THE constitution of the province at this time and for almost half a century after its foundation demands some attention, for without a perfect understanding of it the reader w ill he unable to follow intelligently the history of the Constitutional struggle which began in the early years of the nineteenth century, and which never ceased until the Constitution of the Province had been entirely reformed. Such a constitution would not he tolerated now by people of British origin, hut at that day different ideas prevailed, and it was thought to he eminently satisfactory by the upper classes in the province who profitted by it. The system was based not on parliamentary enactments, as is the case with the present constitutions of Canada and the provinces, but on orders in Council. The centre and pivot of the whole system was the Governor, who was appointed by the Crown, and who looked to his masters in England and not to the people of the province for support. His commission made him Governor-in-Chief and Captain-General of the province with the power to appoint all officers, subject to the veto of the authorities in England. Nominally these appointments were made by the Crown, actually they were made by the Governor, with or without the advice of his Council, and without any reference to the wishes of the people of the province. The Governor was n a position to control everything, and there was no way of checking his authority even if both branches of the legislature united for that purpose, which they were very unlikely to do. The governor's independence of the people was maintained by the fact that he had at his command a considerable* revenue over which the legislature had no control. Parliament voted for the support of the Government of New Brunswick, a certain sum which was to meet the expenses of what was termed the civil list. The first estimate voted for the civil establishment of New Brunswick, from the 24th of June, 1784, to the 24th June 1785, amounted to a total of £3,100 sterling. Of this sum, £1,000 went to the Governor, and £500 to the Chief Justice. The Secretary received £250, the Attorney-General £150, the Surveyor-General £150, the Agent £150, the Naval officer £100, four missionaries £75 each, while £500 was put down for contingencies. In addition to these salaries all the officials received fees, which in many cases amounted much more than the salaries. Besides the parliamentary vote, the Governor had control of two other sources of revenue, the casual and territorial and the customs. The causal and territorial revenue was that which arose from the sale or leasing of Crown lands. These lauds were dealt with as if they actually belonged to the King, and the legislature had no authority over them. The revenues arising from them at first were small, but in the course of years they became large, and the Governor dealt with them as he pleased. After a time the necessity for voting grants for the benefit of New Brunswick by the British Parliament ceased, and the civil list salaries, which had largely increased in the meantime, were charged on the casual and territorial revenue. But this revenue had become so large, that there was always a surplus, and this surplus the Governor might deal with as he pleased. All the Crown land officials were handsomely paid, the office of Surveyor-General was equal in respect to emoluments to that of the Governor, yet the legislature had no control over him whatever, and had no means of knowing the amount of the revenue that was derived from the public domain of the province.

Another source of revenue that the governor had at his command was that from the customs. The cause of the revolution which lost the thirteen colonies to the British Empire was an attempt 011 the part of the Mother Country to tax the colonies. In 1778, while the war of the Revolution was going on, Great Britain attempted to win back the colonies by repealing the obnoxious act opposing a duty on tea, and by formally promising to impose no taxes on the colonies for the sake of revenue. The British Parliament while it retained its ancient right of unposing such duties as were necessary for the regulation of commerce, bound itself that those duties should always be applied to public purposes in the colony in which they were levied, ^;n such manner as the colonial assemblies should determine. The attempt to win back the colonies came to nothing, and parliament seems to have steadily forgotten Its pledges, for duties continued to be levied on goods corning into tbe remaining colonies of Great Britain, and for many years the legislature of New Brunswick had no control whatever over the money thus obtained. The British government had one set of officials, who under the titles of collectors and sub-collectors exacted the duties imposed by the Imperial Customs Acts, while the province had its treasurer and deputy treasurers to collect the provincial duties. The inconvenience of such an arrangement can be easily understood, involving as it did the necessity of dealing with two different sets of officers, whatever goods had to be imported. But its injustice was even greater than its inconvenience for it involved the collection of large sums of money from the province, over which the House of Assembly had no control, so that the governor could be quite independent of that body.

