[Appendix A(43) 1792 Report of Commissioners of Inquiry]

N° 43.

LETTER from Sir WADSWORTH BUSK, Attorney General of the Isle of Man,

Gentlemen, Newtown, November 22, 1791.

THE Queries respecting the Rights of the Crown, proposed to me in your letter of the 22d of October last, are the following :- "How far certain of those rights, which are enumerated to be the Herring Custom, Bay Fisheries, Treasure Trove, the Isle and Castle of Peele, and Wrecks of the Sea, or any of them, are or are not unnecessarily vested in the Crown, for the purpose of preventing illicit practices? likewise, Whether the right to Carriage Services was or not retained by the act of 1765, and if it was, how far the same has been rendered nugatory and unprotected by the operation of the said act ?"

I have already represented to you the grounds on which I declined entering into an examination of evidence as to the question raised respecting the first-mentioned rights. The question appears to me to be either wholly nugatory, or to point directly towards this inference ; that if they should be found not necessary for the purpose suggested, they are to be considered as not included amongst the particulars which Government designed to purchase, or the Duke and Duchess of Atholl to part with; and that for them therefore, nothing has been paid; and consequently, that these rights of His Majesty ought to be restored without any consideration, although according to much better authorities than that of my opinion, they have been long since sold as appendages of royalty, bountifully paid for, and clearly fettled by Parliament; and some of them have also been appropriated by subsequent acts. Being still urged, however, to answer the foregoing Query, as to their being necessary or not necessary for the preventing of clandestine practices, rather than refuse compliance with a request of yours, I shall briefly state what occurs to me with regard to their effect on this object, in full confidence, after what I have suggested, that the investigation of the point is left in hands from which no injury can be apprehended to the property of the Crown.

I cannot take upon me to say, that the rights specified are absolutely necessary to be possessed by His Majesty, in order to the suppression of smuggling but as far as I can judge, I do conceive the possession of each of them by the Crown (excepting, perhaps, Treasure Trove) is a real and beneficial check on such practices. The trifling privilege of Treasure Trove might, I believe, be resigned without mischief ; but all the rest would, if belonging to any other than the Sovereign, be liable to be made in a greater or less degree the means of defrauding the revenue, not that they would ever be so employed, with the consent of the noble Duke who claims them; far otherwise I am persuaded. But the question to be considered now, is not, How they would be used immediately but how far they are capable of being abused, and how far they probably would in a course of time be misemployed ? experience having sufficiently evinced, what consequences a temptation to evade the laws of the Customs may be expected to produce in this remote corner of the realm

Illicit practices of this kind are most conveniently carried on by means of coasting vessels; and when that sort of traffic was most prevalent here, much the greatest proportion of it was managed by the fishing smacks.

As far as any one is intitled to send out boats or vessels to sea, exempt from the strict controul of the Custom-house, so far is it put into that person's power to direct them to purposes prejudicial to the public revenue, instead of those to which they are ostensibly destined. This privilege must be enjoyed by those who should be allowed to possess the Herring Custom ; for it is not to be supposed that Government would suffer, much less oblige any officer of the Crown to act in the capacity of a servant to an individual; and a part of this duty being payable by the Irish, (termed here foreigners,) and therefore necessarily collected at sea, whoever is to receive it, must employ boats to levy it there: so that if it were conceded to the Duke of Atholl, boats under the management of His Grace's Agents must go out on this errand, instead of those in the Customhouse employ : and it is obvious that the property of the Bay Fisheries must carry with the right of fitting out vessels in the fishing season to a greater extent. You should be further apprised, that at the time of the revestment those who were appointed to take possession of the island on behalf of the Crown, and especially the then Receiver General, insisted on both the Herring Custom and the Bay Fisheries not only as indisputably conveyed to Government, but as essentially requisite to the restraint of smuggling ; laying particular stress on the advantage to be derived in this respect, by bringing the Fishing vessels more closely under the notice and direction of His Majesty's officers of the revenue; and the then Governor of the island being clearly of the same opinion, appointed the Receiver General Collector of this Custom, and Water Bailiff of the island.

