le earl
might have accomplished all he was desirous of doing without a breach of
the law. If he had said to parties accused or suspected, "I won't bring
you to trial, if you conduct yourselves properly," he would have acted
in a legal manner; but instead of doing this, he said, "I shall send
you to Bermuda; and if you leave that island, I declare you guilty of
high-treason."' Lord Melbourne deprecated such rigid criticism. He owned
that the clause in the ordinance which related to Bermuda was an error
on the part of Lord Durham, but he declared his belief that the whole
of the remainder was perfectly legal, and warranted by the powers which
parliament had committed to the noble governor of Canada. On the other
hand Lord Ellenborough contended that all the penal provisions of the
ordinance were illegal, and that the whole transaction was alien from
the spirit of British jurisprudence. The Duke of Wellington said that
he did not approve of the constant attacks on Lord Durham; but he really
thought that steps should be taken to set the government of Canada right
on proceedings which appeared to be illegal. Lord Brougham followed up
the course he had taken on the following night by introducing a bill
"for declaring the true intent and meaning of an act passed in the
present session of parliament, intituled 'An act to make temporary
provisions for the government of Lower Canada,' and for indemnifying
those who have issued or acted under a certain ordinance made under
colour of the said act." This bill was read a first time in silence,
but on the second reading on the 9th of August, Lord Brougham, by way
of preface, propounded certain "canons of policy" by which the
administration of the government of Lower Canada, during the suspension
of the constitution ought, in his opinion, to have been directed. The
bill introduced by Lord Brougham was so loosely framed that it afforded
Lord Glenelg fair occasion for criticism. He availed himself of
this opportunity of encountering his adversary with some effect. In
conclusion, Lord Glenelg observed that the bill before the house was not
a mere declaratory act, but a new law restricting the powers which the
act of that session had already conferred upon the governor of Canada.
It would be inexpedient and extraordinary, if, having invested Lord
Durham with plenary authority, they were suddenly to abridge the powers
which he had been led to suppose he possessed. A warm and acrimonious
deba