laid the bill before the Commons; which, with the exception of clauses for the creation of municipal councils, which were most properly left for local legislation, passed both Houses, and received

The qualifications of a member to be those of bona fide possession of landed estate worth £500 sterling.

The English language is to be only used in all written or printed proceedings of the Legislature.

The passing of any bill to repeal the provision of the 14th George III, or in the acts of 31st of the same reign relating to the government of the Province of Quebec, and the dues and rights of the clergy of the Church of Rome; the allotment or appropriation of lands for the support of a Protestant clergy; the endow ments of the Church of England, or its internal discipline or establishment, or affecting the enjoyment or exercise of any form or mode of religious worship in any way whatever; or which may affect her Majesty's prerogative touching the waste lands of the Crown, must be first submitted to the Imperial Parliament previous to the declaration of the Sovereign's assent, and that if the Imperial Legislature shall petition the Queen to withhold her assent within thirty days after such act shall have been received, it shall not be lawful to affix the Royal assent thereto.

The levying of imperial and colonial duties; the appointment of a court of appeal; the administration of the civil and criminal laws; the fixation of the Court of Queen's Bench within the late Province of Upper Canada; the regulation of trade; the consolidation of all the revenues derivable from the colony into one fund, to be appropriated for the public service of Canada.

Out of this fund £45,000 to be payable to her Majesty, her heirs and successors, for the purpose of defraying the expenses for the administration of the government and the laws on the Civil List, as follows:

Governor, £7000; Lieutenant-Governor, £1000.

Upper or Western Canada.

One Chief-Justice, £1500; Four Puisne Judges, £900 each, £3600; One Vice-Chancellor, £1125.

Lower or Eastern Canada.

One Chief-Justice, £1500; Three Puisne Judges, Quebec, £900 each, £2700; One Chief-Justice, Montreal, £1100; Three Puisne Judges, Montreal, £900 each, £2700; One Resident Judge at Three Rivers, £900; One Judge of the Inferior District of Gaspe, £500; One Judge of the Inferior District of St Francis, £500; Pensions to Judges, Salaries of the Attorneys and Solicitors-General, and Contingent and Miscellaneous Expenses of the administration of justice throughout the Province of Canada, £20,875.

And a further sum of £30,000 out of the said Consolidated Revenue Fund for defraying the under-mentioned expenses of the Government :

Civil Secretaries and their Offices, £8000; Provincial Secretaries and their Offices, £3000; Receiver-General and his Office, £3000; Inspector-General and his Office, £2000; Executive Council, £3000; Board of Works, £2000; Emigrant Agent, £700; Pensions, £5000; Contingent Expenses of Public Offices, £3300.

Both sums to be paid by the Receiver-General, upon the Governor's warrants, and the Receiver-General to account to the Lords of the Treasury; and all the

the royal assent on the 23d July.

Owing to a suspending clause it

did not take effect, however, till the 10th of February 1841, 1841. when it was declared in force by proclamation.

expenditure thereon to be laid before the Provincial Parliament within thirty days after the commencement of each session.

The total sum of £75,000 thus raised and paid for the civil list, to be accepted and taken by her Majesty by way of civil list, instead of all territorial and other revenues then at the disposal of the Crown.

The first charge upon the consolidated revenue fund to be its collection, management, and receipt; the second, the public debt of the two provinces at the time of the union; the third, the payment of the clergy of the Church of England, Church of Scotland, and the ministers of other Christian denominations, agreeably to previous laws and usages; the fourth charge to be the civil list of £45,000; and the fifth, that of £30,000, payable during the lifetime of her Majesty, and for five years after her demise. The sixth charge to be that of the expenses and charges before levied and reserved by former acts of the two provinces, as long as they are payable.

All bills for appropriating any part of the revenues of the united province to originate with the Governor, who shall have the right of initiating the same, as well as of recommending the appropriation of any new tax or impost, and that, having thus been recommended, the Legislative Assembly shall first discuss the

same.

The formation of new townships to originate with the Governor, as well as the appointment of township officers. The power vested in the Queen to annex the Magdalen Islands to the Government of the Island of Prince Edward, in the Gulf of St Lawrence; and the appointment of Governor of the Province of Canada, to be understood as meaning Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person authorised by her Majesty, her heirs and successors, to execute the office of Governor of that province.

THE

CHAPTER XXIII.

GOVERNMENT OF LORD SYDENHAM,-continued.

HE most important and pressing Canadian question after the Union, was that of the Clergy Reserves, and it was, therefore, determined to dispose of it, if possible. A bill was accordingly introduced by Mr Draper, now Solicitor-General, early in 1840. January, empowering the Governor to sell these Reserves; part of the proceeds to be applied for payment of the salaries of the existing clergymen of the Church of England, to whom the faith of the Crown had been pledged. One-half of the remainder was to go to the Churches of England and Scotland, in proportion to their respective numbers; the other half, to all other denominations of Christians recognised by the existing laws, in a ratio to their annual private contributions for the support of their ministers. This bill passed the Assembly by a majority of eight. The measure, however, did not satisfy the Reform party, and the Clergy Reserve question continued to be a fruitful source of agitation.

