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Les diogremmes suivsnts illustrent le mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 8 6 r'/ .»»,'■' ^•- A SKETCH OF THE • STATE OF AFFAIRS IK NEWFOUNDLAND. 4 A LATE RESIDENT IN THAT COLONY. ;• ■< LONDON: SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDTTTT STREET. 1«41. y up' ■ ■■ LONDON: BLATCH AND LAMPEHT, rRINTEI'.'i. ( V *^^ •♦ ^ From the date of this act, April 24th, all pecuniary difficulties ceased ; and at the begin- ning of the following year, the Governor was enabled to announce the extinction of the public debt, and the accumulation of a considerable surplus fund. During the Session of 1836, an act was passed with th^ previous consent of the Home Government, limiting the du- ration of future Houses of Assembly to four years. The prorogation took place on the sixth of May, and the Assembly was dissolved on the twelfth of September. We now come to an important epoch in our history, and one fruitful in troubles. The Chief Justice had by this time become the idol of one party, and the abhorred of the other. By the wealthier merchants and gentry, he was adored, and looked upon as their only stay; while by the Catholic, or Liberal party, he was considered a tyrantand oppressor. He unfortunately promoted these opposite opi- nions, by attending public meetings and making party speeches ; and instead of contenting him- self with firmly and temperately resisting ag- v \ \ 10 gression, he seemed to court occasions of con- tention. He made abrupt alterations wherever he had the power to do so ; and while his law was probably correct, his conduct in other re- spects was by no means worthy of admiration. Between the Governor and him there was un- derstood to be no similarity of sentiment, although there was no open quarrel. Writs for a new election were immediately issued, and the Legislature was appointed to meet in January. The Catholic portion of the popu- lation was openly excited, and even indeed com- pelled by the priesthood to vote for candidates of their nomination ; and the conservative party were very generally defeated. Serious riots took place in Harbour Grace, and similar excesses were prevented in St. John's only by the presence of the military. Some Magistrates having made representations respecting these riots, the Governor laid them before the Coun- cil ; and on these representations occasioning the production to the Board of a returned writ, the Chief Justice perceiving it to be unsealed, immediately pronounced it to be ^ \ » V! V J. ^ 1 t invalid; and the Attorney General, the only other legal member, coinciding with him in that opinion, the matter was referred to the Secretary of State, and the meeting of the Legislature was further prorogued. The Secre- tary of State admitted the objection, and directed a new election ; a measure greatly to be regretted, as on the question being subsequently submitted for the opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown, the original elections were de- clared to be perfectly legal. So novel a circum- stance as a double election was not allowed to pass unnoticed or uncensured by the Liberals. They affected to represent it as a trick for their overthrow, although nothing could be more palpable than the impossibility of the Executive's influencing the returns, had he been disposed to make the attempt. The Conservatives now abandoned the field altogether; consequenL^ no disturbance occurred in any district, and the session was opened on the third of July. The composition of this House of Assembly was much inferior to that of the former, the new members being in general of a low, and some of 12 them of the very lowest grade of society. Pre- viously existing passions had been lately still fur- ther inflamed by a variety of prosecutions connect- ed with the original election proceedings, and principally consequent upon presentments by the grand jury. The sentences upon those convicted of riot or assault, were by the Home Govern- ment deemed severe, and upon petition, in a great degree remitted. The first act of the House was to displace the officers appointed to it by the Crown ; and their proceedings gener- ally throughout the Session, were of a corres- ponding character, being violent and personal, having for their object the gratification of friends and the injury of opponents of the dominant party. There was throughout a contest between the Council and the House of Assembly, maintained on both sides with much heat; and at length the prorogation took place, without any appro- priation of money for the services of the year, the bill passed by the Assembly having been rejected by the Council. A delegation of tliree members of the House of Assembly, proceeded V } . 1 » 13 V V to England for the purpose of making a state- ment of supposed grievances, and of instituting charges against the Chief Justice. These last were submitted to a Committee of the Privy Council, which exonerated Mr. Boulton as regarded his judicial decisions, but recommended his removal from the colony. On the twentieth of June 1838, commenced the yearly session ; and the result of an appeal by the Council and Assembly respectively to Her Majesty on the rejection of the Appropri- ation Bill of the last year having been previously transmitted to the Governor, the offer of her royal mediation was communicated to both houses. The Queen recommended the adoption of that bill by the Council ; but suggested to the Assembly certain rules of conduct for its future guidance in similar cases. With infinite difficulty the bill was carried in Council by the official members present, and the casting vote of one other, the remaining three members opposing it to the utmost, and ultimately protesting against it. Thus ceased an embarrassment which had been sensibly felt by tlie public ; but ',' l' I ! a new subject of discord quickly arose. An altercation took place in the streets of St. John's, between Mr. Kent, a member of the House of Assembly, and Mr. Kielley, a medical practitioner. Upon complaint made by Mr. Kent, Mr. Kielley was taken into custody by the Sergeant-at-Arms, and brought to the bar of the House on the following day, the seventh of August ; and, being called upon for explana- tion, he, in the heat of passion, used very opprobrious language towards Mr. Kent. Upon this he was remanded till the ninth, Vi^hen he was required to apologise, and, upon his refusal to do so, was committed to jail by the Speaker's warrant to the Sheriff. The next day he was, by writ of Habeas Corpus, brought before a Judge of the Supreme Court, by whose order he was released ; and upon this being stated to the House by the Sheriff when directed to pro- duce his prisoner