THE death of Lieutenant Governor Smvth placed the administration of the Government in the hands of the senior member of the Council, the Royal instructions which made the senior military officer administrator having been revoked. The senior member of the Council was the Honorable George Leonard, who resided at Sussex. Mr. Leonard was a very aged man and very infirm, so that he had not attended a meeting of the Council for ten years. A messenger was despatched to him by the Council, requiring him to repair immediately to Fredericton and assume the administration of the Government, and in case he was prevented from doing so, asking him to signify his reasons in writing so that a similar notice might be sent to the Hon. Christopher Billopp, who was the next in point of seniority. Mr. Leonard wrote the Council to say that his age and infirmities rendered it impossible for him to take upon himself the administration of the Government. Col. Billopp, who was then in his 87th year, and resided in St. John, informed the Council that he was ready tc assume the administration and asked them to meet hi St. John as early as possible. On these letters being received, the Council resolved that the person to administer to the Government should be sworn in at Fredericton, and that the next member of the Council in point of seniority, Judge Chipman, should be made administrator. The Council had no right to require the administrator to go to Fredericton to be sworn in and there was no reason why such a course was necessary. The House had been prorogued, and the business of the session was ended, and there was therefore nothing that required the attendance of the administrator at the seat of Government. Col. Billopp issued a proclamation as administrator, and the Council passed a resolution forbidding its publication. It was a contest between unscrupulous men who had power in their hands, and a poor old man who had nothing but right on his side. Col. Billopp appealed to the Colonial office, and despatches were afterwards received from the home authorities condemning the conduct of the Council and justifying his claims to the office of administrator. These despatches were suppressed by the Council, and no mention of them is to be found on its tiles except incidentally. The illegal conduct of Chipman, and those who acted with hiui in this case requires no comment.

Ward Chipman continued President long enough to meet the legislature on the 21st of January, 1824. Almost the first resolution passed by the House of Assembly was one requiring him to direct the Receiver General of His Majesty's casual revenue to lay before the House an account of the money paid into the office since February, 1822. This request the President refused, on the ground that the casual revenue was under the control of the home govern-merit. The Receiver of the casual revenue was then the Hon. George Shore, a member of the Council, a son-in-law to Judge Saunders. The Hon. Anthony Lockwood, who had been Surveyor General since 1819, became insane in the Spring of 1823, and had to be suspended from office. In filling the vacancy the Council were careful to see that their family arrangements were not interfered with, but Mr. Shore was not allowed to remain Surveyor General long, for in the early part of 1824, Thomas Baillie, an Englishman, was appointed to the office.

The Legislative work of the session of 1824 was not very important. An act was passed to provide for the safe keeping of lunatics, whom it might be dangerous to permit to go at large. No provision was made for the erection of a lunatic asylum, so that the act was of little benefit.

An act was passed for taking an account of the population of the Province. It is remarkable that although the Province had been In existence for forty years, there had been no general enumeration of its inhabitants, and ail estimates were merely guesses. In the mean time there had been two censuses of Canada and one of Nova Scotia. The census taken under this act was simply an enumeration of the people, distinguishing the colored people from the whites, giving the number of males and females under and above the age of sixteen, and also the number of houses inhabited and uninhabited and the houses building. There was no attempt to enumerate the industries of the Province, or to take an account of its mills, churches and schools. The result showed that New Brunswick in 1824 had 74,176 inhabitants, of whom 1.313 were colored. The most populous county was Northumberland, which had 15,828 inhabitants. That county then comprised all the territory' now included in the counties of Northumberland, Gloucester, Restigouche and Kent. The county of St. John, which came next, had 12,907 inhabitants, and the city of St. John 8,488. The parish of Portland, now included in the city of St John, had 3,043 people, so that the population of the territory now comprised in the city was 11,531. York, which then included the present counties of Carleton, Victoria and Madawaska, had 10,972 inhabitants, of whom 1,849 were in the town and parish of Fredericton. Westmorland, which then included Albert, had 9,303 people; Charlotte had 9,267; Kings 7,930; Queens 4,741; and Sunbury 3,227.

