ias> ^.^"{^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I mmm tit |.2-5 12.0 1.8 1.25 1.4 1.6 < 6" ► V] v^ / M rnOiugicipini. Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICIVIH Coiiection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / In&titut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Tachniciii and Bibliographic Notas/Notaa tachniquas at bibliographiquaa The tot Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast original copy available for filming. Faaturas of this copy which may ba bibliographically uniquij, which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may significantly changa the usual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow. D Colourod covars/ Couvarture da coulaur r~| Covars damagad/ Couvartura andommagia Covars rastorad and/or lam( meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"), whichever applies. 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The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre fil.nfo A des taux de reduction diff6rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seui clichA, il est filmA A partir de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les dtagrammes suivants illustrent la mAthode. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tfrni^^f'^'^mmm SUPPLEMENTARY OBSERVATIONS tJPON THE ■ :i PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY IN THIS PROVINCE. lES AB ■3 ".•,•.•« Cs ^ja^ jTtom tfie Wut0 of ciB»i)e cpontreal l^etraW May, 1814. W. GRAY, PllINTEB, .;■ V '*'... ^ ^wirm g & PB WjMw mm •WW ■ * I- f ■ .*- x %. %: h • ■ . . • • "■.•,•.•• • • • » ' • • ' . • » • • • . V*- *'• i -^ ^ rr f - • !'^S*tA50sAl^S^^aA5%?Oo0545(^;^95Aa*ffAs«>!»^^>t5!\j«^J«* Supplementary Observations, &c. I 'IMH I — ■ MWrtrgf l frtM llW Ml UPON reconfidering the former Ohfcrv^tions, it has occurred, that utility might refult from giving them a wider range, fo as to comprehend fome anterior pro- ceedings of ilifi Affembly, as well as to embrace others ;iot noticed in thefe Dbfervations, and to make fuch re- parks upon th^ *vhole fujbjea, as prefent circumftances r.equire. • ■ ^ 7 he fyftem of encroachment upon the powprs & func- tions of the other conftituted authorities, did not origi- nate with the laft Houfe of Affembly, although they car- ried ufurpation to an extent beyond any preceding one. During the adminiftration of the forn>er Governor an ^empt was made to expel a Judge from the Lower Houfe, and to difqualify him & all judges from ckaion to a feat therein, upon the fimple authority of the Houfe, 5vith.out participation of tjie other branches ; merelv be- c^ufethefaid judge was pcrfonally obnoxious to the then 145094 pre- r U:. HWWP ( 4 ) prevailing party in the Houfe : a leaven from each party has entered into each fucceeding Houfe, but has been more confpicuous in the laft feffion, where a more than ordinary part of the whole batch was thrown into a ftate of violent fermentation. The Governor at that time, very properly diflblyexl the houfe, feeing the danger that muft neceflknly refult from fo daring a precedent, as an aflumption ot power, which in its confequencfes would lead, if unrcfilted, to the Lower House eftablifhingby its fiat, the right of qua^ lification to a feat in that Houfe, inftead of being govern- ed by ibe ConJliiutionalJtl, which exprefsly declares who are capable of cledion, and wherein, alter excluding certain defcriptions of perfons from being eleded, it is added in the 23d claufe thereof, " or who fhallbc with. •* in any defcription of perfons disqualified by any act of the Legi/lative Council and AJfemhly of the Province, affen- ted to by his Majefty, hi» Heirs and Succeflbrs. Thus it is manifeft, that the . Aflembly poifeffing fuch power , and that theconftitutional act conveys the right of making further difqualifications than were therein cX- preffsd, only to the Provincial Legi/latur'i at large. The new Houfe which fucceeded to the one diflblved ks above faid perfifting in their ufurpation of the nght ot difqualificatibn, was alio diflblved, when the Governor \infortunately was inftruaed