The Sun. — London, England, 1837-03-07 00:00:00

Committee connected with those parts of the country who might be expected to judge impartially of the measure. If he en tered the Committee with any prejudice at all, it was averse to the measure rather than in favour of it.--( Hear.) He certainly considered that the Committee was fairly constituted, and that they wero acting upon principles which would be satisfactory to that House and the country. Mr. ROBINSON said that the simple question was whether the Committee was so constituted as to inspire the country with confidence in their decision. Nothing was more invidious than mentioning the names of gentlemen ; but he had stated, on a former evening, and he thought it his duty to state now, that he had rather there were no Committee at all, than one constituted as the present. He intreated the Noble Lord to allow some of the names to be put on the Committee, so as to keep away any impression of their having a bias on one side or the other. _ _ _ The SPEAKER thought that before the motion for par ticular Members to serve on the Committee was disposed of, the question whether the number of gentlemen on the Committee should consist of 14 or 21, ought to be decided by the House. Lord JOHN RUSSELL thought the Hon. Member for Berkshire bad subjected himself to that difficulty in point of form, and he therefore felt it a great relief in not having to object to particular names, which might perhaps be consi dered personally offensive. He thought the Hon. Member for Berkshire also was either too early or too late with his motion.—( Hear.) There had been a regular notice day on which the motion might have been brought on, had the Hon. Member thought proper to do so--( Hear, hear)—but he had put off his motion till the Committee had actually sat, and he now interrupted the regular proceedings of the House.— (Cheers.) The Honourable Member should either have taken his objection when the Committee was appointed, or he should now wait till the report was brought up, when he might take any objection he pleased as to the constitution of the Committee.—( Cheers.) He (Lord John) was perfectly willing, now that the Committee had commenced its sittings, to withdraw his own name from the list of the Com mittee, and allow the Honourable Member for Berkshire to substitute any one of the Gentlemen whose names he had just mentioned in his (Lord John's) room—further than this he could notgo.—( Cheers. ) Mr. GUE ST thought unless the county was satisfied with the impartiality of the Committee, a great deal of harm might be occasioned. Mr. DUNCOMBE could not see what objection there could be to the addition of six or seven names to the Com mittee, if the system was so perfect as had been represented : of this he was sure, that the greatest injury would result if in. quiry was attempted to be smothered. Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. The House divided, and the numbers were— For reading the Order of the Day For Mr. Walters' motion Majority in favour of Ministers ..... —2B The House then resolved itself into a Committee of the whole House, to take into consideration the affairs of Canada—Mr. Bernal in the Chair. Lord. JOHN RUSSELL said he never rose to address the House with so much reluctance to make any proposition, as he felt on the present occasion, in rising to propose the resolutions of which he bad given notice, and with which he should conclude. It was his duty, and the duty of. the Government to which he belonged, though it was an unpleasant duty, to declare their dissent from the petitions of the people of Lower Canada ; but he considered it necessary before ho asked the hlouse for sums beyond those' which ,had been formerly asked for the service of that country. It was necessary in order to justify such a course that he should show the House that there was a necessity for the interference of Parlia ment on this question, and, secondly, that that inter ference must not bo stopped short, but must be carried out to its proper length. He entered upon the question with great re luctance; yet at the same t ime lie felt that the Assembly of Lower Canada had the advantage of being' represented in that llo:ise, and their cause %could be stated with as great ability as they could desire. It was some consolation to him in bringing forward the affairs of Lower Canada to find that the pretensions which had been put forth by the Assembly, had not met with the concurrence of other provinces in that country.—( Hear.) It was proposed on the part of Lower Canada, that there should be an elective legislative body. He believed that hi all these colonies, in the communications that bad taken place between them. and Government, there was a tendency towards a satisfactory adjustment, and that what they considered g,ri.e/- anees would be redressed in a full and sltisfactory manner ; ti;ere f,re they had not to reproach themselves with having fo merVed these disturbances in the province; on the contrary they appeared to him to have sprung up from that long course of d;ssent ion, origiedting in demands founded on the real wants of the province, and n ithout the adjustment of which they could not vouch for the future to obtain any. pesinanent :rarrquillity. Ile might likewise add, that they did not cast any censure cr reproach upon tile Assembly of Lower Canada for the course they l,ad adopted. On the c.)ntrarv, that course so much resembled hat other popular assemblies had done, und,n- similar circum stances, and instead of being the act of an artful assembly, they s,em rather to have been the result of that general law by which a competition is created between a popular assembly and their representatives. This, however, he would remark, that popular assemblies were hardly ever wrong at the corn nrewernent, and hardly ever right at the close.—( Hear. ) There were generally struggles which began with askitirs fsr the remedy of well-founded grievances, and which endel with a declaration of suspicion and distrust of all authorities at present existing, and endeavours to set up some 11CW and unknown Government, by which it was supposed all future grievances would be remedied. Lower Canada came into the possession of the English Crown in consequence of the successful war which ended by the peace of 1763. It then contained about 60,000 souls, governed by the laws of the arbitrary monarchy of France, and having for its own especial law one of those local laws known in France, namely, the custom of Paris. It was attempted by the British Government to make the laws of that country resemble the laws of the other colonies that had fallen into the British possessions ; hut that policy was afterwards changed, and when the contest was entered into with the North American Colonies, care was taken to sepa rate Canada from the appearance of resistance to the British Crown, and to induce them to go back to their old custom, and become again, as it were, a French possession. With the increase of the colony and with the increase of emigration, it was proposed to institute a new kind of government for that province, and Mr. Pitt, by the Bill - of 1791 put that intention into effect. fly thought it might now be doubted, with the experience of the time that had since elapsed, whether that Bill was well adapted to secure good government in Canada. The first part of the measure of 1791 was to establish an Assembly, of which one part of its constitution was to consist partly of an hereditary class, and partly of members named for life by the Government. Another part was to separate the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, the Upper to be considered as more completely English, and to which emigrants should resort in greater numbers—( Hear, hear)— the other was left to be a territory of a mixed population, partly French emigrants and partly British subjects. He should not now touch on the latter part of that proposition, but he should take the liberty of saying with regard to the first, that it seemed to him it would be difficult to establish any great resemblance to the British Constituion in any colouy. It was well remarked by the Member for Bath last year, that it would be difficult to establish in Canada an Assembly resembling our house of Lords, because there was no hereditary aristocracy residing there ; and it would be impos sible to find persons to be named for life in whom the Govern ment and the people could fully confide.—( Hear.) It was hardly possible in the course of events that the different Governors sent to Canada would not take different views of public affairs, and that the end would not be that great diffi culties would be experienced in the carrying on and manage ment of affairs, without a settled system, as there was not in the Governor a power to create Members of the House of Assembly, as the King created Peers. The peti tion presented to the House last year with the consent of the Secretary of State, from the Constitutional Association in Canada, declared very plainly that the power was a very dangerous one, and that it had not been properly exer cised. So far, he thought he had proved there was some fault in the constitution of the Legislative Council. But this was not the subject upon which much remonstrance was made.