most cheerfully agreed to by all the parties interested, and thus was the Legislative Assembly of Lower Canada betrayed and dealt with for the consideration of a few thousand pieces of silver. On the 17th of March, Sir John Sherbrooke intimated by message that he had conferred upon the two honorable Speakers the salaries of L1,000 each per annum. Two days afterwards, Mr. Sherwood moved that the message of the late Administrator-in-Chief should not be considered until the 27th of March, and that a call of the House should be made for that day. Mr. Ogden, however, bluntly moved for the discharge of the order of the day, and that the subject should not be taken into consideration at all during the session. The debate was loud and long continued. James Stuart and Andrew Stuart were brilliant; the Gugys, the McCords, and the Ogdens, were dumb. The Vezinas, the Vigers, the Panets, the Languedocs, and the Badeaux, had changed sides. Night came and still the debate continued, the midnight hour was passed and yet the war of words was fiercely going on, and morning came only to find the impeachments, which the Assembly had so long cherished, finally buried in oblivion, by 22 votes in favor of the abrupt motion of Mr. Ogden, while there were only 10 votes against it. Mr. Stuart was abandoned. There was now a greater than he to lead the Assembly. Sir John Coape Sherbrooke thoroughly understood the materials with which he had to deal, and he dealt with them accordingly. The Assembly had no longer independence: spirit, self-respect, power was sacrificed for that which gives wisdom to the foolish and judgment to the weak. The sum of L55,000 was appropriated for the improvement of roads, canals, and bridges; L2,000 was voted for the encouragement of inoculation with vaccine virus as a preventative of small pox; the revenue for 1816 was L144,625; the expenditure L75,638, less L24,495, the proportion of duties payable to Upper Canada for 1815; the expenses of the legislature for the same period were L3,203 currency; the salaries of the judges were now L1,000 currency per annum each, and yet at the disposal of the legislature there was the sum of L140,153.[29] The session was closed on the 22nd of March, by receiving the thanks of the Governor General for the extraordinary application to business which had distinguished this session from any preceding session of the parliament of Lower Canada. [29] Christie's History, page 290.