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HIGH MISDEMEANORS, AT THB LATE ELECTIONS PREFERRED AGAINST HIS EXCELLENCY SIR FRANCIS BOND HEAD, BEFORE THB "COMMONS HOUSE O'F ASSfiMBLt or UPPER CANADA. 4 -Al/I ' SIMCOE : VSaWXitD AT THB ** NORrOLK MIS^Cfi^BR^ OVtiO/i^ r THE POLITICAL UNION OF UPPER CANADA. TO WIILLIAM WARREN BALDWIN, ESQ., M. D.„ Presid'Cnt of their Society, £fc. ^-c. Sj-c. Sir: Dedications are not without their use. It is Loth proper and pleasant, on suitable occasions, to express those sentiments of esteem and gratitude, which arc due to public men lor their public services. Great is the debt we owe to you ; — and both our duty and inclination concur, on the present occassion, in offering this tribute to your private virtues and undeviatinj; patriotism. The seat which you held for many years, m the earlier period of our history, in the Provincial Parliament, was devoted with most honorable consistency to the cause of civil aad religious liberty ; and when the exigencies of the country lately needed your manly and active interposition, we M'itnessed the readiness with which you (one of its brightest ornaments) left the retirement of private life, and engaged in the vindication of the people's rights against Executive corruptions, which will be transmitted to the execration of the same posterity that will cherish your conduct in grateful rememberance. For your manly and patriotic bearing you have fallen a victim to Executive resentment — but Sir, the utmost efforts of Executive malignity cannot lessen your distinguislied reputatio'- vvith the people who behold in you, in your advanced age, the winter of time having already shed upon J^our head its prophetic snow, a champion full of unabated affection for his country, nobly contending for the inviolability of public liberty. Your name will be associated with that of the great Joseph Hume and other illustrious benefactors of mankind, who uncompro- mising principles are a constant theme of calumny for a selfish and venal faction ; and your memory will find an honorable record in the history of this unfortunate, because misgoverned. Province, whilst the name of its oppressors will be forgotten or only remembered for their injustice to you and general oppression of the country. It wiil be some consolation to us who have been made to feel the baneful effects of the present Administration, that the character of the Venerable Dh. Baldwin will not float down the stream of time towards a disonorable abyss " in the same boat" in which Sir Francis Head' lia.s invited the Constituency of Upper Canada to embark their interests. With the highest respect and consideration, We have the honor to be, &c. &c. On behalf of the Union. T. D, MORRISOlNr, WILLIAM LESSLIE, By order.! JOHN ELLIOT, SK'y. V.P. V.P. PETER FREELAND, V. P. JOHN McINTOSH, V. P. JAMES E. SMALL, V. P. i:/. AJvi^ !■ •(!;■ \ UPPER CANADA HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. D., Monday, January 30th, 1837, The ITottse in Committee on the Report of the Select Committee on the Petition of Dr. Charles Duncombe, to the Bntisli Mouse of Commcms^ DE. J. ROLPH. — Mr. Chairman, Perhaps never did a day, wearing a more lowering aspect than this, dawn upon a British Colony ! The glory of provincial monarchy, subjected ignominiously to these proceedings, is sullied beyond the power of your acquittal to redeem. Kings are sometimes tried. But nations are their judges. And when a people, goaded by injury, rise in their majesty to occupy the judgment seat, grand is the spectacle and vast is the result ! Popular sympathy generally mingles with the royal fsite, and an interest is transmitted with the very block, which is dyed with their blood. But kings even in Europe would dwindle into, shadows, were they arraign- ed and tried before subordnate tribunals. Only imagine it ; King William the Fourth tried by a select committee of the House of Commons ! The proposition, Sir, shocks you. And behold the treasury benches ; their very hair, at the thought, stands on end. Yet I charge them with a crime of little less atrocity. For they have not decorously appealed respecting his Excellency, to the paramount authority of the parent State, and then humbly awaited from the iCing or the Lords, or even th.. Commons, their high umpirage ; but, intoxicated with power, unconscious of its legitimate bounds, and strangers to the due limits of the constitution, which they boldly vociferate others infringed, they liave, with Tory temerity, erected from among themselves, a little tribunal of members, to propose for our adoption or rejection the pres..mptHous sentence " guilty," or " not guilty,'-' against the Viceroy. It has filled me with amazement I When first made ac- quainted with the course thus pwrsued by the Hon. Gentlemen opposite, I exclaimed, impossible ! Can this be the offspring of their monarchical professions ? Are these the high-minded statesmen who would direct the affairs of a nation, and yet thus throw such a mantle over the occupier of the throne 1 Have they so little credit in the very community they aid in governing, as to stand half convicted under the solitary petition of C. Duncombe, and so little weight, or so little generosity of character, as to be incompetent to shield even provincial majesty from this humiliating predicament 1 Had Reformers a prevailing voice, I should be ashamed to see the country in this condition, and its local majesty made dim with this impeachment. Impeachment, did I saylOhno. They have doomed theii^ illustrious personage to drink the c»p of humiliation to the very dregs. The trial has not l»een conducted even before the Legislative Council, our Pi^pviacial House of Peers, who would perhaps regard a guilty participation, little less tliau potit treason ! It has not oven bcrii coiulucted helbre this hon. House, while the chair, Sir, was occupied by the Speaker, in whom is embodied, besides his i)nrlianieutary phylacteries, the aggregated dignity of tho Assembly, with the Maeo, snrmountcd with a Crown, lying massively on the table, nnd defended by the Scrgcant-al-Arms, girded with a sword and glowing with a chivalrous spirit. iSucli inquisitorial proceedings even over iloyalty, have when clothctl with statdiness and wrapt up in form, an imposing eflect upon the eyes of the nuiltitude, w!io are therefore the less likely to have their habitual reverence seriously inip;iin d. But as if there were a conspiracy to bring His Excellency to the very dust, to shadow his dignity, mortify his pride, and republieanize the ])eoj)le, the investigation was repudiated by the House, and insallingly transferred to an ordinary Committee ! ! ]Jeholdsonie gallant general, doomed by an uncontrolable fate of war tif.» justify his unfortunate career belbrc the jealons in([uiries of a wounded nation ! Conscious of his integrity, and proud to offer his honourable vindi- cation, he cheerfully appears before a couri martial organized according to his rank. But tell him that snch a tribunal is denied him ! Tell him ho is ordered to a dram-head court martial ! He no longer wears his lofty mien, or feels the buoyant spirit of the soldier's breast. He would in pros^ pect of such a fate, break his sword in fragments rather than return it toth« scal)bard. His very heart would be wrung Avith agony, yea, rended and broken, before you could consummate his degradation and inflict your sentence. He would command the sympathy of the whole military word. And were there no honorable gentlemen opposite to sympatliize with the representative of Majesty, and save him, and the constitution too, from the, perha]is, mortal wound inflicted by this unprecedented humiliation ? Do none of you, boasting of your loyalty, and professing your admiration of the man and devotion to his service, feel conscious of shame for having thus unceremoniously turned over the trial of the Viceroy to (I mean no personal disrespect) two or three country nttornies ! He who is the depositary of tli© lloyal prerogative ; he who lately ascend(Hl the Andes, traversed thi> mountains and plains, and even explored the mines of Peru ; he who, enjoying " otium cum dignitate," issued his elegant Bubbles from tlio bruncns of Nassau ; he who is covered with the stars of kinghthood, from the gnelphic order, that of the Prussian order of merit ; he who is a «o-ordinate branch of the jirovincial Legislature, and who, clothed in the ■semblance of lloyal robes, sits in the Legislative chamber upon a throne ; he who there nods our bills into laws or into nothing ; alas ! even he is here doomed by his own unconstitutional majority, virtually to stand at tluj bar, while you, sir, put the blushing question, " guilty," or " not guilty ?" " Mush, milii causas memora ; quo numine locso, Quidvc (ioferis icgima Deuin, lot volvere casus, Insigncm piotate virum, tot adire labores ,. Impulerit." "' .0' What will the British Government say to this impolitic proceeding ? You who ought to be the first to keep within, at least, the bounds of impeach- ment in the mother country, have assumed to try, and either condemn or acquit the repi'csentative of the King ! The Governor has been charged I > litUe loss Jii- House, ombodiec], y of tlio ssively on word and L'vt'ii over /onn, an L' the less s if there adovv his Bstigation ordinary of war to wounded jIc viiidi" mling to 1 him ho his lofty I in jiros^- it to thw ded and ict your ry word. izo with loo, from illation ? ration of ing thiia personal ry of til© 'sed tho le who, •om tlu5 od, from ho is a d in the throne ; m he is d at tluj Ity?" . r>, • >J :? Ydu ipeach- ieran or Jharged.u with interfering, to an alarming degree, with the purity and freedom of tho lute peneriil elections. It is a charge of treason again the people. You nro this (lay teaching them a lesson they will not easily forget. They find themselves, through the persons of their representatives, bringing under tho ordeal of Hiis enquiry the head of the Executive (Government. II" it is thought ex])odieut to exempt him from civil and criminal responsibilities in the courts of justice, by whatlawdoyou now assume ii jurisdiction, of which oven the King's Jk-neli is ousted ? If found guilty will you put him into the cnsU)(ly of tlio .Sergeant-!it-Arms ? AVill you as it were dethrone him i or bring hiui to the block l You may have an authority from the British Ministry to exercise this inquisitorial function ; but I cannot even then acknowledge its wisdom. When you familarizc the pt^oplc with tbeso summary proceedings against kingly functionaries, you make them compare their own strength and importance with ihat of their riders. There is a prevailing o})ini()n in fiivor of rendering the Legislative Council elective, liut although it is easy to account for a belief that those who obey tho laws should elect the- law makers, and that qualifications to elect one house, cannot be disqualilieaticns to elect the other ; yet it is singular that you should invite popular expectation a step higher ; for while you practically display your power in this cursory manner to try tin; Lieutenant Governor, the people will s:iy, if our servants ought to try him, we, who are their masters, ought to elect him. Heedless, however, of public decorum, and constitutional boundaries, you oblige this side of the house to engage in tho Parliamentary adjudication. Under these circumstances, I am bound to I)ut aside what mif^ht, otherwise, be a becoming delicacy, and with that freedom demanded liy the magnitude and justice of the case- closely examine this report and the fearful events out of which it has grown. The following is the language of the Eeport: — " Tlif coiiiiiiit(f(> liavin<;thii.sclisposf»! of ihe minor parts olDr.Dunconihe'.s petition, will iww '' advf.'it U)lh(it juirliuniifU that may jn^^lly bi'i-oiisideifMlas oi\\\.v.s;ri;iitcM iini>ort(Hice,viz., llui •■' dccusutiou (/?(;/;/.i innocoiit lu select in secret )rts which lulor such terlcreiico i'h \\'()u\d, D country, , <»ni!ty ol' itutiun, la condora- susi)iciuu utiuu. It :l iiioml)cr viz. : Iho ^ccllency, lut if tluf case to Mit House, in similar a man ol i])utc this or. It is s of men of moral aiity and liini M'ilh ity of his him, who ral hij?h- nso party osily and niaturor I no small icmorable mentary. e motion, nicsKagfj I and documents benrini^ upon the qucsfion ; becuuso it woidd havo bwn a practlicid assurance of a di-s] silion to conduct the enquiry htna Jidt, to rtctpiaint the coinitry with tht; details, and thereby apprize them of thu te.