NEWS OF THE WEEK.
Tam is " wonderful unanimity" on one part of the Canadian question—the necessity of putting down the colonists vi et armis, for the honour and glory of the British name. And it is the almost universal belief that this has been done already ; although about tee thousand additional troops will be despatched in time to reach Quebec early in May, or as soon as the frozen St. Lawrence is thawed. But the suppression of the late limited and hardly premeditated insurrection is a small portion of the duty devolving upon the Government. The administration of affairs now and henceforth in the disaffected colony, is the essential and difficult matter which demands wisdom and energy in our rulers. To this subject the attention of Parliament, reassembled on Tuesday, has been devoted.
An address to the Crown, promising ample means for esta- blishing the Royal dominion in Lower Canada, was moved by Led JOHN RUSSELL in the House of Commons. This mode of procekling is admitted to have been irregular. Precedents Tainted out a message from the Queen as the proper preliminary to such a vote as Ministers called upon the House to pass. Was tie: departure from the precedent one of the manifold blunders of Cie present officials, or was it one of their many artifices? Had Cie usual course been followed, notice of the Government's inten- tions would have been given to the Members who are averse to siding rough-shod over the Canadians; an early day would have
en er ' erw "king her Majesty's graeeet message into con- , weuel have been too indecent to proceed at once ( t. tiatou; and thus the Ministers would have lost the be- nefit of a surprise, by which they profited considerably. It was a paltry advantage, which men having any pretensions to high statesmanship—the lit rulers of a great nation—would have inorned the Whigs were glad of it, and chuckled as if they had performed a feat.
The Ministerial proposal, imperfectly developed in the speech of Lord Janet RUSSELL, is to suspend the constitution of Lower Canada till the 1st of November 1840; and to authorize a Go- vernor-General, with the assistance of a Council or Committee of Advice, to administer the affairs of Lower Canada, with power to levy taxes, appropriate the revenue, and perform the functions now belonging to the Governor and Legislature of the province. The Council is to consist of three members selected by the Go- vernor-General from each of the Legislative Councils of the two Canadas, and of twenty members to be elected by the existing constituencies of Lower and Upper Canada, ten by each body. The time of summoning the new Council is left. to the discretion of the Governor. The members chosen by the constituency of Lower Canada will most likely be of the PAPINEAU party ; but the calculation probably is that they will be overborne by those returned for Upper Canada, and the Governor's men taken from the two Legislative Councils. The settlement of vat ious matters affecting the two provinces jointly is the assigned reason for sum- moning representatives from Upper Canada ; but, for all that
appears to the contrary, the Upper Canada' delegates will have an equal voice with those of Lower Canada in legislating for the exclusive concerns of the latter province.
The most important part of the duties of the Governor and Courcil will lie the formatien of a new constitution for Lower Canada : but their acts on this branch of the subject will be re- Tised by the British Parliament,—that is, by the unavowod and
opt irresponsible managers of the Colonial Otlice,—a fact which must modify the expectations of benefit to be derived from inquiry and legislatiou on the spot, even under the most favourable auspices.
Thu suspeneien of the constitution of Lower Canada is allowed tun In an erbitrary proceeding, justifiable only on the ground of votrilling necessity. It is difficult to discover either justice or necessity in the case. First as to its justice. What have the ma- jority ut the House of Assembly—the assumed deliequents- done to deserve extinction? They have committed no illegal act. 4 few members have joined the insurgents ; and if taken and
se
es
found guilty, they will be punisher' It is fashion to call Mr.