to fignify that he would m the King s name aflent to the difqaalification of Judges from fitting ifi the 4(fembly, it a Bill for the fame, ihould con- is) conftutipnAlly receive .the cpnfent of the other branches bf the Legiflature. ' The yrovA unfortunately is here iifed, hecaiife, that al- though it prcferved the conftitutional check of the differ- ent branches upon their refpedive Legiflative powers, and thereby in fad became a record of the ufurpation be- fore attempted by the Affembly ; — yec it gave the turbu- ient members an idea, that what could not be yielded asa Matter of right, might be relinquifhed to perfevering cla- mor — her.ce a kind of incitement to the attempt at exclu- Tion of the Judg^ from the Legiflative Council, by a •Provincial Legiflative ad, in the very teeth of the Royal Perogative as well by the Britifh Conflitution^ as by the cxprefs provifion of the Conftitutional ad, respetting the right of His Majefty to fummonto the Legiflative Coun- cil fuch perfons as he fliall think fit — ^as has been before mentioned, ' * Some of the leaders in the AflTembly cannot have been 'ignorant of the incompetency of the Provincial Legiflature to pafs such an act, but in confidering the manner whe- reby the precedent of the aflent of his Majefty to the ad for disqaalihcaiion of Judges from feats in the Low6r Houfe was obtained, may have thought, that if they ferved up the lame diih each fubfeqpent feffiorn, ftiil tno^e .highly feafoned with clamor, that perhaps the Rmg would wave his rights, and the Imperial Parliament in confequence, pafs an ad upon the fubjed— or if not that it would be a nice cloak for further irritation ; and in the mean time the Bill paffed by the AflTembly, if re jcded in the other House, would by a fapientvefolve, bottomed on the '«*»WW!»R«&wl^«S»«iifc ( 6 ) the newly discovered patriotic logic, convert fuch reje^-r ion into a proof of the necefTity of the Bill — Such difcove-* ry isfo truly original, that there is not the moft diftant rifk of their being robbed of the merits of being the real inventors, and a patent right thereto, can hardly be nc- ceflary, Pafling over the proceedings of former days, and re- verting to thofe of the laft Aflembly, it cannotbe forgotten that true to their principles of undervaluing the Legiflative Council, they laid afide even that decency and delicacy which amongft men of charaAer, is bbfervable in com- mon life ; and in their feflion before the laft, fent a fum- mons to the Clerk of that Council, to attend at the Bar of the Aflembly, to be examined touching the publica- tion and transmiflion of the Laws pafl^ed in the SefTion of Parliament which began iq February 1 8 1 2, • •-■'■ ... This summons was sent without previous notice being given to the Council thereof, or their consent thereto obtained, which is an indispensable parliamentary pfcli?- minary, no point being more clearly fixed, than that . neither Hpufe can of right exercise jurisdidtion over the other, or apy member, pfficer, or servant thereof, as each branch being indepepdant in s^uthority, can claiip no superiority ; now to have allowed of the right of summoning their officers, without previous notice and leave, would have been a dirpdl admiflion by the Council of inferiority. ^t however would be a wa^e of time to reason further upon ■-" ■ iiw mw ff i iill w i'' ■IF ( 7 ) Cfcn tills J o'm\, frr what gentif man In prlvale lite, would' 1 rciume ic scrcl Icr tlit fervant of another, and demand attendance for his j urp cscp, without leave from tliemafter. The I egifiative Council to the astoniOiment of all, efter having pafTcd ftrong and highly conftitutional reso- lutions upon the subjed of this marked i.8Ui-patron and ilisn sped, then retraded, in so far as to submit thereto, by permitting their clerks to go to the bar of the aflembly under the salvo of a proteft or entry on their jcurnals, which was communicated to the aflembly, that such per- n/iflion was gix'en, sokfy on account of /he then danger of ihe cLuntry^ and not to be drawn into precedenu little do thofe know of the human mind who arc u- nawaie