—(Hear, hear.) There were various other subjects. with regard to the disposal of the public money, and which had been matter of dispute in the provinces. In a pap©r among those those presented to the House, drawn up by Lord Aberdeen, when Colonial Secretary, a re medy was proposed, not only equal to that which the Canada Committee wished, but going beyond the pro positions made by that Committee.—( Hear, hear.) It shows that with respect to all the subjects, with the excep tion of one, which I shall mention presently, which were brought before the Committee of 1828, the remedies provided by the Government of this country were not only fully that which the Canada Committee recommended, but went beyond the propositions made by the Committee. I will mention an instance of this, and it is a very strong instance. The Canada Committee recommended that a certain duty, imposed by the Act of 1774, should he appropriated by the House of Assem bly itself as soon as that House should make permanent provi sion for the support of the Judges, and for the support of a certain number of officers of the Civil Government. The Go vernment of this country went beyond that proposal, and by the Act of 1•31 they repealed simply and at once the provi sions of the Act of 1774, as far as it left the appropriation to the Lords of the Treasury of this country, and left it freely and fully to the ifouse of Assembly to appropriate the funds n, e r aria i from these duties. It did not follow that because the Go vernment and the Legislature of this country dealt this fair and fel? concession to the House of Assembly, that they should be edisposed to make a proper return, by acceding to bat the Committee of 182 S considered an indispensable pre liminary. On the contrary, they hare not hitherto, and, I think, as I shall hereafter show, they do not seem disposed now to make any such p?ovision. There was a recommenda tion of the Committee which referred to the Judges, with respect to whom it was by the Committee proposed that they should be independent as far as their salaries were concerned, but that they should be removeable at the pleasure of the Crown. An Act was proposed by Lord Ripon to the effect tliai; the judges should not only have permanent salaries, hut that they should hold their offices during good behaviour. The House of Assembly, in return for this, introduced into that Bill a certain condition, by which they made all the offi cers of the colony, not excepting the Governor himself, sub ject to a tribunal appointed in the manner then pointed out. Thus they met the concessions largely and freely made by the tGovernment of this country. These proceedings continued; j xotests upon various points were raised from — time to time . u, 1 1 ), in 1833, a Supply Bill was passed, with many condi tacked to the several. items of it, saying that certain . mm - should have salaries for such offices, providing, a t th e pers. tir,le, that they should not hold any other offi ce , an d va is.jao;:, via o t i oas o f this kind, in consequence of which the Sup- ply Bill was lost.. In 1834 the House of Assembly passed ninety-two resolutions, which are familiar to this House both in their purport and their language. In 1833 the House of Assembly separated without passing a Supply Bill, in conse quence of Lord Aylmer refusing to sanction their votes for the contingent expenses. In 1835 Commissioners were sent out from this country, in order to investigate the whole subject matter in dispute, and that they might make a re port to Government, by which his Majesty should be in formed of the whole matter in dispute, to be able to judge bow far it might be safe or practicable to comply with the de mands of the House of Assembly. It is very satisfactory to me that the Commission which was appointed took full time to enter into every topic connected with the, propositions made to this country. I, think that, whatever suffering there may may have been on the part of those officers of the Government who claim, and have a right to claim the protection of the British Crewn and the British Parliament to defray the sums owing to them—l think, whatever public inconvenience may hare been suffered in consequence of the delay in the appoint ment of that Commission, yet the inestimable advantages de rived from it--that we do not now proceed without the fullest and fairest inquiry, and that every subject has been carefully looked into—fully compensate for the time lost. After four years and a half no supply has been voted, and we have come at last to this decisive question, whether or not we can grant some or all of the demands of the House of Assembly, with out which no supply can in any case be looked to ? . It is a great advantage, I think, that every thing that could be fairly granted to the demands of the House of Assembly has been previously granted—that there is now but one question for this House to consider whether or not we shall proceed to al ter the Constitution of 1791, and to alter it in a manner which I shall afterwards show is inconsistent with the re lations of the mother country and the colonies ; or whe ther we shall interpose as in a case of necessity, and a case of clearly and fully proved necessity, to protect the colony it. self from disturbance, and to rescue the honour of the British Crown from that which I consider a stain upon it—of leaving the subjects of the Crown unprotected in the situation in which they are placed ? That this is the question is suffi ciently proved by the amendment which the Hon. Member behind me ( Mr. Leader) means to propose. He does not say, neither do those who agree with him say, " Lot not Par liament interfere—allow the colony to continue its course—do not coerce the assembly of the colony—do not interfere with the Imperial Parliament ;" but what he says is this :—" It is necessary to interfere ; it is necessary that-you should consider former Acts of Parliament ; it is necessary that you should repeal those Acts, and adopt another Constitution." To this question, then, I beg leave to call the attention of the House. I will go shortly and generally into the questions upon which the House of Assembly make their demand, and I will state the reasons why I thlitik it impossible for us to grant those de mands, and the course which I propose to take on this sub ject. The first demand of the Assembly is, that the Legis lative Council having hitherto been nominated by the Crown, shall for the future be an Elective Assembly.—( Cries of " Hear.") The next is, that the Executive Council shall be a responsible Council, similar to the Cabinet in this country. Another is, that the law of tenures shall be changed with out respecting the rights acquired under an Act passed by the British Parliament ; but the fourth is, that the Land Com pany shah be abolished, with a similar disregard of the rights acquired under the saThe Act. With respect to the proposition of making the Legislative Council elective, the effect of it in the present state of the colony must be to make a second as sembly exactly resembling that which at present existed. There could be no doubt, from the report of the Commis sioners—and every one who has spoken on the subject seems to have come to the same conclusion—that the second assembly would be but an echo of the first assembly, and would try to enforce all their demands. It is proposed in the next place that the Executive Council should be made to resemble the Ministry in this country. I hold this proposition to be en tirely incompatible with the relations between the mother county and the colony. The relations between the mother country and the colony require that his Majesty should be re presented not by a person removeable by the House of As sembly, but by a governor sent out by the King, responsible to the King and responsible to the Parliament of Great Britain. This was the necessary constitution of a colony ; and if you have not these relations existing between the mother country and the col my you will soon have an cud to the relations alto gether. Then, again, if the Executive Council were made responsible as the Ministers of this country, of course the governor must act according to their advice. If the Assembly do not trust those Ministers, if they do not think them fit, they must be removed, and others put in their places. The person sent out by the King as governor, and those Ministers in whom the Assembly confided, might differ in opinion, and there at once walla be a collision beta - een the measures of the King and the conduct of the representa tives of the colony. But this proposition would tend not merely to produce disputes, not merely to try the King's authority, but it tended to introduce authorities totally in compatible with the authority which the King seems to have over every colon:•. There is an obligation, for instance, on the government of this country, by which no British subject should be injured with impunity. if appointed through the influence of the House of Assembly, the - consequence would be, that the Ministers thus appointed must carry into effect the Acts of the Assembly, and must deprive persons of land or other possessions, though holding them under the laws of this country, and by virtue of an Act of Parliament. Let it be considered that these measures must be carried into effect not merely by the forces of the colony, not merely by the Assembly, but in the. King's name and by means of the King's forces in that colony. Let me suppose this case, that the Kinu sends out certain orders to the governor in conformity with the existing laws. The law in the mean time is changed by the