go. 3. 
     
    
   
   
    
     finances, in alluding to the Isle of France, re- 
     
     peatedlycalled it one ofthe West Indianlslands, 
     
     and commented upon its revenue as being such. 
     
     Strange as it may appear, not one of the Ho- 
     
     nourabble and enlightened members present 
     
     corrected the mistake, and the Isle of France 
     
     stands on the printed records of he House of 
     
     )ommons as one of the West Indian islands. 
     
     Many of our readers are aware that the first 
     
     cause of difference between the formerly 
     
     British colonies, of the United States of Ame- 
     
     rica and the mother country was, and always 
     
     has been, attributed to the contempt and igno- 
     
     rance the latter showed to the affairs of the 
     
     then pressing British settlements. 
     
    
   
   
    
     THE BRITISH AMERICAN; 
     
     , August 18, 1832. 
     
    
   
   
    
     WE have received London papers by Packet via 
     
     Halifax. up to the 6th ult. furnishing us with intelli- 
     
     gence only two days late r than our last No. contained: 
     
     the contents ofwhich, are not ofthat importance as 
     
     we might have expected, considering the existing state 
     
     of affairs. 
     
    

    
     The Londonjournals teem with disfist and indigna- 
     
     tion on the ruffianly attacks by the mob, towards the 
     
     Duke of Wellington, and the treasonable and rash at- 
     
     tempt on the person of his Majesty, at Ascot Races, by 
     
     Collins the Chelsea pensioner. 
     
    

    
     Itis gratifying’ says the Globe, ‘ to learn that this 
     
     execrable act of malevolence produced that spontane- 
     
     ous sensation upon the spot, which must have been gra - 
     
     tifying to a King who has shown so evident at disposi- 
     
     tion to live in the hearts of his people.’ 
     
    

    
     The German papers communicate no intelligence, 
     
     except that the Duke of Reichstadt is dying. 
     
    

    
     The Bill for Parliamentary Reform in Scotland pass- 
     
     ed the second reading in the House of Lords. 
     
    

    
     It is remarkable that this Bill attracts but little no- 
     
     tice, and is but slightly opposed by the Anti-reformers; 
     
     yet the change which will be produced by Reform in 
     
     Scotland will be a complete revolution compared with 
     
     . that of England. In England the fiction of electors has 
     
     always been kept up : and it was necessary to do little 
     
     more than to correct the corruption of the practice; 
     
     but in Scotland, the representative system itself is to 
     
     be created. 
     
    

    
     The Lord Chancellor, in his unanswerable speech 
     
     last night, said. “ he believed. that in the whole history 
     
     of the parliamentary constitution of Scotland, there 
     
     was never, or scarcely ever, anything like the trace of 
     
     a popular election to be found." 
     
    

    
     Indeed, to so high a point of perfection is the abuse 
     
     in boroughs and corporations carried in the north, that 
     
     to guard against all possible danger, from the interfe- 
     
     rence of the existing scanty number of voters, these 
     
     priviledged monopolists have the power of choosing 
     
     their representatives only at secondhand; their business 
     
     is to select four delegates, who, in the form or essence 
     
     ofhoroughmongers, concentrate their monopoly in the 
     
     person ofthe happy candidate distinguished by their 
     
     patriotic approbation ! So much for Scotch Boroughs. 
     
    

    
     ith respect to the representation of counties in 
     
     Scotland, the art of the few to mystify the many, and to 
     
     reduce the force of county elections to the lowest possi- 
     
     ble degree ofabsurdit .has been equally ingenious and 
     
     not less successful. To this end a system of “ Superi- 
     
     orities" has been felicitously invented. The effect of 
     
     this curious contrivance is, that purchasers of these 
     
     “Superiorities,” who may never have set foot in Scot- 
     
     land. and without possessing an inch of land in that 
     
     country, acquire the power of nominating Members 
     
     for Scotch counties. The real proprietor—the resi- 
     
     dent—the native born Scot. who bonafide possesses the 
     
     land, has no vote in the choice of his representative. 
     
