l tranquillity of the province.
By the address, in reply, he was assured that these acts would be
renewed. Shortly after the assembly had met it occurred to them that
their peculiar privileges, as an offshoot of the Commons of England,
had been assailed. The proceedings of a dinner party given to the
representatives of Montreal in that city had been printed and
circulated in the Montreal _Gazette_ of the 1st April, 1805. The dinner
was given in Dillon's tavern, and the party were particularly merry
with the abundant supply of wines. Mr. Isaac Todd, merchant, presided.
After the customary toasts on all such occasions had been given, the
president proposed:--"The honorable members of the Legislative Council,
who were friendly to constitutional taxation as proposed by our worthy
members in the House of Assembly;"--"Our representatives in parliament,
who proposed a constitutional and proper mode of taxation, for building
gaols, and who opposed a tax on commerce for that purpose, as contrary
to the sound practice of the parent state;"--"May our representatives
be actuated by a patriotic spirit, for the good of the province, as
dependent on the British empire, and be divested of local
prejudices;"--"Prosperity to the agriculture and commerce of Canada,
and may they aid each other, as their true interest dictates, by
sharing a due proportion of advantages and burthens;"--"The city and
county of Montreal and the grand juries of the district, who
recommended local assessments for local purposes;"--"May the city of
Montreal be enabled to support a newspaper, though deprived of its
natural and useful advantages, apparently, for the benefit of an
individual." It is difficult to perceive where any breach of privilege
was involved, but the assembly looked upon these aspirations and upon
the compliments to the Montreal representatives as a false and
scandalous and malicious libel, highly and unjustly reflecting upon His
Majesty's representative and on both Houses of the Provincial
Parliament, and tending to lessen the affections of His Majesty's
subjects towards the government of the province. A committee of inquiry
was appointed, and reported that the libellers were the printer of the
_Gazette_, Edward Edwards, and the president of the dinner party, Isaac
Todd. Nay, the libel was reported to be a "high" breach of the
privileges of the Assembly and Messrs. Todd and Edwards were ordered to
be taken into custody. But the Serjeant-at-Arms