lection of the said revenues, a detailed
account of which was to be laid before the legislature within fourteen
days of the commencement of each session, with all vouchers for the
same. It was also enacted that all grants or sales of Crown lands should
be void, unless the land had been sold at public auction after due
notice in the _Royal Gazette_. By this arrangement the House of Assembly
had obtained the boon for which it had so long been contending, but
there was still one more obstacle to be overcome,--the opposition of the
lieutenant-governor, Sir Archibald Campbell, who had entered into a plot
with some of the enemies of freedom in the province for the purpose of
thwarting, not only the wishes of the House of Assembly, but also the
intentions of the home government. As soon as Sir Archibald Campbell was
apprised of the intention of His Majesty's advisers in England to
transfer the casual and territorial revenues to the provincial
legislature, he commenced a correspondence with the colonial office,
pointing out what he deemed to be imperfections in the scheme which they
had prepared for the management of the public lands. He pretended to
have discovered that there was some error in the calculation of the
lords of the treasury with regard to the sum to be paid in lieu of the
civil list, and that the amount of L14,500 currency would not be
sufficient to defray all the expenditures chargeable on the civil list.

{AN OBSTRUCTIVE GOVERNOR}

Sir Archibald Campbell, soon after the opening of the session of the
legislature, in December 1836, requested the House of Assembly to add a
suspending clause to any Civil List Bill they might pass, so that he
might forward it to the home government for their approval. As this was
entirely contrary to the understanding which had been reached between
Messrs. Wilmot and Crane and the colonial secretary,--it being
understood that the bill if passed in the form agreed upon would be
immediately assented to by the lieutenant-governor,--the House of
Assembly very naturally refused to comply with Sir Archibald's wishes.
He, however, held firm in his resolution, and the Civil List Bill which
had been agreed to by the home authorities, after being passed by both
Houses, did not receive his assent. At the close of the session, while
the matter was under discussion, at the instigation of the
lieutenant-governor one of the executive council, Solicitor-General
Street, was sent on a secret mission