the violation of the dearest rights of a whole people, and the distraction of a Province. They manage things better in England, where the independent expression of opinion on political subjects is never restrained, no matter who may happen to menace public liberty or retard the progress of improvement. Did the Solicitor General ever hear of an old soldier called the Duke of Wellington, who was Sir Colin Campbell's commander-in-chief, and who, though the greatest captain of the age, wearing badges of distinction from every Sovereign in Europe, was driven out of the government by the people of England, because they did not like his politics? "I will give you no reform," said the Duke to the people of England. "Very well," said the House of Commons; "then we will give the Sovereign a hint to remove you from the Cabinet." "I will give you no reform," said Sir Colin to the people of Nova Scotia. "Very well," said the people's representatives; "then we will give Her Majesty a hint to remove you from the government." There is a strange analogy in the cases; and who doubts that the results will be similar, notwithstanding the outery that our Provincial Tories have raised? I have thus, fellow countrymen, gone through the speech of the Solicitor General, and trust that I have redeemed my pledge, by proving: 1st. That the charge of misrepresentation, if it has any foundation at all, ought never to have been urged against the reformers, because it applies with ten-fold force to the party whom the learned gentleman defends, and with whom he acts as a member of the government. 2d. That the reasons given for the rejection of the Civil List and Judiciary bills, by the Legislative Council, are unsound and inconclusive. 3d. That the defence of Sir Colin Campbell and his advisers, and of the old system of government, has been too feeble and impotent to afford a shadow of argument upon which a rational mind can repose. 4th. That the Solicitor General's attack upon responsible government should but endear the principle which the term involves, more and more, to the people of Nova Scotia, for whose advantage it has been conceded by the Crown. 5th. That the charge against your representatives, of precipitancy, cannot fairly apply to men who had labored for four years to avoid the necessity for an extreme step, rendered imperative at last by the folly of His Excellency's advisers; and 6th. That even eminent services in the field form no justification for disobedience to the Sovereign's commands, and the maladministration of civil affairs. In conclusion, I have only to remind you, that it is for you now to pronounce your judgment on the conduct of the reformers and their opponents. If you believe that the former have faithfully discharged their duty, and are desirous to establish the new Constitution, which they have labored to obtain; fail not, at the approaching election, to return every member who has fearlessly upheld the cause of Colonial liberty, and to diminish by every means in your power the numbers of the minority, by whom your interests have been perilled or betrayed. In the meantime, I remain, Through evil report and good report, Your obedient servant, JOSEPH HOWE. OFFICIAL RESIGNATIONS. The Lieutenant Governor presents his compliments to Mr. Howe, and informs him that the Lieutenant Governor will expect to have the reasons by which Mr. Howe and his colleagues are induced to retire from the Executive Council stated in writing, when they tender their resignations. Government House, 13. } Wednesday, 20th December, 1843. S Halifax, 21st December, 1843. MY LORD, Your Excellency having announced to me your intention to appoint a gentleman to your Executive Council, whose elevation at the present moment, will, in my judgment, be justly regarded as an indication of a change of policy which has hitherto been approved, I feel myself reluctantly compelled to tender my resignation of the seat I hold in that Council. Your Excellency's right to make any appointments, which, in your opinion, will strengthen your government, or promote the interests of the country, I freely admit; I only wish to guard myself from the weight of the obligation to defend a policy of which I do not approve, and which I believe will have a contrary effect, both in Parliament and the country, from that which Your Excellency anticipates. My office of collector of impost and excise, for the district of Halifax, shall also be placed at Your Excellency's disposal, as soon after the end of the year as the accounts can be prepared and the business of it brought to a close. In retiring from the Council, I should not be doing justice, either to Your Excellency or to my own feelings, if I did not express, warmly and sincerely, the sense I entertain of the courtesy and confidence extended to me by Your Excellency while I have held the high station which I now respectfully beg leave to resign. I have the honor to be, with great respect, Your Excellency's most obedient and very humble servant, His Excellency the LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. GENTLEMEN, } GOVERNMENT HOUSE, I have well considered the cause you have assigned for the step you have lately taken, of resigning your seats in the Executive Council. Although separate letters have been written by each, a single reason, and that the same, has been stated by you all my intention to give you Mr. Almon as a colleague. No objection other than a political one, has been urged against that gentleman's appointment; and that you entertain no other, is proved by the fact that you were all well satisfied that Mr. Almon should be nominated to the Legislative Council, when he some months ago declined a seat in that body. You have, however, deemed yourselves justified in resigning your offices on the sole ground of this political objection to this single appointment, at the same time that you distinctly admit my right to make it. Your letters intimate, that the introduction of Mr. Almon to the Council board at this particular juncture, indicates a change of policy on my part, notwithstanding that I have, in my interviews with you, made the strongest declarations of my determination to adhere to the principles by which I have hitherto been guided in the administration of the government of Nova Scotia. It, therefore, seems proper for me to repeat