Cc
Speaker PaetWiteu a traitor, but u mint time no overt el ' act of treason has been proved ago; O i e is accused of cowardice, for not joining the in.( It is assumed by the righteous and consistent per• went upon
the agitator. But were PAPINRAX follow that the innocent Aberably (for nobod to majority
of that body afb rebels) should be
Then as to the necessity for sus;. t of Cue province—whence does it arise? Po y.t DOW con .,d, the Assembly might prove manageable by tie: Executive; hut sun * it consistent and persevering in its former course, what is then to prevent its prorogation or dissolution ? In the mean time, the new Governor-General and Pacificator is prosecuting his peculiar mis- sion. An act of the most despotic character is avoided; an insult, likely to rankle in the breasts even of the loyally-affected colonists, is spared. For the suspension, which is in fact the same as the abolition of the constitution, wiU constitute a fresh grievance—it will be regarded as an act of most outrageous tyranny. the mere intolerable because of its very needlesness. The new Governor-General is the Earl of DURHAM 1 e
selection was undoubtedly the best that could be made. Indeed, had this nobleman refused to accept the appointment, the Minis- terial scheme would have failed in the vital part. Lord Dunn tat combines discernment, knowledge of men, familiarity with buei ness, mental energy, and Liberal tendencies, with high rank e a distinguished reputation. Great as his power will be, it i3 i wished that he were more independent of official people te e. et But after all, as regards the main and most difficult pa' t ais mission, he is only a Commissioner of Inquiry, wf e.e.er to suggest improvements, not to make them. Mr. Somebody, in the
(lark recesses of Downing Street. will be to over Lord High Commissioner DURHAM. Such are the fears and the expect diens of men who well know the working of the Colonial system at Lome. But the Whig- Tories and many of the Radisals have no misgivings. Sir JOHN COLBORNE will crush the rebels in the field; and Lord DURHAM'S statesmanship, sanctioned by 'Ministerial and Parliamentary wisdom,will eradicate the insurrectionary seirit, and render Lower Canada loyal and contented. There wou", be sound reasons fe.. these pleasant anticipations were the, use sets of disaffection about to be removed. But of this there is no symptom. Lord DURHAM is expected to bolster up a scheme of governme. 'by which the ma- jority will be controlled by the minority. The master grievance will remain unredressed. Who can doubt but that at some future, and not distant day, it will produce a fresh rebellion? The struggle with Canada is not over; the real rebels—the causes of disaffection—are not put down. The proud speeches, triumphant sneers, and confident exultation of the Whig Ministers and their supporters, may yet be regarded with feelings of shame and re- morse.
Meanwhile, the Whigs have done a clever thing. For a twelve-
month more they have secured their places, so far as these were connected with this new " question." Wait till it be seen what Lord DURHAM can effect, will be the plausible defence to all attacks founded on the state of affairs in Canada. The Tories will not venture to take office till the Canada question has been " settled." Canada will be a second Ireland to PEEL and WEL- LireoroN. Then Lord DURHAM, who might at any time become formidable as a politician and rival, is put out of the way. with a fair chance of serious damage. That of itself is no inconsiderable advantage. Truly Lord MELBOURNE is a lucky Minister, and shrewd withal for selfish objects.
The debate of the Commons was flat and poor. Lord JOHN
RUSSELL spoke in a mode that may have been deemed defunct —the " bow-wow" Tory style of the last French war. He deli- vered commonplaces and claptraps ore rotundo, with an air of insolent triumph, like one who expected thundering cheers at the close of every sentence. Great must have been his disappoint- ment ; for the reception was cold—the applause scanty and faint. As [Or his matter, we give below* a specimen of that. The Whig Leader of the House Of Commons again condescended to become the " utensil" of the Colonial Office. Instead of an impartial and comprehensive statement of the whole case, lie aimed at proving that Canada had no grievance; that the Government. had acted with uniform justice and discretion—the Assembly like a pack of rogues. Lord JOHN'S speech will precede Lord DURHAM to Ca- nada. and the new Governor-General could not have a worse letter of introduction. Sir ROBERT PEEL dextrously kept clear of the DURHAM norninalon, announced in the House for effect. He contented himself with some easy hits at Mr. Hume, and a prosy proof that Ministers ought to have brought down a message ham the Queen. instead of asking parliament to far 14 3 rasp ifi 3 tittfulle 9f papaw"
a upon the table, and to take the responsibility of advising Crown, which belongs properly to the Ministers.
plete as it was with gross misrepresentations, defective as tin xposition of the Government plan, and reprehensible for its brag- gart and insolent tone, Lord Joins Russsia.'s speech received nothing that could be milled a repty Iroise the Radicals. Mr. Hums, indeed, spoke two or three columns about and about the subject. Mr. GROTE only touched upon portions of it, though what he did say was impressive and to the point. Mr. LEADER asked for delay, like one who felt that he required it for a rally. Mr. CHARLES BULLER disported on both sides. Altogether the Radicals were tame. Indeed, as Mr. GROTE remarked, the loss of Mr. ROEBUCK was 'sensibly}felt ; for there was nobody in the House capable of • the question as a whole—it was no- body's business the discussion with a complete mastery of the, be it observed, is the confession of
one of the Members of the House of Com- mons, him h competent knowledge and con- scientiou forcibly the fitness of the British Parliamen nt colonies.
