The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON DON, T ES DA Y, N OVEMBE 11. 24, 1835.

COURT CIRCULAR.

Count Pozzo di Borgo, the Russian Ambassador ; Count
Sebastiani, the French Ambassador ; and Count D'Aglie,
the Sardin'an Minister, visited Viscount Palmerston yes-
terday at the Foreign-Office. M. Tricoupi, the Greek
Minister, transacted business yesterday at the Foreign-Office.
Sir Francis Head had an interview yesterday with Lord
Glene!g at the Colonial-Office.
A meeting was held yesterday at the Home-Office, which
was attended by the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Holland,
the Right Hon. T. Spring Rice, and Viscount Howick.
The Right Hon. Frankland Lewis bad an interview yes-
terday with Viscount Melbourne, in Downing•street.
The Lord Mayor and Mr. Sheriff Lainson transasted
business yesterday at the Home-Office.
Viscount Palmerston returned to town on Sunday night.

CANADA.

PROVINCIAL PARLIAMENT OF LOWER
CANADA.
LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL CHAMBER.
Quebec, Oct. 27. 1835.
This day, at one o'clock, his Excellency the Governor-
,n-Chief came down in state to the Legislative Council

Chamber, and, being seated on the throne, the Gentleman
Usher of the Black Rod was sent down to the House of
Assembly t 9 command their attendance before his Excel-
lency, and that House being come up, his Excellency was
pleased to open the second session of the fifteenth Pro-
vincial Parliament of Lower Canada with the following
speech :
_ _ _

" Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, Gentlemen of
the House of Assembly. ,
" It is in no ordinary circumstances that I meet you ;

and consequences of vast importance depend on the im-
pression you may_ receive from my words. Dissensions
have almost arrested the course of Government. The

supplies required for carrying into execution the laws by
which society is held together have now for a consider-

able period been withheld. The most urgent and conflict-
ing statements of numerous grievances by adverse parties
have been borne to the throne of his Majesty ; but accom-

pawed with expressions of an apprehension that the Mi-
nisters of the Crown might not have that practical and local
knowledge of the province which is necessary for the
discernment of the most appropriate remedies.
" I am sent amongst you, therefore, not only as your Go-
vernor, but as the head of a Commission upon which the
task is imposed of inquiring fully, and upon the spot, into
the complaints which have been made, and of offerin to
the Kin; and to the Councils by which the throne i s sur-
rounded thz: deliberate conclusions of the Commissioners.