- make and the testimony in supj)ort of thein. Hut this pioposition wn« unaccountably rejected ! No oiiieial notilication was to be: i;ivea thepeoplu ut the facts alledged, and no (|ueries cinndated to facilitate the uecpiision of proof. Sundy,in the matter comprehending the wlu»le face (jft he community :uul the alled<2;ewledge of thu great body of the electors, and susccptibleof no satisfactory scrutiny without their co-operation. It is, therelbre, not .so much the language of justice, as of a parliamentary, majority, now to challenge us, ns you do j'romthe (;ther side of the House, " to disprove the lieporl if we can." An opporlunity has been asked and refused. Had you not felt that the more freedom you gave to inquiry, tho more would the wickedness of late transactions have been exj)osed, you have both silenced olyectiou and satisfied the demands of truth, by giving u further scojjc to investigation by those who, know the facts which you doubt, and are aware of testimony which you never .sought ? When, Sir, I j)ro])osed the other day to refer this subject for additional evidence, it wug met and avoided by a motion for the orders of tlie day, by the hon. mendirwr (Mr. Kol)inson) from Simcoe, a county which is said to have been, duriinj; the late election, specially deluged with executive corruption. It ib a mockery of justice, it is an a])solute derision of the peojile to invite us to disprove, and at the same time deny us the means, (iive oven now a fair (ij)portunity, and it sludl be done, ihit is it a(!cording to the hnvs of honor, (ir of parliamentary courage, lor a majority to challenge a minority into thu ticJd, and deny them the free use of the same wca[)ons as they use them- selves ] Think not, however, that you havo even [)y these means achieved a viclory. This document, like all its kind, contains the elcmentsi of it* awn condomnntion. What is this? The opinion of the Select Committee, iint where, nlas ! is the evidence comprising the Ajipendjx ? Oh, Sir, that is not printed ! If the .Select Sommittee needed evidence to arriveat these i)rinted conclusions, do you think the House can by parliamentary magic, or a sort of hocus jxxjus conjure ocus, arrive at the same conclusions without any evidence at all '? Assuming solemn inqmry to be tlie object, and that wo are bound by an uljligation scarcely less sacred than an oath, to "render a verdict according to the evidence," the duty becomes impossible by the tem})orary su])pression of tho teatimonv in the Appcidix, To judge of thia Heport every membwr to I 'ought to 8CC (hat on which it is fbunded. Were there no intention of imj)Osing upon us, the Ap|icndix would have been first printed and distributed} -and alter thc'lapst^ of a reasonable time Tor its careful examination, one or two resolutions Ibundcd on it might have been proposed for adoption. Ths order of truth, however, is inverted, and we are now called upon to draw a ttonclusion in ignorance of 'lie premises! A jury of honest iarmers would never give a verdict on a Lawyer's Record without first comi)aring its allegations with the testimony. It is equally preposterous for us to adopt this ReiMjrt without first carefully comparing its allegations with the "testimony ni the Appendix. Amidst a pressure of business occupying the House from ten in the morning till a late hour at night, besides the dntiea of select committees and the necessary examination of passing measures, it is impracticable for 62 memberii to have access in the course dl' a lew •days, to a sblitary manuscript of evidence, so as conscientiously to form an opinion. But yir, there is still furtber prima facie objection to this report. It has several limes occurred during the present session that chairmen of select committees have made reports when members of tliem have stated in theijr place that they never heard a word about the reports till they were announceis phice in this House, as a mcmbtr of the selert foiniiiitte might bo satislieil of its corrt-tness. is was alwaysalluwed witnesses. And that Mr. Norton has statwl in his place, as a ..id on the talile two Ways, and on the 22nd wais wa/i. By the Provincial Act 4-th (jco. chap. 4, it is enacted, — "That wh<^never a petition, coini)laiuing of an undue election or rctuTn of a meml^r or members to serve inParli-amentshttU be presented to the House of Assembly, a day and hour shall by the said House of Assembly be aj)pointcd ibr taking the same into considetatiou ; and notice theireof in writing shall be ibrthwith given by the Speaker to the ])etitioner or petitioners,and the sitting memljer or members or their respective agents," By another act in amendment of it, the petitioner is retpiired to enter into recognizances within 14 days tifter the ])ctition is presented. It appears, therefore, that both the House and the petitioner had a duty to pertbrmwhen the petition was ])/rscnted, the one being bound to appoint a day and hour for its future consideration, and the other to enter into security ibr costs within fourteen days. I first ask the question, when did the house consider the petition presented so as to require them to name a day and hour? Wan it when it was brought in , No. Was it when put on the table 1 No; l)ut after it was brought in, tind had laid on the ttible two days, and had b'»cn read. Then, and not till then, did the house act on it. But if they did not consider it presented under the law till read, surely the petitioner was entitled to the same construction. The petitioner seeing them adopt thii.nile of computation in their own conduct, applied the same rule for hi» 'H*^ / I ii 12 owu guidance, justly supjMSsing that if he regiilatod hisproeeedingsby tKosoi of tho Assembly he could not be wrong. But although they did not considv»r an their oion 'part the petition fully prcsctitcd till it was ready yet on the i)art o-i the 2^cM.ioncr it was considered as presented when it was brought in, although under a rule of tlie House it was in abeyance till read. One rule of law for the house, and a different one for the petitioner; one measure of justice for ourselves, and another for the peojile praying us for relief! — Oenerous to ourselves, ungenerous to others ! Excusing our own omissions, fuid yet dealing to our constituents such rigidness as would discredit the sharpest and keenest Attorney. And this sharp practice, too, under our nnjust constructiou of the law, for the inijiroper jmrpose of stifling inquiry ! Calculating the 14. days for Mr. Mackenzie, from the reading of the petition, when the house themselves acted on it, and it was unfolded and its contents disclosed and thereby presented to them, he had the Avholeoft'ie 'tth of Jan. to enter into the recognizances; yet on that very day this house struck tlio order, fur taking the petition into consideration, off the order of the day ; and, :i.s it were, signed judgment; although it was notorious that the petitioner was at the bar, anxious to avert that coin-se and give the required security, axid prosecute his complaint. Such conduct will not bear investigation : and is calcnlaled to excite a distrust of the power and justice of this house, and a belief of their fear to allow the alleged corruptions at ths late general elections to undergo a fiiir and full investigation. An inquiry involving the character and constitution of this Assembly, the conduct uf the Executive Government and the freedom of the elective fran- chise, ought not to be arrested by captious objections, or a convenient two-fold interpretation of the law. The act enjoins that notice shall bu immediately given to the j)etitioner by the Speaker, upon a day being uppointed for taking the petition into consideration. From the journals of the English House of Commons I Ihid that it is. their practice in such cases to introduce and read the petition immediately, and appoint a day iht taking it into consideration, notice of which is forthwith given to th» ])otilioner. This notice instead of being given on the 22nd, was omitfe [xjtitioncr uuexcused, even had he been guilty of laches too ? We ough to have allowed him 14 days from the time the Speaker actually gave thi» notice in fulfilment of the law. So rigidly do they adhere to the Statutw in Ivagland that they immediately upon reading the petition give notice txj tho petitioner of the day appointed for taking it into consideration. Tlia hxw in force liere is a copy of that in force in England, and are Ave not aa much bound by it as they are in England I The only difTorence is that a pt3tition ha-s hereto lie two days n}X)n the table, before being read ami acted upon, but when acted upon, notice should be forthwith sent to tho party petitioning. ' .' f. f > hhj! <.';n -,r >;;,i Mr. Mackenzie, too, was fairly entitled to 14 business days of this House. But in order to deal out to him tiie most scanty and niggardly measure of justice, we refused to give him the holydays which we sumptuously bestowed Hpou oursulvea. On tho 22nd of December, the day tho petition was reud 13 igs by tKosrt loteonsidv^r on the i)art brought in, One rule measure of br relief! — 1 omissions, iscrcdit the , under our ng inquiry ! the petition, its contents ; 4-th of Jan. ! struck tlio le day ; and, le petitioner :;d security, vestigation : itice of this ions at ths An inquiry the conduct active fran- convenient ice shall bu day being journals of I such cases a day for iven to th» wiMi oraittetl negliirenco tary laclios ; 'ould otlicr- llaviuu ivo held tlii* AV'e oucV. II y gave thi» the Statutw vc notice to it ion. Tlu» i we not aa ce is that a g read ami sent to tho this Hoi»9e. measure of ly bestowed ju. was rsfld find a time appointed for taking it into consideration, we adjourned till the 2(1 January in order to oat roast beef and plum-pudding. Amidst all the feasting and convivialities of the season, Mr. Speaker and all, forgot to givo the 14 days' notice to the petitioner. It was pardonable. With stomachs greeted with tho richest delicacies of the season, and with heads and hearts bathed in Madeira and Champaigue, you could not rationally be expected to condescend to smaller things. (Granted. But the epicurean philosojjhy of a Uoniiln age should i)realhe Generosity towards others amidst self-enjoy- ment. Mr. Mackenzie had his Christmas relaxation amidst an amiable and ijiteresting lamily; and wrapt up in the christian duties of the seascn, lio was absorbed in the hoi)c of seeing ushered in, a new and happier year. H« might have thought the absence of tho Speaker's notice, intended to express tlie ])hilanthropy of the House extending to him tho same seasonable recreation as they enjoyed themselves. But — will posterity believe it ? — while yoA were relaxing from all the cares of the country, and forgettintf even the duty required by the law from yon to Mr. Mackenzie, you wovdcl allow no corresponding relaxation for his still enfeebled health, no apology for his sui)):)osed fbrgetfuhKss, and no pardon for laches not greater than our own ! Had he come here for the Speaker to enter into the recognizances during the vacation, he would have found nothing but the three-cornered hat ! Our high court of Parliament was closed, ourselves dispersed, and our worthy Speaker lost in city festivities and Highland bliss. Ten days of tho fourteen allowed Mr. Mackenzie, were merged in our holidays ! ! If Ilia Honor went to his country seat at Perth, was Mr. Mackenzie to follow him 7 Oh, melancholy display of Parliamentary infatuation ! History will record this injustice, and Sir Francis may praise it, and Lord Glenelg may ratify it; but posterity will rise in judgment against it, and transmit it with your unenviable heraldry to future generations ! Mr. Mackenzie, it must be further remarked, acted upon the computation of time, which he learnt to be the proper one fr.om Mr. Patrick, an experi- <*nced and intelligent officer of this house. Good faith required that \Te filwuld not allow wrong to any individual acting upon information gathered from such a source. The House had power under the act to enlarge tho time foi" entering into recognizances ; the refusal to exercise that power for thn promotion of enquiry, affordft a ground of suspicion which no explanation can do away. Supposing a full and satisfactory trial to have been our s( \o and hearty desire; the sudden arrest of all proceedings upon the above petition, and thu pertinacioHs refusal to allow them to be continued or in any way renewed, have defeated our own honest vieWv*? ! We had an object to attain ; we forgot the most effectual means ! 1 beg. Sir, your pardon ; we did not for- . get — the means were in our hands, and we let them go; they were in tho : very course of operation, and we stopt them : our memory was jogged and 'jogged again to recognize their justice and importance, and we did not: we were again and again solicited to revive those proceedings, and we refused. By this conduct we lost an opportunity of taking the evidence, affecting tho charges agauist Sir Francis, upon oath. Had the trial been conducted ^ before a Greenville Committee, the very members of it constituting the judges, I would also have been sworn to the faithful and upright discharge of their I duties. It would have been a tribunal acting imder the solemnity of an f oath, and receiving evidence under the same sanction. It would luivc been i h\ y. 14 ;fuardcd, therefore, by those sentiments of honor, to which this House is; yifoperly alive, witli the superuddition (not to be spared) of Uie higher motives of religion. Had this Select Committee been held. fro their duty by the sacred obligation of an oath, would they have met in so desultory a manner? Would members have so unceremoniously retired fwom the judg- raent-seat, and others as unceremoniously taken thcir.place and duties without having seen the earlier stages of the inquiry, and scanned the deportment appearance and very physiognomy of the witnesses? Would not all havo followed the industrious and punctual example of the hon. and learned members for Wcntworlh and Brockville (Messrs, Sherwood and McNabY who respectively sate 12 and 14 days, while others sate 2, 3, 4 and 5 days » Would they have solemnly adjudicated upon the whole elections of th© <:ountry in 14 days with as few witnesses, except themselves and half-a-dozen other members? Would they have drawn up this Report by piece-meal as' the evidence was given ? Would they have offered' the indignity, which lias been received by my honorable friends (Messieurs Norton, Woodruff and Parke,) and have drafted, considered, and adopted this report w^ithout their knowledge or consent, though associate judges?' Would they have acquitted Sir Francis of all undue influence and executive corruption before and during the late elections?' Let the people answer the questions. It is, therefore, one of my objections, Sir, to this rejjort, that it is-an inferior substitute for a more complete investigation. It was forced: upon, us, when a far better was at commands It has compelled us to accept the judgment of the judges and the testimony of the witnesses upon^ theiir Parliamentary honor, instead of their oath* The uncharitable world will say, we shunned the clearer ligbt because our. deeds were evil. We appear to have evaded the truth as an enemy, with whom we dare not grapple- in his strength. Pray, Sir, let us. yet take that course. It is not lo© late. Do. it out of justice to* Sir Francis; for such an inquiry as this, so conducted and so completed, will make him appear to be guilty, even slwuld he l)e- innocent. With these facts before us, it is matter of surprise that so few petitions- have been presented against returns? "V/hat suitor would institute a l: ?ry tru».. This is the key to the whole proceeding. Not a word; of concern is there from the beginning of the reixjrt to the end of it about the rights and libertieg of the people, or, the freedom of election. Here you at once detect the bias of the mind. The grand thing, the one of greatest imjiorlanco was the "accusation against Sir Francis." Are we the representatives of the people or, of Sir Francis? In my apprehension with all imaginable delFerence to the committee ur.d the Honse, the question ol greatest imjm-tancc isj-hastho confidence of the people been abn^ed ? Had they secured to them a peaceable election? Had they extended to them every facility to exerci,se their franchise? Were they protected from orangeism? Were they unawed and uninfluenced by the undue and corrupt exercise of executive power;? Sir Francis, on the contrary, is mentioned aa -their, first care ; the people, the last ! Let me then, proceed