The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-13 00:00:00

THE CANADA.S.

We. have received by the steam-Ship Liverpool, and the
packet-ship Oxford, files of Canaan papers to the middle
of December. Their contents are important. The Go
senior-General had opened the Session of the Provincial
Parliament of Upper Clnada in a speoch, which was af-
terwards followed by a message, announcing the resold.
tion of the Home Government to unite the two Canadas
tinder one Government. All remained traquil in our
North American territories.

OPENING of the PROVINCI XI. PARLIAMENT.
(From the Upper Canadit thtette Extraordinary.)
TotioNTo, Dec. 3 13.39.
This day, at two o'clock, his Excellency the UoVertora
Get.eral proceeded in state to the Chtenhat of tht Hon.
the Legislative Council, wlnere Meg arriaett, and seated
on the throne, the Gentleman Usher et the Black Rod
was sent svi_h a message from his nxcellency to the House
of Assembly, commanaribit their attendance ; the Members
present being come up accordingly, his Excellency was
pleased to address the two Halms with the following
SPEECH :
" Hon. Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and
Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
" In discharge of the duties of Governor General
of British North Americe, confided to me by cur gra-
cious Scvereign, I haves deemed it advisable to take the
earliest opportunity of visiting this province and of assem-
bling Parliament.
" I am commanded by he Queen to assure you of
her Majesty's fixed determ'oation to maietain the con-
nection now !subsisting between her North American pos-
sessions anti the United Kingdom, anti to exercise the
high authority with which she has been invested by the
favour of Divine Providence, for the promotion of their
happiness and the security of her dominion.
" It is with great satisfaction I can inform you, that
I have no grounds for apprehending a recurrence of
those aggressions upon our frontier which we had lately
to deplore, and which affixed an indelible disgrace on
their authors.
" If however, unforeseen circumstances should again
call for exertion, I know from the past, that in the zeal
and loyalty of the people of Upper Canada, and in the
protection of the parent State, we possess ample means of
defence, and to those I should confidently appeal.
" I earnestly hope that this state of tranquillity will
prove favourable to the consideration of the important ma-
ters to which your attention must he called during the pre-
sent Session.
" It will be my duty to bring under your consideration,
at the earliest possible moment, the subject of the legisla-
tive re-union of this province with Lower Canada, recom-
mended by her Majesty to the Imperial Parliament. I
shall do so in the lull confidence that you will sec in the
measure which I shall have to submit a fresh proof of the
deep interest felt by the Queen in the welfare of her sub-
jects in Upper Canada, and that it will receive from you
that calm and deliberate consideration which its import-
ance demands.
" The condition of the public departments in the pro-
vince will require your best attention. In compliance
with the address of the House of Assembly of last ses-
sion, the Lieutenant-Governor appointed a commission to
investigate and report upon the manner in which the
duties of those departments are performed. The com-
missioners have already conducted their inquiries to an
advanced stage, and the result of them will be communi-
cated to you as soon as they shall be completed.
" I am happy to inform you that her Majesty's Go-
vernment have concluded an arrangement for opening a
communication by steam between Great Britain and the
British possessions in North Ametica. In the comple-
tion of this arrangement, her Majesty's Government
have allowed no consideration to interfere with the para-
mount object of conducing to the public advantage and
convenience. I feel confident that the liberality with
which the parent state has assumed the whole expense of
the undertaking will be duly appreciated by you.
" The -.answers of her Majesty to the various addresses
adopted by you during your last session, and her Majesty's
decisions on the Bills passed by you, but reserved for the
signification of her" Royal pleasure, will be made known to
you without loss of time.
" Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,
The financial condition of the province will claim your
early and most attentive consideration. To preserve public
credit is at all times a sacred obligation ; but in a country
so essentially dependent upon it for the means of fu-
ture improvement it is a matter no less ,of , po-
licy than of duty. It is indispensable, then, that mea-
sures should be at once adopted for enabling the
provincial revenue to fulfil its obligations, anal to
defray the necessary expenses of the Government. It
will be my anxious desire to co-operate with you in effect-
ing this object ; and I feel confident that by the adoption
of measures calculated to promote the full development of
the resources of this fine country the difficulty may
be overcome. The officer by whom, under your authority,
these obligations have been contracted will be able to
afford you every information ; and I shall direct a state-
ment of your financial condition to be immediately tuh-
mitted to you.
" The estimates for the ensuing year will be prepared
with every regard to economy, compatible with the due
execution of the service of the province.
" It is with great satisfaction I find, that notwithstand-
ing commercial difficulties which prevail in the neighbour-
ing states, the banks of this province have resumed specie
payments; and I congratulate you upon the guarantee
thus afforded of the greater security and stability of our pe-
cuniary transactions--a circumstance which cannot fail to
be attended with the most beneficial results.
" I am commanded again to submit to you the surrender of
the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown in exchange
for a civil list ; and I shall take an early opportunity of ex-
