in vain. Upon its
coming up for its third reading, Norton, of Grenville, moved its
recommittal, and, upon the defeat of his motion, he made a final effort
by moving "That the Act shall not go into operation before the
expiration of the present Parliament." This, too, was defeated, and the
Bill was finally passed by a vote of twenty-six to eighteen. The measure
is suggestive of the English Act passed by the Long Parliament during
the reign of Charles the First, which enacted that Parliament should not
be dissolved by the King without its own consent.

There was a good deal of extravagant legislation during the session.
Large sums were voted for the construction and improvement of Provincial
highways, for surveys of the Ottawa River and the territory contiguous
thereto, for the improvement of the navigation of the Trent and Grand
Rivers, for the completion of the Welland Canal, and for the
construction of various other canals, harbours, and lighthouses.
Provision was also made for loans to several railway and other
companies. Most, perhaps of all these, were enterprises deserving of aid
and encouragement, but the aggregate sum of the moneys voted was nearly
four millions of dollars, being considerably more than the condition of
the Province and the circumstances of the people justified. This
exceeding liberality was probably to some extent due to a wish to
respond to the popular demand for the expenditure of money on public
improvements. It was during this session that an Act was passed
providing for the establishment of a Provincial Court of Chancery. Mr.
Jameson was soon after appointed Vice Chancellor, the Chancellorship
being vested in the Crown.

The session terminated on Saturday, the 4th of March, and its
termination was attended by a scene of "most admired disorder" in the
Assembly. The project of uniting the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada
had occupied a certain amount of attention on the part of both Houses,
and had been on the order of the day throughout the greater part of the
session. When the final day of deliberation arrived, the Legislative
Council sent down to the Lower House an Address embodying certain
resolutions against the proposed union. The Address was accompanied by a
request that the Assembly would concur therein, after which it was to be
despatched to the King. It reached the hands of the Clerk of the Lower
House about noon, and was at once submitted in the form of a motion of
concurrence.