Mr. LEA ER S adjournment—only for one little night—was spurned by the' Minister, and negatived by a vast majority of the " Reformed " House of Commons.
In the supplementary debate, on the motion for bringing in the bill, Mr. WARBURTON delivered, in a very calm tone, a philosophic and statesmanlike argument in favour of the early separation of the province from the mother country. He addressed an assembly deaf to reason, and proud of its ignorance and contempt of en- larged views of policy. O'CustsELL's voice was not heard in these debates. SHELL too was silent. Had it not been for Mr. ROBERT DILLON BROWNE, there would have been no expression of Irish sympathy for oppressed Canada. The Peers received better treatment than the Commons. They assembled on Tuesday ; when notice was given by Lord GLENELG, that on the following Thursday he should move the address to the Queen. Thus time for preparation was given. The discussion in their Lordships' House was more lively and interesting than the debate in " the People's." The great speech of the night was the three-hours' oration of Lord BROUGHAM ; which in point of wit, sarcism, and telling invective, was equal to the best he ever de livered. He crucified Lord GLENELG. He forcibly exposed the weak points of the Ministerial plan. He shrunk not from a full defence of the Canadian Assembly, and predicted the failure of' Lord DURHAM'S mission. Considering that the name of BROUGHAM will insure it a reading in every town and village of the empire, this may be regarded as one of the most formidable assaults on the Whig Ministers that they have yet encountered. Lord GLENELG was roused to make a smart reply : to the argumentative part of the oration he. had little or nothing to say, but he delivered some clever personalities. Lord DURHAM spoke with propriety, not with confidence, of his perilous undertaking. The Duke of WELLINGTON took the Mi- nisters under his protection ; and read them a lesson on the danger of conceding what are called popular rights—such as the power of withholding supplies—which were apt to bring the people to blows with their Sovereign's soldiers. The Ministers were quite delighted with the Duke; and Lord GLENELG contrasted his "mind" with that of Lord BROUGHAM—greatly to the disparage- ment of the latter.
Thus thrives the coalition of 'Whigs on the Treasury benches and Tories on the Opposition side, in both Houses.
• As a proof of the factious and unreasonable conduct of the House of Assembly, Lord JOliN RUSSELL stated the following circumstance ; appa- rently derived from a pamphlet called The Canadian Controversy, by (it is said) the Secretary to the Goseortn, GREY, and GIPPS Commission, which pamphlet ministered to Lord Jolts/ as a brief for his speech. " A certain Judge was heard to express an opinion adverse to some of the notions of the Assembly, u blunt time before he received his appointment as Judge and, will it be believed, the Assembly judged it decent and proper to uithliold the salary of the Judge after his appointment to the bench, and that merely because of the opinions to which he Lail given utterance I" Lord Jour.; liessEr.r. calls this "a circumstance which will scarcely gain credit in this country." Now, in what corner was the Judge heard to censure the " notions" of the Assembly ? Why, before that Committee of the House of Commons in England which sat iu 11.328. and which admitted the demands of the Assembly to be just and proper. Was the House of Assembly singular i in its opinion of the mpropriety of Mr. GALE being made a judge? No. Upon his being appointed, Mr. SPRING RICE, acting with the consent and concurrence of his :orother Ministers, of whom Lord JOHN RUSSELL was one, disallowed the appointment ! This is really "a circumstance" which will scarcely gain credit. When Lord ABERDEEN came into office, during the short reign of the Tories in 1835, lie confirmed the appointment that the Whig Mi- n isters had disallowed ; but the House of Assembly adhered to the decision of Mr. Rica and his colleagues, and said, " You having declared Mr. Gale to be as improper person to be appointed a Judge, and we being of the same opinion, We will enforce your decision and decline to pay Mr. Gale." Yet this Lord JOHN RUSSELL calls acting upon mere hearsay, instead of being a grave and necessary proceeding for the protection of justice and for the preservation of the authority of the courts of law.
Shall we be thought to follow the Whig Leader too closely, if, after the ex- pOeure of such a trick, we apply the rule ex Imo disce omnes to other parts of the statement, and to its whole spirit?