plaining the grounds on which her Majesty's Government
felt precluded from assenting to the settlement which you
lately proposed. They are of a nature which lead me to
anticipate your. ready assent to their removal, and to the
final settlement of the question.
" Hon. Gentlemen, and Gentlemen,
" In assuming the administration of the Government of
these Provinces at the present time, I have not disguised
from myself the arduous task which I have undertaken.
The affairs of the Canadas have for some years back occu-
pied much of the attention of the Imperial Parliament
and of the Government, and their settlement upon a firm
and comprehensive basis admits of no further delay.
" To effect that settlement upon terms satisfactory to
the people of these provinces, and affording security for
their continued connexion with the British empire, will be
my endeavour; and I confidently appeal to your wisdom,
and to the loyalty and good sense of the people of this pro-
vince, to co-operate with me for the preparation and adop-
tion of such measures as may, under Divine Providence,
restore to this country peace, concord, and prosperity."
[To this speech from the Throne the lion. the Legisla-
tive Council returned a loyal and dutiful answer, which,
being but the mere echo of the speech, we shall not inflict
upon the patience of our readers.l
" Message from his Excellency the Governor-General on
the subject of the Union of the Provinces.—Transmitted
December 7. 1839.
" C. POULETT TITOMPON,
" In pursuance of the intention expressed in his speech
from the throne, the Governor-General desires now to
bring under the consideration of the House of Assembly
the subject of the re-union of this province with Lower
Cansds, recommended by her Majesty in her gracious mes-
sage to both Houses of Parliament on the 3d of May last.
" For several years the condition of the Canadas has
occupied a large portion of the attention of Parliament.
That they should be contented and prosperous—that the
tics which bind them to the parent state should be
strengthened—that their administration should be con-
ducted in accordance with the wishes of the people, is the
ardent desire of every British statesman, and the experi-
ence of the last few years amply testifies that the Imperial
Parliament has been sparing neither of the time it has de-
voted to the investigation of their affairs, nor of the expen-
diture it has sanctioned for their protection.
" The events which have marked the recent history of
Lower Canada are so familiar to the House of Assembly
that it is unnecessary for the Governor-General further to
allude to them. There the Constitution is suspended, but
the powers of the Government are inadequate to permit of
the enactment of such permanent laws as are required for
the bei.efit of the people.
Within this province the finances are deranged, public
improvements are suspended, private enterprise is checked,
the tide of emigrati.m. so essential to the prosperity of the
country and to the British connexion, has ceased to flew,
while by many the general system of government is de-
clared to be unsatisfactory.
" After the most attentive and anxious consideration of
the state of these provinces and of the difficulties under
which they respective)) labour, her Majesty's advisers came
to the conclus'on that by their re-union alone could those
difficulties be removed. During the last session of the Im-
perial Legislature they, indeed, refrained from pressing im-
mediate legislation, but their hesitation proceeded from no
down as to the principle of the measure or its necessity. It
arose solely from their desire to a,certain more fully the
opinions of the Legislature of, Upper Canada, and to col-
lect information from which the details might be rendered
more satisfactory to the people of both provinces.
" The time, then, is now arrived beyond which a set-
tlement cannot be postponed. In Lower Canada it is
indispensable to afford :t safe and practicable return to a
constitutional Government, and so far as the feelings
of the inhabitants can be there ascertained, the measure of
the re-union meets with approbation.
" In Upper Canada it is no less necessary to enable the
province to meet her financial embarrassments and to pro-
ceed in the development of her natural resources.
There are evidently no means In this province of ful-
filling the pecuniary obligations which have been con-
tracted but by a great increase in the local reve-
nues. But so long as Lower Canada remains under
her present form of Government, neither pro-
vince possesses any power over the only source from which
that increase can be drawn. Nor even, were it possible to
restore a representative constitution to Lower Canada, un-
accompanied by the usiion, would the position of this
province be much improved ; since past experience has
shown the difficulty of procuring assent to any alteration
of the custom laws suggested from hence.
" This province has engaged in undertakings which re-
flect the highest honour on the enterprise and industry of
her inhabitants. The public works which she has com-
pleted or commenced have been conceived in a spirit
worthy of a successful result. But additional means are
indispensable to avert the ruin of some, and secure the
completion, of others. Nor will that alone suffice ; Lower
Canada holds the key to all those improvements. With-
out her co-operation, for which nature has done so much,
for which this province has so deeply burdened itself, they
must remain incomplete, and a barrier be opposed to the
development of these great natural resources which the
hand of Providence has o lavishly bestowed on this country.
~,With a view to remove all these difficulties, to relieve
the financial embarrassments of Upper Canada, to enable
her to complete her public works, and to develope her
agricultural capabilities, to restore constitutional Govern-
ment to Lower Canada, to establish a firm, impartial, and
vigorous govern/mint for both, and to unite the people
within them in one common feeling of attachment to
British institutions and British connexion, the union