The Rise of Canada, from Barbarism to Wealth and Civilisation. Volume 1Roger, Charles
History
The Rise of Canada, from Barbarism to Wealth and Civilisation. Volume 1
Roger, Charles
Canada -- History
This business being settled, Mr. Cuvillier presented to the
House articles of impeachment against Mr. Foucher, a Judge of the
King's Bench, at Montreal, for malversation, corrupt practices, and
injustice. A committee was appointed to examine into these charges, and
having reported adversely to the judge, the House prepared and adopted
an address to the Regent, asking for Mr. Foucher's removal from office,
and that justice should otherwise be done. The House further requested
the Governor-in-Chief to suspend Mr. Foucher, while the charges made
against him were pending. The Governor complied with the request of the
House, by desiring Mr. Foucher to abstain from taking his seat upon the
Bench, until the will of the Regent should have been ascertained. The
Legislative Council were most indignant. They remonstrated against the
suspension of Mr. Foucher. Every public officer was by the assent given
to the act of the Assembly, liable to be put to the expense of going to
England before he could even get a hearing, if at the mere dictation of
the Assembly, a public officer was to be suspended. The Assembly
replied that, if suspension could not take place, offenders, out of the
reach of ordinary courts of justice, could not be brought to trial, and
that an illegal, arbitrary, tyrannical, and oppressive power, over the
people of the province, would be perpetuated. And so the suspension did
take place. The judges were in very bad odour in those days. They were
between two fires. If they thwarted the government, they were
dismissed, and if they annoyed the people they were impeached. Another
complaint was made against Mr. Chief Justice Monk. He, it was alleged
by the family of the late Francois Corbeil, had exceeded his authority,
by issuing a warrant for the arrest and imprisonment of Corbeil, on a
charge of treasonable practices, well knowing that such changes were
notoriously false, and, by so doing, had accelerated or caused the
death of Corbeil, the disease of which he died having been contracted
while in prison. Mr. Samuel Sherwood also complained, on his own
behalf, against the Chief Justice of Montreal. It appeared that he had
been prosecuted and imprisoned for libel, in having burlesqued the
pamphlet published and circulated by the Chief Justices in Montreal and
Quebec, to show to the public and their friends that the impeachments
against them had fallen through. At the trial for the libel, Mr. Chief
Justice Monk presided. He seemed to be both prosecutor and judge. The
jury box was packed. The court was specially held. The indictment
against Sherwood had been framed on suspicion. In the pretended libel
the name of James Monk was thirty times mentioned, and yet James Monk,
in the character of Chief Justice, sat upon the Bench. He took a lively
interest in the prosecution. He had fiercely assailed a member of the
Bar, who had smiled during the reading of the indictment, and
threatened to remember the smile in his address to the jury. Such an
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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