Assembly, and the consequence might be that the King's troops would be obliged, in obedience to the orders of the mi nisters of the Assembly to carry into effect those orders in de fiance of an Act of Parliament, and tending, perhaps, to the injury and destruction of the King's subjects holding property according to law. It may be maintained that there is justice in the attempt to give an executive to the colony which should be responsible to the Assembly in the same manner that the Ministers in this country are responsible to this House. That part of the Constitution which requires that the Ministers of the Crown shall be responsible to Parliament, and shall be removable if they do not obtain the confidence of Parliament, is a condition which exists in an Imperial Legislature, and in an Imperial Legislature only. It is a condition which cannot be carried into effect in a colony—it is a condition which can only exist in one place, namely, the seat of empire. Other wise we should have separate independent powers existing not ' only in Great Britain, but in every separate colony. In such a case the Government would be unable to carry its measures or wishes into effect, and in effect each colony would be an in dependent State, with this singular anomaly, that the execu tive chief nominated by the King of England, and the troops and forces of the King of England, might be employed to carry the orders of the House of Assembly into effect. This is, therefore, a condition which it is impossible to have consis tently with the relations between the mother country and the colony. With respect to the other points of the tenures and the Land Company, in looking through the measures of the House of Assembly I do not find that they made any laws upon this subject ; on the contrary, they seem to infer that these acts of the British Parliament were acts of usurpation altogether, and that they would be fully justified in repealing those acts, and in acting according to their own discretion with respect to any persons who may have acquired property and rights under these acts. It is neither possible for the Crown or the Parliament of Great Britain to yield the rights of those persons, and after-the passing of. a solemn act of the Legisla. ture to say that those rights shall be disregarded and set at nought, because they do not agree with the views of the House of Assembly.—( Hear, hear.) And as far as I can conceive, the only remedy left, according to the views of the House of Assembly, is for the British Parliament to vote compensation to such persons, and to provide for them out of the funds of this country. This is the resource left to us—a resource worse than that which we were compelled to accept from another of our American colonies after a most disastrous war. I feel as sured that this House will think that they are justified in taking under their protection those persons who have suffered in con sequence of Acts passed by this and by the other House of Par liament. —( Hear.) Now, supposing that House were to concur in the views of the House of Assembly, taken as a whole, what would be the consequence? Canada would cease to be a colony, and would establish an authority there independent and sub versive of the power of the British Crown, and having all the inconvenience of a colony with none of its advantages. But there would be this anomaly also ; if Canada were really inde pendent, if any subject of Great Britain were wronged there, the King of Great Britain, as in the case of any other foreign power, would interfere to see that the wrong was redressed ; but according to the demands of the House of Assembly, if a subject of the King of Great Britain were wronged on the banks of the St. Lawrence, the King of Great Britain would not have that power to interfere which he would have if the wrong had been committed on the banks of the Danube and the Bos phorus. I ask gentlemen to consider what will be the effect of these propositions of the House of Assembly ? One objection is stated by the Commissioners, and stetted for a reason which I think all sufficient in the present state of the colonies, to prevent our acceding to the demand for an elective Legisla tive Council. With respect to a Legislative Council, they state that there is no reason with respect to the ab stract consideration why there should not be an elective Legislative Council in the Colony as well as one nominated by the Crown ; but in the present condition of Canada they cannot imagine a state of circumstances, they cannot ima gine a body of constituents of such a nature, so different from the body which constitutes the present House of A s sembly, • so as to have an independent assembly appointed in the manner of an election, and not by the nomination of the Crown. But they state that, whatever may be the result come to upon abstract speculation, that this is not the case in Ca nada; that the case of Canada was such, that if you yielded to these demands, a great portion of the King's subjects— namely, those of British descent—will be excluded altogether from a voice and representation in the two assemblies; that that portion, consisting of 120,000 of our fellow-subjects, per sons of considerable wealth and intelligence, and who were engaged principally in commercial pursuits, would consider themselves so far abandoned, so far unprotected, that it was not likely the peace of the colony would be preserved, but that they would oppose and resist the Government, as a Go vernment from which they could expect no security for life and property. They concluded, that whatever might be the result of speculation on this subject, and though their views, as far as regarded them individually, were in many respects dissimilar, yet they all agreed in this, that in the present state of the colony it would not be possible, with security to the subject and tranquillity to the colony, to grant the demands that were made.—( Hear, hear.) I consi der—these Commissioners having, as I stated, in many re spects entertained dissimilar views upon almost every ques tion that came before them—l consider that there must have been a very strong impression that the present state of the colony was such, that it would be unwise and unsafe to introduce an Elective Council into that colony. I Think that the Report of the Commissioners themselves affords sufficient reasons for the opinions to which they have come. Having thus stated why, in the opinion of his Mdjesty's Go vernment, it is impossible to yield to the demands made by the Representative Assembly of Lower Canada, I shall now pro eeed to state the views which we have taken of the whole case, and of the remedy which we propose. The first difficulty is the payment of the Judges and of the King's officers in the colony. I think that when it is recollected that it is now four years and a half since the Judges have received their salaries, during which period they have been left entirely to their own resources for support, the House will consider that it is high time for us to come forward and interpose the authority of Parliament in their behalf. Had we followed the advice of the Commissioners upon this subject, we should have come for heard last year and demanded of Parliament the means of pay ing the arrears justly due to these officers ; but it was thought that as some misunderstandings appeared to exist be tween the Assembly of Lower Canada and Lord Glenelg, it would be desirable to give them an opportunity to reconsider the subject once more, and wait to see if they still persisted in refusing these payments. With regard to the propriety of the proceeding which I am about to recommend, I apprehend that it is undoubtedly in the power of the Imperial Parliament to interfere in colonial affairs, whether in legislative matters or in supply, when a pressing occasion occurs for so doing. In legislative matters we had recently an instance in regard to Jamaica, where we interposed our authority to continue an act of great importance which the colonial legislature had omitted to pass within the proper period. In matters of supply, also, I have as little doubt that in cases of great necessity it is in the power of Parliament to employ all the means in its hands to appropriate the process of the taxes raised in a colony to certain public services in the colony to which they are under ordinary circumstances applied. This principle was admitted at the bar of the House of Commons by Dr. Benjamin Frank. lin, who, in regard to the Assembly of New York, was asked whether, if a colony were altogether to refuse supplies, the Imperial Parliament could interfere, and he replied that "he could not conceive such a case to occur, though they bad in some eases refused to grant permanant salaries to the officers of Government, and he thought very wisely so." He was then asked again, "whether in cases where interference was justifiable tae right of interfering ought not to be in the Par- Fament of Gloat Br.tain ?" which he replied, " that ho would have no objection to it, provided the power were only used for the use and good of the colony itself." Now this is a limitation in the justice of which I fully concur.