to inquire from the internal evidence of this report, and from acknowledged facts, whether Sir Francis is or is not guilty of directing unconstitutional means against the elections. The allegations may for the sake of arrangement,. be olassed into 1st. Orangeism — 2nd. Returning Officers and places of election, and newjTatents,. — 3rd. every species of miscellaneous influence which high station could command and corruption exercise. Orange influence is more easily felt than pi^ovcd. It ia not unlike that oppressive condition of the atmosphere, which is felt in all dts uneasy efTects,, but is otherwise intangible, undiscernable and beyond detection. The very secrecy of these baneful societies necessarily imparts to them this chamcter,. Nine persons out of ten in the Province would acknowledge the prejudice which sprang from this Orange source, and exerted itself, w^henever it was deemed an expedient auxiliary, throughout the country. But to put your finger, upon it, is the difliculty. The existence of these combinations is known, and many places- of their meeting ; but the moment you attempt a closer inspection of the oomposition and operation of them, you are ekided and defied. You might as w^ll try to grasp and; examine globules of quicksilver scattered on the ground. You remember^ Siry the mysterioua dis- appearance of Morgan among the secret fraternity of freemasons. The most exact, laborious^nd prol racted investigations were instituted, but all fruitless ; and his fate up to this hour is wrapt in dark oonjecture and painful surmise. To declare, therefore, that the late elections were not pervaded by an Orange influence, so universally exjierienced, because not sjiecifically and personally proved, is not more unreasonable or untrue than to deny the prevalence of a peculiar condition of the atmosphere in; the cholera season of 1832 and 1834, because the chemist could -not exhibit it in his laboratory. Dr. Duncombe, therefore, might be correct in point of fact, and carry with liim, as he undoubtedly does, the belief of the great body of the people, and yet be unablt o demonstrate the Orange agency io dfetail. And perhaps the Select Committee, even had they really endeavored with the full extent of their authoraty, to scrutinize the thing to the utmost, would have failed. in England and Ireland the same Orange Lodges long existed, and carried their machinations to such an extent as to endanger! the liberties^of the people and the stability of the Throne; and when the British. House of Commons instituted a searching inquiry, it is evident that much remained unrevealed, though enough came to light' justly to alarm, the nation. Such, and far worse, is our situation. We have the same latent evil without an i fidoqiyite in9.lj^ti<« to investigate «i the part of tljoae whohave the gower». mm !i / y :' ./!, r> llic minority ciinnot, and the nifijority, I believe, will not do it. In ths ubsenc'c of positive proof of KxeciUive coimtcniince to Orangcism, lot mo remind you oniio siijnilicant conduct of tSir Francis Head upon this subject. When ho assumed the government of this country, orange violence waa bold in its position and disastrous in its operation. The history of three successive elections in Leeds, allords a painful testimony, upon which I could, but must not dilate. The honorable member for lianark (Mr. Cameron) touched upon that subject with much cfFect. And who thai entertains an atom of respect lor the honest, worthy and peaceful farmers of Upper Canada, did not feel a horipilatio u[)on hearing that in ajjproaching the hustings in ISS.*), tliey were insulted and Iicntenj that their clothes were ript uj) in the crowd ; their bodies pierced and lacerated with cutting instruments ; and their blootl made to fill the very boots they wore ! [Dr. llolph then turned to Mr. Cameron and said, is this a true picture? To which he answered affirma- tiv^ely.] On that occasion Deputy Grand-Master Cowan and Attorney (Jeneral .Tamieson were associate c.indidates. It was not without heaps of acrimonious scurrility and abuse, that the election was set aside. Beverly, in Leeds, was the scone of these atrocities ; and the Return in g-officer, high sherift" of the Johnstown district, swore before the Grenville committee, tJiat it was in every respect an unsuitable place, one in which he did not tliink a peaceable election could be attained. The Executive government, however, again ordered the same returning-officer to held a second election at the same place. The same tragedy was re-enacted; the same cruelties nvcre practised, not without the loss of life ; plainly revealing that we hail a Government indisposed to protect the people in th'^ exercise of the electivw franchise. Let me read the resolutions reported by the Grenville committee upon these niemoraljle occasions. Upon the first trial I find the following : " Rcsolucd, That it is the opinion of this committee that at the late election for the county of Leeds, insnlt, interference, riot, force and violence, were used to so jj;reat an extent as ro interfere with and prevent the freedom of election, and that the excitement had so increased by the morning of the fourth day of the said election that it appears to the committee lo hav« been conceived by the Returning-ofiicer and r ivil authorities on tlie ground to be beyond their control, and that the supporters of Messr. Buell and Mathew M. Howard, i^sqnires, candidate* at the said election, were deterred and prevented from exercising the elective hanchise in jjj^acv and safety, and voting at the said election." .... . .... , ^ Upon the second trial I find the following: ** Resolved, That in the opinion of the committee, violence, riot, and intimidation vm» siiil:il)lo (tpportunifios, uii u^isiiriiiico which was micdoil to countrraot the ap[)r !h Misioii occiisionod by his Ibrincr answer, luul convey to all hands ot C)raii'j;Mni'ii tho ex[)ressioii of his displfiisurc, and the veto of his authority? Hill hi5 did ni)i. choose so to exercise his iVlajesfy's prerogative ; and with Kirch I'lcts hclbrc me, can I jiislil'y myself to the coiuitry if I vote for tho adoption t)f this report, which accpiifs him of directly or indirectly counte- niin< lor li)iir years hikI iipwuMis, and ihnic less tliuii llirco — Tiiut lie lo.dc out no lii'eds exrvjil he «'(/•( iiuthuriXi-J to ili) so hy thv oinn'is of tlic laml — 'J'liat In; dislriliuti.'tl tlu' siiinc openly and \\iilionl rereicnc** to whi^iii llu' pittcnlci-.s would vote — I'lial Ik; iin'iitioned to the l^ii'Ut. tiovcriior that tin- p*THO(iti who w.iiitt;-e(fs lor sueh pfrcoiis as he had yellled and were entitled to tlierri ; no deed was issued e\eept all the eondilioiis of the (traiil were eoui|)lied with — .\tleiuled the eleetion ol" .*^illl<:oe — l.y an Oiaii^eman — Th^'re w»*re no bands of organized Oiaiigeiiieii at the election, and if there hu I Urn w.ti.Cjs must have known it." This witness presents himself in the two-fold characters of" agent to the connnissioners of crown lands," and private ugeni for other persons. This mixture ol'piiijlie and private agency, often produces conllicting duties, lie had in this case lo serve divers masters ; and if the allegations against the government are true, he had lo accommodate a corrupt executive conspuing against the freedom of the elective franchise, and numerous electors of all tempers and of all creeds iu religion and politics. The tusk upon the i\u:G of it would be inde.soribably difiicult, if not impnictieable ; and it shows the impolicy of thus blending duties wliich may from circumstances become incompiilible, couriicling or compromising. But svc must take the witness, a^ we fhid him, with the further honors, blushing on him usanOaANGLMAN. He informs us thut he took out no deeds unless ho wtis authorised to do so by lh'3 oun-'rs of the land." We afterwtirds arc told he took out " 130 patents" of which 'only 30 were called for." This is rather mysterious. One hundred persons give special instructions to their agent lor Ih-ir deeds; and yet are so indifTerent upon the matter as not to call for tliem ! J have often remarked the eagerness with which our farmers lay hold of the King's patent for their title. The estate it conveys is the s ipport of themselves, and the inheritance of their children. It embucliest.ie interest and t'-elings of the whole family. There is always a special place for it, iu their onee happy homes; and when they do grasp it iu their hands, they lodge it amongtheir treasure. Ittranscends belief that one hundred ptrsous so anxious about their deeds as specially to combine lo cnii)loy a common agent, would not afterwards even call lor them I ! Tiiis apulhy ill accords with the evidence of the Deputy llegistrar, w^ho represents the public office so prodigiously throhged by anxious applicants tor tidings a!)out their deeds, as to arrest all business, and blockade iho buildings, it is strange the good jjcople should take a pilgrimage to Toronto ubout Patents, which were not, in their eslitnation, worth seeking for, when brcUjdit almost to their homes. Mr. Jarvis is a man of honor. How, then •.iu ii be explained ? Just, sir, as you explain that condition ol tUo roiiul. / ^~.\. — • ■^ - «' l . , ,,,1 1 . -.♦■»— V 22 nndor which you sny " a minuto sconis to mo nn hour." It was a dohision. JCvery welcome visitor of Tory visiii>v, made the impression of iin luimlred ut another tinu^; and with a head m liirhnj^ r(»imd wilii tho intrij^nes jjjoiiipf on, he I'ell and helieved evi-ry tliiu'j; ahoiit him to |)artiei|)ate the sam« pressure and coiil'iision. It proves to my mind, tliat ISir I'rancis and his sateUtes were in hiiiy motion all tlh- while. tSuppi)se (ino hiuidred nml thirty pi-rsons of my unod old friends in Mid- dlesex hadheen on their I'arm.s three or four years; that llu-y had made tlie Hlidihorn oaks, with their numerous rivals in the forest, to lay prostrate at their feet under tlie sweat of their hrow; that llu^y had paid the fees and luMl'ormed lilt! Svment duties; that they had with all the lahoiu- and under all the privations ineident to a new settlement, eleureil a comfortahle llirm, ereeted !i lious', ami (illed it with all whieh countifutes theeliarm, called ttitr lio/nr; and that they were I lien told their deed would await them nt London on a ujivtMiday. Do you lielieve one hundred of that nund)er would fail with all alacrity and zeal pimetually toohey the ha))py summons? And suppose furlluM" that they had themselves with previous solieitnde, jiaid the sanu» ardent to hriuf^j them. Do ym\ not ieel it to he slill nujre ineredihlo that they would slay uway with inditrerenee? And suppose still fuither thai the time and placf of their own arraiinjenumt and jirevions concert with their u.eeut, was an eventful iijeneral eh-ction. Do you think it possihle that one hundred would under all these eireumstances, for!;eL or neglect their own arranjrement to secure their estates hy putting their deeds into their pockets? This defies my credulity. There must ho some mistake. Th« matter has not yet heen sifted to the bottom. It appears from the Report (page I'J,) that besides the al»ove 130 patent!!, others also destined for the election of Si meoe, were placed in this witness's hands, makinii a total of 308 !! Mr. Ritchie had (hdivered to him " all the patents remaining in the ofliec, some of them 10 ami 15 years old, and not knowing whether the grantee lived in the county or not ;" and of this number '* 170 were returned, the owners not havinc; ajiplied for them." Those admissions are important, and force a conclusion the very opposite to what they were intended to induce. During the last IT) years there liave been six elections ; at neither of which so much ofliciousness was manifested by the public functionaries, as to send these deeds " in a wild goose chase" after their negligent owners. The very I'act that government patents were thus crowded at the Simcoe poll at " hap-hazard" to find voters; betrays a very suspicious activity : it is, too, an executive activity exerted on this occasion only, and is inseparable from the prevtiiling com- plaints of corrupt executive inthiencc. Even the dusty deeds from their dusty shelves were called into play. They rumaged for everything new and old, known and unknown, called and uncalled for, in order perchance to hit upon some stragling claimants, Avho would gratefully reward an obsequious government with their votes! Sir Francis and those who accepted his gracious invitation, " to embark their interests with his char- acter in the same boat," must have trembled at an impending shipwreck, when, as a forlorn hope, they threw over, as it were, every anchor at random, Avithout previous soundings or moorings, to find for them a chance salvation. Of the above deeds, 170 were returned. For what purpose were they sent ? Let any farmer in the country imagine himself at the hustings, either as a candidate or an elector, and that when the polling began, a 23 govprnrnont land njjoiit, arrived, londod with HOn patoiitu, diroct from th« exct'iitivo doparlini'iils ; WDuld imt. tli)< aiiiiotiiicciiiiMit prndiici^ iiii iiistaii- tuiJi.'uii.s pan 1' I V\'oiil(t iiol till' ('U'i:U)r.s 1)1' imiucdiatcly disposml to rulir* froHi an uiHMpml conti'st. '( And would not llit> popular ciuulidato withdraw from, appar.Mitly, an iniavailiu!,' stniuu'K> ? ''lien; is olIi'nciM'noucli to my mind, in oxliiltiiiiifrat an (•lection sncli an arr;i ' oC j^ovcrnmont tlt'cds in tlio signideant mistody oC a jfoviTiniiriit afrciit. Ii is no di'li'nco to say, 170 of thiMU wore useless ; perhaps sham ilecds. A lii tilious displry is .sonu'timcM made in the art of war to dee.'ive a superior enemy. And . is remarkahlw that the very eilects, immediilcjy rnniorod to havo ln;eu produced ut the Siincoo eleetion, wero ])rei'isely what you would a priori expect from tli« «)pera,tion of tlu se a(dcno\\|ed interfere as govennnent agent or use any influence hi;s situtition gave him at the Elcctiony The whole evidence, (loose, indeed, and luisatisCactory,) is without any date or approximation to dates. Jiiit no matti-r when thti *< command" was given, why was it limited by the exivjssion "at tho election." Every man, much moi - every government i.gt nt, knows that little mischief can be done ''-. llitchie. T lis important interview, therefore, must have been commanded by Sir Francis: and there must have been a motive, an object, or as lawyers call it, an inducement to it. This inducement can only be collected from v/hat transpired at this gracious interview : ;ind what was it? The whole conversation, the whole subject matter and jiarliculars of it, comprehended a general elcctintt, the nvmbcr of deeds he hod, and the amdi- dates for ichoin the ^nattee.s would vote ; to which is added some demi-royal advice after the fa.