The island of Peele and the castle there, now in ruins, being situated at the entrance of the harbour on the opposite side from the town of Peele, and having no houses nearer, containing likewise a number of caves and subterraneous holes, are exactly fitted to be a receptacle or hiding place for the accommodation of smugglers; and are the more likely to be taken advantage of by them, as they are found on that coast of the island well known to be most favourable to them in other respects, and where, in fact, the largest share of clandestine trade is carried on: if any thing therefore could enhance the surprise occasioned by a claim of premises so decidedly appurtenances of sovereignty, so specifically described in every conveyance of this island, and so expressly transferred to the Crown by the act of 1765, it is the ground on which this new title is rested,

Under the term Wrecks of the Sea, as explained by the Duke himself, it is intended to comprise not only Wreck, properly so called, which is certainly restored to His Grace's family, but all Goods, distinguished by the more uncouth appellations' of Flotsam, Jetsam, and Ligan; which certainly are not comprehended under the words Wrecks of the Sea ; and on that very account are manifestly not included in the reservations of the act of 5 Geo, If. It is extremely evident how this part of the prerogative, if it were given up, might be perverted to the detriment of the revenue: nothing would be easier than to throw the articles to be run into such situations as to bring them apparently within any of these descriptions ; nor would it be less so afterwards, by collusion with servants of the person intitled to such goods, or in various other ways, to dispose of them at the pleasure of the smuggler, without the possibility of their being laid hold of, or frequently of their being observed by the officers of the Crown.

None of the rights under consideration therefore, unnecessary for the counteracting clandestine practices ; and some of them are indisputably essentially conducive thereto. But I must again repeat, that the question, Whether they are directly conducive to this end or not? cannot, I conceive, be of any weight in determining any point between Government and the Duke; being the more solicitous this argument should be resisted, because is impossible to foresee how far it may reach. Sundry other rights might be discovered, which undoubtedly passed on the purchase by Great Britain, but which it would be difficult to shew are immediately applicable to the prevention of contraband trade. It cannot be supposed, indeed, that the sovereignty will be asked for again; but it may be doubted,whether even this was absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of the primary object for which it was resumed. There is, however, one view in which the royalty, and every thing surrendered with it,may be deemed proper to be held by Great Britain; and that is, as additions to the power, which is principally concerned to repress those practices. It is sufficiently plain how much more effectually they must operate for the purpose if they remain annexed to that power, than if they were separated from it, and cast into another direction. I cannot therefore but look upon the retaining the the rights inquired after as a precaution, if not, in the strictest sense of the word, necessary, at least highly expedient; and must think that the cession of them, if they are given up, will leave the revenue,I will not say open to fraud, but much less cautiously guarded against it, than it has been hitherto; and I am pursuaded that the several powers and prerogatives vested in the Crown by the act of 1765 were so vested for good and sufficient reasons: nor does it occur to me, that any of them, except what I have before mentioned, can be returned to the former possessors, without impairing the revenue, and creating general dissatisfaction in the minds of those who with to see the baneful effects of smuggling totally suppressed.

