have become
indispensably necessary to the tranquillity and welfare of the
colony." Until 1849 the government was carried on by a General
Assembly--a makeshift Assembly--in which members of the House of
Assembly sat side by side with members of the Council, the latter
losing their distinctive functions.

Under Governor Prescott (1834) and Governor Harvey (1841) began
organized attempts to foster the agricultural interest. Liberal grants
of land were made to poor settlers, and considerable sums voted for
the construction of roads. This was indeed a period of healthy
activity, for the development of the seal fishery added in a variety
of ways to the prosperity of the island, and the invention of steam,
together with the establishment of a regular mail service, brought
Newfoundland very much nearer to the home country.

On June 9th, 1846, came the last great fire but one which has ravaged
the colony. By great misfortune it broke out when a high wind was
blowing, and spread with fatal rapidity all over the town. Buildings,
public and private, wooden and stone, were involved in a common
destruction, and the last touch of horror came when the large oil vats
fringing the harbour caught fire. The Custom House, the Church of St.
John's, the Courts and Gaol, the Theatre, the Bank of British North
America, the Colonial Treasurer's Office, and the Savings Bank, were
all destroyed. It was estimated that the aggregate amount of damage
done was L1,000,000, and that upwards of 12,000 persons lost their
homes. In this crushing affliction the spirit shown by all classes,
from Governor Harvey downwards, was admirable. At a representative
meeting of the citizens convened by the Governor it was resolved:

"That this meeting is aware that the well-established credit and
stability of the trade of St. John's, coupled with the natural and
inexhaustible resources of its fisheries, will speedily enable it to
recover its usual current, but that in the meantime it is necessary
that publicity should be given to the demand for provisions and
building materials which at present exists in this market."

Help from Canada was quickly forthcoming and a grant of L30,000 from
the home country combined with private efforts to meet the most
pressing needs of the moment. The building of wider streets, the
proscription of wooden houses, and the provision of an ampler water
supply, showed that the lessons of the past had not been thrown away.

That year,