13. Trinidad. 14. Virgin Islands. In North America, continental and insular: 1. Bahama Islands. 2. The Bermuda, or Somers' Islands. 3. Canada, Lower. 4. Canada, Upper. 5. Prince Edward's Island. 6. New Brunswick. 7. Newfoundland, with part of Labrador. 8. Nova Scotia, including Cape Breton. In Africa: hir 1. Cape of Good Hope. 2. Sierra Leone, with the settlements on the Gold 1. New South Wales, with Norfolk Island. 2. Van Dieman's Land. 3. Western Australia. And in addition to these, may be enumerated the following British possessions, which are said not strictly to fall within the definition of colonies. In Europe: 1. Gibraltar. 2. Heligoland. (4) Malta to be deemed in Europe, 3 & 4 W. 4, c. 52, s. 120. In this enumeration of the colonies nothing has been said of Honduras, which has been decided expressly not to be a colony (see ante, p. 2, n. 1.) Western Australia, mentioned in the above list, was created a co- c 2 1 Of Sierra Leone, and the settlements on the Gold Coast. These are almost all of the class above described, as Provincial Establishments, there being at present no Proprietary Government, nor, with the exception of Sierra Leone, (if that be an exception,) any Charter Government among the colonial dependencies of Great Britain.(5) Sierra Leone ought, perhaps, to be designated as a charter government, for, in point of form, it is by charter, and not under the royal commission to its governor, that its constitution has been established. Considered as to the mode of its acquisition too, the case of this colony is peculiar, and entitles it to be separately noticed, for it belongs not properly to the class of those obtained by conquest or cession, nor of those acquired by occupancy, though it partakes more of the nature of a colony acquired by occupancy than of any other. It was purchased from the native chiefs by certain private English subjects, who were induced to found a settlement there, with the benevolent object of repressing the slave trade and promoting the civilization of the African continent. With this view they also obtained, by act of parliament, (31 Geo. 3, c. 55,) a charter of incorporation, and authority was given to the King to grant to the company the exclusive right of holding the peninsula of Sierra Leone, and of purchasing lands from the chieftains of the country: after an experiment of some years, they abandoned (5) This has not always been the case. The Island of Barbadoes was formerly granted to the Earl of Carlisle, and that of St. Lucia to the Duke of Montague, and both were in the nature of proprietary governments. Carolina was formerly a government of the same kind, lodged in eight proprietaries. New Jersey, Pensylvania and Maryland, were also proprietary governments. (European Settlen ents, vol. 2, p. 299.) The form of a Charter Government originally prevailed in all the provinces of New England, and at a later period was still established in two of them, - Connecticut and Rhode Island. These New England governments were those which Mr. Burke, in the passage above quoted, described as mere demo. cracies." (European Settlements, vol. 2, p. 300.) their project, and surrendered their charter to the Crown. By 47 Geo. 3, sess. 2, c. 44, the Crown was authorized to accept this surrender, and a new charter then issued, introducing such alterations into the constitution of the settlement as the new state of things required. By this charter, the power of making laws is vested in the governor and council of the colony. Afterwards, by 1 & 2 Geo. 4, c. 28, sect. 3, His Majesty was empowered to order and direct that the forts and settlements on the Gold Coast of Africa, then held by British subjects, and any possessions on the west coast of Africa, between the twentieth degree of north latitude and the twentieth degree of south latitude, which then did, or at any time thereafter, might belong to His Majesty, should be annexed to, or made dependencies on the colony of Sierra Leone, after which, they should be subject to all laws ordained by the governor and council of the colony, and not disallowed by His Majesty, in the same manner as if they had originally formed part of Sierra Leone. The annexation so authorized has accordingly since been directed by order in council. (6) Three other of the colonies, viz. Newfoundland, New Of the colonies South Wales, and Van Dieman's Land, were acquired covery or occu acquired by dis by discovery or simple occupation, and are consequently pation. not subject to the legislation of the Crown, but are governed by the general law of England as it existed at the period of their acquirement, subject to such regulations as the British Parliament has since specially provided for them. Of the acts regulating these colonies as to the administration of justice, the following are the principal: "An Act for the better administration of justice in Newfoundland, and for other purposes," 5 Geo. 4, (6) His Majesty, by letters patent, granted a Charter of Justice to Sierra Leone, establishing courts of judicature with regulations as to Of the colonies acquired by conquest, and still subject to the c. 67, (7) "An Act to provide until the 1st day of July, 1827, and until the end of the next session of Parliament, for the better administration of justice in New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, and for the more effectual government thereof, and for other purposes relating thereto." 