The first query, relating to the Carriage Services, is, Whether they were reserved to the Duke and Duchess of Atholl by the act of 1765. They are to be distinguished, you are already aware, from other services called Boons; the latter being such as were due within the several smaller baronies or manors to their respective proprietors, the others being works or services exacted in the larger barony by the Sovereign of the island. I beg leave therefore to take this opportunity of correcting an inaccuracy in the Report of the 27th of April 1780, to which I have on a former occasion referred, the term Boons being in that Report misapplied to Carriage Services; substituting, however, this appellation in the place of Boons, what is there said expresses justly the opinion respecting then, which I still retain. By the best accounts of their origin and history, they seem to have been immemorially appropriated to erecting and repairing castles, forts, and other public buildings, supplying provisions to the garrisons or the household. From the Act of Tynwald, supplementary to the Act of Settlement, they appear to have been demandable of inhabitants as well as tenants; the proportion of them is thereby in some measure settled: and it is enacted, that they shall be, and they have ever since to the era of 1765, been applied in the mode I have mentioned, at the discretion and under the direction of the Governor and Council. The value of these duties, or the penalties arising from default of performing them, were never brought to account with the other profits of the Lords Proprietors ; but what surplus remained beyond what were expended on the public works, were frequently taken by the Governor and other officers as their perquisites. From all these circumstances I cannot but regard them as indubitably included amongst the regalities of the isle, and as such completely vested in the Crown by the act of 1795 ; nor can I apprehend. be levied for any other than the public purposes ; to which, when insisted on, they have ever been devoted, without manifest injustice to the people. The words Services of Tenants free and customary, inserted in the proviso of that act, cannot be construed to have reserved them to the Duke and Duchess of Atholl in spite of these considerations but (I confess it appears to me) should be understood (as it was intimated by a very respectable law authority they might be taken) to be mere general words, thrown in amongst a number of others without any particular meaning, several of which might be selected from the catalogue where this is found that have no object in the island on which they can attach. But we are not obliged to have recourse to such an interpretation, these terms being sufficiently satisfied by the Boons and Services belonging to the Lord in the inferior manors of which he is owner.

It is unnecessary, after what has been offered as to the right to these Services, to say any thing it the remedies, which might be given for compelling the performance of them; save that it may be proper to remark, that if the interest the Crown has in them were obtained by the Duke, no methods which could be devised would, I believe, enable His Grace to recover them, without exciting a universal, a violent, and I must add, a reasonable discontent.

Permit me further to observe, that the severing this right from the sovereignty would be by no means exempt from the objection already suggested, against dividing from it any of its parts or appendages. According to the extent and importance of any of these prerogatives, the loss of them by reducing the influence of Government, must in a proportionable degree obstruct the execution of the original design proposed in assuming the immediate controul of this territory, and impede the prosecution of those general objects, to which all Governments ought to be directed. The truth of this position will, I trust, be abundantly demonstrated by the view which I propose to give of the nature and relation of the different authorities subsisting in the island.

The several particular inquiries addressed to me being now answered as far as I have been able to answer them within the time alloted, it remains that, in pursuance of the directions from the Secretary of State to afford all the assistance in my power to your investigations, and in reply to the general inquiry contained in your letter of the 24th of September, I should present you with a few remarks, which I conceive to be of the first moment in considering the political situation of the Isle of Man. Conscious of being guided in forming and delivering my opinion on the subject, by a regard to no objects but what have appeared to me the real interests of the Crown and of this Country, which for these sixteen years past, in the office wherewith I am intrusted, my endeavours, humble as they are, have been used to promote, I am not apprehensive of giving offence to those whose sentiments may differ from mine, and am confident your candour and impartiality will ensure to what I have to offer a patient and attentive consideration.

It has long been my opinion, that as the immediate ate sovereignty of the Crown of Great Britain over this island, acquired by the act of 1765, is a fountain of continual and valuable benefits to this little territory, so the powers and franchises reserved to the family of Atholl by the proviso of that act and the additional influence which is almost inevitably united with those privileges, are the sources of perpetual and grievous misfortunes.

This observation, or those which follow, imply not, and are at a remote distance from being intended to insinuate, any thing disrespectful to the present possessor of the titles of that family. In examining permanent powers of a public nature, it is not the disposition of individuals, but the tendency of the powers in question, that should determine our judgment. If they are capable of being easily employed to mischievous purposes, and carry with them a temptation to such abuse the assured inclination and ability of the person on whom they are conferred to use them aright however honourable to himself, is by no means a sufficient security to the people over whom they are to be exercised, It is not enough that their welfare is established for so precious a term as the duration of a life. Whatever may be suggested therefore in this letter respecting the powers subsisting in this island, is not to be understood as referring at all to any person holding such power, but as being confined wholly to the powers themselves,

