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<«*»»
A<5-«
RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT./
LETTERS
TO
THE RIGHT HONORABLE
iLoitr joi)tt 2lus .en»
&c. &c. &c.
ON THE
RIGHT OF BRITISH AMERICANS
TO BE
GOVERNED BY THE PRINCIPLES
OF THE
BRITISH CONSTITUTION.
" Jjdok on this Picture, and on that.'*
HALIFAX, N. S
1839.
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LETTER I.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sept. 18, 1839.
My Lord,
I BBG your Lordship to believe that no anxiety to seek for notoriety
beyond the limited sphere in which Providence has placed me, tempts
mc to address these letters to you. Born in a small and distant
Province of the Empire, and contented with the range of occupation
that it affords, and the moderate degree of influence which the con-
fidence of some portion of its population confers, 1 should never have
thougirt of intruding upon your Lordship, had not the occupations
of my past life, and the devotion to them of many days of toil and nights
of anxious enquiry — led me to entertain strong opinions upon a sub-
ject which your Lordship has undertaken recently to discuss, and
which, while it deeply concerns the honor and the interests of the
Empire, appears to be, by Her Majesty's present Ministers, but
little understood. Whether or not the Anglo-American population,
upholding the British flag on this side of the Atlantic, shall possess
the right of influencing through their representatives the Govern-
ments under which they live, in all matters touching their internal
affairs, (of which their fellow subjects living elsewhere know nothing,
and with which they have no right to interfere,) is a question, my Lord,
that involves their happiness and freedom. To every Nova-Scotian
it is no light matter, that the country of his birth — in whose bosom the
bones of a hardy and loyal ancestry repose, and whose surface is
possessed by a population inferior in none of the physical or moral or
mental attributes which distinguish his race, to any branch of the
great British family — should be free and happy. 1 share with my
countrymen their solicitude on this subject — I and my children will
share their deep disgrace if the doctrines recently attributed to your
Lordship are to prevail, to the utter exclusion of us all from the
blessings and advantages of responsible Government, based upon the
principles of that Constitution which your Lordship's forefathers
labored to establish, and ours have taught us to revere. To the con-
sciousness of social and political degradation which must be my
portion, if the future government of North America is arranged
upon the principles recently avowed by the ministry, I am reluctant
that the reflection should be added that the Colonists were themselves
to blame, in permitting a great question, without ample discussion
and remonstrance, to be decided upon grounds which they knew to be
f
untenable and untrue. In addressing your Lordship on such a topic,
it is gratifying to reflect, that your past life is a guarantee tliat the
moment you are satisfied that a greater amount of freedom and hap-
piness can he conferred on any portion of your fellow subjects than
they now enioy, without endangering the welfare of the wliole —
when once convinced that the great principles of the British Consti-
tution can be more widely extended, without peril to the integrity of
the Empire, you will not hesitate to lend the influence of your great
name and distinguished talents to the good old cause *' for which
Hampden died in the field and Sidney on the scafTold."
Lord Durham's Report upon the affairs of British North America
appears to have produced much excitement in England. The posi-
tion which his Lord'thip occupies as a politician, at home, naturally
draws attention to whatever he says and does — and the disclosures
made in the Report must appear so strange to many, and the reme-
dies suggested so bold and original to many more, that I am not
surprised at the notice bestowed by friends and foes on this very
important document. From what I have seen, however, it is evident
that his Lordship is paying the penalty of party connexion, and that
Ma opinions on Canadian affairs, instead of being tried upon their
merits, are in many cases applauded or opposed, as his views of
British and Irish politics happen to be relished or condemned. It
\s almost too much to expect that my feeble voice will be heard
amidst the storm of praise and censure that this Report has raised ;
and yet there may be some, who, disliking this mode of estimating a
.state paper, or distrusting the means of judging possessed by many
who express opinions, but whose practical experience of the working
of Colonial Constitutions has been but slight, if indeed they have
had any, may feel disposed to ask, what is thought of the Report
in the Colonies ? are its leading features recognized as true to na-
ture and experience there? are the remedies suggested approved by
the people whose future destinies they are to influence and control?
The Report has circulated for some months in the Colonies, and
I fuel it a duty to state the grounds of my belief, that the attribution
by his Lordship of many if not all of our Colonial ovils and disputes
to the absence of responsibility in our rulers to those whom they are
called to govern, is entirely warranted by the knowledge of every in-
telligent Colonist — that the remedy pointed out, while it possesses t he
merits of being extremely simple and eminently British, the making
them so responsible — is the only cure for those evils short of arrant
quackery — the only secure foundation upon which the power of the
Crown can be established on this Continent, so as to defy internal
machination and foreign assault.
It appears to me that a very absurd opinion has long prevailed
among many worthy people on both sides of the Atlantic, ihat the
selection of an li^xecutive Council, who, upon most points of domestic
policy, will differ with the great body of the inhabitants, and the ma-
jority of their Representatives, is indispcnsible to the very existence
of Colonial Institutions; and that if it were otherwise, the Colony
would fly off, by the operation of some latent principle of mischicjf,
wliicli I have never seen very clcnrly tlefincd. By those who <nler-
tain this view, it is assumed that Great Britain i.s indebted, for the
preservation of her Colonics, not to the natural afTeciion of their
inhabitants — to their pride in her history — to their participation in
tlie benefit of hor warlike, scientific and literary achievements, but
to the disinterested patriotism of a dozen or two of persons, whoso
names are scarcely known in England, except by the Clerks in
Downing Street, — who are remarkable for nothing above their
neiglibors in tl)e Colony, except perhaps the enjoyment of offices too
riclily endowed ; or their zealous efforts to annoy, by the distribu-
tion of patronage and the management of public affairs, the great
body of the Inhabitants whose sentiments they cannot change.
I have ever held, my Lord, and still hold to the belief, that the
population of British North America, (the French Canadians, since
the late insurrections, of course excepted,) are sincerely attached to
the Parent State ; tliat they are proud of their origin — deeply inter-
ested in the integrity of the Empire — and not anxious for the establish-
ment of any other form of Government here than that which you en-
joy at home — which, while it has stood the test of ages, and purified
itself by successive peaceful revolutions, has so developed the intel-
lectual, moral and natural resources of two small Islands, as to enable
a People, once comparatively far behind their neighbors in influence
and improvement, to combine and wield the energies of a dominion
more vast in extent and complicated in all its relations, than any
other in ancient or modern times. Why should we desire a sever-
ance of old ties that are more honorable than any new ones wc
can form ? Why should we covet Institutions more perfect than
those which have worked so well, and produced such admirable
results ? Until it can be shown that there are forms of Government
combining stronger executive power with more of individual liberty—
offering nobler excitements to honorable ambition, and more security
to unaspiring ease and humble industry, why siiould it be taken for
granted, either by our friends in England, or our enemies elsewhere,
that wc are panting for new experiments, or disposed to repudiate
and cast aside the principles of that excellent Constitution, cemented
by the blood and the long experience of our fathers, and upon which
tiie vigorous energies of our brethren, driven to apply new principles
to a field of boundless resources, have failed to improve? This sus-
picion is a libel upon the Colonist, and upon the Constitution ho
claims as his inheritance — and whose principles he believes to be as
a|)plicablc to all the exigencies of the country in which he resides,
as they have proved to be to those of the fortunate Islands in which
they were first developed.
If the conviction of this fact were once acknowledged by the intel-
ligent and influential men of all parties in Britain, Colonial misrule
would speedily end, and the reign of order indeed commence. This
is not a party question — I can readily understand how the Duke of
Wellington and Sir Robert Peel may differ with your Lordship or
the Earl of Durljam, as to wliother measures should be carried which
they believe will impiiir, and you i'ccl will renovate, the Constitution ;
but surely none of these distinguished men would wish to deny the
Constitution itself to Inrgc bodies of Dritish subjects on this side the
water, who have not got it — who are nnxious to secure its advantages
to themselves and their children — and who, while they have no ulte-
rior designs that can by any possibility make the concession
dangerous, can never be expected to be contented with a system
the very reverse of that they admire — and in view of the proud satis-
faction with which, amidst all their manly struggles for power, their
brethren at home survey the simple machinery of a government
which we believe to be, like the unerring principles of science, as
applicable to one side of the Atlantic as to the other, but which wo
are nevertheless denied.
Many persons, not familiar with the facts, may wonder how this
occurs — and be disposed to doubt the correctness of my asser-
tion. It seems strange that those who live within the British
Empire should be governed by other principles than those of the
Kritisli Constitution, and yet it is true notwithstanding. Let me
illustrate the fact by a few references to British and Colonial affairs.
In England the Government is invariably entrusted to men whose
principles and policy the mass of those who possess the elective fran-
chise approve, and who are sustained by a majority in the House of
Commons. The sovereign may be personally hostile to them — a ma-
jority of the house of Lords may oppose them in that august assembly,
and yet they govern the country, until; from a deficiency of talent,
or conduct, or from ill fortune, they And their representative majority
diminished, and some rival combination of able and influential men
in condition to displace them, if satisfied that tb?) Commons truly
reflect the opinions of the constituency, they resign — if there is any
doubt a dissolution is tried, and the verdict of the country decides
to which party its destinies are to be confided. You, in common
with every Englishmen living at home, are so familiar with the ope-
ration of the system, and so engrossed with a participation in the
ardent intellectual competition it occasions, that perhaps you seldom
pause to admire what attracts as little attention as the air you breathe.
The Cabman who drives past St. Paul's a dozen times a day, seldom
gazes at its ample outline or excellent proportions ; and yet they im-
press the Colonist with awe and wonder, and make him regret that
he has left no such edifice in the west.
As a politician then your Lordship's only care is to place or retain
your party in the ascendant in tiie House of Commons. You never
doubt for an instant that if they are so they must influence the policy
and dispense the patronage of the Government. 'JMiis simple and
admirable principle of letting the majority govern, you carry out in
all your Corporations, Clubs, and public Companies and Associations,
and no more suspect that there is danger in it, or that the minority
are injured when compelled to submit, than you see injustice in
awarding a cup at Epsom or Doucaster to the horse that has won
rather than to the animal which has lost tlie race. The effects of
•
this system are perceptible every where. A Peer of France, under
the old regime, if ho lost the smiles of the Court, suflered a sort of
political and social annihilation — a Peer of England, if unjustly
slighted hy the Sovereign, retires to his estate, not to mourn over
an irreparable stroke of fortune, but to devote his hours to study, to
rally his friends, to connect himself with some great interest in tiio
State, whose accumulating strength may bear him into the counsels
of his Sovereign, without any sacrifice of principle or diminution of
self respect. A commoner feels, in England, not as commoners used to
feel in France, that honors and influence are only to be attained by an
entire prostration of spirit — thefoule&t adulation — the most utter sub-
serviency to boundless prerogatives, arbitrarily exercised — but that
they are to be won, in open arenas, by the exercise of those manly
qualities which command respect, and by the exhibition of the ri-
pened fruits of assiduous intellectual cultivation, in the presence of
an admiring nation, whose decision ensures success. Hence there
is a self poised and vigorous independence in t'.ie Briton's character,
by which he strangely contrasts with all his European neighbors.
His descendants in the Colonies, notwithstanding the difficulties of
their position, still bear to John Bull, in this respect, a strong resem-
blance — but it must fade if the system be not changed ; and our
children, instead of exhibiting the bold front and manly bearing of
the Briton, must be stamped with the lineaments of low cunning
and sneaking servility, which the practical operation of Colonial Go-
vernment has a direct tendency to engender.
From some rather close observationof what has occurred in Nova-
Scotia, and the adjoining Colonies, I am justified in the assertion
that the English rule is completely reversed on this side the Atlantic.
Admitting that in Lower Canada, in consequence of the state
of society which Lord Durham has so well depicted, such a
policy may have been necessary, surely there is no reason
why the people of Upper Canada, Nova-Scotia, New**Brunswick,
Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, should, on that account,
be deprived of the application of a principle, which is the corner
stone of the British Constitution — the fruitful source of responsibi-
lity in the Government, and of honorable characteristics in the Peo-
ple. If the Frenchmen in one Province do not understand or can-
not be entrusted with this valuable privilege, why should we, who
are all Britons, or of British descent, be deprived of what we do
underitand, and feel that we can never be prosperous or happy with-
out?
Yonr Lordship asks me for proofs. They shall be given.
Looking at all the British North American Colonies, with one single
exception, so far as my memory extends, although it has sometimes
happened that the local administration has secured a majority in the
Lower House, I nev^r knew an instance in which a hostile majority
could displace an Executive Council whose measures it disapproved ,or
could, in fact, change the policy or exercise the slightest influence
upon the administrative operatians of the Government. The case
which forms the exception was that ofthe Province of New-Brunswick
— but there the struggle lasted as long as the Trojan war, through the
cxistcuce ofscveralllousea of Assembly, and was al length conclu-
8
f
k
dctl by an nrrnngcmcnt with the authorities at home, a(\or repeated
appeals, and two tedious and costly Delegations to England. But
tiie remedy applied, even in that case, though satisfactory for the
time, can have no application to future difTiculties or ditFerencea of
opinion. Let us suppose that a General Election takes place in that
Province next year, and that the great body of the People are dis-
satisfied with the mode in which the patronage of the Government
lias been distributed, and the general bearing of the internal policy
of its rulers. If that Colony were an English Incorporated Town,
the people would have the remedy in their own hands ; if they were
entrusted with the powers which as British Subjects of right belongs
to them, they would only have to return a majority of their own way
of thinking, a few men would change places, the wishes of the
majority would be carried out, and by no possibility could any thing
occur to set the People and their Rulers into such a state of collision
as was exhibited in that fine Province for a long period of years. But
under the existing system, if a hostile majority is returned, what can
they do ? Squabble and contend with an Executive whom they
cannot influence — see the patronage and favour of Government
lavished upon the minority who annoy but never outvote them — and,
finally, at the expiration of a farther period of ten years, appeal by
Delegation to England, running the hazard of a reference to a cleric
or a Secretary, whose knowledge of the various points at issue, is
extremely limited — who has no interest in them, and who, however
favourably disposed, may be displaced by some change in the position
of parties at home before the negociations are brought to a close.
In 1836 a General Election took place in Nova>Scotia, and when
the Legislature met for the despatch of business, it was found that
the Local Government had two thirds of the members of the Repre-
sentative Branch against them. A fair minded Englishman would
naturally conclude that the Local Cabinet, by a few official changes
and a modification of its policy, would at once defer to the views
and opinions of so large a majority of the popular branch. Did it
do so 1 No. After a fierce struggle with the local authorities, in
which the Revenue Bills, and the appropriations of the year, were
nearly lost, the House forwarded a strong address to the foot of the
Throne, appealing to the Crown for the redress of inveterate grie-
vances, the very existence of which our Colonial Rulers denied, or
which they refused to remove.
