APPENDIX.

No. 1.-Page 70.

OPINIONS ON THE RENEWAL OF COMMISSIONS.

QUEBEC, 7th December, 1830.

SIR, I have had the honour to receive your letter of this day, respecting the effect of the demise of His late Majesty upon the Commissions of Officers in the Colonies, and in answer, beg leave to state, for His Lordship's information, that in my opinion, every Commission issued in this province in the name of the late King, will be determined at the expiration of six months next his death, and that the same rule must obtain in the instances of Commissions issued in the name of his royal predecessor George the Third.

By the common law all Commissions were determined by the death of the King; and to remedy the inconveniences which this principle produced in practice, it was enacted by the 8th section of the Statute 9th Anne, cap. 7th, that every person and persons in any office, place, or employment, in any of Her Majesty's plantations, shall continue in their respective offices, places, and employments "for the space of six months next after the death or demise of Her Majesty, her heirs, or successors, unless sooner removed or discharged;" and this is the law of Canada in consequence of the last clause of the 14th Geo. III. cap. 83, and the 33d section of 31st Geo. III. cap. 31.

A statute (57th Geo. III. cap. 45) was passed in the year 1817, to continue in the colonies all persons in their respective offices, unless they should be removed or discharged by His

A

Majesty George the Fourth; and by this Act, upon his accession to the throne, the operation of the statute of Anne was prevented; but no provision was made by the 57th Geo. III. cap. 45, as to the accession of any subsequent Sovereign, nor was any statute on this subject passed in the reign of George the Fourth.

From the facts stated it must be obvious that the statute of Anne will take effect at the expiration of six months from the demise of His late Majesty, and as it must of course be obeyed, new commissions in the name of His present Majesty, will be of indispensible necessity.-I have the honor to be, Sir, Your obedient servant,

Col. Glegg, Secretary, &c.

J. SEWELL.

SIR,

MONTREAL, 11th December, 1830.

In obedience to the reference made to me in your letter of the 7th inst. requesting that I would report, for the information of His Lordship, what effect, in my opinion, the demise of His late Majesty King George the Fourth will have on the commissions of public officers of this province, after the lapse of six months from that event, and whether a renewal of such commissions will be necessary from and after the expiration of that period of six months, I have the honor to report as my opinion in this respect:-That by the common law of England, all commissions issued in the name of the King, ceased and determined by his death, and all writs and process in the courts of justice abated or discontinued. To remedy this inconvenience, the Statute 7th and 8th William III. chap. 27, was passed by which these commissions, writs, and processes were continued for six months after the death of the King. The provisions of this statute were afterwards extended to the colonies by Statute 1st Anne, chap. 8, rendering it thereby a general law throughout the several dominions of the empire. These commissions being from matter of convenience extended and continued for six months after the demise of the King, must, therefore, necessarily cease and determine from and after the

expiration of that period, as the common law principle will then take effect. If any exception could be made to this principle, it would be in regard to the commissions of the judges, as by the Statute 1st Geo. III. chap. 23, it is enacted that their commissions shall continue and remain in full force, notwithstanding the demise of His Majesty, or any of his heirs or successors; but, in my opinion, this statute does not extend to the colonies, not only from the particular provisions it contains, which are applicable in England only, but also, from the similar necessity there appears, that to give effect to this statute in the colonies, it ought to have been expressly extended thereto, on the same principle that it was found necessary to extend the above statute of the 7th and 8th William III. to the colonies, by the statute 1st Anne, chap. 8.

I am therefore of opinion, that six months after the demise of His late Majesty King George the Fourth, all the commissions of the public officers in this province will cease to have effect, and ought to be renewed.

All which is, however, humbly submitted to the consideration of His Excellency Lord Aylmer, by, Sir,

Tertio loco probatur etiam de jure canonico idem esse, cùm diversum non reperiatur in eo statutum, per regulam, Cap. 1. de oper novi nunciat. Nonobstat, d. c. quanto, quia responsio in promptu est, quod ibi non fuerat publico decreto constitutum aliud legitimum pondus monetæ; imo manebat antiquum decretum et definitio legitime ponderis a rege et populo publicè facta. Sed clanculum, sine legitima et pragmatica forma, et irrequisito populi consensu, defraudata fuerat moneta legitimo pondere: et sic, in effectu illegitima et fraudulenta moneta, ex

cusa erat per avaritiam et tyrannidem principum proditorum ve suorum, qui nil aliud agunt, quām ut sacrosanctam Regis majestatem, quam intemeratæ fidei, veritatis, justitiæ, et tot sacramentis dejuratæ, populi charitatis radiis perpetuò fulgere, et ā cunctis suspici et amari decebat, omni genere libidinum, scelerum, scurritatum, fraudem, et expitationum, populi deturpatum, infamem, et odibilem reddant. Unde, ut ibi dicit Innocentius

III. magnum scandalum et detrimentum populi oriebatur. Quoniam manebat vetus norma et definitio monetæ, à qua populus discedere nolebat, et sic quæ de novo contra id cudebatur, erat illegitima, et tamen per officiales seu magis proditores Regis de facto spargebatur in vulgus incautum, et sparsa non poterat, nec debebat habere cursum, ut pote illegitima: habentes autem veterem bonam monetam, nolebant expendere metu ne sibi periret, majori que metu detrectabant novam recipere, simpliciores autem et incauti circumveniebantur. Quare, Rex Arragoniæ, ad quem Rescriptum Innocentii III. dirigebatur, illum abusum non solum correxit, sed tandem (ut scribit Petrus Bellegar, in Spec. Princip. rub. 36) de mutatione monetar, lege lata unà cum proceribus Regni et Civitatum in Pragmatica forma, et per modum contractus a proceribus et civibus acceptata Valentiæ 18, Calendis Maii, anno 1265, diffinivit certam, perpetuam, et immutabilem formam, pondus et puritatem materiæ, monetæ, Regalium Valentiæ, ita quod de libra seu marca argenti definitæ puritatis non possent fieri, nisi 68 Regalia argenti. Subdit tamen postea arrosos modulos, ita ut in singulas marcas fierent 72 Regalia, bonitate materiæ diminuta contra formam dictæ sanctionis.

Molin Opera, de Mut. Monet.--Quæst. C.

No. 3.-Page

ON INSTRUCTIONS TO GOVERNORS.

Instructions to Governors can convey to them no powers whatsoever, but are, or ought to be, considered as directions to them how to use the powers which are conveyed to them by commissions, and are intimations of His Majesty's resolution to