The Sun.
London, England, 1838-01-11 00:00:00

COPT OF ♦ DESPATCH FROM LORD OLENISLO TO THE rAnr, OF

OOSFOISD, DATED DOWNING-STREET, JUNE 29, 1837.
My Lord—The interruption occasioned to the progress of
the public business of the present session of Parliament by
the melancholy event of the demise of kis late Majesty, ren-
ders it necessary for me to address you without delay as to
the course which it is proposed to adopt with reference to ex-
isting affairs in Lower Canada. Her Majesty's Government
feel that, in the prospect of an early dissolution of Parlia-
ment, it is impossible, consistently with a due regard to the
public interest, to proceed during the present session with
several important measures already under the consideration of
Parliament, but still in an incomplete state, and not less so to
introduce any new measure the immediate necessity for which
is lot so urgent as to render even a temporary postponement
impracticable. Under these circumstances it has been deter-
mined not to submit to Parliament during the present session
the Bill to which I referred in my despatch of the 22d ult.,
and which was to have been founded on the resolutions of
both Houses of Parliament on the affairs of Lower Canada.
While postponing measures of great public interest and im- ,
portance connected with the affairs of this country, her
Majesty's Government cannot but think that it would be un-
advisable to adopt a different course with regard to a measure
affecting the privileges of the Legislature of Lower Canada.
Much as they have always lamented the necessity of adopting
such a measure under any circumstances, they would at the
present moment feel a peculiar reluctance in resorting to it,
as they would deeply regret that one of the first Legislative
Acts of the reign of her Most Gracions Majesty should carry
even the semblance of an ungracious spirit towards the Repre-
sentatives of her Majesty's loyal and faithful subjects in that
province. At the same time, her Majesty's Government have
not overlooked the necessity of making immediate provision
for the discharge of the arrears due for public services in the
colony ; and with this view they have resolved to propose to
the House of Commons that a vote of credit should be passed
for the advance, by way of loan from the funds of this coun-
try, of the sum required for the payment of the arrears. In
the meantime I will only express my earnest hope that the
House of Assembly may recognise in the course recommended
by her Majesty's Government a sincere desire to abstain from
!my interference with their rights and privileges which is not
imperatively demanded by the force of existing circumstances,
and that the result of the approaching Session of the Provin-
cial Legislature may be such as to relieve her Majesty's Go-
vernment from the necessity of submittieg to Parliament in a
future Session any enactment founded on the eighth of the
series of resolutions which have been agreed to by Parliament.

No. XIII.

COPY OF A DEXPATCH FROM LORD OLINELO TO TAB EARL OF
GOSFORD, DATED DOWNING-STREET, JULY 14, 1837.
My Lord—ln proceeding to execute the duty of selecting
for inanediate and provisional appointments nine new Council-
lors your Lordship will be guided by the principles laid down
in the third report of the Commissioners of Inquiry. On ma-
ture reflection her Majesty's Government are convinced of the
foresight and wisdom by which the advice of the Commission-
ers on this subject has been dictated ; and, without affecting
to substitute any language of my own for theirs, I will, to
prevent misapprehension, transcribe, although at the expense
of a very long quotation, the precise passages of the report to
which it is her Majesty's intention that effect should be given.
They are as follows:-
1. " We are of opinion that, although not liable to be
changed at the will of the Assembly, the Executive Council
should be so composed as to secure as much as possible of the
confidence of the people.
3. " Our own opinion is, that although the holding of office
under the Crown ought not to be a disqualification, yet the
number of office-holders in the Council should never be con-
siderable, probably not more than on an average one in four.
We should fu, thee say that there are some functionaries whose
duties are such as to render it inexpedient to place them in
the Executive Council, such, for instance, as the Civil Secre-
tary of the Governor and the Attorney-General. The close
connection of the Civil Secretary with the Governor appears
to us to furnish obvious reasons against his belonging to the
Council; and with respect to the Attorney-General, as he is,
in the matter of public prosecutions, and in other duties, in
some degree the servant of the Council, it would be some-
wisat incongruous that he should sit in it also.
4. " We recommend that it should never consist of a greater
number than fifteen, nor (for any period exceeding six conse-
cutive months) of less than nine. It seems that this interval
of six months should be allowed to obviate any difficulties
ssbich might be experienced in filling up the Council on the
occasion of any change of its members.
9. " We should suggest, although of course no imperative
rule cart be laid down upon the subject, that in the Executive
Council there should be at least one, and not more than three,
Legislative Councillors ; at least two, and not more than five
Members of the Assembly; some gentlemen belonging to the
class of landed proprietors, and others connected with com-
merce ; one individual at the least of the legal profession ; and
that of the persons chosen for the Council, it should be endea-
voured to take a moderate proportion from different dis-
tricts of the province, though it will be necessary that a num-
ber sufficient to ensure at all times a quorum should be resi-
dent at or near the seat of Government.
10. " We think that the appointment of the Councillors
should not be made to last during good behaviour, nor require
for its termination the assignment of any fault, but that the
Governor should he able to remove them whenever, on general
grounds, he might deem it advisable, reporting his reasons
without delay to the Secretary of State.
21. " That whatever number of Members of either branch
of the Legislature may be included in the Executive Council
all communication; to the Provincial Parliament shall con-
tinue to be made, as now, by message.
22. " That no oath of secrecy shall be taken, and that the
Members of the Executive Council shall not be considered
solemnly bound to secrecy, except on occasions when the Go-
vernor may summon, them expressly to form a council of
secrecy, or resolve any meeting into such a Council.
25. " There can be no hesitation in pronouncing the apel-
late jurisdiction entirely unsuited to the Executive Council,
and full of objection. We think it far preferable that his
Majesty should be empowered to assent to any Act which may
hereafter be passed in the province than that the British Par-
liament should itself enact a new law on the mode of deter-
mining appeals in Canada."
I have to convey to your Lordship her Majesty's commands,
that you do give effect to such parts of the suggestions of the
Commissioners of Inquiry already quoted as, in the exercise
of her Majesty's delegated prerogative, it may be competent
for you to carry into execution, and ttat you avail yourself of
the earliest opportunity of bringing under the consideration of
tho Council, after the new appointments shall have been made,
the question by what authority and by what instruments can
effect be most conveniently given to such of those suggestions
as it is beyond the competency of your Lordship, as Governor
of the province, to carry into execution.

