj lord, to warn * the English inhabitants of this pro- vince' against the probable result of the Royal Ck^m- mission's inquiries, on the very simple ground, that all the visible and tangible evidence proves it to be equally MnwUUng to form imyartial aqd ufuMe to form u)dl tetightd * conclusions'. In your thirty- third paragraph, my lord, you most t !f i if 214 graciously pour forth your winged words fbr the be- oisfit of the whole population of the provinee at once. • *' In the meanwhile, to the Caaadiahf , bfiUt cf French and Britiali ongil, and of every cbuw aud deschpUon, I would lay, consider the bleasiogs you might enjoy, and the fkvoured tittiation in which, but Tor your own dkaeit- aions. you wotila flhd yotiraelvea to be pkced. Tlip oflT- aprini of the two foreinoat aations of maukind; you hold a vast and beautifti] country, a fertile soil, a healtny cli- 3&\ate ; and the noblest river in the world tnakea your itoioat remote city a port for ships of tlw sea. Your reve- nue is triple the amount of your expenditure for the or- dinary purposes of government : you have no direct tax- cit, no pul)Iic debt, no poor wdo tcqttire aiiy other aid than the aatttral impuises of charity." ' Tour lordship, while reading ibis paragraph, doiibtleis considered yourself as the Saturn and y<>ur rei(' .CaHltl.W|. :/. '■' iJ <*u\n i^tfft'OOT ^'-it.:,ii KiJ >.< ■ .?j.'a ;■:'.?; .\<;'' ,■ .»{ nj H-./'ji/ oojuifjiJ'iuj f^"n ),■!» -ur,: ..r.^r. ^. ■ , j •♦<;-»«»» ii,u:ii/!t -HI •}•('*■ ;ij;;ii •#1»I; 'v. ' • •r:.n ;,;,'.■ • U w^fl'} ,^'.rfMi«:»i (V.' . ^ :,<;i! , :,; * . . !.,...';, 1-17 •4;i;j-n;i.ft •..•}! ttJ ',•., X .1,,. ••-,. J, , 'X •litj 1^ ! P 216 ,, , M0MTRI4L, 8th Jenuarjr, I8d6t \ Mr LoKPi .'' • ■. :.'...v--' Permit me to repeat the seeoncl lea tenet of your lordship's thirty-third paragraph. V" The ofllipring of the two foremMt nstioni of man- kind, you hold a vait and beauUAii country, a iiertile soil, a healthy climate ; and the noblest river in the world makes your most remote city a port Tor ships of the sea." I mtut, my lord, repeat my regret, that the igno- rance of most of the members of * the great body of the people* must have prevented them from perus- ing the * flattering and kind* observations of their noble partisan in regard to their lofty origini thei? picturesque scenery, their agricultural advantages and their commercial facilities. Your lordship's discovery, that both * nations' are ' foremost*, I must ascribe to a conciliatory figure of speech ; and, if one may Judge from your undis- guised predilections, you mieht have been more 'precise' as to the relative rank of the ''nations*, without offending the patriotic prejudices of * the great body of the people*. But permit me, my lord, seriously to ask you, whether it was consistent with hiunanity, with soimd policy, with yoiur lordship's avowed desire of conciliating ' adverse parties*, to Hatter the French prejudices of British subjects. But I forget, my lord, that consistency and eonoi- liation are * incompatible or incongruous*. As to the * vast and beautiful coimtry*, your lord- ship's experience of the last few months must have taught yoiu, that the roost picturesque views in the world have very little influence on human happi- ness. If they had any such idfluence. Cape Dia- mond, my lord, woidd be the favourite refuge of eriminal outcasts. External nature, my lord, may eharm innoeenoe, but cannot " minister to a mind dise&ied'. 217 What villain irom himself can flra ! To tones, (hough more and morr remot«| .' * SiiU.lUU pursues, where'er he b«, ' ^ The blight oflife, the demon Ihoufht. .T But tills, my lord) is a digression. What avail!