To give your Lordship an idea of the absurd anomalies, and ridi-
culous wretchedness of our system up to that time, it is only neces-
sary to state, that a Council of twelve persons administered the
Government, and at the same time formed the Upper Branch of the
Legislature, sitting invariably with closed doors. Only five of these
twelve gentlemen were partners in one private Bank — five of them
were relations — two of them were heads of Departments — and one
was the Chief Justice, who in one capacity had to administer the
law he had assisted to make, and then iu a third to advise the Gover-
nor as to its execution. To heighten the absurdity of the whole
aflUir it is hardly accessary to add, that only nine of these twelve
.'
4
^
were members ofn p.irticular Church, which, however useful or res*
pectable, only ombraceJ ono fifih of the whole population of the
Province. To the passage of certain measures fur the regulation of
our Currency, the derangement of which was supposed tobe pioiita>
ble to those who dealt in money, the Bankers were said to have
opposed their influence. Any attempt at reduction of the expense of
the Kevenne Departments, the heads of which sat at the Board,
was not likely to prevail, — while the patronage of the government
was of course distributed by the nine Churchmen in a way not very
satisfactory to the four fifths of the people who did not happen to
belong to that Communion. Such a combination as this never could
have grown up in any Colony where the English principle of res-
ponsibility had been in operatiou. Indeed there was something
so abhorrent to British feeling and justice in the whole affair, that
Lord Glenelg at once decided that it was " too bad," and while in
Her Majesty's name he tlianked the Commons for the representation
they had made, he directed the Governor to dissolve the old Council
and form two new ones, free from the objections which the Assembly
had urged.
Had the instructions given been fairly followed out, there is little
doubt that in Nova-Scotia, as in New-Brunswick, the People and their
Representatives would have been contented for a time, and would
have felt that, in extreme cases, an appeal from their local rulers to
the Colonial Secretary would be effectual. The existing machinery
of Government might have been supposed to be adequate to the ne-
cessities of the country, with perhaps an entire revision and repair, at
the hands of the master workmen at home, once in ten years, or when-
ever the blunders of subordinates in the Colony had completely clog-
ged its operations.
But mark the result. The Governor was instructed to call into
the new Councils those who " possessed the confidence of the coun-
try." Now you in England are simple enough to believe, that when
the Whigs have, in a house of 658 members, a majority of eight or ten,
they possess the confidence of the country; and if their majority should
happen to be double that number, would think it droll enough if
they were entirely excluded from political influence, and if the new
creations of Peers, and selections for the Cabinet, should all be made
from the ranks of their opponents. This would be absurd at home,
and yet it is the height of wisdom in the Colonies. At the time
these commands were sent out, the party who were pressing
certain economical and other Rcibrms in Nova-Scotia, were repre-
sented by two thirds of the members of the Popular Branch. The
relative numbers have occa.sionally varied during the past three
sessions : at times, as on the recent division upon a Delegation,
the Reformers have numbered 33 to i 1 in a House of 46 — on some
questions the minority has been larger, but two thirds of the whole
may be fairly taken as the numerical superiority, on all Political ques-
tions, of the Reformers over their opponents. It will scarcely be be-
lieved then, in Eng and, that in the new appointments, by which a
more popular character was t'> be given to the Councils, six gciUlc-
2
i
10
I I
I !
men were taken from the minority, and but two from the ranks of
the majority. So that those who had been thanked for making repre-
sentations to the duoen, and who were pressing a change of policy,
were all passed over but two, while those who had resisted and op<
posed every representation, were honored by appointments, and placed
in situations to render any such change utterly hopeless. The Ex-
ecutive Council — the local Cabinet,or Ministry — therefore, contained
one or two persons of moderate views, not selected from the House,
one from the majority, and eight or ten others to render his voice
very like that of the " man crying in the wilderness." He held
his seat about half a year, and then resigned, feeling that while he
was sworn to secrecy, and compromised by policy he d'U not ap-
prove, he had no influence on the deliberations of the Cabinet or
the distribution of patronage. Things were managed just as
much in accordance with the Royal Instructions with respect to
the, Legislative Cojuncil. The pack was shufBed, the game was to
rernain the same. The members of the majority, as I have said
before, were all omitted in the new creation of Peers, but one ; while,
both from the House and beyond it, some of the most determined
supporters of old abuses were selected ; and, among them, a young
Lawyer who had shown a most chivalrous desire to oppose every
thing Her Majesty so graciously approved ; and who, in the excess of
his ultra zeal, had, upon the final passage of the address to the Crown,
when almost all his friends deserted him, voted against the measure
in a minority of four.
Here then your Lordship has a practical illustration of the correct-
ness of Lord Durham's observations ; and may judge of the chance
the present system offers of good Colonial Government, even when
the People have the Queen and the Colonial Secretary on their side.
Such policy would wither all hope in the Novascotians, if they
did not confide in the good sense and justice of their brethren with-
in the four seas. We do not believe thai the Parliament, Press and
People of England, when rightly informed, will allow our local autho-
rities " to play such tricks before high Heaven," or force us to live
under a system so absurd — so Anti-British — so destructive of every
manly and honorable principle of action in political affairs. The
House of Assembly, as a last resort, after ample deliberation, deter-
mined to send two members of that body, as Delegates to England,
to claim the rights of Englishmen for the people of this country.
Your Lordship's declaration ieWa me that on this point they will be
unsuccessful — but paiient perseirerance is a political characteristic
of the stock from which we spring
You ask me for the remedy. Lord Durham has stated it distinct-
ly — the Colonial Governors must be commanded to govern by the
aid of those who possess the confidence of the People, and are sup-
ported by a majority of the Representative Branch. Where is the
danger ? Of what consequence is it to the people of England, whe-
ther half a dozen persons, in whom that majority hr re confidence,
but of whom they know nothing and care less in.nagc our local
affairs ; or the same number, selected from the minority, and whose
11
policy the bulk of the populaliun distrust ? Suppose there was at this
moment a majority in our Executive Council who think with the
Assembly, what effect would it have upon the fundn ? — would the
stocks fall? Would England be weaker — less prosperous or less
respected, because the People of Nova-Scotia were satisfied and
happy ?
But, it is said, a Colony being part of a great Empire, must be
governed by different principles from the Metropolitan State. That,
unless it be handed over to the minority, 't cannot be governed at all !
That the majority, when they have things their own way, will be dis-
contented and disloyal ! That the very fact of their having nothing
to complain of will make them desire to break the political compact,
and disturb the peace of the Empire ! Let us fancy that this rea-
soning were applied to Glasgew, or Aberdeen, or any other town in
Britain, which you allow to govern itself. And what else in a Pro-
vince like Nova-Scotia, but a small community, too feeble to inter-
fere with the general commercial and military arrangements of Hhe
Government, but deeply interested in a number of minor matters,
which the People to be affected by them only can wisely manage,
which the Ministry can never find leisure to attend to, and involve
in inextricable confusion when they meddle with ? You allow a
million of people to govern themselves in the very capital of
the Kingdom, and yet Her Majesty lives in the midst of them
without any apprehension of danger, and feels the more secure, the
more satisfaction and tranquility they exhibit. Of course, if the Lord
Mayor were to declare War upon France, or the Board of Aldermen
were to resolve that the duties upon Brandy should no longer be col-
lected by the general Revenue officers of the Kingdom, every body
would laugh, but no one would apprehend any great danger. Should
we, if Lord Durham's principle be adopted, do any thing equally
outre, check us, for you have the power ; but until we do, for your
own sakes, for you are as much interested as we are — for the honour
of the British name, too often tarnished by these squabbles — let us
manage our own affairs, pay our own officers, and distribute a patro-
nage altogether beneath your notice, among those who command
our esteem.
The Assembly of Nova-Scotia asked, in 1837, for an Elective Le-
gislative Council, or such other reconstruction of the Local Govern-
ment as would ensure responsibility. After a struggle of three years
we have not got either. The demand for an Elective Upper Branch,
was made under the impression, that two Houses chosen by the Peo-
ple, would suffi iently check an Executive exempt from all direct
Colonial accountability. From what has occurred in the Canadas —
from the natural repugnance which the House of Peers may be sup-
posed to entertain upon this point — and from a strong desire to
preserve, in all our Institutions, the closest rese'^blancc to those of
our Mother Country, a responsible executive Council, as recommend-
ed by Lord Durham, would be preferred. Into the practicability of
his Lordship's plan of a union of all the Colonies under one govern-
ment, T do not intend to enter — that is a distinct (jticstion, and
12
\vhenever it is formally propounded to the Local Legislatures, will
be gravely discussed upon its own merits; but whether there be union
or not, the principle of responsibility to the popular Branch must be
introduced into all the Colonics without delay. It is the only simple
and sale remeiW for an inveterate and very common disease. it
is mere mockery to tell us that the Governor himself is responsible :
he must carry on the Government by and with the few officials that
he finds in possession when he arrives — he may flutter and struggle
in the net, as some well meaning Governors have done, but he must
atlasi resign himself to his fate, and, like a snared bird, be content
with the narrow limits assigned him by his keepers. I have known
a Governor bullied, sneered at, and almost shut outofsoci<;ty, while
his obstinate resistance to the system created a suspicion that he
might not become its victim — but 1 never knew one, who, even with
the best intentions, and the full concurrence and support of the
Representative Branch, backed by the confidence of his So-
vereign, was able to contend on anything like fair terms with
the small knot of functionarie!«, who form the Councils, fill the
offices, and wield the powers of the Government. The plain reason
is, because, while the Governor is amenable to his Sovereign, and the
Afembers of Assembly are controlled by their constituents, these men
are not responsible at nil, and can always protect and sustain each
other, whether assailed by the representative of the Sovereign or the
representatives of the People. It is indispensible then, tothedigni<
ty, the independence, the usefulness, of the Governor himself, that
he should have the power to shake off tliis thraldom, as the Sovereign
does if unfairly hampered by faction, and, by an appeal to the People,
adjust the balance of power. Give us this truly British privilege,
and Colonial grievances will soon become a scarce article in the
English market.
The planets that encircle the Sun, warmed by its heat, and
rejoicing in its elTulgence, are moved and sustained, each in its
bright but subordiuate career, by the same laws as the sun itself
Why should this beautiful example be lost upon us ? Why should we
run counter to the whole stream of British experience, and seek, for
no object worthy of the sacrifice, to govern men on one side of the
Atlantic, by principles the very reverse of those found to work so
admirably on the other. The employment of steamers will soon
bring Halifax within a ten days voyage of England. Nova-Scotia will
then not be more distant from London than the North of Scotland
and West of Ireland were a few years ago. No time should be lost
therefore in giving us the rights and guards to which we are entitled,
for depend upon it the nearer we approach the Mother Country the
more we shall admire its excellent Constitution — and the more
intense will be the sorrow and disgust w^th which we must turn to
contemplate our own.
I have the honor to be,
^c. &c. &c.
i
I
o
LETTER II.
My Lord,
I HAVE read the speech delivered by your Lordship, on the 3d of
June, as reported in the Morning Chronicle, several times ; and beg
your Lordship's attention to what I conceive to be the rational solu-
tion of the difficulties raised in that speech, to the concession of
the principle of local responsibility. Had your Lordship been more
familiar with the practical working of the existing Colonial Consti-
tutions, and with the feelings of the people who smart under the
mischiefs they produce, you would not perhaps have fallen into
some errors by which that epeech is disfigured ; nor have argued the
question as one in which the obvious, manifold, and vital interests
of the Colonists, were to be sacrificed to some vague and indefinite
injury that might be sustained by Imperial interests, if Executive
power wore taken from the ignorant and given to the well informed
— if it passed from the hands of officers to whom but a nominal res-
ponsibility can attach, into those of men subject to constant scrutiny,
and, whenever they fail in their duty, liable to exposure and disgrace.
Lord Durham recommends that the English rule, by which those
who conduct public affairs resign when they have lost the confi-
dence of the Commons, should be applied to the Executive Coun-
cillors in North America. Your Lordship denies the existence of
the analogies upon which Lord Durliam'a views are based :
" It does not appear to me that yo i can subject the Execu-
" tive Council of Canada to the responsibility which is fairly demand-
•' ed of the rainistersof the Executive power in this country. In the
" first place, there is an obvious difference in matter of form with rc-
" gard to the instructions under which the governor of the colony
" acts. The Sovereign in this country receives the advice of the
*' ministers, and acts by the advice of those ministers, and indeed
" there is no important act of the cown for which there is not some
" individual minister responsible. There responsibility begins and
" there it ends. But the Governor of Canada is acting, not in that
" high and unassailable position in which the Sovereign of this coun-
" try is placed. He is a governor receiving instructions from the
" Crown on the responsibility of a Secretary of Stale. Here then at
" once is an obvious and complete difference between the E.xecutive
*' of this country and the Executive of a Colony."
Now, my Lord, let me beg your Lordship's attention to a few of
the reasons why I conceive that such an argument as this ought not
to stand in the way of the permanent peace, prosperity and happi-
ness, of a million and a half of human beings. " The Sovereign in
England receives the advice of the ministers, and acts by the advice
of those ministers" — but are there not limits assigned by law within
which those advisers are bound to keep? and is not the Sovereign
bound to know and to apprize the country when theyoverstpp thetn?
11
B
What is the question at issue now hetucen Whigs and Tories? is it
not, whether, according to the spirit and practice of the Constitution,
Sir Robert Peel had or had not a right to advise the changes in He:
Majesty's household, upon which he insisted, before he would con-
sent to form an administration 1 Suppose the present Cabinet were
to advise Her Majesty to cut off Sir Robert's ears, or to bombard the
City of London, would she obey ? or would she not say, gentlemen,
you are exceeding your powers, and unless you conduct yourselves
with more discretion you must resign ? It is plain, therefore, that
there are bounds, beyond which, even in the mother country, neither
the advisers nor the monarch can pass; and none who seek Colonial
responsibility are so mad as to require, that corresponding restrictions
shall not be binding here— that there shall not be a limit beyond
which no Executive Councillor can pass, and over which no repre-
sentative of Majesty will consent to be driven. These bounds must
be clearly defined in the Act of Parliament which establishes the
new system, or in the instructions sent to the Governors, to be com-
municated to the Legislatures, and which they may, if they see fit,
embody in a Bill, that, so long as it exists, shall be to all intents
and purposes, the Constitution of the Colony.
But your Lordship says : — ** The Governor is acting, not in that
high and unassailable position in which the Sovereign of this coun-
try is placed." Why should he not occupy a position nearly as in-
dependant, and be perfectly unassailable, so long as he does not
interfere (as the Sovereign would not dare to do) with maticrs for
which others are responsible — nor allow himself or his Council to
overstep those boundaries which British subjects on both sides of the
Atlantic, for the protection of their mutual rights and interests, have
established, and for a jealous recognition of which be, in case bad
advice be given him, is alone responsible. The Queen's position is
unassailable only so long as she does no act which the Constitution
does not permit to be done — the Governor, if assailed, would, in like
manner, turn to the Constitution of the Colony committed to his care,
and show that, on the one hand, he had neither trenched upon the
rights essential to the security of Colonial liberty, nor, on the other,
timorously yielded aught which the law3 for the protection of Impe-
rial interests had made it criminal to yield.
