62 
     
    

    
     be remarked that there was no account of the 
     
    

    
     death ovae. ‘ Nor of Adam either,’ said one'of 
     
    

    
     the compan . ‘ I beg your pardon, replied a 
     
    

    
     religious lady , ‘ Ifyou read your bible careful- 
     
     , lv, you will ti,in it stated that Adam was gather- 
     
    

    
     s}! to hisforefatherr ." 
     
    
   
   
    
     About the year 1500, a Chinese merchant 
     
     opened amine of precious stones. As soon as 
     
     it was known the Emperor caused it to be 
     
     shut with this observation: ‘Useless labour 
     
     causes sterility; a mine of precious stones does 
     
     not produce corn.’ 
     
    
   
   
    
     To the Editor ofthe British American. 
     
    
   
   
    
     MR. EDITOR, 
     
    

    
     The Road Commissioners require more 
     
     caustic than my friend Aliter seems dis- 
     
     posed to allow them, I shall now and then 
     
     endeavour to give them a broad hint; in 
     
     the first place I should strongly recommend 
     
     the measure of keeping all place-men out 
     
     of the House of Assembly, such as your 
     
     preventive land otficers,oflicers of impost 
     
     as it is fashionably called, we will call them 
     
     excise oflicers, all commissioners of the 
     
     roads and small debt magistrates, and most 
     
     certainly all contractors. We are too poor 
     
     to hold out great comparative temptations, 
     
     read the names and characters of the ma- 
     
     jority of the present House of Assembly, 
     
     and look at their situations under Govern- 
     
     ment—the danger is not with the Govern- 
     
     ment but with the Assembly ; ifI being a 
     
     member of that House happen to make :1 
     
     am: pas as a public officer, it is not impos- 
     
     sible that I should seek the protection and 
     
     countenance of a brother similarly situated. 
     
     We are all reformists, now let us look to 
     
     the House of Commons of England, at pre- 
     
     sent containing six hundred and fifty-eight 
     
     members, most ofthemrich, compare it with 
     
     our House of Assembly of eighteen mem- 
     
     bers, most of them poor, and then let us 
     
     draw our conclusions as to the danger of 
     
     temptation. Any remark would be an in- 
     
     sult to common sense,-—my strictures shall 
     
     regard minute subjects rather than general 
     
     observations. I have already said and shall 
     
     continue to say, that the workmanship of 
     
     several of the contracts lately made, re- 
     
     quires very close inspection, and no small 
     
     degree of investigation, that is to say, as to 
     
     the relative situation of the commissioner 
     
     and contractor, “ kissing goes by favour,” 
     
     but that is not always virtuous kissing I 
     
     have heard of some of this kind of kissing 
     
     not 100 miles from St. Peter’s Bay, and 
     
     some at no great distance from the west 
     
     side of Richmond Bay, and some more kis- 
     
     sing on the road leading from Hilsboro 
     
     Ferry towards George-Town There are 
     
     certain occurrences on that last mentioned 
     
     line of road rather paradoxical, and not en- 
     
     tirely legitimate ; the job at M’Kenzies’ 
     
     Creek must be enquired after, and the tip- 
     
     ping up Bridge at Acorn’s Creek should 
     
     e thought of before any horse or foot 
     
     passenger pops through it, which will very 
     
     shortly be the case unless some means shall 
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
        
     
       
     
       
     
          
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
         
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     THE BRITTISH AMERICAN 
     
    
   
   
    
     be used to prevent it. I should like to ask 
     
     Mr. Jones, not only as a commissioner but 
     
     as a mechanic, whether he passed that 
     
     Bridge? and whether he received any can-- 
     
     tion about it? and Ishall proceed on that 
     
     road no farther at present,—but prcnez pa- 
     
     tience, we shall have more of it soon. I 
     
     take it for granted that when a commissi- 
     
     oner is required to proceed upon a contract 
     
     he should give fair and reasonable public 
     
     notice of it, that it should be open to public 
     
     competition, and the lowest bidder should 
     
     be deemed the contractor, providing he 
     
     finds proper security. I think the com- 
     
     missioner should inspect the work as it pro- 
     
     gresses, I hope the commissioners are 
     
     bound to send to their correspondent faith- 
     
     ful and particular accounts of all offers 
     
     made for each contract, but I have 
     
    
   
   
    
     heard very awkard stories in that 
     
     respect. I have heard it said they 
     
     should be sworn to do their duty, 
     
    
   
   
    
     but I am not very fond of oaths of office. I 
     
     observe that by the 13th clause of the Road 
     
     Act, 5 Geo. 4, the Governor is empowered 
     
     to grant to each commissioner, “ a sum of 
     
     money yearly, not exceeding £10,” and I 
     
     further see that by the statute of last session 
     
     c.27, 1401. is allowed for the commissioners 
     
     salaries; now 12 times 101. according to 
     
     Cocker is only 1201. [should like to learn 
     
     the name of the lady or gentleman, who 
     
     drew the plan and specification of Crone- 
     
     bane Bridge; which I believe is, or is to be 
     
     when it is finished, on Lot 35, and what was 
     
     the artists mode of measuring it, by which 
     
     we have sucha deuce of a jump to take at 
     
     or near its centre ? Who is to be paid for 
     
     this ascertainment P We must economize 
     
     Mr. Editor, and that promptly—our Civil 
     
     List here must soon be paid and paid in 
     
     solid stufi‘, and then smash bubbles, and a 
     
     union with Nova Scotia stares us in the 
     
     face. The light, the power of truth and 
     
     honesty will break in upon us. Away with 
     
     jobs andjobbers, and sycophants, we must 
     
     be industrious and punctual, or we must 
     
     starve. In my next I shall paint some 
     
     more man-traps in the shape of Bridges on 
     
     the Tryon Road. 
     