The council, which consisted of twelve members, exercised both executive and legislative functions. As an executive council it met to advise the governor and assist in the transaction of business requiring attention, while once a year, while the House of Assembly was m session, it met as a branch of the legislature to revise all bills passed by the House and to send down bills to the House, which had originated and been passed in the council. The first council was largely composed of persons holding official positions and this continued to be its character, so long as its constitution remained unaltered. In the first council were the four judges of the Supreme Court, the Secretary of the Province and the Surrogate General, and they always took the lead in the public, business. As the governor had the power to suspend any member of the council and to till up all vacancies when the number of its members became less than nine, he exercised an almost absolute control over it, and the council, whether in its executive or legislative capacity, was always ready to do what he desired. Appointments to office, which might have been a cause of difference, never disturbed the harmonious relations of the governor and his council in the early days of the province, because the officials appointed were nearly always relatives or friends of the members of the council. All the offices that were of any value went to the members of a few leading families and in many instances descended from father to son. Thus it happened, that when the Honorable and Rev. Jonathan Odell, who was the first Secretary of the Province, died in 1818, he was succeeded by his son the Hon. Wm. F. Odell, who held the office until his death in 1844, so that this important and lucrative office remained in one family for sixty years. The people applied the name of The Family Compact to the system, which gave all the offices to a few families, who kept on good terms with the governor, and the New Brunswick compact was quite as narrow and much more effective than that of the Bourbons. The Family Compact always had its representatives in the House of Assembly to fight reform in that branch of the legislature and as it had absolute control of the Council, no law could pass of which it did not approve. Had it not been for the ability of the House to stop the supplies, the Governor and his Council would have been able to exercise absolute control, and even this power of the House was greatly lessened, by the fact that the Governor had the disposing of revenues, which the House could not touch.

As a last resort the House of Assembly could appeal to the British government, and this was sometimes done. But such appeals were not likely to receive much attention especially in the early years of the Province, because at that time, anything that had the flavor of reform was steadily frowned down by the home authorities. The success of the American Revolution induced many of the Loyalists who had suffered by it, to look with horror on every measure which seemed to give the people control over affairs. The Royal Prerogative was exalted at the expense of liberty, and any man who ventured to set limits to it, was looked upon as a traitor. To call a man an innovator, or a leveller, was to condemn him at once, as in these days we would describe an assassin. As the French Revolution came soon after the founding of the province, its success and horrors were spoken of, as the consequence of giving the people freedom, and, thus, another weapon was forged against reform. This spirit continued to prevail until the close of the war with Napoleon, when the British people awoke from what seemed a hideous dream, and found themselves almost ruined and beggared, by a contest which had lasted twenty years, and left them overwhelmed with debt, and with little or nothing to show for it. Tn the meantime, the-rights of the subject had been violated, free speech suppressed, the law of libel made the agent ol tyranny, and the press muzzled, so that no man dared to criticize or condemn the most odious acts. With such a condition of things existing at home, it is not surprising that any complaints against provincial governors were but little regarded.

When the province was established, and for more than sixty years afterwards, the post office was under the control of the Imperial authorities. This perhaps, was less of an evil than some of the other features of the system of government, because the post office was not a money making institution. Nevertheless such an arrangement was subject to many inconveniences, because the province had no control over its own mails, and it had sometimes to pay large sums in postage on its public documents. It was not until the year 1850 that the postal system of the province was transferred to New Brunswick.

One of the first objects of Governor Carleton on assuming the administration of the affairs of the province, was to establish a table of fees. These fees were in some cases taken in lieu of a salary, and in some cases supplemented the salary. Fees were paid to all officials, including the judges, for every service they rendered to a private individual. In some cases, the fees exacted were so large as to be a heavy burden to the people who hail to pay them, while those who received them, became enormously wealthy. The fees paid on land grants were specially complained of, and a return which was made public in 1810 disclosed the amazing fact that the fees on a Crown grant of three hundred acres or less amounted to £11. 13. Id., of this sum the Governor received £1. Is. 8d., the Secretary £3. 7s. 6d., the Attorney General, £1.10s. 10d., the Surveyor General £2, and the Auditor General, 13s. Id. These enormous fees, while they enriched the officials who received them, furnished a strong inducement to them to encourage the granting of land improvidently to all wdio asked for it. Thus the public domain was wasted without the province receiving any proper equivalent.

