The Sun. — London, England, 1828-05-03 00:00:00

I toted to tV' at of hi' 11 ' '' le petitionu g of a PS! letition he petitiO 1 41 from P e f for a ree the Prot tholic ions from i favour Of"' on froul owner 11 ', seized wag a ice Adroit * It !Joust. 6 the gra thought t ed of the tr y ion. petitios s "' l the igtt ow t l l l pursue 1 , .11 for eng l ' ' LS eomplP, , that .1 0 *,, ute some rho mad* 1 ,: e it before hialselL T, the pei'i'c .ralinent of le. im Neviel lti !: ext. 111 11 It lion. 6' as we uuder, h took frog' taking of the .t of the h office, ba h to situation* rish to see 5 11 he truste d of the power of the Croup not applY, t i " t-sons • +lli he or i g in , , nded by' ulf ad not coe it had g oof I been niaa r ' demnity i /if; lid, it con''' . 7 t; an be ion would 1) relieve those !tions of b i 4 fur there c le Crowg h discipli ne 'ould be very such chaV is very ac t , for it vvo asure tv°" l3 tsure Vi l) jeb e tendeocYt I hope wil ls :0 set at res t e Church 0 1 )ire enters be from bearia lt had bet' other flou4e ed, and 0 0 3 L. quarters 1 , , eral feeling' . .1 ; e repeated t Establisb e " repeal of tv as cotteurr e e, and if tight the . a Chri..tla ii is they e introda t arried ro od' those Ivoi' d4 amendloolti ation. tbeT: and Vol! uld not u p the whole body of Dissenters with the acts and opi nioris of a small sect, whose opinions were not shared by that b o d y. Lord MANDEVILLE said his objection was not to the t ul andrnent. H e w ou ld rat h er t h e w h o l e were om i t t e d. L ie Was not contented with a naked declaration of faith. He Itottld leave it out altogether, or have it more full and e xPileit. f Mr • W. SMITH said, that if the Noble Lord wished , (4. 4 salutary description of a Christian, he would find it ' n the l9th of Geo. 111. Mr. J. MARTIN objected to the words " I do solemnly " 4 sincerely in the presence of God," and also " on the tr tte faith of a Christian." ~T h e motion f o r taking the Lords' amendment into eon ration was now put and agreed to, and the amend millts were read a first time. 0 0 th e question that tsey be read a second time, tord J. RUSSELL said that the words of the declara ti°4+ Which had been added in the lairds, could not be ":usidered objectionable, as a declaration of religious opi '''Qns, for they were not so intended. The church of the ",-, u ntry. was Christian; and to whatever denomination o f " s ristians a man might belong, he could not object to de later "on the true faith of a Chi istian ;" for when a parry so declared, he could be und ers to o d t o mean on ly on the faith of that community of Christians to which he be low._ Se% The intentions of the House of Lords were, that -I , l an should give a solemn assent to Christianity, without P "lting out any particular sect of Christians. He did not think the declaration necessary, for he knew that many 7, 114 Were not Ch r i s ti ans w ou ld no t hesitate to take it. Was obj ec t e d th a t one p ar t o f th e ame ndments made the - `"lng of office without making the declaration a inisde 14eanour. 'this he did not approve, but still he did not it a reason why he should reject the measure. As Defhe oth er c l auses , th e y ma d e the Bill more definite than ore, in including persons in inferior situations. This 418 0 disapproved ; but still he would rather take the 'NI) even with this, than run any risk of losing it by op °°iwg what he considered as objectionable p ar ts. The Clause he considered somewhat confused. It applied , A3t 7, the Whole o f th e A c t, an d no t t o an y p art i cu l ar c l ause . He had now briefly adverted to the chief parts of the Bill, 44, 1 he would say. that taken as a whole, and as a measure of relief to a large class of his Majesty's subjects, he was `atisfied with it, and was grateful for it ; and he hoped that those for whose benefit it was intended would receive st in the same feeling, and that they, on their part, would u eaceforward be disposed to look n ith a favourable eye on s ay measure which might be introduced for a more general "tension of the principle of religious liberty.—(Hear.) Mr. PEEL said that there were some parts of the Bill neich he cou ld w i s h t o see h a d b een diff erent l y wor d e d l l're it passed into a law. The words " within this 4 , 1 " be th oug ht wou ld b e muc h b etter t h an th e wor d ::_ n gland," as it now sto o d i n th e Bill. H e must also G that h e th oug ht th a t h e cou ld w i s h t o see th e i tin pe of the measure carried farther, and have clerks and "01 iu subordinate stations exempted from the necessity w a t u_olting th e d ec l ara ti on . H owever , as th e N o bl e L or d tt, ' not thou g ht it ex p e di en t t o pro p ose an y a lt era ti ons i n I: 4 Parts o f th e Bill, h e did no t f ee l ca ll e d upon to d o so . taking his leave of the Bill, he would say, that he ad nt first opposed the measure, because, as the question ot been discussed for nearly forty years, and as there of b een a cessation of religious differences, he was afraid tonetioning the introduction of a measure, by which t 'e diff erences might be renewed. He did not, how think, nor had he stated, that such a test as the 1 1 111 had imposed was necessary ; nor had be stated, Willingness that the sacramental test was unob jegtftable ; but he had said that the Act was the t tili severe by the operation of the annual Indemnity z i t Wh e n, however, he saw that a large maps c't that House was in favour of the repeal, he did not. the t hink that the time was arrived fer abrogating t h,, b t est altogether. Be must admit that he did not think t orA u ill Was improved in its progress through the House of roe 95 "--(lfea r , hear.) But he agreed that the amend. °ts there made were not of such importance as that, on oti . ' account, any risk of losing the Bill should be en ,o-hilttled• With respect to the part taken in the discus -1 of the Bill in the other House by the Right Rev. who attended, he thought that it was creditable to 7 in thehi g hest degree.—(Hear, hear.) T. ACLAND expressed his objection to the amend th'tss and would have preferred the Bill as it had gone to -4 Lords from that House. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER consider ,,t4l it imp ro per that no allusion was made, in the declara toa which persons taking office were compelled to make, i° the established church in Ireland. The declaration men 44'd only the church as by law established in England.- I: ll4 'euld therefore move that the words " and in Ireland" hir,istaertaai. sTANLEY thought the amendment immaterial. TRANT supported the amendment. ti le : o d d. % RUSSELL would not object to the insertion of Mr, 13 E or ' EL thought that the insertion or omission of the T he " Was of no great consequence one way or the other. P r eamble of th e Bill made mention of th e " Protestant Plsc o p rth Pal Church of England and Ireland." No misap deo "ion. therefore, could arise from the omission in the +o rotion. T he CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then Uttirew his amendment. 0 t 1.01,,ij fae. 4 Other amendments of the Lords were agreed to, and ef - th ' . PUSSELI, was directed to inform their Lordships toIP the question that the House at its rising do adjourn e • OUGHAM, now that the kill was in perfect ,otY, before which it would have been unwise in him to ff , word th a t m i g ht h ave h ave g i ven r i se to di scuss i on , _ to tak e th e ear li est opportun i ty o f express i ng hi s ent i ce t'illacurrence in opinion with those who disapproved of amendments made to the Bill in the house of 1„ . " 11 .• He agre e d with th e N o bl e L or d, w h o sa id t h at b ot h , 1 7 touch and too little bad been done in the other House. much had keen done to please those who held that no k r Ought be excluded, and too little for th ese w h o ma i n - Il ed the opposite. 't he declaration of faith was left in t), ee ry vague and indefinite state. He concurred with t‘ - `e who s t a t e d th a t th e Bill wou ld b e difficult to under- He believed it would puzzle the legal ingenuity iiiipost persons to state what the law would be after the mod.