-.ihion of Lord Chesterfield, ahuut his "'xi hehaviaur at tht hustitigs. What, Sir, is all this, but a clear, positive and delinite interference with our elections ? The above is but a ])eep into things as they are ; and what should we not see, if we had a full and litir view? — T cannot bring myself to believe that Mr. llitchie was the first to offend Sir Franeis'g ^Uiioaoy with so impertineut a topic. It m iucrcdiblc that uu> soou as ho wa« •^.-».^- '" U B tMmLtJ ' gi ii w g 25 'nSliered into his presence, ho volimteorod as wolcomo )»cws, •» Sir Francis, I |j!ivc got, do yoii know, ii jv.ircel ol' deeds, aye, 300 ol' thcni, ali ibr iSiincoc, and I'll toll you, they will all vote lor the tories." Hut lor u moment suppose that tSir I'rtineisdid not by any nneonstitutional and undue in(juiri«\s and i'ltiigncs with Mr. Ilitchie, dri>w i'roni him ihis unseasonable and indecorous eonimunieation, — still it is sin«,'ulur he did noi give the witness a gentle rebuke ! f^upj'ose the judges were iudding a •court, and a person iould be Ibund with courage enough to pet into their j)resence ;i)ul begin to tell them about the trial, the means he hadateomnuind, the use he was about to make of them, and the probi«ble result ; would not any judge we hnve, indignantly repel him from his))reserice,irnot instantly oommit him? And how can we account ibr the liief that similar ott'enee to ■Sir I'V'xncis Avns not sin'ilarly resented ? If Mr. any-one were now to wail on him and say, " !Sir Francis, 1 have such and such "bread and butter" [whatever it might be] lor so many nuMiibers oi'the Assembly; lam going to deal it out, and 1 think they will all vote fo- your acquittal." It is impossible he could receive or answer such an intinu.tiou with com}»lacency ; yet it does not essentially dilier IKnn a like communication made to him during the late contests, when "his character anJ tlieir interests were embarked in the same boat." Here is a case in which the vice-regal dignity is uisulted by a conversation, the very introduction of which implied a Confidence in his corru]»tiou. And the mystery is, that there is no rebuke- It can only be accounted lor, upon the sujiposition that there was a good understanding about the whole matter between the two — Sir Francis was the ])rincipal, Mr. Ritchie truly the agent. Had the former needed any official inlormation within the sphere of his duty, that information could have been efTeclually a?id authentically obtained from the head of th« department, the honMile Mr. Sullivan, Commissioner of Crown Lands. But when we see him going l)cyond this official source, and engaged in cIosb confabulation al)out an election with a subordinate otflcer, a land agent, half public and hiilf private, it induces the presumption that their mutual object was e(|uallyunofru-ial,suborilinate and intriguing. According to this fragment of evidence, "JSir F.B.ilead strictly commanded ■witness not in any manner to interfere as governnxent agent, or use any ijntiuenco his situation gave liim at the Election." I should like to know what the witness had said to induce a suspicion in Sir Francis's mind, thai he would act otherwise. To tell a man not to steal, implies that yon think him a thief — and unless Mr. Ritchie, iv his over aeal, tendered certain services, which even Sir l-'rancis thought of a cpiestionable character, hu would scarcely have insulted, even an inferior, WMth such a caution. If he thought him capable of eorr^ipt conduct, he ought immediately to have dismissed him, instead of commending him to an election. Ir he thought him incapable ol corrujit conduct, the needless prohibition must have been wantonly cruel, anu so lac..'^rating to the feelings of an honorable man, as to have wrunjT from him an expression of wounded ]iride. On the contrary, Sir Frai.i^is and Mr. Hitehic seem good friends about the whole of it, Mr. nitchie i . eloquent alwut the number of his d«'eds, and their virtue at tha approjiching election ; Sir Francis seems jileased with the music, and says^ * you must not interfere at the elections, you know, Mr. Ritchie ;" who perliapa responded with a wink, and was then biuidled oli" trom the vict>- f©gal pr>aeuot» at govern meat houaa with 303 deeds, for per:jous known and ^ I \. ^^ 2(5 unknown, to be dealt out at the Hustings durincj the Simcoe election to persons who, the agent thought, would vote for the torios! The prohibition, too, merely restricted him in the exercise of his influence, **as government ui^cnlP Tliis would l)e Ir.titnde onongh for 99 men out of one hundred. As ''government M|E;ent" he did nothing; as "Mr. Ritchie" he did everything ! Of the " inliuence his situation gave him," he made no use ; of the influence, which vanity ascribed to Mr. llitchie, as Mr. Ritchie, he made every use ! It was a neat application of the " Bond^'' — It is the discovery of a new art, viz. : — to be and not tohc^at the same time! For instance : when Sir Francis first orgsniij^ed his present council, we have the evidence of two of its members, the Hon. Messrs. .Snllivan and Augustus Baldwin, that the hon. Mr. Sullivan gave a writiu'^, (the precise form oT which is still concealed) to the hon. Mr. Allan, that in the event of the death or absence from the Province, of the Lieut. (Governor, the former would resign, so thai the atl ministration might not fall on him by virtue of the King's instructions, but upon Mr. Allan. This writing was drawn up by Sir Francis, in the council chambcT, or if you please, in the clerk's room Tadjoining itfjand regularly signed, perhaps sealed too, and delivered in the vice-re,g;il p,resence. It was, to be sure, deceptive and politically neliirious, to impose upon acunlidinci community the belief that the presiding councillor would upon the faith of the Royal instructions, succeed upon a vacancy to the administration of their affairs, while there existed a secret document both to defeat the Royal insructions and disappoint well founded public expec- tation. It was natural for the late house to desire, upon an uncertain rumour of foul play being abroad, to learn upon what footing the contingent government of this country rested. They therefore addressed Sir Francis for, , ' - ■'" ■ ' ' " Copies ol* any bond or agreement between yotir Excellency and any of your present Executive Council, or between any two or more of the said Council, by which it is stipulatetl in what mannt'r the Government shall be administered, or who shall administer the Govern- ment of this Province in case of the above named occm-rence." Sir Francis replied : — "I have entered info no bond or agreement ofany sort with my present Executive Council, and I do not possess, nor does there exist in Council, any document of such a nature between two or znore of the said Council." This denial of the transaction and of the existence of such a document, was put to shame by the reluctant testimony of two councillors Messrs. Sullivan and Augustus Baldwin. To any honorable or unsophisticated mind it would come under the vulgar denomination of a falsehood, and it was necessary to explain it away. How was it done ? Sir Francis under a modern system of logic, proved the agreement, " to be and not to be." There was such a bond, but not in council ; there was such an agreement but t'was in a state of abeyance ; not in the clouds, to be sure, but in an honorable councillor ^ breeches pocket. Although it affected the future government and destinies of the country, yet being oft the file of the executive council ofiice, it became .m official nou entity ; our public records may thus conveniently be made to vanish in the twinkling of an eye ! — It was an alien, without cogni^-able rights, born in the clerk's chamber instead of the council chamber : and although it avowedly sprung (perhaps as Minerva did from Jupiter's brain) from Sir Francis's fingers, yet it was illegitimate ! Tliii* outla wedjthe assembly were assured 'there was no such bond' in counoil, ]/ I ..'-^--^ 'rrir^'s--:^ *^..^«»,t>.*r-^» ^^* » .^ * — 27 with a mental reservation, however, that there was such a bond out of th« council. This, perhaps, would have satisfied Lord Gleuelg. But from certain extracts, piibli.-,hc'd i'rom an explanatory despatch, it appears that this nondescript document, thispulitioal hernmplirodite, had been guilty of treason ! Yes; it had, we are <:ravcly tokl, assunu d a [lart oflhe vice-regal name ! Bond. Assuming it to liave been intended as an incUgnity, we are further gravely told, that it jusiilii'd an evasive answer, a denial of its existence, — Inrpiisiliveness, now-a-days, will justify prevarication. " It in perfectly salisfactory." .■■ Very well. Were you to ask " fjr a statement of the influence which Mr. Kitchie, go\crument Land Agent, usjd at the late eleci.ion." Hie Francis would reply '* Mr. Ritchie, government land agent, did not use his influence at the late election." In vain would you prove, as in this case, every point and degree ol iulluence, of which an election is susceptible ; in vain would you prove that the agent had a special interview with the Lieutenant G(jvernor upon the very subject of the election ; in vain would you prove that by ])reconcert, he carried out 303 deeds fur persons who, it was thought, wttuld vote lor the tories ; in vain would you prove that the Lieutenant Governor even condescended to prescribe the conduct of the agent at the election ; in vain would they accumulate facts (only a iew of which, even, can on sueh occasions be brought to light) to manifes* the various kinds and degrees of influence brought to play belore and during the election ! 'J'he answer is simple; " It was not done as government agent ;" that was strictly true ; and of what Mr. Pwitchic did as Mr. Ritche 1 officially know nothing. This excnlpution Lord Glenelg would call ♦* perfectly satisliictory ;" and many an agent resting on the authority of a viceroy, and the honor of an English Peer, might work every species of executive political corruption, and yet sustain an all sufficient vindication ! It really seems that Sir Francis, as Sir Francis, and Mr. Kitchie, as Mr. Ritchie, concerted a great deal about the election ; but respectively as Lieutenant Governor, and Land Agent, they hold themselves innocent of doing anything. Much of the same character appears to be the evidence of the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery. With di;r executive gallantry, he relieves Sir Francis, and declares that what he did was " upon his own responsibility." It was done, not by the Clerk of the Crown in Chancery, not >^' He Deputy Registrar of the Province, but by '' Sam'l Peters Jarvis, Esq.," It is useless to press the Lieutenant Governor for further explanatory information, because all he knows on his part, is as Sir Francis Bond Head ; and if you were to address him in that character, you would be properly told " I can only communicate with you as Lieutenant Governor." If, Sir, this is Monarchy, it has sadly degenerated since I left England. It is remarkable that Mr. Jarvis was not examined and cross-examined before the select committee. His evidence is altogether epistolatory. This gentleman is a citizen, and therefore every day within reach of a summons ; and yet he is exempted from m'at'oce testimony, which might have elicited a great deal more than can even be conjectured from the evidence of Ritchie. "When we have in any investigation, two or three leading witnesses, it is usual to make the most of them. They form a prominent part of the proof adduced ; and professional talent is often displayed in extracting from a witness what he does not like to disclose unless the question is put to him, or what from T i K \. 28 ignorance of its bearing and importance, he omits to relate. In this case ha had been in iiill conirniiiiication with Mr. Ritchie U|)on the subject of those suspicious patents, had committed a heap of them to his care and distri- bution, not siiri'ly wiihoiit instructions, and had destined 303 of them for Simcoo. Under tlicse circumstances, as Mr. .larvis was a co-adjutor with the agent, and must have had much to say and do in what ibrmed the res gesta, it would obviously have been satisfactory and instructive, had he also l)een favored witii an opportunity of IxMng unburdened of all that had pa.ssed u{>on this half examined subject between himself and the agent as well as Sir Francis. It is again remarkable that the hon. Mr. Sullivan was also favored with a similar exemption. Yet he is the Commissioner of crown lands, to whom Mr. Ritchie was land agent ! Thus while the princiiwl actors in this iKtJitical drama keep their faces from the committee, the minor one is ])ut forward, delusively to draw our attention from the grand sources of convicting inloriuation. Uhis arrangement is not in conformity with the course pursued with Mr. Parke, who was subjected to questions and cross questions, with an ability which only increases one's regret, that the same talented and sifting interrogation was not a|»plied toother witnesses who necessarily jwssessed and could give more important and positive intelligence. From the little evidence produced with respect to the Simcoe election, it may be collected that there was the active interference of a government land agent, (Mr. Ritchie) in express communication upon the subject with his principal, Mr. Sullivan, the Deputy Registrar, Mr..larvis,and Sir Francis Head ; that he received iroin them 303 dee«ls with an understanding about the candidates lor whom, it was thought, the patentees would vote ; and that he was allowed by the vice-regJil instructions, personally given, to attend the election, and to use any influence '* except as government agent.'