With a Governor taking his orders from England and a Council composed as that of New Brunswick was, it is needless to say that there was no executive responsibility to the people. That feature of government which is now justly regarded as the most essential, was then wholly wanting. The Governor was responsible to the home authorities, while the Council were responsible only to the Governor. No vote of the House and no effort of the people, could bring about a change of government because the officials could only be removed by the Governor himself. Officers like the Attorney General, Provincial Secretary or Surveyor General, who now hold their positions only so long as they can command the support of a majority of the legislature, then held them for life or until they obtained a higher office. Jonathan Bliss was Attorney General from 1785 to 1800 when he was made Chief Justice. His successor, Thomas Wetmore, held the office irom 180!) to his death in 1828. George Sproule, the Surveyor General, held that position from the foundation of the province until his death in 1817, and one of his successors, Thomas Baillie, had a still longer tenure oi office. We have already seen how the Odells, father and son, filled the office of Provincial Secretary for sixty years. Is it any wonder that these high officials looked upon the common people with utter contempt and paid no attention to their complaints ? They regarded the offices they held as their own property to he used hy them for their own benefit, and not that of the people.

One great evil in the constitution of the province, was the lack of publicity in the legislative proceedings. The Council sat with closed doors and not even the members of the House of Assembly could be present at its debates. When the House wished to ascertain what had become of some bill it had sent up to the Council lor concurrence, its only resort was to appoint a committee to search the Council Journals. But no stranger dared to invade the sacred privacy of the Council Chamber. No journals were even printed to convey to the public an intimation of what was being done by this branch of the legislature. In 1820 Mr. Justice Bliss endeavored to open the doors of the Council to the people by moving that each member might admit any number of persons, not exceeding six, to hear the debates. The motion was defeated and it was not brought up again, so that the old Council from the beginning to the end of its career in 1832, sat with closed doors. Perhaps the public did not lose much by their exclusion. If they had been admitted they would have seen five or six, or sometimes as many as eight old men, half of them in their dotage solemnly pondering over the bills which had been passed by the people's representatives, and frequently rejecting them apparently for no other reason but to show their power. If any visitor had been in the Council in 1829 he would have seen that legislative-body postponing all business because a messenger from the Council to the House was received by the Speaker with his hat on, and only resuming business when the House passed a solemn resolution that the Speaker should take off his hat when receiving the message of the Council. In 1820, Attorney General Wetmore gave notice of a resolution that, in future, the Journals of the Council should be printed at the end of the session., This resolution was never passed or even debated. But in 1823, at the instance of Judge Bliss a resolution was passed for an address to the governer praying that he would direct one hundred copies of the Journals of the Council to be printed. His Excellency said he would comply with the request, but it does not appear that this was ever done, for the Governor, General Smyth, took suddenly ill during the session and died immediately after its prorogation. It was not until 1830, that any provision was made for printing the Journals. Then it was resolved that all the Journals of the Council from the first session in 1781) should be printed, and that u future the Journals of each session should be printed at the end thereof. Under this resolution the Journals from 1780 to 1830 inclusive were printed in two large volumes and the people learned for the first

time, after nearly all the persons interested were dead, what' the council had been doing for so many years. After that the journals were regularly printed until the abolition of the Council in 1892. But for forty-live years after the province had a legislature the public were left in total ignorance of its work. Such a condition of affairs could only exist in a community >n which the people were accustomed to submit tamely to the predominance of a few influential families, and in which free speech was in a measure suppressed.