--The question was then putt, and agreed to. eIVI L GOVERNMENT OF THE CANADAS. Mr, to Secretary HUSKISSON—Mr. Speaker—Previous p l‘ , 4 °l e ling the a ttention of the House to th e su bj ec t n of n t motion, for the appointment of a Select Ci , mmittee II: 4 '1 1 11re i n t o t h e con dition of the Civil Go vernment o f te: . l' n ' 'nadao, ulas I think it incumbent upon me to acknowledge, L now do, the kindness and courtesy evinced tow a rd s me House ' in permitting this question to be brought • its consideration out of the ordinary course of • The s u bj ect , Sir, to which I wish to call the atten -4,4 o f Parliam en t on the present occasion,. is one which, 441 7 Y er it may bear, and it chiefly dues bear upon interests feelings in great degree removed from those which '444 • ' 44 affect ourselves—which, notwithstanding, considerations that do not directly and immediately ° Lorne to the bosom of the majority of the people .m o! las t l t ,'°untry, is nevertheless . a matter of considerable tis te 4u e - es The question which I wish at this time to in sit4 the House to investigate is, whether those extensive kasi possessions of the s Crown, the Canadas, are or Well °t administered under system of Civil Government, tls, a dapted to promote the r rosperity . and . peaceable set !,,it • t of those provinces—properly suited to the well- Jr tts g happiness of nearly o r million of B r i t i s h sub -441 a nd well-ealculated to maintain the allegiance of our tii,l" l ents, and p reserve un broken theaaffectiona e and goad zki h er ' t anding whi c h s h ou ld a lways subsist between °0 the one h an d an d t h e M ot h er Country tke ether. i llqUiry it should be found that the pre sent syst em Ittssr" er nment in these States is not calculated to a n_ Jhis purpose—and if it shall also be found th at th e and Y uf th e ev il canno t b e app li e d without the . authority I,,ti!titerference of the British Parliament—it will be in ration trs d 'aulen t t„ with the question with a view to - of such modifications, improvements, and fate th e existing system, as may appear in its wisdom i "ttl - " r Y• But, Sir, though considerable errors and de . -: •t c'Y be fotiod to exist in the present system—althoegl " 4 1i '64l preliend a great number of gross imperfection . s, ii % (Ift.)lt,,Y; i . t hstanding sonic oversights may be discovered in iu ~ d iri l l''''stration—it does sot follow . that any particular ' t u g 1 4 to blame, or can be justly accused of occasion liruperfections. Sir, the Constitution ' under which d 'Y' 4, l 4'- " 4 „,," re now governed, was devised and introduced ''uar rne the greatest statesmen, the most distinguished . at.4,rs tau quite that ever appeale d llow littlerepared to maintain. But when we consider tl in t . was then known, and to Woat, ~ the country ques ion Qe 'lto- "lit ed extent its lesourtes and interests wereun : ud, it will rot appear matter of surprise er ast oics t ' 't toaler such circumstances, :aid at such times, is,T:,Y,istent devised for its government should have been ex that Y defective Neither will it appear unaccountable ti eulc h the details of th a t s yst em t h ere s ho u ld b e many if whioslft • w which require to be removed—many imperfections t 'quir e a rm Y ed —many omissions which require tit s C "applied. ! u contemplating tly. nature of the inin laas.tio, Provid e d f or t h e C ana d as, we must a l ways b ear try h as tne gre a t an d l ea di ng pr i nc i ple on which this coun tospi7'l t ver acted ia regard to her political relatio both -4 (41 mean the maintenance cf ns, nations honour and good faith. In this ease it was necessary for us to maintain the good faith of the engagements entered into by this country with the French settlers, who constituted the ori ginal population of these colonies ; at the same time that we endeavoured, as far as was consistent with these engage ments, to introduce among them the benefits to be derived front a system of British law, jurisprudence, and civil ad ministration ; a system which has already advanced the prosperity of this country and her ether dependencies to so extraordinary and unparalleled an extent. I can assnre the House, that neither the importance of this subject, nor the difficulty of examining fully and fairly, within a brief space, the merits and demerit, of the Civil Government of these Colonies, as originally established, shall induce me to trespass at a greater length than is absolutely necessary on its patience, in the course of the observations which I arn now about to make. Sir, with this intimation I proceed to observe that by the Act of 1791, framed for the govern ment of the Canadas, it appears we are perfectly at liberty to alter, modify, or amend that Act in any way we think proper. I state this, not as an abstract reason or proposi tion which may or may not apply to the subject now be • fore us—not on the authority of the paramount power of the British Parliament, which is fully competent to do so —but I trace the principle to the clauses and enactments of the Pill itself, and its express declarations to this effect. In constructing this law Mr. Pitt expressly provided that nothing which it contained should be held as not subject and liable to such further alterations and amendments as circunastanets might from time to time appear to require. Sir, it carries the principle of modification or repeal even to the reserved lands allotted for the use and maintenance ' of the Established Church in Canada. It is therefore clearly apparent that we are quite as much at liberty to con sider the Act of 1791, with reference to the amendment of any imperfection or defect contained in it, as we are at liberty to consider in a similar manner any other Act of the Legisla ture. Sir, I look on it as extremely fortunate that no doubt can exist on this point. I am glad that the su preme power of the British Parliament to deal with de fects or difficulties of this nature, and to reform the pre vious Acts of the Legislature, in regard to the (government of our Canadian territories, cannot be disputed. I am the rather disposed to rejoice at this circumstance, because, standing aloof, as we do, from the party feelings and local jealousies of the Canadians, our decision will be the inure respected-Ist, as coming trom a high and competent au thority' ; and next, on account of our manifest impartiality. On both these grounds I am satisfied that the final deter mination of Parliament in regard to the Civil Government of the Canadas, will be cheerfully received, and readily ac quiesced in. In this view of the subject I confess I do feel sanguine of the result of our interference. I consider it calculated to allay all the animosities of the Canadians, and, if wisely conducted, well adapted to place the system of Government in our North American territories on a satisfactory and permanent footing, thus conducing at once to the manifest benefit of the colonies, and promoting the interests of the Mother Country. Sir, I feel most anxious to save the time of the House as much as possible, and with that view I shall not enter into details of the various changes that have taken place in the Civil Administration or Go vernment of the Canadas since these Colonies came into the possession of the British Crown, any further than may be absolutely necessary to render clearly intelligible to the House the grounds of the difficulties, dissentious, and con troversies, which now exist in those provir _Ts. The House is aware that the Canadas were ceded in full and sole sove reignty to the British Crown, by the French nation, in the year 1763. They were then unconditionally ceded to this country., without any stipulation or obligation whatever with respect to the mode in which they were to be adminis tered. So far from there being any condition or qualifica tion connected with the surrender of these provinces—so far was this from being the case, that they were yielded up to England by France in full sovereignty and complete pos session, as in the case of a new conquest. Perhaps it may be necessary to state that the country was settled by the French about the year 1606, when the first French Governor was appointed: At this time the population was princi pally, it not wholly, confined to the banks of the River