Your Jjordship is mistaken, therefore, in supposing that the Sove-
reign is divested of all responsibility — although I admit it is much
more difficult to call him or her to an account than it would be the
Governor of a Colony. If the Queen were to deprive Sir Robert
Peel of his ears, or open a few batteries upon London, an emeute
or a revolution would be the only remedy; bu; a Governor, if he
consented to an act which shut out British manufactures, or was
tempted to levy war upon a friendly state, could be called to account
withoui difficulty or delay — and hence, I argue, that the facility and
certainty of inflicting punishment for offencesof this sort, would pre-
vent their commission, and operate as a sufficient guard to the Impe-
rial interests, which your Lordship seems so anxious to protect. If it
be said that the People in a Colony may sustain Councillors who give
13
unconslitutior U advice, my answer is, that the. same thing may
occur in England. When it does, a peaceful modification ot' the Con-
stitution, or a revolution, follows — hut these cases are not so n-equent
as to excite alarm, nor is there any reason to believe that they will be
more so, in the Colonies, whose power to enforce improper demands
is so questionable.
" He is a Governor receiving instructian:i from the Crown, on the
responsibility of a Secretary of State." This passage suggests some
reflections, which I feel it my duty respectfully to press upon your
Lordship's attention. One of the evils of the existing system, or
rather hap-hazard mode of Government, devoid of all system, is the
various readings given to the medley of laws, usages, and Colonial Of-
fice Despatches, by which we are at present ruled. An excellent illus-
tration of the difficulty of obtaining an interpretation of these, about
which there can be no mistake — which he who runs may read —
may be furnished, by contrasting the views put forth by your Lord-
ship with those acted upon by Sir Francis Head ; and which, after a
bloody rebellion, brought on to prove the value of his theoi-y,
he still avows in every succeeding edition of his Narrative, with a
consistency and complacency worthy of all praise. " The responsi-
bility," says your L«rdship, " rests on the Secretary of State." "The
responsibility," says Sir Francis Head, in every act of his Govern-
ment and every page of his book, *• rests on me." From the moment
of his entering into Upper Canada he threw overboard all the in-
structions from the Colonial Secretary, (who, according to your
Lordship ought to have been obeyed, fur he was alone responsible) he
struck out a course of policy entirely new — commenced " putting the
padlock on the mind,"* to be followed by some hundreds of handcufTa
on the wrists and padlocks on the body; his language to Lord Glen-
elg throughout was '^ you must support »je" — " the fear is that /
will not be supported at the Colonial office." In fact, from first to
last. Sir Francis gave instructions to, instead of receiving them from,
the Secretary of State ; and finding that Lord Glenelg would not
permit him to try his experiments in Government, and combat the
fiery dragon of democracy in the bosom of a British Province, at the
cost of a good deal of blood and treasure, and the prospects of a
foreign war, without occasionally offering a little advice, the worthy
Baronet resigned, and has ever since been publishing his complaints
to the V. .-Id, and claiming its sympathy, as a sufferer for conscience
sake, in upholding the only correct reading of Colonial Constitutions,
and which the Secretary of State, and theWhig Government of which
he was a member, did not understand. The Doctors in this case
differed — the patient was left prostrate, mangled, bleeding and ex-
hausted, listening to their altercations, but suffering from every gash
made to convince each other at her expense — and there she lay,
until recently, when, beginning to suspect that both had been talking
nonsense and trying absurd experiments, she lifted her languid head,
stretched out her wounded limbs, and began to flx her eyes upon the
only remedy by which health can be restored.
* Vide iho Baronei'i •' Narrative."
16
I
t!
Let lis, In oilier to convince ourselves that the conclusion to which
Upper Canada is coming after all her siifTeringti, is a sound one,
examine the two prescriptions and modes of treatment, and ascertain
whether either contains any thing which ought to rescue it from tho
oblivion that invariably closes over the nostrums by which the sci-
ence of politics, like the science of medicine, is often disfigured
for a time.
A Culon^ where the Governor is alone responsible, is Sir Francis
Head's interpretation of the system under which we live. It is one
very much affected by Colonial Governors every where. Unlimited
power, within a wide Province, is a beautiful idea for an individual
to indulge ; especially when it in attended with but little risk
and only nominal responsibility. Of all the British Colonial
Governors, who have wielded this vast authority — plumed themselves
upon the possession of these plenary powers, -^and, in the exercise
of them, vexed, distracted and excited to disaffection, one Province
after another — how many have been tried or punished ? How many
have met with even a reprimand from the Ministry, or a cold look
from the Sovereign whose authority they had abused ? I leave your
Lordship, whose historical reading has been much more extensive
than mine, to point out the instances — 1 have searched for them in
vain. It is true that debates in Parliament occasionally arise upon
such subjects, but these, judging by their practical effect, can hardly
be taken into account. A Governor knows well that, so long as he
holds office, the Ministry by whom he was appointed will defend
him — that their majority in the Commons precludes the possibility
ofa vote of censure being passed against him, — while the Duke, under
whom he probably served, having a majority in the Upper House, he
is perfectly safe, so long as he commits no act so flagrant as to out-
rage the feelings of the nation, and which, coming home to the heart
of every man and woman in England, would make it unsafe for
any parliamentary combination to attempt to protect him. Thus
fenced in during his administration, what are his perils when he
retires ? The Colonists, too happy when rid of the nuisance to b^
vindictive, and hoping better things from a successor of whom they are
unwilling to suspect any evil, cease to complain — His Excellency is
removed to another Province, with a larger salary, to act the same
farce over there — or, retires to his estates in the mother country, to
form one of that numerous body of ex-Governors, who live upon the
consciousness of having, once within their lives at least, wielded
powers, within a wide space, and over the destinies of many thou-
sands of their fellow beings, that are never permitted to be wielded
by any individual, however high his rank, or widely extended
his influence, without full and ample responsibility, within the
British Islands themselves. These men, whether they go into
Parliament or not, always sympathize with Governors abroad, acting
upon their darling theory; and, as they are often consulted by minis-
ters who know perhaps a little less than themselves, they are always
at hand to stifle the complaints of the Colonists^ when appeals are
made to England.
17
Your LorJship will perceive, the-'efure, that when a Governor de*
clares, as did Sir Francis Head, that the responsibility rests on him,
he merely meauSj that he is about to assume extensive powers, for
three or four, perhaps for eight or ten years, without the shadow of
a chance of hie ever being called to account for any thing he may do
or leave undone. To enable you to form nome idea of the peace,
prosperity, and satisfaction, likely to be diffused over a Province, by
a Governor acting upon this principle and exercising these powers,
let me request your Lordship to imagine that, after twenty or thirty
years of military service, by which I have became disciplined in-
to a contempt for civil business, and a fractious impatience of
the opinions of all bsneath me in rank. Her Majesty has the
right, and graciously deigns to exercise it, of making me Mayor of
Liverpool. Fancy that up to the moment when the information is
conveyed to me, though I have heard the name of that City several
tim^s, and have some vague notion that Liverpool is a large commer-
cial port in England, yet that I neither know on what river nor at
which side of the Island it is situated — nor have the least knowledge
of its extent, population, requirements^ or resources — the feelings,
interests, prejudices or rights, of its inhabitants. Within a month,
having had barely sufficient time to trace out the situation of the
place upon the map, read a book rr two about it — hear an under
Secretary talk an hour or two of what neither he nor 1 understand,
receive a packet of Instructions, of which half a dozen different
readings may be given, and become thoroughly inflated with my own
consequence, I find myself in Liverpool, and feel that I am the great
pivot upon which all its civil administration — its order and defence
— its external relations with the rest of the Empire and the rest of
the world, turns — the fountain from which its internal patronage is
to flow ; and to which all, for a long period of years, must look, for
social and political ascendancy, if they have no merit — and, if they
have, for a fair consideration of their claims^
Your Lordship will readily believe, that a man thus whisked away
from the pursuits which have occupied his thoughts for years, and
plunged into a new scene — surrounded by human beings, not one of
whose faces he ever saw before — called to the consideration of a
thousand topics, with almost any one of which the assiduous devo-
tion of half a life would be required to make him familiar ; and hav-
ing to watch over vast interests — balance conflicting claims —
decide on the capacity of hundreds, of whose characters, talents and
influence, he is ignorant, to fill offices of the duties of which he
has not the slightest conception — that a man so situated, must be
either very vaip or very able, if he is not appalled at the ex-
tent of the responsibility he has assumed ; and must be an Angel
of Light indeed, if he does not throw the good City of Liverpool into
confusion. This, my Lord, is no fancy sketch — no picture, highly
colored to produce effect, but which, on close examination, un artist
would cast aside as out of drawing — it is a faithful representation of
what occurs in some British Colony almost every year.
But it may be said all this is granted, and yet there is the Lcgijs-
3
18
m
laturo to influence and instruct. Liverpool sliali stiil serve for iliuS'
tration, and we will presently see to whet extent the Representative
Branch q'^p ites on the conduct of a gentleman, who assumes the
responsibility, and is placed in tho circumstances described. Let
us suppose that the City Charter gives me for my advisers, from the
moment I am sworn in, ten or a dozen individuala, some of them
the heads of departments, enjoying large salaries and much patron-
age — others, perhaps, discarded members of the popular branch, and
not a few selected by no rule which the people can clearly under-
stand, but because they happened to flatter the vanity of one or
other of my predecessors, or to be connected with the families, or
favourable to the views or interests, of some of those by whom they
were advised. This body, be it observed, by usage never departed
from, hold their €ituations as Councillors for life : the people have no
control over them, neither have I-'-they are sworn not to inform
upon each other, nor is it necessary they should, because, as I have
assumed the responsibility, and they for their own interest favor the
theory, if any thing goes wrong they can lay the blame on me. This
body then, which owes no allegiance to the people of Liverpool —
which often, in fact, has an interest the very reverse of theirs — which,
suspected of usurpation and improper influence, pays back the im-
putation with unmeasured contempt ; and hardly one fifth of whose
number could, by any possibility, be thus honored if their seats de-
pended on popular selection — this body I am compelled to call around
me in order that my administration may commence, for without some
such assistance 1 am unable to take a single step. They come — an(t
there sit, at the first Council Board, the responsibleMayor, who knows
nothing and nobody, and his irresponsible advisers, who, if they do
not know every thing, and they are seldom greater witches tha»
their neighbors, know their friends, a lean minority of the citizens,—
from their enemies, the great majority ; and are quite aware that, for
their interest, it is necessary that 1 should be taught, as soon as pos-
sible, to despise the latter, and throw myself into the arms of the for-
mer. Will any sensible man, calmly viewing the relative situations,
opportunities and powers of the parties, believe that any act of admi-
nistration done, or any appointment made, for the first six months,
is my act or n>y appointment T I may choose between any two or
three persons whose names are artfully set before me, when an office
is to be filled, and if determined to show my independence may
select the worst ; but I must choose from the relatives and friends of
my advisers, or from the small minority who support them in the
hopes of preferment, for to that section of the whole the city patron-
age must be religiously contined ; and it is of course so managed, that
1 scarcely know or have confidence in any body else.
Can your Lordship believe that such a state of things would give
satisfaction to the citizens? Would they not begin to grumble and
complain — to warn — to remonstrate — and to expose the machinations
and mancEuvres of the monopolists? It would be very odd, and they
would be very un-English Englishmen, if they did not. But, as I
have come to Liverpool to demonstrate the beauties of this system of
h
19
City Government, which I highly approve— a3 1 have assumed ths
wlirjie respoiidibility, and become inflated with the consciousness of
my extensive powers — and, above nil, as I am taught by my advisers
to bok upon every complaint of the system as a libel upon my jndg-
mant, and an insult to my administration, I very soon begin to dislike
those who complain — to speak anJ write contemptuously of them in
private and public — to denounce any who have the hardihood to
suggest that some alterations are required, by which the opinions
and rights of the majority shall be respected, as men dangerous to
the peace of the City, and disaffected towards Her Majesty's person
and Government ; until, in fact, Liverpool becomes very like a
town, in the olden time, in which the inhabitants generally being
hostile to their rulers, the latter retire to the Citadel, from which
tliey project every description of missile and give every species
of annoyance.
By and bye the time arrives for the Legislative branches of the
City Government to assemble : — one of these, being elected at short
pcriodi, under a low franchise, which includes the great body of the
independent citizens, may betaken as a fair reflexion of all their
great interests, their varied knowledge, passions and prejudices.
The other is a body of life Legislators, selected by my advisers from
among their own relatives and friends, with a few others, of a more
independent character, to save appearances ; but in which they always
have a majority of faithful and determined partizans. The business
commences — the great majority of members in the Representative
Branch, speaking the matured opinions of the people, complain of the
system, and of the advisers it has placed around me, expressing^ the
fullest confiJence in me, whom they cannot suspect of wishing to do
them harm, but asking my co-operation towards the introduction of
changes without which they assure me the city never can prosper.
But my advisers, having a few of their adherents, also in this body,
they are instructed to declare any change unnecessary — to throw
every obstruction in the way — to bully and defame the more conspi-
cuous of those who expose the evils of the existing system, and to
denounce them all as a dangerous combination, who, with some
covert design, are pressing, for factious objects, a series of frivolous
complaints. Of course, as the minority speak the sentiments which
I hive imbibed, and put themselves forward as my personal cham-
pions on all ozcasiuns, they rise in my esteem exactly in the same
proportion as the other party are depressed, until they become especial
pjts; and, from their ranks, as opportunities occur, all vacancies are
supplied, either in the list of irresponsible advisers who in my name
carry on the government, or in the number of life Legislators who
do their bidding in the Upper Branch.
r respectfully beg your Lordship to ponder over these passages,
which 1 assure you are true to nature and experience — and ask
yourself, after bringing home such a state of things to the bosom of
any British City, how long it would be uncomplainingly endured ?
how lon<: any Ministry, duly informed of the facts, would allow
or
it to continue ? Look back, my Lord, and you will find in every
20
iti
I: !
lit
rotten Corporation, swept away by the iminortnl Act of which your
Lordship was one oftho ablest defenders, n resemblance to our Co-
lonial Governments, as they at present stand, too strong to be mista-
ken — and, let me venture to hope, that the man who did not spare
corruption ho near the- national centre of vitality, who did not hesi-
tate to combat these hydra headed minorities, who, swarming over
England, every where asserted their right to govern the majorities,
will not shrink from applying his own principles — the great princi-
ples of the Constitution— to these more distant but not less impor-
tant portions of the Empire.
