A " Report from the Select Committee of the Legislative
Council of Upper Canada, on the State of the Province," was re- ceived by the packet arrived this week from New York. Bearing in mind that the Legislative Council is composed of the Or partisans of Sir FRANCIS HEAD, we could not ex
such a document a calm or impartial represent events ; and a perusal of the report, which coy of the Morning Chronicle, confirms the d its prejudiced character. Still it is not to r. . deuce of the opinions and views of" the British pa ty." The report commences with an account of the proceedings of the malecontents in Upper Canada previously to the breaking out of actual disturbances. Savage designs are imputed to MACKENZIE and and his followers; though the Committee supply no proof of their existence— This first signal of opposition on the part of the Government seems to bare incited the leader of the insurgents in this district to plunge his unhappy fol. lowei a at once into crimes of the worst character : and there is abundant evi- dence that the plundering and burning of this populous town (Toronto) was really meditated ; and was only averted, by the blessing of Providence upon the prompt measures taken by a brave and loyal people for its defence."
The present evils arising from the disturbances are admitted; but future good is expected as a set-off-
" Those restless and unprincipled agitators, who have for .many years di,.
turbed the public peace and distracted the deliberations of the Legislature, have
either fled or are imprisoned under charges of lmi.h treason. Left to themselves, unprovoked, and perhaps for too long a time uniesisted, this faction, which has liven patronized even by some Members of the Imperial Parliament, has at length unequivocally Amen that their aim was to subvert the c institution which they hail, utmost of them, sworn to maintain ; to wrest this colony from the British crown ; and to substitute a turbulent and tyrannical democracy for our well-balanced form of government. And they have given undeniable proof, that in order to effect these objects, they were ready to rub, burn, murder, and destroy."
The interference of the Americans in the quarrel is dwelt upon with much bitterness-
" It can scarcely be conceived with what astonishment the people of Upper Canada found that, after the feeble attempt of a few infatuated persons to du. turb the peace of the country had been instantly put down by a simultatwom effort of their indignant fellow subjects, when not a vestige of insubordination remained, and o hen the militiamen who had been called from their families were returning in supposed security to their homes, they were about to be forced into a war, to prevent their property from being plundered, and their liberties subdued, by the citizens of the United States. " It cuuld not have been imagined that any considerable number could he found among our neighbours willing to make common cause with a fugitive lelon, whose general bad character must have been perfectly well known to them, and who had the shameless etflontery to bold out as a reward the plunder of his fellow subjects, and the lands of his Sovereign, to whom he had solemaly sworn allegiance."
After stating well-known circumstances of the affair at Nave Island. the report refers to the proceedings in the neighbourhood of Detroit-
" On our ‘Vestern frontier, movements of a still more threatening character have been made, and perhaps a grosser insult, or more flagrant wrong, Wa! never c ttttt mirted by one people upon another, than that of which the town 01 Andierstburg, in the Western disti ict of this province, was lately the scene. With define!), and arms, obtained also in this instance from the arsenals a th. sts" (by plunder, as it is said,) hundreds of American citizens, t ommanded d officered by Americans, unprovoked by a single offensive act, deliberately P a position in our territory, and, from an armed schotner in our ."-oters4'fired.with round shot and canister upon the town of Anlerstburg. w If a considerable success had been gained upon any point of frontier, there is great reason to believe that this abominable spirit which I:, agitated a portion of the American people—whether it be the thinit fur plunder, or a restless desire to extend the reign of licentitanness and „ll by over this continent, or a latent hatred of the British name—would hove beyond any bounds which their Government had power to impose, tad must have brought 011 a public war."
It would appear from the above, that the Canadian insurgents bad some reason to calculate on the sympathy and assistance of their Republican neighbours.
A large, indeed the chief portion of the report, is devoted to the affairs of Lower Canada. The departure from the old system of governing that colony exclusively by the aid of the British minority, is laid down as the cause and root of all subsequent trouble. "..:k JAstss CRAIG was the last of the Orange Go- vernors-- The successor to Sir .dames Craig (Sir George Prevost) found the colony is a state not very tranquil ; and he made, unfortunately, the first step in a false system of colonial government, by an extraordinary effort at conciliation. He appointed to the bench or. -oetice some of the very persons whose political conduct had been most obuu:. .s in the time of his predecessor; thus show- ing that a path mig.it be opera a to the highest honours by a violent and factious opposition to the Crown."