In the middle of the work of the session, the President became suddenly ill, and died on the 10th February. This compelled both houses to adjourn until a new administrator could be sworn in. The Honorable George Leonard was again appealed to, and on his declining to act, the Council communicated with the Honorable Mr. Billopp. The latter replied that "without any abandonment of the principles and pretensions which actuated my conduct after the death of the late Lieutenant-Governor, and which have since received such ample and unequivocal sanction and support from His Majesty's secretary of State ; yet in the awkward and unprecedented predicament wherein the public affairs are now involved, and with an earnest desire to accommodate the despatch of the important business of the Legislature, already so long interrupted, I am disposed to waive my claims on the present occasion in favor of the next senior member of His Majesty's Council." Upon this the Honorable John Murray Bliss, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court, became administrator, and the Legislature resumed its business after an adjournment of thirteen days. The work of the Legislature was speedily finished without any friction between the Council and Assembly.

The administration of Judge Bliss did not last long, the home government having appointed Sir Howard Douglas, a distinguished officer, to the position of Governor of New Brunswick. The new Governor was a man of a very different type from either of his predecessors in that high office. He had seen service in various quarters of the world, and was gifted with a degree of intelligence and a liberality of mind, which made him one of the most popular governors the Province ever had. It was impossible that a man, constituted as he was, could fail to take an interest in this new and struggling province, and during the whole time that he administered his office he worked for it with the greatest zeal and frequently with the greatest success. Sir Howard Douglas arrived at Fredericton on the 30th August, 1824, and immediately set about the work of looking into the affairs of the province he was called upon to govern During his term of office he visited every part of it, everywhere meeting with the most hearty reception and making himself acceptable to all. classes by his affable manners and kindly interest in affairs of the people. Instead of confining his attention to those persons in the province who claimed to he superior to their fellow men, he showed equal attention to all, and was accessible to anyone who had business to transact with him. He took a great interest in the militia and encouraged their crude efforts to become efficient defenders of their country. He was also greatly interested in the establishment of Savings Banks, and under his auspices Savings Banks were opened both in St. John and in Fredericton. Another matter to which he gave his attention was the regulating of the nisi prius sittings of the Supreme Court. Before this time the Judges had held circuits at such times as suited them, but now lie had a new ordinance passed appointing regular sittings, two at St. John and Fredericton in the year, and once a year in each of the other counties.

The feature of Sir Howard Douglas' administration for which lie will be best remembered is the establishment of the College at Fredericton. This matter early engaged his attention and he obtained a promise from the British Government of an endowment and a new charter. The latter was not obtained until December, 1827, owing to the opposition of the Ecclesiastical authorities in England and izi this province. Mr. Fullorn in his life of Sir Howard Douglas, states that the application for a charter for the College which would admit persons who did not belong to the church of England, was resisted by the Archbishop of Canterbury and by the Bishop of Nova Scotia. The latter opposed it not only on religious grounds, but because lie favored a rival scheme of his own which contemplated a college for the whole of British America in his own diocese. Sir Howard Douglas saw that there must be a compromise, and framed a charter opening the college to all, giving the control of it to the clergy of the Church of England. It took a great deal of persuasion to gain over the consent of the Archbishop and the Bishop of Nova Scotia to this plan, the result being a charter which was not acceptable to the majority of the people, and which condemned the college to thirty years of arrested development. By this charter the Bishop of the Diocese was made visitor of the college with all the power incident to that office. The President was required to be always a clergyman of the Church of England and the perpetual succession to that office was vested in the Archdeacon of the Province. The College Council was to consist of the Chancellor, who was the Lieutenant Governor, and the President, and seven other professors who were required to be members of the Church of England, who subscribed to the thirty-nine articles. If there were not a sufficient number of professors to fill up the College. Council to the number of seven in addition to the Chancellor and President, graduates of the College who were members of the established church and who had subscribed to the thirty-nine articles, were made eligible. The Council had authority to make laws for the government of the College, subject to the approval of the visitor. It will thus be seen that the whole management of the College was in the hands of the members of one church, although at that time probably two-thirds of the people of the Province belonged to other churches, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, and Roman Catholics, all having numerous churches in the Province, and being engaged in spreading the Gospel with at least as much zeal as the clergymen of the Church of England. Nothing could be more unfortunate than these restrictions on the College charter, and it is not too much to say that if they hail not existed, the University of New Brunswick would now be in a far different position from what it occupies today.