at the baron the 11th, both the Judge and the Sheriff were immediately arrested by the Speaker's Warrant, the former with indecent violence. Upon this being officially made known to the Governor, he sig- V }' J t I) 15 V i i ^< I % nified his intention of proroguing the Assembly, and on Monday the 13th it was prorogued accordingly, for seven days. By this measure, the prisoners were at once liberated, and the members had time to cool. When the Legis- lature was reassembled, business proceeded, though not of course harmoniously; and on the twenty-fifth of October, the session was closed, provision having been made for the yearly routine of government. In the previous month, Mr. Bourne, Mr. ^oulton's successor in the office of Chief Justice, arrived ; but by a wise provision he has not, nor will any judge in future have, a seat in the Council. A session of the Supreme Court was held in the following December, when Mr. Kielley brought an action against the Speaker and other members and officers of the House, for false imprisonment; but privilege being pleaded in demurrer, the Chief Justice and judge Des Barres decided in favor of the plea, while the remaining judge, Mr. Lilly, retained his former opinion. An appeal to her Majesty in Council has been entered, and a colonial barrister has proceeded to London to take the necessary steps for its prosecution. Since his departure, an elaborate opinion of her Majesty's Attorney and Solicitor General has been forwarded officially to the Governor, and has been made known to the public through the medium of the Island Gazette. This denies the power of commitment assumed by the House, and consequently tends to allay the apprehen- sions which could not but be entertained by the most dispassionate and impartial mind, of the evils likely to arise from an arbitrary power of imprisonment being possessed by such a body. After this little sketch of the history of New- foundland, from the year 1818 to the present day, you will perhaps wish to know my opinion of our existing institutions, and of their probable future operation ; more especially as you may have observed in the London and provincial papers petitions to Government, on the part of merchants connected with this Island, in which not only property, but life itself, is represented to be endangered by their further continuance. These statements are extremely exaggerated, V :i -< f > 17 V f > . ■. and the prayer of the petitioners appears to me very unreasonable. The local Legislature was granted to the general request, and should not be rescinded at the desire of a party siuarting under a recent defeat. A moderate qualification for representatives would undoubtedly be a great improvement, and with this, perhaps, an exten- sion of members and division of districts, so that the Catholic and Protestant influence might be fairly balanced. Such an extension, without the qualification, would increase present evils ; for, as the remuneration to members exceeds the yearly gains of a fisherman, it is probable that a large proportion of the candidates from that uneducated class, excited by the examples already before them, would come forward, and be returned. Any undue assumption of authority on the part of the House of Assembly as at pre- sent constituted must be promptly checked ; but it will be time enough to apply for the interposition of Parliament, when its misconduct shall be of such a nature as to make apparent its utter incapacity and unfitness for its designed purpose, and the impossibility of good govern- c 18 ment and commercial prosperity existing in conjunction with it. Notwithstanding all the disadvantages under which we have hitherto laboured, our light-houses, roads, bridges, hos- pital, charities, and schools, bear witness to the benefits of local legislation. The application of spiritual authority by the Roman Catholic priest- hood for temporal purposes, — their interdiction of trade with certain individuals, — their de- nouncement of all readers of particular news- papers — these unjustifiable interferences, for a time in full operation here, have,happily, ceased, and the Roman Catholic bishop now seems well disposed to peace. The Governor, who, through much more of evil than of good report, has hitherto steered an impartial course, will, we may presume, not be found wanting in endea-- vours to establish harmony and tranquillity ; and the cause of much former dissension being now removed, a reasonable expectation may be entertained that he will find assistance in the prosecution of so laudable an object. The population of the colony, by an accurate census taken in 1837, amounts to 75,094 : of -i ^ 19 •1 * # I these 37,376 are Roman Catholics, 26,748 of the Established Church, and 10,636 Dissenters. This population is scattered over a line of coast extending from Cape St. John, southward to Cape Ray, a direct distance of six hundred miles ; to which may be added three or four hundred more for bays and sinuosities. There are in the Island about forty families of Micmac Indians, amounting to two hundred men, women, and children. They subsist principally on venison, which they kill in the neighbourhood of the lakes, to the N.E. of St. George's Harbour. They employ themselves in hunting the martin, otter, and beaver, and sell the skins, sometimes to the establishment of Messrs. Newman in the Bay of Despair, and sometimes to the traders who occa- sionally touch at St. George's Bay and Bay of Islands. They are all of the Roman Catholic persuasion, and are a timid and inoffensive people. They generally pass the winter near the coast, in the vicinity of Bay Despair ; and in their hunting excursions in the summer, tra- verse the Island between the southern and c 2 20 western shores and the Bay of Exploits on the northern coast. They thus continually pass over the tract of country which was formerly inhabited by the Red Indians ; and as they have not for years seen any trace of them, it seems certain that those unhappy aborigines are extinct. There are about 12,000 acres of land in cul- tivation, principally producing potatoes, turnips, and hay. Oats and barley are grown, and occasionally ripen, but are frequently cut down for fodder, in consequence of the early depar- ture of summer. About 3,000 children are educated by means of "The North American Society," and half that number of Roman Catholic children in schools supported by local subscription. One for girls, under the superintendence of nuns of t),e order of the Presentation, was established, and is mainly supported by the bishop. There are also several well-attended Sunday schools. The sum of £2,100 has been by the Legis- lature voted in aid of education ; but religious jealousies and apprehensions