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middle age of genteel address bt waot- iugan arm he at once volunteered his services and there was something in his manner which made them not reject his of fer- they found his information ooth more gruoral and more correct than they could have anticipated audi while he was jess forward in his inquiries at them than any other highlander of the same rank with whom they had met his replies to their questions were more pertinent as they ascended the hill the doctor made some observation to hiscompanion in the french language upon which the guide replied in the same that if they had any thing to say which they might oot wisli him to bear he won id step on a little before the fluency with which he spoke french astonished then not a little and they naturally inquir ed how in the remotest wilds of scotland he had acquired that language he an swered that he had acquired it chiefly while iu france and that though himself was a native of kintail his wife was a frenchwoman this made them anxi ous to know something of his history and he readily promised to gratify their curiosi ty after their return from the hill to be continued one marked exception to this concession f the french law namely that it should hoi npply to lands which had been or shoi be granted in free and common so cage after an interval of seven years this act was followed by the constitutional act oj nicnt to estreat these lands and although wc think that under certain modification this power may wc arc ncvcrtl should be adopted similar to that in upper canada by the levy of a small annual duty on lauds unimproved and unoccupied be advantageously used less of opinion that a system 1791a the provisions of this important act contrary to the conditions of the grant england imperial parliament house of commons jviy 22 mr frankland lowis reported from the select committee appointed to enquire in- tothe state of the civil government of ca nada as established by the act of31 geo iii and to report their observations there upon to the house and to whom the seve ral petitions for an alteration in the present government were referred have pursu ant to the order of the house examined the matters to them referred and agreed to the following report your committee began their investigati on in tho state of tho civil government of canada by examining the several petiti- tions from the inhabitants of the two pro vinces which had been referred to tbcin by the house the petition from the town ships of the lower proviuce signed by a- bout 10000 persons complain of tho want of courts within thrtr own limits and of the administration of french law in the french language that they are wilhout representation id the house of assembly in lower canada aud that immigrants of british origin have been deterred from sett ling in the province aod finally they pray that a legislative union may take place between upper and lower canada your committee then proceeded to exa mine the petition signed by about 87000 inhabitants of lower canada resident within the sigoiories who complain of arbitrary conduct on the part oftbe gover nor of the province of his haviug applied public money without legal appropriation of violent prorogation and dissolution of the provincial parliament and of his hav ing prevcuted the passing of many useful acts which thoy enumerate they complain also that a receiverge neral had been maintained in the exercise of bis functions for some years after his in solvency was known to the covernment that simular abuses had prevailed with respect to the office of sheriff and it is further stated that the rights of the petiti oners had been injured by acts of tho im perial parliament particularly by the ca nada trade act and the act passed in the sixth year of his majestys reign c i i af fecting the tenures of laud for a further knowledge of the grievan ces complained of your committee beg leave to refer to the petitions which will lo found in the appendix before your committee proceed to ex plain ortodiscuss these important subjects they thiuk it their duly to state that petiti ons from tho provioce of upper canada were also referred to their consideration the prayer of which petitions is ihat the firoceeds arising from the sale of certain inds act apart for a protestajitclergy may otivppteoeiy to titts use ol the cler gy of the church of england the adher ents to which throughout the province they state in contradiction to the representati ons of archdeacon strachan to he compa ratively few in number but that they may reapplied to the maintenance of protestant clergymen of other denominations and to the purposes of general education a6 these petitions appear to comprehend the roost material subjects that have of late tagitated the provinces of upper and lower canada your committee thought it the best course they could pursue was to examine itnesses as to each petitionin succession and in communicating to the house tho information they have received and tbeo- pinioos they have been induced to form as to the civh government of canada they will treat of the different subjects as much as possible in- the order in which they were investigated your committee proceeded to examine into the peculiar system of law established in lower canada to which thoir attention was particularly drawn by the petition from the townships your committee have examined in great detail on this sub ject from which they collect that uncer tainty has long existed on points of law re lating to the tenure of real property in that portion of the province it appears that shortly after the cession of the province the king of england in a proclamation dated the 7th october 1763 which will be foaud in the apoendix declared amongst other things that all the inhabitants of the province and all others resorting to it might confide in his royal protection for enoyiugthe benefit of the laws of eng- wh aad he jinuouueed that he had given cojunaodsforthe erection of courts of ju- catnre with an appeal to his majesty in council in the year 1774 the first act of parlia ment was passed