St. Lawrence, and the two towns then built, namely, Montreal and Quebec ; and at the period of the conquest of the French settlers did not exceed ti 5,000. It was thought wise by the Government of France (I say nothing now as to the policy of the measure)--it was thought Ns ise, in this limited population, to graft the &udal system of France, as it existed in that country in all its vigour, and I will add de formity, in the 16th century. The French system was fol lowed not only in the institutions but in the buildings of the new colony ; and the country house of the settlers ex hibited all the defects, inconveniences, and bad taste, per ceivable • at Versailles, without its grandeur or extent. Such was the state of Canada under the French regime ; the feudal system flourished in all its vigour among a small population and in the midst of a desert. The mother country grafted upon the other institutions of her colony a law of succession—not the general French law of suc cession, (which was that of primogeniture), but a system denominated a the custom of Paris." So that, connect ing the effects of this law of succession with the influence of the feudal system in Canada, while tinder the dominion of the French, the consequences to the colony were any thing rather than beneficial. The lords paramount held directly under the Crown, and granted certain portions of lands to their vassals. These seignories (according to the law of succession to which I have alluded) were not capable of severance, but they were divided and subdivided ever since the period of their first institution. They were to remain indivisible because the holder of the land owed suit and service to the Lord Paramount. Now, however, they are subdivided into shares so minute as to be greatly to the advantage of those who administered the existing system of civil law ; at the sante time that the circumstance is equally disadvantageous and prejudicial to the interests of persons possessing or claiming to possess property in them. Such is the natural consequence and effect of the complicated state of tenures in the Canadas. Sir, it was no longer since than this morning that I saw in a Canada paper an advertisement of the sale of a one-thirteenth of a hundreth part of a Lordship. Some of the netices of sale in these Colonies are extremely curious, and comprehend frac tional parts of fractions of estates, of a nature to puzzle Mr. Finlayson himself, with all his skill in figures. We read constantly of the third of a 7th, and the half of a Gth of a Lordship to be disposed of. I recollect one notice of the sale of a forty-fourth of a fourth of a tenth of a sixth share of au estate—another of an eleventh of a fourth of a fifth of a sixth ; and another (the last I shall mention) of a forty fourth of a fifth of a sixth. Under this curious and rather puzzling state of the law by which seignories were divided into such impracticable shares, it is almost impossible for any person to tell to whom it is that he owes suit and ser vice. Yet a great many duties are imposed under the feudal system, some of them to be paid in kind and some in money. For instance, there are fines, annual duties on all alienations of property, and various rights and duties of a most vexatious and harassing nature. A short time after the treaty, by which, in the year 1763, Canada was ceded to the Crown, the King of England issued a procla mation, inviting such of his subjects as were so disposed to settle in the newly acquired territory, declaring the Royal intention 'shortly to confer a Legislative Assembly on the Colony, and informing them that all persons settling in the country should forthwith enjoy the benefit and protection derivable from British laws and Courts of Justice. Until the year 1774, British laws were as far as possible intro duced and carried into effect in the Colony—British Courts of Justice were established, with proper Judges to admi nister the law, and the whole system of British judicature was set on foot according to the terms of his Majesty's de claration. The other part of the proclamation, containing an assurance relative to the appointment of a Legislative Assembly, was not carried into effect. In 1774, from the situation in which other provinces of America, then be longing to the Crown, were placed, it was not thought expedient by the Government of the day to grant a Legis lative Assembly to Canada. It appeared about this time that the Canadians were greatly attached to their ori ginal system of legislation and not well satisfied with that more recently introduced amongst them. Accordingly, it .. be ing thou g ht desirable to conciliate the loyalty, a "ection, and ood-will of our Canadian subjects at that juncture, in 1774 it was for the first tune men tioned in Parliatnent that it would be desirable to - pass an Act of the Legislature, not for the purpose of making good f the assurance of 1763, but to recall all the pledges relative ! to the formation of a system of British jurisprudence, and the establishment of British Courts of Justice. A Bill was accordingly, brought i nto t h e Commons for the purpose o f effecting this object. The preamble of the Act was sug gested in compli ance with, th e w i s h es and feelings Canadian s , an d went upon t h e prin ciple y. ' andthla of theiattitelidTrtcn up It ' laws, to Which they had been long accustomed, were well adapted t o t h e i r s i tuat i on and cir cumstances. The Bill itself recalls ali the declarations con tained in Clue proclamation of 1 763—re-establishes the French laws and customs as they regard property, and the system of civil law, including the custom of Paris. How ever, the same Act makes provisions for retaining the ad ministration of the Criminal Law of England in Canada, t which, front 1774., was to be governed by the civil law of France, and the Criminal Code of England. Between the years 1763 •and 1774, the Crown lied proceeded to make grants of land in Canada, with a view to the settle ment of the colony, by an additional number of new in habitants. In all grants , out o f i mme diate lordships, the lands were held under tenures of free or common soccage, as contradistinguished from seignories. The holders were placed untie' the influence of an unintelligible system or ' latC before. One estate was held by a common soccage, another by a different tenure. With respect to civil rights, as I have already said, the French law and administration was established; but the English system of jurisprudence prevailed in criminal matters. In the same year (1774), another important Act, and one well calculated to coaci liate the favourable feelings and loyalty of the Canadians towards the Crown, received the sanction of the Legisla ture. By this Bill, it was provided that all customs and duties (and they were numerous, onerous, and oppressive), heretofore imposed on the colonists by France, and from the date of the Conquest to that year ?sayable to England, should thenceforth and for ever cease and determine. lieu of these imposts, the Act appointed other duties of a more easy and equitable nature, the produce of which was to be appropriated not to the advantage of the mother coun try, but to defray the expences necessarily attendant on the • administration of Civil Justice, and the maintenance of the • local Government of Canada. In 1774, two boons were afforded to the Canadians, the first of which was, the re storation of the system of Civil Law, of which they ap • proved, and under which they had before lived ; the other boon consisted in the recognition by this country of the established religion, and a provision being made for its maintenance and support. The latter is a boon which I sincerely trust may never be withdrawn. I have spoken of these two measures adopted by England, as boons to the Canadians, for such they were certainly considered by them at the time, whatever may have been the subsequent effects of one of them; suffice it to say, they were afforded in a spirit of conciliation, and accepted with feelings of gratitude and satisfaction. Of the recognition and esta blishment of the prevailing religion in Canada, in 1774, I have already spoken in terms of ag,probation, and have Only to repeat my hope that the gift may never be disturbed or rescinded. No doubt it was thankfully received, and is gratefully remembered. The other boon (namely, the re storation of the system of French law, and administration in civil cases) was in all probability quite as notch prized at the time by the parties, as the provision made for recog_ nising their religious faith. I ant satisfied, however, that if not then restored and re-established, the laws in question (which are unfriendly to commerce, and repugnant to en lightened principles of unrestricted dealing), must soon have disappeared under the influence of British enterprise. But, passing by this topic for the present, I may be allowed to remark, that the abolition of the French duties, and the imposition of other and less burdensome taxes, the proceeds of which were applied to the support of the Colonial Go vernment and institutions, was in itself a considerable be nefit to the Canadians. 