Meanwhile, an address had been presented by the Assembly to the Governor-General, in order to elicit a distinct expression of his views on the question of responsible government. On the 14th of January he sent down a message in reply, which declared "that he had been commanded by her Majesty to administer the government in accordance with the well-understood wishes of the people; and to pay to their feelings, as expressed through their representatives, the deference that was justly due to them."

Thus, at last, was the principle of responsible government interwoven with the Constitution of Canada, a consummation so long struggled for by the Reform party. The Governor-General's message on this head was followed by the removal of Mr Hagerman, the Attorney-General, who had voted against the union in the Assembly. Mr Draper was appointed to the vacant post, while Robert Baldwin

the principal leader of the constitutional Reformers, was made Solicitor-General. Mr Hagerman for his long services was raised. to the Bench. The business of the session having been satisfactorily concluded, the House was prorogued on the 10th of February. The Governor-General shortly after proceeded to Montreal, where he summoned the Special Council, not yet dissolved, to meet, and induced it to pass several useful laws.

On Queenston Heights, near where the gallant Brock had fallen in 1812, the gratitude of the Canadian people had raised a beautiful hollow column to his memory, in the base of which his remains, and those of his aide-de-camp, Colonel M'Donald, had been deposited, having been removed thither from Niagara. This column was ascended by one hundred and seventy spiral steps. Its summit commanded a prospect of the noblest character, stretching over the blue expanse of Lake Ontario in one direction-in others, over an interminable succession of cultivated fields and magnificent woods. On the 17th of April, as day dawned, some ruffian, lost to every principle of honour, and influenced only with diabolical hatred to Canada, endeavoured to blow up this column with gunpowder. The explosion seriously injured the building. Although a large reward was offered at the time, no clue to the perpetrator has ever been discovered. But the people of Canada West would not consent that Brock should be without a memorial. A grand and imposing meeting, presided over by Sir George Arthur, was held by the militia and others, to the number of five thousand persons, beneath the shattered column on the 30th of July, and a subscription entered into to rebuild it.*

The return of peace and order had again directed the current of immigration up the St Lawrence, to add to the population and wealth of the country. During the summer Mr Thompson made a protracted tour through the several British provinces, and was very favourably received. While popular with the majority of the Canadians, his measures had also given entire satisfaction to the Home Government, and the Queen was accordingly pleased to raise him to the peerage, by the title of Baron Sydenham of Kent and of Toronto.

Towards the close of the year, the imprisonment in the United States of Alexander M'Leod, who had been Deputy Sheriff of the Niagara District, for his presumed share in the destruction of the Caroline, threatened to involve this country in His acquittal, however, although by a court which had not * Another noble column has been erected after many delays.

war.

1841.

jurisdiction in his case, released Great Britain from a most unpleasant dilemma, and terminated the excitement on this head. As the new year progressed the Conservative and Reform parties began to prepare for the general election, expected to take place immediately on the union of the two provinces being officially proclaimed.

This important event took place on the 10th of February, and as Kingston was now to be the seat of Government, preparations accordingly were promptly made there for the residence of the Governor-General and accommodation of the Legislature. On the 13th, writs, returnable on the 8th of April, were issued for a new election. An Executive Council for United Canada* were also summoned, and other appointments made at the same time. With the new order of things ended the Lieutenant-Governorship of Upper Canada. Sir George Arthur's rule accordingly terminated. The administration of the Canadas has since been directed by one individual, in the person of a Governor-General or his representative.

The elections, at which considerable excitement took place, resulted in the return of a small Reform majority in Upper Canada. The Conservatives returned a large proportion of members, and it was evident that these two parties were of very nearly equal strength. The Family Compact were only able to elect seven members. The French members, numbering twenty-four, held the balance of power completely in their hands, and thus occupied a position somewhat analogous to that held at one time by the O'Connell party in the British House of Commons.

The Legislature was convened at Kingston on the 13th of June. The Assembly chose Mr Cuvillier, a French-Canadian Reformer, as their Speaker. The session was opened by the Governor-General in a clever and practical speech, alike distinguished for its moderation and good sense. It stated, with regard to M'Leod, whose case was still undecided, that her Majesty was fully determined to protect her Canadian subjects to the utmost of her power; it recommended a new arrangement for the post-office department, the completion of the public works of the province, for which purpose Great Britain was prepared to pledge her credit for £1,500,000 sterling, the en

* This council was composed of Messrs Sullivan, (President,) Dunn, Daly, Harrison, Ogden, Draper, Baldwin, and Day; all holding the higher offices of the state apart from their position of executive councillors. Under the system of responsible government members of Assembly accepting office are obliged to go back to their constituencies for re-election. If rejected, as a matter of course they cannot hold office.