NO. XIV.
COPT OF A DESPATCH FROM LORD GLENRLO TO Till EARL OF 00S-

POFt D 2 DATED DOWNING-STRIMT, JULY 14, 1837.
My Lord_ln my despatch of the 29th of June, No. 225, I
apprized your Lordship that, in consequence of the demise of
the Crown, and of tho approaching dissolution of Parliament,
it bad been resolved to propose to the House of Commons a
vote of credit for the advance, by way of loan, out of the
funds of this country, cf a sum of money adequate to the pay-
ment of the arrears due to her Majesty's civil servants in Lower
Canada.

I have now to announce to your Lordship that on the 3d
instant the House of Commons resolved that a sum of
142,180/. 14s. 4d. should be placed at her Majesty's disposal
for this purpose ; and that vote having been incorporated into
the Appropriation Act, has acquired the force of law.
My instructions of the 22d of May have, therefore, to a con-
siderable extent ceased to be applicable to this new and al-
tered state of the question. As it is not now proposed imme-
diately, and in the first instance, to draw the funds from the
Provincial Treasury, the motives which dictated even an ex-
treme forbearance in the use of the resources placed by Par-
liament at your Lordship's disposal have lost some of their
original force. Further, as the money necessary for the pay-
ment of the debt is now available for that purpose, the mo-
tives for proceeding at once to satisfy the demands of the public
creditors have acquired some additional strength. It might,
therefore, seem that nothing further remained for me than to

instruct your Lordship forthwith to draw upon the Lords of
the Treasury for the amount of tie Parliamentary vote.
At this distance from the scene of action, and under cir-
cumstances so new and peculiar, I am, however, unwilling to
lay upon your Lordship any inflexible injunction, which in
some possible contingencies you might find it imprudent to
follow, and hazardous to disregard.
The present is an occasion on which I cannot withhold from
her Majesty's local representative some latitude of discussion,
or relieve your Lordship from the responsibility attendant on
the exercise of a discretionary power.
The time has passed away in which it was right to pause
and to deliberate, and if no reasonable hope should present
itself of' an amicable close of this protracted discussion, it
could not be too soon terminated by acting at once upon the
Parliamentary vote. I have therefore to convey to your Lord-
ship the authority of her Majesty's Government, either to draw
on the Lords of the Treasury immediately for the sum voted
by Parliament, or to defer that measure, if for some brief in-
terval. But it is only a very short postponement which I can,
in any case or under any circumstances, sanction. The course
on which her Majesty's Government have most reluctantly
entered has been taken under the influence of no light or ordi-
nary motives. To retreat from it, even were retreat now prac-
ticable, would be inconsistent with their most deliberate sense
of public duty. Deprecating, therefore, every appearance of
vacillation where no doubt really exists, it is not without regret
that I now convey to your Lordship instructions which con-
template even the possibility of further delay. Ycu will, how-
ever, I am convinced, receive and act upon them in the spirit
in which they are written, neither blighting any real promise
of conciliation by undue haste, nor encouraging the disaffected
by any appearance of alarm and hesitation. Either by a grant
from the local Legislature, or by drafts on the Lords of the
Treasury, the payment of the public servants of the Crown in
Lower Canada mast be effected within a short time after my
present despatch shall have reached your Lordship's hand.

No. X VI.

COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM TIE EARL OF OOSFORD TO LORD
OLENELO, DATED CASTLE ST. LEWIS, MAY 25, 1837.