of the darger of a first conceffion of a point of right to a popular body :— No, salvo can guard against Its baneful cffcas. Such a concefiTiorj neceffarily pro- duces the necefTity of more and greater conceflions, whilst finally a stand muft be made at some point, per- haps lefs defenfihle, and certainly under disadvantages greatly increased, by the vain and abfurd idea, of placing «ftabliflicd rights in a ftate of abeyance, to stand over to a more convenient fea«on. Popular ufurpations, like an avalanche^ appears fmall and feeble at the ouifet, but increafts in its courfc, untii finally its force becomtts overwhelming and irieiiftable. It unhappily is a fact, that the well meaning in alf countries are the moft fupine ; and Lord Clarendon irt a def- /,^*i. ^^, i » J u I i^' h ^^ MiSf Sf ii im m yf. TP { 8 ) d^fcrlhiiif; the period immediately preceding* the RVeat re- bellion in the 17th Century, informs us, that" the weak •» contributed to the defigns of the wicked, while the lat- •» ter out of a confcioufnefs of their guilt, grew by def- " paration worfe than they intended to be. The wife ** were often impofcd upon by menoffmali underftand- 4t ings — the innocent were poflefled with lazinefs, and ** flept under the moft vifible article of danger, and the " ill-difpofed, though of the Rxoft oppofite interefts and " diftant affeaions, united in a firm and conftant league *' of mifchief, while thofe whofe opinions and interuRs «* were the fame, divided into factions and emulations ** more pernicious to the public than the treafcns of *' others." The well difpofed in this community (hould therefore awake from their ftupor, and carefully watch over the attempts at incrsafe of popular power ; — ^for the hiitory of the laft twenty years written in blood, fhews to what an extreme of defpotifm, the delufions of fadlioiis, and a- bufe of the power of the people, leads. Mankind in Eu- rope noivfee and feel that the only efFedual remedy foir fuch abufes, is in regal power, eltablilhed upon the in-» flueace of property. America has to undergo many trials and purgations before this precious truth Ihall be acknowledged ; and ift this Province, we appear to be verging to that dreadful^ fituation, where property, wifdom, and experience, will be confidered as unnecefsary qualifications tor legislation j and that tUofe to whom acne would ccmfde the manage- ment "H w u ' lcji-..' ( 9 ) meiit of their private concerns, will be thought the fitteft. to fill fituations where the public concerns Ihall be at their mercy. Let not the prefent fituation of this Province be light- ly thought of. — The French revolutionary plague origin-, atcd in appearances as little likely to produce the direful. efFcas it did ; and although the bulk of this populatioa be yet foun J, there is a leaven gradually working by lys- teaiatic deception, which may, if difregarded, pervade the whole lump at no very diftaat period. In thefefTioi I)ef()re the laft, the .uTembly attempted another ufurpatioa, equally alarming, a.id which m )re immediately led to the late proceedings which were the fa')jed of tUeforiner obfervations. ^ Under the pretence that it would facilitate an enquiry t len making " into the caufes and injurious consequences •' tbat may have refulted from the delay in thepublica- " tion of the Laws pafled in the sellion of the Provincial . "Parliament, which began in February 1812,'* tne af- lembly addrelTeJ tiie Governor " to cause to be laid be- ** fore trie iloufe, a copy of the proceedings of the Court " of Oyer a:vJ ferminer, held in and for the diftridt of *\Mjntreal, in the months of August and September 18 12, *' transmitted to His Excellency, in purfuance of t;ie 6th " feition of the Provincial statute of 34th Geo. 3, Chap. " 6y* and which was repeated in anotner addrefs. Now to what did ihis lead.