Earl Amherst: copy of a despatch, and its enclosures, addressed to Earl Amherst by the Earl of Aberdeen, on the 2d April 1835

William Pitt Amherst was governor general of Canada for a brief period in 1835.

Document Summary:
These are instructions to Earl Amherst to investigate the sources of grievances in Lower Canada. The main points Aberdeen discusses are:

• Control of revenue. (He recommends a compromise in which the Assembly provides a civil list.)
  
  
• Control of "waste lands." (He will not consider giving it to the Assembly.).
  
  
• Electing the Legislative Council, as he does not believe that it is in the interests of the colony.

This document includes enclosures, which examine the history of the dispute over revenues in Lower Canada and summarize the revenues of the province.

Notable quote:

"Appeals to popular conventions can have no place in the British Constitution, whether as existing in this kingdom, or as modified by any colonial laws. They are foreign to the whole spirit of our government."