The clause of reservation in the act of the 5th of George III. invests the heir of the Atholl family with manerial rights and privileges similar to those usually enjoyed by Lords of the manor in England ; and it annexes to them the patronage of the bishopric, and almost all ecclesiastical benefices. This power is not taken as entirely a new grant, but rather as a remnant of a former more splendid power, which is not of a nature to be speedily forgotten, either by those by whom it was possessed, or those by whom it was obeyed. Amongst the unenlightened and illiterate, who are by no means an inconsiderable class, a strong predilection is commonly felt in favour of ancient usages on account of their antiquity; a bias which, by such as will condescend to the artifice, may without difficulty be used to promote a dissatisfaction with any Government that should endeavour to introduce the needful amendments into their imperfect institutions ; but another prejudice more inveterate and more dangerous is the affection still retained by many for the illicit practices, which we stigmatise with the term of Smuggling, but which such persons speak of with much respect as the trade of the island. This partiality for their former traffic, with which they are too apt to associate the idea of their former rulers, is, though discarded and condemned as it deserves by all the more intelligent, very extensively spread; it is found amongst some of all ranks, and there is reason to fear has insinuated itself into stations where the contrary principles ought to be conspicuous. Such a prejudice might be a very effective instrument in the hands of any one who was in the situation, and had the disposition to employ it; and even though neglected, must co-operate with the other circumstances pointed out towards the support of the same power. And all this authority, it is to be particularly remarked, is centered in a person of the highest rank and consideration in the sovereign kingdom, by whose interposition the course of administration respecting this territory may possibly be, in many instances, varied or suspended.

The power thus compounded is evidently therefore neither strictly controulable by the jurisdictions established in the island, nor directly dependant upon the Crown ; it is distinct in a great measure from that of the Sovereign ; it is a sort of imperium in imperio. The erecting such an authority sets over the island a second, inferior, indeed, but in a great degree separate and independent ruler, besides the supreme head of the kingdom ; it imposes upon it the impossible task of obeying two masters, of discharging the duties of a double allegiance ; it divides the attachment of the peoples and by dividing, enfeebles all their exertions respecting objects of common concern, What can be expected from such a splitting of civil dominion, but discord amongst the subjects, and perpetual interruptions of their public affairs? But we are not left to infer the effects of it by reasoning, or figure them to ourselves in imagination; we see and feel and lament them in painful reality every day ; we see them in a train of evils too glaring to be omitted in any survey of the state of the country, and so important that it would be necessary to enlarge upon them much more fully, if there could be a doubt of your having obtained minute information respecting them upon the spot I mean not in stating them to accuse any individuals or description of men, but only to represent in its true light the origin from which they arise: I would not assume the invidious office of determining to what persons or party they are imputable, but would only trace them as flowing almost inevitably from the existence of two parties able to counteract each other.

It is this cause which has produced the dissensions and animosities that at the present moment distract and enflame the inhabitants of the island, and disturb and imbitter their small society. Its operation is also visible in the ruinous condition of the harbour of Douglas, capable naturally of being rendered one of the safest and most commodious havens, not only on the coast of the isle, but on any of the coasts in the Irish seas; it has remained for several years past in such a state, that no vessels,not even the smallest craft, can pass into or out of it, if the weather be in any degree unfavourable, without imminent danger. In the winter of 1786 a pier of considerable length by means of which the warping inwards and outwards was effected, and which protected the bason from the heavy swells always occasioned by strong easterly winds, was well nigh demolished by a storm : above half the length of the building, with the light-house erected on the outer extremity were overwhelmed by the sea; and the remains and rubbish left by this disaster have ever since lain a dangerous impediment to the navigation, and in a place where, from the straitness and situation of the mouth of the Port, the want of a pier in the finest weather renders the entrance extremely difficult and hazardous. To this deficiency of the quay and harbour was owing the destruction among the fishing fleet in September 1787, which strewed the beach with their wrecks, and left many widows and orphans dependant on charity for their bread. From thence hath since arisen damage to Several vessels passing and repassing, inconvenience and delay to more, and risque in a greater or less degree to all. The intercourse with strangers is lessened, the fishery is discouraged trade is considerably injured, the revenue materially impaired.

