to vote that a judge could not sit nor vote in
their House. It was impossible for him to consider what had been done
in any other light than as a direct violation of an Act of the Imperial
Parliament. He considered that the House of Assembly had
unconstitutionally disfranchised a large portion of His Majesty's
subjects, and rendered ineligible, by an authority they did not
possess, another, and not inconsiderable class of the community. By
every tie of duty, he was bound to oppose such an assumption. In
consequence of the expulsion of the member for Quebec, a vacancy in the
representation of that county had been declared. It would be necessary
to issue a writ for a new election, and that writ was to be signed by
him. He would not render himself a partaker in the violation of an Act
of the Imperial Parliament, and to avoid becoming so he had no other
recourse but that which he was pursuing. He felt much satisfaction
when the Parliament met, in having taken such steps as he thought
most likely to facilitate a measure that seemed to be wished for, and
that, in itself, met his concurrence; but as, in his opinion, the
only ineligibility of a judge to sit in Parliament arose from the
circumstance of his having to ask the electors for their votes, he
could not conceive that there could be any well founded objection to
his possession of a seat in the Assembly, when he was elected. He
believed that the talents and superior knowledge of the judges, to say
nothing of other considerations, made them highly useful. He lamented
that a measure, which he considered would have been beneficial to the
country, should not have taken effect. But he trusted that the people,
in the disappointment of their expectations, would do him justice, and
acquit him of being the cause that so little business had been done.

[13] Sir James' letter to Lord Liverpool, accompanied by the
explanatory Mr. Ryland.

Such is human nature, that, on leaving the Council Room, Sir James
Craig was loudly cheered. His manliness, combined with stupidity, and
his real honesty of purpose, had its temporary effect upon those who
admire pluck as much in a Governor as in a game cock. Not only was His
Excellency cheered on leaving the Parliament buildings, addresses
poured in upon him from all quarters. Quebec, Montreal, Terrebonne,
Three Rivers, Sorel, Warwick, and Orleans, complimented Sir James. A
more cunning man would have flattered himself that he had act