1 n 1778 a law was passed in this country, which, although not immediately bearing upon, or having reference to, Canada, was :yet :of considerable importance, as well to that as to our other Colonies. I al lode to the Declaratory Act, by which this country relin quished all future right to tax its Colonies, granting them the power to impose duCes themselves, which duties were to be applied to the support of their own institutions and establishments, and were not to form part of the revenue of Great Britain. At this time there existed, perhaps, a doubt as to whether the Act applied to Canada. Some thought that the Bill was only meant to apply to our Co lonies in the West Indies, and to those places in America that retained their allegiance to England, and had Legisla tive Assemblies of their own, which were hereby autho rised to tax themselves. But, however the fact might be, in this state Canada remained till the year 1791, when it was thought necessary by Mr. Pitt to introduce his Bill, since commonly called and known by the appellation of the Quebec Act. This law attracted more notice at the time of its enactment, principally on account of the then state of parties in the House, than it might in all probability have otherwise done, by reason of its intrinsic interest or im portance. Mr. Pitt thought it was no more than was due to the growing importance and wealth of Canada—a wealth and importance that had received considerable ac cessions during the continuance of the American war—to give that colony a popular representation. It is here expe dient to observe, that by one of the provisions of this Act, the right and controul over all imposts was vested in an Assembly, to be so constituted. We should bear this cir cumstance in mind, because what now exists has reference to this Act. By the Bill of 1774, the system of Civil Law of the Colony was established, and provisions were made for the support of its Government, by means of moderate duties then imposed. Under the Act of 1791, all ditties were to be imposed and appropriated as the Colonial Legislature should determine. One object of the Act was, to divide the co lony into two separate provinces (Upper and Lower Canada), giving to each a separate Legislatnre. It was considered desirable to encourage loyalists and disbanded soldiers to become settlers in Upper Canada, where there were no French settlers, and no feudal system was in operation.— The Act provided, that, in the province of Lower Canada, the Legislative Assembly should consist of not less than 50 Members, while in Upper Canada (then just about to be settled) the population being more scanty, the minimum of members of Assembly was fixed at 15. In Upper Canada the Assembly was to be increased as the province should become more thickly peopled. These details were left to those persons who administered the Government in the colony. The Gallant Officer who administered the Go vernment of Canada in 1792, divided it into 1S counties, each sending two members to the Assembly; three counties sending each one representative ; two cities privileged to elect four members ; one town sending two members, and one electing one representative—making a total of 50. What I complain of is, that the representation was not equally distributed ; it is a great error to take the density of population many years ago, and apply it as a permanent standard to the number of representatives to be chosen for particular places and departments. The effect of this errone ous principle has necessarily been to throw the chief power of representation into the hands of the Seignories. The same de fect existed in Upper as in Lower Canada. The English set tlers are excluded from a fair participation in what ought to be a popular representation, and the power of election-is thrown into the hands of the descendants of the French. I state these complaints with the more confidence, because in all parts of Canada it is agreed the present system works so ill as to stand in need of alteration. Under the present practice, the English settler is exposed to great inconve nience, and suffers an unjust exclusion from advantages of which it is only just that he should enjoy a reasonable share. I allude now to the condition of our countrymen in Lower Canada ; but in doing so, I do not desire to make it a matter of charge against those who represent the French Seignuries, that they act as they do. It is the system, not the individuals, that requires reformation. There is no possibility of suing or being sued, except in the French Courts, and according to the French form and practice— no mode of transacting commercial business, except under French customs, now obsolete in France. In Lower Ca nada they go upon the law and system of feudal tenure, and the law is more incapable of ever being improved or modified by the progress of information and knowledge, than if it still remained the system of France and the model of her dependencies. Here, in the midst of a wilderness, flourishes the French feudal system, and the custom of Paris of centuries ago. The result is, that Englishmen in Ca nada are as much like aliens and settlers in a foreign land as an equal number of British, subjects who should have sat down in the centre of France in the 13th century. It is not therefore to be wondered at that our countrymen have had to encounter considerable difficulty in Lower Canada, and that but a slow progress has been made towards the settle ment of that province as compared with the upper pro vince. In fact, the inconvenience of the existing condi tion of things cannot be well torderstood in this country. In this colony the law of mortgage is in the worst state. The registration of deeds is another point deserving atten tion ; and the laws and usages relating to the formation of roads are those of the old French feudal system. The consequence has been that in the last fifteen years not one single Road Bill has been passed by the Legislative As sembly of that province. Thus there was no opportunity afforded the English townships of communicating with the river St. Lawrence except by some of its tributary streams, on account of the interposition of the seignorius between them and that river. In the same manner, another part ui what I consider an important public duty in a Legislative Assembly was overlooked-1 mean the education. of the children of the settlers. That was a sub ject never thought of. In point of fact the state of things was such, that the settlers felt more disposed to connect themselves with those districts which border on the United States, where they could better have their wants of this description supplied, and receive the benefits of the ad ministration of justice, than to remain is the country to which they owed allegiance. These evils, Sir, have, I re gret to :say, been of some standing, but they have been more severely felt as the capital and population of this country have been directed to these colonies, and as they have become of greater importance to the interests of the mother country. Having become sensible of the evil, the question now arises as to what remedy shall be applied to it. There was one suggested, and attempted to be carried into effect about four years back, in 1822—1 think it