have hitherto very much impeded the benefits expected from such ^ y ^^4 21 «t, f liberality. Of this sum £600 is specifically allotted to the schools above-mentioned. The average of imports and exports united amounts to about £1,600,000. The former con- sist of all articles requisite for the Fisheries, and conducive to the support and enjoyment of life ; the latter principally of our great staple commodities — fish and oil. The gross annual revenue from imperial and colonial duties, quit-rents, &c., varies in amount from £35,000 to £40,000. Of this sum, £6,550 are reserved for salaries to the principal officers of the Government; and the quit-rents, &c., about £900, are appropriated to particular pur- poses by the Crown. All the rest is placed at the disposal of the Legislature. I shall conclude these few statistical notices, by remarking that the ungenial climate, rocky soil, and constant recurrence of extreme distress every winter, must, at all events till some re- mote and uncertain period, prevent this Island from being recommended as a desirable point for emigration. Believe me ever, my dear friend. Most affectionately yours. 22 London, June \%th, 1841. My dear Friend. In my former letter, I brought down the epitome of our history to April, 1839 ; and as Newfoundland has latterly engaged still more of the public attention than it did at that period, I shall continue ray narrative to the present day. On May 17th of that year, the Legislature again met in session. Mr. Archibald, the clerk of the House of Assembly by appointment of the Crown, and which appointment the Governor was directed to uphold, was at t\\h time absent cii leave. A gentleman was consequenuj'^ nomi- nated by the Governor to act for him : the House refused to admit him, and appointed another. Upon this, the Governor informed the House that, should it persist in that proceeding, he would be compelled to adjourn the Legislature till the pleasure of the Home Government should be known on the subject. The House yielded with a bad grace, and the business of the session went on. What rendered this matter, otherwise trifling, of importance, was, that the Secretary V ^ .♦ 23 of State, while supporting the actual occupant in his post, had conceded the right of future nomination, whenever a vacancy should occur to the House. Had the Governor made no acting appointment, advantage would have been taken of that circumstance when the House met, to declare the situation vacant. He was therefore compelled to fill it ; but it was well known that he had proposed privately to the Speaker to appoint any one whom he would mention as acceptable to the House ; that the Speaker had communicated this proposition to a majority of the members; and that it had been refused. The next subject of contention was this : A vacancy having occurred in the stipendiary magistracy of Conception Bay, Mr. Power, a Roman Catholic, and member of the House of Assembly, had received the appointment imme- diately on the close of the session of 1838, the salary being £120 a year. This gentleman had never been a supporter of the measures of Go- vernment, and so far was the Governor from wishing to influence his conduct as a member, or to increase his own influence in the House, that he made it a condition, on giving the ap- pointment, that Mr. Power should not again be returned in the event of a dissolution. Nevertheless, the House thought fit to pass the following resolution : '* That James Power, Esq., Member for Conception Bay, having vacated his seat by accepting an office of emo- lument under the Crown, the Speaker do notify the same to his Excellency the Governor, so that a new writ may be issued for the election of a member to serve in the place of the said James Power;" which, on being communicated to the Governor, received this answer : — " The Governor having received a commu- nication from the Speaker on the subject of an assumed vacancy in the representation of Conception Bay, in consequence of Mr. Power having accepted an office of emolument, ac- quaints the House of Assembly that no dis- qualification of this description is prescribed by the royal Proclamation under which the House holds its existence, or established by any sub- sequent law. "His Excellency could not, under his instruc- V *-'f* ^ » T -• •■(!*■ 25 V ♦-«* tions, assent to a measure of this description, even were it presented as a bill for his accept- ance, unless such bill contained a suspending clause. It is utterly impossible that he can consider a resolution of the House of Assembly as establishing a legal disqualification ; there- fore he must decline issuing a writ for the election of a member to serve in Mr. Power's place, he being now as legally one of the re- presentatives of Conception Bay as at any former period." Her Majesty's Attorney, and Solicitor Gene- ral, subsequently gave ai opinion entirely con- firmatory of the Governor's views, which was communicated to the House on the 11th of October. During this session a dispute arose between the Council and House of Assembly on the sub- ject of further charges on account of the late delegation from the latter body to Her Majesty's Government. The Appropriation Bill, which had failed in 1837, but had passed in 1838, as stated in my former letter, contained a provi- sion of t'500 for this object ; but that Buni liad .)/! 26 been found insufficient ; and the House of Assembly now passed a separate bill for the sum of £713, in liquidation of claims connected therewith, and sent it up for concurrence to the Council on the 11th of June. After discussions and conferences, it was lost on the 2nd of Au- gust. It certainly was not easy to understand upon what just principle this result could be founded. The delegation had been received by the Government ; its propositions had been considered, and some of them had been favor- ably entertained. Its expenses also had already been partly paid. These considerations appear to have induced the Governor to take a some- what unusual step ; for, having occasion to go down on September 14th to pass an act for the extirpation of wolves, he addressed the assem- bled Legislature on the subject, and recom- mended the Assembly to prepare a new Dele- gation Bill, and the Council to adopt it, declar- ing his readiness to assent to a measure which he considered to be founded in justice, and likely to contribute "to harmony and peace, and consequently to the prosperity of the colony." !