making provision for the better government of this part of the bri tish domiuions by this act the endish cnmicnl law was preserved but it was having no hearing upon tho subject under oureousidcration excepting that it provides with respect to lower canada that lands shall be granted in free an common so cage ifao desired and further that such grants arc to be subject to such alteration as to the nature and consequences of soc- cage tenure as may be made hy the pro vincial legislature and with his majestys approbation and assent but no such alter ation has been made on examining into the application of those provisions in the province it appears not only that doubts have existed as to the true interpretation of them but that the general practice of the colony has been to convey real property within the townships according to the canadian forms and that it has descended and been subject to the incidents of that law iu the year 1826 the british parliament passed an act which put its own interpretation of these statutes beyond the reach of further dis pute- this act commonly called the ca nadian tenure act declared that the law of england was the rule by which real pro perty within the townships was to be hereafter regulated aud administered in offering any recommendations on points of so much difficulty ami importance your committee are fully aware of the disadvan tages under which they labour and of their inability from their want of sufficient tech nical and local information to enter for any useful purpose into minute and intricate details they do not howevor decline to offer as their opinion that it would be ad vantageous that the declaratory enactment in the tenures act respecting lauds held in free or common soccage should be re tained that mortgages should be special and that iu proceedings for the conveyance of land the simplest and least expensive forms of conveyance should be adopted up on the principle of the law of england that form which prevails in upper canada being probably under all circumstances the best which could be selected that a re gistration of deeds relating to soccage lands should be established as in upper canada your committee are further of opinion that means should be found of bringing into it now becomes the duty of your com mittee to advert to tho petitions signed hy the inhabitants of the seigneuries on the important subjects contained in them they thought it right to call forexplana- tionfrom mr neilson mr- vigor aud mr cuvillier members of the assembly of lower canada who had been deputed to this country for the purpose of seeking redress forthe injuries complained ofby the petitioners from tho testimony of these gentlemen we have learned with the deepest regret that the disputes which have arisen be tween the government and the house of assembly originating as they appear lo have done in doubts as to the right of ap propriating and accounting for a consi derable portion of the public accounts have led to a state of confusion and difliculty in the administration of public affairs in that colony w hich calls for a decisive and early remedy with a view to understand accurately the grounds of this dispute the committee have carefully examined into the different sources of revenue arising in lower ca nada aod they have examined also the pub lie documents which have enabled them to trace the successive steps which had been taken by the contending parties in these disputes your committee beg leave to refer to the vidence of mr neilson and mr wilmo horton for a detailed account of the origin and progress of theso dif ferences upon this important subject your com mittee have felt that they should not do w isely in confining their views to a critical examination of the precise rocauing of the words of the different statutes they look rather to tho circumstances of lower ca nada to the spirit of the constitution to the position and character of the local government and the powers privileges aud duties of the two branches of the le gislature although from the opinion given by the law officers of the crown your commit tee miust conclude that the legal right of appropriating the revenues arisiug from the act of 1774 is vested in the crown they are prepared to say that the real in effective operation tho clause in the tenures j teresfs of the provinces would be best pro moted by placing the receipt and expendi ture of the whole public revenue under the supertntendance and cootroul of the house of assembly on the other hand your committee while recommendiug such a concession on the part of the crown are strongly im pressed with the advantage of rendering the governor the members of the execu tive couucil and the judges indepen dent of the annual votes of the house of assembly for theirrespective salaries your committee are fullyaware of the objections in principle whicu may be fair ly raised against the practice of voting permanent salaries to judges who arc re movable at the pleasure of the crown hut being convinced that it would be inex pedient that the crown should he deprived oftbat power of removal aod having well considered the public inconvcuience which might result from their being left in de pendence upon an annual vote of the as sembly they have decided to make the recommendation in their instance of a permanent vote of salary although your committee are aware that the grant of permanent salaries has been reccouimeuded to a much greater number of persons connected with the ex ecutive government than they have inclu ded in their recommendation they have no hesitation in expressing their opinion act which provides for the mutation of tenure and they entertain no doubt of the inexpediency of retaining the soigneu- rial rights of the crown in the hope of deriving a profit from thom the sacrifice on tho part of the crown would he trifling and would bear no proportion to the benefit thatwould result to the colony from such a concession in addition to these recommendations it appears to be desirable that some com petent jurisdiction should be established to try and decide causes arising out of this