* The people, Sir, will be the best judges of what, in this limited community, would be the effect of such a conspiracy curried out into a mischievous detail, which has not by this committee been adequately inquired into, and which perhaps no human tribunal could entirely scrutinize. It is not, be it remembered, a deduction from evidence taken in behalf of the people injured in their elective iVanchise, but from evidence taken by a committee who confess " the accusation against Sir Francis to have l>een by them considered as of the greatest importance !" But let us take this conlession, as it were, about Mie Simcoe election as a standard, and then estimate the amount of corru()tion, influence and intrigue exercised in other sections of the country. The deeds issued between the prorogation of the late Assembly and the close of the late election amount (as far as they are confessed) to 1478. Supjiosc these deeds to be carefully classed, and subjected to whatever inquiry led ATr, Ritchie to the conclusion that the patentees *<(would vote lor the constitutional candidates," by which beguiling names the tories have been baptised with numerous dozens of wine on numerous occasions,-su]ipose a dozen Ii itchie's to be duly armed with these deeds, pufled up with a regular conning over of the thing with Sir Francis lleact himseiJ and by him personally instructed in the science of cautious non-committal deportment " at the election." And suppose these official partizans to transform themselves (perhaps by a fresh patent) into free and independent electors, and then with the sf)irit of knight errantry to vi'age war against Ike reformers in favor of Sir Francia and tke toric». Po you uoV thixik^ wiit^ 29 not the people think, that it wnnld amount to a serious, nlarming ano" Corrupting itifluc '-c ? And with theso dcvda sup[)()sc thry disseminated th« inflamatory appeals published by JSir Francis to the constituency. Do you upon your honor believe such intrigues to be cuuaiitutional, consistent with Earl liipon's despatch, just to the elective franchise, or void of ellect ? I am aware th*; Committee in their Ilepc»rt poni|)ouflly declare "how ho{)eless would have buen the attempt to corrupt the brave and loyal Highlanders and other electors of the J^istern Dii^lrict; and that had any one appeared among them for such an object, he would have been met with universal execration." It is not impossible, Sir, that this pre-judgment in the minds of the committee materially embarrassed and restricted them in in their proceedings. This overwhelming conviction of its utter impracti- cability, would not leave the mind in that in(piiring state, which would pervade it under a deep sense of an alledged violation of p' Mic liberty, and a subduing consciousnessof the high duly which their ace ,ng country expected from them. It politically sounds to my cars a little bt)mbnstical. It is of that highty-tighty nature, which is by no means suited to the subject or the occasion. But this is in no degree meant as an objection against the committee. I am aware, Sir, that when I address you about, corruption, and undue influence, and the impairment of principle, and the like, I render myself wholly unintelligiblo. You are strangers to those mental alTections, the power of which, human nature, in the general, humbly confesses and studuously avoids. It is, therefore, metaphysically impossible to bring to your knowledge and com])rehension, the causes against which less gifted beings wage a watchful war. When some philosophers attempted to explain to a man born blind, the nature of the color red, he exclaimed, ** it is just like thunder !" And I have so far studied mietaphysical science as to appreciate the committee's seeming uuconsciousness of the frailties of human nature, and the errors into which they betray us. The country will, I trust, under theso circumstances make cvi-ry allowance for this angelic condition, and admit the futility of any man being ap[)ointed to inquire into the operation of moral agencies for which they have, indeed, a name, but with the practical bearing and power of which they have no acquaintance. One word, hov/ever to the Highlanders and the electors of the Eastern District. The language addressed to you, is not unlike what the serpent said when he beguiled Eve? The committee have judged you by them- selves. I pray you, on the contrary, to judge yourselves by yourselves; and when you lioneslly and faithfully do so, you will not resent the advice, to be on guard agsiinst corruption, intrigue and influences, which have been, perhaps, not openly, but insideously put into operation against you. — ilemember the humiliating and instructive pages of recent history, from which we learn that even in England whole constituencies have been by the high court of parliament, convicted of l)ribery and corruption, and punished with disfranchisement. As your public servant, I wish you may not be led into temptation. When, therefore, a government land agent from Sir Francis presents, himself among you even with the simplicity of illitchie ; when he beguiles you with conversation about your elective Irunohise, and the manner you will exercise it, so as to report to head quarters how he thinks you will vote; when he peddles about from the public departments old dusty deeds for unknown claimants, upon the eve of an eventful contest; when he swarm* f it I )1 H 1 ) ■l^i^-yih 'A i V s 80 among you passionate and vindictir'o appeals blusliing under the emblason- ment of the Royal Arms; wlicu in winniufi: manner he enlarges oa tho gracious assurance and coiumiind.s from Sir Fnuicis, and vituperates your representatives for not prostitutiuo; tl\em,sel\\'S to base jiolicy; wlien ho unfolds to your adiniriut^ mind, as political *' hread and l)nltcr" richer than Highland cakes, new gover:uncut patents by the luuulred, but bliiuiingyou with the assarance, that he is specially instructed rmt to use hisiufhicuce as government a(;(Mit at the election; when you sec these bland and masked intrifTues abroiid amongst you, shun Ihem " as pestilence and i'umine." — These are not the trails of hoiu'st,upriL''ht and patriotic fi:overnments. They are calculated to warp the jiuboemcnt, prejudice the choise, and poison the very fountains of political justice. They involve a conspiracy against your institutions, and a plot for blasting the character of your uneoru[)romising servants in the Legislature. Trust not yoiirsi'lves in such an infected atmosphere; but with the true dignity of the IJighlander, renounce those "evil communications which corrupt good moruls." Send them to tlie imprcgndhie Cnnimiitce ! Do you say, sir, that Sir Francis is no<" the />rfl' 6/ /m/ friend of Orangeism? His own land ag(nit, his man Friday for the Commissioner of crown latids, his own emissary to Sinicoe, was an Orange:.ian. This is proof enough. All the power, all the majority, all the evidence, are on your side of tho house. The establishing of one case under all the circumstances of this present inquiry, ought to shatter this report to fragments. When you throw a pebble into the stillest water, one wave makes another upon another, spreading out into a circumference far and wide. And when Mr. Ritchie, primed with Orangeism, was commissioned by lloyal authority to Simcoe, it was one Oranireman touching another and he another, diffusing their fraternal commotions throughout the whole constituency. Judge of oiher elections by the outline which I have given of the one for Simcoe. To review the intrigues and corruptions which transpired at the hustings generally, would ocucpy more time than is usually assigned to a whole iSession of the Legislature ; and would require a previous analysis and arrangement beyond M'hat my duty as an individual member could accom- plish, or your patience under existing prepossessions would indure. It is often necessary to judie of tho whole by apart. It is a hard case that I should in the existing state of this indignant country, he obliged to prove its wrongs, wdiolly out of the defence made by the accused. There is no attempt in this Report to prove the facts. It is a labored document to negative by testimony, what nevertheless would have appeared irresistable under an attainable but luisonght demonstration. — Every thing, therefore, we can deduce from this report, must be taken most strongly against the party, whose reluctant confession, indeed, it is. I shall not therefore, advert to tiie abuses which form the popular outcry in the land, or relate, as might be done, the apologies of public functionaries for admitted intrigues. This vaunted report contains the evidence for its own subversi'^n. And when subjected to the criticism of a discerning and impf "al public, it will not need, on this branch of the subject, the much that 'ght be added for its further confutation. !^< "itisfied with my own perusal of this Report, I commended it to the •areluJ ^ erusal of another, the more certainly to ascertain what notice thr Select Committee had taken of the uumeroug inflammatory appeals mad*,. emblaaon- oa on. tho rates your when ho cluT tlian n(linij;you fliicnce as :l masked unino." — Its. They oison tho linst your [)romising infocted nee those m to the angeism ? ^rn lands, enongli. lo of tho ;s of this on th row another, Ritchie, .Simcoe, ng their 3 one for d at the ned to a /'sis and accom- It is digfnant nade by It is lid have dion. — en most I shall in the ries for its own ig and much t to the :ice thfr mad*,. SI . previous to the late elections by Sir Francis Head, to the hopes and fearS; the passions and jiri'iudics ol the people. Not a word cim be found relatiiii;' to them ! At hrst tiie deficiency .si ruck me, 1 confrss, as impeaching? Iht; good faith and uprif^ht in<[uiry of the hon. and learned couitnitlce; bteuuse tht^ object and tendency of the vice-regal aiUlrcsses, w(>ro notorious and unconstitutional, delnicting from the diuiiily of the Cr(nvu and deslructivo of the freedom of election. Jjut, on reflection,! felt convicted of an injustice towards them, which was readily retracted, an.l rcpl.'ici-d by an admission of their candor. For they frankly declare " that the accusation against his Excellency the Lieut, (loveruor may justly be considered as of the greatest importance;" and under this open confession, it would be itUe and prepos- terous to su))]H)se they woidd add to the accusation which'' with noconimou degree of satisfaction," they were about to falsii'y. Cnder these circum- stances, however, we must be mindful to take a correct view of tho commit- tee's labors, and not erroneously ascribe to them the chnracfer of a general, impartial and rigid investigation into the high crimes and misdemeanors of the Executive (lovernment against the liberties of the people. What was the state of things when these fulminations were issued? — "What kindled in l^ir Francis this spirit of agitation, or rather of Knight- errantry'? What was the ''bubble" out of which he raised a whirlwind? Sir Francis upon his arrival found in the Executive Council, appointed under our constitutional act " to advise the Lieut, (iovtrnor upon the affairs of the Province," the hon. Messrs. Eobinson, Markland and Wells. This Council are required to take the following oath: "You do swear, that so far forth, as running ami discretion snffifoth, you will justly truly and evenly counsel and advi.se the Kinjj; lUiJ his Kcprespnlativt; in tho ;;overnment of thw Province, in all matters to b;; communed, troaled, and (li?meaiiod in the ilxtculivo (Council, or by you aa the King's Conn.'i.'lior, without partiality or exceplida of jwrMinsj, not leaving or •senewing so to do, for uO'ection, love, mede, doubt or dread of uny person or persons. " You shall keep secret the King's Council, and all that shall be communed, by way of counsel, in the same, and shall not dirtcov(!r it by word n!' wrilinj:. or in any otherwise to any person out of the same council, or lo any of the same coiincii, if it touch fiim, or he be tho party thereof. You shall iiot foi ^ift, mode, good, or promise go(xl, by any man or by promise of letting any person, accept, or lake, for any promuiion, favouring, ielting, or lunduring any matter, or thing, to be treated or done in tiie s;iid Council. " You shall, with all your might and {wwer, help and strengthen the King's snid Council, for the good of the King and this Province, and for the peace, n^st, and trancfnility of the same. . " You shall withstand any person, or persons, of whatever condition, state, or degree, that •hould intend or attempt the contrary, and g, n^'rally, ynu thuil observe kei'j) and do all that a good and true Councillor ought to do unto hia Sovereign Lord, or his Representative in this Province." The country had ever assumed that the duties which they were sworn to perform, they accordingly did pori()rm. And therefore to their bad advice had ever been a.scribed our acknowledged misgovernraent — to such an extent, too, had this misgovcrnraent reached, that t^ir Francis himself has emphatically said, "the grievances of this Province must be corrected; impartial justice must be administered; the people have asked for it; their Sovereign has ordained it ; I am here to execute his gracious commands; delays will only increase impatience." Indeed, one grievance of which the country now most loudly com})lains, viz.: the erection and endowment of 57 rectories with exclusive ecclesiastical and spiritual rights and privi- leges, according to the establishment of the church of England, coidd not kara been forced upon thorn without the the consent of the executiv* T n 3E9B N » 32 •mmcil ; bccriusc the constitutional act, in that case specifically lequirtt their consent. Tho lat<; KoiistMjf Assembly impressed, therefore, with the irnportanc* of an execiitiv<> eonncil to frwwrd the civil luul reliijioiis interests of the peo- ple, sent to Sir Knmcis nn a 99 •• their » wc mif^ht have licld our ufTiccs and snlnrics AvithcKit the active performnnce •of the Exccuiive functions iipuii which u oonliding comminiity jiislly r)re- Miinicd. The liitu Council, of conrso, tendered their rosionalions; which Sir Francis accepted. 'J'hi« request and i>\r I'^'s reliisal to conihicl his udniin- istrution upon those i)rinciplos wcreconiminiieatcd hy him to the y\sst'inl>iy ; wlio, so (iir IVom dissenlinji' from those views, even transcended Ihcm and passetl the lulk)wing rcsohilion: Unsolved.— Tliiit tlits Hoiiso cousidors tlio uppoititriKiiit of :i impoimblc Kxociitiv(.' ('ouiicil to uilvi-H' till' LifutL'iiuiil (i«- Constiliilion ; iind cuowln I in onr I'oiiti tJl'lJovouitnciil, und as Ikmiiu' o.icot'li.cstronjii-st yt . \hh lorn jn.-t ai;d cini abl« udniinistration ol' tlio (.'ovuiiuiK.'iit, and l\dl enjoynuMil of our evil and idii;ions ri/i.ta aiul priv ilea's." ' This was carried almost unanimously. The following, sir, are the ycag •nnd nays: YEAS.