• ■^ t**^-'-* 34 reveal to any one what was then pass'ing. The questions were principally as to the conduct of his master, and the sources from which he derived his information of local public matters. After some time, Lott was again blindfolded, led away by the same men as before, and on being liberated, he uncovered his eyes and found himself in the same spot from which he had been taken. He hastened home, and in great trepi- dation and agitation, immediately revealed to M''^ Winton all that had occurred. On the 15th he deposed to the truth of his statement before the stipendiary Magis- trates, who iinr>ediately made every effort to discover the offenders. Suspicion having fallen upon a person named Delany, door-keeper of the House of Assembly, the senior magistrate accompanied Lott to Delany 's house on the 17th, for the purpose of ascertaining if he could identify the room in which he had been de- tained. On the 19th, this matter was taken up by the House of Assembly, and a Committee of Enquiry was appointed, which summoned before it various individuals, and amongst 35 of others, the stipendiary Magistrates. After wasting a great deal of time, the Committee ended by making no report; but great efforts were made by certain members of the House, to reduce the salaries of the Magistrates, in con- sequence of their upright and independent con- duct, which efforts were, in the end, defeated by a bare majority. On February 28th, an act for the payment of certain claims for the support of aged and infant paupers, to the amount of £350, was assented to by the Governor. Ap.il 16th, an Appropriation Bill for 1840-41, with the Legislative Contin- gencies of the last session included, was sent up to the Council. It was clear that this bill could not become law ; and the House of Assembly ap- peared determined again to involve the colony in the confusion and distress consequent upon the stoppage of supplie" ; but immediately after the bill had been sent up, dispatches which had been received on the previous day were laid before the House. They were from Lord John Russell, in answer to the Address of the session of 1839, against the Governor, the Council, and D 2 36 the Clerk of tlie House, — who in the interim, disgusted with the treatment he had received, and unwilling to remain a source of contention, had resigned his situation. These dispatches were so firm and so entirely exculpatory of all those officials, that the Assem- bly was overwhelmed with confusion, which was great in proportion to the overweening confidence with which they had previously looked to an exactly opposite result. On the above-named Supply Bill being sent back amended, a new one was prepared in conformity with the Coun- cil's amendments on the former, and sent back for concurrence on the 23rd. Separate bills for ihe contingencies of 1839 and 1840, were also sent up; but as they contained the same items that had already been objected to by the Coun- cil, these bills were lost. On the 29th of April, the Legislature was again prorogued ; and soon after a memorial was |.:Osonted to the Governor, signed by a majority of the members of the House of Assem- bly, requesting him to issue warrants for the payment of such jiortions of the Contingency 37 J, y Bills, as had not been objected to by the Council ; to which request he acceded with the consent of that body, and warrants were accordingly issued to the amount of £4,300. This might have been fairly considered as an abandonment of the dispute ; but it will be seen in the sequel, that such was not the intention of the parties interested. ^ On the 16th May, Herman Lott, before mentioned, having being sent by Mr. Winton to transact some business in Conception Bay, in passing from Carbonear to Harbour Grace, distant three miles, was in broad day waylaid by four masked ruffians, and forced into a neiglibouring wood, where, after filling his mouth with earth and mud, they cut off his ears. What adds to the remarkable atrocity of this case is that Mr. Winton himself, exactly five years before, suffered in the same spot a similar brutal injury; and although rewards to an amount which must bo considered great in so poor a community, — viz. £1000 in Win- ton's case, £300 in Lott's, — were immediately oftered, and although the offenders must have 38 been known to many, yet all the efforts of the magistracy, and of the judge, who was on both occasions holding a term of Circuit Court at Harbour Grace, proved ineffectual for their discovery. As Mr. Winton, puviously to the atrocity committed upon him, had been re- peatedly denounced from the altar of the Roman Catholic Chapel as an enemy lo the bishop, the priests, and their religious belief, it is too much to be feared that he suffered in consequence of tho ignorant fanaticism of his assassins, who probably thought that they were performing a service acceptable to Gol, while they were in fact perpetrating an execrable crime. Whether poor Lott was a victim of the same blind, brutal, and perverted zeal, or that his sufferings were consequent upon and in revenge of his late revelations in St. John's, cannot as yet be determined. Immediately after the prorogation, Mr. Morris, who had been previously appointed Colonial Treasurer, and who had a seat in the House of Assembly, as o'le of the members for the district of St. John's, was removed to the 39 > f Council. This gentlemen had been too active and violent as a politician to permit his eleva- tion to be a subject of general approbation ; but his intentions were honest, and Z2 he is a Roman Catholic, his appointment to situa- tions of both honour and profit demonstrably proved that there existed neither in theory nor practice any obstacle to the promotion of indi- viduals of that religious persuasion. A writ was of course issued for the election of a member in Mr. Morris's vacancy. A Roman Catholic, who had acted for a time as Serjeant- at-arms of the House of Assembly l)y appoint- ment of the House, but who had lost that post by the Crown upholding the life or optional tenure of its own Serjeant, was nominated returning officer. The so-called conservative party altogether stood aloof; and Mr. Douglas, known as a liberal, having been solicited by influential people of his own party, to offer himself as a candidate, announced his intention 80 to do ; and there was every reason to believe that the election would be a mere matter of form. But the Roman Catholic bishop thought 40 proper to interfere, and to call upon Mr. O'Brien to become a candidate. On the Sunday before the election, an address from the bishop was read by a priest at the altar, calling upon his flock to support their religion by voting for Mr. O'Brien. On the 20th of May, ti.e proceedings were opened ; Mr. O'Brien was proposed and seconded by Messrs Nugent and Kent respectively, the former the protege, the latter the brother-in-law of the bishop, and the whole three having been among the original requisitionists to Mr. Douglas. The priests