description of properanil that circuit courts should be ioswuted within the townships for the same purposes the committee cannot too strongly ex press their opinion that the canadians of french extraction should in no degree be disturbed in the peaceful enjoyment of their religion laws and privileges as se cured to them by the british acts of par liament and so far from requiring them to hold lands on the british tenure they think that when the lands in the seigneuries are fully occupied if the descendants of the original settlers shall still retain their prefe rence to the tenure of fiefet scignciirie they see no objections to other portions of unoccupied lauds in that province being granted to them on that tenure provided that such lands are set apart from and not intermixed with the townships enacted that in all matters of controversy relative to property nd civil rights re sort should bo had to the laws of canada as the rule a a list canada nd decision f tho same and ill causes that should thereafter be cstab- iedin every court of justice to bo ap pointed within the province should with rcocct to such property d lights he duvminjd wy t the fia cwtsmwefoawda pierois howovor your committee are now desirous of ad- that it is unnecessary to include so large verting to the representative system of number and if the officers above enume lower canada with respect to which all jtartvn tti it ffree itat some change should take place in this branch of their enquiry they are desirous of recalling to the recollection of the house that under the provisions of the act of 1791 the division of the province for the purpose of exer cising the elective franchise was entrusted to the governor and it appears that sir alured clarke apportioned the represen- tation according to the numerical amount of the population as the sole basis on which his calculations were formed and divided into counties as much land as was found to contaiu a given number of inha bitants on the thickly peopled banks of the st lawrence a small district was found to suffice while in the more distant parts vast territories were comprehended in one county in order to obtain the re quisite amount of population thus it happens that the counties of kent surrey montreal leinster and warwick do not altogether equal in extent the single county of buckinghamshire the small counties too are composed wholly of lands holden as seigneuries a bill actually passed the assembly the object of which was to increase the number of the representative assembly- this bill did not become a law and it appears to have been founded upon the same prin ciple and to have involved the same error as the original arrangement by sir alured clarke it has been stated by one of the witnesses that under the proposed division a disproportionate increase would have been given to the representatives from the seigoeuries in providing a representative system for the inhabitants of a country which is gra dually comprehending in its limits newly peopled and extensive districts great im perfections must necessarily arise from proceeding in the first instance on the basis of population only in upper ca nada a representative system has been fouuded on the compound basis of territory and population this principle we thiuk might be advantageously adopted in lower canada one of tho obstacles which is said greatly to impede the improvement of the country is the practice which has prevailed in making grauts of lands in large masses to individuals who had held official situations in the colony and who havo evaded the conditions in the grant by which thoy were bound to provide for its cultivation tindoow wholly neglect it although powers gave been latterly acquired by tho jovcra- rated are on lie ffltitf ifftaw- mended they are of opinion that all the revenues of the province except territori al aud hereditary revenues should be pla ced under the controul and direction of the legislative assembly your committee cannot close their ob servations on this branch of their enquiry without calling the attention of the house to the important circumstance that in the progress of these disputes the local go vernment has thought it necessary through a long scries of years to have recourse to a measure which nothing but the most ex treme necessity couldjustify of annually appropriating by its own authority large sums of the money of the province amount ing to no less a sum than 140000 with out tho consent of the representatives of the people under whose controul the ap propriation of these monies is placed by the constitution your committee cannot but express their deep regret that such a state of things should have been allowed lo exist for so many years in a british colony without any communication or reference having been made to parliament on the sub ject upon tho several points referred to your committee connected with the office of receivergeneral ofthe sheriffs and of the jesuits estates your committee pro ceeded to examine evidence upon each the facts ofthe case as regards the re ceiver general mr caldwell are detail ed iiu mr nelsons evidence mr cald- welu as a defaulter in 1823 fr 96000 of tftte put lie money of the province i j vii our examination of the accounts by the house of assembly no acquittal coutld be traced from the treasury of a la ter date than 1814 though some balan ces were stated up to 1819 and it appear ed hy documents then produced that the fact of his deficiency was known for a considerable time before ho was suspend- rour committeo recommend for the fu ture that steps should betaken by efficient securities aod by a regular audit ofthe ac- comnts to prevent the recurrence of simi lar llosses and inconveniences to tho pro- viucces avs connected with this branch of the cnqiuiry your committee recommend that precautions of the same nature should be adojptod with regard to the sheriffs as it appears that within a few years two instan ce of the insolvency of bene officers have occurred while possessed in virtue of thoir office of large sums of mont deposited io their hands with respect to the estate which for merly