Further, we discern the mischief arising from the division of civil power in a grievance of yet greater magnitude, in the suspension during several years of all legislative authority Divers acts have passed the insular Legislature, and been transmitted for the Royal assent all of which have been obstructed in their progress ; and after the expence of much labour and money in attendance upon the examination of them in London, are still left without being either presented to His Majesty, or returned to Government here. From this interruption of the functions of the highest power in the country, disorder cannot but ensue. The code of laws, rude, imperfect, and in many respects ineffectual, under all the titles of Property, Criminal Law, Courts Police, and Proceedings on the Penal Statutes, for the suppression of contraband trade, remains of necessity without those explanations and amendments, which are called for in every day's practice; the public having no internal funds but the produce of one or two imposts, not sufficient to maintain their roads in repair, are not only unprovided with those conveniences and decorations which contribute to the respect of Government, but almost destitute of those buildings and accommodations which the purposes of Government indispensably require, and which were somewhat better, however insufficiently supplied under the dominion of the Lords Proprietors. The gaol consists of but one room or cell in the castle, of very narrow dimensions, without any floor but the bare earth or pavement, and without any aperture that can be called a window : into this cell all prisoners, except those committed for capital offences, are thrust and confined together; men and women, debtors and thieves, without distinction. In the interior ward of the castle are dungeons still more wretched, where less air and less light are admitted ; and the ground is frequently covered with a pool of water ; which are, however, the only places wherein not only felons convicted, but persons charged with felony can be confined, with any probability of securing them. The Chancery-court room, where, as its name implies, the Courts of Chancery are held, and the Governor and Council meet, more resembling an apartment in a gaol than a Court of Justice or Council room, and the house where the Keys assemble, which will admit of no comparison that would not be too ludicrous or mean to be employed in an address to you, Gentlemen, on this occasion, I need not endeavour to describe, for you yourselves have been eye-witnesses of their condition.

The accumulated ills above enumerated, which are acknowledged by both sides, and a sincere desire of redressing which, is professed by both, exhibit a sufficient proof of the mischief arising from the existence of opposite interests, whose mutual efforts and struggles only exasperate and frustrate each other, and sink thecountry deeper into embarrassment and misfortune. Such must be the case wherever a power is raised which can put itself in competition with the power of Government. Should this secondary authority, through any misapprehensions of its nature, be yet further augmented, remaining as little dependent upon the Crown as at present, the consequences would be still more fatal; and it cannot be improper to advert to them, since the events of several years past have afforded a strong presumption that such an increase of that power may be an object in contemplation.

The repeated, though unsuccessful applications to Administration and to Parliament, in 1780, 1781, 1783, and in 1790, and the series of measures which have been strenuously pursued during the last ten or twelve years, render it evident (as I conceive) that something further is proposed than merely to obtain what is expressly claimed; so much expence and perseverance cannot be supposed to have been bestowed solely for the sake of providing remedies against injuries, which have seldom if ever happened, are likely scarce ever to and must be very insignificant when they do; for the sake of substantiating an insufficient title to services, which there is little probability will ever be enforced; or for the sake of regaining the Herring Custom, Bay Fisheries, and other rights, which are at length confessed to have been purchased by Great Britain, and vested in the Crown; and the value of which, with the other articles specified, would not amount to more than two or three hundred pounds per annum. Some other object less exceptionable may be in view; but till another purpose be avowed, nothing can be fairer than to infer, that the final aim is a confirmation and extension of the influence subsisting here apart from the sovereignty. The last petition introduced on behalf of His Grace of Atholl into the House of Commons, contained an allegation, that the compensation paid for this territory was inadequate, and the obtaining an addition to it, seemed to be one design of the bill which followed. How little ground there was for the claim, may be collected in part, I trust, from the brief History of the Revenue, with which I lately furnished you, and from the issue of the debate in the House of Commons: but the proposition indicated the intention of those who brought it forward, and justified an alarm, left if the case should not be duly understood, there might be superadded to an authority here already very great, a heavy charge upon the Customs. Such an accession of power may, to strangers unacquainted with the circumstances of the country, appear harmless by those who are interested in the acquisition of it, it may be fought without any view to the evils it is calculated to produce, and even from a laudable, motive, a desire of benefiting the island. I would ascribe no other design to the noble Peer, who may possibly be in the pursuit of it. But I submit, that if through the want of proper information the end should be accomplished ; if a further gratuity should be obtained, which is to be a permanent incumbrance on His Majesty's duties in the isle, or be that as it may, if favours be for some time permitted to flow through the channel alluded to, they must, without violence in the interruption, continue to be conveyed in the same course ; and this territory will probably be hereafter thrown back from the civilization and improvement in which it was advancing, under the auspices of Great Britain, and replunged into its ancient thraldom.