were on the hustings inflaming by their harangues the passions of the people ; and a continuance of the same con- duct, and of their interference in every way, produced its natural consequences, riot and confusion, — to such a degree that on the 28th, a guard of a hundred men was stationed at the hustings, and continued there during the re- mainder of the contest, which from want of judgment and firmness, and possibly of some still more important quality in the returning '41 officer, was not terminated till the eighteenth day of polling. Mr. O'Brien was returned by a small majority, the more educated Catholics generally voting for Mr. Douglas ; the lower and ignorant por- tion of that persuasion obeying the injunctions of their clergy. The indignation excited by the whole pro- ceeding changed the feeling of indifference at first shown by the mercantile and conservative body into one of intense interest, and they plunged into the contest with all imaginable ardour. • " - Thus were renewed by a Christian prelate, those emotions of jealousy and bitterness which appeared to be subsiding ; and for this pro- ceeding it seemed so impossible to assign any rational cause, that one is compelled to attri- bute it to a passion for discord and confusion. The islands of Newfoundland and Bermuda having been separated from tho bishopric of Nova Scotia, and formed into a new episcopate under the Right Reverend Dr. Spencer, his Lordship arrived at St. John's in the month of I 42 May. As respects the interests of the established Church and of Protestantism in general, this appointment is judicious and beneficial. The bishop's legitimate efforts for the promotion of re- ligion beini^ generously supported by the society for the Propagation of the Gospel, the number of missionaries is rapidly increasing, and the happiest results may reasonably be expected from such laudable exertions. Mr. Godfrey, one of the representatives for Conception Bay, having expired soon after the prorogation, a writ was issued for the election of another member, — which commenced at Harbour Grace on the 9th of November. The candidates on this occasion were Messrs Prendergast and Hanrahan, both Catholics, and of nearly equal degree as respects pro- perty, which in either case is but small. The former had shown on some occasions an independence of priestly direction in temporal matters, while the other was known to be subservient. Prendergast was first requested to stana by a considerable number of electors ; and had the matter been left to the discretion > ^ !d > 1 43 of the people in general, he would doubtless have been peaceably returned ; but here again, as so lately at St. John's, the Roman Catholic clergy interfered, — not as individuals, but in their clerical character,^ — and using all those means of influence and intimidation, which the priests of that persuasion so un- fortunately possess over the unenlightened portion of their flocks. From the defective state of the election law, this contest was pro- tracted to a period of twenty-nine days, the returning ofiicer passing from place to place within the district to take the votes. On the 3rd of December, the proceedings were much interrupted at Western Bay by riotous conduct, and a considerable number of Prendergast's supporters were attacked, driven away, and prevented from polling. Several individuals were severely beaten and injured ; and a magistrate named Rankin, on his way to the hustings, was for some time in considerable jeopardy. On leaving Western Bay for Car- bonear, Prendergast was forty-eight ahead on the poll. ..»-v n i 44 On the 7th of December, the polling com- menced at this last-named place, where the election was to be concluded on the 8th. No- thing material occurred until the evening of the last day, about an hour and a half before the proceedings were to have closed, when, Pren- dergast's election being certain, a furious riot ensued, which compelled the returning officer to suspend the proceedings ; and this being the last day mentioned in the writ, he necessarily returned it unexecuted. On this occasion, a great many people were severely hurt ; amongst the rest, a most amiable merchant and magistrate named Ridley, who had taken no part in the election, was beaten to the ground while in the act of endeavouring to restrain violence ; his life was long in the ut- most danger from a concussion of the brain, but happily he is, in a great degree, though not en- tirely, recovered. Upon this melancholy intel- ligence reaching St. John's, a vessel was imme- diately taVen up, and a detachment of a hundred veterans, under command of Major Law, was embarked for Harbour Grace, where they landed 45 on the night of the 10th — 11th. Their arrival was critically fortunate and important, for the greatest exci cement and apprehension were pre- valent : one house at Carbonear had been burnt to the ground, many windows broken, and other damage done. Many of the rioters were now secured, some fled, and others subsequently sur- rendered themselves to justice. The troops have, at the earnest request of the respectable inhabitants, been since continued at Harbour Grace and Carbonear, where the Spring Circuit Court was opened on the 27th of April, the Chief Justice presiding therein. On the 2nd of January, the Legislature was assembled for its sixth and last session. In his opening speech the Governor pressed upon its consideration, the necessity of an immediate re- form in the Election Law : this he did in firm but temperate language, which nevertheless ex- cited the ire and indignation of the House of Assembly. The entire innocence of the people, the oppressive conduct and undue interference of officials, were of course asserted ; and instead of iionestly proceeding to the redress of a mani- I :^ \') «-"■■■• I /i 46 fest evil, they called for all the documents in the Governor's possession, all the representations and depositions wiiich had been forwarded to him in connexion with the late disturbances. A due regard to the officers of Government, and the lovers of peace, prevented the possibi- lity of such a request, on the part of a body so little respected, and the mischievous motive of which was so apparent, from being complied with. He answered the application in the fol- lowing terms : — - r " Gentlemen, the scandalous events which occurred at two partial elections during the late recess ; the ferocious conduct of a mob at Car- bonear, by which one of those elections was rendered abortive ; and the necessity of military interference, and protection on these occasions, are matters of general notoriety. ** I consider, that the documents already be- fore the House, are sufficiently demonstrative of tliose evils — and, in the