} it to * the English iiUiabitants of this province* Uiat the * country' is * vast and beautiful', if it is to be gi. ven up to the French fabtion ? Your lordship, per- haps, is not aware, that that faction not only demanda the legislative control of all the waste Uuids of the (irown, but has avowed its conviction that, accord- ing to the ci^utulation of 1760 and the treaty of 1763, it ought to reserve these lands exclusively for Canadians of French origin. The following alltt- sion to this modest opinion, your Iwdship may hava observed in the Legislative Councira address to his Majesty in 1833. ' .nurr^,. ^... - , !" We respectfully advert • • • ♦ • to the chum advainced by the asaembty to preserva this extensive antt important bart of vour Maffeiitynt dominions (in whleh there ia.rooih for millions of mHatfitants) as « colony* to b« settled Q4)y by Canadlana of French origin and descent." Does not your lordship perceive, that every one of your conciliatory concessions^noreas^s the French fisction's power to enforce that abstuid claim, and to exclude * the offitpring' of one ' of the two foremost nations of mankiii4' from any and every share of the * vast and beautiful country.' But, my lord, what avaib it even to * the French inhabitants of this province,' that the ' country' is ' vast and beautiful/ if they are too * indolent' to occupy it ? On this head, my lord, I extract a few apposite remarks from the Montreal Herald of 1,1th ^un^ based on a parliamentary report. , f,^, « v..ur« t^, ^>i'ir 9 ' ' *♦ While the Americans have covered a continent with the smiling monuments of their agricultural industry, the Canadians have literally aqueeted their rapidly and ragularly growing numbers almost within the ongioal settlements of 1763. We extract the following paragraph from the report of a committee of the assemnly in 1834. * The extf9gi9 d«ii»eoesn of the pepulation ef Low«( Ca- t2 2)8 ■tdi, which titpean to your committee to hBre incrrai* ed anil to continue to increase^ in a much hicber ratio than that in which the clearinn extend into the fotrst, and the productive powcn of the earth are brought forthi rendereo it a matter oranxiou* inquiry', fcc. *< We extract a few more minute atatcmenta trotn evi- dence given bet'ore the aaid committee. ' There ia more- over aiarge number or young men who would have taken aome llanda, and who have been disgusted by the high rent required} and they have thereby been discouraged from taking them. The rent demanded is four doDani for three arpents in (Vont by thirty in depth*. The ' high rate', if we reckon interest at 6 per cent, per annum, would correspond with a price of Sa. SJd., Halifux cur- rency, per acre ; and so paltry a barrier, for the prospec- tive dread of a mutation flue could not have entered in- to the heads of the ' young men', ' disgusted' the * youag men* more than the moat exquisite miseries of cheap ' indolence* and starvation. The following scraps of the evidence will show, that the ' young men' had not suf- ficient ingenuity to try their fortunea in another seig- niory. The ' young men' had too much respect for the decrees of fate. Having been born to be Aa6ttan«, they would not rebel against their destiny by presuming to migrate. On the locd patriotism of the * young men', even hunger and cold exerted no influence. There was not a ' banal mill' in the 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 quar- ters of B league offfor my fire wood'. The following portion of the evidence speaks volumes for the local pa- triotism of the * young men', in defiance of all the fore- going disadvantages. ** Q. How do the young people of this parish proceed ia order to obtain aetUenientsI *' A. Thev are retarded ; they wait until the lands shall be conceded ; some of them have even grown old while waiting for lands, but they continue to wait, and accord- ing to what people say, if the unconcedea lands weits granted, many persons would take some of them. " Q. Do the old landa begin to be subdivided t ** A. Some of them do. ' ' f ' ^ ' " Q . Why do they make those snbdivisions 1 «< * «* ' * *i A, Becatise they do not find an opportunity of settling their children elsewhere. ** <2. What is the efTect of those subdivisions t * *^ *' A- Sfeme of them are much injured thereby, because when the land is old, and no more new land remains for cultivation, the soil is not sufllciently productive to sup- port two ramilitS} and they are both reduced to want."' 219 Ai to < a ftrtU* toil,' my lord, it it rallier a cunt than a blening to confMndly * indolent* indiriduaby who, aooording to the statement of a recent eorrea- pondent of the Quebec Gaiette, do not produce 'more than one thtni of what other agriculturists do.