Lodge the patronage of this place in the hands of any one man of property here, and you remove him beyond the reach of complaint. In England, perhaps, you find him protected by powerful friends; at home it may be intrenched behind a numerous band of needy retainers; the former not very ready to hear, the latter always ready to misrepresent disagreeable truths,

Controul or influence here are not to be compared to the interest of a leading man in a city or borough in England, where, if abused, the person abusing it is amenable to a Court of Justice, and is not very likely to escape punishment: but to discover the duty of punishing in certain circumstances a delinquent, from whom favours either have been received, or are to be expected by the person deciding the matter, requires a degree of fortitude, as well as refinement, to which I am afraid both Manks Judges, and Juries, are perfect strangers.

In such a secluded spot as this, power lent, no less than power given, is every day in danger of being abused ; for, strange as it may found, it is in a great measure power without responsibility, and power without responsibility is only another name for Despotism. Let a private man, by whom I mean any man not bearing His Majesty's commission, be made patron of this island, be be whom he may, permit him but to nominate, or even to recommend to offices in the civil and revenue departments, and without loading him with the expence, you compliment him with the authority of Government; you make him matter of a valuable, not (as has been some times insinuated) a contemptible territory ; and you invest him with supreme authority, You throw a glory round his head, which dazzles and confounds, outshining the splendor of majesty in the King's representative the Governor; you erect and decorate that sort of image which the vulgar are too prone to worship; you tempt the people to slight their legitimate rulers: under this delusion they lose all respect for Government, turn their back upon the Magistrate, and with bended knees direct their supplicating eyes to an idol.

Would there not then be some reason to apprehend, that the primary object intended to be secured by the resumption of the sovereignty might be totally forgotten? Would not public business in that case be in danger of being made to give way to private concerns? Would it be very surprising if we should then see the line of preferment totally changed? if we should then see Judicial Officers selected from amongst Officers of the Customs, Customhouse Officers fetched from the Camp, and Receivers General from the Plow? Whatever other sentiments it might occasion, would it then excite general astonishment to be told, that a venerable Judge of the Common Law had dwindled into an itinerant Steward of a Court Baron, was summoning the Lord's tenants to do fealty and, under the denomination of a Commissioner, condescending to act the part of a Seneschal?

These, however, are evils that can never happen whilst His Majesty is graciously pleased to continue the country under his immediate protection, and remains, what every true lover of the public wishes him to remain, the sole patron of his own island.

Numerous examples and authorities might be produced in support of the principles here advanced ; but I presume it to be neither needful or proper to extend this paper by such an addition: There is, however, a passage or two in the works of a noble and celebrated author and able statesman, my Lord Lyttleton, which expresses so exactly and forcibly my sentiments on the subject, that I cannot refrain from troubling you with a quotation at length: I allude to his speech in the House of Commons in favour of the bill for abolishing the heritable jurisdictions in Scotland, which was afterwards passed, and has occasioned no regret, I believe, in any real well-wisher to the countrey: " I have thought," says his Lordship,"and read a good deal upon the nature of Government; and from the result of that application I think I may venture to lay it down as a maxim, that in every kingdom where any great powers are lodged in particular subjects, independently of the Crown, it is for good of the people that they should be taken out of those hands, and lodged in the Crown. The contest in that case is not between the Crown on the one side, and the People on the other, but between the Crown and the People united together in one common cause against the interest of those in whom such powers are vested; which is an interest distinct from both, and hurtful to both. In other words, it is not a dispute between Liberty and Prerogative, but between Oppression and Government. This is so true, that in no one of the many Gothic Constitutions established in Europe, did ever the people attain to any considerable share ether of wealth, or power, or freedom, till they were emancipated from such jurisdictions, and till all the powers of the great feudal Lords, those petty tyrants too potent for subjects, too weak for Sovereigns, who were strong enough to oppress, but not strong enough to protect, till all their powers were entirely absorbed in the more beneficial and salutary power of the Crown?"