—( Hear, hear, hear.) What I propose, however, to - night is simply to apply a certain portion of the revenues of Lower Canada to the payment of such items as the Repre sentative Assembly have already agreed to in their votes of supply in 1833. The total amount is 148,0001., and my purpose is only to order its payment for those purposes which the Assembly has already admitted, and not fur any which in 1832 it may have refused to agree to. The next consideration is the manner in which the government of the province is to be carried on in future, and the na ture of the Legislative Council which is to be adopted. It is proposed to adopt the recommendation of the Com missioners, that judges shall be excluded by law from this Council, as also all persons guilty of any disgraceful offence ; and that no person shall be appointed to it until his name has been sent over here by the governor of the province. With regard to the principle or predilections upon which persons have been selected for appointment to de Legislitive Council, I believe it has been too much the practice to select them al most entirely from amongst persons of British extraction, who form but a small numerical minority in the province, whilst the Representative Assembly is composed in great part of per sons of French extraction, who are the majority in point of ras nbers, and whose views and interests in:many matters are en tirely at variance with those of the minority, whose feelings are represented in the Legislative Council. I must say that the IT a .ner in which governors of this colony have lately acted upon the authority vested in them by the Arts of 1791 in this particular is not a judicious one, and I con sider that to select them alternately, one from the British and then one from the French stock, would be far preferable. Of course the Governor should take care to appoint a person of sound discretion, and of good character and standing in the colony, but at the same time no undue preference should pre vail in favour of one particular class to the exclusion of others, and thus a perpetual opposition and jealousy fermented and kept up, the minority acting in every case against the wishes of the majority. I think by thus adopting many persons who had no hope of appointment hitherto, and by e xc l u di ng all pe,sons of doubtful character, and especially those who have been public defaulters, we shall go a great way towards effecting a reconciliation of differences upon this point This, however, should of course be left as a matter of dis cretion, and not as a positive rule. In the neat place, with egaz d to the composition of the Executive C n .cif, 1 pro pose that there should not be more than two or three official persons .in that Council, and that the remainder of it should be made up from the Legislative Council and the General Assembly. It is proposed also that they should not enter into the discussion of any subject not immediately con nected with the province except upon advice of the Governor. I propose further that the Governors shall be at liberty to act contrary to the advice of the Executive Council if be think proper, but that on so doing he should make a minute of the occurrence. By this means, whilst we give the members of the Executive Council a proper degree of control in the affairs of the government of the colony, we also leave the Governor a discretionary power to act by himself where lie conceives the duty of his office and his general instructions require it. The next question to which I have to allude is the North American Land Company. This association, I believe, has been of great use to the colony ; many settlers have obtained advantages front it which they could not have hoped for, either from die government or from their own individual resources. I see no reason to differ from the resolution of the Commissioners in respect to this point. No doubt the Land Company might obtain a greater extent of land than it would be judicious to allow them to have, but a provision might, without much difficulty, be framed to restrain this. The Assembly, it ap pears, pretend that the Act of 1791 gives them the supreme control over all the wild land of the province—a pretence which I cannot agree to, as the Crown has never parted with its right to grant charters for the purposes of planting or clearing as it may think fit Another subject upon which much complaint has been made is the Act of this country in reference to tenures. This Act is complained of upon two grounds—first, that it was originally framed in igno rance of the tenures of the colony—( Hear, hear)—and, se condly, that it does not provide a means of voluntary commu tation. The Commissioners consider both these opinions well founded; and propose that as soon as any Act on the subject shall have been passed by the Colonial Legislature, Parlia ment shall repeal the above Act. In doing this, however, I need hardly observe that great care should be taken that the vested rights of individuals under the existing system be not prejudiced. Another complaint of the Canadas against the Act of 1791, especially on the part of Upper Canada, is the embarrassment which arises out of it to trade between the two colonies. A newspaper which I hold in my hand complains that every beat which comes from the lower provinces is sub ject to inspection of the Custom-house, and forced to pay duty, and that the passengers from Great Britain passing by this route are also subject to pay certain duties of this kind. It complains further, that the general division of the duties is unfair, and, above all, that they have not a full vent for their merchandise by the St. Lawrence ; for it appears that in the upper province by the Act of 1791 they have not the means of communication with the sea, and consequently with foreign parts, without the payment of considerable duties, and other impediments being thrown in their way in Lower Canada. With respect to this and many other questions of the like kind I think it highly desirable that some satisfactory adjust ment of difference should at least be attempted. At present, instead of the two colonies helping and strengthening one another, they seem but to be a mutual hindrance upon one an other's commerce and views. With a view to the adjustment of these differences, it is proposed, with the assent of the Le gislatures of the two provinces, that a Joint Committee should be appointed, to sit at Montreal, and which Committee should be composed in the following manner, namely, of four mem bers of the Legislative Councils of each province, and of eight members of each Representative Assembly, making twenty four persons in all, who should have the power to prepare laws and to compare results upon all these points of reciprocal po licy. One of the most important matters which would come under their notice would be the navigation of the St. Law rence. Another would be the settlement of matters of com merce between the two colonies. Another point would be the constitution of some fair Court of Appeal, and of impeachment for judges and other officers of the Executive, instead of, as under existing circumstances would be too apt to be the case, the accusing body being at once the accuser and the judge in the case. The Committee would also have to direct its attention to the line of boundary. It is hoped that on many of the points I have truched upon foie Committee would be able to devise mea sures by which the mutual interest and the good government of the two colonies may be greatly improved. With regard to the matters of supply to which I have already alluded, it is proposed that, after securing the civil list, and the salaries of the judges and of certain government officers, the whole revenue of the colony should be left to the disposal of the Assembly. The Assembly would hardly wish for more than this ; they would hardly, I think, wish to see the Judges made subservient to the vote of the Representative Assembly for the posts, instead of holding the independent position which their important of fice so peculiarly demands. Putting these few items, there fore, out of the question, theAssemblyas in thewould fstiolrlmhaatvioentlief disposal of the greater portion of the revenue of the province for purposes of national improvement, roads, &c. In this situation, without any direct tax, without any debt to keep down, and whose whole revenue is raised by means of duties upon commerce, which they apply as they think proper to their own internal improvements, and the ne cessary expense of their Assemblies, this, I think, is as desi rable a state of things as it is possible to conceive. With re spect to any injuries or disadvantages which the Canadians are alleged to lie under in respect to the law, I can only say that they do not appear in any of the petitions before us. That the House of Assembly should be entirely elected by themselves, that the Executive Government should be no minated by the Crown, but with certain conditions and securities, and that the House of Assembly should come to some arrangement with the upper province on the subject of trade, and other international matters, such are the general propositions which we desire to submit, with a view to bringing these complaints to an adjustment. With respect to the wild lands, they are, as I said before, in the hands of the Crown. The rule now is not to make the same improvident grants as formerly, but to sell the land at a fair price ; the House of Assembly having the general con trol for the revenue, leaving only to the Executive such su perintendence in ma tt ers of detail which is usual both in the mother country and in the colonies. According to this view of the case I think it can hardly be denied that these colonies are in the enjoyment of as great a portion of political free dom, and of personal immunity from oppression, and of as great power to make wholesome laws, as any persons at home. They certainly do not possess some privileges in the imperial government of the colony, which it is not in their nature, as colonists, to enjoy. At the same time, however, it should be borne in mind that they are exempt from the payment of taxes which we have to pay. Their taxes, on the contrary, are ex ceedingly light, and their means of internal improvement very great and very promising. Such is the condition of these colonies, and such will be their prospects if they accept the propositions which I have now laid down. If, on the other hand, they take an unfavourable view of these propo sals—if they persist in maintaining that it is absolutely ne cessary that there should be an elective Legislative Council and an Executive Council subservient to the Representative Assembly, then it must very shortly come to this, that they should also have a Governor of their own nomination, for none other would do their bidding.