No. XX.
Addresses from the Clergy of Nova Scotia, &c. &c. to Lieutenant-General Sir George Prevost, Bart. &c. &c. &c. p. 12.
"Sir,
"Although the clergy of the established church of Nova Scotia most cordially join in the general tribute of respect, which is now offered to your Excellency; and very largely share in the sincere regret, so universally excited by your intended departure from this province; the important benefits which you have rendered to the sacred objects of our profession, by your Excellency's exertions in their behalf, impel us to a more particular expression of our gratitude, and our grief.
"Your Excellency has a claim upon the best acknowledgments we can offer, for every mark of respect to our office, and every condescending attention to ourselves, that we could receive at your hands; accompanied by continual endeavours to promote the cause of literature and religion in this colony.
"Through your Excellency's attentive kindness, and your representations to the throne, the most benevolent assistance has been extended to our churches, and in every part of the province they are now receiving improvement and enlargement. While our dutiful and affectionate gratitude is directed towards the royal source of these great benefits, we cannot be wanting in warm and grateful respect, for the channel through which they have been obtained.
"Nor are we under less obligation, for the uniform and exemplary attention of your Excellency, and your family, to the public and private duties of religion. You will permit us, Sir, though duly sensible of your other numerous and distinguished merits, to consider this among the brightest ornaments of your character. It supplies us with most gratifying evidence, to an important truth, that the ablest and best servants to their King and country, must be sought among those who are most faithful to their God.
"Feeling as we do the extensive and peculiar benefits of your Excellency's residence among us, it is impossible that we should not have the deepest regret for your departure. But it will be our duty to seek for alleviation for our sorrow, in grateful recollection of the benefits we have already received, and in humble hope that the influence of your example will remain, when we can no longer enjoy the advantages of your presence. We have unfeigned satisfaction also, in the increased honours, and more extensive command, to which you are called, by the discerning favour of your Prince; and we shall have much comfort in reflecting, that although your Excellency will be advanced from the particular charge of this province, we shall still have the happiness of being under your general government.
"Permit us to assure you, Sir, that our sincerely affectionate respect and esteem will ever follow you; and that our fervent prayers are now offered, and will be long continued, for every blessing to yourself and family; for every honour you can now enjoy; and for unfading glory when all the honours of the world shall have passed away."
"Halifax, Aug. 15th, 1811."
His Excellency's Reply.
"I received with sentiments of peculiar satisfaction, the address of the Right Reverend the Bishop and the clergy of Nova Scotia.
"My fervency in that important cause they especially promote, renders their favourable consideration of my government, an act at once gratifying for the past, and encouraging for the future, under whatever situation my sovereign's commands may place me. I am well aware, that if our revered and pious King could investigate the course of my administration in this province, there is no part of it which would ensure me his royal favour, equal to the testimony with which I am honoured in this address.
"George Prevost."
"Government House,
15th August."
Halifax, August 19.
The following addresses were presented to his Excellency Sir George Prevost, Bart. last week.
The Address of the Council to his Excellency Sir George Prevost, Bart. Lieut.-Governor of Nova-Scotia, &c. &c. &c.
"Sir,
"His Majesty's Council cannot take leave of your Excellency at this Board, without an expression of those sentiments which they cordially feel upon the painful eve of your departure.
"The general regret of the province upon this occasion, pervading every class, and flowing from the purest of sources, must afford you, Sir, the most satisfactory evidence, that you have lived here in the hearts of His Majesty's subjects;—and that you have well merited the affection they manifest: to us who have had the honour of a closer communication with your Excellency, and have, thus, become intimately acquainted with your talents and your virtues, you have been more perfectly known;—by us, you will of course be doubly regretted.
"We early discovered your vigilance, and energetic zeal for the good of the province,—your acute discernment of its best interests,—your perseverance in the pursuit of every object that could lead to its welfare,—and your unwearied attention to its minutest concerns;—we soon discovered that excellent understanding, which has so well fitted you to govern, and that integrity and independence, which have rendered your government so beloved, and so respectable.