belonged to the jesuitg your com mittee lament that they h not moro full information but it appears to them to be desirable thu the proceeds should he applied to the purposes of general educa tion one of the most important subjects to which their enquiries have been directed has been the state of the legislative coun cils in both the canadas an the mauuer in which these assemblies have answered the purposes for which they were institu ted your committee strongly recom mend that a moro independam character should be given to these bodies that the majority of their members should not con sist of persons holding offices at the plea sure of the crown and they are of opini on that any other measures that may tend to connect more intimately this branch of the constitution with the interest of the colonies would be attended with the great est advaotage with respect to the judges with the exception only ofthe chief justice whose presence on particular occasions might be necessary your committee entertain no doubt that they had better not be involved in the political busioesss ofthe house upon similar points it ap pears to your committee that it is not de sirable that judges should hold seats in tho executive council your committee are desirous of recor ding the principle which in their judg ment should be applied to auy alterations in the constitution of the canadas which was imparted to them under the formal act ofthe british legislature of 1791- that principle is to limit the alterations which it may be desirable to make by any future british act as far as possible to such points as from the relation between the mother country and ihe canadas can only be disposed of by the paramount authority ofthe british legislature and they arc of opinion that all other changes should if possible be carried iuto effect by the local legislatures themselves in amica ble communication with the local govern ment upon the great question of the union of the two canadas your committee have re ceived much evidence to which they de sire to call the attention of the house with reference to ihemte of jlillic jee- ing that appears to prevail in these colo nics on this momentous subject yourcom- mittee are not prepared under present cir cumstances to recommend that measure your committee nevertheless ihiuk it highly desirable that some satisfactory ar rangement and if possible one of a perma nent nature should be effected between the two canadas with regard to the impo sition and distribution of the customs col lected in the st lawrence they trust however when the heats which so unfor tunately exist shall have subsided tlrat such an arrangement may beamically tfected it now remains for us to lay beftre the house the result of our enquiries iito the clergy reserves which appear by the statements ofthe petitioners from upper canada to be the cause of much anxiety and dissatisfaction in that province by the act of 1791 the governor is di rected to make from and out oftbe lands of the crown within such provinces such allotment and appropriation of lands for the support and maintenance of a protes tant clergy within the same as may bear a due proportion to the amount of such lands within the 6ame as have at anytime been granted by or under any authority of his majesty and it is further provided that such lands so allotted and appropria ted shall be as nearly as the circumstance and nature of the case will admit of the like quality as the lands in respect of which the same are so allotted and appropriated and shall be as nearly as the same may be estimated at the time of making such grant equal in value to the seventh part of the lands so granted teiimftfcttous ilus given have bcen strictly carried into effect and the result is that the separate portions of land which have been thus reserved are scattered over the whole ofthe districts already granted it was no doubt expected by the fra- mers of this act that as the other six parts of the land granted were improved and ctdlivated the reserved part would pro duce a rent and that out ofthe profits thus realized an ample fund might be establish ed for the maintenance of a protestant clergy these anticipations however- have nut as yet been and do not appear to be soon realized judging indeed by all the information the committee could ob tain on this subject they entertain no doubt that these reserved laods as they are at present distributed over the country retard more than any other circumstance the im provement of the colony lying as they do in detached proportions in each town- ship and intervening between the occupa tions of actual settlers who have no means ofcuttiug roads through the woods and morasses which thus separate them from their neighbours the allotment of those portions of reserved wilderness has in fact done much more to diminish the value of the six parts granted to those settlers than the improvement of their allotments has done to encrease the value ofthe reserve this we think must bs apparent from the results of the attempts which have been made to dispose of these lands a corpo ration has been formed within the pro vince consisting ofthe clergy ofthe church of england who have been empowered to grant leases of those lands for a term not exceeding 21 years- it appears that in the lower province only the total quanti ty of clergy reserves is 488594 acres of which 75639 acres are granted on leases the terms of which are that for every lot of 200 acres 8 bushels of wheat or 25s per annum shall be paid for the first 7 years 16 bushels or 50s per annum shall be paid for the next 7 years and 24 bushels or 75s per annum for the last 7 years under these circumstances the nominal rent ofthe clergy reserves is 930 per annum the actual receipt for the last three years has boon only 50 per anuum the groat dif ference between the nominal aud the net receipt is to be accouutcd for by tiio groat difficulty of collecting rents and by tenants absconding wo are informed also that the residcut clergy act as locj ageuts in collecting the rents that a sum of 17 had been deducted lor the expenses of ma nagement and