PA PE CARRE

262 The Last Forty Years.

judges * of the Court was unanimous, and the rectory question was thus tinally set at rest.

The Inspector-General returned to Canada during the early summer of 1852, and thenceforward until the opening of the session the Government were busy preparing measures for submission to Parliament.

On the 19th of August the first session of the Fourth Parliament met at Quebec. Upon motion of Mr. Hincks, seconded by Mr. Morin, Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald was elected Speaker of the Assembly by a vote of 55 to 23. ‘l'he Speech from the Throne was delivered on the 20th. It alluded to the steady rise in value of Provincial securities, and to the satisfactory evidence furnished by the recent census as to the the advancement of the colony in wealth and population. Reference was also made to the railway projects of the time; to a contemplated measure for introducing the decimal system into the Provincial currency; to the importance of establishing steam communication between Great Britain and Canadian ports; and to the proposed addition to the representation. The Colonial Secretary’s despatch, stating the grounds upon which the Imperial Government had refrained from introducing à bill authorizing the Canadian Legislature to deal with the Clergy Reserves, was also referred to; and it was announced that the subject of the Seigniorial Tenure would probably engage the attention of Parliament during the session. The Conservatives offered no factious opposition, and for a time it seemed as though the Address in Reply would pass with very little debate. Messieurs Hincks and Morin gave the Assembly some account of the formation of their Government, and outlined the ministerial policy that had been determined upon, which, as has been seen, was one of

* See The Attorney-General vs. Grasett, 5 Grant’s U. C. Chancery Reports, 412. It will be noted that this decision was adverse to the opinion pronounced by the eminent English counsel referred to in the text. It is to be presumed that the latter, at the time of pronouncing their opinion, had not all the facts before them,

Hincks—Morin. 263

advanced reform. Then it became apparent that the Government would have to encounter a vigorous oppraition from some Liberal members. The most pronounced attack was made by Mr. George Brovn, who, in a speech of more than two hours’ duration, gave a foretaste of the vigorous, slashing style of Parliamentary oratory for which he afterwards became famous. He complained of the want of satisfactory explanations on the part of Ministers as to the principles and intentions of the Administration, and drew a sketch of the position of parties since the Union, showing the difficulties that had arisen in the Reform ranks, and the rise of an ultra party. He read extracts from the journals and public documents illustrative of the opposing views of the two sections, and proving that at the commencement of 1851 they had been utterly opposed to each other on every great question before the country. He denied that the country had gained anything by the coalition. After assailing the ministerial policy on the railway and other questions, he announced that in spite of these things he should vote for the Address. To vote against it, he remarked, would be to manifest a desire to see the Ministry out of office, and for that he was not yet prepared. Until their measures were fully developed, he could not determine whether it would be the least evil to have them or the Tories in power. He certainly did think it would be better to have a Tory Government than one with a Reform name carrying Tory measures. He concluded by passing à warm eulogium on the constitutional course which his Excellency had pursued in Canada. Such was the tenor of Mr. Brown's first conspicuous Parliamentary utterance. It was essentially the speech of an agitator, whose main strength lies in opposition ; and the speaker was thenceforward one of the most marked men in the Assembly.*

* À correspondent of The British Colonist (Toronto), writing from the seat of Government under date of August 28th, thus characterizes this maiden Parliamentary effort : ‘Mr. George Brown made his first set speech last night. He spoke for about two hours, and made a terrible onslaught upon the Government, He produced a sensation in the House,