— It led to eftablifli two points t i s \ in ( 10 ) points of most danj»;er(;uS tendency ;-^first the deftrvc- tlon of the independency of the judiciary by the innplied right thereby aflumed of eredling the afiembly into a Court of Rcvifion of the proceedings, of the Criminal Courts ;— and fecondly it was a direifl attack upon the undoubted. rights of the 5'oveieign in that mod precious of his prerogatives, as being the fountain of mercy. . To what purpofe copies of thefe proceedings, if they did not claim the right of revifal of the fentenced pafled ; — ^and of interference with the excrcifi: of the ^oyal right of pardon. The inference is as clear as the Sun at noon day, and it will for ever furnifh matter for regret, that the Gover- n'orin returning his anfwcrs tothose addrefles(for theHou- fe was not fatif*.ed with one) left it dpubtfuhvhether he ap- proved or disapproved of the prayers of the acdrefles, be- caufc a copy of the procpedrngs were refused en the ground of his not having bepn turniihed therewith by the Judges, What a pity that the fifft addreft; was not methy a dircich the enquiry and fubfemient impeachment refted? Was there any clamour of the peo- V;' r "^'•^^'^"P^ J"'^Sments ? Were there any fymptoms ot dislatisfadion with the Courts previous to the inftitu- tion of that enquiry? Was the judicial charader refpeft- ed or defpiied ? 7o thefe and other queftions of like im- port, 999 out of every iooq in the province can aiifwer, H C by W ' — - 'Tiiiiiitliiii II II i ty faring their hands upon their hearts, and faying, Aa the e was nothing of all this, hut quite the contrary.— S a Murmur or^complaint againft the Courts o. Judges^ No an accufer of either appeared. Jhe Judu.al cha ao- ter was venerated Every one was fat.sfied, as far as lo- f rsorilwfuitscanbe, that the de.ifions ofthe Jug» were pure, impartial, and incorrupt ; *"d t n !t" If he error lav in the imperfedion of human nature, Tnd rloVma^y deficiency ofV moft co.rea in^^^^^^^^ I, has bee.> frequently remarked by f"^'^'":^™";* neighhours.„n^ennso^^^^^^^^^^ rhia.ttrcL«fc:itrnocJm. and many of u« :,uft ilea, what a Y^-'^t^ ^f^^ ^ CJZ rifptudencehas enfued fmce the «ft»''''°^^.'"' "'4'*';^^", peals. In fhort, our Courts, iQ P"'^."^ "^ '"''f.ofe of a.e adminiftration of juftice, are not J^ff'^^n J be ex- ,he mother country, although the ttlents cannot be ex- -pededtobealike. Whofoever aims at (baking th3 )' ttwa8 remarked by 9 learned divine, upon a moft fb« iemn occafion, that " one of the princrpal suppona of hai " tion^l felicity arifes from a wife and intpartiail adminif^ «« tration of juftice, every man repof^s upon the tribunals •* of his country the ftability of poffeffion andthe fecurityof life :— He therefore who unjuftly expofes the courts of Judicature to fufpicion, either of partiality or error, not only does an injury to thofe who difpenfe the Laws^ but diminiflies the public confidence in the Laws them- felves, and (hakes the foundation of public tranquili* «« ct (( «( (( " ty T- i( CC And the great lotd Manffield profoundly obferved ta ^is.Majefty^at a time when parties ran alarmingly high^ Sire, be not afraid of ferious infurredion, whilft juftice is adminiftered to your fubjeds in purity in Weftmin- fter Hall *'— The truth of this at that time was incontro- vertible ; but if his Lord Ihip could have forefeen that the demon of Jacobinifm (a fiend then unknown) would a- rife, and be able to perfuade the people, that fuch purity of a Jminiftration would be injurious to their interefts, by the judges attempting to prevent their exercife of the right of ruining themfelves by endlefs Lawfuits, to fill the poc- kets of Lawyers \ he would have gone a ftep further, and added " but if a corrupt faction fhall be able to blind .0 far the eyes of the people, as to convert the purity of judicial ad miniftration into an engine of party deli£- fibn, then Sire. I muft confefs, that an attempt At revolution cannot be diftant." This is what we arc threa- tened with, and it behoves all who have property or priil- iiiplc to look well at our fituation.-**^. While : -«( u (C ; if. ■.'