In 1825, the Legislature met on the first of February, and on that occasion Sir Howard Douglas delivered a long address, dealing with a great variety of topics of interest to the Province. He said that he found the affairs of the Province to be generally in a very prosperous condition, and he recommended the opening cf new channels of trade and the improvement of commercial intercourse with the sister colonies. lie expressed the opinion that the fisheries might be made much more productive, and that a trade in that article might be established with the new states of South America. He referred to the great increase in ship-building, but thought that the character of the vessels constructed might be greatly improved. He recommended giving greater attention to agriculture so that much money now sent abroad for tlie purchase of flour and other articles, might be kept at home. He commended the agricultural, emigrant and other societies which had been established in the Province, ami which were exercising so beneficial an influence in settling a large number of persons on farms. He advised greater care in making grants to the great roads, the money being largely wasted because it was spread over too great an area. The public services, he said, had been exposed to great inconvenience by the irregularities incident to the existing means of communication between Fredericton and St. John, and he recommended a plan for such communication with St. John by a post road, as might not be subject to those serious interruptions and dangers. He also referred to educational matters, and said that the time had arrived when they should entertain enlarged views on all subjects, so that the affairs of the province might be conducted upon fixed and solid principles. The session passed without any incident worthy of mention, and was closed by a speech from the Governor in which he highly complimented the members of both Houses for their wisdom, ability and loyalty. The only notable measures of the session were an act for the establishment of Savings Banks; an act giving bounties on fish caught and cured in the province, suitable to the Mediterranean markets; an act to incorporate the Charlotte County Bank; an act to incorporate the St. John Water Company, and an act to amend the great road act. The object of this last act was to provide for the completing of the road between Fredericton and St. John by way of the Nerepis.

During the summer and autumn of 1825, Sir Howard Douglas visited all the principal settlements in the province, both on the Gulf and on the Bay of Fundy, and made himself familiar with their-needs and desires. At nearly every place he visited there were the usual addresses and banquets in honor of the distinguished guest, at which the Governor had the opportunity of meeting the leading men of the province. On his return to Fredericton he had to face business of a more serious nature. On the 19th of September, Government House, which was his official residence, was totally destroyed by lire,, so that the representative of His Majesty was without a home. Worse was still to follow. The season had been a remarkably dry one and forest fires prevailed all over the province. On the 7tli of October a fire broke out in the town of Fredericton,, which, before it could be checked, destroyed about eighty buildings and rendered a large number of people homeless and destitute. The fire which broke out in Fredericton was but the offshoot of a conflagration which was raging over a large area of the forest land of central New Brunswick. On the same day that Fredericton was destroyed, a fire began to menace the settlements on the Miramichi, which then consisted of four towns, two on each side of the river, and numerous hamlets and isolated farmhouses on the Miramichi and its branches. A great part of this territory was covered by a magnificent pine forest which gave the country the promise of boundless wealth, and which was ther contributing nearly half of the exports of the province. Newcastle, which consisted of 260' houses and had nearly one thousand inhabitants, was almost totally destroyed, only twelve buildings remaining after the fire had swept past it

