pwrecked
seamen; and the assessments on public buildings, in all amounting to
L30,225 sterling. The Assembly voted the local schedule but not the
other. Indeed they protested against being required to do so in the
particular manner required. The Assembly next passed bills to reimburse
and indemnify His Majesty for monies expended without the sanction of
the legislature. The Council did not think it decorous to speak of
"indemnifying" the King and rejected the bills. There was yet another
money bill to pass the Council. A bill to defray the expenses of the
local establishments, in which the different items of expenditure were
specified, was sent up for concurrence and was only not rejected on
account of the distress to individuals which its rejection would have
caused. The Assembly had appropriated monies for the payment of the
local establishments, which was to be taken from the general funds of
the province. The Council passed the bill under protest because by the
term "general," appropriated as well as unappropriated monies might be
indicated as under the control of the Assembly. An attempt was made to
induce the Council to agree to the nomination of Mr. Marryatt as agent
for the province, but the Council refused, and the Assembly allowed the
matter to drop. To render the proceedings of the Assembly still more
attractive, a breach of privilege case occurred again this session. The
_Montreal Times_, a stiffishly unionist paper, had dealt harshly both
with the Assembly and Council, in speaking of these two august bodies,
as anti-British. The Council was quite indifferent to the imputation,
but the Assembly pronounced the assertion of the _Times_ to be a false
and scandalous libel upon the House, and a breach of its privileges. In
accordance with this judgment, Mr. Speaker was instructed to issue
warrants for the arrests of the editor and publishers of the _Times_.
One offender, Mr. Ariel Bowman, was taken into custody, but Mr. Edward
Sparhawk, the other offender, could not be found. Mr. Bowman was not
long a prisoner. He escaped from custody soon after being taken, and
neither of the offenders were subsequently caught during the session,
so that both eluded the punishment due to an offence which was very
heinous only in the sight of the Assembly. After this important matter
was disposed of, the Governor General intimated that he had advanced
L30,000 to the Receiver General, out of the military chest, to enable
him to pay