— Messrs. Alway, Brown, F.ni'-<>. Caldwell, (Mu!:-sit, CJiislioIm, Cook, Cornwall, Duncoinhu of Oxford, Dicii-ouihi' of iN'o.f.ill:. Durand, l)i;nlop, (jf it pnlpfihly absurd) they hiivc k<'pt wholly out of view llu; varioii.s ollir.r topirs luloptcd by Sir Francis for the wiKul ihkI arlfiil (lissiniinalioii of the most, iiuiluting lujjjes and fears nmniii!; llio clrclors. Lot \\\c ri^vicw a lew of tlicni ; ami with them coniicca llie palpahlo liict, tliatlio elicited the addresses llirounh the active and zealous iiislnimontalily ol" liis lliteliies and oilier a;;-eiits llirongli- out the country, and lli-ii eiui,ralled upon them these mem()rai)lo replies. Still dwellinu; with aHecti'd lameiil.ilioa over tho luiiveisal devastation caused by the withholdiiHi,- oC his supplies, he thus attempts to work tho electors u[) to the hii^lu-st pitch : — (Jenllomt'ii.— 1 l"iveopli!, liiiiii lliiis hriikfii will indclilily si:iin|) its aiillior. Tlic ohj'.vl, lluMi, was to a'iilaU; llii; coimlry I ill li'' "aroused it ;" till ho, ft priori, uot a " vcrdi(.'t :"' mid '• .s////t<7Vv///;// ,-" for wliicli Miliicioncy, \\o no doubt, coiiiitcd hi'ads, (Kvds l)(ipi>s, Irars and all. WIumi Iiy liis aritliiiu'ti- cal luid moral culciilatiuu lu* t!ioii;.>lil. tilings wimm " siilli'iiMilly" ri[)i! lur tlin closiiis^ inastiM[M(n c of policy, \\v. \vuu\d ^' j)io)iij)////"' maUo liis iiiovcuu'iit, rmd gull lli(? coiiulry into u Tory rcpro.st'iitatioii. i{iit,stniiif.':(' lo.say, wliilo llicri' is (his clear iiianil'ostatiou of tlu> dhjcct soiiuhl and llic means used lterity, be; held ji wonder that the virtne and intelligence oCthe people, even so well withstood the unhallowed llanics. J will read yon a specimen : (iontlL'irii.'ii. — l\\y plans iiiid |ir()j,x;t.s hit all ronlaiiied ami publitlicd in i\v: iiistnictioiis wliirb I received iVoiii llii; Kin;?. Tln'y dcsiri- nii; to (VKn-cl, willioiit [lailiality, tlic fjiicvanccs of this c'oim'.iy ; and it is liicaiisL- tlic auitators k'o i atii (liloinincd to do .so. tlial tlicv an; »'()dca» voriii!,' to i)l)stin(.'t irio hy cnery artiliou ia their jiovvcr. 'riiey dcelau' lue to hi; ihoii enemy, niid the tniih n-, 1 r,'(ill;i am. [C/urrs from Mr. Siicrwond.'] — " They declare me to be their enemy, and the truth is, I really am." [6'//rry.s froDh Mr. ^iicriv•"■ vrrclict tiuii, was I'll IS WU!I iscerning ;" till ho, :'y, li(! no ritliiiii'ti* ^»i! Jor tlm OVOllUMlt, !iy,\vliilu IN used U> my iiiflii- lor nil! to d by lliu Lite. ion. To ud ini'usu Tlu're is cmlcd in his own )()ii 1ht*ra 1 luiatho :i! that h» ^vhich ho ii;iou and ■ common [•liting np fijiMicrucy irtne and (lames. tidiiK wliirh rirviincos of / arc fviilca- heii enemy, emy, and itraniro it cry other olancholy the Hianl ilwivo and 'bilked by ated from thousand rtuc have enemy to gnes of a lajesty of I, the nu- chccr. Pnt, Sir, -when I «oo tho utonU't fairility witii whieU vSiieh a sonlimonl, waftfji on Iho I'.oyal lir.-alh. n-aches, for even u transcient stay, the heart of the culliviitcd and Ihe ri'lin^d ; wIumi I s-e it for a moment insiniiiitin!; itsi'll' into a mind ni whieh it can (iiul nothini:; con^iMiial, nor ba aliowecl loniif to dwell ; when 1 nl'o it slealiiiu' upon those of leurnin|i and rank, tho' oidy haiit;in'?lou,si'ly as aeloud,\\liieli (lie next i',ineri>us (houij;lit will ehase nway ; when I s.'d it as an I'vil spirit, (li'ctiu'j; about the antlior of this report, and r/ilect that it was perhaps uuetni^eiously hoveriu^u about him, to taint, if possible, his iufpiiry into Ihe (ruth, and by its mys(erious infliieneo, divert him (Vom the situices of | roof, and prejudice his e(II)rts at ("air dediie- tioii ; when I see the. possibility (hat an atom of its .'vall may have been nlily dropt into the ink whieh has spread out this record liu- oiiradoption; — h(nv, sir, can I sid)due the I'eiir (hat (his same spirit, sent abroad amoni^ u f^uihdcss p, ople, cautioned by no suspicion, and etiptiviUed by (he lolly nouna; from wliicli it caiiu", nuist have iuleeted every aluiosplu're it ))assed throna:h, deposited its nidailiiif5 leaven amotifr the electors, and brooded iu its evil over all tla^ hustinj^s, which /brined tho special objects of its most envcMionuMl missiun. Imaj^ine. Sir, and fjrievi* as you do so; imngino the electors "aroused*' by these addresses and banded to/rether by tho anomalous appeal '• to em- nark their interests in the same boe.t wilh his character;" ima!j;ine them maddened by his false outcry ol ruin and desolation, and hurryin/i: to tho poll with worse than Jhichanalian song «« Sir Francis fi)r ever — Down witli his enemies ! They declare im^ to be tJieir enemy, and the truth is, I really am ;" — and do yiju wonder that some of the cloctiuus wore the character they did? or can you npon y^'in* honor .say by the luloption ol' this lleport, that the Hero of it stands innocent ol"ail undue inlluenci' and interference t In the very same document lie says, "on the other hand, not a single address hiis reacheil me iVom the opjK,\sitc ]v.irty, since the prorogation of Parliament." — Do you marvel at it { The Indians, indeed, sometimes oiler a sacrifice to u]>pL'ase the evil spirit. Were wc fo turn Indians! Were llcformers to oiler at the shrineof .Sir Francis's dispicasin-e, their unwelcome remonstrani'cs f lie llrst declares himself tho enemy of the great body of llcformers, and then literally reviles them for not ap[)ealing to his consideration as a friend, (o his honor as a man, to his generosity as a Btatcsman, and to his magnanimity as tho unworthy representative of a noble rrinc(; of the House of Hanover. Listen to the rest of the sam« tirade — " in no instance have the few individuals who have so unfortunately l>een misleading the public mind, thought it prudent openly to state to rao their objecti(jns, lest 1 should expose them to ])nblic view, but their opposition, like their object, is dark, mysterious and discrcditabl *." 'i his i« the language of an agitator to the electors npon the eve of an election ; and yet we are invited to acrjuit him of all )'olitieal agitation ! He shall not on this occasion, however, charge me with a fear in my place in Parliament to state nt large to him my objections'. But while I argue from his own documents; while I criticise his state papers, which would be unworthy the kingdom of the Lilipntians; while from his own official nets and |}rodnctions, his position is reversed, and "his object, dark, mysterious and discreditable" is held np in sad perspective, to the consternation ofCanada^ Ihe judgement of North yVmerica, and the astonishment of England, he will, f trust littve tho magnanimity to remember, while he writhes under wek i / N> ; i >^nv \ 38 merited animadversion that he wantonly taunted rnd challenged the faw, thinking they were weak. And, .Sir, until now, no pro[)ei occasio'i presented itsell", to do iiim even this leeble justice. The Vicc-reg;d address Itisi quoteii, pioeeeds in the following strain : — Upjior Ciiii.ula 1ms bi^eii so iMiully ili'i'i;ivotl by I'alsf; siiUoiiiciits, tluv ''^■' Farmers' iriton-stii •arc ii(j;ilccte.l, v/hile tlic uizitutDi.s of lln; I'loviiKc Iuivl' bfoii nM;)iii!,' ii ,.h Imrvost. (u'litleincii. — I win scul lifio by Hi:, uliiji'siy on jjinnosc lo I'oiicct llio j^rii'Viiiices of tli« •Country. 1 set' (lUiti; t Iciirly who iiic its fuciiiics ; and j dciLirc io yon, tliat il' lli;; I'armcra will assist mo, 1 will af.sist tlicni. It is iiuito fcitain that I can iindor tliis l'ro\ inct; poworf'ul a.sHsianco ; and it is otiually •certain lliat I have been onlered by bis Majesty so to do. AVe are to consider. .Sir, (lie lime ".ad occasion when litis language i": used. It was upon the eve of an eleciion. It. conlimics in the .same strain to represent rlie reionner.s as deeei.'iiig the I'arin. rs by false staiements, neglecting their interests and reaping io." themselves a rich harvest. It is scarcely possible to give the ]iortion oi' the coiiinn;nity here scantlalised, a worse character ; and the tendency and object p.lain'.yarc, to throw into the Tory scale the whole weight of his inlhicace, by reilueing the Jriends of reform to the lowest ebb oi pid)lic estimation '•"' ■• are to be treated a.s enemi \s ; .is dccoivtns ; as scliish reapers of a rich htirvjst ; as fraudulent stewards of the people, (o be hclcd. And to render this •.•ppea! to the basest passions the moreelfcctual. he assures them, in the genuine spirit o'" bribery, ■of the " powerful assistance he can iender,"" if the electors " will assist him." Upon yotir hoiunir, Sir, I ask you to say, what ai^sisfdj/cc ilid he seek ! It* it no imdiie bias at such a juncture tt iniiise into the imblic mind the viles* prejudices, and prostitute the Royal name and station ti- embitter those prejudices to the utnost? Perhai)s, L^ir, yoti would be shocked were I to prove to your satisiaction that .Sir Francis had by specilic bribes of money saccess'f;-'ly tampered with the constituency, and seci'rcd ;i subservient Parliament. Your abhorrence would br conimendtible, and perhaps irresisiablo imdei' the influence of pure and honorable sentiments. But fiubstitute for those tangible means ot" gold and silver, appe.Us under th-^ sanction of otficial authority, to inflame the passions, kindle animosities, infuse hatred, and blast the rei)Utation ofan opposing party ; and will those substitutes, in your honorable estimation, be less availing in their ojieration, or less detestable in their nature 1 [f you think so (I dare not presume you can think othcr^"ise) you cannot vote for the adoption of this report, which acquits this vice-regal agitator of undue and unconstitulion:d influence over the late elecdons. In every address you discover the .same conspiracy against the j)eople. Let the one to the electors of London bear its testimony : Gentleni(!ii — There is no portion of your address of which I more cordially approve than that in which yon jirf-mise iiie that yoir " ntniost efforts siiall he eniploy(;(l .i ilissipato th« delusion under which too many of your i-ounlrynien have been bruu/iiit by the speoioijs repre- sentation of fa.tious and desij.'ini.iii; men," for I Icel very dcv.'ply that if the iidu-bitants of this Province only knew the truth they would then be sensible how cruelly they have been deceived by those who und(;rtoolc to promote their interests. Gentltmeu — 1 need hardly assure you that I myse'.iam an advocate for reform, because if YOU will but tako the h-ouble to read my fnstruiitions, thc^y will show you, that I was sent ti> Upper Canailaby o'lr Gracioufi Sovereign lor the exprcs jiurpiwe of carrying reform into effect — but the moment the agitators of this province read tny in.structions, they fell •• what will " become ' f us agitators if the jrrievancos of this country should wver unlbrtiuiately be removed 1 " The ICing's Instructions and Sir Francis Head are going to ruin us ; ne or we must fail or if " he should succeed in correcting the grievances of this country , one of two afllicii'jiia must befiUf •" usH-rnamely, we must either work hcuestly Like our' neighbors or atarve." \J \ y the few, resented I ill : — *' intiTPSta ii-es of tlin is; larmcrx is ociiuilly i£?uage i-: lie strain lements, it. It i» alised, :i ' into tl?e ieiuls of real 0(1 a» iuululent lie basest '"bviliery, ist him." eek ! U I he vilest Iter those vt'ie I to .)(' money bservieut perhaps its. But ncler th',? mosities, A'ill tiioso jieration, limey oil rt, whieh LMice over c jieoj^le. provt' thnn s.sipat*! th« iou!) i«pre- uits of this 11 cleceivc-J , because if was sent to I iiitoelFi'Ct what will roiTiovtd 1 St fail or if niubt bc&iU 39 Yoncau easily imafi:ine to what "Ihcir utmost efforts ni.'ainst artful and desif^ning men," most6wr//V///y/ urged on l>y the Lieutenant (lovenior, wou'' eventually lead. The *' artful and desig; inji; men," the Kefbnners, weve to be run down. The most infhimalile matfrials in the e./iintry were to be incited to its aceomplishinent. All he said and all he published, wow. calculateil, as it were to convert his emissaries and parti/ans into blood hounds; and he hieil llicm on, to act the part of eanibals. Observe, again, how he tries to 'vrmiyo tlie electors of .lohnsLOwn: hi iht; Mutlicr Cotiiiliy I li;ivc iiivi., Iily i'.>iiiul, tliat wlicii ihf ycoiiiuiiiy iii(Mmco aroiiarHl from tilt; lethiir^y in wliich tlicy arc Iod apt lo loniaiii. 'licir .slimly opinions li)rm om- of the most corroct vo'iliots in the lainl, ami conlidciilly bcliiviuj; that siiicli will prove' to b(! the case in ihis l^roviiicc. i Ik'l; to ask tlio^c yfonuMi and fanners of 1 1 lo Joiins'own Disliiet \Vho«« r.aiiies arc subscribed to tiie docuuv^nis I have just reeeived, the foilowinj; plain (inestions. But his address to the electors of tlic Newcastle District, it possible, transcends the rest, and would alone be a soliil ibmulation for Ids imjieaehmcnt. As your t)isliiet has now the important duty to perform, of el.'ctin;; representatives for a new ParliaMeiit. I tiiinl; it may piaetieaiiy assist, if 1 clearly lay betbie you, what is the conduct I intend inllexibly to pmsn;;, in onlcr tliut by the choice of your nvw Members you iiwif rcsoli'c cither to support mc or oppuf^e itii' us yun iiinij thin!.' proper. I (;onsiiler that my ehaiacler and your inliMests are embarked in one and the Rame boat. — If by my udmiuislration I increase your v\eallli, I shall claim for myself eredi* ; which it will be totally out of your power to witidiold from mo; if I diminish your wealth, i fi;el it would b« hojielcss for any one to shield inc from blai As we have ihcreibre one common ()bj> in view, the j)]aiii (pieslion for us to consider, ia which of us lias the greatest power to do ii;ood to L'pper Canada l or, in other wonlii, can you do as much •;o(iil lor yourselves as i can do lor you { It is my opi.iiun tiiat you cannot f It is my opijiion that if yon choose to disjiute with me, and live on bad terms with the Wotlier Country., you will to.iise a homely phrase, only quarrel with your own • bread and butter.' if you like to try the experiment by electing members, who will ai^ain stop the supydies ; do so, ftr 1 can have no objection whatever; on the other hand, if you choose fearlessly to embark yi ■.