Douglastown experienced a similar fate, and of seventy buildings, only six were left. Moorfields, a populous settlement near Douglastown, was a pile of ashes, and the whole cultivated portion of the parish of Ludlow was changed into a waste. Bartibog, Nappan, Black River, and several other surrounding settlements became involved in the general ruin. Fortunately, Chatham and Nelson, the two towns on the south side of the river, escaped the fury of the destroying element. But it was in the forest that the worst results of the conflagration were experienced. The settlers who lived on the branches of the great river, found themselves la danger of losing both their homes and their lives. It is estimated that the area over which this lire extended was nearly 6,000 square miles, or nearly one-fifth of the total land surface of the province. Anyone caught in the forest during the conflagration who could not reach the Miramichi. was doomed to death. Most of the farm houses between the Miramichi River and Fredericton, were given to the flames, and many of their inmates lost their lives. A careful estimate which was prepared after the lire, shows that 160 persons were either burnt to death, or drowned in their efforts to escape from the flames. Five hundred and ninety-five buildings were consumed, and eight hundred and seventy-five head of cattle were destroyed. The loss of property was estimated at £204,323, of which only £12,050 was insured, but this only represented the property in the possession of the victims of the fire. The greatest loss of all was the destruction of the vast forest north and west of the Miramichi River, which had become a mine of wealth to the people of that settlement. The prosperity of the community was cheeked in a manner that was not only overwhelming, but irredeemable. The forest that had been burnt represented the growth of ages, and a century at least, it was thought, would be required to pass before it was again available for human needs. The only redeeming feature connected with the fire, was the opportunity it gave of showing the sympathy of the world with a suffering and impoverished people. The cry for help that went up from the Miramichi settlements, found a ready response, not only throughout the Maritime Provinces, but in the Canadas, in Great Britain; the United States, and the settlements of New Brunswick which had escaped the fires. The city of St. John alone gave £4,300 bi goods, beside money contributions. Altogether nearly £40,000 was collected and distributed for the relief of the sufferers. This work was done by a committee under the direction of the Lieutenant-Governor, who visited the Miramichi settlements almost before the ashes of the conflagration were cold. The winter was rapidly approaching, but the homeless were provided for. By the enterprise and energy of the people, towns superior to those that were destroyed speedily arose from the ashes of Newcastle and Douglastown. The prosperity of Miramichi was checked, but not destroyed, and that nourishing settlement, in the course of years, resumed its position as one of the greatest lumber exporting districts in the world. To show the importance to which Miramichi had arisen prior to the great fire, it may he stated that the revenue collected there in the year 1824, was one-fourth oi that obtained at the port of St. John. The tonnage of vessels that entered and cleared at Miramichi during the same year was just about equal to that of St. John, while the amount of ton timber exported from Miramichi. was 141,384 tons against 111,116 tons at St. John.

The Legislative session of 1826 opened on the 19th of January'. Naturally the address of the Lieutenant Governor dealt largely with the Miramichi fire, and the measures that had been taken for the relief of the sufferers. He was able to congratulate the legislature on the passage of an act by the Imperial Parliament, for the removal of restrictions on the colonial trade. He referred to the increasing demand for lumber, and the necessity of giving greater attention to agriculture. He directed the attention of both Houses to the project for a canal from the waters of the Bay of Fundy to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, at Bay Verte. This project engaged the attention of several generations of men, and was finally disposed of by the report of a commission, appointed by the Government of Canada, at the head of which was the Hon. William Young, made in 1874. It encountered great opposition from a portion of the people of Nova Scotia, and as it was viewed with indifference by the inhabitants of the Western Provinces, there was no chance of its success. Nevertheless it is by no means unlikely that at some future day the Bay Verte project will be revived and the work completed.