" There are some cases in which the executive power of
the Governor will of itself be sufficient to apply a remedy ;
in others, though he cannot act by himself, vet, with the
help of one or both branches of the provincial legislature,
lie may effectually accomplish what is required ; there are
others in which the laws and institutions of the United
Kingdom make it impossible for us, without the enactments
or sanction of the authorities in England, to effect what is
asked ; so that if we were to act, we should be acting un-
lawfully—if we were to make lws, they would be binding
upon no one.
" If these distinctions are borne in mind whilst I state t.)
you the commands I have received from his Majesty, and
the policy to which I shall adhere, I am confident that I
shall satisfy all impartial minds of the magnanimity and
wisdom with which his Majesty has listened to your com-
plaints ; of the resolution which has been taken to redress
every grievance under which any class of his Majesty's
Canadian subjects may labour, and of my own determi-
nation to do all ,of which I am capable, in giving effect
to these generous and wise intentions. As Governor, I
will execute with alacrity, impartiality, and firmness, what-
ever I am competent to do of myself ; as head of the
provincial legislature, I will zealously co-operate with its
other members in the redress of every evil they may find-1
occasion to correct ; as CommiSsioner, I pledge myself that
a prompt but careful examination shall be made of those
still weightier matters which depend upon the highest
powers of the empire ; and that having, with the most
anxious thought and solemn deliberation, arrived at our
conclusions, the Commissioners will state them with an .
earnestness of purpose calculated to give additional force
to the authority which they ought to derive from having
been 'deemed worthy of so grave a charge.
" In what I shall now proceed to communicate, it is
not my design, nor am I authorized by his Majesty, to con-
demn or to applaud generally the conduct of any one ; the
abatement of dissensions, and. the conciliation of adverse
parties, are the objects at which I aim ; the good will of
the Canadians of all ranks and classes ; the confidence of
the representatives of the people ; the respect of all branches
and Members of. the Government, arc what I ardently de-
sire to earn and to retain, and in this I hope to succeed, be-
cause I am conscious that my intentions deserve it. With
as much freedom from fear or favour as I have promised
to act, I will now speak of. the thing of which you have
complained, and of the remedies which I hope to see
Applied.
" It is affirmed that the French origin of the majority of
the inhabitants of Lower Canada has been made a pretext
for 4xcluding them from office and employment; and for re-
taining them in a state, of political . inferiority. I disclaim
on the -part of his Majesty,. and 9f the British people, so
ungeneroui a motive. Having long ago become a part of
the family of British -subjects, our Constitution reckons no-
thing as a mark for disfavour which may denote the es-
trangement of their ancestors in a former century. It re-
gards nothing in the present generation as demerit, save
misconduct. The circumstances which first united this
country with the British empire, must necessarily have oc-
.casioned for some time afterwards an exclusion of its prior
inhabitants from offices of Government, and the bias thus
unavoidably received may in some degree have influenced,
even to the present day, the course of affairs. Neither is
it possible, in the distribution of political offices at any
time, or in any circumstances, to be guided entirely by a
reference to the numbers of individuals who may be com-
prised in this or in that class. But I assure you that in
this repect my instructions enjoin upon me the . utmost im-
partiality and an entire disregard of distinctions derived from
difference of origin. Fitness .for_,,the:trust is the criterion
to which, mainly if not entirely, T am to; look ; and I do
not hesitate to avow the opinion; that in every country, to
be acceptable to the great body of the people is one of the
most essential elements 'of fitness for public station.
"So great is the solicitude of his Majesty to take the
most effectual security against the occurrence of any abuse
in the distribution of his patronage, that he has commanded
the adoption of arrangements designed to elicit a far more
particular account than heretofore of the exercise of this
part of his delegated authority in Lower Canada ; and be
has been further pleased to direct that all offices in his
his gift, of which the emoluments shall exceed a stated
sum, shall not be granted except under the public seal of
the province, in pursuance of warrants to be issued for that
purpose by his Majesty.
" Complaint is also made that incompatible offices are in
some cases held by the same persons. In whatsoever de-
gree this grievance may be found to exist, his Majesty has
signified to me his expectation that it should be completely
remedied. Commencing with the highest, I have formed
the opinion that it is neither right nor consistent with the
wholesome separation and independence of the principal
bodies of the ,Government, and with the dignity of their
Members, that out of the limited number of Executive
Councillors in this province several should hold offices
under the Legislative Council. and House of Assembly. I
desire, however, that it, may be understood that no dissa-
tisfaction with the conduct of the Members of the Execu-
tive Council, nor any mark whatever of his Majesty's dis-
pleasure, is intended to be conveyed. The immediate re-
tirement of those Gentlemen who prefer to retain their
appointments under the legislative body might embarrass or
interrupt, the proceedings of the Court of Appeals ; but I
felt it my duty to impart to them the conclusien to which
my mind had come. I shall communicate the same opinion
to the proper authorities at home, and I entertain no doubt
that as soon as their places can be supplied according to the
forms prescribed by law, effect will be given to the wish
they have expressed to relinquish their seats in the Executive
council. My views are not limited to these cases. No
union of incompatible or incongruous offices will be wil-
lingly acquiesced in by me ; but I wish to be understood as
speaking of offices of which the duties cannot conveniently
or with propriety be discharged by the same person. In
some instances the division of offices is merely nominal, and
the duties are more conveniently discharged by one person
than they could be by two. In other instances the salary
of the office is so small, or its duties so seldom called for,
that, without a union with some other, the employment
could only be made acceptable to a competent person by an
increase of emolument.
" It is stated as a grievance that the Government has at
various times refused to give the Legislature access to ac-
counts and other documents which were necessary for the
prosecution of its inquiries, and that the Executive have
not, in all cases, communicated, when requested, the de-
spatches which have passed between the .Colonial Depart-
ment and the local Government. His Majesty's Govern-
ment fears that the Assembly may have been exposed to
some inconvenience from this source. The rule which I
am instructed to follow is a freedom from all unnecessary
reserve. I am commanded to withhold no information from
the Provincial Legislature which can be communicated
without a violation of confidence, or specific detriment to
the public service ; and in particular I am to offer you the
fullest assistance in investigating everything connected with
the revenue and with finance. There is scarcely any do-
Cument within the power of the Government which it will
not always be willing to lay before you, except those con-
fidential communications with the authorities at home or
with its own officers here, which it is obvious could not be
made public in all cases and at all seasons, without extreme
inconvenience.
"As an -earnest of the sincerity of these intentions, I

have given directions that a copy of the annual return,
generally known as the Blue Book, should in future be pre-
sented to each branch of the Legislature, and since correct
information on the. statistics of the province is an object of
general importance, I invite your assistance in rendering
all returns of this nature as accurate and as comprehensive
as possible.
" The too frequent reservation of bills for the signification
of his Majesty's pleasure, and the delay in communicating
the King's decision upon them, is a grievance of which his
Majesty's Government arc solicitous to prevent the • recur-
rence. I shall consider the power of reserving,bills as a
right to be employed not without much caution, nor except
on some evident necessity. His Majesty's Government also
undertake on their part to bestow the most prompt .atten-