The conciliatory policy, recommended by the Committee of the House of Commons which sat in 1828, is condemned; and Colo- nial Secretaries, who acted in conformity with it, are lectured for their conduct--
ti is to be considered that the members of a Select Committee are named by the mover of it; that the selection may have been influenced by a know. ledge of the sentiments of many of them ; that it is no uncommon practice to place upon Committees, out of mere complaisance, or in order to give an ap- pearance of impartiality, persons of extreme views in respect to the points at issue ; and that it is by no means impossible, that some of the gentlemen who may upon this occasion have entered warmly into the complaints of the Assem- bly of Lower Canada, may have been persons whose recommendation to their constituents for a seat in the Bouse of Commons was their declared hostility to principles which not only the King's Ministers, but a great majority of both Houses of Parliament, must feel themselves bound in duty to support."
Eager to make out a case against the Government at home, the report thus disposes of the false charge of breach of faith brought against the Assembly of Lower Canada— Whatever may have been the intention or understanding of Lord Goderich, the bill was in reality so framed, that it was a plain surrender to the Colonial Legislatures of the monies raised under the statute 14 Geo. M. without quali- fication or reserve. It was looked upon in no other light here or in Lower Cana. ; and wile- it became necessary for the British Government, as it soon did, really the effect of their measure, it was found capable of o ion as had been intimated, while it was under discussion in
• 1
7ons " are declared to be'uneonstitutional- proposed by Lord John Russell's Resolutions of 1837, is to take from the provincial treasury the money which the Assembly has declined Migrant. The Provincial Statutes by which this money was raised reserve the right of appropriating it expressly to the Legislature; and the taking it by any other authority is a direct violation of the law, and a plain infringement of the constitution. How much better would it have been to have exerted the
firmness necessary to preserve what by law and in justice belonged to the Crowe, than by tamely surrendering it to incur the necessity of dishonouring the Crown, and furnishing the Assembly, in the midst of their factious vice
knee, with a ground of complaint, infinitely more substantial than all the grievances they hail been inventing for years ! '
The conduct of the Commissioners was calculated to encourage the malecontents-
" Let any one who will submit to the disgusting drudgery, read through the ainety.two Resolutions passed by the Assembly of Lower Canada: let him Men consider that the known and avowed author of these Resolutions was taken from the Aeseinbly by my Lord Comfort], and placed, reeking, upon the bench of the highest court in the colony—there to administer justice in the name of the King of England : let him then imagine some one of the many poor, deluded wretches, who have been lately taken in arms against their Suite. reign, brought before this Judge, to answer for the Meissen : why should he not my boldly to the author of the ninety-two Resolutions—' Show me what 1 have done, that you did not incite, and advise, arid encourage me to. If I am guilty of treason—a crime in which all that are concerned are principals—bow can you be less so, who urged me to the act?'
" We are told on sacred authority, that governors are sent by the King for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well.' Lord Gosford does not appear to have understood this to be the object of his govern. meat."
This part of the report is replete with insult to the Colonial Secretary, his colleagues, and the Commissioners—
"Not merely have the patronage and countenance of the Crown been ex- tended to persons distinguished by their violent and unjust opposition to the Colonial Government, but successive Governors have been recalled just at the moment when they hail acquired a knowledge of the real state of the country they were governing, and had learned the utter folly of concessions, which had no other effect than to weaken the authority of the Crown, and to add to the Poser and audacity of traitors in heart, who, presuming upon the want of energy and firmness in their rulers, have become traitors in fact. " • " "Noone can reel the report of the Commiialioners without being convinced tlut the protection of British principles and feeling in Lower Canada is mainly lobe ascribed to the insane violence of Mr. Papineau, which made him an im- practicable person for the Royal Commissioners to treat with."
Government, independent of the Representatives of the People, is explicitly declared to be indispensable. Other measures may then follow. The Committee object to the union of the two pro- /laces; though they suggest, that perhaps the annexation of the .ifoneutreal district to the Upper Province might be advantageous. !.. union of all the North American Provinces, with a Federal t_inerntaent at Quebec, they consider worthy of attention. An auatiional force on the frontier, to protect British subjects from the aggression of Americans, is strongly recommended. The United States authorities are said to be unable to restrain the people from such predatory expeditions as they have been recently, and are probably now engaged in- " We have received a very impressive warning, that our best, if not our only adequate security, will be found in being prepared to resist aggressions. We have seen the people in four of the States adjoining these provinces making open aud active preparations for war against Canada, at a time when Great Britain was at peace within herself and with the whole world, and after it wet perfectly well known that not an inhabitaut of either province was in arms
against his Sovereign." wifti
Garrisons and arsenals must be formed, soldiers and artillery must be ready to act on the frontier, unless the Canadians are to be constantly under apprehension of invasion from the lawless inhabitants of the bordering American States. Although frequent boasts of the loyalty of the Upper Canadians are made by the Com- mittee, they manifestly are under no slight apprehension of the renewal of internal hostilities fostered by the Americans. They rely upon British money and troops for their defence.