to perfect the business with which you have been occupied in a manner that, while it affords gratifying evidence of the cordial and united efforts of the several branches of the Legislature, will, I have no doubt, prove highly beneficial to the best interests of the province.

"Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly,

of

"I thank you in the name Her Majesty for the liberality with which you have provided the necessary supplies, which shall be expended with the utmost economy consistent with the efficiency of the public service.

"I shall immediately take the necessary measures for raising the loans authorized by you for the prosecution and speedy completion of the public works.

"Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the Legislative Assembly,

"The truly loyal and patriotic spirit in which you have passed the Militia Bill claims my warmest acknowledgments, and proves how confidently our gracious Sovereign may always rely upon the attachment of her Canadian subjects, and the promptitude and energy with which they would at all times be ready, should circumstances require it, to come forward in defence of their country, and in support of their connection with the parent state.

"I have had the satisfaction of assenting, in the Queen's name, to the greater part of the enactments which you have passed.

"In regard to the bills which have been reserved for the decision of Her Majesty's Government, that course has in each case been

required by imperative reasons over which I could exercise no control.

"The several addresses which you have voted to the Queen have been duly forwarded through the proper department, to be laid at the foot of the throne.

"In returning to your homes, where your presence is so much required, gentlemen, I doubt not that you will use your utmost influence to inspire confidence in your respective districts by encouraging that spirit of loyalty for which the Canadian people have always been distinguished, and by promoting, branches of useful and productive as far as may be in your power, those industry, as well as of commercial enterprize, upon which the welfare of the colony so mainly depends. however unfavourable the aspect of For they may be assured that, affairs may have appeared to them, there exists sufficient power and energy in this noble province, if the resources it unquestionably poswell directed, to make the most of sesses, that will, under the blessing of Divine Providence, create new sources of wealth and prosperity, should those upon which they have hitherto relied be found ultimately to fail them."

The public acts of chief importance passed during the Session were the following:

The Militia Act.

The Upper Canada School Act, amending the Act of 1843.

To amend the Bankrupt Laws. Elementary instruction in Lower Canada, in lieu of the Act passed at the preceding Session.

The Duties of Customs and Distillers' Acts.

To amend the Laws for Board of Works.

Improvements in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

ence, in which I have been recently engaged with the Secretary of State for the Colonies, has terminated happily for the interests of this country, which are so deeply involved in the protection of the fisheries on its coasts-further privileges sought by the American Government, the concession of which would have affected the prosperity of Nova Scotia, having been withheld by her Majesty.

"I strongly recommend to your favourable and deliberate consideration a project for the construction of a railroad from Halifax to Quebec and Montreal, which has lately much engaged the public attention, and the execution of which, should it turn out to be practicable under present circumstances, cannot be otherwise than beneficial in its consequences to the British North American colonies, by facilitating their intercourse with each other, and affording at all seasons an outlet through British ports for the productions of the British Canadian dominions. I have thought it necessary to address Her Majesty's Government on the subject of this great enterprise; and I have endeavoured to obtain such statistical and other information as may assist your deliberations, both as to the feasibility of the contemplated work, and the extent to which pecuniary aid should be afforded to promote the undertaking, should you deem it expedient to apply to that purpose any part of the public income. The information thus collected shall be imparted to you at the first convenient opportunity.

"I have been unable to carry into effect the intentions of the Legislature expressed in the act passed during the last Session, entitled,

An Act relating to the Funded

"Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

"In Her Majesty's name I thank you for the grants you have made for all public purposes.

"I regret that you have not decided to accept the control of the casual and territorial revenues of the Crown on the terms offered by Her Majesty, because I am convinced that your prompt acquiescence in the proposition, which I submitted to you by the Queen's command, would have been highly advantageous to the province.

"The readiness with which you have adopted every means to ensure the efficiency of the militia force, the liberal grants you have so considerately placed at my dis103al with that object, and the disposition you have so laudably and unanimously manifested to aug

ment such grants, should circumstances make it necessary, demand those cordial acknowledgments which, in Her Majesty's name, I have the pleasure to render.

"Mr. President and Honourable Gentlemen of the Legislative Council; Mr. Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

"I congratulate you on the enactment of several useful laws to which I have just assented. Among them I regard with especial gratification that by which the various acts affecting the finances of the country are amended and consolidated.

"You will, I am assured, consider it your duty, on returning to your counties, to cherish and encourage in your fellow-subjects those sentiments of loyalty and devotion to your Sovereign by which your own proceedings have been guided, and for which the people of Nova Scotia have heretofore been so honourably distinguished."