—( Hear.) If this be the proposi tion of the Assembly of Lower Canada, it is in another form nothing else than demanding the total independence of the colonies from the mother country. This is a demand which, if it be persisted in, must drive Parliament to the necessity of saying whether there is any form of colonial constitution under which the Canadas can be governed than that embodied in the Act of 1791. But to these addresses, by which the dignity of Parliament and of the country is impaired, and by adopting which we should be made responsible for acts in which we do not concur, and which we do not think desirable, I cannot ' agree. I, however, do not suppose that these colonies will persist in their demands ; but if they do still hold out, we have not the means of carrying on the government of them here in continual resistance to their Assemblies. Ido not propose to do away with the Constitution of 1791, but if the colonists are desirous of retaining that Constitution, and will agree to carry it on in the fairest way, that Constitution may be so carried on by the steps we are about to propose. Ido not think that we could carry on the government of the colony without the Le gislative Council; and I wish to have the advice of Parliament on the subject, whether we should yield to demands which we consider would amount to the abandomment of the colony al together, or whether we shall adopt the course I now propose, by which I hope to induce the colonists to reconsider the whole matter in dispute, and see whether those disputes had not arisen in a great part out of feelings of irritation consequent upon former disputes, and to offer such practicable measures as may induce them to abandon the greater number of those complaints. The Noble Lord sat down amidst general cheering. The following Resolutions, proposed by the Noble Lord, were then read by the CHAIRMAN 1. That since the 31st day of October, in the year 1832 no provision has been made by the legislature of the province of Lower Canada for defraying the charges of the administra tion of justice, and for the support of the civil government with in the said province, and that there will, on the 10th day of April now next ensuing, be required for defraying in fuU the charges aforesaid to that day the sum of 142,160/. 14s. 6J. " 2. That at a Session of the Legislature of Lower Canada, holden at the city of Quebec, in the said province, in the months of September and October, 1836, the Governor of the said province, in compliance with his Majesty's commands, re commended to the attention of the House of Assembly thereof the estimates for the current year, and also the accounts, show ing the arrears due in respect of the civil Government, and signified to the said House his Majesty's confidence that they would accede to the application which he had been commanded to renew for payment of the arrears due on account of the public service, and for the funds necessary to carry on the civil Government of the province. "3. That the said House of Assembly, on the 3d day of October, 1836, by an address to the Governor of the said pro vince, declined to vote a supply for the purposes aforesaid; and by the said address, after referring to a former address of the said House to the Governor of the said province, de clared that the said House persisted, amongst other things, in the demand of an elective Legislative Council, and in de manding- the repeal of a certain Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in favour of the * North American Land Company ; and by the said address the said House of Assembly further adverted to the demand made by that House of the free exercise of its control over all the branches of tll i e Executive Government ; and by the said address the said House of Assembly further declared, that it was incum bent on them in the present conjuncture, to adjourn their de liberations until his Majesty's Government should by its acts, especially by rendering the second branch of the Legislature conformable to the wishes and wants of the people, have com menced the great work of justice a n d re f orm , an d crea t e d a confidence which alone could crown it with success. " 4. That in the existing state of Lower Canada, it is in advisable to make the Legislative Council et that pi-I:wince an elective body ; but that it is expedient that measures be adopted for securing to that branch of the legislature a greater degree of public confidence. " 5. That while it is expedient to improve the composition of the Executive Council in Lower Canada, it is inadvisable to subject it to the responsibility demanded by the House of Assembly of that province. " 6. That the legal title of the North American Land Company to the land holden by the said Company by virtue of a grant from his Majesty, under the public seal of the said province, and to the privileges conferred on the said Company by the Act for, that purpose made in the fourth year of his Majesty's reign, ought to be maintained inviolate. "7. That it is expedient that so soon as provision shall have been made by law to be passed by the Legislature of the said province of Lower Canada, for the discharge of lands therein from feudal dues and services, and for removing any doubts as to the incidents of the te nure of land in free and common soccage in the said provinces, a certain Act made and passed in the sixth year of the reign of his late Majesty King George the Fourth, commonly called The Canada Tenures Act;' and so much of another Act passed in the third year of his said late Majesty's reign, commonly called ' The Canada Trade Act,' as relates to the tenures of land in the said pro vince, should be repealed; saving, nevertheless, to all persons all rights in them vested under or by virtue of the said recited Acts. 8. That for defraying the arrears due on account of the established and customary charges of the administration of justice and of the civil government of the said province, it is expedient that, after applying for that purpose such balance as shall on the said 10th day of April, 1837, be in the hands of the Receiver-general of the said province, arising from his Majesty's hereditary, territorial, and casual revenue, the go vernor of the said province be empowered to issue from and out of any other part of his Majesty's revenues in the hands of the Receiver-general of the said province, such furth4Psums as shall be necessary to effect the payment of the before-men tioned sum of 142,1601. 14s. 6d. " 9. That it is expedient that his Majesty be authorised to place at the disposal of the Legislature of the said province the net proceeds of his Majesty's hereditary, territorial, and casual revenue arising within the same, in case the said Legis lature shall see fit to grant to his Majesty a civil list for de fraying the necessary charges of the administration of justice, and for the maintenance and unavoidable expenses of certain of the principal offices of the civil government of the said province. " 10. That great inconvenience has been sustained by his Majesty's subjects inhabiting the provinces of Lower Canada and Upper Canada from the want of some adequate means for regulating and adjusting questions respecting the trade and commerce of the said provinces, and divers other questions wherein the said provinces have a common interest; and it is expedient that the legislatures of the said provinces respectively be authorized to make provision for the joint regulation and adjustment of such their common interests." Mr. LE ADE It—lt is my intention to oppose the resolutions proposed by the Noble Lord, if the usage of the House per mitted. If the Noble Lord in rising to bring forward the sub ject were under the necessity of craving the indulgence of the House, I must also claim similar indulgence, not only on ac count of illness, but on account of the vast importance of the question. The Noble Lord said he brought forward the reso lutions with considerable reluctance, and I am not surprised at the expression.—(.Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord represented a Liberal constituency, and was the leader of a Liberal. Go vernment, and he must therefore have felt reluctance in bring ing forward the most arbitrary measure ever proposed to that House. It was, in short, a coercion Hear.) The Noble Lord admitted that colonial assemblies were often in the right at the commencement, when they complained of grievances and claimed redress; but it also often happened that these colonies ended their claims by forming themselves into Commonwealths. The Assembly of Lower Canada had com menced with the first mode of proceeding; but unless their just demands were conceded they would not form themselves into a Commonwealth, but throw themselves into the arms of a neighbouring republic. I differ from the Noble Lord relative to the effects of the Act passed in 1828; and he will find on referring to it that the report of his own Commis sioners is equivocal on that point. The Noble Lord had told us that the Legislature had hitherto abstained from intefering with the steps taken by the House of Assembly. But what had caused that conduct but the course pursued for the last twenty years by a nominated council against the wishes of the Canadian people, and sustained by the bad p o li c y o f t h e Co lonial-office ?—( Hear, hear.) Ho says if the Legislative Council were made elective the interests of the people would predominate. What an objection to come from the Noble Lord 1 The people of Canada say, in order that all legisla tion may . not be impeded, there is an absolute necessity that the Legislative Council should be reformed; and the Noble Lord proposes, by way of remedy, not that the Legislative Council should be so reformed as to act in harmony with the other estates, but that the House of Assembly and the great body of the people should be made to conform to the vicious principles and practice of the Executive Council. The Noble Lord says it would be inexpedient to repeal the Act by which the North American Land Company hold their tenures. Now that very Act is one great subject of complaint. The people of Canada say that the tenure Acts, and other Acts" of a simi lar description, ought never to have passed the Imperial Par liament, and contend that so long as they have a Constitution and national Assemblies of their own, the Imperial Parliament ought not to interfere with their concerns. The Noble Lord said, if the Legislature of this country supported the reso lutions, the people of Canada would be placed in a most en viable position ; but the Noble Lord forgets one point ; he forgets that if these resolutions are passed, the independence of the Canadian Assembly is annihilated ; he forgets that the people are deprived of their constitutioual rights. That would be the result of the resolutions. Now, I ask the Noble Lord, whether he is prepared to deprive that Colonial Assembly of the rights with which it is entrusted for the benefit of the people—is he prepared to deprive that Assembly of their con troul over their finances, of their controul over the Executive, and to tax the Canadian people without the consent of the national Legislature ? Is there not an Act passed by the Im perial Legislature, which declares that the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada shall not be taxed but by their own Legis latures? And are not the resolutions of the Noble Lord di rectly opposed to this principle? The Noble Lord proposes that the House of Assembly shall pay certain arrears. They refuse to pay, unless on certain conditions—these conditions are not complied with, and yet the Noble Lord steps in between the paities—the Assembly and the Executive—and, in the most unconstitutional and arbitrary manner, endeavours to tax the colonies.—( Hear.) If such a system is to be carried into effect, the Constitution of Canada is a mere paper parch ment, and the Assembly nothing more than a debating club. I therefore contend that so long as the Canadian people have a constitutional Assembly of their own, it is beyond the right of this House to interfere with their concerns, or make any change in their financial affairs. The Commissioners had some feelings of this sort. What are their words ?—" That such a measure would be less objectionable than any interference with the privileges of the Canadian Legislature or any tam. pering with the principles of the Constitution granted in 1791." The Noble Lord said he was sorry there was no choice left but to adopt the latter course.—(Hear.) And what would that amount to but to send troops to the country, and provoke the people by threats and the fear of slavery ? Now, this un satisfactory and unconstitutional resolution—and he was not surprised when he read it—this unconstitutional resolution is founded on the Report of the Commissioners, and is in ac cordance with the policy of the Colonial office at all times. I heard the resolutions and the speech of the Noble Lord with sincere regret, because they would neither be satisfactory to the Colonial Parliament nor to the people of the country, whom they would exasperate in the highest degree. The grievances of the colony had existed for more than forty years. In 1791, when a change was made in the Constitution of the colony, it was said by many it would not work well, and the vital error was the nominated Legislative Council. The prediction has unfortunately proved too true. The Constitution has not worked well. For twenty years a contest has been carried on between the nominated Council and the Legislative Assembly, and all legislation stopped. And what does the Noble Lord propose to supply for a remedy ? The Noble Lord comes forward, not with a remedy, but with a resolution to make the people pay without directing his attention to theirjust demands. To the report drawn up and signed by the three Commis sioners there are notes appended ; some by Sir Charles Grey, disagreeing with apart of the report ; some by SirGeorgeGipps, of a similar character ; and there is only one on which they all agree, the general attack made on the Hon. Member for Bath. All agree to that short report; and even the Secretary was so delighted with it that he thought proper also to sign his name. In that report thep said little or nothing of the remedy, but it was full of threats against the Legislative As sembly, full of projects for taking away their rights, and with schemes for converting the minority into a majority, and with plans and bills of a similar nature, which, instead of satisfying the people of Canada, would excite them to the highest degree of exasperation. The Report acknowledged there were many grievances —it acknowledged the Assembly had justice on their side ; but there were many difficulties in settling the question, and they have not settled any question. They have staved many things off which, unless brought to a satisfactory conclu sion, may lead to a separation between Canada and this country. Now the great point to be settled, and on which the Canadians laid the greatest stress, was making the Upper Assembly elec tive. That depended on the state of parties in Lower Canada, it was said, because gentlemen interested told us that it was a contest not for right, but a contest between English and French Canadians. Now that was not the truth, because there is a majority of English Members voting with what was called the French party. Many of British descent and many of American descent are found to agree with those of French descent. It could not, therefore, as insinuated, be called a contest of races —no, it was a contest between the people and a nominated Council—it was a contest between the Oligarchy and the Democracy, insulted and trampled down by a miserable minority—an oligarchy who had so long tyrannised over the rest of the community that they they think they are deprived of their rights when affairs are placed on a proper footing. Four-fifths of the Canadians wish to make the Council elective ; and the other fifth, interested in abuse are determined to keep up the nominated Council, and say they never will submit to the National Colo nial Assembly. in favour of which of the two parties will you decide ? Will you agree with the minority or the majority ? That is the real state of the question. N% hen the Constitution was granted in 1791, the Ministers of the day thought it would be a great benefit, to give a Constitution as much like to that of England as possible, and they ac cordingly framed it on the same plan, though with dif ferent titles for the separate estates. For the King the Colonies have a governor—for the Cabinet a Privy Council —for the House of Lords a Legislative Council, and for a House of Commons a House of Assembly. The great dif ficulty was to find proper persons to constitute an Upper House, because in Canada there are no elements for an aristocracy—no persons of the proper stamp to make a House of Lords; but the governm'etit finding it was neces. sary to make the Constitution like that of England, created that assembly of officers nominated by the Crown. It was hardly to be expected that a body thus nominated would agree with an assembly elected by the people ; and the consequence was such as every man expected—the two houses did not agree on any one point, and all legislation was stopped—the Assembly was useless, and the colony was deprived of the benefit of a legislature, because it had been judged necessary to adopt this scheme for a House of Lords. What remedy do the Commissioners propose ? They do not propose to do away wfth the Legislative Council, or reform it, though after forty years' experience it had been found a failure. They did not propose to restore to harmony the Executive, the Legislative Council, and the House of Assembly, but still to 'keep up and preserve