The principal acts passed in 1826, were for granting bounties on grain raised on new land ; to provide for the rebuilding of tbe Government House; and for the division of the County of Northumberland into three counties. This vast county extended from the northern line of the county of Westmorland to the Ilay Chaleur. Under this act the parishes of Carleton and Wellington and the territory to the westward of these parishes, was erected into the county of Kent, and the parishes of Saumarez and Beresford became the county of Gloucester. The remainder of the territory which had formed the original county, continued to be known as the county of Northumberland. Each of the new counties was allowed one member in the House of Assembly, while the county of Northumberland still continued to send two members as before. This was a very necessary piece of legislation. A similar bill for the division of the county of York into two counties, failed to pass the House of Assembly, although the inconvenience connected with continuing so large a piece of territory as a single county, must have been very apparent to everyone. The measure was favored by the members of the county who hail the best means of knowing the inconvenience of the existing arrangement, but it was not until 1831, that the county of Carleton was set off from the original county of York.

The corner stone of the College building and of the new Government House, were both laid this year, and the people of Fredericton rejoiced in the progress of two structures which they believed would add greatly to the attractions of their town. The legislative building, which had been completed about ten years before, was not a structure which showed any architectural taste, or had even the merit of being convenient for the purpose for which it was designed; so that the erection of these two handsome stone structures formed a new era in the architectural history of the Province. They are both standing at this day, and notwithstanding the lapse of three quarters of a century, are still worthy of admiration.

The Bishop of Nova Scotia, the Right Reverend John Inglis, visited New Brunswick this year, to administer the rite of confirmation to the young persons in this portion of his diocese. His appointment had been made the year previous in succession to Bishop Stanser, who had to resign in consequence of ill health. Mr. Inglis, previous to his appointment, had been rector of St. Paxil's Church, Halifax, with the Rev. Mr. Twining as his assistant. The congregation of St. Paul's desired die appointment of Mr. Twining as Rector, but Bishop Inglis, by a piece of management which reflects 110 credit on his character, contrived to disappoint the wishes of the people, and secured the appointment of the Rev. Robert Willis, who was rector of Trinity Church, St. John. Two-thirds of the congregation of St. Paul's Church left it in consequence of this piece of chicanery on the part of the Bishop, and most of them, including many influential persons, afterwards went over to the Baptist denomination, adding enormously to the strength of that communion and weakening, by so much, tlie Church of England. While in Fredericton the Bishop was sworn in as a member of the Council of this Province and took his seat. This was the only instance in which a Bishop of Nova Scotia sat in the New Brunswick Council. When the diocese of Fredericton was separated from Nova Scotia the arrangement which made the Bishop of Nova Scotia a member of the Council no longer was in force so that no Bishop of New Brunswick has ever sat in the Council of this Province. The origin of the arrangement was no doubt a desire to imitate the British House of Lords which was constituted of I^ords spiritual as well as Lords temporal. It cannot be said that the presence of the Lords spiritual in that body has ever added much to its value as a legislative chamber, especially in regard to questions involving necessary reforms.

The year 1825 had been one of great speculation in England, and prices had risen to an extraordinary height. The prosperity that was developed, was shared by the people of New Brunswick who were exporters of timber and ships, and who found a good market for all they could produce. But towards the autumn of 1823, the rapid rise in prices was checked, and a decline set in which did not cease until it had brought ruin to thousands, and absolute poverty to many. The failure of the great banking house of Pole & Co., in London, brought on a panic in the commercial world. This bank had relations with forty-four country bankers, all of whom were more or less involved with it. The crisie that ensued was the greatest that England had known since the year 1793. The panic continued for ten days, and the Rank of England had its resources severely strained. The news of these commercial disasters only reached New Brunswick slowly, but by the beginning of April, it was known to the merchants of this province that nearly all their agents and correspondents in England had failed. The price o± pine timber went down to a merely nominal figure and ship property tell to a corresponding extent. The commercial distress that ensued affected people on both sides of the Atlantic, and it was not until the end of the summer that matters began to mend, and prices rose to a point something near the actual cost of production. The lesson thus learned was a severe one, and was referred to by the Lieutenant-Governor in his speech at the opening of the legislative session of 1827. It showed that it was not safe for the Province to depend for its prosperity on the timber trade or on ship building alone, but that greater attention should be given to other industries which were less subject to violent fluctuations.