Your Lordship will, perhaps, urge, that Sir Francis Head
succeeded in pleasing the people, and getting the majority on
his side. Admitting the full force which the worthy Baronet
gives to this case, it is, after all, but the exception to the general
rule. The true history of events in Upper Canada, 1 believe to
have been this : a small, but desperate minority, had determined on
a violent revolution ; this party might have contained some men
so wicked, that a love of mischief and desire for plunder were the
governing principles, and others, moved by attachment to Republican
Institutions—but, small as it was, the greater number of those found
in its ranks, had been driven there by the acts of another equally
smalt and equally desperate minority, who had long monopolized,
and, under the present system, may and will monopolize, for a century
to come, the whole power and patronage of the Government,
dividing among them the revenues of the country. The great mass
of the people of Upper Canada belonged to neither of these bands of
desperadoes. They were equally determined, with the one, to uphold
British connexion, and as equally determined, with the other, to get rid
of a wretched .system of irresponsible local administration, under
the continuance of which they well knew the Province could never
prosper. When Sir Francis Head arrived, he entered the Colony,
if we are to believe his own account of the matter, almost as igno-
vantas my imaginary Mayor of Liverpool. Sir Francis admits his
ignorance, but denies the consequences that must be deduced from
it — that he was led and influenced, in the first acts of his adminis-
tration, until the Compact found him ripe for their own purposes,
and embroiled even with the moderate men on the other fide. Then
commenced that extraordinary flight of proclamations, addresses and
declamatory appeals, which, winged with the ready pens of a profes-
sional author, and shot from the long bow of the Family Compact, cre-
ated so much false excitement, and carried so much misrepresentation
into every corner of the Province. In these the great question at issue
in Upper Canada, which was one between the interests of the family
compact and the principles of the British Constitution, was winked
out of sight ; and the people, not only of that but of the surrounding
Colonies, were made to believe that they were to choose between
British and Republican Institutions — that Sir Francis and the fa-
mily compact (ArclideacOn Strachan, with the Clergy Reserves, one
seventh of the Province ; and Attorney General Hagerman, with the
corrupt patronage and influence of administration^ under their arms)
21
represented the former — and McKcnziennd his bandofdefiperndoes
the latter. Thus appealed to, the British population every where,
as the cunning men at Sir Francis' elbow well knew they would,
said with one voice — if that is the question, then we are for the
British Constitution, and hurrah ! for Sir Francis Head. McKenzic
wan an outlaw in a week ; his small band of desperadoes was scatter-
ed by the energy of the people, the great mass of whom never dream-
ed of breaking the connexion with the Mother Country. Then
came the period in which the compact gloriBed themselves and Sir
Francis — the fever of loyal excitement — in which the miserable mino-
rity of officials, feeling strong in the success of their manoeuvres, and
still stronger in the strength of British thousands profuoely spent^^
Regiments of militia to be officered, equipped, and paid — began
to wreak their vengeance upon every man who had been known to
be hostile to their monopoly ; and to identify opinions, not more ex-
treme, when thoroughly understood, than those held by the most
moderate section of the Whigs in England, with " privy conspiracy
and rebellion." But the period was fast approaching when this un-
natural excitement was to subside — when hundreds of thousands of
British subjects, looking stendily through the mists that had been
raised around them, were to ask of each other, has this case been de-
cided upon the true issue? teas that the question ? For evidence of
the solemnity with which this enquiry has been put, and the all per-
vading unanimity with which it has been answered, I refer your Lord-
ship to the meetings which have been held in every section of the
Province- -to the opinions boldly expressed by every Newspaper,
with a few, chiefly venal exceptions, printed in Upper Canada — to the
bold and determined stand taken by many of the bravest and ablest
men who crushed McKenzie's rebellion, and beat back the sympa-
thizers upon the frontier — to the extraordinary union of Orangemen
and Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Churchmen and Presbyterians,
whose watchwords are British connexion and British responsibility,
and down with the Compact, and the absurd idea cherished by Sir
Francis Head, of a government in which the whole responsibility
rests upon the Governor. If your Lordship doubts the utter explosion
of your theory even in this Province, where, for a time, I admit it
seemed to flourish, the approaching general elections will furnish
evidence enough — and even Sir Francis, if he were to come
out again with another sheaf of Proclamations and Addresses, to
preach this unitarian doctrine of responsibility, would no longer be
listened to by the Upper Canadians, who have embraced n higher
and purer faith.
Having, as I conceive, then, shown your Lordship that the idea of
a Colony in which nobody is responsible but the Governor, while his
responsibility is only nominal, however delightful it may appear in
the eyes of those who have been or hope to be Governors, is one that
never can be a favorite with the Colonists, and has been repudiated
and rejected by those of them among whom, for a limited period, and
under a system of delusion, it seemed to flourish — let me turn
your Lordship's attention for a few moments to the doctrine main-
i
w
22
M
tainod by Lord Gleneljj against Sir Francis Head, and now put
forlli by your I^ordsliip in op|)osition tu the Karl of Durham — that
the Colonial Secretary is iiloiie responsible, nud tlial the Governor
is nil agent governing the Province by instnutionsfrom him.
Whatever new readings may yet be given of our unwritten Con-
stitutions, thid is the one which always has been and always will be
the favourite with Colonial Secretaries and under Secretaries, and
by which every Clerk in Downing Street, even to the third and fourth
generation yet to cornc, will bo prepared to take his stand. And
why ? br'^puse, to deprive them of this much talked of responsibility,
which means nothing, would be to deprive them of the power to
which they cling — of the right of meddling interference with every
petty question and every petty appointment, in 30 diflurent Colonies.
While things remain as they are— the very uncertainty which reigns
over the whole Colonial system, invests the Secretary of State with
a degree of power and influence, the dim and shadowy outline of
which can scarcely be measured by the eye, but which, from its al-
most boundless extent, and multiform and varied ramifications and
relations, possesses a fisciiiation which few men have been born with
the patriotic moderation to resist. Though a Secretary of State
may occasionally have to maintain, in a particidar Province, a doubt«
ful struggle, for the whole responsibility^ and the tchole of f he power,
with some refractory Governor, like Sir Francis Head, — yet even
there he must exercise a good deal of authority, and enjoy
a fair share of influence ; while in all the others his word is
);iw, and his influence almost supreme. A Judge, a Crown ofBccr,
a Secretary or a Land Surveyor, cannot be appointed without his
consent — a silk gown cannot be given to a Lawyer without bissonc-
tion, while bis word is required to confirm the nomination of Le-
gislative Councillors for life, and irresponsible Executive Councillors,
in every Province, before the Queen's mandamus is prepared. The
\ery obscurity in which tlie real character of Colonial Constitutions
is involved, of course magnifies the ini]:ortancc and increases the in-
fluence of the gentleman who clui(ns the right to expound them.
Mon-e than one half the Colonists who obtain audiences in Downing
Street, are sent t,here by the mystification in which the principles of
the system are in'^M^ed ; while the other halfare applicants for ofiices
tvhich, under a system of local responsibility, would be filled up, as
are th€ civic ofRces in Manclicster and Glasgow, by the parly upon
whose virtue and ability the majority of the Inhabitants relied.
Adopt Lord Durham's principle, and, above all, give to each Colony
n well deflned Constitution, based upon that principle, and embodied
in a Bill, and " the Orlice" will become a desert. The scores of
worthy people, with spirits weary of tlie anomalous and cruel absur-
dities of the system, and sincerely labouring to remove them, now
daily lingering in the anti-rooms, would be better employed elsewhere,
in adorning and improving the noble countries which gave them
birth, and whose freedom they are labouring to establish — while at
least an equal number of cunning knaves, whose only errand is to
seek a share of the plunder, had much better be transferred to the
I
•
25
open arenas, in wliicii, niidcr n system of rcHponsiliility, public l)o«
tinrs nnd ofliciul eiuolumciit could only ho won. But then tliu otllce
of Coionhl Secretary woiud be sliurn of niucli power, wliicii, how*
ever unwisely exercised, it is always deliglill'ul to possess— the dim
but majestic forms of authority, which now overshadow half the
world, would bo chastened into reasonable compass, w-ih boundic
ries, if less imposing and picturesque, for nil practical purposes more
simple and clearly defined — nor would under Secretaries and
Clerks have so many anxious and often fawning visitors, soli*
citing their patronage — listening to their twaddle — wondering ot
their ignorance, and yet struggling with each other for their smiles.
The Mother Country would, it is true, hear less of Colonial griev-
ances — Parliament would save much time, now devoted to Colonial
ijuestions — and the peoplo of Englan<J would now and then save a
few millions sterling, which are required to keep up the existing sys-
tem by force of arms. But these arc small mutters compared with
the dignity of a Secretary of State.
Here then, my Lord, yau have the reason why your reading of
our Constitutions is the favorite one in Downing Street — let us see
now whether it is more or less favourable to rational freedom, and
good government in the Colonies, than that advocated by Sir Francis
Head. Your authority and that of Lord Glenelg is with me in con-
demning his, which I have done, as deceptive and absurd ; he will
probably join me in denouncing your's, as the most impracticable
that it ever entered into the mind of a Statesman to conceive.
The City of Liverpool shall again serve us fur the purposes of illus-
tration. Turn bick to the passages in which [ have described a
Mayor, ignorant of every thing — surrounded by irresponsible but cun-
ning advisers, who, for their own advantage, embroil him with the
majority of the citizens — while his countenance, and the patronage
created by the taxes levied upon the city, are monopolized by a mi-
aeral)lc minority of the whole— and insulted and injured thousands,
swelling with indignation, surround hi' . on every side. After your
Lordship has dwelt upon this scene oi heartburning and discontent
— of general dissatisfaction among the citizens, of miserable intrigue
and chuckling triumph, indulged by t5ie few who squander the re-
sources and decide on the interests of the many, bnt laugh at their
murmurs and never acknowledge their authority; let mebegofyouto
reflect whether matters would be made better of worse, if the Alayor
of fjiverpool was b;>und, in every important act of his administration,
to ask the direction of and throw the responsibility on another indivi-
dual, who never saw the City— who knows less about it even than
himself— and who resides, not in London, at the distance of a day's
coaching from him, but across the Atlantic, in Halifax, Quebec, or
Toronto, and with whom it is impossible to communicate about any
thing within a less period than a couple of months. Suppose that
this gentleman in tl:'> distance possesses a veto upon every important
ordinance by which the City is to be watched, lighted and improved
— by which docks are to be formed, trade regulated, and one third
of the City Revenues (drawn from sources beyond the control of the
24
!!B
l^i^
,.
popular branch), dispensed — and suppose, that nearly all whose
talents or ambition lead them to aspire to the higher ofiices of the
place, are compelled to take, once or twice in their lives, a voy-
age across the Atlantic, to pay their Cw t to him — to solicit
his patronage, and intrigue for the preferment, which, under a
belter system, would naturally result from manly competition
and eminent services within the city itself. Your Lordship is
too keen sighted, and I trust too frank, not to acknowledge,
that no form of government could well be devised more ridicu-
lous than this — that under such no British City could be ex-
pected to prosper ; and that with it no body of Her Majesty's
Kiibjects, within the British U inds themselves, would ever be content.
Yet this, my Lord, is an illustration of your own theory — this is the
system propounded by Lord Normanby, as the best the present Ca-
binet can devise,— and may I not respectfully demand why British
Huhjects in Nova-Scotia, any more than their brethren in Liverpoolj
should !.'e expected to prosper or be contented under it, when expe-
rience has convinced them that it is miserably insufficient and de-
ceptive— repugnant to the principles of the Constitution they revere,
and but a poor return for the steady loyalty which their forefathers
and themselves have maintained on all occasions ''
One of the greatest evils of the Colonial Constitution, as interpret-
ed by your Lordship, is, that it removes from a Province every des-
cription of responsibility, and leaves all the higher functionaries at
liberty to lay every kind of blame at the door of the Secretary of
State. The Governor, if the Colonists complain, shrugs his shoul-
ders, and replies, that he will explain the difficulty in his next des-
patch, but in the mean time his orders must be obeyed— the Execu-
tive Councillors, who under no circumstances are responsible for
any thing, often lead the way in concentrating the ire of the people,
upon the Colonial Secretary, who is the only person they admit their
right to blame. It is no uncommon thing to hear them, in Nova-Sco-
tia, sneering at him in public debate— and in Canada they are
accused of standing by while Lords Glenclg and Melbourne were
hanged in effigy and burned, in the capital, encouraging the
populace to pay this mark of respect to men, who, if your Lordship's
theory is to be enforced, these persons, at all events, should have
the decency to pardon, if they cannot always defend.
I trust, my Lord, that in this letter I have shown you that in con-
templating a well defined and limited degree of responsibility to
attach to Executive Councillors in North America, 1 have more
strictly followed the analogies to be drawn from the Constitution,
than has your Lordship, in supposing that those officers would neces-
sarily overstep all bounds— that, in divesting the Govsrnor of a vague
and decepUve description of responsibility, which is never enforced,
and of a portion of authority which it is impossible for him wisely
toexercise; and yet holding him to account for what does fall within
the scope of his character as Her Majesty's Representative, the
constitutional analogy is still preserved— his dignity lefl unimpaired,
and the difficulties of his position re.noved. I trust also that I have
25
j^roved to your Lordship that the Colonial Constitutions, as they at
present stnnfJ, are but a medley of uncertainty and confusion — that
those by whom they are administered do not understand them — and
lastly, that whether Sir Francis Head's interpretation or your own
be adopted, neither offer security for good government, — the contest
between them merely involving a difference of opinion as to who is
to wield powers that neither Governors nor Secretaries can usefully
assume, and which of these officers is nominally to bear ihe blame
<bf blunders that both are certain to commit.
1 have tiie honor to be,
&/€. &,c. &,c.
LETTER lit.
Mv Lord,
The next passage of the Speech of the 3d of June, which I am
bound to notice, is that in which you say : —
" The Governor might ask the Executive Council to propose acer-
** tain measure. They might say they could not propose it unless the
" members of the house of Assembly would adopt it, but the Governor
" might reply that he had received instructions from home command-
" ing him to propose that measure. How, in that case, is he to pro-
" ceed? Either one power or the other must be set aside. Either
" the Governor or the House of Assembly, or else the Governor must
** become a mere cypher in the hands of the Assembly, and not at-
" tempt to cany into effect the measures which he is commanded by
*' the home government to do."
