PROVISIONS OF THE ROYAL CHARTER.

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admit and enroll such persons as had been admitted barristers-at-law, or advocates in Great Britain or Ireland, or as had been admitted writers, attorneys, or solicitors in any of the courts at Westminster, Dublin, or Edinburgh, or as had been admitted as proctors in any ecclesiastical court in England, as well to act in the character of barristers and advocates as of proctors, attorneys, and solicitors in the Supreme Court of Newfoundland.

The Court was further authorised to admit as barristers &c. such persons as should serve a clerkship under articles in writing for the term of five years at least to any barrister &c. of the Supreme Court aforesaid. No other persons than those who came under the above category were to be allowed to plead, excepting there should not be a sufficient number of persons fulfilling the recited conditions, when the Court might admit others who seemed fit and proper persons to act under such rules and qualifications as the Court might lay down.

There are several other provisions of the Charter relating to the appointment of a sheriff, and the duties. devolving on him, concerning the administration of property &c., and the power of appealing to the King's Privy Council against questionable decrees of the Supreme Court.

Such are the chief points of the Royal Charter of Justice for Newfoundland, in reference to which the King's direction was- We do hereby strictly charge and command all governors, magistrates, ministers, civil and military, and all our liege subjects

within and belonging to the said colony, that in the execution of the several powers, jurisdictions, and authorities hereby granted, made, given or created, they be aiding and assisting, and obedient in all things, as they will answer the contrary at their peril.'

With the inauguration of the Charter commenced the era of a more courtly display, in connection with the civil government of the colony. The Governor

was commanded to appear on public occasions in the same uniform as that worn by the lords lieutenants of the English counties, only the body of the uniform to be blue, with lappets. The epaulettes and embroidery also to be the same as those of the lords lieutenants of counties. The full dress of the chief justice as superior civil officer was appointed by the King-a blue coat, but no epaulettes nor lappets, buttonholes upon the cuff and collar only, but the same pattern as worn by lords lieutenants.

The same kind of arrangement reached down to the lower officials, the chief magistrate being ordered to wear a blue coat, with red cuffs and collar, buttons with crown, and G. R. cockade on the side of the hat. Even the constables were not left out of these regulations. They were to wear blue coats and buttons, with the crown and G. R., a red waistcoat with the same buttons, and a cockade on the hat, and they were required always to have the insignia of office in their pocket.

This regard to State ceremonial was evinced, also, in

IMPROVEMENTS BY GOVERNOR COCHRANE.

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relation to the retinue of the Governor. For example, here is an order dated

Government House, October, 19 1825.

His Excellency the Governor was this day pleased to appoint Lieut.-Colonel W. Haly, Thomas H. Brooking, Esq., John Dunscombe, Esq., and Newman W. Hoyles, Esq., to be his colonial aides-de-camp, the three last named gentlemen with the rank of Lieut.-Colonel of Militia.

It is evident from the Records that the taste of Sir Thomas Cochrane harmonised with the formal system of etiquette introduced under his auspices. This appears from a communication addressed by his direction to the Chamber of Commerce, in reference to the mode and times in which that body might communicate with him. Formerly the merchants seem to have had access to the Governor at all times as circumstances made needful. But this was to be altered.

With the view of expediting the public service (so writes the secretary), as well as of insuring due attention to the wishes of individuals, which a desultory mode of conducting business always interrupts, His Excellency is pleased to make the following arrangements, which he trusts will be found agreeable to the Chamber of Commerce. His Excellency will receive those who may wish an interview with him on Mondays and Fridays, between the hours of ten and twelve. Any persons desiring an interview at any other time will have a day appointed on making their wishes known to him. Should any circumstances prevent His Excellency from receiving persons on the day appointed, the union jack on the fort will be struck at that period.

If, however, Sir Thomas was inclined to magnify his office by concern for the little details which seemed to contribute to its dignity, the same disposition, turned

in another direction, brought forth fruits of which the benefit is still patent in the colony, especially in St. John's and its neighbourhood. One of these consisted in the improvements which he was the active agent to effect in the means of local communication between the capital and the surrounding district. One of the greatest disadvantages under which the settlements in a new country labour is the want of roads; and though Newfoundland had been inhabited for centuries-for a longer period indeed than any other British colony — yet in this respect the inhabitants were as ill off as if the land were newly occupied by them. For the general policy of the nation, until the present century was some way advanced, was to treat it as not forming a settlement at all, but simply a collection of fishing stations, for whose necessities there was required no other mode of communication than such as the water afforded. Very little had been done to rectify the condition of isolation in which the several communities were before Governor Cochrane's time. Such roads as were in existence had been made at the expense of the Government—an expense incurred not for the sake of road-making, but merely to employ the destitute poor.

His Excellency applied himself earnestly to effect an improvement in this matter. One branch of his endeavour was to amend the roads connecting the principal military posts in St. John's. These lines had been allowed to fall into such a deplorable condition, that on the attention of the Ordnance Board being called to them with a view to their being

ROAD-MAKING IN THE SETTLEMENT.

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repaired, that body was frightened at the cost which such a work would entail. The Governor, however, carried his point, and the ways by which the soldier had to travel from one fort to another were put into a comparatively good condition. But His Excelleney's ideas and activities in this matter went beyond the boundaries of the capital. About ten or eleven miles from St. John's to the north-east lay the fishing village of Portugal Cove, on the eastern shore of Conception Bay. Immediately opposite, on the other side of the bay, at a distance of fifteen miles, was the flourishing town of Harbour Grace, the centre of a considerable population. If a good road could be made between St. John's and Portugal Cove, from which the bay might be crossed by regular boats, then the chief town would be brought into easy communication with a body of people which, with its own inhabitants, formed nearly half the dwellers on the island. This work the Governor undertook to carry out; and this he did with such efficiency and success that the road laid down under his supervision, and according to his plan, is still one of the best and the most used of any in the country.

Running along the shore to the northward of St. John's were several settlements of fishermen. The principal of these was situated at Torbay at a distance of about seven miles from the capital. Between these two points, there existed only a miserable apology for a road, which had probably been extemporised by the English soldiers, who had traversed the ground on their way to expel the French in 1762. Yet the

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