was by my Right lion. Friend behind me—by which the two legislatures were to be incorporated into one ; that is, the Upper, or English part of the province, was to be re-united under one government, with the French or Lower part of it. There were various grounds on which the Bill my Right H on . F r iend introduc e d w i t h t h at v i ew , were opposed, but t h e pr i nc iple, I believ e , was t h e l ateness of the Session, and the consequent fewness of the Members that would have been present at the discussion of so import ant a question. That Bill, therefore, did not pass. Whether the remedy it proposed is Ow best that can be imagined, I will not now undertake to say ; lint it is certainly open to many very serious objections. Those, however, With the remedy itself, will be proper subjects for the consideration of the Committee I mean to propose. Another remedy`] that has been suggested is to form all the English Town ships, as they are for the sake of distinction called, into third Province. To that scheme also the objections are I both numerous and serious. Indeed, there are none that have been devised, or that can be devised, that have not been, and will not be, subject to many difficulties and oft- I jections. It will be the duty of the Committee to point ! out that course which offers the least of those objections, to reconcile the conflicting pretensions of the different parties, and thus remove the great obstacles to the improvement of this important colony. But, Sir, these are not the only considerations that have induced me to recommend the House to take into its consideration the state of the civil Go vernment of Canada. There is another of a most important nature. Besides the obstacles 1 have men tioned as lying in the way of the happiness of this Colony, there is another of a most formid able nature, which has grown up out of the state of the representative system as I have described it there.— It is a difficulty which renders it absolutely necessary that Parliament should take this subject into consideration. I allude to the disputea which have arisen concerning the extent of controul the Colonial Legislature should have over the public revenue of the colony and its fiscal tegola tions.—(Hear.)---If the House has done me the honour to follow me in the details I have gone through, it will be recollected that I have stated that in 1774, all the taxes imposed under the French regime were abrogated, and other duties levied in their stead, which were appropriated by the Crown to defray the expellees of the Administration of Justice, and of the civil establishment of the colony.— The duties, thus levied, in lieu of the old French ones, I may describe technically as the permanent revenue of the Crown. It amounts to about 35,0001. per annum, and has, pursuant to the original intention, been applied, under the direction of the Lords of the Treasury, to the purposes for which it was appropriated by the Act of 1774. Besides this, the Crown has a small revenue called the casualty revenue, which consists of fines, forfeitures, and ether incomings, belonging to the Crown as the lord pa ramount. This revenue amounts to about 5,0001. per annum, and is at the absolute disposal of the Crown ; but this also has been appropriated to the civil services of the country. The remaining revenue of the colony arises from taxes imposed since the year 1791 by the Co lonial Legislature. Part of this revenue the Assembly has appropriated specifically to discharge the expences of its own sittings, and part to the itnprovent of the navigation of the River St. Lawrence. The sum appropriated to this last purpose is not large. The remainder of the money raised has been appropriated by the Legislature to the different expences of the colony generally. The amount thus collected by the taxes imposed by the Assembly has been, upon au average, about 140,0001. per annum. There are also some small stuns raised by virtue of Acts of this House, passed for the purpose of regulating the trade of the Colony. For some time after the passing of the Act in 1774, nothing could go on more smoothly than the system it established. The Crown had divested itself of the power it had over the permanent revenue; and the sum raised under that name, although small, was sufficient for the maintenance of the civil service, and of the judicial esta blishments. Afterwards, however, the necessity of making roads, and numerous ether expences incidental to a rising colony, rendered this sum insufficient. It became neces sary, therefore, to raise a larger sum, and this was done by the authority of the House of Assembly. By what degrees, in what manner, and under what circumstances, a difference grew up between the local legislature and the Executive I Government, it is not necessary I should trace, for any of the purposes I have now in view. The present state of the controversy, however, is of this nature. The I-louse of Assembly of Lower Canada claims the right of appro priating the permanent revenue item by item ; that is to say, the right of deciding what branches of the civil service, and what of the judicial establishments, should receive their income, and in what portions, from this fund. On the other part, it is maintained, and, as it appears to me, in a manner absolutely incon trovertible in law, that the Crown possesses over this re venue a discretionary power as to the proportions in which it is to be distributed, provided it be for purposes directed by the Act. I believe there is no lawyer in this country, nor indeed any one in the least acquainted with the relative situations of the parties, who will deny that as long as the Crown appropriates that revenue to the Administration of Justice in Canada, and to its Civil Government, pursuant to the Act of 1774—as long as it fulfils all the conditions required by good faith towards the Canadians, no one, 1 say, will deny its right to prescribe the mode in which the Revenue consistently with that Act, shall be expended.—. There is, I am sure, none who will not say, that the pre tensions of the Legislative Body to take the whole manage ment of this money into its own hands, are neither founded in law nor practice. On the other hand, the House of As sembly holding the public'purse in its hands, having the com plete command of the general Revenue, in order to enforce its unreasonable pretensions—for so I must call diem, inasmuch as they are contrary to law, inconsistent with, and subversive of, all the principles of Constitutional Government—in order I say to enforce their pretensions, have refused to appro priate any part of the larger revenue, of which they have the command, unless also the appropriation of the permanent Crown revenue be given up to them also. This, Sir, is the state of the controversy between the Executive and Legislative Body in Canada. The consequences of the agitation of such a question as this, in which both parties have stood upon their extreme rights—(hear, hear.) — have been most unfortunate, awl such as all who looked dispassionately at the subject, could not but most deeply re gret. One of the unfortunate consequences has been, the necessity under which the representative of the King has found himself, of appropriating money for the necessary services of the colony without the sanction of the Colonial Legislature. Such a thing as this, in a country with a Legislative Assembly—in a country that has the least pre tence to freedom, can only be justified by the absolute ne cessity of preventing general confusion, and the subversion of the Government. I do not stand here—God forbid that I should—in the British House of Commons, living as I do, in a country where the rights of the popular branch of the Legislature to control the expenditure of the money it raises are so well known and universally acknow ledged—to defend the abstract propriety of a Governor of a colony appropriating its revenue without sanction of an Act of the Legislature, as required by law; but, pressed by neces sity, it ought not perhaps to be wondered at, however we may regret the necessity, that a Governor should take all the means in his power to maintain the tranquillity of the place committed to his charge. When