This objection is ba.sed upon the assumption that the interests of
the Mother Country and those of the Colonies are not the same—
that they must be continually in a stste of conflict — and that there
must be some course of policy necessary for the Imperial Govern-
ment to enforce, the reasons for which cannot be understood in the
Colonies, nor its necessity recognized. This may have been the case
formerly in the Wost Indies, where the conflict was one between the
ideas engendered by a state of slavery and a state of freedom, but it
is not true ci the North American Provinces, to the condition and
claims o*" which my observations are chiefly confined. Of all the
queslioas which have agitated or are likely *o agitate Nova Sco-
tia, New-Brunswick, or Prince Edward Island, how few, when
rightly understood, can be said to involve any Imperial interest, or
trench upon any principle dear to our brethren at home, or the con-
cession of which could disturb the peace of the Empire? Have
any of these Colonies claimed a right to regulate the foreign trade
or foreign policy of the Empire ? have thcv ever interfered, e.vccpt to
4
tl
ill
n
I
[ill
ri
r
2f^
i;i,t
1.1^
carry out the viewgof Iler Majesty's Government, with any of tfie Mi-
litary or Naval operations 7 have they exposed a grievance, tlie con-
tinued existence of whicli is indiapensible to the well being of tiie
British Islands ; or demanded a right, the concession of which would
not be serviceable to themselves without doing the least injury to the
people of Britain ? For what have they asked ? for the control of
their own revenues, and the means of inffucncing the appointment
and acts of the men who are to dispense them ; and who are, be-
sides, to distribute hundreds of ]>etty offices, and discharge functions
manifold and various, within the Colony itself. The people of Eng-
land have no knowledge of these matters, nor any interest in
them, to give them the right to interfere — interference does much
mischief to the Colonists, and can do no good to their brethren
across the water. If British Statesmen would let these things alone,
and it is over these only that toe claim to enforce rcsponsihility, and
confine themselves to those general arrangements affecting the whole
Empire, of which we admit them to be the best judges, and in the
conduct of which we never ask to take a part, it would be impossible
to conceive how such a case could arise, as that supposed by your
Lordship — or how the Governor could be charged with " a measure"
which his Executive Council would not dare "to propose?" Ad-
mitting that there might be some subjects, requiring discussion in
the Provinces, bin which the Colonists were not prepared to adopt,
surely an Executive Councilor could be got, even if he were opposed
to the views of Ministers, to submit ihe measure and explain those
views to the popular Branch — or might there not be "open ques*
tions" in the Colonies as at home i
The conclusion at which my mind arrives, then, after the best
attention that I can give to this branch of the subject, is, that if the
duties and responsibilities of Government are fairly and judtcionslv
divided between the Imperial and Colonial authorities, no such
case as that assumed by your Lordship can occur — and, if it should,
surely tlie good sense of all parties concerned may safely be trusted,
to avoid any violent or unpleasant collision. But did it never occur
to your Lordship to enquire, whether the very evil anticipated, as an
insuperable objection to the new system, does not disfigure and an-
nually occnr under the old ? What else were the Executive Coun-
cillors in Upper and Lower Canada doing for a series of years but "pro-
posing certain measures," to be as certainly rejected by the popular
hranch ? What else are they about now in Newfoundland I What
but this were they do* ' in New-Brunswick, down to the close of
Sir Archibald Campbell's administration? In all these Provinces a
state of constant collision between the Executive and the popular
branch, which could by no possibility arise under the system I con-
template, would answer the objection, even if the difBculty suggest-
ed could be fairly taken into account. If it be said that the Coun-
cillors now do not refuse to propose measures, T answer, but if the
Legislatures invariably reject them, does Government gain anything,
or is public business advanced by the system ? What a figure did
the Executive cut in Nova-Scotia, in 1638, when the Councillor
I
I
i
I'ii,
27
wfio brought down from tlie Governor a grave proposition, led the
opposition against it? and how stand things in this Province now—*
are not all the Councillors selections from a lean minority of the
Commons, in which body almost every debate terminates in a vote
of implied want of confidence in thorn ; and where the Governor they
surround has, on several occasions, only been saved from an insult-
ing vote ot censure, by the good temper and moderation of the
majority ? This is a state of things too ridiculous to be long con-
tinued. To me it seems essential that Her Majesty, in every Colony,
should be represented by an Executive, not only willing " to at-
tempt" but *' able to carry" any measures that it may be necessary
to propose.
The next objection taken by your Lordship to the introduction of
Provincial responsibility, one eminently calculated to have weight
with the body you addressed, and to alarm the timid every where,
was draw.i from an application of the principle to the manage-
ment of <breign affairs. " If," says your Lordship, " the Assembly
" of Nevv-Brunswick had been disposed to carry the point in dispute
*' with the North American States hostilely, and the £.\ccutive Council
^' had been disposed to aid them, in my opinion the Governor must
" have said that his duty to the crown of this country, and the general
" instructions which he had received from the minister of the crown,,
" did not permit him to take that course, and,therefore, he could not
" agree with the Executive Council to carry into eflect the wish of
** the Assembly. That is allowed. Does not then this very excep-
"tion destroy the analogy you wish to draw, when, upon so impor-
" tant a point as that of foreign affairs, it cannot be sustained?"
Your Lordship, in delivering this passage, of course was not aware
that, without the alteration of a single syllable, you answered the
very objection that yourself had raised. If the Executive Council of
New-Brunswick advised Sir Joir; Harvey to declare war upon the
State of Maine, "he must have said that his duty to the Crown, and
his instructions, did not permit him to take that course." i^' "t cer-
tainly he would, if a measure so ridiculous had beon attempted in
New-Brunswick, which no body who knows anything of that Pro-
vince, could for a moment imagine. 1 do not believe that there are
ten men in it, certainly there are not fifty in ail the lower Provinces
put together, who do not know that the Sovereign alone has the
right to declare war upon foreign powers, and who are not willing
that, upon all the relations of the Colonies with these, and with each
other, the Imperial Government shall decide. A few of the
New-Brunswickers blamed Sir John Harvey ybr not acting upon
Jltr Majesty's instructions, to maintain exclusive juriidiction
over the disputed territory, notwithstanding the arft'Jtc received from
the Minister at Washington — but, if those iuRlructions had not ex~
isted, and had not been positive, no one would have been tdiot
enough to suppose that Sir John Harvey would have been bound to
make war, on a point of honor or policy, newly discovered by his
Executive Council, and upon which Her Majesty's Government had
had no opportunily to decide. Suppose, when Parliament w;is
t *
"i
^\
28
I.
I
I W
I
granting a Charter to Hull, it was objected that the Mayor might he
advised to make war upon Sweden (and, in the case of an elective
officer, the danger wouhl be greater than if he were appointed by the
Crown) would not the same (louse of Commons, that ttiought it un-
safe to let a Colony manage its internal affairs for fear it would en-
gage in foreign wars, laugh at the possibility of such an absurdity
being committed by any body of liiiglishmen out of Bedlam? Why
then should it be taken for granted that we are not English in our
habits and optuions — our education and training — our capacity ta
discern the boundaries of authority, — and that therefore it would bo
unsafe to depend upon our wisely exercising powers, which, in the
Britii^h Islands, millions exercise for their own security and without
danger to the state ? In the case of Hull, if the objection wero
gravely urged, the ready answer would be, " no greater powers can
be exercised than aro granted in the Bill; and if there is the least
danger of the City authorities doing any thing so ridiculous, put in
a clause that shall restrain them." And I say — after soberly pro-
testing that the very suspicion of such an attempt is an insult to the
understanding, and an imputation upon the character, of our popula-
tion, which they do not deserve — that if you wish "lo make assurance
doubly sure," put a clause into the Bill which concedes the princi-
ple of responsibility, so far as relates to domestic affairs, and by which
all such belligerent Councillors shall be expressly restrained.
Whether this point were or were not thus defined, that any Ex-
ecutive Council, merely because they were responsible to the People,
would, after receiving such an answer as your Lordship admits a
British Governor must give, proceed in defiaitce of his authority to
levy war upon a friendly state, I cannot for a moment believe. If
they did, they certainly would so completely fail, and render them-
selves so supremely ridiculous, that the attempt would not be likely
to be repeated, at least for a century to come. Let us suppose the
ease to have occurred in New-Brunswick : that the Executive Coun-
cil, being responsible, had advised Sir John Harvey to proceed hos-
tilely — and that, on his declining, they had levied war. In the
first place, as all the regular troops were at Sir John's dispo^
sal, as Commander in Chief within the Province, and not merely as
Civil Governor, they not only could not have moved a .sfjidier, but
would have had the whole military force of that and the adjoining
Provinces against them. As the Governor's onler to the Colonels
and officers commanding the Militia is indispensihle, before a single
step can be taken, under the laws by which that force is embodied,
of course no hostile order would have been given, nor could those
laws have been modified or changed without Sir John's assent.
And if it be urged, that volunteers would have flocked to the aid
of the Executive Council, may I not enquire where they woidd have
obtained arms and ammunition, when all the military munitions and
stores wero deposited in military warehouses, under the care of
Commissaries, and Officers of (Jrdnance, responsible only to the
Crown? Oh! no, my Lord, whatever effect such imaginary cases
as these may have
upon
men at a distance, unicquainled with
29
the slate of society in British America, and the general intelligence
which prevails, — here they are langhed at, as the creations of a fertile
imagination, taxed to combat political improvements that were feared
without being understood. If, even under the federative Govern-
ment of the United States, in which each State is much more inde-
dependent of the central authority than any Colany would be under
the system I contemplate, this ri^ht of private war has only been
once asserted, by a single State, in more than half a century, and
then was scouted all over the Continent, is it to be supposed
that British subjects will pay less respect to the authority of their
Queen, than do Republican Americans to that of their President "*
There is one bare possibility, which your Lordship has notsuggt .
ed,in opposition to the new system, and yet it is scarcely more ridi-
culous than some that have been urged — that the Colonial Coun«
cillors might claim the control of the squadron upon the North Ame-
can coast, as well as of the land forces, in their anxiety to engage in
foreign wars. The danger in this case would be nearly as great as
in the other — for, in modern warfare, a fleet is nearly as neces-
sary as an army ; and yet, it is certain that the Admiral upon the
station would knew how to treat such a claim, should it be preferred
by a Council, who, in the wanton exercise of authority, were disposed
to transgress all bounds?
The next objection which I am bound to notice, is thus given in
the Report : — " Let us suppose that an officer of Militia in Upper
" Canada, after an action, was to order that the persons taken in that
" action should be put to death on the field. I can conceive itpos-
" sible, in a state of exasperation and conflict with the people of the
" neighbouring state, that the Assembly might applaud that conduct,
" and might require that it should be the rule, and not the exception,
" that all invaders of their territory should be treated in that manner,
" and that the parties should be put to death without trial. Sup-
" posing that to be' the case, could the government of this country
** adopt such a rule ? Could the Secretary of State for the Colonies
•' sanction such a rule, and not decide, as my honorable friend the
" Under Secretary has done, that the practice would meet with his
" decided reprehension?"
Now, my Lord, admitting that such a case might occur once in
half a century under the new system, let me remind your Lordship
that it has already occurred under the old. If it is to have any
weight, the fact of its occurrence in a Proviiice in which the Exe-
cutive Council is irresponsible, and the Colonial Secretary in the
exercise of his fail powers, makes in favor of my argument ; while I
have a right to deny, until proof is furnished, that it could occur,
if matters were more wisely ordered, and a more rational system
established, by which all temptations to foreigners to make inroads
into British Provinces, speculating upon the disaffection of the peo-
ple, would be removed. But, my Lord, life has been taken, under
your system — " death" has been inflicted " without trial," diegally,
as you infer — and has any punishment followed ? Have the laws
been vindicated ? No !— then why not ? Simply, I presume, be-
i
in
11
■i r* ._
f> 'I
i
30
m
if
cause your beautiful mode of Government lias produced such a
state of things in a British Province, that the Ministers of the Queen
dare not bring the man charged with this high offence to trial. Un-
der a system of responsibility, by which the population were left to
manage their domestic aiTairs, I hold that no such violation of law
would be likely to occur ; and, (hat if it did, investigation would be
as safe, and punishment as certain, as though a crime had been com-
mitted in Middlesex or Surrey.
I have thus disposed, my Lord, of the Military questions; and, as
I have left Her Majesty and her Representatives in full command of
the Army and Navy, and of the Militia force of British America,
and have asserted no claim of the Colonists to interfere with foreign
treaties, and diplomatic arrangements affecting the Empire at large,
I think, if peace be not maintained with foreign states, and punish-
ment, for offiMices strictly military, be not awarded, the blame will
not rest with the Executive Councillors, who are f j exercise no ju-
risdiction over these matters, and cannot be responsible if others fail
in their duty.
Let me now turn to another class of objections, arisin;; out of our
Colonial and Foreign Trade. " Again," says your Lordship, " nei-
" ther could this analogy be maintained with regard to trade between
" Canada and the mother country, or Canada and any other
" country ; how then can you adopt a principle from which such
" large exceptions are to be made l If you were to do so, you
" would be continually on the borders of dispute and conflict ; the
" Assembly and the Executive on the one hand requiring a certain
" course to be pursued, while the governor on the other hand would
" be as constantly declaring that it was a course he could not adopt ;
" f>o that, instead of furnishing matter of content and harmony in
" these provinces, you would be affording new matter for dispute and
" discontent if you were to act upon this supposed analogy." Now,
my Lord, I feel it my duty to state, that you 'may take from any
part you please lo select, of England, Ireland, or Scotland, 200,000
persons, and among them you will not find a larger number than
are to be found in Nova-Scotia, well informed as to the ujgree of
authority in matters of Trade, which, for the good of the whole Em-
pire, and the preservation of the advantages in which all are ;o par-
ticipate, it is necessary to confide to the care of the Sovereign and
the wisdom of the Imperial Parliament. The great Corporations
of London, of Bristol, and of Liverpool, do not presume to interfere
with these, except by petition and remonstrance, neither do we.
Each of these Cities has the right to levy small duties within their
own limits, for matters of internal regulation or to aid public im-
provements, and these rights they exercise, in common with us, when
they do not contravene any British Statute, necessary for the protec-
tion of the Trade of the Empire. But, if it can be shown that a
law bears unequally upon London or Halifax, and that a flagrant
case of hardship exists — or if the industry of any portion of the Peo-
ple, either in England or the Colonies, is taxed, while no corres-
ponding advantage is reaped by any other portion,— or that, if
31
reaped, it is an unfair and illegitimate advantage, — an nppeal is made
to Parliament : we have hitherto been contented, although not di-
rectly represented in that Assembly, to abide the result of that
appeal ; or to pass Bills, taking our chance of their being assented
to in England. The same thing would occur, even if the Executive
Council was responsible, for, upon this point, there is no part of our
population prepared to set up absurd or irrational claims. If Par-
liament should undertake to legislate directly againt*t our interests —
to cut up our commerce, and prevent the growth of domestic indus-
try, and, after fair notice and ample proof of injury, were to persist
in such a course, why then a state of things would arise which simi-
lar policy produced elsewhere, in other times, and upon the results
of which either responsible or irresponsible Councillors could exer-
cise but little influence. But, as political economists, at home, are
every day becoming convinced that the more liberty they afford to
the Colonist to conduct his commercial operations, the greater will
be his demand for British manufactures, — and as, under the guidance
of this enlightened policy, thelaws of Trade and Navigation are an-
nually becoming less restrictive, it is not probable that difHculties,
which were never insuperable, will all of a sudden admit of no ra-
tional remedy ; or that the boundaries of Colonial and Imperial
authority, now so well understood, and the recognition of which is
so easily enforced, will often be called in question on either side. If
the Colonists assert rights which do not belong to them, and persist
in their contumacy, disturbing solemn Treaties and setting Acts
of Parliament at nought, why then they have broken the social com-
pact, it is a case of rebellion, and they must be put down.