exercise of my discre- tion, under the existing circumstances of the colony, I must decline compliance with this address, believing that no good could result to fS 47 the community from Ihe publication of all the representations which I have received on this subject. *' So convinced am I of the absolute necessity of an amendment of the Election Law, that I avail myself of this opportunity to state, that should, unhappily, no legislative enactment be made during this session, to secure the just ex- ercise of the franchise, and the public tranquil- lity in future elections, I will not undertake the responsibility of issuing proclamations or writs for the election of a new House of Assembly, or make myself accountable for the serious conse- quences, the confusion and bloodshed, so likely to ensue thereupon under the present sj^stem ; — but, referring the whole affair to the supreme government, I will, as in duty bound, implicitly follow such directians as I may receive in that behalf" The House was apparently struck by the Go- vernor's language ; and under a momentary ap- prehension of the consequences, should no concession be made on this subject, permitted the Solicitor-General to bring in a bill, which, Hi •^ (.»' 48 i t <■'•! It' I! after much delay, was passed and sent up to the Council on the 19th March. This bill con- tained one clause which would have nullified all the benefits to be derived from any other part of it, and was open to amendment in other par- ticulars. It was very considerably modified in the Council, and possibly some of the amend- ments there made would not have been advan- tageous. But on its being returned to the House of Assembly, no further step was taken in the matter, and consequently the Council had no opportunity either to support or to recede from their amendments. A Contingency Bill, a fac-simile of that re- jected in the former session, was early passed, and sent up to the Council, which refused to entertain it until the Governor should be in- demnified for the sums which he had ordered to be paid at the request of the House, on account of such part of these contingencies as had been agreed to by the Council. These items were accordingly placed in a bill of indemnity, which received the Governor's assent at the close of the Session. 49 f The remaining- charges, to the amount of nearly £1,500, were subsequently placed in the general appropriation bill, which, as tacks, were decidedly inadmissible, and insured its rejection. I confine my observations upon this session, which was concluded on the 26th of April, to these two points, because they were of the highest importance. Experience had demon- strated the absolute necessity of a new election law, without which the franchise couL' not be fully exercised, or the public tranquillity pre- served : and the Governor had declared his de- termination not to proceed to an election under the existing system, without the direction of the su- preme Government. With respect to the Appro- priation Bill, this formed the second instance of the stoppage of the supplies, in the short period of four years ; and this, not on points connected with the public service, but for matters applicable to members of the House of Assembly, and their immediate dependants. The recklessness of this proceeding on the part of a majority of an Assembly in which not more than ten or twelve members were present, cannot £ 50 h be too much reprobated . Almost at the moment of prorogation, which was on the next day followed by a dissolution, advices were received that a committee of the House of Commons had been appointed to ascertain the state of Newfoundland. Addresses were made in consequence to the Governor for the issue of £300, to defray the expenses of a delegation from the House of As- sembly, wliicli was agreed to by the Council, on condition of a similar sum being granted for a delegation from that body. The House of As- sembly also requested the Governor to apply £5,300 to the liquidation of claims on account of aged and infant paupers, to the support of the jails, and the administration of justice. On the 24th of May the Governor and his family, accompanied by the Colonial Secretary, embarked for England, the Attorney-General taking his departure for the same destination on the following day. These two officials are ap- pointed as the Deputation from the Council. You will naturally ask me, what are, in my opinion, the existing evils in Newfoundland, and in what way they can be best corrected ? The first and greatest practical evil in in the ' ♦ 51 >Z ( i character of the Roman Catholic bishop, the intermeddling and unquiet nature of which is probably increased by resentment against the Governor, for the representations which his Ex- cellency has occasionally been compelled to make against him. Had there been a Vicar Apostolic of a different disposition, I am well persuaded that the Colony would long since have been at peace. There is in fact no real subject of re- monstrance on the part of the community, and the demagogues have great difficulty in finding even a plausible ground of complaint. The remaining evils are — the want of any property-qualification on the part of represen- tatives; the almost universal suffrage; the small number of districts ; and the limited amount of members, the districts being nine, and the mem- bers fifteen. Of these, St. John's returns three, and Conception Bay four. Lastly, the very im- perfect state of the election law, which permits the riotous to proceed from place to place for the creation of disturbance and obstruction of the proceedings, which may be extended pro- bably over a period of tliirty days. At the second B 2 52 h.i 1 I, 1. < of the two elections in 1836, the superior gentry refrained from offering themselves as candidates, disgusted at the violence which had been prac- tised at the first, and feeling that it was utterly hopeless to withstand the priestly influence ex- ercised against them in those districts on which the majority of the House depended. The con- sequence was the return generally of people of less property than in the former House, and some of them of so low a description as to make one believe that they were elected in a spirit of burlesque. In proof of the feeling entertained by the better classes of our society, I may men- tion that the senior barrister of our courts, a gentleman of good fortune, who was a most useful member of the first House of Assembly, having been returned to the second without his previous knowledge or consent, has never taken his seat ; and the two members of the very humblest class were returned by Protestant con- stituencies. Under tliesc circumstances, the actuating jirin- ciple of the House of