4 Geo. 4, c. 96. (8) There are other colonies which having been originally acquired by conquest or cession, and having yet obtained legislation of the no grant of a representative legislative assembly, are Crown. (7) For previous acts, see Reeves' History of Newfoundland, which contains a complete history of the constitution of this colony. See also an act as to celebration of marriages in Newfoundland, 5 G. 4, c. 68. By the 5 G. 4, c. 67, his majesty was empowered to issue letters patent instituting courts of judicature in this colony, with rules as to proceedings therein and appeals therefrom, &c. A Charter of Justice was accordingly issued for these purposes, dated 19th of September, 1825. (See a copy of it in the Appendix.) The supreme court was to have the same jurisdiction as the courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, Exchequer, and Chancery have in England (s. 1); the chief and two assistant judges were to be barristers of three years standing, (s. 2) and the court was to have the jurisdiction of courts of vice-admiralty, (s. 4) and to grant letters of admi-f nistration and probates of wills. (s.5) The leading provisions of the act are recited in the Charter of Justice. Newfoundland has since received a grant of the power to hold a legislative assembly; and by the 2 & 3 W. 4, c. 78. s. 1, the authority to repeal or alter the two acts above referred to, which till then are to continue in full force. See the instructions to the governor, and the proclamation of the king accompanying them, dated 26th of July, 1832. (A copy is in the Appendix.) (8) This is continued by an act of 9 G. 4, c. 83, until the 31st of December, 1836. By the 4 G. 4, c. 96, his majesty was empowered to issue letters patent instituting courts of judicature in New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, with rules as to proceedings therein, and appeals therefrom, &c. A Charter of Justice was accordingly issued for these purposes. See a copy of it in the Appendix. The supreme courts of New South Wales and Van Dieman's Land, are by the 9 Geo. 4, c. 83, ss. 3, 4, 11 & 12, to have the same jurisdiction in those colonies as the courts of King's Bench, Common Pleas, and Exchequer have in England, and are besides to have jurisdiction over offences committed at sea, or in the islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and to have equitable and ecclesiastical jurisdiction within those colonies, and their dependencies. still subject to the legislation of the Crown. These are St. Lucia, Trinidad, the newly constituted colony of British Guiana, the Cape of Good Hope, Mauritius, Ceylon, and the European establishments of Gibraltar, Malta, and Heligoland. In colonies so acquired it has already been shown that the law in force at the time of the acquisition, continues to prevail til altered by new regulations of the Crown or Parliament. Accordingly in St. Lucia, the ancient code of France, as it existed before the promulgation of the Code Napoleon, is still the law of the colony. In Trinidad the law of Spain, as established there at the time of the conquest by Great Britain in 1797, still prevails. In British Guiana, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon, they retain the Roman Dutch Law of the Seven United Provinces, and of the Batavian Republic. In Mauritius are received four of the five codes into which the Code Napoleon is divided, viz. the Code Civile, the Code de Procedure, the Code de Commerce, and the Code d'Instruction Criminelle. And in criminal cases this colony is subject to the old French law. (9) It is to be observed, however, with respect to all these colonies formerly belonging to France, to Spain, and to Holland, that the law in force in each of them at the time of its conquest, and still retained there, though formed upon the basis of that of the parent state, differed widely from it in many particulars. By each of these states a special system of law had been established for the government of its colonies. Thus the Kings of France had promulgated or sanctioned various ordinances for their West India possessions, which are collected together under the title of the Code de la Mar (9) The Code Pénal of Napoleon is not in force there, because it was not promulgated in France until af ter the conquest of the island by Great Britain. |