Let us reduce the difRculty to practice, for the purpose of illustra-
tion. Suppose that both Branches of the Legislature pass a Law
by which a t:davy duty is laid upon British broadcloths, and those
from the United States are admitted duty free ; and that the Execu-
tive Council, being responsible, advise the Lieutenant Governor to
assent to it. Such an absurd piece of bad faith as this could never
be attempted in the Lower Provinces — for public opinion would
never sanction any interference with the general laws, not intend-
ed to remedy abuses, or that struck at Colonial without promoting
British prosperity ; nor would any changes be popular, which violated
the fraternal comity, by which British subjects every where are
bound to encourage and protect each other. But I have supposed
the law passed and presented : the Governor would say in this case,
as he now invariably says — as your Lordship admits he must say,
if urged to provoke a foreign war — Gentlemen, you are exceeding
your powers ; to legislate for your own advantage is one thing ;
to legislate directly against your brethren at home, for the advan-
tage of foreigners, is another ; this Bill must either be modified or
rejected, or reserved for Her Majesty's assent before it can go into
operation. If the parties urging it persisted, a dissolution might
be tried, and an appeal to British subjects, in a case where the
Governor wa« clearly right, and his advisers wrong, would never
be made in vain ; particularly when aided by the Constitutional op-
52
\Q '
position, which, under a system of responsibility nnd manly comp^'
lition. would exist in every Colony. But if it failed — if such an
iilmost impossible thing were upon the cards, as that a majority could
he found in Nova-Scotia, to sustain such an act, or any thing bear-
ing a resemblance to it, then a case would have occurred for thd
interference of the Imperial authorities, who should say to us frankly,
if you will come into unnatural and hostile collision, the weakest
has the most to^fear.
Had your Lordship been ns familiar with the mode of dealing
with such subjects as most Colonists are who have watched the pro-
ceedings of Colonial Assemblies, you would have been satified that
no danger was be apprehended from violent collisions about matters
of trade. When a new duty is proposed in Nova-Scotia, or a re-*
duction suggested, the first question asked on all sides is, will the
proposition Violate the letter, or does it even run counter to the spt*
rit, of the Imperial Acts? If it does, in eight cases out often, the
person bringing the measure forward drops it, on being assured of^
the fact — in the ninth case, where a doubt exists as to the policy
and wisdom of Iniperial legislation, it is found, on enquiry, that the
clause which seemed to press upon us, originated in a wide view over
the whole field of commerce, which British Statesmen, oflen better
than others whose positions afford fewer advantages, are enabled to
t&ke, and that its repeal would inflict an injury and not confer a he-i
nefit. The tenth case is perhaps one in which the Imperial Parlia-
ment, either from haste, or prejudice, or insufficient information,
has committed an error in political economy, or inflicted a wound
upon Colonial without benefitting British industry. In this casCi
(and they only occur once in a great while) no one ever dreams,
that, as your Lordship expresses it, the Imperial Legislature is to be
" overruled" by that of the Colony : we never doubt but that an ap*
peal to the good sense and justice of our brethren over the water,
will be successful. A Bill is passed, perhaps, to meet the difficulty ;
and an explanation of the facts and reasoning in which it originated,
is sent with it, in the form of an Address to the Throne, and in most
cases is found to be successful.
This is the mode at present : what reason is there to suppose that
it would be much changed, if we had an Executive Council, whose
powers and responsibilities did not extend to matters of general com-
merce, already provideu for by Imperial Legislation ? If we are so
fond of violent conflict and factious opposition, what hinders us from
indulging our propensities now ? Shall we be less considerate the
more kindly we are treated ? Shall we have less respect for Impe-
rial legislation, when we that see it leaves us the entire management of
our domestic affairs, and only deals with those great interests which
transcend our authority and are beyond our control ? Suppose
twelve Novascotians, who are not responsible to any authority
under Heaven, are made accountable to the rest of their countrymen,
shall we have a man the more for forcible resistance than we
have now— or a gun, a pike, a bomb, or a barrel of powder ?
I have thus, my Lord, gone over the arguments urged by your
1
a
a
a
V
c
ii
c
<
i
f
t
t
F
I
r l«;1
Lordship in the speech of the 3d June. I have omitted none that
appear to me to have the slightest bearing upon the great question
at issue, and I trust I have given to each a fair and satisfactory
answer. I have written not only under a solemn sense of duty, but
with the full assurance that sophistry, woven around this question,
either on one side of the Atlantic or the other, would be torn to shreds
in the conflict of acute and vigorous minds now engaged in its dis-
cussion. Had your Lordship, in announcing the decision of the
Cabinet, forborne to state the reasons upon which that decision was
founded, I might, like counsel at the bar under similar circum-
stances, have felt myself compelled to acquiesce in a judgment, nei-
ther the justice nor the policy of which I could fathom. But when
the arguments were stated, and when I saw a question involving the
peace and security of six extensive Provinces, and the freedom and
happiness of a million and a half of British subjects, disposed of by
a mode of reasoning which I knew to be deceptive and unsound, —
when I saw, in fact, that this parties claiming their rights were to be
turned out of court, with all the argument and all the evidence upon
their side, — I felt that to remain silent would be to deserve the so-
cial and political degradation which this unjust decision was to
entail on my countrymen and myself—- to earn the Helot mark
of exclusion from the blessings of that Constitutional freedom,
which our forefathers struggled to bequeathe ; and which we should
never cease to demand, as a patrimony that runs with our blood,
and cannot be rightfully severed from our name. , >
1 have the honor to be,
&>C. &C. &'C^
LETTER IV.
Mi Lord,
The business of factious demagogues, of all parties, is to find fault
with every thing — to propose nothing practical — to oppose whatever
is suggested — to misrepresent and to defame. The object of
honest and rational politicians ought to be to understand each other
—to deal frankly, abhoring concealment, that mistakes may not be
made about facts, terms, or intentions-- to deal fairly, giving credit
for a desire to elicit truth, and a wish to weigh in a just balance
both sides of every question. Having put before you such evidence
as 1 hope will lead your Lordship's mind to the conclusion, that
the system by which the North American Colonies are at pre-
sent governed, must be abandoned, it is not improbable that your
Lordship may enquire what it is that we are desirous to substitute
for that system ? The demand is a reasonable one — the party who
5
m\\
34
teek this change are bound to prove that thejr have a safo, and in-
telligible remedy, for the evils of which they complain. If I cannot
ehow to your Lordship, that, without endangering the authority of
the mother country over her Provinces, weakening the Constitu-
tional powers of the Crown, or trenching on the high privileges and
wide range of duty assigned to the Imperial Parliament, a better
form of Government than that which I am anxious to overturn—'
one more nearly conforming to the practice and spirit of the Constr*
tution, as understood at home — to the wants and peculiar situation
of these Colonies, and less repugnant to the feelings and prejudices
of Englishmen every where, can be established —then I must quit the
field of argument, and cannot complain if your Lordship adhuros to
your old opinion!. .; ;. v. .
The Queen and P€urUamcnt.
From what has been already written, it will be seen that I leave
to the Sovereign, and the Imperial Parliament, the uncontrol-
led authority over the Mi}itary aiid Naval force distributed over the
Colonies — that I carefully abstain from trenching upon their right
to bind the whole Empire, by treaties and other diplomatic arrange-
ments, with foreign States — or to regulate the trade of the Co?o>
nies With the mother country, and with each other. I yield to
them also the same right of interference which they now ex-
ercise ever Colonies, and over English Incorporated Towns,
whenever a desperate oase of factious usage of the powers con-
fided, or some reason of state, affecting the preservation ot peace
and order, call for that interference. As the necessity of the case,
the degree and nature of this interference, would always be fully
discussed by all parties concerned, I am not afraid of these great
powers being oflen abused, particularly as the temptations to use
them would be much lessened if the internal administration were
improved.
The Colonial Office.
The Colonial Secretary's duties should bo narrowed to a watchful
supervision over each Colony, to see that the authority of the Crown
was not impaired, and that Acts of Parliament and public treaties were
honestly and firmly carried out ; but he should have no right to ap>
point more than two or three officers in each Province — and none
to intermeddle in any internal affair, so long as the Colonial Govern-
ment was conducted without conflict with the Imperial Government,
and did not exceed the scope of its authority. This would give him
enough to do, without heaping upon him duties so burthensome and
various that they cannot be discharged with honor by any man, how-
ever able ; nor with justice or safety to the millions whose interests
they affect. His respcmsibility should be limited to the extent of
his powers ; and, as these would be familiar to every Englishman,
exposure and punishment would not be difficult, in case of ignorance,
incapacity or neglect.
35
The Governor.
I have shown, in the illustration dra^tn from (he City ofLivcrpool,
that most Qoveritors come out to Colonies so ignorant of tlieir geo-
graphy and topography, climate, productions, commerce, resources
and wants— and above all, of the parties, passions and prejudices,
which divide them — and the character, talents, and claims, of the
men by whom the population are influenced and led, that for the
first six or twelve months they are like overgrown boys at school. It is
equally clear that while the business ofGovernroent must move en, and
the administration commence from the day on which the new Governor
arrives, the Schoolmasters, from whom all his facts are derived — his
views of internal affairs — and his impressions, not only of different par-
ties, but of individuals of each party, gathered, are the irresponsible
EzecutiveCouncillors, whom the present system calls around him— and
who, possessed of such advantages, rarely fail, before he can by any
possibility escape from their toils, to embroil h*m with the popular
Branch of the Legislature, and the mass of the people by whom it is
sustained.
Now let us suppose, that when a Governor arrives ia Nova-Scotia,
he finds himself surrounded, not by this irresponsible Council, who
represent nothing except the whims of his predecessors, and the in-
terests of a few families, (so small in point of numbers, that but for the
influence which ofiice and the distribution of patronage gives
them, their relative weight in the country would be ridiculously
diminutive) — but by men, who say to him, " may it please
your excellency, there was a general Election in this Province last
month, or last year, or the year before last, and an administration
was formed upon the results of that Election — we, who compose the
Council, have ever since been steadily sustained by a majority in the
Commons, and have reason to believe that our conduct and policy
havo been satisfactory to the country at large.' ' A Governor thus ad-
dressed, would feel, that at all events he was surrounded by those
who represented a majority of the population — who possessed the
confidence of an immense body of the electors, and who had been
selected to give him advice by the people who had the deepest inter-
est in the success of his administration. If he had doubts on this
point — if he had reason to believe that any factious combination
had obtained office improperly, and wished to take the opinions of
the People— or if the Executive Council wished to drive him into
measures not sanctioned by the Charter, or exhibited a degree of
grasping selfishness which was offensive and injurious, — he could at
once dissolve the Assembly, and appeal to the People, who here, an
in England, would relieve him from doubt and difiiculty, and, fighting
out the battle on the hustings, rebuke the Councillors if they were
wrong. This toould be a most important point gained in favour of
the Governor — for now he is the slave of an irresponsible Council,
which he cannot shake off ; and is bound to act by the advice of
men, who, not being accountable for the advice they give, and
30
having often miicli lo gain and nothing to lose by giving hnd advice,
may get him into scrapes every month, and lai/ the blame on him.
The Governors would in fact liave the power of freeing th«;mselvcs
from thraldom to the family compacts, which none of them can now
escape, by the exercise of any safe expedient known to our existing
Constitutions. It will be seen, too, that by this systenr whatever
sections or small parties might think or say, the Governor could ne-
ver by any posibility become, what British Governors have of late been
every where, embroiled with the great body of the inhabitants, over
whom he was sent to preside. The Governor's responsibility would
also be narrowed to the care of the Queen's Prerogative— the con-
servation of Treaties— the military defence — and the execution of
the Imperial Acts : the local administration being left in the hands
of those who understood it, and who were responsible. His posi-
tion would then be analogous to that of the Sovereign— Ae could do
no wrung in any matter of which the Colonial Legislature had the
right to judge, but would be accountable to the Crown, if ho be-
trayed the Imperial interests committed to his care.
The Executive Council.
Extcutive Councillors now are either Heads of Departments — or
Members of the two Branches who are generally favourable to the
policy of these, and disposed to leave their emoluments intact.
One or two persons of more independent character, and slightly dif-
fering with the others ui^K)n n few points, are sometimes admitted ;
hut a vast preponderance in favour of the views of the official com-
pact, is always, as a matter of course, maintained. The Heads of
Departments are always very well paid for their trouble in
governing the country, by the enormous official salaries they re-
ceive ; their colleagues either are looking to office, or have means
of providing for their relatives and friends; <Ahile, if it should so
happen, that such a thing as a Colonial Executive Councillor can
be found, for any length of time in office, who has not served him-
self or his friends, the title, and the consciousness of possessing for
life the right to approach and advise every Governor, and give a
vote upon every important act of administration, without a possibili-
ty of being displaced, or called to account for any thing said or done,
is no mean reward for the small amount of labour and time bestow-
ed. Formerly these people, in addition to other benefits, obtained
for themselves and their friends immense tracts of Crown land. This
resource is now cut off, by the substitution of sales for free
grants — but, looking at the Executive Council, or Cabinet, as it exists
in any of the North American Provinces at present, we find a small
knot of individuals, responsible neither to the Queen, the Secretary
of State, the Governor nor the People — who owe their seats to nei-
ther, but to their relatives and friends, through whose influence and
intrigues they have been appointed — and who, while they possess
among them some of the best salaries and nearly all the patronage
of the country, have a common interest in promoting extravagance,
37
resisting economy, and keeping up the system exactly as it standi.
It will be perceived, that such a body as this may continue to gover*
a Colony for centuries ; like the Old Man of the Mountain, who got
upon Sinbad'a back, ordinary exertions cannot shake it off. To un«
dorstand more clearly how un-English, how anti-Constituiional, how
dangerous this body is — it is only necessary to contrast it with what
it ought to but never does resemble. In England the Government
of the Country is invariably carried on by some great political party,
pledged to certain principles of foreign or domestic policy, which
the people for the time approve — but the Cabinet in a Colony is an
o^ci'a/ party, who have the power forever lo keep themselves and
tlicir friends in office, and to keep all others out, even though nine-
teen out of every twenty of the population are against them. What
would the people of England say, if some twenty families, being in
poHsossion of the Treasury, Horse Guards, Admiralty, Colonial
Office, &c. had the power to exclude Whigs, Tories and Radicals—
to laugh at hostile votes in the Commons, and set the country at de-
fiance — to defend each other against the Crowu and the People ; to
cover ignorance, incapacity, corruption and bad faith? Would they
bear such a state of things for a week ? and yet your Lordship seems
to think that we should bear it, for zn indefinite period, with pati-
ence.