* ' -'• What your lordship means by * you heid * « * a healthy cUmattf I really do not know. Your pompous allusion to 'your most remote ci- ty* as 'a port for ships of the sea," betrays your lordship's want of tact in so pointedly alluding to the long gnawed bone of contention between the Canadas. I hare the honor to be, ■-^^' ?' 'f- 'f ■ 'O' ,........:.. My Lord, :^^^^^^:H'X^^"if^^i' ■■>'- Ytm Lordship's most obedi humble ienrant, '' J ;,; ' - .] - .■.[',.1., r: :^,U r. .r,.^'-* -r. CaJULIU*. . '''-",'• • ..^' FT ':" '■'■■■'j?:''.f>.;9"*' , V4 •;...,..-,,.:»• No. LIX. '■'■■ i^v^Av-I 'i.i..'' MoKTaxAt, 9th January, 1896. it I*»;^'*r'l ^«, :J\ 't. Mr Loao, " . ^^ v In the third sentence of your thirty- third paragraph, you tell the astonished * Cana- dians, both of French and British ori|^*, that ' your revenue is triple the amount o{ your expen- diture for tlie ordinary purposes of Government.' What your lordship means by so vague an expres- sion as ' expenditure for the cb the whole revenue bears to tbe ' e^zpenditure for ths ordinficy purposes of goTernment' might have been known by your lordship to be extravagantly incor- rect, for the public cbest, even b^fbr^ your lordship 'cheerfully 'abstracted from it twenty-two thousand pounds in an illegal manner and for illegal purposes* did not contain the means of paying the arrears of the civil list, though not a single shilling had been appropriated in the previous session of the legisla- ture to any object whatever. Of the wilful misre- presentation of a matter of fact I dare not suspect your lordship ; but I .xnU9t pay the ' flattering and kind* compliment to yuur lordship's honesty at the expense of your lordship's circumspection. Your lordship, utterly forgetful or ignorant of tlie claim of Upper Canada to a third of the most productive duties, mu»t have cpmpated the 'expenditure for the on3*u{ury purposes of government* with the a. motmt of duties coUectfCd in Lower Canada tat both pfovinces. The blunder* my loid» whether it be Aicarihed to dishonesty or to .Tssbness, is a very doubtful sample of your lordV^ii/s 'fitne$b* for ar- riving at ' impartial and well weighed conclusions' in regard to the coraplioated politics of this 'vast and beautiful country'. Your lordship a^Ms* ' You have no direct taxes* PopiU>liodebi, no poor who jrequire any other aid than ,tha natural impulses of charity'. But to < the Canadians' of ' British origin/ my 221 lotd, a lurplus rcrcnue is far from bfing a lubJMi of congratulation, so long as it is tipandad by Franch demagogues either for purely French objeeta or in purchasing the dishonest neutrality of selfisti constitutionalists with a parallelogram of mud as m road, with a hurdle as a bridge or with an uninlm- bitable dungeon as a gaol. The surplus revenue, which ought to be a general blessing, is a millstone about the necks of constitutionalists. The absence of * direct Uxcs', so far from being m benefit to * the Canadians' of * British origin', is a grievanoe, which burdens them with a disproportion- ately heavy share of th« public expenditure. The existing taxes are almost excluslTely levied on Bri- tish goods and chiefly borne by British consumen ; but ' direct taxes'} my lord,^would necessarily trans- fer the great body of the burden to * the great body of the people' and enable ' the Snglish inhabitants of this province' to offer direct and effiwtive resist- ance to illegal appropriations of the public revenue. The absence of a 'public debt*, my lord, is an equally lame and vulgar subject of congratulation. The policy of contracting a 'public d^* for the prosecution of offensive wars may well be doiibt**d; but on the English portion of this continetii;, my lord, the expression pubUe dtbt is practically syno- nymous with internal improvtmenf, llie tafcmai improvement doubtless remains after the public debt has disappeared; but, to say that an Ainericairt country neither has