Could the Noblemen, by whose sentiments I have the happiness to find those I have delivered are so abundantly confirmed, have been present in Parliament, when the political situation of this isle was the subject of discussion, it cannot be doubted but he would have declared in language very similar to that he used on the occasion already mentioned, that if there be in the nature of the secondary authority subsisting in the island apart from the sovereignty, any power inconsistent with the good order of Government, inconsistent with that sound policy which carries the majesty and justice of the Crown into every part of the State, and presents to the eye of the subject no other object of obedience than the King; if there be any thing in such authority which contradicts this great principle of the British Constitution, which in any degree interposes itself between the Crown and the People, between the Head of the Commonwealth and its Members, however the influence of such irregular power may have been used, or may be likely from present appearances to be used ; there is in the power itself a root of danger which should not be allowed to remain, which should be plucked up, if possible, not with a violent, but a firm and determined hand.

It would be well if this root of danger could be entirely extracted ; and, perhaps, the most effectual means of securing to the island the blessings of peace and good government, and even of attaining the objects immediately proposed by the Revestment, would be by a transfer to the Crown of the residue of privileges saved to the Duke and Duchess in the contract of 1765: but if the root cannot be removed, at least the injurious shoots which may spring from it ought not to be encouraged.

If the observations herein submitted to you be just, it may, perhaps, be found expedient to unite the two powers; but it will never be thought reconcilable, either with the general purposes of government or the particular purpose of suppressing illicit practices, to lop off any branches from the sovereignty for the purpose of increasing the spread of a distinct subordinate authority: the exact bounds betwixt both will be clearly defined. The whole weight of Royal authority, as far as it can delegated, will be centered in the Governor; and by being so placed, will give firmness and stability to the whole system he will be made the dispenser of favours and benefits, as well as of punishments; the people will be taught to look up to him, and the other officers commissioned by His Majesty, as intitled to their respect; all the advantages that can be afforded by a wise and disinterested administration of public affairs will be derived from the Crown, in a steady, regular course, and peace; order and civilization be the result of such an arrangement.

Whether the policy above pointed out be such as ought to be recommended to His Majesty, belongs, I am sensible, to those who hold distinguished offices in the State to determine; but being called upon to contribute all the assistance in my power to the full investigation, which has been directed as to the condition of this isle past and present, I trust I have not transgressed the limits of duty in bringing forward that view of its political interests which a near situation has presented to me. My ideas on the subject have not been taken from a transient glance, but from long residence and observation of several years ; at the same time being neither attached to the place by birth nor property, I should hope my sentiments have not been delivered under the bias of interest or affection. If I had not conceived them equally important and just, they should not have been thus published at the risque of incurring displeasure from an exalted and respectable character, who is always likely to retain a large share of authority here, and whom I cannot have the slightest wish to offend. Let the full possession and enjoyment of all His Grace's rights, as far as they entrench not on the rights of the Crown or the People, be amply and completely secured; and let him have all the aid from Government, for that end, that Government can constitutionally give. I have on a former occasion endeavoured with some labour to procure for His Grace such remedies as he judged was wanting, and as the Legislature here were competent to furnish ; and have frequently regretted, for his sake as well as that of the country, that the attempt miscarried, But it is to be remembered by every citizen, and much more by every servant of the Crown, that there are in- interests in this district superior to His Grace's, and which deserve a primary regard; those I mean of the King and the island. As the most valuable service I can render both the one and the other, (however unsuccessful it may prove,) I would press on your consideration those principles respecting the government of this dependency which are herein insisted on, and which (if I do not misconceive of their importance) must be adopted before any measures for the welfare of the isle can have their due effect

I am, Gentlemen, Your most obedient humble servant,

WADSWORTH BUSK.

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