this strange and anomalous body. The Commissioners in their report admit that there was a want of harmony and a hostility shown towards the Legislative Council, and that something was expected by the people by which the Council would be placed more under control. Their words are:—" With these signs, therefore, of a conti nued hostility before us; we are disposed to ascribe the fact of no formal demand for an elective Council having been made before 1833 simply to the expectation entertained by the popular party, that in consequence of the recommenda tions cf the Committee of 1828, very essential alterations in the composition of the Council were on the point of being ef fected. An alteration was indeed produced in 1832. The judges ceased to take any part in its proceedings, and thirteen new members, unconnected with the government, were added in the course of the year ; but that these new nominations were unsatisfactory to the Assembly, and that the disappointment they felt at the alterations in the Council was the cause of their fresh proceedings against it, may be inferred from the fact, that in the next session of the Legislature was voted the first address in which a demand for an elective Council was put forth. . . . We certainly do not think that either the recommendation of the Committee of 1825, or anything that subsequently issued from a competent sourse, warranted an expectation that the Legislative Council was to be made entirely to harmonise with the feelings of the Assembly ; nevertheless, tbat something of the kind was expected by the popular party does seem beyond dispute. We do not feel called on to pronounce an opinion on the propriety of the appointments in question ; and the less so, as they were narrowly scanned in the cross-examination of Mr. Morin, before the Committee of 1834 ; but we may, we think, ven ture to say, that whilst they satisfied the terms of the re commendation made by the Committee of 1828, as far as the matter of pecuniary independence of the Crown was concerned, they scarcely produced an alteration in the political character of the body to which the new members were aggregated." The next topic they advert to is the contest between the two races. [The Hon. Member here read an extract from the Report to the purpose, as we understood, of showing that the two parties were strongly opposed to each other—the French party figuring as the asserters of the people's rights, and the British party complaining of not obtaining a proper share of power in the Lower Assembly.] That part of the Report, continued the Hon. Member, concluded with the remark, that though at first it might have been expedient to make some change in the constitution of the Assemblies, it would not be advisable to adopt the principle now. And why ? Because it would only take the power from one and give it to the other—the very argument used by Gentlemen opposite when they refused corporate reform to Ireland. They said "No I it may be just to give Corporations to Ireland, but we will not, by giving Corporations to Ireland, create a party triumph." It is perfectly surprising that Commissioners appointed by a Liberal Government should have drawn up such a Report. The Canadians, in a constitutional man ner, ask for the introduction of the principle of election into the Legislative Council, both as a great measure of reform, and as a measure of urgency, without which peace cannot be restored to Canada. What is the answer of the Commissioners? "We cannot agree to your request, for it is contrary to the unity of government in the British em pire. But we have a remedy of our own ; which is to deprive you of the control over your finances, and to take away your Constitution. ‘ We cannot consent to the introduction of the elective principle ; for then the Legislative Council will not be like the House of Lords." Sir, let it be remembered that, in the first instance, the Legislative Council was but an experiment. Mr. Pitt said that it was only an experi ment. What were the words of another great statesman, on the occasion of its establishment ? The Noble Lord told us the other night, that when he wished to seek for large and liberal principles of government, he did nor refer to the logic of Locke or the technicalities of Blackstone. I perfectly agree with the Noble Lord that a more powerful advocate of liberal principles than Mr. Fox never lived. But what did Mr. Fox say on the occasion to which I have just alluded ? In the debate on the Quebec Government Bill, in 1791, Mr. Fox said, " He did not advise giving Canada a servile imitation of our aristo cracy, because we could not give them a House of Lords like our own. The Chancellor of the Exchequer appeared to bo aware of this, and therefore he had recourse to a substitute for hereditary nobility. It was, however, he must contend, a very inadequate substitute ; it was a semblance but not a substance. Lords, indeed, we might give them, but •there was no such thing as creating that reverence and respect for them on which their dignity and weight in the view both of the popular and monarchical part of the Constitution depended, and which alone could give diem that power of controul and support that was the object of their institution." The expe riment has now been tried for above forty years; and the re sult has shown that Mr. Fox was right. It has been a 'Com plete failure. In a subsequent part of the same speech Mr. Fox said, " Instead, therefore, of the King naming the Coun cil at that distance—in which case they had no security that persons of property, and persons fit to be named, would be chosen—wishing, as he did, to put the freedom and stability of the Constitution of Canada on the strongest basis, he pro posed that the Council should be elective." So that I now merely propose what the Noble Lord's chief authority in poli tical matters proposed in 1791. Mr. Fox added, "In order to show that his idea of an elective council was not a new one, before the Revolution more of the councils in our colo nies were elected by the people than by the King." Such were Mr. Fox's views on the subject in 1791. He, at that time, predicted what has since happened. We have now the experience of forty years to guide us. Remember the consequences of the unholy policy pursued towards Ame rica. —(Cries of " Hear, hear,") Compare that policy with the liberal policy now pursuing towards Ireland, and determine which is the best. Remember that Canada has been complaining for these thirty years. Remember that there is in her neighbourhood a great, flourishing, and powerful Re public, anxious to assist her. Remember that the attachment of Canada to England, not weakened at present, can be de stroyed only by obstinate perseverance in an unjust course. In political condition Canada may be considered a miniature of Ireland. The Irish Members demand justice for Ireland ; demand justice for Canada. Sir, I move as an amendment to the Noble Lord's resolution, " That it is advisable to make the Legislative Council of that province an elective Council." Mr. ROEBUCK seconded the amendment. Mr. ROBINSON said that throughout his speech the Hon. Member for Bridgwater assumed that the Canadian House of Assembly must necessarily be in the right, and that the Legislative Council, the Commissioners, and his Ma jesty's Government must necessarily all be in the wrong. Now, really, that was very modest. When the Hon. Member de manded on the part of the Canadians that the Constitution of 1791 should be maintained, his (Mr. Robinson's) answer was, that that Constitution had been maintained, and that the amendment moved by the Hon. Gentleman was in direct vio lation of it.—( Hear, hear, hear.) The Hon. Member had quoted some words from a speech made by Mr. Fox on the discussion of that Constitution. He (Mr. Robinson) would also quote some is ords which fell from Mr. Fox during the same.debate; but which bore a very different construction. Mr. Fox's memorable expressions on the occasion to which he (Mr. Robinson) alluded were as follow :—" He laid -it down as a principle never to be departed from, that every part of the British dominions ought to possess a Government in the Constitution of which monarchy, aristocracy, and de mocracy were mutually blended and united ; nor could any Government be a fit one for British subjects to live under, which did not contain its due weight of aristocracy ; because that he considered to be the proper poise of the Constitution —the balance that equalized and meliorated the powers of the two other extreme branches, and gave stability and firmness to the whole." The broad principle thus laid down by Mr. Fox, that the three elements of our Constitution, the monar chical, the aristocratical, and the democratical, should be blended in the formation of any Government for British sub jects, was completely the point at issue between the Hon. Member for Bridgewater and the Canadian people and his Majesty's Government. The Honourable Member for Bridgwater had chosen to say that there was no dispute be tween the Canadian population and the British people in Ca nada. He (Mr. Robinson) maintained, on the contrary, that the Canadian population were endeavouring to separate them selves, to establish a distinct nationality of government, in op position to the English people settled in Canada. In La Minerve, a paper which was the organ of M. Papineau's party in Canada, there was this passage. —(The lion. Member here read the passage in question, which was to the following effect :—" In examining with the most attentive care all that is passing around us, it is very easy to convince ourselves that our country is placed in very critical circumstances, and that a revolution will perhaps become necessary—a Constitution re modelled—a nationality maintained. Such are the objects which at present occupy the thoughts of all true Canadians. I repeat that an immediate separation from-England is the only means of preserving our nationality.") He (Mr. R.) b e gged to remind the Hon. Member for Bath, that that Hon. Mem ber last year contradicted him when he asserted that there was a struggle going on between the Canadian Assembly a nd the British people in Canada; and that the former were de termined to govern Canada by and for the Canadian popula tion alone.