"It is, however, to these talents and virtues, that we are to impute our present loss;—the discerning mind of our excellent Prince has called you to a higher appointment, and our fellow subjects of a sister colony will have the satisfaction of receiving that boon, with which we are now parting;—we have a consolation, however, in reflecting, that we are still to remain within the influence of your valued abilities, and that we may feel the effects of their spirited exertions, in a contiguous, and more extensive quarter of the British empire;—wherever your duties, civil or military, may call you, to the cabinet as a statesman, or to the field as a soldier, we are confident you will deserve well of your country, and justify, to the fullest extent, the very high opinion upon which your preferment has been founded.
"As your council,—with whom you have ever advised, upon terms of the most unreserved candour and harmony,—as your friends,—with whom you have ever associated, upon terms of the most affectionate condescension; we, Sir, with feelings of the purest regret,—and with the sincerest wishes for the welfare of yourself and your family,—earnestly bid you farewell."
Answer.
"Gentlemen,
"The expressions of general esteem and approbation, with which I have been honoured, concurring with the sentiments of His Majesty's Council, is a circumstance peculiarly gratifying to me. You, gentlemen, are intimately acquainted with the principles upon which my conduct has been founded, others can only judge from the effects produced by the measures pursued during my administration.
"If my endeavours in the public service have been successful, I may ascribe much of that success to the able assistance I have received from you.
"Your advice, ever springing from a perfect knowledge of the true interests of the province, a due regard to the just rights of the people, and a zealous attachment to His Majesty's person and government, has enabled me to accomplish objects of much promise to the future prosperity of this province.
"Having expressed the obligations I feel on public ground, I am not the less sensible of those of a personal nature.
"I shall ever reflect with satisfaction on the happy state of our intercourse during the period of my administration.—It is, therefore, with feelings of the sincerest regard, I repeat your farewell.
"George Prevost."
"Government House,
16th Aug. 1811."
To his Excellency Sir George Prevost, Bart. Lieut.-Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia, &c. &c. &c.
"We the undersigned representatives for the county and townships within the county of Hants, as well for ourselves as our constituents: the clergy and magistrates in the same county, beg leave to address your Excellency upon your departure from this government.
"We have recently heard with mingled joy and concern, that His Majesty has raised you to the distinguished, but well-merited favour of being appointed Governor-General of the British Provinces in North America, and that your Excellency will immediately proceed to your government. Upon this occasion we cannot forbear expressing our grateful sense of your wise and mild administration.
"The ardour manifested by your Excellency, in promoting the true interests of this province, has made a deep impression upon the minds of the people of this happy and highly-favoured colony.
"Under your government, Sir, though a short one, the agriculture, commerce, and fisheries of the province have rapidly increased; religion has been cherished, schools established, extensive roads of communication with the capital opened and improved, the militia organized and disciplined, and under the most salutary regulations rendered efficient.
"The inhabitants of the county of Hants, deeply impressed with a sense of the benefits they have received, will ever retain a grateful recollection of them, and while they lament the departure of your Excellency from this government, are made happy by the consideration that your Excellency has experienced an additional mark of the Royal favour.
"We earnestly pray that your Excellency, Lady Prevost and family, may have a pleasant voyage, and arrive in safety at the seat of your government, and be attended throughout life with the choicest blessings of Providence.
[Signed by the Representatives, Magistrates,
Clergy, and other principal Inhabitants.]
"Windsor, 13th August, 1811."
Reply.
"Gentlemen,
"With feelings of satisfaction and gratitude, I return you my best thanks for the warm assurance of your regard, so kindly manifested in your address upon my departure.
"Your high approbation of my measures I shall ever retain as an additional pledge of the general esteem of this province, which it has been my ambition to acquire; and, believe me, that among those of His Majesty's subjects, who have favoured me with their good opinion and good wishes, I feel much pleasure in receiving the affectionate address of the flourishing county of Hants.
"George Prevost.
"Government House,
16th Aug. 1811."
To His Excellency Lieut.-General Sir George Prevost, Bart. Lieut.-Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia, and its Dependencies, &c. &c. &c.
"May it please your Excellency,
"The magistrates and militia officers of King's County, humbly intreat, that they may be allowed to offer their assurance of high respect and unfeigned esteem to your Excellency, on your departure from Nova Scotia. Your Excellency's unwearied attention to the welfare and best interest of this province, have engaged admiration, and given you a strong claim to our gratitude; while the wisdom, mildness, and firmness of your administration have commanded general confidence; and such are your military talents, that, though storms have been hovering around us, and threatened to burst over our heads, with dependence on Divine protection, we have felt secure, while our armed force was under your direction.