     The proprietor of the ‘- Superiority" supersedes the 
     
     proprietor of the soil. The man who has the greatest 
     
     right, and who is most interested in the matter, is lite. 
     
     rally blotted from the political map. 
     
    

    
     But a change has come at last.-—And now that the 
     
     beneficial improvement which it is the object of the 
     
     Scotch Rform Bill to establish. is about to take lace, 
     
     the wonder is how the deep-feeling inhabitants 0 Scot- 
     
     land have been so long patient under this insulting de- 
     
     privation of their constitutional rights. Let us hope 
     
     shalt]. as they have won them hardly, they will use them 
     
     '8 O 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     THE BRITISH AMERICAN. 
     
    
   
   
    
     COMMUNlt‘ATlON. 
     
    
   
   
    
     To the Editor of the British American . 
     
     Sir, 
     
    

    
     As the question of Escheat, has been, and 
     
     still continues, a subject ofgeneral opinion and 
     
     discussion, not only with persons possessing 
     
     pr perty and influence upon this Island, but 
     
     al 0 witl. men, moving in the more humble 
     
     sphere of life, and to whom as regards the lat- 
     
     ter, the result may be of the most vital impor- 
     
     tance, I feel desirous of giving the subject an 
     
     impartial, but at the same time a fair and can- 
     
     did examination; and I trust the remarks 
     
     which I may make thereon, will be considered 
     
     as founded on just and equitable terms ; and as 
     
     itis my intention not only to pursue this enqui- 
     
     ry, but also various other subjects, which as 
     
     they regard the general welfare,and lhope will 
     
     ultimately lead to the prosperity of this Island. 
     
     This article will be continued, until the whole 
     
     subject matter, has been fully investigated. It 
     
     may be in the recollection of many of the 
     
     advocates for the Escheat Bill, that in the 
     
     month of September, 1818, during the time of 
     
     Governor Smith, a Proclamation was issued, 
     
     which, after referring to his Excellenc ’s Pro- 
     
     clamation of the first day of Apri 1816, 
     
     relative to a new scale of quit-rents, his 
     
     Excellency stated that his Royal Highness 
     
     the Prince Regent, had been bountifully 
     
     and graciously pleased to alter the rate of 
     
     quit-rents, heretofore payable by the landed 
     
     proprietors, to 23. per 100 acres, as related to 
     
     Townships, but in giving so great an advantage 
     
     to the proprietors, felt it just at the same time 
     
     to express his intention, of rigidly enforcing 
     
     the future payment of such quit-rent. It was 
     
     the further pleasure of his Royal Highness, 
     
     that an additional indulgence should be grant- 
     
     ed, to such proprietors as should have, previous 
     
     to the year 1816, more or less regularly paid 
     
     the quit-rent on their respective grants. But 
     
     it was clearly to be understood, that no altera- 
     
     tion was to take place, relative to the tenure 
     
     of town and pasture lots, in the respective 
     
     towns and royalties, those were to continue un- 
     
     der the terms of their original grants, with the 
     
     exception of remitting the arrears of quit- 
     
     rent. And it was the further pleasure of his 
     
     Royal Highness, that the proprietors of town- 
     
     ship lands, should be released from the obliga- 
     
     tions imposed by their original grants, of 
     
     settling them with Foreign Protestants, pro- 
     
     vided that withinlo years f'romDecember,1816., 
     
     the lands should have been settled with other 
     
     persons, in the proportions specified in their 
     
     original grants. Now on reference to the 
     
     above proclamation it will be seen, that certain 
     
     indulgencies have been granted from time to 
     
     time, and that as far as regards town and pas- 
     
     ture lots, thdse will not at all be subject or 
     
     liable to forfeiture, provided the grantees have 
     
     duly and regularly paid their quit-rents. But 
     
     with reference to the township lands,those pro- 
     
     prietors will stand on a very different footing, 
     
     for should it appear, that within the period of 
     
     ten years, that is to say, from the month of 
     
     December 1816, or even taking it up to the 
     
     present time, those lands have not been settled 
     
     with other persons, in the proportions specified 
     
     in their original grants, those lands must and 
     
     will be subject to Escheat. Having now fixed 
     
     adate, from which a Court of Escheat might 
     
     legally act, the next consideration is, how far 
     
     the enforcement of such a law, on ht in justice 
     
     to be carried into execution. 5 am by no 
     
     means an advocate for general Escheat, but 
     
     would rather be considered as meeting the 
     
     question mid-way, because a general Escheat 
     
     (although strongly advocated b many) would 
     
     tend to create confusion, an from what I 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     I9 
     
