_February 4, 1841._

* * * * *

_A blow at the Reformation._

There is no doubt that that body (the Roman Catholic seminary of St.
Sulpice) was made a corporation by means of that ordinance, yet until
that property had been legally vested in them by the ordinance, they had
no legal right whatever to it. * * * I was very much struck, I must
confess, when first I read the petition and the ordinance relating to
this subject; I was very much struck by the total departure it evinced
from the principle of the reformation; a principle untouched up to this
present moment. And I entreat your lordships, whatever you may think on
the subject of this ordinance or other questions--I entreat the
attention of your lordships and of the British public to this, that this
ordinance was the first blow openly struck by authority at the
principles of the reformation; principles hitherto upheld, particularly
throughout Canada, from the period of the conquest down to the present
moment. I felt strongly on this point the moment I saw the petition and
the ordinance, and I still continue to feel strongly on the subject,
since I have heard the right reverend prelate state that it was the
governor-general, not a member of the legislative council, but the
governor-general of the province who brought forward this measure,
acting on the part of the queen, whose rights, interests, and
prerogative it was his duty to protect, and which he should have
protected in the legislative council.

_March 5, 1841._

* * * * *

_Australia._

It would be much the best plan to put an end to all the Australian
commissioners, to whom allusion is made in the bill before your
lordships, altogether. A worse system was never adopted for the
management of a colony. We ought to place that colony in the same
position as the other colonies under the government of her majesty, and
rule it in the usual way by the Colonial Office. I disapprove of these
commissions altogether.

_April 30, 1841._

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_Evils of Reduced Establishments._

It was stated that the British were expelled from Canton on the 5th of
May. I, however, infer from what took place, that the British were
obliged to retire at the end of March. Looking to the events of the
present year, they appear to me to be exceedingly unsatisfactory. And to
what, I would ask, is this owing? It appears to me that th