NEWS OF THE WEEK.
LORD DURH or reached Plymouth Sound, in the Inconstant frigate, on Monday night ; but the boisterous weather, up to yes- terday morning, had prevented him from landing. The published accounts from Canada, brought by the Incon- stant, add little to our previous stock of information. Some letters are written under gloomy apprehensions of a troubled winter ; whilst others represent the force of the Government as fully equal to suppress internal disturbance, and ridicule the notion of any formidable invasion by the malecontents and marauders on the frontier; whose numbers are said to be grossly exaggerated. The inhabitants of Upper Canada appear to be more interested in disputes respecting the establishment of Rectories and the en- dowment of the Church, than the dangers of domestic insurrec- tion or attack from the American border. The members of the Church of Scotland are highly incensed by the Government patronage of the English Episcopalians. According to the Morning Chronicle, the Church question has " produced much bad blood among the Presbyterians." The Montreal papers generally condemn the project of a Fede- ration of the British Provinces, The Montreal Herald declares
that the attempt to execute such a scheme would cause a re- bel i on-
4, With respect to the proposed Confederation, it must be an act of arbitrary sovereignty on the part of the Imperial Governnient, or of voluntary agreement among the colonies themselves ; in the former instance, it will be enforced by the power of the State alone--in the latter, it will be prevented by the jealousies of the several colonies ; in the former, it will be followed by rebellion against the parent state—in the latter, by endless contentions among the intended members of the Confederation."
This paper is the organ of the British party ; in whose minds the idea of rebellion seems to be familiar.
The Quebec Gazette contains an account of' a farewell dinner given on the 30th of October to Lord DURHAM by Sir JAMEs MACDONNELL and the Brigade of Guards under his command. Of course the speeches consisted chiefly of an interchange of com- pliments: perfect cordiality appears to have prevailed between the Governor-General and the Guards, and a general feeling of re- gret at the loss of their honoured guest was expressed. The winter may provide serious employment in the "tented field" for these heroes ; but if their quarters are to be in Quebec, they will indeed have cause to lament the departure of the splendid Vice- regal court and its open-handed hospitalities. Lord DURHAM alluded with satisfaction to the assistance he had received from Sir JAMES MACDONNELL, as a member of tlse Special Council; and took the opportunity of contradicting state- ments which had been made in England, of a serious difference of opinion between himself and Sir JOHN CoLBORNE, who, it was even said, had resigned his command. This was so contrary to the truth, that "from the moment of his assuming the reins of government, down to the moment when he was on the eve of re- signing ' em," the most "cordial understanding" had subsisted between them. He had perfect confidence not only in Sir JOHN COLBORWE's military skill, but that " the civil government of the province Would be administered with vigour and wisdom ;" and, had "his illustrious friend been of opinion that by remaining in the armince he could in any manner have advanced the cause of the country," Lord DURHAM would have "remained, and would have been too happy to have acted in his private capacity as a voluntese, if he had not thought he could render more service to the Prseihoes in his place in Parliament." The sentence quoted comprises Lord DURHAM's justification for abandoning his government. He could no longer be useful in ....insda—he might perform good service in the House of Lords. His mission was essentially a civil employment. He had been led to believe that he had the power of' supplying the absence of a con- stitution in Lower Canada, and of effecting, by ordinances which should have the authority of legislative acts, most extensive im- provements in the internal institutions of the province, The alter. native lay between this course and the contii. lance of the mere military despotism that preceded his arrival. Precluded from the former by the construction put upon his powers by the House of Lords and acquiesced in by the Ministers, and not specially quali- fied to administer the latter, for which a well-trained soldier like Sir JOHN COLBORNE is the natural instrument, Lord DURHAM seems to have hail no function as regards Lower Canada ; and as rewards the other provinces of British America, the business of his mission, for the present at least, was probably wound up. That the condition of Lower Canada will be rendered any worse by his departure, under the circumstances, is unlikely. Sir Joint COLBORNE can, in fact, exercise as much legal authority there as Lord DURHAM; and there will be no disappointment or delusion with respect to his powers. Neither is there much risk of hie acts incurring the censure of the Tory majority in Op- position, or its subservient Whig Administration ; whereas Lora DURHAM would not have been safe in the performance even of his ordinary duties, assailed as he was by open enemies and betrayed by false friends. As to the degree in which he can serve the British Provinces in the House of Lords, we have our doubts. Matters have gone too far and too long in a vicious course, for easy reform ; and it is to be feared that the indiffer- ence, the prejudices, the sinister influences, which prevail among all ranks in England—the ineptitude of the Government, the ignorance of the Legislature on the subject of the Canadas, as of the Colonies generally—will prevent the adoption of measures which might by possibility preserve those possessions to the British crown. Our own persuasion is that they are virtually lost ; and that the only question now is, how long they can be retained by military means, and at what yearly expense. In such a state of affairs in the Canadas, and with such prospects, what benefit could 'have arisen from Lord DURHAM'S prolonged stay ? Undoubtedly, the act of resignation and return admits of sub- stantial justification. That Lord DURHAM conducted himself with due or customary regard to the established etiquette in such matters, we are not prepared to maintain. The established niceties of official rules perhaps required that he should have waited till his resignation had been formally accepted. Let men of ceremony care for these points; we look more to the substance and essentials of things. If Lord DURHAM felt ab- solved from the customary punctilios towards Ministers, by their extraordinary conduct when he needed their firm support, many will be found sharing the same opinion. For ourselves, we hold to our old conviction, that be was from the first and all along des- tined to be a victim. The Favourite, who betrayed turn on the most conspicuous occasion, knows why.
