Document Information

Date: 1866-04-09
By: Arthur Gordon
Citation: Despatch from Lieutenant Governor Arthur Gordon to Right Hon. Edward Cardwell (9 April 1866) in UK, Parliament, Correspondence respecting the Proposed Union of the British North American Provinces (London: George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, 1867).
Other formats: Click here to view the original document (PDF).

No. 21.

COPY of a DESPATCH from Lieut.-Governor the Hon. ARTHUR GORDON to the Right Hon. EDWARD CARDWELL, M.P.

(No. 18.)

Fredericton, April 9, 1866.
(Received April 23, 1866.)
(Answered No. 20, April 28,1866, page 121.)

SIR,

I HAVE the honour to enclose an Address from the Legislative Council of New Brunswick to Her Majesty the Queen, praying that Her Majesty will be “pleased to cause a measure to be submitted to the Imperial Parliament for the purpose of thus uniting the Colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island in one Government.”

2. I have to request that you will lay this Address before Her Majesty.

3. I enclose a copy of the resolutions agreed to by the Council previous to the passage of the Address, and of the speech made by me when the President, who was accompanied by the whole House, placed the Address in my hands for transmission to Her Majesty. The terms of that speech will I trust meet with your approval.

I have, &c.
(Signed) ARTHUR H. GORDON.

The Right Hon. Edward Cardwell, M.P.,
&c. &c. &c.

Enclosure 1 in No. 21.

RESOLUTIONS of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL of NEW BRUNSWICK.

Legislative Council Chamber, April 6, 1866.

RESOLVED, as the opinion of this committee, that a Union of all the British North American Colonies based on the resolutions adopted at the Conference of Delegates for the several Provinces held at Quebec on the […] day of October 1864 is an object highly to be desired, essential to their future prosperity and influence, and calculated alike to strengthen and perpetuate the ties which bind them to the mother country ; and further, —

Resolved, as the opinion of this committee, that the Legislative Council should concur in any measure which may be necessary to carry such Union into effect.

Enclosure 2 in No. 21.

ADDRESS of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL of NEW BRUNSWICK.

TO THE QUEEN’s MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

Most Gracious Sovereign,

WE, Your Majesty’s faithful and loyal subjects, the Legislative Council of New Brunswick in Provincial Parliament assembled, humbly approach Your Majesty with the conviction that a Union of all Your Majesty’s British North American Colonies held at Quebec on the […] day of October 1861 is an object highly to be desired, essential to their future prosperity and influence, and calculated alike to strengthen and perpetuate the ties which bind them to Your Gracious Majesty’s throne and Government, and humbly pray that Your Majesty may be pleased to cause a measure to be submitted to the Imperial Parliament for the purpose of thus uniting the Colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island in one Government.

(Signed) JOHN SAUNDERS,

Acting President of the Legislative Council.

Enclosure 3 in No. 21.

REPLY to the ADDRESS of the LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL of NEW BRUNSWICK.

Mr. President and Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council,

I WILL immediately transmit your Address to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in order that it may be laid at the foot of the throne.

Her Majesty the Queen has already been pleased to express a deep interest in the Union of Her North American Dominions, and will no doubt graciously appreciate this decided expression of your opinion.

I rejoice to believe that the avowal of your desire that all British North America should unite in one community under one strong and efficient government cannot but tend to hasten the accomplishment of this great measure.