BORNEO. The enterprizing spirit of an individual Englishman has aroused public attention, and directed it to this remote region of the earth, where events have recently occurred which demand a brief notice in our pages. In the year 1838, Mr. James Brooke fitted out from his own funds, unassisted by Government or the public, a schooner of 142 tons, for the purpose of visiting the shores of Borneo. He had previously sailed in the Chinese seas, and his benevolent mind had conceived the idea that the magnificent islands which lie to the south-east of the Straits of Malacca, and which have so long been abandoned to the half

savage tribes, whose pirate prahus infest the waters and paralyze commerce, might be reclaimed to the uses of civilized existence; and that the blessings of Christianity might be poured over that dark quarter of the globe. To accomplish this object it was first necessary to obtain more accurate knowledge than we possessed of the geography as well as the condition of those islands and Mr. Brooke's voyage might be considered as one of discovery, having the specific ends in view of civilizing some portion, if not the whole of Borneo, suppressing piracy, and establishing commercial intercourse between that island and Singapore. He arrived at Sarāwak, which is on the north-west coast of Borneo, in the month of August, 1839, and was well received by Rajah Muda Hassim, the uncle of the Sultan of Borneo, and under him the Governor of Sarawak. At that juncture Muda Hassim was engaged in a war with some rebellious subjects in the interior, which he was unable to bring to a satisfactory termination. Mr. Brooke stayed some time at Sarawak, making himself acquainted with the country and its inhabitants, and inspiring the Rajah with feelings of friendly confidence. He afterwards sailed to Singapore, but soon returned to Sarawak, where he found the civil war still raging; and Muda Hassim solicited his assistance, offering to invest him with the government of Sarawak, if he succeeded in putting an end to the rebellion. Mr. Brooke availed himself of this opportunity for carrying out his philanthropic views. He joined the Rajah against the rebels, who were, after a protracted contest, vanquished

and compelled to surrender. He was then formally instituted Rajah of Sarawak, with the usual native ceremonies, and afterwards proceeded to the capital of Borneo, which lies on the coast to the northeast of Sarawak, in order to obtain the ratification by the Sultan of his newly acquired dignity. After some delay, the amount of revenue which was to be paid by Mr. Brooke, as the Rajah of Sarawak, was settled, and the sanction of the Sultan was formally obtained in a written instrument, with which Mr. Brooke returned to the seat of his Government. The fruits of his wise and paternal rule soon appeared, and the people, prosperous and happy, became warmly attached to their new Rajah. He was however, surrounded by pirate neighbours, whose depredations at last aroused the apathy of the British Government, and at the conclusion of the Chinese war, in the month of March 1843, H. M. S. Dido was ordered to eruise in the Straits of Malacca and the adjoining seas, for the purpose of protecting trade and suppressing piracy. The Dido arrived soon after at Sarawak, and Captain Keppel, her commander, accompanied by Mr. Brooke, made several successful attacks upon the strongholds of different pirate tribes, destroying their prahus and fortified stockades, and capturing their guns and ammunition.

He

then sailed to Singapore, intending to return, but was ordered to England. He was succeeded by Sir E. Belcher, in H.M.S. Samarang, who conveyed the ex-Rajah Muda Hassim and his followers to the Bornean capital. In the month of February, 1845, Captain Bethune arrived at Sarawak from England,

Mr.

and he was the bearer of a despatch from the British Government appointing Mr. Brooke Agent of Her Britannic Majesty in Borneo, and also a letter addressed to the Sultan of Borneo, in reply to a requisition which had been sent by the latter to the British Government, for assistance in the suppression of piracy. In the meantime, the small island of Labuan, which lies to the north of Borneo, a short distance from the capital, had been ceded by the Sultan to the Queen of Great Britain-with the view of being occupied as a convenient naval station, on the high-road from the East Indies to China. Brooke proceeded to the town of Borneo, and had several interviews with the Sultan, who gave him a friendly reception, and seemed sincere in his desire to put a stop to the piracy of his subjects. There were, however, two parties at the Court, one of which, headed by Muda Hassim, was anxious to conciliate the friendship of the English, and resolutely averse to piracy-the other, to which, as the sequel showed, the weak and imbecile Sultan either inclined or was forced to yield, were our enemies, and false and hollow in their professions. Mr. Brooke then sailed to Singapore, and soon afterwards accompanied Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane on board H.M.S. Agincourt, together with several other vessels of war, including steamers, back to the capital of Borneo. The object of this visit on the part of Sir T. Cochrane, was to demand reparation for the detention and confinement of two British subjects. This act was disowned by the Sultan, and the residence of the real offender, Pangeran Usop, was destroyed, as he refused to surrender. The Admiral then proceeded