that at tho date ol the iuai i- i ron re- 1 that it tloes not impose on the students an amuuicaton on tins subject 5 ion lo subscribe to the 39 articles zjj the which was done in the case of the other coinm ma nera being the gross p whole revenue of an estate of 4k5dj acres d raneements for the couduct and govern- a e to dispose of 6 nt that the archdeacon north american colleges your com- nittee find it provided amongst other ar- ao attempt has been marl this estate by sale the canada compa ny established by the 6 geo iv chap 75 agreed to purchase a large portion of these reserves at a price to be fixed by commissi oners 3s- 0d per acre was the price esti mated aud at tho sum an unwillingness was expressed on the part ofthe church to dispose of the lands the government therefore have made arrangements with the company and an act has since been passed authorising the the sale of these lands to auy person desir ing to purchase them provided the quan tity sold does not exceed 100000 acres each year as your committee entertain no doubt that the reservation of theso lands in mort main is a serious obstacle to the improve ment of the colony they thiuk every pro per exertion should be made to place them in the bauds of persons who will perform upon them the duties of settlement aud bring them generally into cultivation that their value whatever it may be must be applied to the maintenance of a protestant clergy there can be no doubt and your committee regret that there is no prospect as far as present succ e iing ge neration is concerned of their produce beiug sufficient for that object in a country where wholly unimproved land is granted io fee for almost nothing to persons willing to settle on it it is hardly to be expected that with the exception of some favoured allotments responsible tenants will be found who will hold on lease or that purchasers of such land will be found at more than a nomi nal price your committee however are happy to find that the principle of the progressive sale of these lands has already been sanc tioned by an act ofthe imperial parlia ment they cannot avoid recommending in the strongest tuauner the propriety of se curing for the future any provision which may he deemed necessary for the religious wants ofthe community in those provinces by other means than by a reser vation of oneseventh ofthe land nccording to the enactmeut of the act of 1791 tcy woota also observe that equal obbjections exist to the reservation of that seventh which in practice appears to be reserved for the benefit ofthe crown doubtjessthe time roust arrive when these reserved lands will have acquiredaconsiderable value from the circumstance of heir being surrounded by settled districtsbut that value will have been acquired at the expense of the real in terests of the province and will operate to retard the course of general improvement which is the true source of national wealth your committee are of opinion therefore that it may be well for the government to consider whether these lands cannot be permanently alienated subject to some fix ed moderate reserved payment either in money or grain as may be demanded to a- rise after the first 10 or i5years ofoccupa- tion they are not prepared to do more than offer this suggestion which appears to them to be worthy of more careful inves tigation than it is in their power to give to it but in this or in some such mode they are fully persuaded the lands thus reserv ed ought without delay to be permanent ly disposed of- to a property at once so largo and so unproductive it appears that there are nu merous claimants the act of 1791 directs that the profits arising from this source shall be applied to a protostaut clergy doubts have arisen whether tho act requires the government to confine them to the use ofthe church of england only or to allow the church of scotland to participate in them the law officers of tho crown have givon an opini on ed favour of the rights of the church of fttlftm toucilphitieiphtiou iii which your committee entirely concur but the question has also been raised whether the clergy of every denomination of christians except roman catholics may not be in cluded it is not foryour committee toex- prcss an opinion on the accuracy which the words of the act legally convey they entertaiu no doubt however that the in tention of those persons who brought for- wrd the measure iu parliament was to endow with parsonage houses and glebe lands the clergy of the church of eng land nt the discretion of the local govern- mcut but with respect to the distribution ofthe proceeds ofthe reserved landsgene- rally they are of opinion that they ought to reserve to the government the right to ap ply the money if they so thought fit to auy protestant clergy the committee see little reason to hope that the annual income to be derrived from this source is likely within any time to which tbey can look forward to amount to a sufficient sum to provide for the protest ant clergy of these provinces but they venture to press the early consideration of this subject on hismujestys government with a view to an adjustment that may be satisfactory to the province ofthe principle on which tho proceeds from which the lands are hereafter to be applied intend ing the just and prudent and application of these funds the government will necessa rily be influenced by the state ofthe popu lation as to religious opinions at the peri od when the decision is to be taken at present it is certain that the adherents of the church of england constitute but a small minority in the province of upper canada on tho part ofthe scotch church claims have been strongly urged on ac count of its establishment in the empire and from the numbers of its adhercuts in the province with regard to the other religious sects the committee hav found much difficulty in ascertaining the exact numerical proportions which they bcarone to another but the evidence has led them to believe that neither tho adherents of tho church of england nor those ofthe church of scotland from the most numerous reli gious body within the province of upper canada