principles are pressed to the extreme, a Legislature may, no doubt, distress the Executive Government of a country, and so wear it out by continued opposition, as to have the point in dispute con ceded ; but what are not in the mean time the unfortunate results to the people ? What, in the midst of these con flicts, has been the result to the province of Canada ? Nothing was expended of the money raised in this irregu la: manner, as I must call it, but what was absolutely ne ceasary to carry on the government of the province ; all improvement was at a stand, the roads were neglected, education was overlooked, the public buildings were suf fered to fall to decay, and the country generally—l will not say reduced to a state of anarchy, because the King's Representative properly sustained his government—was brought to such a state that there was not a Canadian whose interests did not stiffer. The recurrence of such a I state of things it is our duty to prevent, and I think I have made out such a case as is sufficient to convince the House without going into further details, that, if we have the right and the power, the time is come which warrants me in calling upon Parliament to interpose its beneficent au thority for the purpose of quieting these feuds, and of esta blishing such a system of civil government as may give a fair share to all parties of the province of the adielinistra don of the revenues, so as to render them available for the improvement of the country— suc h a sy stem as will on the one hand give to the Legislative Assembly the power of i the whole applic at i on o f funds for the internalimprovementng improvement of the P rov i nce, and on the other, re them from t h e exerc i se of any audio rityover what I may ca ll t h e c i v il li s t.— Everyautho man who knows any thing of the country must he aware of the unfitness of the King's Represen tative in the gover nment, an d t h e j u di c i al esta bli s h men t f or the administration of criminal justice, which is the same as that of England, depending for their stipends upon the varying Judgments of a popular assembly. The inexpe diency of this with regard to the judicial establishment, which in its administration of justice might often come into I collision with the members of the Assembly, whose judg- I s la h v o e u ;: i ll b tl e ei pe t r o fe p e C t l i ; roust be b i is e p v a e l rae h a u r y t regulate the reward of their services, , o "form, which render it ob es y s i e o n u t s i . al t j ha u t dg tl e ie s y independent. I trust I need say no more to convince the House, that the system wished to he established by the Canadian Legislature is not compatible with the indepen deuce and dignity either of the King's Representative or the criminal Judges.—(Hear, hear.)--Out of what par-- ticular fund these charges should be defrayed, I am not I prepared to say, but the present plan of paying- a fixed and settled sum out of a variable revenue, I certainly think might be amended. Without, however, 'enterieg into the particulars on this point, I think some mode might be found for establishing what I have styled the Civil List, I from which the salaries of the judicial and other depart [Dents should be granted for life ; or in any other way that , would answer the object I have in view. The remainder of the revenue should then he left to the free disposal of the Colonial Legislature. I must here, in justice to the King's Government in Canada, claim fur them their due. So far was it from wishing to have any control over any further sum than that to which 1 have alluded, that they never hesitated, during the whole of these troubles, to lay before the Legislature of the Province an account of the application of, and payments from, the revenue, in order that the Assembly might be assured there was no misapplication of it. The Government there are perfectly willing, it is evident from this, to accede to the suggestion I have just made respecting the share of control it sh all have over the Colonial revenues. Sir, Ido not think there are any other topics connected with the present state of Canada, which would justify me in detaining the House longer, as I trust I have said sufficient to support me in the motion I intend to make. There are two grounds en which I prin cipally rest. The first is the state of the representative system in bower Canada, and the situation of the revenue in respect to the administration of justice; and the second is the controversy which has grown up respecting the powers of the Executive and Legislative Bodies. The case I have made out on those two points is sufficient, I trust, to entitle me to the Committee for which I mean to move. Bef ire I sit down, I beg only to add a word or two re specting a point insinuated in this House, and discussed in other places. I allude to what has been said respecting the policy of giving up the Colony altogether. Those who think it would be politic to do so, may say that we ought to spare ourselves all trouble and endeavours to improve the state of the provinces, by taking the wiser course of re linquishing them altogether.--(Hear, hear.) Let those who argue thus, consider that these are our fellow-sub jects—are born like ourselves, in the King's allegiance— are fulfilling all the duties of subjects, and are willing to re main as such, and fulfil all the obligations their allegiance to the Crown requires. I say, that whilst that is the ease, they are fairly entitled to claim from us that protection which their fidelity and good conduct have rendered thew so worthy of.—(Cheers.) On such a subject 1 will not argue—what is, however, a very maintainable ground, the importance of these provinces to Great Britain in a naval, a commercial, and political point of view —(Hear, bear.)—but I will implore Honourable Gentlemen, be fore they venture even to allow themselves to hint at such a conclusion as that to which I havo just adverted, to consider the political honour of this coun try, and the moral impression which would be made on all nations by such a relinquishment without necessity, and without its ever having been asked us. (Cheers.) Shall we give up such a possession without even a challenge? Or, shall we, as was done in the case of another part of America once, also belonging to France, I mean, Louisiana —shall we make it a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence ? Shall we sell it to another Power? England has not fallen so low. (Cheers.) Canada is bound to us by the recollections of highly honourable valour, both naval and military. (Hear, hear.) It is a trophy too glorious to part with in either of the ways I have alluded to. Ca nada cannot but be maintained by every means in our power ; we are bound, if we wish to bear untarnished our honour, to give Canada protection to the last extre mity. That, then, is not a view of the subject we can for one instant entertain. It is a country too, let it be re membered, where there are none of those unfortunate dis tinctions which prevail in others of our colonies—there is no division of castes, no slavery—the people are, I may say, almost as one family, united by the most intimate of con nections with this country. England is the parent of many colonies, one of which now forms one of the greatest and moat flourishing empires in the world : by that, and others, we have carried our language, our free institutions, our as-stein of laws, to the most remote corners of the globe. What we have thus planted is now taking root, and what we now foster as colonies will be, no doubt, oue day or other, themselves free nations, the communicators of free dom to other countries. If I am told, that for this we have made great sacrifices, I say, be it so; for, in spite of these sacrifices, England remains, for its extent, still the most powerful, most happy nation that does or ever has existed. 1 say, moreover, that we should be well paid for all the sacrifices we may yet be called upon to make, if we are to add to the rich harvest of glory we have al ready reaped, by being the parent of countries in which the same happiness and prosperity that has distinguished this country will, I trust, for many ages to come, be en joyed. That will he our reward for establishing our su perfluous population not only in America, but in other quarters of the world. 