    
   
   
    
     know of many of the titles, of landed proprie- 
     
     tors upon this Island, be unjust and oppressive ; 
     
     and therefore, in viewing the question with a 
     
     liberal eye, it may be necessary to consider, 
     
     who are the persons most likely to be injured 
     
     or benifited,should the court of Escheat eventu- 
     
     ally be established. As regards the absent 
     
     proprietors of township lots, who with his eyes 
     
     open, with warnings so repeatedly given, and 
     
     indulgencies afforded, if he were to be made to 
     
     feel the effects of such a court, can he com- 
     
     plain? No! he might have averted the impend- 
     
     ing consequences; but as to the innocent les- 
     
     see, and tenants generally, holding under such 
     
     a proprietor, they stand in a very different situ- 
     
     ation, and have claims on Government, for a 
     
     fair and equitable decision, particularly when 
     
     it is Considered,that uponthe faith of their land- 
     
     lord’s title, they have embarked their whole in 
     
     making considerable improvements upon the 
     
     estate. Many persons seem to think, that a 
     
     general Escheat would be attended with bene- 
     
     ficial effects, and I am sorry to find, that in the 
     
     West, there are several men, standing rather 
     
     high as regards their oflicial situations, who 
     
     have strongly advocated such ameasure, and 
     
     have been partially instrumental in leading 
     
     the ignorant astray, and who from such advice, 
     
     have in many instances, refused to pay rent, 
     
     where rents have been hitherto regularl paid 
     
     for more than 20 years; to such men, I will 
     
     candidly say, they are lending themselves to 
     
     that which is unconstitutional, and unjust; it 
     
     will be quite time enough for such persons to 
     
     seek redress, when the Escheat Court shall 
     
     have passed its final judgment. If there are 
     
     large tracts of land, and that there are such, 
     
     no one can doubt it, which upon investigation, 
     
     should be proved to fall within the pale of the 
     
     Escheat Law, then let the absent proprietors of 
     
     such lots, suffer for theirdisregard to the terms, 
     
     indulgencies and warnings which have been 
     
     so re eatedly heaped upon them. What. I 
     
     shoul recommend is, this, let the legislature 
     
     first take the matter into consideration, let a 
     
     survey be made, and a report thereon, shewing 
     
     what number of lots are clearly liable to for- 
     
     feiture, and then and not before, let the Es- 
     
     cheat Law come fully into efl'ect. 
     
     1 am, Sir, 
     
     Yours 
     
     VERITAS. 
     
     Charlotte- Town. Jugust 7, 1832. 
     
     (To be continued.) 
     
    
   
   
    
     To the Editor oft/u British Jimertcan. 
     
     Sta, 
     
    

    
     Having found it absolutely necessary to take up my 
     
     residence in Charlotte Town, I beg through the medi- 
     
     um of your paper. to inform the Inhabitants of the town 
     
     and its vicinity, as also the public in general, I have 
     
     engaged an Office at Mr. Mitchell’s, near the Custom- 
     
     House, where I intend to conduct my professional 
     
     Business. For the cenvenience of those Clients and 
     
     Friends residing towards the Western district of the Is. 
     
     land, who have hitherto favoured me with their confi- 
     
     dence, I intend during the Summer months, to Visit 
     
     Saint Eleanors,Bedeque, and Malpeque, once a fort. 
     
     night; and shall remain at the two former places the 
     
     whole of Monday. and the latter part of Tuesday, 
     
     when I shall return to town. unless unavoidably dc. 
     
     tained. 
     
    

    
     I am. Sir, 
     
     Your most obedient Servant. 
     
     Wm..MU.MFORD. 
     
     Charlotte-Town, 15th August, 1832. 
     
    
   
   
    
     a? / 
     
     «3&7 .