rr the attention of the committee having been drawn to the establishment of tho university of kings collego at york in upper canada they thought it their duty to examine the charter grantod to that that charter was grauled uudur of york for the time being shall by virtue of bis office at all times be president ofthe said college it is further ordained that there shall be within the said college or corporation a council to bo called and known by the name of the college council which shall consist of the chancellor the president and of seven professors in arts and fa culties of the said college and that such said professors shall be members of the established church of england ireland and shall previously to their admission sign and subscribe the 39 articles of re ligion to this council the whole go vernment of the college is confided of the great advantage which the establishment of a college for the purposes of general education in upper catfada is likely to confer upon tho province your committee entertain the strongest conviction they lament only that the institution should bo so constituted as materially to diminish the extent to which it might be useful it caunot they think be doubted aa the guidance and government ofthe collego is to be vested in the hands of the members ofthe church of england that in the elec tion of professors a preference would inevitably be shewn to persons of that per- suation and in a country where only a small proportion of the inhabitants adhere to that church a suspicion and jealousy of religious interference would necessarily be created for these and other reasons the cum- mit to are desirous of stating their opinion that great benefit would accrue to the province by changing tho constitution ot this body- they think that two theological pro fessors should be established one of the church of england and another of the church of scotland whose lectures the respective candidates for holy orders should be required to attend but that with respect to tho president professors and all others connected with the college no religious test whatever should be required fht in the section o ffffl 88 rule should be followed and no other ob ject sought than the nomination of the most learned and discreet persons and that with respect to religion they should be required to sign a declaration that as far as it was necessary for them to advert in their lectures to religious subjects they would distinctly recognize the truth of the christian revelation but would abstain altogether from inculcating particular doc trines though your committee have now dis posed of the most important subjects of their enquiry they are aware than on an examination of the petitions and of the evidence many other matters will appear entitled to consideration the committee think it necessary also to observe that the evidence from upper canada has not been equally ample and satisfactory with that which they have had the advantage of receiving from the lower province your committeo however are desirous of directing tho attention of go vernment to tho sedition act should it not be found to have expired the repeal of which appears to have been long thoob- ject of the efforts of the house of assembly of upper canada your committee also beg leave to call tho particular attention ofthe government to the mode in which juries are composed in the canadas with a view to remedy any defects that may be found to exist in the present system your committee lament that the into period of the session in which they wore appointed has rendered a minute investi gation into all parts of tho subject submitted v iivn iii puoy uvftlfevo too mat if tho legislative assemblies aud the execu tive government of canada can be put on a right footing that mcaus will he found within the province of remedying all minor grievances they are disposed nevertheless to recommend that the prayer ofthe lower canadians for permission to appoint ac agent in the same manner as agents are appointed by other colonies which possess local legislatures should be granted and that a similar privilege should be extended to upper canada if the colony should desire it at an early period of their investigation your committee perceived that their attenti on must be directed to two distinct branches enquiry 1st to what degree the em barrassments and discontents which have long prevailed in the canadas had arisen from defects in the system of laws the constitutions established in these colonies 2d how far there evils were to be attribut ed to the manner in which the existing sys tem has been administered your committee have clearly expressed their opinion that serious defects were to be found in that system and have ventured to suggest several alterations that have ap peared to them to be necessary or con- vient they also fully admit tbat from these as well as from other circumstances the task of government in these colonies and especially in tho lower province has uot been an easy one but they fee it their duty to express their opinion that it is to the second of the causes alluded to that these embarrassroents and discontents are in a great measure to bo traced they are most anxious to record their complete con viction that neither tho suggestions they have presumed to make nor any other improvements in tho laws and constitu tions of the canadas will be attended with the desired effect unless an impartial con ciliatory and constitutional systom of go vernment be observed in those loyal and important colonies your committee had closed their enquiry and were proceeding to consider their re port when it became their duty to enter nto further ovideucc upon a petition re ferred to them by tho house and signed by the agents who had brought to tfifccouotry the potition of 87000 inhabitants of lower canada of which inontion has been made in a former part of thoir report this pocitiou and tho ovideucc by which it is supported contains ihn mostgravo al legations against the administration of lord dalhousio since tho period at which oioso tho great seal and it if to be observed gentlemen left tho colony