'What can be a prouder feeling for Englishmen than that England had done its duty to the world, by attempting, and successfully, to improve it? Whether Canada is to remain for ever dependent on Eng land, or is to become an independent State—not, I trust, by hostile separation, but by amicable arrangement—it is still the duty and interest of this country to imbue it with English feeling, and benefit it with English laws and in stitutions.—(Cheers.)—The Right Hon. Gentleman then concluded by moving, that a Select Committee be ap pointed to inquire into the state of the Civil Government of Canada, as established by the Act 31st Geo. 111., cap. 31, and report their observations and opinions thereupon to the House. The motion having been seconded, and put from the Chair, Mr. LABOUCHERE considered the Bill of 1791 the great charter of the liberties of Cauada—(Hear, hear) — and he thought that any measure which went to alter that law would be injurious. He was well aware tliat the House of Commons could, in what was called its itape• vial capacity, make such an alteration ; yet he thought it ought to be attempted only in an extreme case, and even then by a sort of compact between the Colony and the Mother Country. The Right Hon. Gentleman had, but he was sure quite unintentionally, misrepresented what had taken place in bringing in the Bill of 1'791. Mr. Pitt, upon that occasion, wished to legislate fur the two pro vinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and he introduced his measure in such a way as to procure tranquillity.— The fact was, that he (Mr. Pitt) had only a choice of difficulties, and therefore he sacrificed the minority of English settlers to the majority, who were exclusively French, and to them he gave a Constitution and code of laws, to which they were peculiarly at tached. Mr. Pitt did this for Lower Canada as a guarantee that their laws were not to be interfered with. He could not help thinking, that the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Huskissou) had dealt a little hardly with the Canadas. His (Mr. Labouchere's) chief object in ris ing,: was to correct a mistake in which the Right Hon. Gentleman had fallen with respect to the House of As sembly in Lower Canada. He would refer to the speeches of Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville, in order to shew the feeling of these Statesmen upon this subject. He should feel most happy at seeing any arrangement which would give to the :Canadas the protection and security which were extended to them by Mr. Pitt, by the Act of 1791. Mr. Pitt, in the debate upon the Quebec Government Bill, said, " That it seemed to his Majesty's Government the most desirable thing, if they could not give satisfaction to all descriptions of men, to divide the province, and to contrive that one division should consist as much as pos sible of those who were well inclined towards the English laws, and the other of those who were attached to the French laws." " It was in Upper Canada particularly, that they were to expect a great addition to the English inhabitants. The consequence was, that if it was not divided from the rest, the Canadians, forming a majority of five to one, the grievance would be every year increas ing, in proportion as the population increased. The divi sion of the province might be liable to some objections, but, on the whole, it was subject to fewer than any other measure." Mr. Burke, in speaking on the same subject, said, " An attempt to join people dissimilar in law, lan guage, and manners, appeared to him highly absurd ; to join too, the conqueror and the conquered, must give rise to much unpleasant feeling, and many invidious distinc tions. Such a measure would appear to him to sow the seeds of discord. This geographical distribution was, in his opinion, highly convenient. Let the Canadians have a COI, stitution formed upon the principles of Canadians, and Eng lishmen upon the principles of Englishmen. Lord Grenville said, in the House of Lords, when defending the same Bill, "that from the circumstance of the inhabitants consist ing of two classes, it was judged proper to divide the pro vince into Upper and Low e r C ana d a . S uc h di v i s i on hav ing a distinct legislature within itself ;" and he said that the Government had been anxious to communicate to Ca nada a participatien of all the blessings of the English Constitution, as far as the circumstances of the wise would admit." The Hon. Gentleman then observed, t hat he could not help thinking, if the intention, of Mr. Pi tt, the legislator of that day, had been carried into more effec tual operation, the province of Lower C an ada would have had a better chance of acquiring that prosperity, which seemed to have been contemplated for. in a state of concord and tranquillity in its connections it,. and of remaining with the mother country.—(Hear, .hear.) —It was evident that Mr. Pitt intended the Canadians to have a popular po pulation—he meant English minor portion of the p when, truth, it had never been fairly acted idea.4.s se ioniblcywanni(l)s composing gL thateg islatis•e Legislative Council C Council l; wholly ihyefrh(aand theno class of the inhabitants. E . he Right Hon. Gentleman did or the Canadians, when he said that . the experiment of 'Mr. Pitt not, therefore, r dp d r e oi aibiltaobfaleyiftr not tt e a t e(aii•rieessao. f hhear, i l ui l re t ea s ti ro s . ; ( 3'l ,f liallll l ll- e :oei p rlrse t d i c i a; i v i e la re tion of the Canada's. From the best returns amount he could find open the subject, he believed that it consisted of 150,000 French, awl blunt £O,OOO English. He was one of those who felt as strongly as any man possibly could the situation of this minority of English. He was disposed to do every thing iu his power to support their rights raid interests, as far as it could be don e , with ou t sacr ifi c i ng th e dearest rights and interests of the majority ; and if the Right Hon. Gentleman should think his name worthy of a place among the Committee, he would use his best endee yours to effect that object. He confessed he was alarmed at one or two expressions which fell from the Right Hon. Gentleman, when speaking of the system of lawn under which the Canadians were at present placed ; and he felt the more alarmed as the speech was, on the whole, so emi nently mild and conciliatory. The Right Hon. Gentleman had characterized it as a barbarous system—the relic of the middle ages—and therefore worthy of no respect front the Mouse; but the Right Hon. Gentleman forgot that the French population were most strongly attached to it. To the customs of Paris, for the decision of civil causes, the Seignors and their vassals clung with a most pertina cious attachmeut.—(Hear, hear.)—There was one point more to which he wished to allude. He regretted ex tremely that the Noble Lord at the head of that Colony (Lord Dalhousie), should have thought it right to have recourse to such rigorous measures against some of the Colonists, and particularly against officers of Militia— men, who, in the late war, had been distinguished not so much for their invariable fidelity to British interests, as for the enthusiastic loyalty with which they had supported the honour and dignity of Great Britain. It was with pain he f e lt b oun d to connect the R i ght lion. Gentleman with a measure —the gill of 1822—which he thought had contributed a great deal to the discontent which now pre vailed. It will be recollected, that in the end of June, and in a House of less than sixty Members, the Right Hon. Gentleman introduced a Bill f or the purpose of destroying that Constitution which M r . Pi tt and the Government and i given to the Canadas ; re t l iou bore evident marks of a L n e d g i e t u nit.: n o n f e r t h o i f s d e m o : n i n t t r r y od l u t : an attempt to take the Canadians by surpr i se , an d pre vent the expression of their opinions upon the con duct of the Government. He happened to be at that time in Canada, and he could assure the House, that the intelligence of the conduct of the Government on this occasion had a strong effect upon the minds of the people, and tended very much to change those feelings of confidence and respect with which they had always regarded the mother country, into suspicion and dis trust. The Bight Hots. Gentleman below (Sir James Mackintosh) was mainly instrumental in stopping the pro gress of that Bill, and in saving this country from insult, and the Canadas from all the evils which must have fol lowed the attempt to put it into execution. He trusted that his great and distinguished talents would be exerted in the service of the Canadians upon this occasion. He was confident that the Government and the Committee would do nothing without the most deliberate inquiry; and al though he regretted that the Right Hon. Gentleman had not been more explicit as to his intentions, he hoped that, above all, nothing would be done either by the House or Government, until some information was obtained upon the subject of the wishes of the Colonists.