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ster has departed from the scene of his great labors; Everett and Choate, it has been my high privilege to hear to-day, in the meridian splendor of their reputations. I am pleased, however, to see, sir, in the chair of this assembly, so able a representative of the rising race of orators and statesmen by whom the destinies of this great country will hereafter be controlled, and if in accordance with the order of proceedings, I beg to propose your health.

PUBLIC LETTERS.

(231)

LETTERS.

LETTERS TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sept. 18, 1839.

MY LORD, I beg your Lordship to believe that no desire to seek for notoriety beyond the limited sphere in which Providence has placed me, tempts me to address these letters to you. Born in a small and distant Province of the Empire, and contented with the range of occupation that it affords, and with the moderate degree of influence which the confidence of some portion of its population confers, I should never have thought of intruding upon your Lordship, had not the occupations of my past life, and the devotion to them of many days of toil and nights of anxious inquiry, led me to entertain strong opinions upon a subject which your Lordship has undertaken recently to discuss; and which, while it deeply concerns the honor and the interests of the Empire, appears to be, by Her Majesty's present Ministers, but little understood. Whether or not the Anglo-American population, upholding the British flag on this side of the Atlantic, shall possess the right to influence, through their representatives, the Governments under which they live, in all matters touching their internal affairs (of which their fellow subjects living elsewhere know nothing, and with which they have no right to interfere,) is a question, my Lord, that involves their happiness and freedom. To every Nova Scotian it is no light matter, that the country of his birth, in whose bosom the bones of a hardy and loyal ancestry repose, and whose surface is possessed by a population inferior in none of the physical, moral, or mental attributes which distinguish his race, to any branch of the great British family, should be free and happy. I share with my countrymen their solicitude on this subject; I and my children will share their deep disgrace, if the doctrines recently attributed to Your Lordship are to prevail; to the utter exclusion of us all from the blessings and advantages of responsible government, based upon the principles of that Constitution which Your Lordship's forefathers labored to establish, and ours have taught us to revere. To the consciousness of social and

political degradation which must be my portion, if the future government of North America is arranged upon the principles recently avowed by the ministry, I am reluctant that the reflection should be added, that the Colonists were themselves to blame; in permitting a great question, without ample discussion and remonstrance, to be decided upon grounds which they knew to be untenable and untrue. In addressing Your Lordship on such a topic, it is gratifying to reflect, that your past life is a guaranty that the moment you are satisfied that a greater amount of freedom and happiness can be conferred on any portion of your fellow subjects than they now enjoy, without endangering the welfare of the whole when once convinced that the great principles of the British Constitution can be more widely extended, without peril to the integrity of the empire-you will not hesitate to lend the influence of your great name and distinguished talents to the good old cause "for which Hampden died in the field and Sidney on the scaffold."

Lord Durham's report upon the affairs of British North America appears to have produced much excitement in England. The position which his Lordship occupies as a politician at home, naturally draws attention to whatever he says and does; and the disclosures made in the report must appear so strange to many, and the remedies suggested so bold and original to many more, that I am not surprised at the notice bestowed by friends and foes on this very important document. From what I have seen, however, it is evident that His Lordship is paying the penalty of party connection; and that his opinions on Canadian affairs, instead of being tried upon their merits, are in many cases applauded or opposed, as his views of British and Irish politics happen to be relished or condemned. It is almost too much to expect that my feeble voice will be heard amidst the storm of praise and censure that this report has raised; and yet there may be some, who, disliking this mode of estimating a state paper, or distrusting the means of judging possessed by many who express opinions, but whose practical experience of the working of Colonial Constitutions has been but slight- if indeed they have had any may feel disposed to ask, What is thought of the report in the Colonies? Are its leading features recognized as true to nature and experience there? Are the remedies suggested approved by the people whose future destinies they are to influence and control?

The report has circulated for some months in the Colonies; and I feel it a duty to state the grounds of my belief, that His Lordship, in attributing many if not all of our Colonial evils and disputes, to the absence of responsibility in our rulers to those whom they are called to govern, is entirely warranted by the knowledge of every intelligent Col

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