My Lord,—The very violent party who were alone active
in calling a meeting of the county of Richelieu, on the 7th
instant, to express their indignation at Lord John Russell's
resolutions, feel much disappointed from the numbers and re-
spectability of the assembly falling so very far short of their
expectations. I send you a copy of the resolutions, and it is
unnecessary for me to occupy your time in commenting upon
them, as they will speak for themselves. I may, however,
state, from authority which I have no reason to doubt, that
Mr. d'Eschambant, a seigneur of the county, who is reported
in the newspapers of that party to have moved the second re-
, solution, was not present at the meeting, being confined at the
time by illness; and that the 10th resolution, for raising a tri-
bute for Mr. Papineau, though reported by the same organs
to have passed unanimously, was not even proposed at the
meeting. Another meeting of the county of Montreal, and
called by the same parties, took place on the 15th inst. at St.
Laurent, which was attended by Mr. Papineau, who made a
long speech in his usual violent strain, and full of misrepre-
sentations. I also enclose a copy of the resolutions there
passed. In order to give your Lordship some idea of the
feelings generally prevalent, as regards the political views
and objects of the principal actors in these proceedings, I moat
remark that these meetings were held, one on a Sunday at
the church-door, after divine service, and the other on a fete
day, for the purpose of swelling the number of auditors, by
including those who were drawn there for the performance of
their religious duties; even with this assistance, the numlsers
at the meeting of the county of Richelieu, including men,
women, and children, fell very far short, I am informed, of
the statement in the Vindicator, viz., " upwards of 1,200
freeholders ;" and the number at the St. Laurent assembly,
stated on the same authority to exceed 700, did not, from the
accounts I have received from various quarters, exceed, in-
cluding all descriptions of persons, three hundred indivi-
duals ; which is the more remarkable from the meeting being
field in the most populous county, and within a few miles of
the city of Montreal ; and I understand that Mr. La Fon-
tein, M. P. P. for Terrebonno, one of the moist ultra of the
party who was to have addressed the meeting, decliited, from
the paucity of hearers. Some other meetings have been held
in different parts of the country which have proved failures, and
others are in contemplation, which I have no doubt will share
the same fate. All this tends to confirm me in the opinion I
gave in a former letter as to the probability of a change in
public opinion, and that the Canadians were beginning to dis-
cover the real views of the Ultras. I must, however, here
observe that the feeling agaiast the Imperial Parliament au-
thorising the taking of money out of the chest is very strong,
and even those who reprobate the withholding of the supplies
by the Assembly cannot refrain from an expression of disap-
probation at this part of Lord John Russell's resolutions. I
cannot contemplate the present posture of affairs without con-
sidering how far it may be desirable, should the sentiment of
distrust rgaiast the Papineau party, to which I have alluded,
become more marked and decided, to dissolve the Par-
liament ; and, indeed, my present impression inclines me
te a dissolution ; for a new Parliament would, I con-
ceive, possess materials much more likely than the ex-
isting one to appreciate ' any measures you might adopt
for meeting the difficulties tinder which the province is
now labouring ; and should such measures be of a con-
ditional nature, that is, to be enforced in the event of a
continued refusal on the part of the Assembly to permit the
Government to go on, it would still have a greater chance of
acceptance, and thus the more obnoxious course of applying
the money without the consent of the Representatives here,
might become unnecessary. If, in addition to this, the Le-
gislative Council should be at the same time liberalised, and
an efficient Executive Council established, matters might get
on smoothly. You may know of difficulties and impediments
to this plan of which I cannot see the force. Nothing is more
erroneous, in my opinion, than the supposition that the French
Canadians are a disloyal body. I have every reason to believe
the contrary. I have not the slightest apprehension of any
serious commotion coming out of these meetings, which, as
far as regards the district of Montreal, are planned and con-
cocted, and the resolutions framed by the same individuals,
few in number, who it is understood are desirous of substi-
tuting a Republican for the existing form of Government.
[Here follow the resolutions passed at the public meetings
referred to in the despatch, which have already appeared in
The Sun.]

No. XVII.

@OPT OF ♦ DREPATCH PROM THE EARL OF GOSPORD TO LORD GLE-

N ELO, DATED CASTLE !T. LEWIS, QUEBEC, JUNE 10, 1837.

My Lord--In consequence of meetings held and about, to
be held in different parts of the province, I cannot conceal
from you my impression that a system of organisation, under
the influence and guidance of Mr. Papinoau, and a few de-
signing individuals ready to execute his purposes, is at this
moment going on.
Under this conviction, I am prepared to adopt prompt
measures, should they be necessary, to check the evil in its
infancy. I contemplate therefore issuing a proclamation,
warning the people against the misrepresentaticns and machi-
nations of the designing, and exercising the dizcretion you
confided to me for increasing the military force here, by des-
patching your letter to Sir Colin Campbell, with a request
for one of the regiments now stationed at Halifax.
I must repeat that these steps would not be dictated by the
apprehension of any serious commotion, for I have every reason
to believe that the mass of the Canadians are loyal and con-
tented, but from the persuasion that the presence of a larger
military force in this proviroe might of itself prevent the
occurrence of any disturbance, by deterring the ill-disposed,
securing the wavering, and giving confidence to the timid.