"The virtues of your character have endeared you to the inhabitants of Nova Scotia, and we cannot but feel regret at your departure: but a higher and more important station requires your talents and abilities; and we beg leave to congratulate you on the flattering testimony you have received of royal favour and approbation.
"Permit us to say, that we shall ever feel a lively interest in every thing that regards your Excellency, and that the name of Sir George Prevost will ever be dear and honoured among us.
"To Lady Prevost we beg leave to tender our best respects, and sincere wishes, for her future happiness.
"May a pleasant passage await you, and may you continue to receive, from our gracious Sovereign, those rewards which your services so justly entitle you to.
[Signed by the Magistrates, Clergy,
Militia Officers, and other principal
Inhabitants.]
"August 15th, 1811."
Reply.
"Gentlemen,
"Feeling a sincere regard for every class of people within this happy colony, I need not say that your kind address cannot but add to my gratification.
"I have made it my study to become acquainted with every part of the Province, with its views, its resources, and its advantages; but of your county I have had the satisfaction to obtain a more particular knowledge.
"The high state of its cultivation, and the agricultural benefits attending it, should make you proud of the land on which you live.
"Permit me, in return for your cordial address, to express my sincere wishes that your prosperity may continue, and that you may long live a free and happy people, under the best of governments.
"George Prevost."
"Government House,
16th Aug. 1811."
No. XXI.[105]
Address from the House of Assembly of Upper Canada to Sir George Prevost, March 1813, p. 75.
"May it please your Excellency,
"We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Upper Canada in Provincial Parliament assembled, beg leave to congratulate your Excellency on your arrival in this Province, and to express the unfeigned satisfaction it affords us in as much as it is an additional proof of the high interest your Excellency takes in the general welfare of this colony.
"We should be wanting to the sovereign, under whose paternal care we have so long lived, to our country and to ourselves, were we to neglect to offer to your Excellency at this time, the sentiments of gratitude with which we feel inspired for the marks of your attention manifested in providing clothing for a considerable portion of the loyal and brave militia of this Province, as well as for the active and vigorous exertions which have been made, and are now making for strengthening our marine force upon the Lakes, which will enable us to secure and preserve that superiority upon that favourite element to which Great Britain is indebted for her prosperity and glory; and on which our safety so materially depends.
"Emerging from a state of infancy, the inhabitants of this province have been enabled, by the aid afforded them by your Excellency in his Majesty's regular forces, to defeat the designs of the enemy; although his numbers have been in every instance so superior.
"To suppose your Excellency will not continue to extend every assistance to us in this emergency, would be the height of incredulity, after the testimony we have already witnessed of your vigilance and affectionate solicitude for our preservation. It would be superfluous, therefore, to suggest how much we stand in need of the fostering hand of our mother country—to be directed by the wisdom of your Excellency, in order that we may maintain the laws and constitution so dear to us, and which it is our sincere hope we may transmit unimpaired to our posterity.
"We hesitate not to say, that the energy your Excellency may exercise towards the attainment of this great end, will be zealously seconded by the people of this Province, and that their efforts under the influence of an omnipotent power, and the devotion of your Excellency's military skill, will be eventually successful.
"Allan M'Lean,
Speaker."
Address from the Inhabitants of York to Sir George Prevost.
"May it please your Excellency,
"We the Magistrates and other inhabitants of the town of York, are happy in having an opportunity of paying that respect, which we owe to your Excellency, and of offering our most sincere thanks and acknowledgments for the attention you have been pleased to shew to this province.
"The pride and pleasure which we feel from the behaviour of our gallant militia, is greatly heightened when we consider that their conduct is honoured with your approbation, and that you are pleased to testify your sense of their services in ordering clothing for a considerable proportion of their number; an act of benevolence and humanity which will make a deep and lasting impression on their minds; and stimulate them to preserve that high character which they have already acquired.
"But we should, indeed, be much wanting to your Excellency, as well as to ourselves, if we did not on this occasion, with gratitude acknowledge the obligation which this province lies under to the valour and discipline of his Majesty's regular forces, whose courage and conduct, on the most trying emergencies, have done honour to the name and to the character of a British soldier.
