[bourixot] CANADIAN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY I45 



g-overniuent. From tluit day, liowevcv, Nova Scotia was vested with 

 large powers of self-govermiieut. It is a fundamental principle that 

 although a sovereign has the right to legislate for a conquered country 

 by virtue of his royal prerogative, yet he ceases to have that power after 

 he has authorized and directed the summoning of a re^iresentative leo-js- 

 lative assemldy.' By granting an assembl}- to Nova Scotia in 1758, he 

 precluded himself from legislating directly for the colony by virtue of 

 his royal prerogative and irrevocably granted to the people the con- 

 stitutional right of exercising all subordinate legislation over the province 

 by an assembly with the consent of the governor and council. In this 

 system of government the Crown continued to exercise large powers of 

 control since it was represented in the province by a governor havino- the 

 right to negative all acts of the two other branches, and having in 

 addition the «appointment and supervision of the men constitutino- the 

 upper house of the legislative power. With all its inherent defects 

 which were to show themselves in the course of the ensuing eighty years, 

 the change in the system of government, however, was very much in' 

 advance of the previous condition of things. From that time forward, 

 there was an organized constitution solemnly granted by the Crown for 

 legislative purposes. A governor, legislative council and an elected, 

 assembly represented collectively a complete legislature. 



X. Judicial Power of the Council. 



The council also for many years in the history of the j^rovince,. 

 exercised in conjunction with the governor certain judicial powers as a 

 court of appeal in civil cases, and also as a court of marriage and divorce.- 



XL Constitution of the Council, 1T58-1838. 



It is not necesstuy for the purposes of this paper to go beyond the- 

 constitution of the council, or ,to deal with that of the assembly except 

 when its proceedings may affect the former. Its members continvied 

 always to be appointed by the Crown during pleasure. The instructions 

 that accompanied the commission of Governor Wilmot in 1764, illustrate 

 the powers the governors possessed as respects the council as constituted 

 with executive and legislative poAvers in these and later times. He was 

 not " to suspend any of the members thereof without good and sutRcient 

 cause, nor without the consent of the majority of our said council, sig- 

 nalized in council after due examination of the charge against such 

 councillor, and his answer thereunto ; and in case of the susjDension of 

 any of them you are to cause your reasons for so doing, togetiier Avitb 

 the charges and proofs against the said persons, and their answer thereto, 

 to be duly entered vijîon the council books, and forthwith transmitted to 



1 Lord Mansfield in the Grenada case. 



Sec. IL, 1896. 10. 