Assembly has been personal favor or personal resentment, combined with a desire to provide; for themselves. It is not, what ) ( 53 will be a just remuneration for any particular service ? — but, who will be its recipient ? that is the consideration ; and to such an extent is this carried, that even a constable has been deprived ot" his salary, to gratify the vindictive spirit of his neighbour, a member of the House ; and another member having established a printing press and set up a newspaper, the printing of the House of Assembly was immediately trans- ferred from the former printer, the editor of the Patriot, and given to him. The little estimation in which a House of Assembly must be held, which is in great part composed of persons unknown in the better or upper classes of society, cannot fail to produce its effect upon the Council. In addition to this, almost every amendment made by that body upon bills sent up from the lower House, is re- sented as an invasion of privilege. The Council consequently abstain from the introduction of bills on their side, which they conclude would only produce additional contention ; and for the last throe or four years their procoedings may be termed negative, having for tlieir ol>jci't the preveiit'on of niischief. I h ■s II li I 54 The cure of the first-named evil must, I pre- sume, depend upon the court of Rome, under the observation of which it is supposed to have been brought. A property-qualification for members should be established, which ought to be of an amount to shut out the lowest class, without confining the representation to the high- est. A residence in the Island of two years, with a fixed income of £100 a-year, or a positive, clear, unincumbered property in goods, lands, houses, or vessels, to the amount of £500, would probably be sufficient for this purpose. The limitation of the franchise is a matter of much difliiculty. In great part of the Colony, such a thing as a rented house is comparatively unknown ; and there is neither rate, assessment, nor tax, upon which to found an uniform system. The present onalification is the occupation of any description of dwelling for twelve months ; and this period might be advantageously doubled, by which means limitation to a certain degree would be effected, and many of those immigrants from the mother country, who after a time pass on to the North American Colonies or to the United States, and who consequently can feel no )S f ^^mm 55 interest in our prosperity, would be excluded from the register. The agents of mercantile establishments, hitherto excluded, should be considered as tenants of the houses inhabited by them, belonging respectively to the firms which they conduct ; and after having been two years occupants thereof, they should be eligible as voters, and of course as candidates for the representation, if otherwise qualified. The registration law should be amended in two important particulars. First, what con- stitutes a tenement should be strictly defined as dependent upon its possessing an exclusive door- way communication with the street or road, so that no house should confer the franchise on more than one individual ; secondly, no dis cretion should be left to the returning officer for admission of persons to vote, whose names are not in the registered list. That list should be his only guide. The neglect of these prin- ciples has been productive of great inconvenience in our contested elections. Tlie districts should be more minutely di- vided, and the number of members iucicased ; ' 1 <^ 1 i \ .1 V ft !l ! i w > the former being made twenty-four, and the latter twenty-five — the capital returning two members. The election law should be founded, with very little modification, upon the bill of the last session, as amended hy the Council. In a general election, the nominations to take place universally on the same day. In case of a contest, the period of polling to be fixed, and confined to three days : sufficient polling places, with deputies under the returning officer, to be established in each district : no unregistered person to be permitted to vote. All these objects may be easily attained, and with very little delay, by means of the Imperial Parliament. With the exception of the trifling limitation of the franchise, the proposed altera- tions may be considered rather as an extension than contraction of established rights. As far as human fo:esight can provide for the free and just exercise of the privilege of voting, it will be secured. If an irresistible influence can still be exercised in some places, it will at least be powerless in others. 67 While I consider that any further limitation of the franchise beyond that already stated, is not indispensable, and that if an evil can be corrected without a diminution of existing rights, it is the preferable mode of proceeding, I am nevertheless bound to admit, that many persons whose opinions are worthy of great attention, look upon additional restriction as a sine qua non, without which no good can be obtained. Should this principle be adopted, I conceive that a combination must be made of household occupancy as tenant and freehold property in possession. A rental of £10 may be taken for the former in the town of St. John's, and of £5 in other places. The dense population of the capital making that difference a just relative distinction of value. The Freehold Suffrage may be founded on possession of a house and the ground on which it stands, of the yearly value of forty shillings, or of cultivated land to the amount of twenty acres. It may be necessary to make some allusion to the Council. This body is appointed by h\ 58 the Sovereign ; its numbers are not positively limited, but it has hitherto con?isted of nine members, though for a short period, owing to an accidental circumstance, they were in- creased to ten. Of these, four are ex officio members, — the commandant, attorney general, colonial secretary, and collector of customL ; of the remaining five, the colonial treasurer is at present one, three are or have been respect- able merchants, and the other is a barrister. The division of the Executive and Legislative Council into two councils, the one executive, the other legislative, as lately established in the neighbouring colonies, has of course its advo- cates here. It is a matter, however, which has not hitherto excited any particular interest, and it may safely be left for future decision. Should a respectable and full House of Assembly, really representing the people, hereafter advo- cate such a measure, doubtless Her Majesty's Government would give it full consideration. The small amount of gentlemen of property, renders an extension of the Council by no means