North American. [volume] (Swanton, Vt.) 1839-1841, 1840-11-25


der peculiar circumstances occur as tn the
application Of French laws, be frankly
confessed that his preftniOnal oesupaf'ss'
made hin acquainted only with French
civil laws and thereby showed bis ignot-
ancs and made himself subjee, nj rdIculc.
The three gentlemen, who were The beat
era of the peoples petitions. showed them
selves to great advantage before that au-
gust tribunal and were not tainted with
contradiction az was Lord Dalhousie's
champion.
| We shall now return 10 the Provincs
Administration and inform our readers how
affairs went on under the new Governor
Sir Jamrs kempt. The Parliament was
summoned to meet on the 2ls, oi Novem-
Der, 1928. Public anxiety was at its high
est pitch as 10 the course His Exceleney
and The House Of Assembly would adopt
abou, the nomination OF Speaker. Great
speculations were entertained about this
| frat and decisive step which was either TO
create harmony or q division between the
popular branch aud the head Of the Exc
cutive government. The members Of the
House OF Assembly, being present in the
Chamber OF the Legislative Council, were
told by the Speaker Of this latter body that
he was commandedeeb His Excellency 10
tell them that they had 10 choose Spea-
ker who must he approved by the Gov
ernor, and tina, he was furthermore insiruc-
ted to say TO them that if they had AREA
dy proceeded Ia the election Of Speaker,
they had TO make known on whom their
choice had fallen. Upon which Mr. Pa
pineau who had been rejected as Speaker
OF the House.by the tlormer Governor and
who had been maintsined in his honorable
situation by the House, answered that he
was the person chosen and elected by the
Representative branch and begged that the
choice of The House might be approved &
sanctioned by His ExcclIency. Hare was
the moment Of suspense. and anxiety.
Was the new Governor 10 discoun,cnance
the conduct Of his predecessor who had pre-.
tended to exercise the royal prerogative in
not sanctioning the choice of the Assem-.
bly,, or was he 10 follow his example and
thereby widen the breach between the peo-
pie who had supported the House in its
choice and maintenance Of Mr.. Papineau,
and the Executive who was thus placed in
a peculiar situation' The people were
not long kept in suspense. His Excelen-
cy approved Of the choice Of the House
and Mr.. Papineau's nomination was duly
sanctioned. Thus Sir James Kempt BY
this approval Of the Speakers election
gave convincing proof that it was on
personal ground that Lord Dalhousie
wished TO disgrace Mr.. Papinesu, and not
for any fault or breach Of constitutional
principles else Sir James Kempt must
necessarily and Immediately have disap-
proved OF his nomination. Sir James
Kempt's conduct in this critical and de-
licate affair gave a death blow to Lord
Dahousie's career as a politician. After
the approval Of the Speaker, the Govern.
or delivered speech TO the House, nj the
most coneiIistofy character that ever was
uttered by the Royal Representative in
Lower Canada. He promised that all the
grievances Of which the people were com
planning, should soon be remedied and said
! that lie would submit TO the Legislature
the instructions which he had received
from His Msjesty's Government about
The civil list. The reply Of the Legisla-
tive Council was merely an echo Of the
Governors speech. The House OF Assem-
| bly, on the other side introduced INTO its
answer a recspitOlalion Of mary Of the
abuses which bore as a heavy weight
upon the prosperity Of the Colony and
said something about the late pretended
militia organization by the former Gov
ernor and also spoke Of the report OF the
special committee Of the House Of Com
mons in England on the grievances Of the
country.
/ On the qsth of the sanne nnontk tke