-.r interests with jny chaiacter, dei)end upon it I will take paternal c;ire c>f them both. 11' 1 am allov« d, 1 will by reason and mild conduct, be!j;in (iist of all by Iraiuiuilizinj; the country, and as oon as that object shall be gained, I will use all my iiilbieiice with his Majesty's L'i-s ;" *he o!.l ones would not'ly promulgat^^ — Ld than, come if tlfu ilii;: This is consummately artfnl. lie had learnt how mnch the tiood peoplo of this I'rovincc had suffered dnrin£>' the late war. when they unsparingly expended their Provineial IreastU'e nnd blood, to maititain i)ie iJritish Supremacy, which has since rewarded their loyalty and valour with .Sir Frineis Head as a Governor; he knew that their losses had not even yet hee •'-•holly redeemed, and that what had been paid, was jjrincipally taken le sullerers to jiay the snder'^rs; he knew, if he could spread the a.iarm of an invasion, and fill t!ie electors v. itli iipjirehensioi's of fire, sword and death, that all other considerations of public duty and jirilitieal liberty would, for the moment, be merired in the |)0ssi1)le approach of slaughter and carnasj^e throughout the land. Tie therefore iiimoimced an invasion, and- " in the name of" every rcA'iment of malitia in Upper Ceaiada, publicly pro- mulgated let them come if they dare.'" — And over this Bulletin wtus di»~ played the royal arms, to increase its curr.^ney and insure its effects. The universal bustle and coiifnsion ])rodnced i)y this vieereiral inanceuvrfl, arc moreonsily imagined than described. It reminded meof scenes in early lite, Avhen it was said Ntrpoleon was atjout to invad;' En>^land. The rcofk were thnjuged with vigilant citi/.ens, 1h<^ ittmo.st str.Meh of whose vision with a teleseojie, swept the surfiiee of Ontario for hostile flags ; and our merchants were seen in '^•■):,>':in squads, here and theiT aboiit Ihe streets, talking of confiscation v:' ■-...■ hIs, a,n(t insiu'anee a^aitist the KiLig's enemies. The 12 o'clock gun, ■ .> 'Se unconscious of tlie hoar, became the signal for a tran- sient idaria, . ■' di*itated even some of the stoutest hearts. The very ladies, with all '.', eir heroism, threatened tlieir a]-.propriate testimony of nervous agitation, to the h(a-ror of iMiilthus, as well, one would think, as of Sir Francis Head, lied cloth for the warriors, and blck cloth lor .almost certain mourning, were raised in price many per cent ; and as the rasiic in his (evening passage througli the village cluireh yard, is heard with fe/rcent uftlie election at IJeverly in Leeds, the fatal inex[)edieney of which plaee had b?en tdroady twice recorded iji the blood and shrvnided with the mourning ofthe Ireehulders ; the appoint- ment of the ITallon election at a place within 12 miles of one end oi' tho ■county and 30 or perhaps I'l) ofthe other ; antl the selection in the Eastern District of a returning otllcer, who was so incorrigible a partisan a^ presump- tuously and indecently to condemn thechoice the electors had made, and who wilh a corrcs]H)nLling spirit of dis;icconunotlation to the electors and tiie members elect, refuseil the execution of the indentur(>s till another day and place; and the like fads, which were, indeed, too largely mixed up with the executive corruption, not incidentally to escape amidst the partial and necessary disclosure:!; Ibr the defence. Had you sent for Dr. Smith, a late candidate Hn* Wentworth, he would have given yon an insight into the mischievous operation of recent patents, from iO to .oO of which were unblushingly nnjiacked at the hustings, and brought successfidly to bear against him ; j)atents, '■ir, for land in thu Brantford tract, which had been sold f.u-uycurs before upon the terms cX fuur annual instalments; but which neverlheless iifcmaturely issued lor person* " who would vote Ibr the Tories." It may be true, that some points which have been alleged against Sir Francis, may he either inca])able oK proof, or may have erroneously grown 'OUt of otk.'r corru])t and jimlific abuses, lie who collects together the vari- ous com})laints of an ill-governed people, and makes a catalogue of the griev- ances which form the outcry ofthe land, will find, as in this case, som« unfounded things amidst a mass of corraption. If Dr. Duncoaibe has fallen into this error, it is a very venial one. I h'jve heard some of Sir Francis'n devotees extemiate his inflammatory •conduct by pretending all his errors to be the mere ein'rveseenceot an inex- j)erien'ed man. I5ut, Sir, in all these transactions, dec ci\s the proof of tho *^ quo aninvP deducible \xo\\\ his pablic coudnet and his oflieial papers, theru iis positive and external evidem^e to the same elfect. For instance. lln who knew that it was criminal to inflame (he electors at th'' election, must liave known it to be equ-illy criminal to do so upon the cvc of an election — but although he had ]>revious to the late contest, most industriously eircvi- lated among the constituency various political ai)peals to the v^'orst passions of the people, yet so conscious was he of the impropriety of such conduct, that when the Wesleyan Methodist (Conference waited rpon him after tht* •commencement of the election with a pious address, he suddenly became most conscientious, heavily burdened with religious scruples about his duty, t^xquisitively sensitive about influencing the elective franchise, and tenderly alive to the purity ofthe hustings and the honor and dignity ofthe crown ! Putting on a face as long as the Reverend gentlemen before him, he gav« the following syscophantic answer: " GENTLKMtrN : — As the Elections liuve commenced, I must declino sivirig any other rejilt *» lh« Address I have just received from you than merely tu ackuowledge its receipt-" '« 1"^ ». ^ 44 /i .1 ,1 t( /, Tho T\\:vcTond r^ontlmcn thanlird liim, in the presence of thnir Maktr, fl)r hi.n gracious r'^ply, itnd liiiiMhly liowini;, n'lirt.d to prais'.; him in the eohiiiins ofllio Unonlinn lor what thi^y knew to he hypocrisy, yuchistho alH^prin^ ol'tho iuliiltcrons connoctioii hotwocn Church and ^•fate. liiil thor.i is Ciirlhcr ovi(hMi('o t!!:it tlio ovil course M'sis wilfully pnrsiiccU In .Sir l.''r:iiK';s*.s tinswcr to tiu luidresH i'roin the hito Asi^omhlyjic used tho followiiijr hu;gii!><;c, wliich under ii solemn impression of lis Iruth unci irniiorliineo, he rcpenled in his f:i)e.:e!i nt the ))r()ro,:?ation : "To appeal to the jicople va ui;coi;slilutienal as well as nnwi.se; to appeal to Iheir jiassiuns is wrpni;-." in Ih;' first p.hiee, sir, no other than a sworn ()raii<,^iMnan would tliink it nncon.stituliv.nal or unwise to ajipeal to the i'koim.k. Aro tlicy such cypiiers, f;i!cli a mere lloclc of" ro;\san!s,"' (I had almost said I'heasants) iia t(j In deein>,'d unworthy of i)t>in:i: aujiealed to, ujion matters Iraiisceiidantly ttfiecting their hapj)in':s.s aivJ lilicrties? Are tlio peoph) notliinj:j, and Sir Francis ovcrythini;'? This imp'lies the utmost contempt fJ'r thecummnnify at large, reserving all honor ajid wi5.(h)m to himself and the lew ahout hiru iVi instrumenty lor carrying on tho government of the ninny ! But why was hti, who taught this doctrine even from the throne, himself guilty of such iiuconstitntijn:d anci nnwis^i conduct as to apjieal to tiie peo])!e Ihrongh his varioii.s infianimatory addreK:-r,s? ^V'hy did he, after denouncing it as wrong, npjieal to tlunr jiassions; yes, a!! their passions; yen more, their worst pas- sionsl It was, tlierL'^fore, done wilCnlly. It avus a violation of a known duty. Ife preached fr.mi tho thrruK' the iniquity of making" appeals to tho people's passions," and yet to get '< the electors on hoiird one and the same b'xit with his character," and therehy carry the elections, he did not scruple to sacrifice virtue at tii(> shrine of expediency, and (k)tlie very deed, he had fiL>r another jjiirptye pnhjifly eondemncd. It would inid;e a syllogism — " To appeal to the passions or 1 lie people is v.'rong;" hut i>ir Francis has appealed, lo t' eir passif-ns, and their worst jsassions: therefore iSir Francis has done wrong, vi ry wrong, flow, then, can we vole for this report, which wholly acquits him? Impossihle. Dr. Dnncomhc must not he c!itire!y fer'rotten. It must npon the W'holo h« admitted, without dcscendiJig lo detail, that his allegations against Sir F :'i cis aro very moderate when compared with even the littlj that hashecn zn yet disclosed rc;si)ecting hi is patronage ofOraiigeismJiis sharcif intrigues witli land patents, and his poisonous addresses to tho electors of the country. Ho must not expi'ct a hunter (k'e than others of past and ];r"sent times, who have esponsod the cause of the many againi'.t the arrogance aiul injustiiva of tho low. Jt does nutbccomear?furnierto desert the peojilc because they desert him. 'With the magnanimity, a]ipro])riate to the character he hjis Won, he soars above the viridcnce of party under opjiosition, and the instability of men under an nnparaUeled concatenation of executive delusions. !f there i3 any martyrdom which out of rligion deserves the name, it is martyrdom in yonr connlry\s service. When I hear and see directed against the hon. and learned member f.ir Oxford (Dr. Dr.ncombe) all the reproachful malice which the human heart can be made to distil, or the tongue to nttir; — when 1 see the country robbed of the public services of the estimable Dr. Baldwm, venerable in years and exalted in everything; honorable in man, bee;ins? truth and patriotism constrained him to warn hi» unhappy country against the false and inflammatory appeals of a recklew toJuvwrnor ; — whon I »aa tha Courts of Justice viQluteU by so rude a band an 45 •de-commissionctl Mr. Riilout,and meanly .stript liiiri of honors which he had meritoriously iMriicd in war — liouur.s, h(j\vi;vcr, which, tujtwitliiitariiling tho tlespoilcr, ar3 Iraiisuiitfod with iho gluriciis moniovy ol'llic iiiiui' rial ].lrock — and all this diMiruciatiun loo, uinioil, not oousaumiated, iigMinsl liini, cillu-r hccause ho voted lur lii.s lu\>tlicr-iii-la\v, a. r 'li-ruu'r, or h^caiiso (jfCalsu lalca welcomed hy the viee-rv'cal ear Irim Koiue low iiilunneia or still lower eve dro[)pors, niuh'r a despiralilo system of espionag\>; — wliou I soo a similar dcs[)otic Iiiiniiliatiou alleiiipled airaiiisl i\!v. :">iiiall, the iri'i'i roaclialdj and honoral)l«.) .'.-on o('(jiic ot' t.!;i,' most uceomplished f^enllenieii 'lie I'ruvitice ever saw, and one oi" the most devoied s.'rvaats tlie crown ever had; — when 1 Boc my lionoraMc and gallant (Viond IVoin [•.vltinnoul ((,'ol. McDonald) whoso ancestor as well as hinisell", were devoted lo the s.rvi(!('s «l' a Jvii'i^, whose representative has erneily injured aiul insulted Imn, w it liou! redress; — wiicn I see the simdar hiie of a .'."^catchard, suslaininp; amonij,' ail ptirties. th» honorahle eliara'.;ter of an intelligent, upright and humane .lusticeof tho Peace : — When but stay liio catalcigu.^ urjinhhe crime ! The heart fills as this soft of massacre goes on ! — Canada! Wiis this the ])uh!ic justiea and the [)uhlic good, for which yen lately rought,and bled and cheerfully would have died! \V'as tins t lie spirit winch yui; ever thought could ])ossihly 8urvive tho fiauii?s wlucli under the law of ri'taliation in the late war, laid waste your villages and your homes? Is this the rightful iVuil of that unity of the empire fur winch, many of you twice lost much, and hazfirded all? iShall this he the fate ol your bravest comrath::; in llic recent war, who would rather have fallen laleriousiy in tin; field, lliaii live tt) he the ignominious victin'js of this hearlL'Ss puhcy? Peace to the ashes of our dead, ha])[)ily unconscious of the wounded lumorand insidted rank of tlieir once companioiia in arms! t^leep on, in blissjiil ignorance that yon lell i:i vain. Dr. J3uncoml)e is with singular malignity thus charged; "having rsonio private business to transact with the government in Ihigland, he wasdesirous of advancing his claims, by reires aitip.g himself as a person of somo importance, -and with this view 'a.^snmcd the cliaracler of delegate of tho Keli)rmcrs ol the I'ruvince, but vvuhuut any aiUhority \\hatsoever fbrdoint; «o." It Would have become a select ciunmillee, lr;is seasoned with executive partizanship, to relate the facts, and leave us to draw the inlerenco. JjuI as they have endeavored to exercise ]Hrha]« the most disjiassionate judgment in their power, though with singular laih;re ol truth and justice, it is due to the honorable and learned memlier lor tb;(brd (Pr. Duncombe,) toshew tho evil genius by which they were unconsciously deluded. This evil genius, the ghost (jf dep.arling Toryism, haunted tlicm into thfl belief tiiat Dr. Dimconihe was a minor tiling, while Sir Praucis was "justly of the greatest importan(re."'' — Thus ]ios:sessed hy this nnccjual view, littlo attention was bestowed U|ion the testimony or the inferences from it, afiecting the sul)ordinate individual. Hence they sent for Mr. Pidvvcll, who is ivnown to \)c wholly unconnected with the Peform ."-Society, and so nvcrsc to personal attendance at public meetings, as never to honor them \.'ith his presence. In this Ih se, indeed, lie held as a puhlic man tho station of first commoner of the land, reflecting npon it all the dignity which learning, ele(p.ience and virtue could ccmfer. Put out of ihisPtouse, he waa notoriously so estranged from political transactions, as to render any application to him, a priori, certainly fruitless, in the same mannei' they applied to Dr. Baldwin, who is honorary President of the Pveform Sscciety, ■\ ;o A I A \ i i I N. 46 hut wliaso veiKirable ago and growing infirmities render him only ai* occasional attendmit upon anniversiiry nnd extraordinary seasons. Tho ar)i)iic'alion to Messrs. shaver ami Cook(' from the Ivastcrii i-xlreinity of the Provint'e, and to othensuiore or less distant Croni the metropolis, was also- culeiduted to keep up tli(! api)earaiice ofintiuiry, in a M'ay, however, which was sure to elicit nothing. And h.H'iuise it elicited notliiii|:i-, the lionorablo and lenrned eonmiitlee (Voni nolliinr!; deduced somf/l>i//,ii to prove Dr. DiMicondio an iini)'.'stor in iMiiiland. Sinoly, th(»se huii. and learned t^entlemen will feel the worse than error into which this evd ^renins has haunted thein; for had the suhjert offlu-ir nialcdiclion in preferring his private claims at the C'oionial Oiliee, ))rivatel_\ iniimaled that he had iho honor (an honor ir was) to rejnvs^nt the Ueformers in Canada; and liad Lord (Jlenel,'jf written out to learn whelhci' the character assumed was fictitious; then, >'iv^ there nii^lit have been an apjiareut ground for this, invidious charge. But wlien i)\. Duueombe openly assumed thischaractcr in a |)ublic, not a private correspondence, and did so in a petition to tho Hritish House of Commons before the I'i-itish nation and the world, detection,, and disgrace were eertuin to lollow false pretensions; and surely no apology (save that of haunted imagination) c n be suggested lor those, who undera knowledge of these circumstances, charged hini with a. fraud "to advance private claims" which the altom[tfed inipositiun would certainly defeat. It is, Sir, a maxim in kuv, that you must produce the best evidence tho nature of the case admits. Why did not the Lawyers upon this select cotn- miltee observe this rule founded in reason and justice? Why did they forget to send for the active Vice Presidents of high and long established characters, as James K. ►Small, ivsq. barrister at law, and late member for • this City I or for .Tames licslie, Esf|., c)iie(.if our most intelligent and wealthy merchants? And above all why liol; send for the ISecrelary of the Society ? and for the Sec^retary of the J-]xecutive Committee of that .Society, intrvisted by it and all its kindred branches in the eountry with the active conduct of their aftairs ? AA'hy did they not fend a subpoma dues tecum, to give tho Truth as it might api^oa- in the minutes and records of this society? It is not, sir, for me to state what migln liave b.;oa proved had they chosen to seek the fads from the fountain head ; it is enough to show that a Report characterized by such a s[)iril;, and blind to tho clear. -r evidence within tha very precincts of the CAiy, is nnir piiiiri!, particularly va itnpponred nluiust. simnlljiiiomisly with the conitncriceniont, of'lhcirinqtiiry, and witlioiit tho possil.'ility oCiiiiticipnlinir thi.