"We are particularly gratified, and offer our most sincere thanks and acknowledgments for the vigorous exertions which have been made, and are still carrying on towards the strengthening our provincial marine, by order of your Excellency, fully convinced that to maintain a superiority upon the Lakes is an object of the first importance to this Province.
"Thankful for that success which has hitherto crowned his Majesty's arms under your command, we earnestly beg for its continuance, entertaining the pleasing hope, that by our own conduct, and the exertions of our brave defenders, we, in this Colony, by the blessing of God, may long remain under the protection of our parent State, a free, brave, and loyal people.
"Thomas Scott,
Chairman."
Address from the Inhabitants of Kingston to Sir George Prevost.
"May it please your Excellency,
"We, his Majesty's most dutiful and loyal subjects, the Magistrates, Officers of the Militia, and other inhabitants of the town of Kingston, and other parts of the Midland District, beg leave respectfully to express the high sense we entertain of your Excellency's watchful care for the safety of this Province, which has led you at this inclement season to undertake a toilsome journey of many hundred miles for the purpose of visiting and inspecting its extensive frontiers. Your presence, Sir, cannot but diffuse fresh energy in all classes of his Majesty's subjects, and encourage them to continue their zealous co-operation in the common cause; and we trust that under the judicious arrangement which has been made by your Excellency's orders, Divine Providence will continue to crown our exertions in defence of the Province against his Majesty's enemies with the same success by which they have been hitherto happily distinguished.
"Kingston, March 7, 1813."
Address from the Inhabitants of the Eastern District of Upper Canada to Sir George Prevost.
"To his Excellency Sir George Prevost, Knight and Baronet, Captain General, &c. &c. &c. The loyal address of the Inhabitants of the Eastern District.
"We, his Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, inhabitants of the Eastern District of Upper Canada, beg leave to present to your Excellency our unfeigned, and heartfelt congratulations on your safe return from your long and fatiguing journey to the upper parts of this Province, which your ardent zeal for the service of your king and country, and paternal solicitude for the security of this portion of his Majesty's dominions only could induce you to undertake.
"We thank heaven for having preserved your Excellency's person from all the dangers to which you have been exposed, not only from the enemy in the long line of frontiers through which you had to pass, but from the contagious diseases, which rage through many parts of these Provinces, and other dangers incidental to a journey of upwards of a thousand miles in a country like this, still destitute of inns, and proper accommodations for travellers, and at the most inclement season of the year.
"So illustrious an example of despising danger and sacrificing personal ease and comfort, exhibited by the representative of our beloved sovereign, both chears and animates us to bear with resignation our individual privations in the glorious cause in which we have to struggle. We now experience the truth which we have so often heard with wonder from others, that your Excellency's prudence carries with it an irresistible attraction and confidence among all classes of people, wherever you go. We should consider it criminal to complain of the hardships to which the present state of warfare has subjected us, in common with all our fellow-subjects in this Province; perfectly convinced, as we are, of your Excellency's earnest wish and readiness to alleviate our sufferings as much as lies in your power.
"The auspicious event which, in the late brilliant success of His Majesty's arms at Ogdensburg, so closely followed the arrival of your Excellency in Upper Canada, flatters us with the hope that this will be but one of the happy consequences of your visit. We cannot express to your Excellency in terms sufficiently strong, our satisfaction in thus having an opportunity of teaching the enemy that their repeated insults, and wanton attacks upon our shores, are not to be borne with impunity.
"To your Excellency's active and fertile mind we look up with much confidence for the vigorous and energetic measures, to prosecute a war, into which the insidious policy of a faithless and inveterate enemy has involved our country and ourselves, and in which are feared every thing which can render life desirable at stake.
"We are determined to stand or fall by the parent country, and to defend the crown and dignity of our revered sovereign, our families and our properties, with the last drop of our blood. We know that justice is on our side, and we trust that the God of battles will continue to favour our cause as he has hitherto done. Indeed we do not allow ourselves to entertain the smallest doubt of a glorious termination of the contest under your Excellency's government and Heaven's protection.
"Glengary, March 8, 1813."