NOVA SCOTIA.

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of Common Pleas, and in 1754 a Supreme Court was substituted
 for the General Court.
No formal constitution was conferred on Nova Scotia or
on Cape Breton when that island was a separate province.
The early constitution of the province is to be found in the
commissions issued to successive Governors, in the Royal Instructions
 accompanying such commissions as modified from
time to time by despatches from Secretaries of State, and
in the Acts of the Legislature.
From 1713 to 1758 the government consisted of the Govern.
Governor or Lieutenant-Governor and a Council, and or- Jip om
dinances were from time to time passed by such Council. In 1758.
1755 Chief Justice Belcher pointed out that the Government
Commissions and the Instructions required all laws to be
passed with the consent of an Assembly, and that therefore
the ordinances of the Lieutenant-Governor and Council had
not the force of law. This view was confirmed by the law
officers of the Crown in England, and the Lords of Plantations
required the Lieutenant-Governor to summon an Assembly
after consultation with the Chief Justice.
The following plan for an Assembly was eventually adopted Plan for
by the Council after receiving the approval of the Crown: nly
The Assembly to consist of 22 members, 16 to be elected
by the Province at large, two by the township of Lunenburg,
and four by the township of Halifax. Whenever 50 qualified
electors had settled in any district which was erected into a
township, such township to elect two members. The qualification
 for voting at an election or for sitting in the legislature
to be, possession in the person’s own right of a- freehold estate
within the district in which he voted or for which he should be
elected. No person to be qualified to vote or to be elected
who was a popish recusant or who was under the age of 21.
Members absent from the province for two months to be
liable to have their seats declared vacant by the Governor’,
1 Haliburton, 1. p. 209. Can. Sess. Papers, 1883, No. 70, pp. 14—16.