nor ever had a * public dd)t', is to stigmatise her as being behind |ier neighbours in the march of civilisation and prosperity. What but a * public debt*, my lord, made New York and Pennsylvania the pride of America and the envy of Europe? What but a * public debt*, my lord, places Upper Canada so far in advance of her elder sister ? What but a * public debt', my lord, will enable Lower Canada to avail herself of all the ad- vantages of even * the noblest river in the world' ? • 1 : I 11 222 ■H Your lordship's * triple' revenue will be uttcrlj in* •fkquate to the aceomplishrnent of so roagnifioe>«t an end. Wea it viae^ my lord, to represent a pub- lic deU as bein^ i^ ftn unqualified manner a pnUic evil 9 ,j^t Your lordAIp is pleaaed to hacard the asaertlooy that, in Iio^^ it Cnnada, there are * no poor who re- quire any other aid than the aatural impulses of eharity*. This language, uny lard, is not quite so ledge of the sutgect you must have diiawn the com- plimentary i iiference firom the presumed absence of any legal pmviiton for the peor. Your lordship's •zperience in Ireland must convince your lordriirp of the untenable nature of such a positicm. But your lordship has rashly misti^cen the very facta of the case. In this sauntry» the^e ore ' poor, who ?e- quire any other aid than the naUinl impulses <^ eharity*. In almost every session of thr. legislature, the means of supplying unskilful or impfovident httbUant with a!$ed-ficm are {yimished £rom the pro- vincial s^vesue.. Ill my next letter^ I ahaU .-.. -i.t.,f ,;.n..i •. Camillus. ^'■'*- ,Ij1<»k \4a .jMv - !>i(.t; I' n ;: .< ^kAu '. v^-.tui-i ',•>< -■5M*» "».»»* Ui S»..itod.a n, t< f tjt} ^. .t.*\('} 1 . -*: ' '^'-^'r, •U viJ il«'J'>'»J*'T »,| UK's; t»^ hltiMtf.'.i ■)^j',»J uliir,.!*! 223 .•>:• -^ U-t^;'"^-'- ' MoiiTUA^ 11th Januarj, 1896. • ■ ' f -; *;• ■ , »» ,;,i'-*'.; )»">' ;"' ft J'"-!' ! I subjoin jovtr lordship's tbirty-fonrth MvLoaOf piragraph : *' If you extend your views beyond the Itnd in which you dwell, you And that you are joint inheritoni of the «plendid patrimony of the British i'mpire, which roiiBti- tute« you, in the ampleot itense of lh« term, citizens of the world, and gives you a home on every coniiuent and in every ocean of the globe. There «re two pattai open to yon ; by the one, you may advance to the enioyment of all the advnntajea which lie in pro«pect before you; by the other, I will not say more than that you win stop «hort of these, and will engage yourselves «»d those, who hare no other object than your prosperity] in darker ami IBore difficult courses.*' '"'Tbt •px«eise' bearing of the first tentenee^ my lord, I cannot diacorer. To * the CanacUaos* of * French origin,* who are not tnueh le statiooary than to many T^etables» ' a home on evary Cont^ ner.. a^tu in every Ocean of the globe' muse aeera to ko a aonewhftt spacuJaUve blctsid/r, a * fialtering and kind' sentence d restlras banrrhment. But try the test of eiipenence, my lord, and tdl any one of your FnMch fri.enda, whether u shopkeeper or « fi'xmer, 1m>«/ highly he ought to appreciate the liberty of ■ezpatriasing himself to tl«e Oape of Good Hope or Sinoapoie or Oiforaltar or St. Helena. Doea not the minute specification of the general compUmtnt bring down the sublime to the level of the ridieu- low ? May I not, my brd, Jusiutably tXLvu\e to 'the ciroulatiag-litNrary style' or even repeat the oritieal dissylkble of the Minerve ? But even in * the Canadians' of ' British origin' your lonJUhipIs sketeh of * the splendid patrimcMBy* can only exeite a smile. Most of t^m« my lord, have adopted this country as a permanent residence and hav-^ not the slightest intention of migrat'rig to Newfoundland or Jamaica or Dcmerara or Siena Iiconc or the '^ li 224 magnetie pole. It it, howeter* conaolatory to them to knoiv, on your lordship'i authority, that, if they should, by an anti-national policy, be drfTen from their adopted country on account of their * Britiria origin,' they may still find ' a home on every Con- tinent and in every Ocean of the globe.