- 1 : t 1 1 i I ;i r % ri s ?r5E£? fS ( ( '4 y While upon the fubjed of the judiciary and the late Impeachments, it cannot be too often repeated, that they were voted againft the forms and fubftance of juftice, in the abfence of all proof, and thatthe meaneft fubjea: or moft contemptible culprit, if his cafe be brought before a Grand Jury, on the accufation of the Attorney General, would b? "inftantly liberated, if no witnefs, to prove the alledged criminalty, was produced. — What would be thought of fuch a Jury, if upon a mere allegation of fuch Attorney, the Judges were addrefled to puniih the culprit, — Yet ftrange it is, that the late Houfe of Aflembly aded upo?i this principle in their addrefs to the Governor, to pur? nifh the Chief Juftices by fufpenfion from Office — The cafe is thus put, 'that the injuftice may be manifeft to thg meansft capacity. Injuftice and abfrrdity are fo blended in the late procer dure, that they contendfor the maftery — ^The Chief Jufti- ces amongft other offences, are accufed in the impeach- ments of treafon, and yet they are to be carried before a tribunal (the king in hisPiivy Council) whiph has no judicial cognizance of treafon, and confequently can nei- ther tryconvift nor punifli for that high offence. — ^The ac- cufation muft therefore have been introduced for the pur- pofeof creating local irritation, and leaving as they hop- ed an indelible ftigma upon the charaders of the accufed, without their having a legal opportunity of meeting and confuting fo infamous a charge. It is an extraordinary feature in the proceedings ot the Aflembly, that their com^ . mttee of the whole Home^ and special committee were by their ?.ppointments limited in their enquiries "tothe con- fide- fc«s«,-1«--, , \e late t they ce, in rmoft ^rand uld b? ledged ght of orney, —Yet lupofi pUrf —The to thg proctfr •Jufti- peach- elore a has no an nei- "he ac- le pur- y hop- ccufcd, ng and dinary :ir com- vere by be cou- ficle- ( 15 ) ** fideration of the power of the Courts relative to the " Rules of Pradice and to the principal points "whercia " they were repugnant to the hivvs of the land, and to *' report their opinion as to the courr^ to be purfued for " reprcfling fuch abufes of Judicial power. The special committee made a voluminous report ^bich being concurred in by the Iloufe, it" Refolved that a committee be appointed to prepare Heads of impeachment upon the said report^ and refolutions a- ainst the two ci.ief juftices"— and thei w gam en with an utter d!rrcc;ard of all precedent, a refolve is added, to give them additional power, not in regard to the subject matter of the previous invcftigation ; but without declaration or Jimitation ofolvjedl, in tbrvse words, " Rtfolved'that the ** said committee have pcv;er to add si/cb heads ofim^ " peacbvienl as may appear jujl and proper ; and that " ihey have power to send tor perfonSjrecordsandpapers." Thus to an enquiry, the profefled purpofe of which, embraced only matters, which if proved could amount merely to error ir judgment ; is tacked a despotic autho- rity, most tyrannically ufed, of adding, thereto, without previouseiiquiry or proof in the Houfe, articles of im- peachment, w: ich were they proved befofe a competent trihunal, the lives and Eftates of the accused would be the forfeit. The heads of Impeachment added m virtue of their des* "Vic authority, not o .ly violate decency and truth, but are on the very face of them impoflible to have hap- D pened 't- IVj iJ |i \ It ,6 ) peneJ, can they be otherwise confidered than as a fpe- cies of libels upon the Governor and both councils, who^ are therein considered as if they were nonentities, and theChief Jufticeas if pofleffing in his own perfon, the power of the whole Government. But of all the accusation s that which refersto the for- mer news Paper called the "Vpai Canadtem" is the most extraordinary, being a subftitutioii oi efe^ for caii/c^, it being well known that its objed was to counteiaa the poifon infufed into the minJs of the people by a Junto who 1 ad previously ellabliflied a news Paper called **Le Can.adien" which was perpetually sowing ilil- fention between His Majefty's new and old subjeds, and which proceeded to such an extremity, that an inlurrec- tionwas inevitable, had they not been arreiled.