—( Hear, hear.) now (Mr. R.) spoke of French Canada. Let the H ouse now hear what the organ of the French party further said :—" Some time hence, when emi gration shall have made our adversaries %qual to us, they will become more daring, and will endeavour to deprive us of our liberties. Let, then, all share the same fate as --" [We were unable to catch the conclusion of the paragraph.] Here was an open declaration of the object of the Cana dians, and of their determination to preclude the further influx of British settlers by threatening them with destruc tion. lie would ask a British Parliament if that were en object and if that were a determination in which they were disposed to concur ? Could we permit the French Canadians to say, " You shall not send any more British here, because in process of time they will equal us, and we shall lose our na tionality ?" The Honourable Member for Bridgwater seemed to have forgot, that when his Majesty's present Government came into office they adopted the plan of the preceding Government its sending out Commissioners to Canada. Could any objection be made to the three individuals who were appointed ? Could any one who knew the nature of the instructions which those Commissioners received, and who also knew their character, have any doubt that his Majese)'s Government in sending them, and the Commis sioners in undertaking the mission, were influenced by every possible motive of conciliation and good will towards the Canadians ? Let any one look at the assiduous efforts of the Commissioners, and the anxious desire which they evinced to yield e ver ythi ng to t h e F rench Canadian party that was consistent with the rights of the British party, and the honour of the British Crown. And sure he was that those Commissioners had not resolved to make the report which they had made, until they had relinquished all hope of effecting the great object which they had in view. Did the Hon. Member for Bridgwater recollect the able and conciliatory speech in which Lord Gosford, when be went to Canada, addressed the House of Assembly ? No one who had read this address Of Lord Goeford but must be convinced that his Majesty's Go vernment had sent that nobleman on a mission of peace and good-will to Canada; and that his Lordship was the man faithfully to execute such a mission. The Hon. Member for Bath had formerly spoken eulogistically of Lord Gosford. Mr. ROEBUCK denied having ever done so. Mr. ROBINSON observed that others then of the Hon. Member's party had done so ; but, as soon as they found that Lord Gosford was likewise disposed to do justice to the Bri tish settlers ifi Canada, they declared that lie was worse than his predecessor. lie (Mr. Robinson) had always been the advocate of liberal principles ; he had always been the advo cate of justice to Ireland ; but he utterly denied the identity of the state of Ireland and the state of Canada. What were the demands made by this colony ? In point of fact they amounted to nothing more or less than this general proposition , that the whole legislative power of the colony should be vested in the House of Assembly ; because when Hon. Gentlemen talked of having an elective legislative council, what to- 4 meant by that? Why, that by adopting the elective principle , that House should be rendered the echo, and the mere echo only, of the other H ouse . F or hi s own part he would met,"' rather prefer the Legislative Council being dispensed with al' together. The Government were anxious to remedy this state of things by so far effecting an alteration in the con stitution of the Legislative Council as to make it harmoniz e more with the House of Assembly. He believed, indeed , that the people of Lower Canada, looking to the vast cows. mercial interests with which they were identified, would prefer that the home Government should abandon them alto gether, and leave the colony to itself, rather than they should yield to those very extraordinary demands on the part or, the Legislative Assembly. But were they, the Members e t the British H ouse o f C ommons, to believe that the popula tion of Canada really desired a separation from this country, if these demands were not acceded to ? The Hon. and Learne d Member for Bath might attempt to persuade them to believe that the greater proportion of the elective body were sup Per; tern of the domi nant p arty . li e ( M r. Robinson) adm i t "' that Mr. Papineau exercised a domination over the electiv e body ; but there w as lik ew i se a very cons i dera b le port i on e , the Canadians opposed to his extreme views ; and who welsh' be much disposed to adopt the remedy propounded by thl Noble Lord. He was sa ti s fi e d th at t h ey wou ld ; b ut how CO it be expected that th e C ana di an peop l e wou ld b e content with anything which the Government could or would do, when--' ll addition to that exc it emen t w hi c h t h e proceedings of Mr. Pa l i pineau tended to k ee p up, the H onoura bl e and Learned Member for Bath (Mr. Roebuck), and the Honourable Met a " ber for Middlesex contributed further to the spread of that excitement, by sending out - the most inflammatory statement s to that country ?—( Loud cr i es o f " H ear !" and cheers frog' both sides of the House.) He did not forget that the and Learned Member for Bath had absolutely, in a let t l'i written to Lower Canada, declared that if the grievances the Canadians were not redressed, they would be justified 311 having recourse to arms— Mr. ROEBUCK rose to order. The assertion advance by the Hon. Member for Worcester had been so often ma de and so often contradicted, that he was astonished at that gel' tieman bringing it again forward, and he hoped he would for' bear doing so in future. a Mr. ROBINSON had no wish to mis-state anything, a n he begged the H on . M em b er ' s par d on if lie had unintentio n : ally done so. He thought, however, that the fact had been admitted, and he cert a i n ly was not aware t h at i t had ever bee n denied. Mr. HUME here interposed, and begged to speak to order' He begged also to deny what had been said of him by t he Hon. Member for Worcester.. Mr. ROBINSON—He could only say that he had el a letter in print whi c h ( as we un d erstood) he had never b e e denied before.—(H ear , h ear. ) T he Noble Lord the cer., cretary for the H ome D epartment had justly observed that the British Parliament was a b so l ute l y menaced, that if th i s reso lution were carried it would lead to a rebellion.—(Che ers ' and cries of " Hear I" from some of the Ministerial benches. He well remembered that last year the lion. Member Of Middlesex stated that these demands, which were raised ie Lower Canad a , were not con fi ned to Lower CanariaAlone; but were gradually finding their way to all the other p r ; c i vinc9 ; and undoubtedly if the same feeling did not e s ..„ te , o t to every House of A ssem bl y, i t was not owing to any "-se of assiduity on the p ar t o f t h e C anad i an party here, b e eit h e a a they had sent ou t cop i es o f t h ose papers to which be as referred, and att em pt e d to i nocu l ate the different provalaa with the same disease of dissatisfaction. But what hat been the revolutions of Upper Canada since last year? a? had been the effect of the co urse o f Si r F ranc is ri en d , ; It had led to a complete change of opinion in Upper CanAnk, and he would venture to say, that when be was then sP e jo es ing, there was not a colony in his Majesty's d erni F s fiei the people of which, generally specking, were more with with the Constitution under which they lived, and w ith ta d s connection with this country, than the people of Upper Ca ca n were ; and so would the people of the other North Ame r , r ,.. provinces be if they were let alone by those mischievo us brands.—( Hear, hear.) Y es • those mischievous firebrands' who who were endeavouring to persuade a class of men wh o , , vvc ro eminently indust r i ous and virtuous in themselves, and h e r well disposed, to break off the connection with the or, oo country, and to shake off the benefits which they derived.'i'f. it that connection. They also would be happy and satisfied w ho were not for the unfortunate influence of those parties, ~. , persuaded them that their interest lay in opposin the moderation,o had ment. The Noble Lord, in a speech of great nel'ant pointed out the course which his Majesty's Government to pursue under an unhappy exigency (because be was "_.id be disposed to think it unfortunate that the Government shou„_4 obliged to propose anything tending tocurtail the coustitutiw. THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1837.