in writing my assertions on this head, and that I should at the same time review the course I have followed from the period of my arrival in the Colony, keeping in mind the principles upon which the Council, by whose assistance I was to conduct the public affairs, was formed. It is well known to you, that those principles were a representation at the board of different political sentiments and interests existing in the Legislature, with a view of affording the Lieutenant Governor the advantage of the best advice, and of producing concord between the Executive and Legislative bodies; at the same time that the country should have the assurance of a fair and equal distribution of patronage in the exercise of the prerogative of the crown. That this patronage, up to the present moment, has not been unfairly dispensed towards yourselves and those you may have represented, your continuance in the Council is sufficient evidence; because, if the appointment of Mr. Almon justifies your retirement, it may be presumed you would have acted in the same manner if any previous case had met your disapprobation. The promotion of Mr. Almon is, in fact, the only subject of complaint urged in your letters; and, gentlemen, you surely cannot have forgotten, that of the parties whom you consider as constituting the Executive Council, that to which you attach yourselves has influenced the bestowal of by far the greater number of offices since I came to the country, including every seat in the Executive Council, and every seat but one in the Legislative Council; and even that was given on the recommendation of Mr. James Boyle Uniacke, now one of yourselves. On my, for the first time, wishing to give a seat to a gentleman, whom you acknowledge to be in every way qualified, but whom you consider of a different political party from those to whom the offer of seats at the board has hitherto been confined, you quit my Council, and say such an act indicates a change of policy, regardless of my protestations to the contrary; and notwithstanding that two of you, Mr. James McNab and Mr. Howe, had, a very few days previously, and after mature deliberation, given in their renewed adhesion to the existing Council, and to the principles of government on which I had theretofore acted, abandoning the project of a party government. Mr. James B. Uniacke had never informed me that he contemplated resigning, and therefore no renewed expression of adherence was necessary on his part. The reasons which make the appointment of Mr. Almon expedient, in my opinion, at this time, are such as - far from indicating a change of policy appear to me to afford convincing evidence of the sincerity of my desire to avoid a change. On the late dissolution of the Assembly, the Council became openly divided on the question, whether a party government is or is not adapted to the actual condition of Nova Scotia; I myself entertaining a strong opinion that such a government would be injurious to the best interests of the country; and that a Council, formed on the principles on which the board - which had up to that time assisted me in the conduct of affairs was constituted, is better adapted to the exigencies of the Colony than any which could be formed on any other principle. The members of the government went to the hustings, each stating his own views; Mr. Howe declaring at Halifax, that if he and his party succeeded in obtaining a majority, he should expect those who differed from him to retire, and that he would retire if he found himself in a minority. Mr. Johnston, at Annapolis, unequivocally denounced the system of a party government, and avowed his preference for a government in which all parties should be represented. On the elections taking place, a House was returned which I believed would be opposed to the views of Mr. Howe. I sent for that gentleman, and expressed my conviction to him that such was the case, inviting him to remain in the government. Mr. Howe differed with me as to the probable feeling of the new House of Assembly, and said that nothing but the most imperative necessity would induce him to retain his seat in the existing Executive Council; but, after consulting his political friends, agreed to do so, and to give a cordial support to the administration. After such a public manifestation of differences of opinion between members of the Council, it seemed to me absolutely necessary that the mode in which the government was in future to be conducted should be made apparent. A vacancy in the Executive Council gave me an opportunity of appointing a gentleman known to be hostile to a party government, and by so doing, of showing to the country that I was averse to that principle; in other words, that I was desirous of continuing to govern, as I always had done, with the advice of a Council consisting of the leading men of all parties. This was no change; and I do not conceive that Mr. Howe, or those who act in conjunction with him, had any right to complain of such a course; especially as they had so lately, though so reluctantly, given in their renewed adhesion to the government. I selected Mr. Almon for advancement, because although the recent declaration (at the Halifax election) of his sentiments with regard to a Council composed exclusively of persons belonging to one party, rendered my motives for his elevation unlikely to be misinterpreted in this respect - he had, previously to that event, been so little engaged in political life, that it was not probable the distinction conferred on him would offend the prejudices of any portion of the community, he being known to entertain liberal views on questions of general policy; and further, because from his affinity to Mr. Johnston, the leader of my government, his appointment would be looked upon by the public as a proof of my confidence in that gentleman. Had Mr. Howe been in a position to insist on Mr. Johnston's dismissal, he would have done so. Mr. Johnston only requested that a vacancy in the Council might be filled up by a gentleman agreeing with him in principle on one subject of deep importance; and I cannot allow, that a compliance with his request could, under the circumstances of the case, afford any ground for assuming that I intended to change my policy. The practical value of the admission made by you all, of my right to |