-— Tran- quillity, followed the arrest, and apparent contrition in some, for having gone fo far, Wys manifefted. Jt maybe urged further in proof of the want ^ of real patriotifm in the Leaders of the last aflembly, tl at when thelegifjature was fummoned to meet in July 1 8 1 2, fpecdily after the declaration of war by the United Stares^ and the Governor submitted to the affembly a private and confidential meflage (now printed in their journals) upon the perilous ftate of the Province, threatened as it was by immediate invafion; and ftated that there was a necelFky for flrengthening the handiiofHis Majesty's Govern- ment — notning was done thereon ; although the prac- tice of the mother country, and of all free countries in fuch emergencies, was to give additional powers to the Ex- ( '7 ) £xecutive to meet the danger ; indeed common fense inuft point out, that the ordinary Powers of government arc for ordinary occafions, and inadequate to thie caie of invafion* Yet fuch was the apathy and indifference of the afore- faid leaders, that in the fubfequent feflion, inftead of mee- ting the Governor's views in his meffage, they pafleil 7?e- folutions to tie up his hands (as far as they could) againll the ufe of martial law, as if afraid of an extraordinary exertion being made againft the enemy.*— This conducft is the more remarkable as they have deprived thcmfelveji of every exciife for it, by the fair promifes repeatedly made, and their frequent declarations of unbounded con- fidence in His Excellency's adminiftration. A trumped up accufation againft the Chief Juftice uh- der pretence of his favoring /American influence, comes with a bad grace, from men who would thus do nothing to counteract invasion ; and efpecially when in the fame breath he is attacked as if he was the projedor of Henry's miffion, which they allege was to promotethe difmember- tnent of the union of the States. In denying that fuch was the objeft of the mifTion, it Inay be permitted to add, that fuch in a Britiflv fubjed, woiijd not have been a vfery deadly crime, to endeavor to Weaken and divide thofe, who for years had evinced the moll deadly hatred to his country ; who clearly were only watching a good opportunity for war againft us, and who have fiaee carried into efFea their then hoflile threats. TV.',. V- ( «8 ) this lopck is (louMefs a part of the new iliftcvery made in that fcience by cur patriots. After this fpecimen, it would not have been furprizing if one of the articles of impeachment againft the Chiet luftice of Montreal had been, for traitorouHy giving counfel that tended tofupprefs the hsrn.lefs .nfu/reftion at La Chine; and in fo doing induced the enemy tobel leve us a divided people, v^hereby they were encouraged to perfift in invading us; and by which wicked counfel, the attempts at invafion have been defeated. Whatfoever faults Sir James Craig had, it was not one of them, to have been led bv the nofe by the opinions rt anv man— then why all this trtimpery about the Cb,(F Jujliccs having given or not this or that advice.— He is placed 1 y his accufers on the horrs of a dilem- fna, under the determination, that he (h«l not efcape ; for it is laid that the leader in the nnpeachment rhen asked by a member for feme proof that the Chief Jufoce cave fuch and fuch traito.ous advice ; anfwered, that proof was ufelefs, as he either .!id give the advice or if he did not, it was his duty to have advifed the contrary- It has been matter of furprife why the 1 400o— Judge hunting money, was not tacked to the Army Bill Act inftead of the other act, as being hkely to be more effec- tual in compelling an acquiescence iii that moderate and ' ufeful grant The fuppofed reafon is, that many of the members of the Affembly, who hold fituations under gn- ft * '"■*»«i'S(w«!!qpssisa»,a ( 19 ) vernment, were aware, that if the Army Bill Act fell through, they could not receive the pay attached to fucli iituations. A broad hint is given in the Speftateur of the 19th April laft, that if the Houfe of Affembly had been in fef- fion, they would have noticed the former production of Arhtides, The prefent opportunity is therefore taken, to inform the Spe