e act, occurred
(1843) when Dr. Turnbull held the office of sheriff. More cautious than
his predecessor, he closely examined his commission, and discovered that
the seal of the colony had been attached, and not that of the governor,
as required by the charter of justice. This error had been made in
successive commissions for many years. Every execution--criminal or
civil--had been therefore illegal. At one sitting of the council the act
of indemnity was passed, and all proceedings affected by the mistake
were declared valid. The propriety of this promptitude was indisputable.

The chief justice left the representation of his conduct to the
governor. His treatment was the subject of keen censure in the commons;
and by an unpublished despatch--the nature, not the terms of which
transpired--Sir Wm. Denison was informed, and through him, the chief
justice, that his conduct to this judge was decidedly reprehended by the
crown. Mr. Horne's appointment and the amoval of Mr. Montagu were
confirmed. Mr. Justice Montagu was an acute, eloquent, and impartial
judge, but passionate and eccentric. His imprudence exposed him to a
proceeding which, in the circumstances, it is difficult to approve, and,
on general principles, not easy to condemn. The chief justice stood
still higher in public estimation. For nearly thirty years he occupied a
station of awful responsibility with a reputation unsullied, in a court
where every variety of legal knowledge has been in demand and a vast
amount of toil endured. Among the blessings which the British
constitution bestows foremost of all is the freedom of the
judgment-seat; and few political faults are less capable of palliation
than a deliberate attempt to subject a judge to the influence of the
executive.

A minute addressed to the legislative council charged the merchants with
forgetting the duty they owed to society, when they offered resistance
to the tax. They, however, maintained that every illegal demand is
spoliation, and claimed a right to protect themselves and the public
from its operation. Fifteen hundred persons signed a petition
deprecating the interference of the executive with the supreme court.
They asserted their conviction that the removal of Judge Montagu was
occasioned by his decision on the Dog Act, and the desire to replace him
by a more pliant judge. These various remonstrances had no effect on the
ministers, and the entire course of the governor was approved, except
the