* But does your lordship seriously mean, that none but British subjects find * a home* in the British Empire ? Are American citizens, on account of the * darker and more diflicult courses* of their fa- thers, excluded from the full and free enjoyment of * the splendid patrimony' ? Does your lordship a- gain seriously mean, that British subjects hare * a home' only ai the British Empire ? Is there a oi« viliz^ spot, my lord, along the length or the breadth of either continent — with the exception of your lord- ship'A vice-regal dominions — on which the name of Englishman la not a passport to favour, hospitality and respect? Bu . how could your lordship, while actually pla-> cing * the English inhabitants of this province* un- der the feet of a French faction as the presumed or- gan of * the great body of the people', guarantee to an Englishmaa * a home' in every quarter of * the splendid patrimony'? Kas an Englishman, my lord, * a hone' even in the * vast and beautiful' domi- nions of your lordship ? No, my lord, be is stig- matised as a foreigner ; and those, who so stigmatise him, enjoy your lordship's patronage, and what is still more remarkable, your lordship's confidence.— But it is not in words merely, that an Englishman is denied ' a home' in a land conquered by his fs- iheis. Offensive words are backed by more ofSsO' sive deeds. Your lordship, for instance, will soon be required to sanction or reject or reserve a bill, which degrades the Englishmen not only of Lower Caaada but of every portion of * the splendid patri- mony*, which confers an invidious privilege on French law-students and disqualiBes the Brough- ams, the Scarlett^ and the Copleys of England for 225 cxertising llwir profesMon in the King's Courts of this province among the Vanfolions, the Debleurys and Uie Gugys. Your lordship's pleasing language about *a home' is * incoanpatiblo or incongruous* with the sanctiouing or ere?] the reserving of such a bilL Let not the antl-national imbecility of tl^ Legislative Council be your model on this poinL Hie bill is not the less Anii-£ ^glish, that English- men permitted it to reach your lordship. Hie two peUh$t to which your lordship emphati- cally^ alludes, may be presumed to be the path of peace and the path of war. A more acute analyst, my lord, would have discovered at least /okt paths. The * two parties' may bo both quiet or both war- like; or either of them may be warlike, while the other remains quiet. May I presume, my lord, to conjecture, that your opinion, as to the probable choice of * paths', is not now^the same as that which you entertained on 27th October, 1835? Tour disappointment, my lord, has been equally bitter and complete. You vainly flattered yourself, that unjust and illegal measures would lead to *the conciliation of adverse parties' and lay deep and widf* the foundations of general harmony. Has youv Qojonstitutional nostrum, my lord, succeeded ? Ys ' mxly believed, that the danger of physical rer 'J'»».''3f- was • be apprehended only from the French- C ' j|ft 8.' Hbs your belief, my lord, been just i- tieiJ / > ihc visible and tangible results f No, my lord ; fu. these results have convinced you, that * the English inhabitants of this province' are alone likely to vindicate their rights by force of arms and that the French demagogues have uttered a wilful falsehood in every threat of physical resistance.—. Pardon me, my lord, for requesting you to read a few editorial remrrks on the British Rifle Corps in 'le last number of tiie Vindicator, the Englisih or- f 1 of yrur French allies. So far from attempting to counteract thai corps by fulfilling their own threats of physical resistance— even with a special example n I i w S96 h tad ft tpMul jiMtileAiion Infora tl fm .»tt w dmxu^ (Oguttc&lubit Doihing but imr, dutnaMt aiidooiifi> MS. The journal, mjr Imrd, to whidi I bavt JuH ■KiMledr bai bacndcnnradly s^kd the Praieb Vio- dkator. The tttiek in quoUon juatiiis the na- ▼ours of disloyalty, for it loads his Majesty with the crime of having robbed the public cheat of Lower Canada. I have the hcmor to b^ My Lord, your Lordihip'k most obdt. humble servant Canjuos. ">^ '^