of easy acconipllslitncnt ; but an Execu- , T 59 r^ tive Council might be formed of the official members of the Legislative Council, joined to an equal number of members of the House of Assembly — the continuance of the latter in the Council being uependent on their retaining their seats in the Lower House. One improve- ment might, however, be immediately made. The first member of Council named in the Governor's commission, becomes of right its President. He is the officer comnii Jing the garrison, pro. tern,, let his rank be what it may, and however frequent may be the changes in that post, from occasional absence on leave, or other causes. This arrangement is in every respect incon- venient. The respectability of the Board is somewhat diminished by the repeated change of Us President ; legislative duties are foreign to the early habits and pursuits of many officers; they are consequently too often neglected ; the senior member present presides for the day, and uniformity of system is not strictly pre- served, from want of a regular head to enforce it. To obviate this, a staff-officer, of the rank ■'1 \l, Off w < 60 of colonel, should be appointed. He ought to be aware of the combination of civil and mili- tary duties, and he should be selected by the authorities at the Horse Guards, with a view to both. When absent from the place, his seat should remain vacant, liiie that of any other Councillor. This alteratic n would be obviously bei.eficial also in a militiry sense. The com- manding officer being of much higher rank than those under his orders, would be respected accordingly ; his influence would be greater, and his opinions more imposing, in the adjust- ment of those trifling differences which must occasionally occur in all societies. The little jealousies and suspicions of pre- ference arising from a Commandant being attached to a particular portion of the garrison, would also be avoided. A few additional observations will complete ray sketch of Nevfoundland. Religious jea- lousies and apprehensions are greatly in the way of the establishment of a general system of education. These are by no means confined to the Catholics, who on the contrary appear to T > \ ■f 01 ■ tr# > \ me much more liberal and just on this subject than those of my own persuasion. A favorite project with many individuals of the Protestant faith is an equal division of such sums as may jbe appropriated by the Legislature for instruc- tion — so that Protestant and Catholic schools may be separately established. Should this measure be ever carried into effect, religious distinctions will be still more closely defined than at present, and our youth, instead of being banded together in early habits of friendship, will grow up in mutual jealousy, dislike, and estrangement. Greatly as I value public in- struction, I should think it too dearly purchased at such a price. With respect to our revenue, that for the year ending with March 1841, was the greatest ever received. The duties had been a little in- creased in the session of 1840, and the gross amount for the specified period was nearly £40,000. In one week during last May, £2000 were paid into the Custom House. The pre- sent and progressive accumulation of funds will admit of great additions to roads, and I t 4^ 111 lili I various other improvements, whenever the exist- ing impediments to the well-working of our Constitution shall be removed. A geological survey of the island has been made. It was not of so minute a description as might be desired by men of science, because both time and funds were wanting j but it has been practically useful in dispelling visionary ideas of our mineral resources. Limestone, fine marble, granite, and slate have been dis- covered, as also coal of a good (quality, but this is not in a convenient situation for working under present circumstances. A Norwegian savant. Dr. Stiiwitz, Zoolo- gical Professor of the University of Christiana, deputed by that body and supported by his government, has for the last two years been pursuing scientific researches in our Island, and on its banks, at St. Pierre's, and on the coast of Labrador. From this learned foreigner, much information will be doubtless derived whenever the results of his labors shall be published. In conclusion, I copy from a Newfoundland newspaper, an account of the procession for lay- t f 63 ing the foundation stone of a Roman Catholic Cathedral, in St. John's, on the 20th of May. Educated Catholics, will, I think, learn with as much surprise as Protestants, that such an ex- hibition should have been made in this enlight- ened age ; and they will judge whether the man who could project and enforce such a procession at such a period, and in a community so consti- tuted as ours, is calculated for the important post of Vicar Apostolic, or likely to allay our unhappy differences, and second any efforts on the part of Government for the promotion of concord and peace. .' \ CROSS BEARER, Wearing a purple sash on each shoulder, and supported by two Acolythes in white sashes. The Band. A banner, with a Painting of the Sovereign Pontiff, Gregory XVI., borne by a person in a scarlet sash. A mason carrying on a cushion, a square, trowel, and mallet, supported on the right and left by two masons bearing the ground plans and elevation of the Church. A marble mason carrying plans of Altars. I ii r! ! Ii! ! Masons three and three. Model of cathedral supported by four persons in purple and white. A painting of Father Mathew the Apostle of Tem- perance. Tradesmen in general three and three. A painting of the Redeemer carried by a person wearing a white sash. Female children, three and three. Christian Doctrine Society, three and three. Boys, three and three, A painting of ot. Peter. Fishermen, three and three. Members of the Natives' Society. ^Mechanics' Society, with their own banners, three and three. Painting of St. Patrick. Be; evolent Irish Society, three and three. A banner with a painting of Daniel O'Connell. Agriculturists three and three. Gentlemen, three and three. A Band. A banner wi^h a painting of the Queen. Ladies, three and three. Society of Blessed Virgin Mary, preceded by two persons bearing a painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 65 The choir, three and three. A priest, carrying in his hands a copper box containing the parchment with the inscriptions, coins, latest periodicals, &c.,and supported on the right and left by two clergymen. One bearing in his hands a vase filled with holy water, and the other an Asperges. Priests, two and two. Lastly — the Bishop supported by two Priests. I remain, my dear Friend, Yours affectionately, Sec. THE END. LONDON BLATCH AM' LAWrLKT. I'lUNTl Kg, OROVK PLACE, nKOMI'lON.