-? maliirnanf ini^iniiation !i_irainst QU hoiioiiiable aiul loanud inoinbcr. Giii(li.Hl l>y this incL'fiiij>- into the tract of truth, why did not tho hun. and loarnrd couniiiltcc s.nid ("jr Jainos M. Small, Esq. { James llarvcv Prico, Ivsq., Allnnicv at Law? Francis HincUs, Ks(|., Cashier orthn People's l.laidi I .lauios Loslie, ICsq., President of that Hank ? 'L'he very llev. l.)r. W.J. O'Crady I The -Secretary of that raoetinjT with his rceord'l and as many moroas they pleased, or as might bo iwigi^estcd by the lesiimoiiy o[ the above •rentL'men, luoro liononibic tlian whom, cannot be Ibnnd iu the ci)nnnnnity ! It is not lur mc, followini^ their (example a;2:ainst Dr. Dimeonibc, to .scan their motives, or the inexpli- cable and mysterions causes of their siii)er/icial iuvestiijation. But for tho adoption of such a report i cannot \o\c. When, indeed, they were told by Messrs. Shaver, CooU, MeMi<"kin2:, Thorbnrn, and i know noi, at this mo- ment how many others, from outer districts, with how much satisfaction Doctor D's mission was welcomed, an inquiry into the movrcpolitan pro- ceedings respecting* it, was both suggested by the evidence and by tlie siil>- ject matter of it. A parly, laAvyers uwcd to say, shall not discrcc'''t his own witness. In this «jase, iherefbro, I shall take as credible, upon their (.wn admission, the evi- dence of .Sir Francis Mead. Acconling to a despatch, a copy of which has been transmitted to this House, but whicii escaped the vigilant and scrnpu- lons labours of the honorable and learned committee, t-'ir Francis sent tho following annomiccraent to Lord Glenelg, in a Despatch, dated IGth July, 1836:— " Tho Ropi'blican minorit}' of cnurao feel that their catise is desperate ; and as a last dying "strii;a:gle, lliey h'civo, I .uiidoistinid, been aa-sriiiblin!; at Tovonlo, night after night, for tbo '' purpose of ai)pealing for assititanco to lli.s Majesty's Uovt^nniGnt ! " Then' ccnvocations arc so scret, that it is impossible lor me to know v.-hat passes them, '' but t have bi'on infonnod that Ihry have acttiaily (lei^pp.t'.'htMl On. Dl'ncombk, an American "nnd a rank republican, 'vilh complaints of some soit resjicctinij tho election. " 1 fcfl conlid;:nt that yoor I,V wliii'Ii your foii'liicl on iliis occivsio.i l.as lici'ii clistinL^nislnMl. It is pcculi- "urly gr.riirviii;^ to idi' h> lii- ilw cluui^u'l orcoiivLyiii;.: I) v-m tlii--' liigli imd hij;,ombIe tcNtitiumy 01' ilia i>lajiyiy'M liivomble lUHvptaiici' ol' your ivTvictb.'' If it is •« II (l:u'k iiiid uiiconslitiitiitiiul pnitfiro" to siMicI tiironts fo ITis "Mn- jcuty's (luvoiMiiieii;. " to rotiiplaiii if Midi olficiitl coikIiicI jis jiroci-d'Hl iitid •utl'MuU'd tin; l:iU' clLH'tious,'' iCsiuli coiuliict. is to 1) • :i|)pr.)Vi'il liy the very (rovcrnituMil (nmi whi.'li tlu' jic'DpUi oii!'.!)!. I.) i\\p"cL uwd to roooive ]irolot'.- tioii ; if this c.tiipi'ralioii ol" t.lii« (.N)|oiiiiU Miiiislrr, is lo pfipi'tiiiilf ji systi-rti Rbhorri-Mit tocv^ry woll »\'u,'iil;iU'(l mind, n'p;i,':,ii:iii; to tlio const itiil ion, siil>- vi'r.siv;j of lilKTt.y and l)'isi?d in iniiu iraliiy ; the rnliiiv; civil and rclijiioiis rights ol' the coiiulry ar > dodnicd t.i cxtiuctioii. Salvtiliuii ciiii, in such CaIsc, only bu o.spt?clcd liuui liu' miIa crsiou of such ii system from its foun- dation. Unless tho evil is now niid cnbctiially corroctod, it Avill equally infest th* fntnriN ti6 it has llic past I'Jh-cuon.s. The cotinlry nnisl, Iherefore, rcmendxT that this execrable policy is not to h'j viewed in a speculative, bnt in a practical point of view, ."^liall wo ever again have :i Ireo J'^leclion? 'J'his lourfnl iiKjniry nuist li>' nut by imotli'.'r. Will this execrable )>olicy ever at,^ain Iid put in (jp'r.ilion I lanswir,it. will! — 'fhesaine j2;ovcrnnient inider the sani.; systcan will nol ln'siia^o to r'.'sorl to the s.ini.i means to gain the same end. They do noi blush to I'a!! thcs:; nu';uis,"cnorer ration or tho oNlinetion of lib-rly. llepMition will bj held corroboration ; ;uiil roncv.'ed success will harden ilie \vorkersof inicpiity. Jf yon recogni/e these VmruES, and desire their transmision toyoar posterity, yun have nothing to no, yon luwe only to sui't'cii. Bnt if yonr nobler leolings rise in arms ap:ainst suca viinTKS, and the dire inherilanee they will yield to yonr ehiiilr m\ and yoiu' children's chiUlren ; i!" yiui valne thai purity of civil government, which is Heaven's si'cond best gift to mtm ; if this rnde blow has r.ol severed vonr honds of sympathy willi yonr institu- tions, civil and r,digions,and with all that cn language against ^dr. Ilnmc. In order to gratify the same s|.irit against hiin, they travel hack to events which transpired years ago, and seem to feel (as well they may) that it is an honour to throw tlieir missiles at so great a man. While ]\!r. Hume is su])p<.)rting the ?din- i.stry in England, their public fnnctionaries here, and ."Sir Francis's parti- sans,, are SL'cking occasions to vilify abuse and degrade him. iiiiton what occasion did Mr. Ilnme expri'ss a wish Ibr om* relief from "haneful domi- Dation'l'* It was. sir, when tho " domination" wtis not. less " baneful" than it is now. The libond iind beniirn intentions of Karl Ei}ion w<.re defeated, and those who presumed to meet even to tliank him, or thrangh him to tlioiik his Majesty, were treated with a violence and brutalit^y which \vtiui«l 9 i Hi cnrrpy, nn !l .vystiTti 1 lion, siil)- I n-li. ''11)113 I, ill sue]) II its Ibun- inft'st tli« riMuoinbcr , Init in a )ii] 'J'liis olicy over iL'iil uiulcr gain Ilia oral c'our- al)lo (osii- (Juniula iriovance; Itrnuilive. ill 1.^' hold ([uity. Jf posterity, jur nobler "luec they ;ulne thai man ; if ur iiislitu- r eoiintry; ather risti 1 ; — Cana- tiiin.sj)irit, \iition for to gratify transpired r to throw : the i\lin- is's parti-- it oi: what :^inl domi- efhr'than ; defeated, ;h him to ich Wttul«l 40 di.igrace the least civilized governmont in Europe. Will yon recollect, sir. the treatment that nobleman received upon the floor of this Assembly ; and the changes which consequently took place, changes which it would bn Mnnecessafily invidious more particularly to mention? Will you remem- ber, sir, the celebrated address of renionsfrance to the King, which passed almost without a dissenting voice, against the inlerlerence of his Ministers in c iv internal affairs ? [" A shamelnl document too." — fnmi the ISolicitor General,] and as unanimous, sir, as it is now said to be shameful ! And during this session (when Lord (ilenelg's interdict arrived) the learned Soli- citor General, and all his party, joined in similar remonstrance, embracing the very same principle, only dressed in more subdued and circumlocutory language ! Tlie minister who looks to the princii)le, and not to its envelope, will condemn you for the treason, which you charge against a former, and a franker Parliament. When, sir, this sort of distraction prevailed, and w e Were goaded with mis-government, almost etjual to its present maximum (which, sir, exceeds what ushered in the American llevolution,) Mr. Hume indignant at our wrongs, expressed the sentiment which you cherish and preserve for his occasional malediction. But what was your own language at that very juncture ? What was your loyalty when Earl llipca sliook lories and their " bread and butter," into impending annihilation ? What was your outcry against " the baneful domination of the mother country," when its scourge fell deservedly on yourselves? What was your patriotism, when your tory recklessness placed yon in the minority, which from executive corruption, I and my friends occupy to night ? I will read it for your humbling edification, from the columns of your own demi-official Courier : — " This is a summary procedure most assuredly — and as high-handed and arbitrary a stretch frf despotic power as has been enacted before the face of high heaven, in any of the four quarters of this nether world, for many and many a long day. " Further marks of his Lordshijj's displeasure at the recent proceedings of the two hours of tlie Provincial Parliament, we understand are threatened. And nobody can tell what political caper this political efnbeciie may next enact. The dissolution of the Parliament ; the recall of the Governor ; the dismissal of the Chief Justice ; and many other equally mad and ruinous projects are said to be in the contettiplation of this foolish Colonial Minister. One of the very worst effects of such a condition of affairs is, that it reduces every thing in the country to a stale of uncertainty ; with the past acts of this minister the great bulk of the people are dis- pleased or disgusted ; and, with reference to his future acts, they apprehend nothing but mischief and disaster both to the colony and to the empire. The minds of all the well aiiiected people in the country (and they to the ultimate certain discomfiture of the united factions of Mac- Kenzie, Goderich and the Yankee Methodists are a vast majority) bepn to be unhinged. Instead of dwelling with delight and confidence upon their connexion with the glorious empire of their aires, with a determination to support that connc.vion,as many have already supported it with their fortunes or their blood, their affections are already more than half alienated from the government of that country and in the apprehension that the same insulting and degradvng course of policy towards them is likely to continue, they already begin to " cast about" in their " mind's eye" for some NEW STATE OF POLITICfAL EXISTENCE which shall effectually put the Colony beyond the reach of injury and insult from any aud every ignoramus, whom Wie political lottery of the day may elevate to the chair of the Colonial Office. " This is strong language; the fools and the knaves of the Yankee republican faction, whom Lwd Goderich delighteth to ^«noc^and the fools and knaves of the Canadian Republican Press (and they are all fools or knaves) will affect to condemn and ridicule that language — but IT IS TRUE ! It is not the mere circumstances of the dismissal from office of Mr. Bouiton, or Mr. THagerman, but it is the disposition which this Lordling of the Colwiies has evinced to counte- nance and protect the odious, despicable, the unprincipled and puny faction which has beeu labouring for years to dissever the Colony from Britain, and to set up Democratic Republicanism initittead; and the equally despicable and unprincipled emissary of that faction, f>Tid the di^potUiom which Ac has at tho same time, as a consequence, shewn to annoy, instdt, 8i.a injuro '■> ) # * \f m { ^ :\ \ 11 60 tht feoliiigi* of th» (crout and respectable mujority of thu Cunadiaii nonulatinn who dik.ivo\«t«i utiJ condemni.-d tliu coiidiict and r«!|>ri>sentations uf (hut ciiiihrary and that faction ; it ii thi» w« rvpf» into their h«Mirf!», nii*! thtMh'rpor, too, liirough tho recent wounds still (»|.(!ii untl scnsilive. 'I'h* inttrchange of kindness in tho same oomnumity in the ordinary (oiirst; of lilo, awakens no surprise, and (Commands no unusual coininoridution. It i» based upon reciproeity, or is the ollspring of cidser relatinns. Hut in Mr. Hunu; I see embodiod the generosity of t!.e Kntili.sh churiutor, and tlio mo.sl estimable feelings of the true plulanthro})ist. lie receives us from a distant country ; and with a sympathy wide as tha world, extensive as tin; human (iimily, he has ever trealetl us with a benig- nity and patient consideration worthy of his nation. He listens to our re- peated and increasing complaints with untiring attention ; and his/oal in our behalf is unsubdued by failure, and unehilled by your rejiroaches. — Amidst the froth of your vituperation, you see liim tlignilied aiul siticrcre. His heart is stdl open. His labors in the IJritish Senate, an; still inlisted in our unequal cause ; anil how vainly do you hope with such a man, to tlrown in his ears tho complaints of tho injureil by the louder and rndtjr rail- ings of their oppressors. Mr. Hume ! In behalt of Canadians 1 gratefully thank you ; and there is not a Canadian heart which dttes not respond to it. I move that the committee rise. JJIot out the lleport. Let it not live to record the public calamities, which it feebly atfects to wipe away. Hnrilen not yourselves against sensibility to wrongs which you cannot but know, and infractiors of public liberty which you must be more or less than men not poignantly to feel. Oicr Country, is a call, which has not altogether lost its charm. Disembark from a boat, floating on corrupts 1 waters ; and ^"XQ on solid ground let us retrieve the past and erect an i»ler emblem for future. Let our honorable condemnation of what is base and despotic, guarantee of our devotion hereafter to what is noble and patriotic. J mov« thtit we rise . '^ ERRATA. Page 4th, 47th line from the bottom, for « aggregated" read « aggregate." Page 6th, 20th line from the bottom, for" thought proper," read " thought, it proper." Page 6th, 26th line, for « he," read « the." Page 10th, 14th line from the bottom, for « no notice," read '• no notice or knowledge." Page 17th, 44th line, for " treasonable," read « reasonable." Page 27th, 8th line, for « epistolatory,"read « epistolary." Paj?e 31st, 22nd line, for " word of writing," read " word or wntmg." k^:' .-•%•'■.• ^-m,^^^^- ~ -^ — r a 'st