     I’our’s kc. 
     
     RUB. 
     
     September 19, 1832. 
     
     mom BELL’s wnnKLv messnnonn, 
     
     July, 2’2. 
     
    

    
     .MolherumlL—A Tory Lord, anxious for the 
     
     honour ofbecoming M. P in the Reform Housc, 
     
     waited on an elector, to beg and request the 
     
     favour ofhis support at the ensuing election ; 
     
     the reply was, “ Odd. my Lord, I’m no very 
     
     sure ifI hae avote yat ;” to which his Lordship, 
     
     with the utmost suavity of manner and impres- 
     
     siveness ofspeech, replied, “ Oh. Sir, I can as- 
     
     sure you that under the new bill you will have 
     
     a vote.” “ Then the de’il thank you for‘t, my 
     
     Lord, forif ye could hae hinder'd it ye would 
     
     hae done it. Reformers ken wha hae been 
     
     their friends, my Lord, and will support them,” 
     
     wa: the indignant but honest reply of the 101. 
     
     v0 er. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     no. a. 
     
     OFFlCE. 
     
    

    
     “ So long as allowances are made for official 
     
     men, so long as the drafts on credit in consi- 
     
     deration ofditficulties unknown are answered. 
     
     there will be dishonesty in the Government 
     
     for the dishonesty is favored by the indulgence 
     
     extended to those who excuse their lapses by 
     
     alleging the necessity of yielding to hidden in- 
     
     fluences. Let the strict law of opinion be put 
     
     on official men, and they must either act up to 
     
     the hi h line of duty, or by their resignations 
     
     make nown that there is something passing 
     
     behind the scenes which renders it impossible 
     
     for an honest man to hold office together with 
     
     the world’s respect. The remedy of the evil 
     
     will follow soon upon its exposure. Were the 
     
     public a more rigorous interpreter of the con- 
     
     duct of statesmen [as it is its policy and duty 
     
     to be] Compromises behind the curtain would 
     
     not be made; nay, they would not be asked. 
     
     The indulgence granted to those who yield to 
     
     solicitations to abandon good urposes is an ar— 
     
     gument for the corrupter, and) takes from the 
     
     assailed a reply which would deliver him from 
     
     importunity—‘ The people will think me a 
     
     knave ifl abandon the objects! have propo- 
     
     sed.’ Indulgence to any degree of apostacy is 
     
     unkindness to honest men, who are thence sub. 
     
    
   
   
    
     ‘jected to importunate and vexatious attempts 
     
    
   
   
    
     on their principles, and it comforts and assists 
     
     the rogues.” 
     
     MR. HUME. ~ 
     
    

    
     “Mr. Hume has again been singing the 
     
     praises of the King, and giving reasons for 
     
     it. True, he dissolved the Parliament, 
     
     and recalled Lord Grey, but he also refu- 
     
     sed to create Peers, and compelled the re- 
     
     signation of the Minister, whom he recalled 
     
     when he could not help it. Since the great 
     
     discovery it has appeared that the King 
     
     was also adverse to the dissolution of Parli- 
     
     ament, for which Mr. Hume now praises 
     
     him, and brought to consent to it with ex- 
     
     treme difficulty. For the sake of morality 
     
     we wish esteemed public men would e- 
     
     vince a stricter regard to truth, which 
     
     should not be sacrificed even to charity. 
     
    

    
     A FEW narrow“. QUESTIONS. 
     
     To the Editor of The Bell’s New Weekly 
     
     Messenger. 
     
    

    
     Sin—If any one of your numerous read- 
     
     ers will have the goodness to answer the 
     
     following questions, he will confer a great 
     
     favor on the public. 
     
    

    
     Have the Kings of England any personal 
     
     and distinct interests, separate and apart 
     
     from those of the great bulk and entire 
     
     mass of the people ? 
     
    

    
     Why do not the Kings of England associ— 
     
     ate with any other than their own creatures 
     
     —the higher classes, as they are called, of 
     
     his subjects. 
     
    

    
     Is it at all necessary to the personal com- 
     
     forts and conveniences of the King, to be 
     
     constantly beset by a number of toad-eat- 
     
     ing attendants ? and if the King reigns in 
     
     the hearts of his people, why is anumerous 
     
     host of armed troopers required for his pro- 
     
     tection ? 
     
    

    
     Why are all the places of trust and pro- 
     
     fit in the Government, in Church and 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     , . 
     
     l 
     
     l 
     
     I 
     
    
   
   
    
     it