—(Hear, hear.) He was sure that the Canadas could never be kept without the entire affection and approbation of the Colonists; and he most earnestly hoped, that no attempt would be made Ito take them in any manner by surprise. Ile thanked the Mouse for the attention with which it had favoured him, and concluded by observing, that he was sure the concluding part of the Right Hon. Gentleman's speech would find an echo in every bosom in that House or in the country. To use the very language of the Right Hon. Gentleman, he would say, that he was sere the House would never be so wanting to its honour and to its fame,. as to divest the country which had been secured to them by I the genius of Chatham, and the prowess of Wolfe; and, he would add, that he most earnestly hoped they would achieve a yet inure glorious victory, and more essentially English, of giving to the country they had conquered by the power of their arms, the advantage of their free and liberal institutions.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. Secretary HESKIVSON having observed, in e':- planation, that nothing had been done or attempted which was not in perfect good faith with the Colonists, and per feetly justified by relative conditions of the two countries— Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH—I think I may inter pret fairly the general feeling of the House when I express my congratulations upon the very great extent of talent and information which the Hon. Member for St. Michaels (Mr. Labouchere) has displayed in his address upon this occasion ; and that 1 may venture to assert, lie has given us full assurance, in his future progress, of proving both an useful and a valuable Member of the Parliament of this country. I cannot, also, avoid observing, that the laud able curiosity which carried him to visit that country, whose situation is now the subject of discussion, and, still more, the curiosity which led him to visit that Imperial Republic of the English race, which occupies the other best portion of the American Continent, gave evidence of a mind actuated by the most enlarged and liberal views, and evinced a spirit of inquiry into scenes and subteen, which have been disdained by the modern travellers who seek foreign countries from a passion for the Fine Arts, or as a source of elegant amusement. After having presented a petition signed by eighty-seven thousand of the inha bitants of Canada, comprehending among its numbers nine-tenths of the heads of families in the province, and more than two-thirds of its landed proprietors; and after having shewn that the petitioners had tile gravest causes of complaint against the administration of the government in that colony; I think it would be an act of inconsis tency on my part, to attempt to throw any obstacle in the way of that inquiry which the Right Honourable Gentleman proposes. It might seem, indeed, a more natural course on my part, if I had seconded such a proposition. Perhaps I would have been contented to give a silent acquiescence to the appointment of the Committee, and reserved any observations I may have to offer until some specific measures were proposed, or until the House was in insseeeion of the information which may be procured through the labours of the Com mittee.—Perhaps, ii I had n n i o i gt might ee ha a ve en b t reuesntedd disposed r., those persons with the presentation of their petition, and, there fore, bound by honour, ad well as by a sense of the confi dence reposed in me, to allow opportuity to pass over of calling the attention of this House to the grievances of a:lopthis these petitioners, and to their claims for redress, and for the maintenance of their legitimate rights. To begin what I have to say upon this subject, with the speech of the Right Hon. Gentleman, I may take leave to observe ; that in all that was contained in the latter part of it, be has my fullest assent. In 1522, when the subject of the Canadas was last before the House, 1 stated the principles which are to be maintained with respect to what the Right Hon. Gent. has very properly called the Great British Confederacy. I hold now as I did then, that all the differ ent portions of that confederacy are integral parts of the British Empire ; and as such, entitled to the fullest pro tection. I hold that they are all bound together as one . great rlass, by an alliance prior in importance to evern other, more binding upon us than any Treaty ever entereA into with any State, and the fulfilment of which we can never desert without the sacrifice of a great moral duty. My maxims of colonial policy are few and simple. A full and ef i ficient protection from all foreign nfim,nce— (Hear,)—fullpermission to conduct the whole of their own internal affairs—(Hear)—conipelling them to Pay all the reasonable expenses of their own governme nt, so d giving them at the same time, a perfect controul over the egp,„_ diture—(Hear, hear)—and imposing no restrictions of any kind upon the industry or traffic of the people. Thes e arc the only conditions which I woul d impose in the bond of alliance with the Metropolitan Government, and the ore'.;. tennis upon which I well that all of them should be go verned. And it may be a matter of d ou b t whether, in such circumstances, the Colonists w ou ld not be under more gentle controul, and in . a happi er state, than if ad, witted to a full participation the rule, and brought: under the immediate. protection of the parent government. (Hear, hear.) This is my creed upon the subject of Co itunee_.-(Ilear)--and I agree most fully with the Hem s Gentleman who spoke last (Mr. Labouchere), when he expresses, a wish that. they sh ou ld l eave t h e regu l at i on n e the internal affairs of Col on i es t o th e C o l on i sts , ex cept in cases of the most urgent necessity. The most urgent necessity , I and few and rare ought to be the exceptions t o t h e rule upon the strength of those necessities._(Hear, hear, hear.) Under these circum stances of right, I contend, that it is prudent to regard all our Colonies, and peculiarly, I might say, the population of these t wo great Provinces ; Provinces placed in one 0, those rare and happy states of society in which the pro.. gless of population must be regarded as a blessing to man kind: Provinces exempt from slavery--exempt from th e evils produced by jarring systems of religion, enjoying uni versal tol era ti on , an d p rese nting a state of society the most unlike that can possibly be imagined to the fastidious dis tinctions of Europe. Exempt at once from the slavery at' the West, and the castes of the East--Exempt too, from the embarrassments of that other great Continent which we have chosen as a penal settlement, and in w hi c h t h e preju dices of society have been displayed, I regret to find, its a most unreasonab;e degree. Exempt front all the artificial distinctions of the Old World, and many of the evils of the New, we see a great population rapidly growing up to be a great nation.—(Hear, hear.) None of the claims of such a population ought to be cast aside, and none of their complaints can deserve any butt the most se • rious consideration. The Right Hoc. Gent. divided his speed) into two parts, or rather, I ought to say, he entered