That free speech was suppressed in New Brunswick in its early days will be evident enough to those who read this history, and in this work the House of Assembly was even more prominent than the Council. Although the House was supposed to represent the people it claimed to be superior to public opinion and any who ventured to criticize it did so at his peril. The case of Tlandyside, which will be noticed more fully in a future chapter, was but one of many in which the rights of the subject were wholly disregarded. It must be evident that if every criticism of the actions of a legislature, whether spoken or printed, is to be regarded as a contempt to be punished in a summary fashion by the body which conceives -itself aggrieved by the criticism, there can ever be any improvement brought about in public affairs except by revolutionary methods. Free speech, instead of being a source of danger to the state is its greatest safety, because in countries where it prevails, changes iu the constitution are brought -.about by peaceful means and argument. Free speech and a free press are now justly looked upon as an essential part ot our system. No one can now he haled before the Legislature for saying that it has acted wrongfully, or for writing in the newspapers to point out its short-comings. But in 1786 and for many years afterwards no criticism, however mild, was tolerated. In 1818, while the Legislature was in session, the City Gazette, a newspaper published in St. John, contained an article mildly criticizing the House of Assembly. This was voted a breach of privilege, and the publisher ol the paper was compelled to go to Fredericton to be punished for his offence. He disclosed the name of the writer of the article who was Stephen Humbert, one of the members for the City of St. John. Upon this the anger of the House was transferred from the publisher to the writer, and Humbert was forthwith expelled the House, and his seat declared vacant. So far as the journals show, not one man voted against the resolution of expulsion. Yet the article which brought so severe a punishment, would be looked upon as a very weak affair at this day.

But while the House of Assembly thus lorded it-over the people, the Council and the Governor claimed to be superior to the House. A petty dispute which arose in 1817 over the possession of the keys of the room in which the Assembly met, shows the spirit in which the Council and its officials viewed the representatives of the people. Before the adjournment of the House in 1817, a resolution had been passed that no person, during the recess of the General Assembly, have access to the Assembly Room, without the permission of the Clerk of the House. A few clays alter the adjournment of the House, Mr. F. W. Odell, who had succeeded his lather as Secretary of the Province, obtained the key of this room from the caretaker, and refused to give it up. Mr. Wetmore, the clerk of the House, forwarded him a copy of the resolution passed by that body, and received in reply, a cool letter from Mr. Odell, in which it was stated that the President and Council were agreed that Mr. Odell should have the custody of the room, but that the Clerk might have a key. This the Clerk, with very proper spirit, refused to accept, and wrote to Speaker Botsford on the subject. The latter mildly expressed his regret at Mr. Odell's interference, but said that nothing more could be done until the House met. The House, at its next session contented itself with passing another resolution with regard to the custody of the key, similar to that of the previous year, which Mr. Odell had disregarded. The incident shows that the Council considered their authority to be much greater than that ot the Assembly, although they represented nothing but the favor of the Governor and their own individual selves.

Another feature of the old constitution of the Province, which was very noticeable, was the predominance of one Church, the Church of England. The Church of England was regarded by many as established in the Province, in the same sense as it was established in England, and, although that was not so in point of law, it was highly favored above all other religious denominations. Every member of the original Council of the province was a member of that church, and it was not until 1817, when Will-am Pagan became a member of the Council, that a member of any other church succeeded in entering that body. Every judge of the Supreme Court, until the appointment of L. A. Wilmot, in 1851, was a member of the Church of England. All the high officials of the province for the first sixty years of its existence, were members of the Church of England. The Bishop of Nova Scotia was a member of the Council and actually took his seat in it on one occasion in 1826. Barge tracts of lands for glebes and for the support of the Church of England, were granted by the province and missionaries of the Church of England were paid out of the provincial civil list. The college, which was endowed with a large amount of public money, was essentially a Church of England institution, the Bishop being its visitor and there being a chair of Divinity for the education of clergymen of that church. Yet it does not appear, that at any time in the history of the province, a majority of the people were members of the Church of England. At present the adherents of that church form about one eighth of the population of the province. The first census that gave any intimation of the strength of the various denominations was that taken in 1840, by which it appeared that there were 61 Church of England places of worship, against 209 for all other denominations. The census of 1851 gave no information on this point but in 1861, it appeared that the adherents of the Church of England numbered 42,776 in a total population of 252,047. No doubt the Church was stronger in proportion to the population in 1786, than it was in 1861, but it is hardly possible that it ever embraced a majority of the population. Yet, it was the favored church, and, for a long time, the only church that was recognized by the rulers of the Province.