Now, for this body, I propose to substitute one sustained by at least
amajority of the Electors — whose general principles are known and
approved — whom the Governor may dismiss, whenever they exceed
their powers, and who may be discharged by the People whenever
they abuse them. Who, instead of laying the blame, when attacked,
upon the Governor, or the Secretary of State, shall be bound, as in
England, to stand up and defend, against all comcrp, every appoint-
ment made and every act done under their administration. One of
the first results of this change, would be to infuse into every depart-
ment of administration a sense of accountability, which now is no
where found — to give a vigorous action to every vein and artery now
exhibiting torpidity and languor — and to place around the Governor,
and at the head of every department of public affairs,the ablest men the
colony could furnish — men ofenergy and talent, instead of the brain-
less sumphs, to whom the task of ceunsellingthe Governor, or admi-
nistering the affairs of an extensive department, is often committed
under the present system. In England, whether Whigs, Tories or Ra-
dicals, are in, the Queen is surrounded, and the public departments
managed, by some of the ablest men the kingdom can produce ; but
suppose a mere Official faction could exclude all these great partif^s
from power, how long would the government possess the advantage
of superior abilities to guide it ? — would it not at once fall far below
the intellectual range which it now invariably maintains ?
But, it may be asked, would not the sudden introduction of this
system work injustice to some who have taken offices, in the expec-
tation of holding them for life. Perhaps it might, but even if this
were unavoidable, the interests of individuals should give way to the
public good. Thf) Boronghmongprs had the same objections to the
I,
GS
li'
p.
M
Rc'foriTi Act — Rcconlers and Town Clerks to tliat which cleansed the
Corporations. This, like all minor dinicultie?. might easily be pro-
vided for ; and I am sure that there are but . " of those seeking (o
establish Responsible Government, who desire to overturn even
a bad system in a spirit of heartless vindictiveness.
IVie Legislative Council.
The Colonies, having no hereditary Peeruge, this Body has been
constructed to take its ;-)lace. From the difficulty of making it har-
monize with the popnhr branch, some politicims in Lower Cana->
da, and it was said that the Earl o^ Juiham at first inclined to the
opinion, thought it might be abol'ihed. 1 think there is no necessi-
ty for this — first, because it would <'^stroy the close resemblance
which it is desirable to maintain between our Institutions and those
of the mother country, — and again, because a second legislative
chamber, not entirely depenf^"^:! upon popular favor, is useflil to re-
view measures, and check undue hastf^ or corruption in the popular
branch. Besides, I see no difHculty iu naintaining its independence,
and yet removing from it the character of annual conflict with the
representative body, by which it has been every where distinguished.
The main object of the Executive Council being the preservation
of a system by which they enjoy honors, office and patronage, un-
V jntrolled ana uninHuenced by the people, — and they having the no-
mination of Legislative Councillors, of course they have always se-
lected a majority of those whose interests and opinions were their
own, and who could help tuem to wrestle tvith audjight off the
popular brunch. Hence the constant collision, and the general out-
cry against the second chamber. The simple remedy for all this ap-
pears to ')e, to introduce the English practice : let the people be con-
sulted in the formation of the Executive Council, and then the ap-
pointments to the Legislative will be more in accordance with public
sentiment, and the general interest, than they are now. I should
have no oi/jection to Legislative Councillors holding their seats
for life, by which their independence of the Executive and of
the People would be secured, provided they were chosen fairl" by
those to whom, from time to time, the constituency, as at home, en-
trusted the privilege — and no*, as they are now selected, to serve a
particular purpose, and expressly to wrangle, rather dan to harmo-
nisf, with the popular hranch. The House of Lords includes men
selected by all the administrations which the Peopie of Briti.iu
have called into power — the Houses of Lords in the Colonics have
been created by all the administrations which the People nevir could
injluence or control.
Some members of the second Branc't should of course have seats
in the Executive Counf,il, because in that Chamber also the acts
and policy of the Government would require to be cxplai-^d —
but here, as in England, though very desirable, it would not be essen-
tial, that tiie administration should always be su&tniuud by a majority
in the Upper House.
■39
21ic Commons
part in governing a Pro-
Then, these disreputable
would be dosed, and the
One of the first effects of a change of s'sieni would be a decided
improvement in the character o" all tiie Colonial Assemblies. The
great centre of political power tnd indue .ce uould, in the Provinces,
as at home, be the House of Commons. Towards that body the
able, the industrious, the eloquent and the wealthy, would press
with ten times the ardour and unanimity which are now evinced —
because then, like its great prototype in Britain, it would be nnopen
and fair arena, in which the choice spirits of the country would battle
for u share in its administration — a participation in its expenditure
— and in the honor and influence which public employment confers.
Now a bon vivant, whocan entertain an Aid-dc-camp — a good look-
ing fellow, who dances with a Governor's Lady— or a cunning
one, who can wheedle a Clerk or an under Secretary in Down-
ing Street, may be calletl to take a
vince, for the period of his natural life.
and obscure channels of advancement
country would understand the reason and feel the necessity for every
Buch appointment ; and the population would be driven to cultivate
those qualities which dignify and adorn our nature, rather than de-
base it. Now, any wily knave or subservient fool, feels that his
chance is as good as that of the most able and upright man in the
Colony, andyitr better, if the latter attempts to pursue an indepen-
dent course — then, such people would be brought to their proper level,
and rnade to win their honors fairly before they were worn.
/^lOther improvement would be, the placing the Government of a
Colony, as it always is in England, in a majority hi the Commons —
*vatched, controlled, and yet aided by a Constitutional opposition.
Under the present system the governmeiil of a Colony is the oppo-
sition of the Commons, and often presents in that body the most un-
seemly and ridiculous figure. Numberless instances might be given
of *his. The three Executive Councillors who sit in the Assembly
ofNova^cotia,hav6 been rcsisting,in miserable minorities, on a dozen
divrlons during the Lst two sessions, votes by which the Commons
recorded a want of confidence in thctn and their party — and, in fact,
the Government, instead of taking the lead in public measures, with
the energy and ability which should belong to a government, can-
not take a single step in the Assembly without the sanction of its
opponents. Every emergency tnat arises, and for which an adminis-
tration ought to be secure of a majority, presents some ab»urd illus-
tration of the system. When the border diiiiculties with the State
of Maine occurred last winter, the Government of Nova-Scotia had
not the power to move a single man of the militia force (the
laws having expired) or to vote a single shilling, until the majority
came forward, as they always have done, in the most honorable man-
ner, and, casting aside all political differences, passed laws for embo-
dying the militia, and granted c€100,000 to carry on the war. But,
will your Lord.ihip believe, will it be credited in F.iglaiid, that those
Hi
III
I
40
i
wi
lia
who voted that money — who were reaponsible to their constituents
for its expenditure— and, without whose consent, for they formed two
thirds of the Commons, a shilling could not have been drawn, had
not a single man in the local Cabinet by whom it was to be spent,
and bi/ whom, in that trying emergency, the Governor would be ad-
vised. Nor are things better when the Legislature is not in session.
In consequence of the establishment of Steam Navigation, a despatch
was sent out this spring, after the House was prorogued, requiring
the Governor of this Province to put the main Roads in thorough
repair. Of course he had no means to accomplish the object, nor
could his Executive Council guarantee that a single shilling thus ex-
pended, wouid be replaced, or that z vote of censure would not be
paf<sed p^on him if he spent one ; and, to obviate the difficulty, they
were seen consulting and endeavouring to propitiate the members
of the majority, whose places, upon such terms, they are contented to
occujty; and to which, so far as I am concerned, if such humiliations
are to be the penalty, they are heartily welcome.
It has been objected to the mode proposed, that it would lead to
the rotation of office, or extensive dismissals of subordinates, prac*
ticed in the United States ; but no person abhors that system more
than myself, nor has it found any favour in the Colonies, where the
English practice is preferred, of removing the Heads of Departments
only. To those who are afraid of the turmoil and excitement that
Vfc .d be produced, it is only necessary to say, that if upon the large
scale on which the principle is applied at home, there is no great in-
convenience felt, how much less have we to fenr where the popula-
tion is not so dense — the crmpetition not so active— nor the prizes
so gigantic. A ministry that in England lasts two or three years is
supposed to fulfil its mission — and a quadrennial Bill is considered
unnecessary, because Parliament, on the average, seldom sits longer
than three or four years. As, under a system of responsibility, the
contest for power would be fought out here, as it is in England,
chiefly on the hustings, an administration would therefore last in
NovaScotia, until the duadrennial Bill was passed, for six years
certain — two years more than the Governor, unleb specially continu-
ed, is expected to hold his appointment ; and, if it managed judici-
ciously, there would be nothing :;o prevent its h Iding the reins for
twenty oi thirty years. Of course an Executive Council in the Co-
lonies should not !)e expected to resign upon every incidental and
unimportant question connected with the details of Government; but
whenever a fair and decisive vote, by which it was evident that they had
lost the confidence of the country, was registered against them, they
should either change their policy, strengthen their hands by an ac-
cession of popular talents and principles, or abandon their seats, and
assume the duties and responsibilities of opposition. If there was
any doubt as to what the nature of such votes should be, the Parlia-
mfintary usage would be the guide on this as on all minor matters.
J
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. . Appointments, Internal Tmpi'ovemeHls , Sfc. '
One of the greatest evils of the present form of Government is, that
nothing like system or responsibility can be carried into any one
branch of the public service. There ar6, exclusive of Militia and
Road Commissions, nearly nine hundred offices to be filled in the
Province of Nova Scotia alone, all essential to the administration of
internal affairs— ^not dne of them having Any thing to do with /mpe-
rial interests ; and will it be believed iil England, that the whole of
this patronage is in the hands of a body whom the people can never
displace t that the vast majority in the Gdmmons have notthe slight-
est influence on its distribution ? while the greatest idiot, who gives
his silent a^d subservient vote in the minority, is certain of obtain-
ing his reward 1 But the evil does not stop here; it is utter-
ly impossible for the people either to bring to punishment, or to get
rid of, a singid mad of the whole nine hundred j if the local govern-
ment chooses to protect him;
Perhaps the most cruel injury that-th^^i^tem inflicts upott
the ColohistSj arises from the manner in which they are compelled td
viduct their internal improvements. This has been noticed by
Lord Durham ; but perhaps his Lordship did not fully comprehend
the reasons which redder the mode, however anomalous and injuri-
ous, in some degree acceptable to the constituency, in order that
other evils may be prevented^ which might be a great deal worse. It
will be perceived that the nine hundred offices, already referred to^
are generally distributed by the irresponsible official party in such a
way as to buy their peace^ or strengthen their influence in the
country. Let us see how this operates in practice. Suppose a
County sends to the Assembly four Representatives, all of whom sup-
port the local Government — the patronage of that County is of
(bourse at their disposal, to strengthen their hands, and keep down
all opposition-^but should the whole be hostile to the Compact, then
it is used to %9ter opposition, and create a party to displace them.
Ifthero -'; i-\ division of sentiment among the members, those who
Bupp.. .. ' '! always aided in mortifying and getting rid of, those who
axta^l • ; Ctvernmenti Thoughbutoneof the four is an adherent
of the iL'C!>)'^^^ every man in the County knows, that his influence
is worth riUwh more than that of the other three— that/ while one can
obtain any favour he wants for a friend or partizan, the others
cannot, unless by the barter of a corrupt vote, or the sacrifice of
principle, even obtain justice^ Now, if besides these nine hun-
dred offices, about five hundred commissions, for the expenditure of
the Surplus Revenues of the Country upon roads, bridges and in'er-
nal improvements, were given over to be disposed of in the same
way, the hands of the 'Jompact would be so much strengthened, that
it "^oM be still more easy to create a party in a county, to endanger
thb 3< ;t of any member who ventured to give an independent vote.
To obviate this risk, which was seen at an early period to menace the
independence of the Commons, it was determined that the members
from each County should recommend the Commissioners for the ex*
6
42
i
III
W
penditure of monies within it, and this being acquiesced in by the
Governors, for some time before its poiitical bearing was much re-
garded by the Compacts, has grown inta usage, which they have not
ventured openly to attack — although, as they still contend thai tim
right of appointment is in the Executive, they seldom fait to show
their powet, and vent their feelings, by petty alterations almost every
year. The advantages of this arrangement are, that the majority of
the constituency, and not the minority, as in every other case, distri^
bute the patronage under this branch of expenditure — and, as the
Members who name Commissioners have a great deal of local know-
ledge, and are moreover responsible to the people, they can' be called
to account if they abuse this trust. But still, from the very nature of
things, it is liable to abuse. Road Commissions may be multiplied,
and sums unwisely expended, to secure votes at the next election,
or to reward, not a trood road maker but a zealous partizan. The
Executive has not the control ' \ 'ould have if these men were select-
ed by the Government — and t ( ^^islative power, which should
be used to unmask corruption, is jtimes abused to afford it shel-
ter. The remedy which our Compdot always sitggest, like all their
remedies for political discrepencies, aims at the extension of their
own influence, and the firmer establishment of their own power.
They are loud, upon all occasions, in denouncing the corruption of
the road system — the minority in the Assembly are eloquent on the
same theme ; while, through the cc^umns of some newspaper in their
pay, they are always pouring forth complaints that the Roads are
wretchedly bad, and will never be better, until the expenditure is
placed in their hands. It will be perceived, however, that to follow
their advice, would be to make, what is admitted cm aU hands to
have its evils, a great deal worse ; because, if these nominations are
taken from those who possess local information, and given to men
who have little or none, who will not be advised by th^e who have,
and who can be called to account by no power known to the Con-
stitution, besides a great deal more of blundering being the result,
ihe partial respitusibilityi, which now makes the system barely tole-
rable, would be entirely removed. Political partizans would still be
rewarded ; but, instead of all parties in the country sharing the pa-
tronage (for members of the mmority as well as of the majority make
these appointments) it would be conhned to those only who support-
ed the Compact ; and who, however imbecile, ignorant or corrupt^
would then be, as every other officer in the Colony is now, indepen-
dent of any description of popular control. If any doubt could be
entertained as to whether the public would lose or gain by the change,
evidence enough might be gathered ; for some of the vilest jobs, and
most flagrant cases of mismanagement, that disgrace the history of
the Road Service in Nova-Scotia, have been left as monuments of
the ignorance or folly of the Compact, whenever they have taken
these matters into their own hands.
But, make the Governor's advisers responsible to the Assembly,
and the Representatives would at once resign to them the manage-
ment of such affairs. It would then be the bujsiuess of the Execu*
43
be
( r
live, instead ofleaving the Road service to the extemporaneous 7eal
or corrupt management of individuals, to come prepared, at the com-
mencement of each Session, with a general review of the whole sys-
tem ; and, supported by its majority, to suggest and to carry a
comprehensive and intelligible scheme, embracing the whole of this
service — accounting for the previous year's expenditure and appoint-
ments, and accepting the suggestions of Members as to the plans of
the current year. We should then have an Executive to which
every Commissioner would be directly accountable — to which he
could apply for instructions from January to December ; and which,
being itself responsible, would be careful of its proceedings; and yet,
beirj more independent than individual members are in dealing
with their own constituents, would be more firm and unyielding
where it was right. This is the simple, and 1 am satisfied the only
safe remedy, for the abuses of the Road system. To take the distri-
bution of commissions from fifty men, possessed of much local know-
ledge, and partially responsible, to give it to twelve others, having
less information, and subject to no control, would be an act of mad-
ness. Fortunately, in this as in all other cases, we have no occa-
sion to seek for new theories, or try unsafe experiments ; let us
adnpt the good old practices of our ancestors and of our brethren —
let us "keep the old paths," in which, while there is much utility,
there is no danger.
