end, it is absolutely requisite, that he who chooses the jury should also be free from such improper influence.

In Canada, moreover, there is no relief for the subject against the Crown, as will be seen by the following

extract:

"The King cannot be sued in his courts. It is understood that, by decisions of our own courts, public officers cannot be sued for engagements entered into by them in their public capacity, so that really the subject may suffer without a remedy. In England, there is the petition of right, which is decided upon in legal form. The Bill, introduced in 1824, by a distinguished advocate, was intended to give a similar relief to the subject here. It, however, failed in the Legislative Council."

The officers of the crown always are careful to confound their own rights with those of the King himself; they studiously guard themselves from attack and control, under shelter of the constitutional maxim, that the King is not answerable for his conduct; and exclaim that His Majesty's dignity is insulted, when their own evil deeds are censured. Attempts to make these various judicial officers amenable to justice will hereafter be described; the causes and consequences of the failure of these well-directed endeavours will also be laid before the reader, whom I request then to bear in mind the hasty sketch which I have here given of our irresponsible judicature, and then to decide upon the feelings and intentions of those persons who successfully opposed such salutary, such absolutely necessary reforms.

Sketch of Business, p. 22.

CHAPTER III.

A List of the Governors, from 1791 to the present time— Observations on the State of Canada, under Sir James Craig-Sir George Prevost-General Drummond-Sir John Sherbrooke-The Duke of Richmond - Lord Dalhousie.

AFTER the exposition I have thus given of the Government, and the people to be governed, I shall be more easily understood in the narration which I am now about to commence, of the actual workings of this Government, and of the situation of the people under it.

It is not my intention to give a complete detail of its history, from the period at which our constitution was established down to the present time, but to single out such parts as will enable the reader fully to understand the workings of the system, to obtain a clear idea of the evils we labour under, as well as the remedies which ought to be applied to them. The following is a list of the various Governors who have ruled over Canada, since it was possessed of a free government. Of these reigns, if I may be permitted to use such a phrase, it is my intention to dwell particularly upon that of Sir James Craig, Sir George Prevost, Sir John C. Sherbrooke, and Lord Dalhousie, in order that the reader may perceive the difference of the effect produced by tyrannical and coercive measues, even upon the most tranquil and submissive people, and that resulting from equitable and conciliatory proceedings.

Alured Clarke, Lieut.-Governor and Com.-in-Chief

1791.

Sept. 24, 1793.

1796.

July 31, 1799.
July 31, 1805.

Oct. 24, 1807.

June 19, 1811.

Sept. 14, 1811.

April 4, 1815.

1815.

May 22, 1816.

July 12, 1816.

July 30, 1818.

Sept. 20, 1819.

June 18, 1820.

When the Government I have described was conferred upon Canada, the people generally were not in a situation to appreciate its worth, nor to act up to its principles. They had been brought up under a government which allowed them no will of their own in political matters, and they had long learned to submit in silence. The violent conduct of Sir James Craig aroused them from their lethargy. The proceedings of the then government led a body of courageous and instructed individuals to discuss the propriety of its measures. This patriotism-this desire to understand the government of the country, spread far and wide over the remainder of the people, and the whole Canadian nation was almost at one instant changed in their character and their desires.

The Anti-Canadian party was at this period openly supported by the Governor; and an English editor of a newspaper, entitled the Quebec Mercury, under the same patronage, indulged in every species of sarcasm against the manners, the habits, the religion, the political feelings, and, above all, the loyalty of the Canadians. This hostility on the part of the Governor-this abuse on the part of his satellite, induced a number of respectable and talented individuals to procure a printing press, for the purpose of

counteracting the effects that might be produced by the false accusations then indulged in. They quickly succeeded in establishing a weekly paper, published in French, and styled Le Canadien. The paper war which immediately followed did not fail to inflame the minds of both parties; and Sir James Craig, instead of endeavouring to calm these animosities, and remove the original cause of them, strenuously countenanced the English side, and thus increased the ill-will, on both sides, to a degree absolutely menacing to the interests of the province. He at length committed an act of injustice that no excuse can possibly palliate: he maltreated, degraded, and, in the end, without form or legal process, imprisoned a number of persons, whom he believed, or had been told, were suspected. These persons, to his great mortification, he was eventually compelled to release, by an order (it is said) from the Ministers in England. This was done without the slightest attempt having been made to inculpate them, and without the least compensation having been afforded to them for the ill-treatment they had received. It may be well to lay before the reader the circumstances which led to this extraordinary proceeding. At this period, a misunderstanding beginning to arise between England and America, the Governor deemed it necessary to organize a militia. Unfortunately, however, he was made to believe, that arms could not be confided to the Canadians without imminent danger; and some ill-disposed persons succeeded in inflaming his mind to such a degree, that he at length seriously believed the province to be in a state of revolt. The war carried on by the newspapers confirmed this belief. It was reported, and, strange to say, the Governor believed the report, that the French Minister in the United States fostered the rising sedition of the Canadian people; that large sums of money had been transmitted by the French Government, for the support of the insurgents. This idea, although ingenious, was absurd, as future events will sufficiently testify; but nothing appeared strange to the Go

vernor, who, in the present excited state of his imagination, was ready to give implicit confidence to whatever told to the disadvantage of the Canadian people.

At length there appeared a placard, or hand-bill, signed L'Ami Sincère*. This determined the Governor to seize the press of the Canadien, and, on the 17th of March, 1810, a party of military seized both the printing materials and the printer, who, in spite of the immense sums of French money, and, we suppose, to the great astonishment of Sir James Craig, was conducted to prison without oppositionwithout the slightest tumult. At the same time, and with the same ease and quietness, many other respectable Canadians, among whom were some members of the House of Assembly, were also sent to prison: and thus ended this dreadful revolution. Some time after, they were politely requested to leave the gaol in which they had been confined; -no explanations being given-no compensation offered→ no justification being required. One of them, however, more obstinate than the rest, refused to depart, unless some process, or trial, should take place; and remained one year longer incarcerated. Perceiving that he gained nothing by thus holding out, he then took his leave of the gaoler. It perhaps may be satisfactory to learn, that, in the succeeding administration, all these injured persons were recompensed by lucrative places; that the printing press was restored to the original proprietors; and that the most obstinate among them, being an advocate, was advanced to the post of a judge.

We may here be permitted to remark, that the recompense thus bestowed was no retribution: it came not from the hand that had worked the evil-it came not from the law, acting as the redresser of wrongs-but was solely the result of the good feeling and good sense of the next governor, using his private judgment; and, though the

* From this placard, the reader will find some extracts in the Appendix, No. VIII.