OHAP. 1] ORIGIN AND HISTORY 15
on whom the results of unsatisfactory government first
recoiled. He laid special stress on the necessity of leaving
to the local Government all patronage, a recommendation
not altogether palatable at a time when, despite vigorous
disclaimers, posts in the Colonies were a recognized way of
disposing of younger sons for whom no other employment
could decently be found. To his list of exceptions to the
rule of self-government must of course be added military
and naval affairs, which he naturally, at a time when two
risings had been put down with the aid of Imperial troops,
assumed to be matters for Imperial control. The omission
of questions affecting the natives is probably to be attributed
bo the fact that the question of the rights of the Indians did
not present itself as of much consequence in the provinces
which he deemed to be ripe for self-government at the time
of his visit to the Dominion.
The Imperial Government were in no hurry to adopt in
heir full form the proposals of Lord Durham in favour of
responsible government, but in his instructions to Mr. C.
Poulett Thomson when he went out as Governor, Lord John
Russell took, on October 16, 1839.1 the important step of
announcing that the principal offices of the Colony would
not be considered as being held by a tenure equivalent to
one during good behaviour, but that the holders would be
liable to be called upon to retire whenever, from motives of
public policy or for other reasons, this should be found
expedient. A further definition of responsible government
was arrived at after the Constitution Act of 1840 re-united the
two Canadas and placed them as a unit under one Governor-
General. On September 3, 1841, Mr. Harrison submitted to
the Legislative Assembly of Canada, in substitution for a set
of resolutions proposed by Mr. R. Baldwin, a series of resolu-
tions which define as follows the system of government :—
The head of the Executive Government of the Province
being within the limits of his Government the representative
of the Sovereign is responsible to the Imperial authority
* Parl. Pap., H.C. 621, 1848, p. 5; of. Egerton and Grant. Canadian
Constitutional History, pp. 266 seq.