My Lord, there is an argument used against the introduc-
tion of Executive responsibility, by Sir Francis Head, which it may
be well to notice, because it has been caught up by shallow thinkers
every where, and is often urged with an air of triumph, that, to those
who look beyond the surface, is somewhat ridiculous. It is said, if
this principle had been in operation, Papineau and Mackenzie would
ha^e been ministers in the respective Provinces they disturbed ! But,
do those who urge this objection ever stay to enquire, whether, if
there had been responsibility in the Canadas, either of these men
could have assumed so much consequence, as to be able to obstruct
the operations of government, and create a rebellion, in a British Pro-
vince ? Nothing made a Dictator tolerable in ancient Rome, but a
sense of com.non danger, arising out of some unusual and disastrous
posture ofaiTairs, which rendered it necessary to confide to an indi-
vidual extraordinary powers — to ra'.je one man far above all others
of his own rank — to substitute his will for the ordinary routine of
administration, and to make the words of his mouth the law of the
land. When the danger passed away, the Dictator passed away with
it : power, no longer combined in one migh<y stream, the eccentric
violence of which, though useful might be destructive, was distri-
buted over the surface of society, and flowed again through a thou-
sand small but well established channels, every where stimulating
and refreshing, but no where exciting alarm. In political warfare,
this practice of the ancients has been followed by the moderns with
good success. O'Connell in Ireland, and Papineau and Mackenzie
in Canada, grew into importance, from the apparent necessity which
-n^fj*Tr-*w"^^wM,"i*"j»i<H''»^h*!rr;j;'V"i^-npv
44
existed for large masses of men to bestow upon indivi(]u.ils untimit*
ed confidence, and invest them with extraordinary powers, i wish
that the two latter, instead of provoking the maddest rebellions on
record, had possessed the sound sense and consummate prudence
which have marked every important step of the former's extraordi^
nary career: but, who believes, that if Ireland had had ^'justice," in^
stead of having it to seek, that ever such a political phenomenon as
the great Agitator would have appeared,, ta challenge our admiration
and smite the oppressors with dismay ? And who dreams that„
but for the wretched system upheld in all the Colonies, an4
the entire absence of responsibility, by which faction or intrigue
were made the only roads to power, either of the Canadian
demagogues would ever have had an inducement, or been placed in
a position, to disturb the public peace? I grant that even under the
forms which I recommend, such men as Papineau and McKenzie
might have existed — that they might have become conspicuous and
influential, and that it is by no means improbable that they would
have been Executive Councillors of their respective Provinces, advi-.
sing the Governors, and presiding over the administration of theic
internal affairs. But suppose they had, would not even this have
been better than two rebellions — the scenes at Windsor, St. Charles,
and St. Eustache — the frontier attrocities — and the expenditure of
three millir .s sterling, which will be the cost before the accounts
are closed r Does any man in his senses believe, that if McKen-i.
zieor Bidwell could have guided the internal policy, and dispensed
the local patronage, according to the British mode, that either of them
would have been so mad as to dream of turning Upper Canada into,
a Republic, when, even if they succeeded, they could only hope to be
Governors for a few years, with powers very much more restricted,
and salaries not more ample, than >ere their's for life, or as long as
they preserved their majority. Possessed of honors and sobstantial,
power, (not made to feel that they who could most efiectually serve
the Crown, were excluded by a false system from its favor, that
others less richly endowed might rise upon their ruinsj wouJd these
men have madly rushed into rebellion, with the chance before them
of expatriation, or an ignominious death I
You wcfll know, my Jjord, that rebels have become exceedingly
scarce at home, since the system of letting the majority govern has.
become firmly established — and yet they were as plenty as black-
berries, in the good old times when the Sovereigns contended, as Sir
Francis Head did lately, that theu only were responsible. Turn
back, and you will find (hat they began to disappear altogether, in
England, about ]68d, and that every political change, which makes
the Executive more completely responsible to the Legislature, and
the Legislature to the country at large, renders the prospects of a
new growth " small by degrees and beautifully less." And yet, my
Lord, who can assure us, tiiatif the Sovereigns had continued, as of
old, alone responsible -^if hundreds of able men, all running the same
courseof honorable ambition, had not been encouraged to watch
and control each other — and if the system of go cruiog by the mi*
45
nority ami not by the majority, and of excluding from power aii who
did not admire the mode, and quarrelled with the Court, had existed
down to the present day — who, I ask, will assure us, that Chatham
and Fox, instead of being able ministers and loyal men, might not
have been sturdy Rebels ? Fho can say that even your Lordship,
possessed of the strung attachment to liberty which distinguishes
your family, might not, despairing of all good government under
such a system, instead of using your influence to extend, by peace-
ful improvements, the happiness of the people, be at this moment in
the field at their head, and struggling, sword in hand, to abate the
power of the Crown? So long as the irresponsibility principle was
maintained in Scotland, and Viceroys and a few Bishops and Cour>
tiers engrossed the Administration, there were such men as Hume
and Lindsay, and such things as Assemblies in Glasgow, General
Tables in Edinburgh, and armed men in every part of that noble
country, weakening the Government, aud resisting the power of the
Crown ; and up to the peripd when Lord Normanby assumed the
government of Ireland, and it became a principle of administration
that the minority were no longer to control the majority, and shut
them out from all the walks of honorable ambition, what was the at-
titude in which Mr. O'Connell stood towards the Sovereign ? Was
it nut one of continual menace and hostility, by which the latter was
degraded, and the former clothed with a dangerous importance ?— •
and what is his attitude now ? Is it not that of a warm hearted
supporter of a Queen, whose smiles are no longer confined to a
faction but shed over a nation, every man of which feels that he is
free to obtain, if he has ability and good fortune to deserve, the
highest honors in her power to bestow ? Daniel O'Connell, (and
{>erhaps it may be said that his tail suggested the comparison) is na
onger a political comet blazing towards the zenith, and filling the
terror stricken beholders with apprehensions of danger, aud a sense
of coming change; but a brilliant planet, revolving in an orbit with
the extent of which all are familiar, and reflecting back to the source
of light and honor the beams which it is proud to share. Who any
longer believes that O'Connell is to shake the Empire and overturn
the Throne ? And who doubts, had he (/e5pazVe<f of justice, but he too
might have been a rebel — and that the continued application to
Ireland of the principle I denounce, would, ere long, have revived
the scenes and the sulferings through which ehe passed in '98?
If, my liOrd, in every one of the three great Kingdoms from
which the population of British America derive their origin, the
evilsof which we complain were experienced, and continued until
the principles we claim as our birthright became firmly established,
Is it to be expected that we shall not endeavour to rid ourselves, by
respectful argument and rcniouslrance, of what cost you open and
violent resistance to put down ? Can an Englishman, an Irishman,
or a Scotchman, be made to believe, by passing a month upon the
sea, that the most stirring periods of his history are but a cheat and
a delusion — that the scenes which he has been accustomed to tread
with deep emotion, are but mementoes of the folly, and not, as he
46
n^
I
once foiKlly believed, of the wisdom and courage of liis nnccstora—
that the principles of civil liberty, which Vom childhood he has been
taught to cherish, and to protect by forms of stringent responsibility,
must, with the new light breaking in upon him on this side of the
Atlantic, be cast aside as an useless incumbrance ? No, my Lord,
it is madness to suppose that these men, so remarkable for carrying
their national characteristics into every part of the world where they
penetrate, shall lose the most honourable of them all, merely by
passing from one portion of the Empire to the other. Nor is it to be
supposed that Novascotiaris, New firunswickers, and Canadians —
a race sprung from the generous admixture of the blood of the three
foremost nations of the world — proud of their parentage and not un<
worthy of it, to whom every stirring period of British and Irish his-
tory — every great principle which they teach — every phrase of free-
dom to be gleaned from them — are as familiar as household words,
can be in haste to forget what they learnt upon their parents' knees,
what those they loved and honored clung to with so much pride, and
regarded as beyond all price. Those whoexpect them thus to belie
their origin, or to disgrace it, may as soon hope to see the streams
turn back upon their fountains. My Lord, my countrymen feel, as
they have a right to feel, that the Atlantic, the great highway of
communication with their brethren at home, should be no barrier to
shut out the civil privileges and political rights, which, more than
any thing else, make them proud of tlie connexion — and they feel
also, that there is nothing in their present position or their past con-
duct to warrant such exclusion. Whatever impression may have
been made by the wholesome satire, wherewith one of my country-
men has endeavoured to excite the others to still greater exertions,
those who fancy that Novascotians are an inferior race to those
who dwell upon the ancient homestead, or that they will be con-
tented with a less degree of freedom, know little of them. A coun-
try that a century ago was but a wilderness, and is now studded with
towns and villages, and intersected with roads, even though more might
have been done under a better system, affords some evidence of in-
dustry — Novascotian ships, bearing the British flag into every quarter
of the globe, are some proofs of enterprise— and the success of the
native author to whom I have alluded, in the wide field of intellec-
tual competition, more than contradicts the humourous exaggeration,
by which, while we are stimulated to higher efforts, others may be for
a moment misled. If then our right to inherit the Constitution be
clear — if our capacity to maintain and enjoy it cannot be questioned
— have we done any thing to justify the alienation of our birthright 1
Many of the original settlers of this Province emigrated from the old
Colonies, when they were in a state of rebellion — not because they
did not love freedom, but because they loved it under the old banner
and the old forms; and many of their descendants have shed their
blood, on land and sea, to defend the honour of the Crown and the
integrity of the Empire. On some of the hardest fought fields of the
Peninsula, my countrymen died in the front rank, with their
faces to the foe — the proudest naval trophy of the last American war,
^»»-
47
' .
was brought by a Nrrvascotian into the harbour of hitt native town—"
and the blood that flowed from Nelson's death wound in the cockpit
of the Victory^ mingled with that of a Novascotian stripling beside
him, strnck down in the same glorious fight. Am I not then justi-^
fied, my Lord, in claiming for my countrymen that Constitution,
which can be withheld from them by no plea, but one unworthy of a
British Statesman, the tyrant's plea of power 1 I know that 1 am —
and I feel also, that this is not the race that can be hood-winked with
sophistry, or made to submit to injustice without complaint. AH
suspicion of disloyalty we cast aside as the product of ignorance or
cupidity — we seek for nothing more than British subjects are entitled
to, but will be contented with nothing less.
My Lord, it has been said, that if this system of responsibility were
established, it would lead to a constant struggle for office and in-
fluence, which would be injurious tothe habits of our population, and
corrupt the integrity of public men. That it would lead to the former
I admit — but that the latter would be a consequence, I must take
leave to deny; until it can be shown, that in any of the other employ*
ments of life fair competition has that effect. Let the Bar become
the Bar only of the minority, and how long would there be honour
and safety in the profession ? Let the rich prizes to be won in Com-
merce and Finance be confined to a mere fragment, instead of being
opentothe whole population, and I doubt whether the same benefits,
the same integrity, or the same satisfaction, would grace the
monopoly, that now spring from an open, fair, and manly compe-
tition, by which, while individuals prosper, wealth and prosperity
are gathered to the State. To be satisfied that this fair com-
petition can with safety, and the greatest advantage, be carried into
public as well as private affairs, it is only necessary to contrast the
example of England with that of any Continental nation where
the opposite system has been pursued. And if, in England, the
struggle for influence andoflice has curbed corruption—and produced
examples of consistency and an adherence to principle, extreme-
ly rare in other count ries-^and in none more so than in the Colonies,
where the course pursued strikes at the very root of manly inde-
pendence, why should we apprehend danger from its introduction,
or shrink from the peaceful rivalry it may occasion ? But, my Lord,
there is another view that ought to be taken of this question. Ought
not British Statesmen to ask themselves, is it wise to leave a million
and a half of people, virtually excluded from all participation in the
honorable prizes of public life ? There is not a weaver's apprentice
or a parish orphan in England, that does not feel that he may, if he
has the talent, rise through every grade of office, municipal and na-
tional, to hold the reins of government, and influence the destinies
of a mighty Empire. The Queen may be hostile— the Lords may
chafe — but neither can prevent that Weaver's Apprenticeorthat Pa-
rish Orphan from becoming Prime Minister of England. Then look
at the United States, in which the son of a Mechanic in the smallest
town, of a Squatter in the wildest forest, may contend, on equal terms,
with the proudest, for anyoflke in twenty eight different States ; and
-m-
.v-'.^^.
i ,-««H(f4f1(.-
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I
^8
having won as many as contents him, may rise, throiigti iho iia"
iional grades, to he President of the Union. There are no family
Compacts to exclude these aspirants — no little knots of irreaponsihle
and self elected Councillors, to whom it is necessary to sell their
principles, and before whom the manliness of their nature must he
prostrated, before they can advance. But, in the Colonies, where there
are no prizes so splendid as these, is it wise or just to narrow tho
field, and confine to little cliques of irresponsible politicians, what
there are ? No, my Lord, it is neither just nor wise — every ,iOor boy
in NovaScotia (for we have the feelings of pride and ambition com-
mon to our nature) knows that he has the same right to the honors
and emoluments of office, as he would have if he lived in Britain, or
the United States — and he feels, that while the great honors of the
Empire are almost beyond his reach, he ought to have a chance of
dispensing the patronage and guiding the administration of his na-
tive Country, without any sacrifice of principle or diminution of
self respect.
My Lord, I have done. If what has been written corrects any
error into which your Lordship or others may have fallen, and com'
municates to some, either in Britain or the Colonies, information
upon a subject not generally understood, 1 shall be amply repaid.
Your Lordship will perhaps . irdon me for reminding you, that, in
thus eschewing the anonymous, and putting my name to an argu-
ment in favor of Executive Resposibiiity for the North American
Colones, I am acting under a sense of deep responsibility myself. I
well know that there is not a Press in the pay of any of the Family
Compacts, that will not misrepresent my motives and pervert my
language — that there is not an overpaid and irresponsible Ofiicial,
from Fundy to the Ottawa, whose inextinguishable hostility I shall
not have earned for the remainder of my life. The example of your
Lordship will, however, help me to bear these burthens with pa«
tiencs. You have lived and prospered, and done the State good
service, and yet thousands of corrupt Boroughmongcrs and irres-
ponsible Corporators formerly misrepresented and hated you. —
Should I live to see the principles for which I contend, operating
as beneficially over British North America, as those immortal Acts,
which provoked your Lordship's enemies, do in the mother country,
I shall be gratified by the reflection, that the patriotic and honora-
ble men now contending for the principles of the British Constilr-
tion, and by whose side, as an humble auxiliary, I am proud to take
my stand, whatever they may have suffered in the struggle, did not
labour in vain.
I have the honor to be,
;ii- • With the highest respect,
. t si /,;;'. Mw Y . Your Lordship's humble admirer,
' ^!*.' .r^ ' And most obedient Servant,
v; \. ^^i V • JOSEPH HOWE.
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